Micah 1:7

Micah warned of the coming destruction of Samaria. We are not sure of when, (within a 50-year period), he preached this message, but we do know that Samaria was conquered and destroyed. He made it clear that the destruction was a direct result of Samaria’s sin. He mentions her idolatry and predicts that her idols would be destroyed with fire and her temples torn down. We know that historically the conquerors of a city would melt down the idols of the defeated religions and recast them into idols of the conquering nation’s religion.

Micah wrote that Samaria gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes, and as the wages of prostitutes, they would again be used. If he intended this passage literally, then prostitution was a greater part of the economic activities of Samaria than most historians believe, or it had greater importance in the practice of Samaria’s pagan religions than they first thought.

I do not believe he intended this phrase literally; I believe he was painting another word picture. The picture is of Samaria as a woman who sells herself for worldly treasure. She is foolish enough to believe her customers would be her protectors and their payments would make her wealthy. Samaria prostituted herself to one foreign power after another. Each one gave her gold and silver and promises of an alliance that would keep her safe, and each one lied. The last customer she had was the Assyrians, and after they had used her and taken advantage of her, they beat her. They took the wealth back that they had given her and went looking for another city-state to buy. They left her broke and defenseless.

Samaria sold herself seeking wealth and power, and she received destruction. Samaria had a better option. She could have given herself to God and remained faithful; he would have kept her safe. Prostitution is always an option. However, selling ourselves to the world will gain us nothing, and will cost us everything.