Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Micah 3:9
Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.
9 12. A recapitulation of the national sins, with a more distinct declaration of the bitter end
10. build up Zion with blood ] Probably this alludes to the building of palaces and fortifications, always a fruitful source of oppression in the East. ‘Blood’ is used by synecdoche for ‘violent conduct leading to the ruin of others;’ so Isa 1:15; Isa 59:3, Pro 1:11, and other passages. Unless we admit this, we shall have to take an incredibly dark view of the state of public morals in the Jewish state.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Hear this, I pray you – The prophet discharges upon them that judgment whereof, by the Spirit of God, he was full, and which they abhorred; judgment against their perversion of judgment. He rebukes the same classes as before the heads and judges Mic 3:1, yet still more sternly. They abhorred judgment, he says, as a thing loathsome and abominable, such as men cannot bear even to look upon; they not only dealt wrongly, but they perverted, distorted, all equity: that so there should not remain even some slight justice in the city . All equity; all of every sort, right, rectitude, uprightness, straight-forwardness, whatever was right by natural conscience or by Gods law, they distorted, like the sophists making the worse appear the better cause. Naked violence crushes the individual; perversion of equity destroys the fountain-head of justice. The prophet turns from them in these words, as one who could not bear to look upon their misdeeds, and who would not speak to them; they pervert; building; her heads, her priests, her prophets; as Elisha, but for the presence of Jehoshaphat, would not look on Jehoram, nor see him 2Ki 3:14. He first turns and speaks of them, as one man, as if they were all one in evil;
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 9. Hear this] An appeal similar to that in Mic 3:1.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
This verse is word for word the same in the former part of it with the former part of the first verse of this chapter; we refer thither for explication of it. The prophet having asserted his Divine call, and avowed his faithfulness in the prophetic office, Mic 3:8, he here gives us one more proof of it, dealing roundly with the magistrates in both kingdoms, Israel and Judah.
That abhor judgment; whereas judgment should be their great delight, as it is of every good magistrate, these had hearts that detested it, were weary of the directions of Gods law in their polity, and hated to be controlled by it.
And pervert all equity; where you can, you wrest the law to countenance your unequal proceedings, and wrong those you should right, and acquit those you should condemn. And there is many a woe denounced against such.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. Hearresumed from Mic3:1. Here begins the leading subject of the prophecy: ademonstration of his assertion that he is “full of power by theSpirit of Jehovah” (Mic 3:8).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel,…. As an instance of his boldness, courage, and impartiality, he begins with the principal men of the land, and charges them with sins, and reproves for them, and denounces judgments on account of them; [See comments on Mic 3:1];
that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity; a sad character of princes, rulers, and judges, who not only ought to know but to love judgment, justice, and equity, and do them; even take delight and pleasure in the distribution of them to everyone, and in every cause that came before them; but, instead of this, hated to do that which was right and just; and perverted all the rules and laws of justice and equity, clearing the guilty, and condemning the innocent.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Third strophe. – Mic 3:9. “Hear this, I pray, O he heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, who abhor right, and bend all that is straight. Mic 3:10. Building Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with wickedness. Mic 3:11. Their heads, they judge for reward; and their priests, they teach for hire; and their prophets, they divine for money, and lean upon Jehovah, saying, Is not Jehovah among us? evil will not come upon us.” With the words “Hear this, I pray,” the address returns to its starting-point in Mic 3:1, but only to announce to the leaders of the people the threat of punishment for which the way has been prepared by Mic 3:2-7. To this end their God-forgetting conduct is briefly summed up once more in Mic 3:10, Mic 3:11. The summons to hear is really attached to the end of Mic 3:8. They are to hear the sin of Jacob (Mic 3:9-11); but they are also to hear the punishment for their sin, to which the word “this” points. The civil rulers only are addressed in Mic 3:9, – namely, those who were charged with the administration of justice and of the affairs of the state, but who did the very opposite, who abhorred justice, and made the straight crooked, because they passed sentence for bribes (Mic 3:11). They thereby build Zion with blood, etc., i.e., obtain the means of erecting splendid buildings by cruel extortions, and partly also by actual judicial murders, as Ahab (1 Kings 21 compared with Mic 6:16), and after him Jehoiakim, had done (Jer 22:13-17). The Chaldeans built with blood in a different sense (Hab 2:12). The participle boneh (building) is also in apposition to ra’she beth (heads of the house, etc.), and the singular without the article is to be taken collectively. They do not, however, truly build the city by this, they simply labour for its destruction (Mic 3:12). But before saying this, Micah once more sums up briefly all the sins of the leading ranks. The teaching of the priests for reward refers to the fact that they had to give instruction as to the ritual requirements of the law, and were to do this gratuitously (cf. Lev 10:11; Deu 17:11; Deu 33:10), and that in disputed cases the judges were to pronounce sentence accordingly. At the same time, these men (not the prophets merely, but also the priests and the heads of the nation as the administrators of justice) placed their reliance upon Jehovah, upon the assurance that He was in the midst of them enthroned in His temple at Jerusalem, and that He would protect the city and its inhabitants from misfortune, without ever reflecting that Jehovah as the Holy One demands sanctification of life, and exterminates the sinners out of His people.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
The Prophet begins really to prove what he had stated, — that he was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit: and it was, as they say, an actual proof, when the Prophet dreaded no worldly power, but boldly addressed the princes and provoked their rage against him, Hear, he says, ye heads, ye rulers of the house of Jacob, ye men who are cruel, bloody, and iniquitous. We then see that the Prophet had not boasted of what he did not without delay really confirm. But he began with saying, that he was filled with the Spirit of God, that he might more freely address them, and that he might check their insolence. We indeed know that the ungodly are so led on headlong by Satan, that they hesitate not to resist God himself: but yet the name of God is often to them a sort of a hidden chain. However much then the wicked may rage, they yet become less ferocious when the name of God is introduced. This is the reason why the Prophet had mentioned the Spirit of God; it was, that there might be a freer course to his doctrine.
When he now says, Ye heads of the house of Jacob, ye rulers of the house of Israel, it is by way of concession, as though he had said, that these were indeed splendid titles, and that he was not so absurd as not to acknowledge what had been given them by God, even that they were eminent, a chosen race, being the children of Abraham. The Prophet then concedes to the princes what belonged to them, as though he had said, that he was not a seditious man, who had no care nor consideration for civil order. And this defense was very necessary, for nothing is more common than for the ungodly to charge God’s servants with sedition, whenever they use a freedom of speech as it becomes them. Hence all who govern the state, when they hear their corruptions reproved, or their avarice, or their cruelty, or any of their other crimes, immediately cry out, — “What! if we suffer these things, every thing will be upset: for when all respect is gone, what will follow but brutal outrage? for every one of the common people will rise up against the magistrates and the judges.” Thus then the wicked ever say, that God’s servants are seditious whenever they boldly reprove them. This is the reason why the Prophet concedes to the princes and judges of the people their honor; but a qualifying clause immediately follows, — Ye are indeed the heads, ye are rulers; but yet they hate judgment: ” he does not think them worthy of being any longer addressed. He had indeed bidden them to hear as with authority; but having ordered them to hear, he now uncovers their wickedness, They hate, he says, judgments and all rectitude pervert: (108) each of them builds Zion by blood, and Jerusalem by iniquity; that is, they turn their pillages into buildings: “This, forsooth, is the splendor of my holy city even of Zion! where I designed the ark of my covenant to be placed, as in my only habitation, even there buildings are seen constructed by blood and by plunder! See, he says, how wickedly these princes conduct themselves under the cover of their dignity!” (109)
We now see that the word of God is not bound, but that it puts forth its power against the highest as well as the lowest; for it is the Spirit’s office to arraign the whole world, and not a part only.
‘
When the Spirit shall come,’ says Christ, ‘it will convince the world,’ (Joh 16:8.)
He speaks not there of the common people only, but of the whole world, of which princes and magistrates form a prominent part. Let us then know, that though we ought to show respect to judges, (as the Lord has honored them with dignified titles, calling them his vicegerents and also gods,) yet the mouths of Prophets ought not to be closed; but they ought, without making any difference, to correct whatever is deserving of reproof, and not to spare even the chief men themselves. This is what ought in the first place to be observed.
(108) It often happens, as in the present case, that the relative ה, in Hebrew, prefixed to a participle, has after it a verb in the future connected by ו, and in person different from that to which the relative refers. The relative here refers to a noun in the second, and the verb connected with the participle is in the third person. It is an idiom, of which there are frequent instances. We find the same to be the case with the relative אשר, in the third verse. It refers to the chiefs, who are addressed, and must therefore be viewed as in the second person, and all the verbs which follow it are in the third. Some render the participle, “who hate,” which is in Hiphil, in a causative sense. See Amo 5:7. The distich may then be rendered thus, —
Who render judgment hateful, (or, abominable,) And distort everything that is right, or more literally, And make crooked everything that is straight.
—
Ed.
(109) “They pretend,” says Henry, “in justification of their extortion and oppressions, that they build up Zion and Jerusalem; they add new streets and squares to the holy cities and adorn them; they establish and advance the public interests both in church and state, and think therein they do God and Israel good service; but it is with blood and with iniquity, and therefore it cannot prosper; nor will their intentions of good to the city of God justify their contradictions to the law of God.” A flaming zeal for a good cause can never consecrate extortion, injustice, and murder.
It may be asked, What is the difference between Zion and Jerusalem? Zion was the church, Jerusalem was the state; or it may be, that, according to the usual style of the Prophets, the more limited idea is given first, and the more extensive one is added to it. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Mic. 3:9. Hear] Resumed from Mic. 3:1. Heads] Whose ungodly conduct is briefly summed up again. Abhor] As a thing loathsome and abominable (Heb.)
Mic. 3:10. Build] Lit. building with wealth and money obtained by bribes and murder of the innocent (Jer. 22:13; Eze. 22:27; Hab. 2:12). Or by blood he may mean that they indirectly took away life, in that, through wrong judgments, extortion, usury, fraud, oppression, reducing wages, or detaining them, they took away what was necessary to support life [Pusey],
Mic. 3:11. Reward] Take bribes, when they should teach gratuitously (Lev. 10:11; Deu. 17:11). Prophets] False prophets. Money] Giving the answer which their employers, the rich men, wanted, as if it were an answer from God [Pusey.] Among us] Enthroned in the temple to protect us from calamity.
Mic. 3:12. Therefore] Culminating the threats of Mic. 3:8, a great contrast to the conclusion of chapter 2. They thought to build, when by their conduct they destroy Zion; for your sake be plowed. The predicates are divided rhetorically, and the thought is this: the royal palace, the city, and the temple shall be so utterly destroyed, that of all the houses and palaces only heaps of rubbish will remain, and the ground upon which the city stood will be partly used as a ploughed field, and partly overgrown with bushes (cf. Isa. 32:13-14) [Keil]. Hezekiahs repentance delayed the execution of the judgment for more than a hundred years; but Jerusalem was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and by Titus.
HOMILETICS
GUILTY LEADERS.Mic. 3:9-11
The prophet gives a proof of his fidelity in reproving the rulers of the nation, civil and religious; briefly sums up the sins of which they were guilty, and which brought their ruin; and shows that all who are confident of Gods favour will not escape his judgments.
I. Civil rulers perverted law for selfish aggrandisement. Rulers of the State should have been patterns of justice, but they despised it.
1. They abhorred judgment. Loathed it as abominable. Plato taught that if virtue could be seen by men, it would be attractive; but these judges knew and hated it.
2. They perverted judgment. They twisted and distorted it. Not only crushed individuals, but destroyed the foundation of justice.
3. They perverted all judgment, all equity. Whatever was right and straight they made crooked. Natural conscience and Gods law were both defied. They neither governed themselves by right, nor gave right to others. They encouraged others by their practice, and, as in the age of Nero, made nothing unlawful.
4. Their aim was to build up Zion. The rich built their palaces with wealth gained by fraud and oppression. The city was adorned with streets built by rapine and blood. The Lord looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.
II. Religious teachers expounded law for gain. All are accused of bribery and mercenary conduct. Princes, priests, and prophets loved the wages of unrighteousness.
1. Priests taught for hire. They had maintenance assigned to them by God, had much by gratuity (1Sa. 9:7-8), and should have made a difference between holy and unholy (Lev. 10:10-11; Deu. 17:10-11). But they sold what they should have given, and combined with the heads of the nation, with injustice. One class abused their power, another their knowledge; the judge perverted law, the priest misinterpreted it.
2. Prophets divined for money. False prophets gave answers to please those who paid them. As the oracles of Apollo were corrupted by the gold of Philip, so the law of God was sold for money. All sought their own, not the things of Christ, nor the interests of the people. Thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.
VAIN CONFIDENCE DESTROYED.Mic. 3:11-12
Notwithstanding their abominable conduct, yet the judges, priests, and prophets presume upon Gods favour, and think that no evil will befall them. The prophet seeks to rouse them from their vain confidence.
I. They were confident of Gods favour. Is not the Lord among us? Presumption feeds men with delusion. External privileges, outward reformation, ritual worship, will save no man. Those who lean upon these will dishonour God and destroy themselves. Perversion of truth and abuse of ordinances will drive God from us. Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord are we.
II. They were confident of security from evil. No evil can come upon us. We are perfectly safe whatever others say. Thus men are deluded in sin, and rocked to sleep in fatal security. If men are not restrained from evil by religious privileges, they can never be protected by them. Shake off carnal security, fear the Lord, and depart from evil.
III. They were doomed to destruction in their confidence. There shall Zion, &c.
1. The city would be destroyed. Its stately buildings were demolished, and its proud palaces reduced to heaps. The ground on which it stood was ploughed as a common field, and the site of the temple became wild as a forest.
2. Their own sins had procured this ruin. For your sake. Sin will ever draw calamity in Church and State. Corrupt rulers and teachers involve the people in defection, and hasten on the judgment. They may think that they build, when they only destroy; that they secure prosperity, when they ruin it. Every sanctuary desecrated by hypocrisy will be demolished by the wrath of God. Instead of protecting, it will fall upon its worshippers, and great will be the fall of it. Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood!
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Mic. 3:9.
1. Persons in eminency, accustomed to sin, are generally deaf to what the Lord saith.
2. The messengers of the Lord must not give up when their message is not received, but cry till either they get audience or have delivered their souls. Hear, I pray you.
3. It is the duty of faithful ministers, in reproving the faults of rulers, to be courteous, and not contemn authority. Hear, ye heads, &c. [Adapted from Hutcheson].
Mic. 3:10. Building Zion by wrong means is the way to pull it down. It can never stand erected by sinful materials, and for a selfish end. Truly we build up Zion with blood when we cheapen luxuries and comforts at the price of souls, use Christian toil like brute strength, tempt men to dishonesty and women to other sin, to eke out the scanty wages which alone our selfish thirst for cheapness allows, heedless of everything save of our individual gratification, or of the commercial prosperity which we have made our god [Pusey]. Righteousness builds up because it brings Gods protection and blessing unrighteousness tears down because it brings Gods curse [Hengstenberg].
Mic. 3:11. Leaning.
1. Holy men sometimes rest on official relationship with God, pollute the holiest things, and become a warning to others.
2. Guilty men will often lean upon the Lord, claim his protection, and flatter themselves into false security. The sacred office is a grievous snare to unsanctified hearts, says one. No ungodliness, pride, secularity, and hypocrisy are so great as those which stand before God in association with the teaching of his Word.
Mic. 3:11-12. False confidence in God.
1. Its ground, an outward templesacraments.
2. Its danger, disregard of the distant future, indifference, indulgence given to the natural man.
3. Its end. Fate of the Jewish state; the holy city becomes as the world, and shares the fate of the world. So likewise we. If we forsake God he will forsake us [Lange].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 3
Mic. 3:9-10. Build. The crimes of the people of England are not denounced by the pulpit as they should be; the abominations of royalty, the injustices perpetrated in the courts of justice, the cupidity of traders, the swindlings of joint-stock company men, by which they become millionnaires, and win a seat in the parliament of the nation. These things are not held up, as they should be, for public execration, in the broad sunlight of eternal truth [Dr. Thomas].
Mic. 3:11. Money. The priests of Rome aim but at two thingsto get power from the king and money from the subject [Selden]. Gold is the fools curtain, which hides all his defects from the world [Feltham].
They all the sacred mysteries of heavn
To their own vile advantages shall turn
Of lucre and ambition [Milton].
Mic. 3:12. Zion ploughed. At the time I visited this sacred ground, one part of it supported a crop of barley, another was undergoing the labour of the plough, and the soil turned up consisted of stone and lime, filled with earth, such as is usually met with in the foundations of ruined cities. It is nearly a mile in circumference [Richardsons Travels]. On the S.E. Zion slopes down, in a series of cultivated terraces, sharply, though not abruptly, to the sites of the kings gardens. Here and round to the S. the whole declivities are sprinkled with olive trees, which grow luxuriantly among the narrow slips of corn [Porter].
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CONCLUSION OF THE DENUNCIATIONS . . . Mic. 3:9-12
RV . . . Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, that abhor justice, and pervert all equity. They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet they lean upon Jehovah, and say, Is not Jehovah in the midst of us? no evil shall come upon us. Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.
LXX . . . Hear now these words, ye chiefs of the house of Jacob, and the remnant of the house of Israel, who hate judgment, and pervert all righteousness; who build up Sion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. The heads thereof have judged for gifts, and the priests thereof have answered for hire, and her prophets have divined for silver: and yet they have rested on the Lord, saying, Is not the Lord among us? no evil shall come upon us. Therefore on your account Sion shall be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem shall be as a storehouse of fruits, and the mountain of the house as a grove of the forest.
COMMENTS
To this point, Micah has denounced specifically the wealthy whose wealth is gained by cheating the poor, the false prophet who preaches what his listeners want to hear while he ignores their sins, the judges who are unconcerned with justice and the political officials who, like their constituents, hate good and love evil. In this passage he summarizes and concludes the list of those whose greed for power and wealth, along with their unconcern for human misery have brought Gods covenant nation to her downfall.
The list of their sins has an ominously familiar ring to anyone aware of the present spiritual condition of our own nation. They abhor justice and pervert all equity. They judge for reward, teach for hire and divine for money. And through it all they have the audacity to lean upon Jehovah. Rather than repent and obey His laws, they presume to believe that they are yet His people, so that no evil can befall them.
False teaching is always recognizable by its emphasis on the goodness of God accompanied by the denial of His wrath . . . its proclamation of the promises of God while denying the condition of those promises. The preaching of such lies only makes the judgements of God the more certain.
(Mic. 3:9) Hear is here resumed from verse one, indicating that Micah is about to sum up his denunciation of the evils of those who claim to be Gods people.
The term heads of Jacob as in verse one calls attention to the civil rulers of the commonwealth, while rulers of the house of Israel here as there refers to the religious leaders. The sum of all of which he has accused them is that they abhor justice and pervert all equity.
Pusey remarks concerning Mic. 3:9, They abhorred judgement he says, as a thing loathsome and abominable, such as men cannot even bear to look upon; they not only dealt wrongly, but they perverted, distorted, all equity . . . whatever was right by conscience or by Gods laws, they distorted, like the sophists making the worse appear the better cause.
A rather sadistic anecdote will illustrate how this attitude toward social justice is very much alive today, The story is told of two black men walking along a limited access highway in the deep south. A wealthy plantation owners Cadillac struck them both, throwing one into a nearby cotton field and the other through the cars windshield and onto the back seat. A sheriff soon arrived on the scene and announced, Well charge one with leaving the scene of an accident and the other with breaking and entering. The humor of this story lies not in the judgement of the sheriff against the unfortunate blacks, but in the unlikely circumstances of the accident. Perversions of justice just as far-fetched are matters of court record throughout the United States. The reasons are the same as those which brought about the corruption of Micahs day.
(Mic. 3:10) Maintaining his distinction between the civil and religious authorities, Micah accuses the latter of building up Zion with blood and the former of building up Jerusalem with iniquity.
Religion consisted of meticulously observing the formal sacrifices daily in the temple while ignoring the moral implications of the law, particularly the matter of human relations. The charge is reminiscent of that leveled against the religious leaders of first century Zion by Jesus, Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye tithe mint and anise and cummin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith: but these things ye should have done and not to have left the other undone. (Mat. 23:23) Both Micah and Jesus would have agreed with Pro. 15:8, The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to Jehovah . . . The covenant purposes of God, symbolized here in the term Zion, cannot be built upon the blood of religious sacrifices offered by evil men.
We cannot but note in passing that one of the chief reasons for the disenchantment of modern man with the institutionalized church is that the religious people who are members of the churches have too often failed to relate their duty to God to their duty to man and particularly to the social injustices exacted from the poor and the ignorant. It is easy to say that the purposes of God are redemptive rather than reformative . . . that the business of the church is to preach the gospel and win the lost, but it is not so easy to reach the lost whose stomach is empty because some influential member of the church has denied him work because of the color of his skin. It is easy to say the churchs business is to proclaim the redemption of Christ to those outside the church, but it is not so easy to get the outsider to listen to a recital of his spiritual needs while we remain aloof and unconcerned for his physical needs. No doubt this is why Jesus only detailed account of the judgement has to do with those who fed and visited and clothed the downtrodden in His name . . . or who while performing great religious works had failed to do so. (Mat. 25:31-46) In the prophecy of Micah, as well as that of the Lord, the punishment of such evil is severe and total.
Just as the religion of Zion was built upon the blood of mockingly meaningless sacrifices, so the political structure of Jerusalems civil government was built upon social iniquity. Matthew Henrys comment here says it about as well as it can be said, They pretend in justification of their extortion and oppressions, that they have built up Zion and Jerusalem: they add new streets and squares . . . and adorn them; they establish and advance the public interests both in church and state, and think therein they do God and Israel good service.
Could there be any more accurate illustration in an ancient writing of the social injustices of modern America? In the name of progress we move underprivileged people out of inadequate homes for which we pay them little or no renumeration to make way for our expressways and urban renewal projects . . . we exact exorbitant taxes to subsidize such urgent projects as the scientific study of earthworms while many who pay the taxes are forced to deprive their children of the necessities of life . . . the list of our iniquities is as long as that charged by Micah against the leaders of his society. We will be something less than wise if we fail to understand that the moral dry rot which destroyed Israel and Judah in the eighth and seventh century B.C. will also destroy ours in the 20th and 21st centuries A.D.
HEADS . . . PRIESTS . . . Mic. 3:11
Following still farther his denunciation of both the civil and religious leaders of the nation, Micah again accused the judges of being corrupt, deciding cases on the basis of bribes rather than justice.
To this charge, the prophet adds a new note. Heretofore, he has denounced the false prophet as representative of the corrupt religious system, Now he turns to the priest. The priest, he alleges, teaches for hire. The duty of the priest was to teach the law and decide controversy with justice, (Lev. 10:11, Deu. 17:11) Instead, these spiritual representatives of God among His people were emmeshed in the same materialism that polluted the rest of the upper classes of society.
Nor does Micah forget the false prophet in making this summary of his charges. He again asserts that the prophets preach only to fill their purses. They divine, that is they proclaim what they know the people want to hear as the will of God in order to receive pay.
And while they do this, they tell the people that God is among them, that the doom predicted by Micah and Isaiah and others cannot come to pass because they are, after all, the chosen people of God.
Such a claim brings up a rather moot question, very relevant in our day: Who is the real patriot? Who is really concerned for his country? The person who says my country right or wrong or the person who, like Micah, sees the faults of his homeland and sets about in the name of God to do something about those faults?
Is should be apparent from the subsequent doom pronounced against Zion and Jerusalem, as well as from the testimony of more recent history, that Gods relationship to the Jews as a race or as a nation is not unconditional. They have rejected Jehovah for Baal . . . they have abandoned spiritual justice for materialistic gain and fleshly pleasure. As their ancient uncle Esau, they have sold their birthright for a mess of pottage and so no longer have any claim to the promises of Jehovah!
THEREFORE . . . Mic. 3:12
In consequence of the sin of those in high places, the sacred mountain, Zion, is to be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem their capital is to be as any other high place in the forest. (On the 6th September, A.D. 70, Jerusalem fell and the Romans destroyed it so completely that they drove a plough across the ruins. As a nation the Jews had come to an end; and their own mad folly had brought their end upon them. Barclay)
The kingdom is finished. The north will go first, the south will soon follow. And God will recall a remnant through whom to accomplish His promise . . . in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed. (Gen. 12:3 (b))
One hundred years later another prophet, Jeremiah, would quote these verses from Micah in defense of his own denunciations of an equally sinful generation. (Jer. 26:18)
Chapter VIIIQuestions
Third Cycle
1.
Discuss Micahs concern for the covenant in light of his plea in Mic. 3:1-4.
2.
Discuss the concept of absolute good and evil in contrast with modern situation ethics (new morality). Mic. 2:1 -ff
3.
What is meant by pluch off their skin and flesh from their bones (Mic. 2:2(b) – Mic. 3:3)?
4.
Discuss the will of God as the only natural and proper standard of all that is right.
5.
Discuss ways to penetrate the layers of ignorance in modern philosophies with the truth of Gods sovereignty.
6.
Are the prophetic warnings of the consequences of loving evil and hating good relevant to our current moral revolution?
7.
What three classes of people does Micah denounce? (Mic. 2:1-3; Mic. 3:1-5)
8.
What specific class of leaders are accused of making the people to err?
9.
What seems to have been the chief concern of the false prophets?
10.
What is Gods warning to mercenary prophets?
11.
Comment on the idea that God is a tolerant benevolent benefactor.
12.
What is to be the fate of the false prophets in the day of the judgement against the wicked nations as pronounced by Micah?
13.
What three things characterize Micah as a true prophet as opposed to the false prophets?
14.
Compare the false prophet syndrome of Micahs day with our present religious climate in America.
15.
What is the relationship between false religious teaching and the cultural collapse of a civilization?
16.
What are the specific sins with which Micah charges the wealthy, the false prophet, the magistrates, the political officials?
17.
False teaching is always recognizable by its emphasis on the ____________ of God accompanied by a denial of His ____________.
18.
The term head of Jacob calls attention to ____________.
19.
Rulers of the house of Israel refers to ____________.
CHAPTER IX
FUTURE EXALTATION AND
MESSIANIC HOPE
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
Renewed condemnation of the nation’s religious and political leaders Doom of Jerusalem, Mic 3:9-12.
After the direct denunciation of the prophets, Micah sums up the sins and crimes which may be laid to the charge of nobles, priests, and prophets, and announces the utter destruction of Jerusalem.
Mic 3:9-10 are addressed exclusively to the “heads” and “princes” (R.V., “rulers”) of the nation, whose duty it was to administer justice. It is worthy of notice that not one word is said in condemnation of the king. This silence concerning the king may be due to the fact that the prophecy was uttered at a time when a king in sympathy with the prophetic teaching was upon the throne, namely, Hezekiah (compare Jer 26:17-19; 2Ki 18:3-4). The “heads,” instead of administering justice, abhorred and perverted it. How they did this is stated in Mic 3:11. The capital owed its splendor and magnificence very largely to the crimes condemned in Mic 3:9.
Blood Blood-guiltiness (Isa 1:15; compare G.-K., 124n) that is, “violent conduct leading to the ruin of others.” By extortion and other illegitimate means they secured the material needed for the erection of palaces and other majestic structures. The last clause repeats the same thought for the sake of emphasis. Mic 3:11 contrasts the conduct of the rulers, priests, and prophets with their religious professions; and so it contains a summary of all the accusations uttered in the preceding verses, and paves the way for the announcement of doom in Mic 3:12.
Reward Better, bribe. All the eighth century prophets find it necessary to preach against corruption of this sort (see on Amo 5:12; compare Isa 1:23; Mic 7:3).
The priests teach for hire It was the duty of the priests to teach the Torah (see on Hos 4:4 ff., especially Mic 3:6) and to give judgment in difficult legal cases; this they were to do uninfluenced by any personal consideration (Deu 17:11); but in time the priests became unfaithful, and the question of reward played an important part in the discharge of their duties.
Divine for money See on Mic 3:5.
Lean upon Jehovah In the face of this moral depravity rulers, priests, and prophets claimed to be entitled to the favor and protection of Jehovah.
Is not Jehovah among us? In their opinion the prophet of judgment was a fanatic, a fool; they were convinced that, since Jehovah was on their side, no evil could befall them (see introductory remarks to Amo 3:1 to Amo 4:3; Amo 3:2; Amo 5:14). The mass of people might, perhaps, be excused for laboring under a misapprehension, but not so the leaders; they should have known that Jehovah demands holiness of heart and life rather than a painstaking ritual service.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
He Summarises The Situation In The Land And Declares What will Come Upon Them As A Result ( Mic 3:9-12 ).
Micah now advises the corrupt leaders of their sins and of what is coming on them because of them. And yet he also comments on the fact that in spite of their behaviour, they actually claim to lean on YHWH and genuinely consider that nothing can happen to them because YHWH is among them. Well, he says, let them consider this fact, that because of what they are YHWH is intending to plough up Zion like a ploughed field, to turn Jerusalem into heaps, as He had done Samaria, and to make the mountain of YHWH’s house like the high places in the forests. This latter may mean that it will be ravaged like the high places had been ravaged by Hezekiah’s reforms, or that it will simply be seen as another false place of idolatry.
Mic 3:9
‘Hear this, I pray you, you heads of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, who abhor justice, and pervert all equity.
Mic 3:10
‘Those who build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.’
Instead of building up a pure and righteous Zion which would bring honour to YHWH, they are establishing Zion by violence and murder, and building up Jerusalem on total sinfulness. Thus somehow its filth needs to be washed away and its blood purged (Isa 4:4)
Mic 3:11
‘The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet they lean upon YHWH, and say, “Is not YHWH in the midst of us? No evil will come upon us.’
The leading judges make their judgments on the basis of bribes, the priest teach for wages rather than out of a desire to spread God’s word, and the prophets tell people whatever they want to hear, as long as they pay them well enough. And yet these same men profess to lean on YHWH, and then naively declare, ‘Is not YHWH in the midst of us?’ They are so sure that YHWH is among them that they cannot conceive that anything harmful could befall them. Such is people’s naive belief in God. They yet had to learn that God is not to be bought. He is there on behalf of the humble and contrite in spirit.
Mic 3:12
‘Therefore will Zion for your sake be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem will become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.’
And because of their sinfulness, and because of their false view, they will sadly at some time learn how wrong they are. YHWH might come among them, but it will be in order to turn Zion (the outer Jerusalem) into a ploughed field, and to turn the fortress of Jerusalem into ruined heaps. Jerusalem will be destroyed.
That God delayed doing this was probably due to Hezekiah’s loyalty, Isaiah’s prayers, and Micah’s intercession. It would be another hundred years before it came to fruition. But as Micah heard the news of the advancing armies of Assyria, it was not necessarily so unexpected, for he knew that YHWH’s protecting hand could no longer be guaranteed. He was not yet to know that God would yet have mercy and spare Jerusalem for another hundred years. Although we should note that it did come in the end.
Interestingly it was this prophecy of Micah that saved Jeremiah from worse treatment when he too prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem, although a contemporary was martyred (Jer 26:17-24).
‘And the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.’ This was the mount on which the Temple was built. But his warning here was that the Temple would be no safer than the ‘high places’ of a forest, those sacred shrines scattered throughout the hills of Judah, which would be desecrated by every invading army, as they mocked the gods of the land, and which were destroyed by Hezekiah. So even with its security on a mountain in the very centre of the city of Jerusalem, they must not think that the Temple was safe from the judgment of God. He could destroy it as easily as the high places had been destroyed by foreign soldiery and by Hezekiah (2Ki 18:4). Its inviolability was a myth.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Chapter closeth as it opened, full of judgment; but all preparatory to mercy, as the following Chapter declares. Indeed we ought to read both together, that we might do as the Psalmist did, when he sang both of judgment and mercy. The Holy Ghost in his divine office convinces of sin, and convinceth of Christ’s righteousness. Psa 101:1 ; Joh 16:8-11 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Mic 3:9 Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.
Ver. 9. Hear this, I pray you, ye heads, &c. ] He had had a bout with them before; but because little good was thereby done, he is at them again; according to that counsel of the wise man, Ecc 11:6 , “In the morning sow thy seed, in the evening withhold not thy hand: for thou knowest not,” &c. “Preach the word,” saith the apostle, “be instant” (or stand over the work, ) “in season, out of season,” 2Ti 4:2 . Chrysostom told his Antiochians, that he would never give over preaching against that sin of swearing till they gave over their swearing; which, because he could not get them to do, he breaks out into these words, It will be a hard speech unto you, but I will speak it: though there be so many thousands of you, yet there cannot be found a hundred that shall be saved; and I tell you true, I doubt of them too.
Ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel
That abhor judgment
And pervert all equity
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Mic 3:9-12
CONCLUSION OF THE DENUNCIATIONS(Mic 3:9-12)
To this point, Micah has denounced specifically the wealthy whose wealth is gained by cheating the poor, the false prophet who preaches what his listeners want to hear while he ignores their sins, the judges who are unconcerned with justice and the political officials who, like their constituents, hate good and love evil. In this passage he summarizes and concludes the list of those whose greed for power and wealth, along with their unconcern for human misery have brought Gods covenant nation to her downfall.
The list of their sins has an ominously familiar ring to anyone aware of the present spiritual condition of our own nation. They abhor justice and pervert all equity. They judge for reward, teach for hire and divine for money. And through it all they have the audacity to lean upon Jehovah. Rather than repent and obey His laws, they presume to believe that they are yet His people, so that no evil can befall them.
False teaching is always recognizable by its emphasis on the goodness of God accompanied by the denial of His wrath . . . its proclamation of the promises of God while denying the condition of those promises. The preaching of such lies only makes the judgements of God the more certain.
(Mic 3:9) Hear is here resumed from verse one, indicating that Micah is about to sum up his denunciation of the evils of those who claim to be Gods people. The term heads of Jacob as in verse one calls attention to the civil rulers of the commonwealth, while rulers of the house of Israel here as there refers to the religious leaders. The sum of all of which he has accused them is that they abhor justice and pervert all equity.
Zerr: Mic 3:9. The leading men in the nation are still the ones especially in the mind of the prophet. Abhor judgment refers to the right judgment which they should have manifested instead of abhorring it. A result of such an attitude was to pervert or corrupt all equity (fairness In dealing).
Pusey remarks concerning Mic 3:9, They abhorred judgement he says, as a thing loathsome and abominable, such as men cannot even bear to look upon; they not only dealt wrongly, but they perverted, distorted, all equity . . . whatever was right by conscience or by Gods laws, they distorted, like the sophists making the worse appear the better cause.
A rather sadistic anecdote will illustrate how this attitude toward social justice is very much alive today, The story is told of two black men walking along a limited access highway in the deep south. A wealthy plantation owners Cadillac struck them both, throwing one into a nearby cotton field and the other through the cars windshield and onto the back seat. A sheriff soon arrived on the scene and announced, Well charge one with leaving the scene of an accident and the other with breaking and entering. The humor of this story lies not in the judgement of the sheriff against the unfortunate blacks, but in the unlikely circumstances of the accident. Perversions of justice just as far-fetched are matters of court record throughout the United States. The reasons are the same as those which brought about the corruption of Micahs day.
(Mic 3:10) Maintaining his distinction between the civil and religious authorities, Micah accuses the latter of building up Zion with blood and the former of building up Jerusalem with iniquity.
Zerr: Mic 3:10. Since Zion and Jerusalem were names of the capital of the 2 tribe kingdom, this indicates that the prophet was considering the whole nation somewhat in his book. See the comments on this subject in Mic 3:8 and also at Mic 1:1.
Religion consisted of meticulously observing the formal sacrifices daily in the temple while ignoring the moral implications of the law, particularly the matter of human relations. The charge is reminiscent of that leveled against the religious leaders of first century Zion by Jesus, Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye tithe mint and anise and cummin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith: but these things ye should have done and not to have left the other undone. (Mat 23:23) Both Micah and Jesus would have agreed with Pro 15:8, The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to Jehovah . . . The covenant purposes of God, symbolized here in the term Zion, cannot be built upon the blood of religious sacrifices offered by evil men.
We cannot but note in passing that one of the chief reasons for the disenchantment of modern man with the institutionalized church is that the religious people who are members of the churches have too often failed to relate their duty to God to their duty to man and particularly to the social injustices exacted from the poor and the ignorant. It is easy to say that the purposes of God are redemptive rather than reformative . . . that the business of the church is to preach the gospel and win the lost, but it is not so easy to reach the lost whose stomach is empty because some influential member of the church has denied him work because of the color of his skin. It is easy to say the churchs business is to proclaim the redemption of Christ to those outside the church, but it is not so easy to get the outsider to listen to a recital of his spiritual needs while we remain aloof and unconcerned for his physical needs. No doubt this is why Jesus only detailed account of the judgement has to do with those who fed and visited and clothed the downtrodden in His name . . . or who while performing great religious works had failed to do so. (Mat 25:31-46) In the prophecy of Micah, as well as that of the Lord, the punishment of such evil is severe and total.
Just as the religion of Zion was built upon the blood of mockingly meaningless sacrifices, so the political structure of Jerusalems civil government was built upon social iniquity. Matthew Henrys comment here says it about as well as it can be said, They pretend in justification of their extortion and oppressions, that they have built up Zion and Jerusalem: they add new streets and squares . . . and adorn them; they establish and advance the public interests both in church and state, and think therein they do God and Israel good service.
Could there be any more accurate illustration in an ancient writing of the social injustices of modern America? In the name of progress we move underprivileged people out of inadequate homes for which we pay them little or no renumeration to make way for our expressways and urban renewal projects . . . we exact exorbitant taxes to subsidize such urgent projects as the scientific study of earthworms while many who pay the taxes are forced to deprive their children of the necessities of life . . . the list of our iniquities is as long as that charged by Micah against the leaders of his society. We will be something less than wise if we fail to understand that the moral dry rot which destroyed Israel and Judah in the eighth and seventh century B.C. will also destroy ours in the 20th and 21st centuries A.D.
HEADS . . . PRIESTS . . .( Mic 3:11)
Following still farther his denunciation of both the civil and religious leaders of the nation, Micah again accused the judges of being corrupt, deciding cases on the basis of bribes rather than justice. To this charge, the prophet adds a new note. Heretofore, he has denounced the false prophet as representative of the corrupt religious system, Now he turns to the priest. The priest, he alleges, teaches for hire. The duty of the priest was to teach the law and decide controversy with justice, (Lev 10:11, Deu 17:11) Instead, these spiritual representatives of God among His people were emmeshed in the same materialism that polluted the rest of the upper classes of society.
Zerr: Mic 3:11. This verse describes the same condition as Jer 5:31, but it goes further and states the motive for the corrupt conduct of the leaders. It verifies the statement, of Paul in 1Ti 6:10 that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. After all tills wicked procedure these hypocrites had the boldness to lean upon the Lord or pretend to rely upon Him. They even pretended to believe that the Lord would preserve them from all harm in spite of their inconsistent lives.
Nor does Micah forget the false prophet in making this summary of his charges. He again asserts that the prophets preach only to fill their purses. They divine, that is they proclaim what they know the people want to hear as the will of God in order to receive pay. And while they do this, they tell the people that God is among them, that the doom predicted by Micah and Isaiah and others cannot come to pass because they are, after all, the chosen people of God.
Such a claim brings up a rather moot question, very relevant in our day: Who is the real patriot? Who is really concerned for his country? The person who says my country right or wrong or the person who, like Micah, sees the faults of his homeland and sets about in the name of God to do something about those faults?
Is should be apparent from the subsequent doom pronounced against Zion and Jerusalem, as well as from the testimony of more recent history, that Gods relationship to the Jews as a race or as a nation is not unconditional. They have rejected Jehovah for Baal . . . they have abandoned spiritual justice for materialistic gain and fleshly pleasure. As their ancient uncle Esau, they have sold their birthright for a mess of pottage and so no longer have any claim to the promises of Jehovah!
THEREFORE . . .( Mic 3:12)
In consequence of the sin of those in high places, the sacred mountain, Zion, is to be plowed as a field (Mic 3:12), and Jerusalem their capital is to be as any other high place in the forest. (On the 6th September, A.D. 70, Jerusalem fell and the Romans destroyed it so completely that they drove a plough across the ruins. As a nation the Jews had come to an end; and their own mad folly had brought their end upon them. Barclay)
Zerr: Mic 3:12. Zion was an important spot in Jerusalem which was the capita! of the 2-tribe kingdom. Heaps means ruins either material or political. and this prediction refers to the ruin of Jerusalem (2Ki 15:9-10).
The kingdom is finished. The north will go first, the south will soon follow. And God will recall a remnant through whom to accomplish His promise . . . in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed. (Gen 12:3 (b))
One hundred years later another prophet, Jeremiah, would quote these verses from Micah in defense of his own denunciations of an equally sinful generation. (Jer 26:18)
Questions
Third Cycle
1. Discuss Micahs concern for the covenant in light of his plea in Mic 3:1-4.
2. Discuss the concept of absolute good and evil in contrast with modern situation ethics (new morality). Mic 2:1 -ff
3. What is meant by pluch off their skin and flesh from their bones (Mic 2:2(b)-3)?
4. Discuss the will of God as the only natural and proper standard of all that is right.
5. Discuss ways to penetrate the layers of ignorance in modern philosophies with the truth of Gods sovereignty.
6. Are the prophetic warnings of the consequences of loving evil and hating good relevant to our current moral revolution?
7. What three classes of people does Micah denounce? (Mic 2:1-3; Mic 3:1-5)
8. What specific class of leaders are accused of making the people to err?
9. What seems to have been the chief concern of the false prophets?
10. What is Gods warning to mercenary prophets?
11. Comment on the idea that God is a tolerant benevolent benefactor.
12. What is to be the fate of the false prophets in the day of the judgement against the wicked nations as pronounced by Micah?
13. What three things characterize Micah as a true prophet as opposed to the false prophets?
14. Compare the false prophet syndrome of Micahs day with our present religious climate in America.
15. What is the relationship between false religious teaching and the cultural collapse of a civilization?
16. What are the specific sins with which Micah charges the wealthy, the false prophet, the magistrates, the political officials?
17. False teaching is always recognizable by its emphasis on the ____________ of God accompanied by a denial of His ____________.
18. The term head of Jacob calls attention to ____________.
19. Rulers of the house of Israel refers to ____________.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
I pray: Mic 3:1, Exo 3:16, Hos 5:1
that: Lev 26:15, Deu 27:19, Psa 58:1, Psa 58:2, Pro 17:15, Isa 1:23, Jer 5:28
Reciprocal: 2Ch 36:14 – all the chief Neh 13:17 – I contended Psa 82:2 – judge Psa 101:8 – early Pro 21:7 – robbery Ecc 5:8 – regardeth Isa 1:15 – your hands Isa 10:1 – them Isa 58:3 – have we fasted Isa 59:14 – General Jer 1:18 – I have Jer 3:21 – for they have Jer 6:7 – violence Jer 7:2 – Hear Jer 32:32 – they Lam 1:5 – for Eze 9:9 – The iniquity Eze 22:6 – the princes Eze 22:27 – princes Eze 34:7 – General Eze 44:23 – General Hos 4:2 – swearing Hos 6:9 – so Joe 1:2 – Hear Mic 2:2 – so Mic 2:7 – named Mic 6:12 – the rich Zep 1:17 – because Zep 3:3 – princes Zec 11:5 – possessors Mat 22:16 – neither Act 13:16 – give Rom 13:4 – he is
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Mic 3:9. The leading men in the nation are still the ones especially in the mind of the prophet. Abhor judgment refers to the right judgment which they should have manifested instead of abhorring it. A result of such an attitude was to pervert or corrupt all equity (fairness In dealing).
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mic 3:9-11. Hear this, ye heads of the house of Jacob, &c. This address to the great men, shows the prophets courage and impartiality. That abhor judgment, &c. Who do not love to pass a right judgment in matters that come before you, because you make no advantage to yourselves by so doing; but covet to have large bribes given you, to pervert equity, and make wrong decisions. They build up Zion with blood, &c. Who build houses with the riches gotten by violence, and by the condemnation of the innocent. The heads thereof judge for reward The judges pass sentence, not according to the right of the case, but according as they have been bribed. The priests thereof teach for hire The priests for the sake of lucre teach those things which are agreeable to the kings and people, and not what God hath commanded to be taught. It was the duty of the priests to instruct the people, as well as to attend upon the service of the temple; for which cause they had cities allotted to them in all parts of the land: but, not being content with that plentiful revenue which the law allowed them, they made a corrupt gain of their office. And the prophets divine for money This is to be understood of the false prophets. Yet will they lean upon the Lord Pretend to trust in him, and expect his favour, protection, and blessing. And say, Is not the Lord among us As our God and our shield? None evil Such as war, famine, and captivity, can come upon us While we have him with us to defend and help us.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Mic 3:9-12. False Confidence issuing in the Destruction of Jerusalem.Micah again addresses the rulers, who have founded the prosperity of the capital on violence and injustice (Mic 3:9 f.; cf. Jer 22:13 ff.). The sentence of the judge, the oracle of the priest, the divination of the prophet, are dictated by gain, not God; yet they flatter themselves that all is well, since Yahweh is in their midst (being visibly represented by His dwelling-place, the Temple; cf. Isa 1:10 ff., Amo 5:21 ff., Jer 7:4). But Yahweh will lay Jerusalem in ruins, and the Temple-mount shall become a mere wooded hill-top. As Micah began (Mic 1:5), so here he ends his prophecy on the keynote of the sin of the capital city. For the vivid impression left even a century later by this unprecedented conclusion, see Intro.
Mic 3:12. high places: height (sing. with LXX).
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
3. The indictment of Israel’s leaders 3:9-12
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Micah proceeded to carry out his ministry (cf. Mic 3:8). He called on all Israel’s leaders to pay attention to what he had to say to them, they who despised (lit. utterly abhorred) justice and perverted right ways (cf. Isa 5:20).