The prophet Micah’s proclamation that “because of you
[sinners], Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of
rubble, the temple hill mound overgrown with thickets” (Mic. 3:12) produced a
definite effect on the people who heard him in the mid-700s B.C. We know this
from a reference in Jeremiah a century later (Jer. 26:17-19). Micah’s preaching
had produced the effect of repentance and the fear of the Lord. And since the
people of that day repented and sought the Lord, the Lord, in turn, repented of
the evil that he had threatened to bring on the people. The prophecy had had
its effect in the areas of confession of sin, avoidance of evil, and obedience seen
in good works. (Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Back Toward the Future: Hints for
Interpreting Biblical Prophecy [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books, 1989], 27)
Another instance of a prophecy whose fulfilment was
delayed can be found in Micah 3:12. Micah’s word in the eighth century had an
effect on King Hezekiah and many of his day. So remarkable was the response
that Jeremiah made a favorable allusion to it a century later in Jeremiah
26:18-19, “Did not Hezekiah fear the LORD and seek his favor [when Micah said, ‘Zion
will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple
hill a mound, overgrown with thickets’]? And did not the LORD relent, so that
he did not bring the disaster he pronounced against them?” Thus the king’s
repentance obviated for the time being the fulfilment of what was a conditional
prophecy from Micah. Since the repentance was not widespread, the effect was only
to delay the fulfilment, for the disaster predicted eventually came in 587,
when Jerusalem fell. (Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Back Toward the Future: Hints
for Interpreting Biblical Prophecy [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books, 1989],
67-68)
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