⁸ Admittedly, a Christian could think of the situation that prevailed in the days of Micah, Zephaniah, and Habakkuk with a somewhat detached interest. “After all,” he might say, “it was such a long time ago!” But what lessons are there for us? We have already mentioned Peter’s counsel about Christians’ needing to be persons of “holy acts of conduct and deeds of godly devotion.” Right after those words, Peter stressed another need​—our need to be “awaiting and keeping close in mind the presence of the day of Jehovah.” (2 Peter 3:11, 12) Hence, we should be “keeping close in mind” that day, being “in expectation of it.”

9. Why is ‘keeping on the lookout’ appropriate for us?

⁹ Whether we have been serving Jehovah for a few years or for many decades, are we ‘keeping on the lookout and showing the same waiting attitude’ that Micah showed? (Romans 13:11) Granted, as humans, we might long to know when the end will come and how much time remains until that event. Yet, we simply cannot know. Recall Jesus’ words: “If the householder had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have kept awake and not allowed his house to be broken into. On this account you too prove yourselves ready, because at an hour that you do not think to be it, the Son of man is coming.”​—Matthew 24:43, 44.

“IN EXPECTATION” OR “SATISFIED”?

11. How did people of Micah and Hosea’s day differ from those men?

¹¹ Consider another lesson that we can draw from the prophets who lived in a period when the executions of Jehovah’s judgments, first against Israel and then against Judah, were approaching. While Micah ‘kept on the lookout and showed a waiting attitude,’ many around him did not. They became “haters of what is good and lovers of badness.” Micah warned that if they would not change, they could ‘call to Jehovah for aid, but he would not answer them.’ (Micah 3:2, 4; 7:7)