When the wise men from the east came to Jerusalem to worship the Lord Jesus they were sent to Bethlehem according to Micah 5:2.
The scribes at the time of the NT knew Micah's prophecy as well and correctly referred Micah 5:2 to the Messiah king of Israel's place of birth. 2 Peter 3:15 is another reference (where Paul's epistles are mentioned). 1 Timothy 5:18, for example, is a quotation of Luke's gospel. The same implies also for the writings of the New Testament. This is a proof that the inspired writings of the OT were immediately recognized and respected as such by the people of God (compare Daniel 9:2 and Ezra 1:1). When Jeremiah announced the Babylonian captivity to Judah around 100 years later the oldest inhabitants could remember the prophecy at the time of king Hezekiah in Micah 3:12 (see Jeremiah 26:18). In the land itself Micah was troubled with problems such as formal worship without true fear of God, idolatry and oppression of the people by the leadership. During this time the Assyrians attacked the northern kingdom, which was defeated in 722 BC and was brought into Assyrian captivity (see Micah 1 Micah 5:5 ff). He therefore was a contemporary of Isaiah, Hosea and Amos. Micah lived and worked under the kings Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah around 750 - 700 BC. Micah came from Moresheth Gath, around 20 miles southwest of Jerusalem near to the border to the Philistines. The prophet Micah's name is probably an abbreviation of Micaiah (= who is like Jehovah?).
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