Based on Jonah and the Minors: Chapter 9—Micah + Nahum
Juliette Alvey
Dear Grown-up,
Over the course of my husband’s years in ministry, we have made four major moves to completely new locations. Moving is never easy. One difficulty when getting settled in a new city is the way locals talk about surrounding areas. I almost stopped asking people where they were from because they would say something like, “I grew up in Bladiblah.” And I would say, “Where is Bladiblah?” And they would reply, “Oh, it’s near Yadiyah.” And I would say, “Where’s *Yadiyah?” And it would go on like that, until finally I asked, “Ummm, how far away is that from here?”
It feels disorienting to be unfamiliar with a place, and it can take years to finally not feel lost when someone describes surrounding areas. In order to learn, I have to ask about their relation to where I am. That may seem egocentric, but if a place has no connection to where I am, I will not remember a thing about it. It’s just a random name.
In the Bible, and especially in the books of the minor prophets, I feel a bit like a newbie in an unfamiliar city where someone throws out names of places I have no connection to yet. The prophet Micah refers to places like “Gath,” “Beth Ophrah,” “Shaphir,” “Zaanan,” and “Beth Ezel.” Besides being a good challenge for an unfortunate scripture reader on a Sunday, these names do not mean much to me at first. However, the original people hearing Micah’s message from the Lord would have known, and when they heard their own city named, perhaps it felt a bit like hearing your county’s name in a news report about a coming disaster: hearts drop when impending calamity is coming to your own home.
Micah and Nahum were both prophets tasked with warning the people, but they also shared God’s impending comfort as well. In their prophecies, they describe another unfamiliar place (a mountain!), which was not an obscure historical name but a vision of the future:
“In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and peoples will stream to it…. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Everyone will sit under their own vine and under their own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the LORD Almighty has spoken.” —Micah 4:1, 3-4
“Look, there on the mountains, the feet of one who brings good news, who proclaims peace! Celebrate your festivals, Judah, and fulfill your vows. No more will the wicked invade you; they will be completely destroyed.” —Nahum 1:15
These descriptions of a mountain where nations no longer fight and evil is destroyed are difficult to imagine in our current, broken world. But there is a mountain where impending disaster and impending comfort meet, and it is called Calvary. Jesus took on himself the evil and brokenness of this world and promised peace in their place. That is the mountain Micah and Nahum both describe, but their prophecy is also a future mountain where Jesus will meet us one day and bring only peace and comfort.
This causes me to ask God, “Where is this mountain?” And he answers, “It is where I am.” And I ask, “How far away is that from here?”
And God answers, “Closer than you realize, my dear.”
*After writing this and making up the word “Yadiyah,” I looked up its meaning to make sure it wasn’t offensive and found that it is a Hebrew name that means “Known by God.”
