Ephraim’s Destruction Threatened

v. 1. The word of the Lord that came to Micah, the Morasthite, in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem, the two capitals being named as representative of the respective nations.

v. 2. Hear, all ye people, Cf 1Ki 22:28; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is, Cf Isa 1:2; and let the Lord God be witness against you, in testifying to their transgressions, the Lord from His holy temple, that is, from heaven; Cf Psa 11:4.

v. 3. For, behold, the Lord cometh forth out of His place, as one getting ready to execute His vengeance, and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth, on the mountains, as the places where He has revealed Himself to His people in more than one instance.

v. 4. And the mountains shall be molten under Him, dissolving before His almighty power, and the valleys shall be cleft, cleaving asunder before His majesty, as wax before the fire and as the waters that are poured down a steep place, tearing down the abysses and causing a general dissolution of the entire surface of the earth.

v. 5. For the transgression of Jacob is all this, as a due recompense for the wickedness of the covenant people, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? The sin of idolatry had reached such a climax in Samaria that it was part and parcel of the life of the people. And what are the high places of Judah? Are they not Jerusalem? The inhabitants of Jerusalem had also become so guilty of idolatry that its hills were entirely devoted to the worship of idols.

v. 6. Therefore I will make Samaria as an heap of the field, as ruins that fall into dust and finally become a part of the soil, and as plantings of a vineyard, that is, places where vineyards may be planted; and I will pour down the stones thereof, those which King Omri had used in building the city, into the valley, and I will discover, lay bare, the foundations thereof, destroying it to the very ground.

v. 7. And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces and all the hires thereof, namely, those of spiritual harlotry, the consecrated offerings placed on the idol altars, shall be burned with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate, making them a wilderness; for she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, by her spiritual adultery, and they shall return to the hire of an harlot, for the rich treasures were taken away by the enemies and devoted to their own idols. The vanity of false worship, also in this respect, seems rarely to strike the consciousness of idolaters.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

EXPOSITION

Verse 1:1-2:13

Part I. THREATENINGS AND JUDGMENTS ON ISRAEL AND JUDAH, WITH PREDICTION OF EVENTUAL DELIVERANCE.

Mic 1:1

The inscription, or heading of the book, conveying the prophet’s authority. The word of the Lord. The expression applies to the whole contents of the book, as in Hos 1:1 and Zep 1:1. It is often used for some particular message to a prophet, as Jer 1:4, Jer 1:11; Jer 2:1; Eze 3:16. Micah the Morasthite; i.e. Micah of Moresheth-Gath (verse 14), a village in the lowland of Judaea, near Eleutheropolis, some twenty miles southwest of Jerusalem (see Introduction, II.). In the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Thus Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah, though his ministry did not begin as soon or last as long as that prophet’s (see Isa 1:1); he was a little later than Hosea and Amos, who prophesied under Uzziah, the father of Jotham. Kings of Judah are mentioned because the prophet’s mission was to Judah, as the line of election; but, like Amos, he prophesied against Samaria also. However divided, the two nations are regarded as one people. Which he saw. What he saw in vision or by inward illumination he here relates in words. Thus the prophecies of Isaiah, Obadiah, Nahum, etc; are called “visions.” Concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. Samaria comes first, as being ripe for punishment, and the first to feel the avenger. The capitals of the two kingdoms Israel and Judah stand for the people themselves.

Mic 1:2-4

1. Introduction to the prophet’s address. The nations and earth itself are summoned to attend the solemn announcement.

Mic 1:2

Hear, all ye people; rather, all ye peoples; Septuagint, . All nations are summoned to come and witness the judgment, and to profit by the warning. So Micaiah, son of Imlah, the bold denouncer of false prophets in the age of Ahah, had cried, “Hear, ye peoples, all of you” (1Ki 22:28). So Moses, in his song (Deu 32:1), calls on heaven and earth to listen to his words (comp. Isa 1:2). These expressions are not mere rhetorical figures; they have a special application. Whatever happens to Israel has a bearing on the development of the kingdom of God; the judgments on the chosen people are not only a warning to the heathen, but bring on the great consummation. All that therein is; literally, the fulness thereof; Vulgate, plentitudo ejus; Septuagint, , “all ye that are therein” (Psa 24:1). Let the Lord God (the Lord Jehovah) be witness against you. Let God by his judgments against you, viz. Israel and Judah, confirm my denunciation (comp. Deu 29:24). From his holy temple; i.e. from heaven, as Mic 1:3 shows (1Ki 8:30; Psa 11:4; Hab 2:20).

Mic 1:3

Here follows a grand description, in figurative language, of the course of Divine judgment, and of God’s awful majesty and resistless power. Out of his place. It is as though the sins of Israel had roused him to action. God is hidden except when he displays his power in judgment and mercy (see note on Zec 14:3). Will come down. An anthropomorphic expression, as Gen 18:21. The high places. As though descending from heaven, God first came upon the tops of the mountains (see note on Amo 4:13; comp. Deu 32:13). The phrase would imply God’s absolute sovereignty over the universe.

Mic 1:4

The description of God’s advent to judgment is founded on the idea of a terrible storm and earthquake, perhaps accompanied with volcanic eruption, though evidence of such eruptions in the historical period is not forthcoming. The description recalls the awful revelation at Sinai (Exo 19:1-25.). Shall be molten; either by the lightning or the showers of rain that descend from heaven. The mountains, the type of stability and strength, fall away at the presence of the Judge. Septuagint, , “shall be shaken;” Vulgate, consumentur (Jdg 5:4, Jdg 5:5; Psa 18:7, etc.; Psa 68:8; Psa 97:4, Psa 97:5; Amo 9:5). Be cleft; Septuagint, , “shall melt.” The valleys shall be hollowed out into channels by the force of the water, which falls in torrents. As wax (Psa 68:2; Psa 97:5). This belongs to the first clause, “the mountains,” etc. As waters. This belongs to the second clause. The cloven plains shall melt away as waters disappear down a precipice. The idea that underlies this description is that the inanimate creation shares in the effects of the judgment on man, and is used as an instrument in his punishment.

Mic 1:5-7

2. Judgment is denounced on Israel for its sin.

Mic 1:5

The prophet shows the cause of this punishment. Transgression; better, apostasy, which the people’s trangression really was. Jacob. Here the ten tribes and Judahthe whole of the covenant people. In the latter part of the verse the term includes only the ten tribes, called often Israel or Ephraim. All this. The manifestation of God’s power and wrath described in Mic 1:3 and Mic 1:4. The house of Israel. The ten tribes. Is it not Samaria? She is naught but sin. He names the capitals of the two kingdoms as the source and centre of the idolatry and wickedness which pervaded the whole country. Samaria was built by Omri, a king who “wrought evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did worse than all that were before him;” and in it his son Ahab erected a temple to Baal (1Ki 16:32), and it became the chief seat of idolatry in the land. What are the high places? The prophet seems to say that Jerusalem is no longer the Lord’s sanctuary, but a collection of unauthorized or idolatrous shrines. These were buildings or altars erected in conspicuous spots, contrary to the enactments of the Mosaic Law (Deu 12:11-14), and used more or less for idolatrous worship. With a strange perversity, the Jews mixed the pure service of Jehovah with the rites of heathen deities. Even the best kings of Judah were unable wholly to suppress these local sanctuaries (see 2Ki 12:3; 2Ki 14:4, etc.). They were found even in Jerusalem itself (Jer 32:35), especially in the time of Ahaz (2Ki 16:4). The parallelism of this clause with the preceding being thought defective (“high places” being not parallel with “apostasy”), the Septuagint reads, , “the sin,” followed by the Syriac and the Targum. One Hebrew manuscript confirms the reading; but it is probably unauthorized, and has been ignorantly introduced The prophet defines the sins of Samaria and Jerusalem. The sin of the former is apostasy; that of the latter, unauthorized worship. Instead of “what” in both places the Hebrew gives “who,” implying that there is a personal cause, the two capitals being personified. Hezekiah’s partial reformation had not taken place when this was uttered.

Mic 1:6

I will make. This prophecy, therefore, was delivered before the destruction of Samaria in the fourth year of Hezekiah. As an heap of the field; or, into a heap of the field, like a heap of stones gathered off a cultivated field (comp. Isa 5:2.) Septuagint, , “the hut of a fruit watcher.” As plantings of a vineyard; into the plantings, etc.; i.e. into mere terraces for vines. Such shall be the utter ruin of the city, that on its site vines shall be planted. The prophet here uses a description of complete destruction which is a regular formula in Assyrian inscriptions, where we read of cities being made into “a rubbish heap and a field.” The expression occurs, e.g; in a monument of Tiglath-Pileser. I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley. Samaria stood on a hilly platform (1Ki 16:24), with a sheer descent on every side, and when it was overthrown its stones were hurled into the valley surrounding it, as may be seen to this day. “When we looked down,” says Tristram, “at the gaunt columns rising out of the little terraced fields, and the vines clambering up the sides of the hill once covered by the palaces of proud Samaria, who could help recalling the prophecy of Micah? Not more literally have the denunciations on Tyre or on Babylon been accomplished. What though Sebaste rose, under Herod, to a pitch of greater splendour than even old Samaria, the effort was in vain, and the curse has been fully accomplished. In the whole range of prophetic history, I know of no fulfilment more startling to the eyewitness in its accuracy than this.” Will discover; will lay bare (Psa 137:7; Eze 13:14).

Mic 1:7

Graven images. The stone idols (Isa 10:10). Septuagint, . The hires thereof. The word properly means, “the wages of prostitution.” Idolatry is viewed as spiritual fornication, and the offerings made to the idol temples are reckoned to be harlot gifts. Hosea speaks in the same way (Hos 2:5, Hos 2:8, Hos 2:12; Hos 9:1; comp. Isa 23:17; Eze 16:31). There may be allusion to the shameful practices consecrated with the name of religion, the proceeds of which went to the support of idolatry (see Baruch 6:43; Herod; 1:199; Strabo, 16:1). Idols; more costly images, made probably of or plated with precious metals. For she gathered it; rather, them, the images and idols, from the offerings made by idolaters, spiritual fornicators, hence called the hire of an harlot. They shall return to the hire of an harlot. The treasures obtained by idolatry shall go to another idolatrous people, viz. the Assyrians; the dedicated offerings in the temples at Samaria shall be carried off to Nineveh to adorn the temples there (comp. Dan 1:2; Dan 5:3; Ezr 1:7). The sentence seems to be a kind of proverbial saying, like the Latin, Male parta, male dilabuntur. Sehegg compares the German, Wie gewonnen, so zerronnen, and Unrect Gut that sein Gut. The judgment on Samaria was executed by the Assyrians. Three times in his short reign of less than six years did Shalmaneser IV. invade Israel. Shortly after his accession, having reason to suspect the fidelity of Hoshea, he “came up against him” (2Ki 17:3), and so overawed him by the exhibition of his superior power that the King of Israel submitted without a struggle, “became his servants and gave him presents,” or rendered him tribute. But Hoshea’s allegiance was not yet secured. Encouraged by the enterprise and success of the Ethiopian monarch So, or Shebek, who had defeated and slain the Egyptian king, and established himself firmly on the throne of Upper Egypt, Hoshea, in reliance on Egyptian aid, again threw off the yoke of Assyria, and refused the customary tribute. His punishment was speedy and sharp. Shalmaneser had no difficulty in making himself master of his person, “shut him up and bound him in prison.” On a fresh act of rebellion, of what nature we are not informed, Shalmaneser made his third attack. This time he was everywhere resisted, and ended by laying siege to Samaria itself. Before this city his forces were detained for more than two years; nor was it till B.C. 722, when apparently his own reign had come to an end, that Samaria was taken, his successor Sargon claiming the conquest as appertaining to his first year (Rawlinson, ‘Ancient Monarchies,’ 2. Hos 9:1-17.).

Mic 1:8, Mic 1:9

3. Micah mourns because the punishment extends to Judah also.

Mic 1:8

I will wail. The prophet marks the destruction of Samaria with these outward signs of mourning, in order that he might affect the minds of his own countrymen, and show how he grieved over their sins which should bring like punishment. The word rendered “wail” means “to beat” the breast. Septuagint, : Vulgate, plangam. Stripped and naked. The former epithet the LXX. translate , as if it meant “barefoot;” and they refer the verse to Samaria, not to Micah. The two epithets contain one notion; the prophet assumes the character, not merely of a mourner, who put off his usual garments, but that of a captive who was stripped to the skin and carried away naked and despoiled (comp. Isa 20:2-4; Isa 47:2, Isa 47:8). Dragons; Septuagint, : Hebrew, tannim, “jackals” (Job 30:29; Mal 1:3), whose mournful howling is well known to all travellers in the East. Owls; Septuagint, , “daughters of sirens;” Vulgate, struthionum. The bird is called in Hebrew bath yaanah, which some explain “daughter of the desert,” or else refer to roots meaning either “to cry out” or “to be freed.” Doubtless the ostrich is meant. Concerning the fearful screech of this bird, Pusey quotes Shaw, ‘Travels,’ 2:349, “During the lonesome part of the night they often make a doleful and piteous noise. I have often heard them groan as if they were in the greatest agonies.”

Mic 1:9

Her wound; her stripes, the punishment inflicted on Samaria. Incurable (comp. Jer 15:18) The day of grace is past, and Israel has not repented. It is come. The stripe, the punishment, reaches Judah. To the prophetic eye the Assyrians’ invasion of Judaea seems close at hand, and even the final attack of the Chaldeans comes within his view. The same sins in the northern and southern capitals lead to the same fate. He is come. He, the enemy, the agent of the “stripe.” The gate of my people. The gate, the place of meeting, the well guarded post, is put for the city itself (comp. Gen 22:17; Deu 28:52; Oba 1:11). Pusey thinks that Micah refers to something short of total excision, and therefore that the invasion of Sennacherib alone is meant (2Ki 18:13). But the fore shortened view of the prophet may well include the final ruin.

Mic 1:10-15

4. The judgment on Judah is exemplified by the fate of certain of its cities, whose names the prophet connects with their punishment in a series of paronomasias.

Mic 1:10

Declare ye it not at Gath. This phrase from David’s elegy over Saul (2Sa 1:20) had become a proverbial saying, deprecating the malicious joy of their hostile neighbours over the misfortunes that befell them. Gath is mentioned as the seat of the Philistines, the constant and powerful enemy of Judah. (For its situation, see note on Amo 6:2.) The paronomasias in this passage, which seem to modern ears artificial and puerile, are paralleled in many writings both Hebrew and classic, and were natural to a people who looked for mystical meaning in words and names. Thus Gath is taken to signify “Tell town,” and the clause is, “In Tell town tell it not.” Weep ye not at all; Vulgate, lacrymis ne ploretis; i.e. “weep in silence,” or “hide your tears,” that the enemy may not know your grief. As in cash of the other clauses a town is mentioned, some editors would here read, “In Acco (‘Weep town’) weep not!”Acco being the later Ptolemais, the modern St. Jean d’Acre, and taken here to represent another foreign city which would rejoice at Judah’s misfortunes (see, Jdg 1:31). The Septuagint alone of all the versions seems to countenance this reading, by translating, , “Ye Enakim, do not rebuild,” which has been resolved into , supposed to be an error for The objections against this reading may be seen in Keil and Pusey. There is a play on the words in both these clauses (as in the following five verses), which is not seen in the English Version, begath al taggidu, and bako al tibeku. Knabenbauer imitates the paronomasia in Latin, “Cannis ne canite; Anconae ne angamini;” Ewald and Schegg in German, “In Molln meldet nicht; in Weinsberg. weinet nicht;” Reuss in French, “N’allez pas le dire a Dijon! N’allez pas pleurer a Ploermel!” In these puns, as we should call them, the prophet is far, indeed, from jesting. “He sees,” says Dr. Cheyne, “like Isaiah, in Isa 10:30, a preordained correspondence between names and fortunes;” and he wishes to impress this on his countrymen, that the judgment may not come upon them unwarned. In the house of Aphrah; better, at Beth-le-Aphrah, i.e. “House of dust;” Vulgate, in domo pulveris. The site of Aphrah is unknown. Some identify it with Ophrah in Benjamin (Jos 18:23), four miles northeast of Bethel; others, with Ophrah in Philistia (1Ch 4:14). Host of the towns named below lie in the Shephelah. Keil notes that the word is pointed with pathach here for the sake of the paronomasia. Roll thyself in the dust; sprinkle dust upon thyself. This was a common sign of mourning. The Hebrew text gives, “I roll myself,” or “I have besprinkled myself,” the prophet identifying himself with the people. But as in all the subsequent passages, not what the prophet does, but what the inhabitants do, is the point impressed, the reading of the Keri is hem to be preferred. Vulgate, pulvere vos conspergite. The Septuagint has an inexplicable rendering, , “against laughter sprinkle earth,” which Brenton translates, “sprinkle dust in the place of your laughter.” With this section (Isa 10:10-15) should be compared Isa 10:28-32, which describes the alarm occasioned by Sennacherib’s invasion of Judah from the northeast, as Micah represents his progress to the southwest.

Mic 1:11

Pass ye away. Leave your house. Thou inhabitant of Saphir. The Hebrew is “inhabitress,” the population being personified as a virgin. “Saphir” means “Fair city.” It is placed by Eusebius (‘Onomast.’) between Ascalon and Eleutheropolis: it is now identified with some ruins named Suafir, five miles southeast of Ashdod. Having thy shame naked; “in nakedness and shame” (Pusey); Vulgate, confusa ignominia. The prophet contrasts the shame of their treatment with the meaning of their city’s name,” Go, Fair town, into foul dishonour.” Septuagint, , “fairly inhabiting her cities.” St. Jerome, in despair of explaining these Greek renderings, says here, “Multum Hebraicum a LXX. interpretatione discordat, et tantis tam mea quam illorum translatio difficultatibus involuta est, ut si quando indiguimus Spiritus Dei (semper autem in exponendis Scripturis sanctis illius indigemus adventu), nunc vel maxime eum adesse cupiamus.” Zaanan is supposed to be the same as Zenan, mentioned in Jos 15:37. The meaning of the name is doubtful. It is taken to signify “abounding in flocks” or “going out.” Came not forth; or, is not come forth. The paronomasia seems to lie rather in sound than sense, and is variously explained, “The inhabitants of Flock town went not forth with their flocks.” “The dwellers of Forthcoming came not forth,” i.e. to flee, or to fight, or to aid their brethren; or did not escape destruction. Vulgate, Non est egressa quae habitat in exitu; Septuagint, , “She who dwelt at Sennaar came not forth.” In the mourning, etc. These words are best joined with the following clause, thus: The mourning of Beth-ezel taketh from you its standing; i.e. refuge or shelter. Beth-ezel is explained, “House at one’s side.” “Neighbour town;” so the prophet would say, “Neighbour town is no neighbour to you,” affords you no help. But various other explanations are given. e.g. “Lamentation makes its sure abode at Beth-ezel from your calamity.” This may, perhaps, be supported by the rendering of the LXX; , “She shall receive of you the stroke of anguish.” Dr. Cheyne connects the whole verse with one idea, “Zaanan would willingly take to flight, but the sound of the mourning at Beth-ezel (which might mean, “the house, or place, at one’s side’) fills them with despair.” Taking Beth-ezel to mean “House of root,” others would interpret, on account of the public sorrow, “The ‘house of root’ affords no firm home for you.” Others, again,” The lamentation of ‘The near House’ will not stop near it, but pass on to other places.” Beth-ezel is probably the Azal of Zec 14:5, the beth being dropped, as is often the case. It was in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem (see note on Zechariah. l.c.).

Mic 1:12

Maroth; bitterness. Its site is unknown; but it was in the immediate neighbourhood of Jerusalem. Ewald suggests that it is the same as Maarath (Jos 15:59), hod. Beit Ummar, six miles north of Hebron. Waited carefully for good; waited, expecting succour. But the better translation is, writhed in anguish on account of good, which they have lost, whether property or liberty. But evil came; for (or, because) evil is come. Unto the gate of Jerusalem (comp. Mic 1:9). The prophet refers to the invasion of the Assyrian kings, Sargon or Sennacherib, also mentioned by Isaiah (Isa 22:7), and the haughty message (Isa 36:2).

Mic 1:13

Lachish. A very strong and important city of the Canaanites, hod. Um Lakis, about fourteen miles northeast of Gaza, which was captured by Sennacherib after a long siege (2Ki 18:14; Isa 36:2; Isa 37:8). In the British Museum there is a bas-relief, brought from Assyria, representing Sennacherib seated on his throne while the spoil of the city of Lachish passed before him. Bind the chariot to the swift beast. Harness your horses to your chariots, that ye may flee and escape destruction. The phrase is like the Latin, currum jungere equis. The paronomasia here lies in the sound, “Inhabitant of Lachish, harness your rekkesh” (“runner,” “courser”). “Inhabitant of Horse town, harness your horses.” Septuagint, , “a sound of chariots and horsemen;” Vulgate, tumultus quadrigae stuporisrenderings which the present Hebrew text does not support. She was the beginning, etc. How Lachish came to adopt the idolatry of Israel, and how she infected Judah, we know not. A connection between Jerusalem and Lachish is found in the ease of Amaziah (2Ki 14:19), but nothing bearing on religion is mentioned. The whole clause is translated by Calmer, Keil, etc; thus: “It was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion that the iniquities of Israel were found in thee” (comp. Mic 6:16; Amo 8:14). The particular transgressions meant may be the idolatry of Jehoram (2Ch 21:6) and Ahaziah (2Ch 22:3, 2Ch 22:4).

Mic 1:14

Therefore. Because Judah has adopted the evil practices of Israel. The prophet here addresses Judah, and continues to do so to the end of the chapter. Shalt thou give presents to Moreshsth-Gath. The “presents” intended are parting gifts, farewell presents. The word is used (1Ki 9:16) for the dowry given to a daughter when she is married. The meaning, therefore, is that Judah must relinquish all claim to Moresheth. The paronomasia is explained in two ways. As Moresheth may mean “possession,” the prophet may be understood to say, “Thou shalt give up possession of Gath’s possession.” Or the play of words may depend upon the similarity of sound between Moresheth and Meorasah, “Betrothed” (Deu 22:29), “Thou shalt give dismissal (bill of divorcement) to the city once betrothed to thee.” Moresheth-Gath, Micah’s birthplace, is placed just south of Beit Jibrin, or Eleutheropolis, about twenty-five miles from Gaza (see Introduction, II.). The addition of Gath to the name of the town is meant to mark its situation in the immediate neighbourhood of that well known city. So we have Bethlehem-Judah (Jdg 17:7), Abel-Maim or Maachah (1Ki 15:20; 2Ch 16:4). Septuagint, , “He shall cause men to be sent forth even to the inheritance of Geth;” Vulgate, Dabit emissarios super heredidatem Geth. To give shilluchim the sense of “messengers” seems to be unprecedented. The houses of Achzib shall be a lie (achzab), a lying, deceiving brook, which disappoints the hope of the wayfarer, like “fundus mendax” (Horat; ‘Carm.,’ 3.1. 30). Septuagint, , “vain houses;” Vulgate, domus mendacii. The city shall be yielded to the enemy and lost to the Judaeans. Achzib (Jos 15:44), hod. Ain Kezbeh, eight miles north of Adullam, is probably the same as Chezib (Gen 38:5), where Shelah, Judah’s son by Tamar, was born. The kings of Israel. “Israel” is here equivalent to Judah, having, according to the prediction of verses 6, 7, lost its political existence.

Mic 1:15

Yet will I bring an heir unto thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah. “Mareshah” sounds like Morashah, the Hebrew word for “inheritance;” so the play is, “I will bring an inheritor who shall claim your Heritage town.” The “heir” is the Assyrian king, Sargon, into whose possession the city shall pass. Mareshah (Jos 15:44; 2Ch 14:9) was near Achzib, one mile southcast of Beit Jibrin, and is now called Mer’ash. He shall come, etc.; better, the glory of Israel shall come to Adullam; i.e. the nobility (comp. Isa 5:13) of Israel shall fly for refuge to such places as the cave of Adullam, David’s asylum (1Sa 22:1, 1Sa 22:2). So the Vulgate. The LXX. has, “The inheritance shall come to Odullam, even the glory of the daughter of Israel.” But Rosenmuller, Henderson, Pusey, and others take the sentence as in the Authorized Version, making “the glory of Israel” in apposition with “Adullam,” and understanding by “he” the heir or enemy. One knows no reason why Aduliam should be honoured with the above-named title; so the rendering given above is preferable. There is probably a paronomasia intended, “The glory of the Lord shall set (ad olam) forever.” The city of Adullam, hod. Aid-el-Mah, lay in the valley of Elah, ten miles northwest of Hebron, halfway between Sochoh and Keilah. It was of great antiquity, being mentioned as the birthplace of Hirah, the friend of Judah (Gen 38:12), and one of the cities fortified by Rehoboam (2Ch 11:7). In its neighbourhood is the celebrated cave, Mugha et Khureitun, which is pointed out as the traditional hold of David, and which has been carefully explored by Mr. Tyrwhitt Drake, of the Palestine Exploration Fund.

Mic 1:16

5. The prophet calls upon Zion to mourn for her captivity. Make thee bald. The Hebrew word implies “to make the back of the head bald.” Micah addressee Zion as the mother of the children who are to be led into captivity. Shaving the head in sign of mourning seems to have been retained as a traditionary custom in spite of the prohibition of the Law against certain forms which the practice assumed (see Le 19:27; Deu 14:1; and for the actual custom, comp. Isa 3:24; Jer 7:29; and the note on Amo 8:10). Poll thee. Cut off thy hair, nearly synonymous with the word in the former clause. Thy delicate children; literally, the children of thy delights; i.e. the children who are a joy and comfort to thee, the citizens of thy kingdom (comp. Mic 2:9). As the eagle (nesher). The vulture is meant, either Vultur percnopterus, common in Egypt and Palestine, which is bald on the front of the head and neck, or more probably Vultur fulvus, the griffon vulture, whose whole head and neck are destitute of true feathers (see ‘Bible Educator,’ 2:247). Into captivity. This cannot refer exclusively to the Assyrian invasion, wherein very few captives were taken, but must look forward to the Babylonian deportation in Mic 4:10. The latter calamity alone is parallel to the destruction of Samaria announced in Mic 4:6, Mic 4:7 of this chapter.

HOMILETICS

Mic 1:1

True spiritual teachers.

A preface is often regarded as of comparative unimportance, and many readers ignore it and pass on to the perusal of the work itself. Let not this preface to the Book of Micah be thus summarily dismissed. Every word of God is “profitable.” This introductory verse is very suggestive of teachings bearing upon holy service in the cause of God in our own age. The Hebrew prophets were not merely foretellers; they were also the religious educators of the people amongst whom they laboured. We are reminded here that

I. TRUE SPIRITUAL TEACHERS ARE ENTRUSTED WITH A REVELATION FROM GOD. Note:

1. This revelation is given in the form of words. “The word of the Lord that came to Micah.” Thoughts may be communicated by utterance, actions, and in writing. In the olden time God communicated his thoughts to Moses on the mount and to the Israelites by the living voice, and to the seers by dreams and visions. In all times he has unfolded his thoughts in actions (Psa 19:1, Psa 19:2). To us he reveals his thoughts in the written Word. And it is just in proportion as, taught by the Divine Spirit, we enter into the meaning of the Word of God, and recognize in its teachings a message committed unto us to deliver, that we are qualified to be teachers of spiritual truth (2Co 5:18, 2Co 5:19).

2. This revelation comes to us stamped with Divine authority. “The word of the Lord.” There was no tone of uncertainty about the utterances of the Hebrew seers; nothing that was speculative, theoretical, problematical, in what they said; nothing that could be described as the creation of their own fancy and imagination. Whilst each prophet retained his own individual peculiarities and natural gifts, so. that a pleasing variety meets us in their writings, each announcement was accompanied by “Thus saith the Lord.” In our own day all the resources of sanctified genius and endowment should be laid upon the altar of service to God; but let all uncertainty be dismissed. The messenger must not betray a hesitating tone, as though doubtful whether he has any message to deliver. He has glorious certainties to announce, an authoritative message to declare; and, with confident and unwavering trust, should go forth and publish the bright realities of our faith.

3. This revelation is made very real to the inner consciousness of the teacher. “The word of the Lord that came to Micah,” “which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.” It was an inward experience with the prophet, a deep inwrought conviction. The word of the Lord took possession of his very soul, and became part and parcel of his very being, touching, quickening, inspiring his whole nature. The circumstances of his nation, too, were vividly presented to him, and the events to be fulfilled were as real as though they had already taken place or were transpiring before his eyes. “Which he saw.” The same expression is used with reference to Amos (Amo 1:1) and Habakkuk (Hab 1:1). So still: “That which we have heard,” etc. (Joh 1:1-3). A deeper experimental acquaintance with the truth to be proclaimed would impart to the heralds of it a holier earnestness, and would clothe them with mighty energy and irresistible power. “Let your heart take in by its secret veins that, which comes pure from Heaven in showers of blessing: so shall its issues, so far as your influence extends, contribute to fertilize the wilderness” (Arnot). And the heart must be in sympathy with those to whom the truth is to be communicated. The circumstances of his nation pressed upon the heart of Micah. So Ezekiel (Eze 3:15) and Paul (Rom 10:1). George Fox said, “I prayed to God that he would baptize my heart into the sense of all conditions, so that I might be able to enter into the needs and sorrows of all.”

II. TRUE SPIRITUAL TEACHERS HAVE OFTEN BEEN RAISED UP AND PREPARED FOR THEIR WORK IN RETIRED AND. OBSCURE PLACES. “The word of the Lord that came to Micah the Morasthite.” Many of the Hebrew prophets sprang from humble and retired localities. Elkosh, Gathhepher, Tishbe, Abel-Meholah, Anathoth, Moresheth-Gath,how comparatively insignificant and unknown these places appear! and yet out of them respectively came Nahum, Jonah, Elijah, Elisha, Jeremiah, and Micah. Country life has its special advantages by way of preparing the mind and heart for holy service. It affords a better opportunity for getting the spirit affected with the power and goodness of God as expressed in his works; for scenes of natural beauty are continually unfolded to the view, and of which the citizen is deprived. “God made the country, man the town.” Quiet retirement, too, is more available, securing thus facilities for meditation, reflection, and heart communion. There is so much less to distract and divert the attention than is presented amidst life in the great centres. Yet he who lives in retirement, if designed for prominent service, will not fail, even in his remoteness from the activities of city life, to inform himself concerning the character of the age in which he lives, and to keep himself abreast with it, but will be observant of “the signs of the times,” and will familiarize himself with these, even as Micah, away in Moresheth-Gath, was familiar with the moral and spiritual condition of his people, and with the doings of kings and nobles, prophets and priests. It is often a source of discouragement to some engaged in service to God that they are called upon to work in very retired spheres, and they ardently long for more scope and wider influence. It should be no slight consolation to such that their spheres, though retired, may nevertheless afford them far reaching power for good. Perchance under their care may be those whom God has designed for very influential service, and that through their ministry these are being prepared for their life work; and that in due course, leaving the village and going forth to their mission in city or town, at home or it may be in some far off land, they will carry with them holy influences which have been exerted upon them by one who may never be known to fame, but whose “witness shall be in heaven, and whose record shall be on high.”

III. TRUE SPIRITUAL TEACHERS WILL ADAPT THEMSELVES TO THE AGE THEY ARE TO SEEK TO INFLUENCE. “The word in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.” An examination of the period indicates that it was an age:

1. Thoroughly corrupt. Nobles, priests, prophets, had alike corrupted their way. Micah denounced with holy boldness the sins of the times (Mic 2:1, Mic 2:2, Mic 2:7-11; Mic 3:1-4, Mic 3:5, Mic 3:7).

2. Manifestly formal. In sublime diction Micah enforced the spirituality of genuine worship and the practical character of sincere piety (Mic 6:6-8).

3. Utterly unpatriotic. With loyal spirit he recalled the past of their national history, which should have stirred their hearts anew (Mic 2:12; Mic 6:4, Mic 6:5; Mic 7:14, Mic 7:15, Mic 7:20).

4. Setting in darkness. The cup of iniquity was fast filling. The fate of Samaria was sealed. Jerusalem also was reserved for desolation. But whilst declaring the coming judgments, Micah also declared the Divine mercy to the penitent (Mic 7:18), and, whilst announcing the approaching ruin, he looked beyond the gathering darkness and the falling shadows, and saw by faith “the mighty Child” appearing in the obscure village of Bethlehem in an age to come, and who should prove himself “a Shepherd more royal even than David,” and who should usher in “a peace even more universal than that of Solomon” (Mic 5:2). And so did this distinguished seer adapt himself to the age he was commissioned to serve. And in like manner, he who would work successfully in the present day must fully consider the nature of the times, and the special needs of men. Failure does not always arise from want of ability, but often from lack of adaptation. The thing done is good enough in itself, but is not suited to the occasion. There is a Hindu proverb, “The chariot is weak at sea, and the ship on land.” In no respect did the Divine Master, the great Prophet of the Church, more thoroughly excel all other instructors than in the marvellous suitability of all his methods and utterances to the deepest needs of those amongst whom he laboured.

Learn:

1. To depend upon God for the teaching of his Spirit, and to receive the truth from him.

2. To gather up strength in retirement for future service.

3. To seek to be inspired with holy courage, so as to declare all the counsel of God.

4. To strengthen your hearts amidst present difficulties and darkness by the prospect of that full and complete salvation which shall be accomplished by Christ.

Mic 1:2-7

The Divine judgments against Israel.

Micah was a prophet of Judah, and had special reference in his prophecy to that kingdom. Still, he referred also to the kingdom of Israel. In these verses he directed attention to the tribulations speedily to come upon the kingdom of Israel; and, whilst his words have reference to “the dead past,” they suggest lessons for all times. Consider

I. THE DIVINE JUDGMENTS AGAINST THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL AS HERB PREDICTED. Note:

1. Their occasion. (Verse 5.) The secular historian has his account of the causes of the calamities which overtook the Jewish people. He traces these to lust of power and dominion on the part of the ancient monarchies, Assyrian, Chaldean, Babylonian, by which they were attacked and conquered. But the true spiritual teacher probes deeper, and seeks to get at the root of it all, and finds this to be sinnational transgression (verse 5). There were three stages in the downward progress of the nation.

(1) Degeneration in worship. Jeroboam, influenced by mere political considerations and worldly policy, set up, at Dan and Bethel, new seats of national worship, and represented the Divinity under the outward figure of the sacred calf. Thus did he “sin and make Israel to sin.”

(2) Degeneration in the form of worldliness. The reign of Omri was marked by the nation’s growth in pride and self-sufficiency, m the arts and luxuries of life. He founded Samaria, and made it the capital of the country. “The town sloped down from the summit of the hill. A broad wall with a terraced top ran round it. It stood amidst a circle of hills commanding a view of its streets and slopes, itself the crown and glory of the whole scene. Its soft, rounded, oblong platform was, as it were, a vast luxurious couch, in which its nobles rested, securely propped and cushioned up on both sides, as in the cherished corner of a rich divan”.

(3) Degeneration resulting from foreign alliances, and specially the union of Ahab to Jezebel, and the consequent establishment in the land of the Phoenician worship, the heathen temples rising, and worship to Ashtaroth and Baal being presented side by side with the degenerate worship offered to the God of heaven. These evils wrought their natural effects in the moral degradation of the land, calling for those Divine judgments which the prophet here declared to be impending. Drunkenness and revellings prevailed (Hos 4:11; Hos 7:5); immorality reigned (Hos 4:13; Hos 7:4; Amo 2:7); oppression, swearing, lying, theft, murder, were crimes of constant occurrence (Hos 4:1, Hos 4:2).

2. Their necessity. (Verse 3.) “For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place”a striking sentence employed to express the necessity that existed for retribution to be exercised. “God’s place” is his mercy. He is love. He is good and gracious. It is his nature to show compassion. Let all prominence be given to this characteristic of our God. We cannot dwell too much upon it, and can never exhaust the rich theme. “God is love,” and mercy is “his place.” But there are times when there is a stem necessity for him to “come forth out of his place.” He is not only loving, he is also righteous, and he is righteous because he is loving. True love excludes partiality, and true justice requires that men be dealt with according to their actions; so that, if God would be true to his character as a God of love, both the recompense of the good and the punishment of the evil is demanded. We are to warn men of the terrible and far reaching consequences of sin, and whilst joyfully proclaiming “the acceptable year of the Lord,” we are also to declare with true solemnity the fact of “the day of vengeance of our God.” Whilst delighting to speak of mercy as his dwelling place, we must also declare that there is the necessity for him “to come forth out of his place” to vindicate the right and to punish the wrong.

3. Their severity. (Verses 3, 4.) This is set forth here in striking metaphor. God is represented as treading upon the high places, the pride of the haughty being as the dust beneath his feet. His judgments are described as fire, under the influence of which the mountains should be molten and the valleys be cleft; whilst as wax melts before the fire, and as the rushing waters, poured over a steep place, no more return, but are scattered in spray and dissipated in vapours, so should the evil doers at length be brought to nought. Samaria, the centre of the nation, and the source whence proceeded noxious and pestilential influences, should be brought to utter desolation (verses 6, 7). This stern sentence was literally fulfilled.

4. Their equity. The prophet, like other seers, summons the nations and the earth to bear testimony to the rightness which marks all God’s judgments (verse 2). The acknowledgment of the universe shall be that the Divine judgments are “true and righteous altogether.”

II. THE BEARING OF THE STORY OF ISRAEL‘S GUILT AND FALL UPON NATIONAL LIFE IN THE PRESENT DAY.

1. It warns us that if we use the preeminence God has assigned to us as a nation, simply with a view to our own aggrandizement and the furtherance of our own selfish ends, if, instead of worshipping him, and living with a single eye to his glory, we prostrate ourselves before wealth and luxury, ease and sloth, human reason and human applause, God will be against us, and will come forth “out of his place” to judgment, and national decay and death will assuredly follow. A haughty Frenchman once taunted an English captain, saying, “When will you English fetch Calais again?” The captain replied, “When your sins shall weigh down ours!”

2. It reminds us how essential it is, in order to national prosperity, that the sovereign should be a pattern of every virtue; that rulers should not only be men of wisdom and foresight, but also God-fearing; and that religion, spiritual and practical, should characterize all classes of the community.

3. It indicates to us the forbearance of God in sparing our nation, despite all the defections which have marked us as a people, and should lead us to repentance and a new life. And this must be personal and individual. “He who would reform the world must first improve himself.” Then let us each “fear God, and keep his commandments,” and so prove good citizens of the land we love. And conscious of our weakness, as Nature in all her helplessness offers herself to the kindly influence of the sun and the refreshing effects of the shower, so let us offer our hearts to the quickening and fertilizing influences of God’s Spirit, that as Nature becomes clothed with verdure, so we may abound in all holy graces, and in us the Lord and God of all the nations of the earth be abundantly glorified!

Mic 1:5, Mic 1:9, and Mic 1:13 (last clauses)

The contagiousness of sin.

Great prominence should be given in Christian teaching to the sad and solemn fact of sin. Would we lead men to prize the redemption wrought by our Lord Jesus Christ, and to appreciate his unutterable love expressed in his “obedience unto death,” we must seek to bring home to them a sense of that sinfulness, from the thraldom and evil consequences of which he came to deliver all who trust in him. The Hebrew prophets present to us in this respect an example well worthy of imitation. We find in their writings bright allusions to the deliverance to be wrought “in the fulness of time” by the Messiah, whose heralds they delighted to be, and whose “day” they “saw afar off;” but accompanying these words of hope were heart searching utterances, now indignant and scathing, and anon tender, pathetic, wailing, all designed to bring home to the conscience and heart a keen sense of evil doing, and to lead men to bow themselves low in penitence for the wrong they had done. We have brought very conspicuously before us in these verses the contagious influence of sin. Observe

I. THE MISCHIEF IS HERE TRACED, IN THE FIRST INSTANCE, TO LACHISH. (Connect Mic 1:9 and Mic 1:13.) Lachish was one of the most powerful of the cities of Judah. It was strongly fortified, and formed the cavalry depot for the nation. Sennacherib spared no effort to reduce it, and, when he had succeeded, he sent from it his boastful and contemptuous message to Hezekiah. The Assyrian monuments represent the taking of this city by the Assyrians, and indicate how that the victors regarded this as a great triumph. Geographically, no city of Judah was more remote from the kingdom of Israel than this; yet it was through this city that the idolatry of Israel found its way into Judah. Lachish was “the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion: for the transgressions of Israel were found in her.” How this came to pass we can only conjecture. Rehoboam fortified Lachish. Maaehah, his favourite wife, cherished a warm attachment to the worship of foreign divinities, and may, through this channel, have introduced this foreign worship into her country; and in this way probably l,achish became “the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion.” And, the gates once opened, the pernicious influence spread, until, despite certain attempts at reformation, the land became thoroughly infected, and the poison so prevailed that we read, “Her wound is incurable,” etc. (Mic 1:9).

II. Another influence that operated in bringing about this morally diseased condition of Judah was THE ALLIANCE FORMED BY JEHOSHAPHAT WITH THE HOUSE OF OMRI, AND WHICH RESULTED IN THE MARRIAGE OF JEHORAM, SON OF JEHOSHAPHAT, WITH ATHALIAH, DAUGHTER OF AHAB. Athaliah was a wicked, powerful woman, possessed of fierce determination, cool and calculating, yet of dauntless, resolute spirit. She heard of the overthrow of her father’s house, and of the sad end of Jezebel, and the intelligence but strengthened her resolve that the worship of Banff, uprooted in Samaria, should have a home in Jerusalem. And this she secured for it, with all its pernicious influence.

III. THE REMAINING POWERFUL PERNICIOUS INFLUENCE IS TO BE FOUND IN THE ACCESSION OF AHAZ TO THE THRONE. It was during his reign that Micah prophesied; and when we think of the superstitious character of Ahaz, how that he caused new idolatrous sanctuaries to rise on every hand, established the worship of Moloch under the very walls of Jerusalem, and devoted his son to sacrifice, casting him into the fire, need we wonder at the prophet crying with deep distress, “What are the high places of Judah? Are they not Jerusalem?” Beginning at Lachish, in the very extreme border of the land, the contagious influences spread until the whole nation, even to its very centre, had become infected (verse 9). So is it ever. There is the commencement of the downward course, “the beginning of the sin,” leading on to general depravity and defilement.

Learn:

1. To be watchful against “the beginnings” of evil.

2. Christ suffered “without the gate,” that he might deliver us from sin and bless us by turning us from our iniquities (Act 3:26).

3. Into “the new Jerusalem” there entereth not anything that defileth or worketh abomination, or maketh a lie; but there all God’s perfected ones, freed from the curse and blight of sin, shall serve him in holiness and love forever.

Mic 1:8

The prevalence of sin the source of grief to the good.

I. THE FACT. The good in all ages have mourned over sin and its consequences (Psa 119:136; Jer 9:1; Luk 19:41, Luk 19:42). In Mic 1:8 we have pictured to us the distress of one thoroughly noble and good, true and patriotic, occasioned by the prevailing ungodliness and the calamities of which he had to speak. With a vivid sense of the evils of the times and of the coming judgments, this prophet (as others before him) flung aside his mantle and went about beating his breast, and pouring forth wild shrieks and lamentations. By “the dragons” is meant “the jackals,” and by “the owls” is intended “the ostriches.” Of the former we read, “The jackals make a lamentable howling noise, so that travellers unacquainted with them would think that a company of people, women or children, were howling one to another” (Pococke). And of the latter, another writes, “During the lonesome part of the night they often make a doleful and piteous noise. I have often heard them groan as if they were in the greatest agonies” (Shaw’s ‘Travels’). So that when the prophet speaks of making “a wailing like the jackals, and mourning like the ostriches,” he intimates that he would give way to the intensity of grief and distress, in view of the prevailing iniquity and its prospective punishment.

II. THE CAUSES. This grief arises from:

1. Regard for the honour of that holy and perfect Being against whom all sin is directed.

2. Esteem for his pure and holy Law, of which Law all sin is a violation.

3. Love of righteousness.

4. Deep compassion for those who are thus led captive by evil.

III. THE LIMITATIONS. The manifestation of this grief should be restrained when its expression would furnish occasion to the enemies of God to blaspheme (Mic 1:10). Quoting the expression from David’s elegy, “Tell it not in Gath,” Micah bids the good, “weeping to weep not,” the idea being that prudence should mark them even in their sorrow over sin; that a restraint should be placed by them even upon their mourning over the prevailing evil, rather than by their demonstrations of sorrow they should cause the adversaries of God and of his people to blaspheme and triumph. We should be prepared to endure much, instead of, by giving way, presenting an advantage to the foes of God, and furnishing them with the opportunity of pouring contempt upon his Name.

Mic 1:11-16

Sorrow following in the train of evil.

I. THIS TRUTH IS SET FORTH IN THESE VERSES IN POETICAL LANGUAGE. The prophet does not mention the land of Judah, but he singles out a number of places in the country, and addresses them by name, employing phraseology calculated to produce a strong impression concerning the grief and sadness that should overspread the nation. We may fittingly compare with this a similar passage in the book of Micah’s contemporary, Isaiah (Isa 10:28-32). In both passages these distinguished seers described, in terms of pathetic sadness, the sorrows which should come upon the land in consequence of the nation’s guilt. The trials thus predicted did not, however, come in all their intensity so speedily, for the nation, under the influence of Hezekiah, bowed itself low in penitence, and proceeded to reform the prevailing evils. The Assyrian army was, in consequence, divinely checked in its onward march; the destroying angel accomplished his work of terrible destruction in the camp of the Assyrians, and a respite was granted to Judah (Isa 37:36).

II. THIS TRUTH, THUS ILLUSTRATED, ADMITS OF THE WIDEST APPLICATION. Sorrow ever follows in the course of evil. A life of obedience to God’s revealed will is the only way in which happiness, real and lasting, may be secured. The rabbins say that “when Adam had tasted the forbidden fruit, his head ached.” The highest authority has declared that “the way of transgressors is hard,” and that “whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap” (Gal 6:7). An old writer has compared a life of worldliness to one on the stream, and following the river’s course. He passes through very lovely scenery. There are the sweet meadows, green woods, the fertile pastures, magnificent buildings, strong forts, famous cities, but at last he comes to the salt sea. So the stream of worldliness may yield you many a passing delight, but the end to which it conducts is truly desolate (Thomas Adams). Have we not served sin long enough? All time is too long that is given to that service. It is enough. The time past shall suffice us in which to have wrought the will of the evil one. We cast ourselves at thy feet, O Lord; deliver us from the power and dominion, the shame and sorrow, of sin; and help us to live the manly and godly life!

HOMILIES BY E.S. PROUT

Mic 1:2

The Lord God a witness against sinners.

God never leaves himself without witness among men. He bears witness perpetually to themby the gifts of his hand (Act 14:17), by the still small voice within, and by the voice of his messengers. God has borne and still bears witness to us on behalf of Christ. This may be illustrated from Joh 5:31-39, where our Lord speaks of three ways in which the Father testified on his behalf.

1. By the mission of John the Baptist, representing preachers and teachers.

2. By his works (to us, miracles of grace, converts to Christ).

3. By the written Word. We have to add God’s witness:

4. By the resurrection of Christ (Act 17:1-34 :81).

5. By the gift of the Holy Spirit (Act 5:32).

In all these ways God is bearing witness for us. So even in his chastisements (1Co 11:32). But if we heed not these testimonies for us, we must be prepared at any time to hear the voice of God’s providence calling for judgments (verses. 3, 4), and thus witnessing against us. When such judgments fall, God will be able to testify:

(1) That we have had abundant privileges. Illustrate from 1Sa 12:6-15.

(2) That we have had fair warning and have neglected it, as did Samaria (2Ki 17:1-41), and Judah (2Ch 36:11-21), and the later Jews (Act 13:46).

(3) That his judgments are so righteous that God can summon all people to observe and justify them (cf. Deu 29:24 28). “It is a bitter case when our provoked Lord is provoked to go out of doors to the streets with his beloved’s faults.” They proceed from the very temple of his holiness (cf. Rev 15:3-6, where the songs of vindication and the angels of vengeance are coupled together). God never hesitates to give reasons for his judgments (Pro 1:24-27; Jer 29:23; Mal 2:14; Mal 3:5). Such judgments as fall now are but predictions and earnests of the great judgment awaiting the ungodly. God, who will then be a witness against us, warns us now of some of the ways in which he will then testify. He will bring as witnesses:

(1) The Law (Joh 5:45).

(2) The gospel (Joh 12:47).

(3) Our outward privileges. Illustrate from Jos 24:26, Jos 24:27. So there may be cited against usthe pulpit from which we heard the Word, and the preacher who in it “testified repentance towards God,” etc. (Act 20:21).

(4) The less privileged of our brethren (cf. Luk 11:31, Luk 11:32).

(5) Our misused talents (Jas 5:1-4).

(6) Our words (Mat 12:37).

(7) Our consciences (Joh 8:9; Rom 2:15). If true now, how much more then! Lest God should be a witness against us then, we must, by repentance, faith, and obedience, secure his testimony now, like Enoch (Heb 11:5; cf. Psa 147:11). Then we shall have the testimony of our brethren (Rom 16:6-13; 3Jn 1:3-6) and of our own consciences (2Co 1:12), and shall be able to anticipate without fear the final verdict of God (Rom 8:33, Rom 8:34).E.S.P.

Mic 1:5

Sins in the metropolis.

God’s interposition by judgment is threatened on account of the nation’s sins. The greatness of their privileges involved special responsibilities and chastisements (Amo 3:2). These sins are traced to their sources in the capitals of the two kingdoms. A metropolis is a centre of influence for good or for evil. This may be illustrated by the histories of both the Hebrew kingdoms. The northern kingdom had in succession three capitals:

(1) Shechem, where the apostasy of Israel began (1Ki 12:25-33).

(2) Tirzah, the home of Jeroboam (1Ki 14:17), the scene of civil strife (1Ki 16:9, 1Ki 16:17.18), and of the court of Omri of sinister memory (Mic 6:16), for half his reign.

(3) Samaria, the seat of monarchy for two hundred years. Among the sins specially charged by the prophets against Samaria we find pride (Isa 9:9), luxury and licentiousness (Isa 28:1 4; Amo 6:1-6), incorrigible treachery (Hos 7:1), contemptuous disregard of God and his worship (Hos 8:5; Amo 8:14), oppression of the poor (Mic 3:1-12.; Amo 4:1). In Judah the high places were an offence to God, which even good kings did not entirely suppress, so that Jerusalem may be said to have been responsible for them, and did not escape the infection (2Ch 28:1-4, 2Ch 28:23-25) nor the denunciations of the prophets (Isa 1:1-31; Isa 5:1-30.; Isa 28:14 19). We are thus reminded of

I. THE RESPONSIBILITIES ATTACHING TO A METROPOLIS. It is:

1. The seat of government, where kings and rulers live and exert great personal influence, and where laws are passed which, if bad, may corrupt the national conscience and deprave social life.

2. One chief centre of public opinion, where the most educated, and cultivated congregate.

3. The fountain of fashion.

4. The gathering place of the rural population, where the opinions and practices of the citizens may be speedily imbibed. Illustrate from the influence of Paris during the second empire, culminating in the craze for war, which brought ruin on the country in 1870; or from the influence of Constantinople and its pachas on the present condition of the Turkish empire. Such capitals are centres of corruption, like diseased lungs where the blood is deteriorated rather than purified.

II. LESSONS ARE SUGGESTED FOR ALL CLASSES OF RESIDENTS IN A METROPOLIS.

1. For the court, lest they be like Jeroboam, “who made Israel to sin.”

2. For legislators. Illustrate from the demoralizing effects of many of our past licensing acts.

3. For editors of newspapers and other leaders of public opinion. It was these who were, to a large extent, responsible for the Crimean War.

4. For the leaders of fashion, who may foster habits of extravagance, of peril to health, or even of cruelty in matters of dress.

5. For men of business; the exchanges of the metropolis giving a tone to the commercial customs of the country.

6. For artisans, whose trades unions may help or injure their fellow workmen scattered in the provinces.

7. For preachers, whom many gather from all parts to hear, and who may give a tone to the preaching of the country.

8. For Church members. Heresy or worldliness in metropolitan Churches may soon spread among rural Churches maintaining a simpler faith and practice (cf. Mat 5:14, Mat 5:16; Rom 1:8).E.S.P.

HOMILIES BY D. THOMAS

Mic 1:1, Mic 1:2

Divine revelation.

“The word of the Lord that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth,” etc. Micah calls himself a Morasthite because he was a native of Moresheth-Gath, a small town of Judea. He prophesied in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and his prophetic mission commenced soon after that of Isaiah. He was contemporary with him, as well as with Hosea and Amos. His prophecies were directed to Samaria, the capital city of Israel, and also to Jerusalem. Hence we find denunciations against Samaria mingled with prophecies concerning Judah and Jerusalem. One of his predictions, it seems, saved the life of Jeremiah, who would have been put to death for foretelling the destruction of the temple, had not Micah foretold the same thing a hundred years before. The book is commonly divided into three sectionsch, 1. and 2.; Mic 3:1-12. to 5.; Mic 6:1-16. and 7. Each of these opens with a summons to hear God’s message, and then proceeds with expostulations and threatenings, which are followed by glorious promises. His style is bold, fiery, and abrupt, and has not a little of the poetic grandeur of Isaiah. His sudden transitions from one subject to another often make his writings difficult to explain. “It is not,” says Delitzsch, “a little remarkable that Micah should adopt as the first sentence of his prophecy that with which his namesake concluded his denouncement against Ahab” (1Ki 22:28). Hengstenborg is of opinion that “he quoted the words designedly, in order to show that his prophetic agency was to be considered as a confirmation of that of his predecessor, who was so zealous for God, and that he had more in common with him than the bare name.” We may take these words as suggesting certain thoughts concerning Divine revelation, or the Bible.

I. IT IS THE “WORD OF THE LORD.” What is a word?

1. A mind manifesting power. In his word a true man manifiests himself, his thought, feeling, character; and his word is important according to the measure of his faculties, experiences, attainments. Divine revelation manifests the mind of God, especially the moral characteristics of that mindhis rectitude, holiness, mercy, etc.

2. A mind influencing power. Man uses his word to influence other minds, to bring other minds into sympathy with his own. Thus God uses his Word. He uses it to correct human errors, dispel human ignorance, remove human perversities, and turn human thought and sympathy into a course harmonious with his own mind.

II. IT IS “THE WORD OF THE LORD” MADE TO INDIVIDUAL MEN. It “came to Micah the Morasthite.” It did not come to all men of his age and country in common. It came to him and a few more. Why certain men were chosen as the special recipients of God’s word is a problem whose solution must be left for eternity. If it be saidThe men to whom God made special communications were men whose mental faculties, moral genius, and habits specially qualified them to become recipients, and if all men had the same qualifications, all would have Divine communications, the difficulty is not removed by this; for it might still be askedWhy have not all men such qualifications? The fact remains that “Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

III. IT IS “THE WORD OF THE LORD” MADE TO INDIVIDUAL MEN FOR ALL MANKIND. “Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is!” God did not speak to any individual man specially in order that the communication might be kept to himself, but that he might communicate it to others. He makes one man the special recipient of truth that he may become the organ and promoter of it. God’s Word is for the world, and the man who has it should give it forth. God enlightens, renovates, and roves man by man.D.T.

Mic 1:3-7

God’s procedure in relation to sin.

“For, behold, the Lord cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth,” etc. This is a highly figurative and sublime representation of the Almighty in his retributive work, especially in relation to Samaria and Jerusalem. He is represented as leaving his holy temple, coming out of his place, and marching with overwhelming grandeur over the high places of the earth, to deal out punishment to the wicked. “Behold, the Lord cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth. And the mountains shall be molten under him,” ere, “The description of this theophany,” says Delitzsch, “is founded upon the idea of a terrible storm and earthquake, as in Psa 18:8. The mountains melt (Jdg 5:4; Psa 68:8) with the streams of water which discharge themselves from heaven and the valleys split with the deep channels cut out by the torrents of water. The similes ‘like wax,’ etc. (as in Psa 68:2), and ‘like water’ are intended to express the complete dissolution of mountains and valleys. The actual facts answering to this description are the destructive influences exerted upon nature by great national judgments.” The reference may be to the destruction of the King of Israel by Shalmaneser, and the invasion of Judah by the armies of Sennacherib and Nebuchadnezzar, by the latter of whom the Jews were carried away captive. The passage is an inexpressibly grand representation of God’s procedure in relation to sin. Let us look at this procedure in two aspects.

I. AS IT APPEARS TO THE EYE OF MAN. The Bible is eminently anthropomorphic: it presents God to man in human attributes and modes of operation. Two thoughts are suggested:

1. God, in dealing out retribution, appears to man in an extraordinary position. “He cometh forth out of his place.” What is his place? To all intelligent beings the settled place of the Almighty is the temple of love, the pavilion of goodness, the mercy seat. The general beauty, order, and happiness of the universe give all intelligent creatures this impression of him. But when confusion and misery fall on the sinner, the Almighty seems to man to come out of his “place”to step aside from his ordinary procedure. Not that he does so; but in man’s view he seems to do so. The Immutable One does not change his purpose. His purpose is benevolent, though in carrying it forward it necessarily brings misery to those who oppose it. Judgment is God’s strange work (Isa 28:21). He comes out of his place to execute it.

2. God, in dealing out retribution, appears to man in a terrific aspect. He does not appear as in the silent march of the stars or the serenity of the sun; but as in thunderstorms and volcanic eruptions. “The mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire.” Though the Almighty is as benign and serene when bringing deserved suffering upon the sinner as he is when filling heaven with gladness, yet to the suffering sinner he always seems terrific. He seems to be rending the heavens, cleaving the mountains, and tearing the .earth to pieces. God is evermore presented to an intelligent creature according to the moral state of his soul.

II. AS IT AFFECTS A SINFUL PEOPLE. In God’s procedure in relation to sin, what disastrous effects were brought upon Samaria and Jerusalem!

1. God, in his procedure in relation to sin, brings material ruin upon people. “Therefore I will make Samaria as an heap of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof.” It means utter ruin. Sin brings material destruction upon a people, brings on commercial decay, political ruin, destroys the health of the body, and brings it ultimately to the dust. Sin brings material ruin.

2. God, in his procedure in relation to sin, brings mental anguish upon a people. “And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires thereof shall be burned with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate.” A disruption between the soul and the objects of its supreme affections involves the greatest anguish. The gods of a people, whatever they may be, are these objects, and these are to be destroyed. “The graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces.” The divinities, the fanes, the priestsall shattered. Such is the ruin which sin brings on a people.

CONCLUSION. Mark well that God has a course of conduct in relation to sin; or rather, that God, in his beneficent march, must ever appear terrible to the sinner and bring ruin on his head. It is the wisdom as well as the duty of all intelligent creatures to move in thought, sympathy, and purpose as God movesmove with him, not against him. To move with him is to see him in all the attraction of Fatherhood; to move against him is to see him in all the horrors of an infuriated Judge.D.T.

Mic 1:8, Mic 1:9

Moral incurableness.

“Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls. For her wound is incurable; for it is come unto Judah; he is come unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.” These verses have been thus translated: “Therefore will I lament and howl; I will go spoiled and naked; I will keep lamentation like the jackats, and mourning like the ostriches. For her stripes are malignant; for it comes to Judah, reaches to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem.” Micah’s intention is not only to exhibit publicly his mourning for the approaching calamity of Judah, but also to set forth in a symbolical form the fate that awaits the Judaeans. And he can only do this by including himself in the nation, and exhibiting the fate of the nation in his own person. “Wailing like jackals and ostriches is a loud, strong, mournful cry, those animals being distinguished by a mournful wail.” We shall take these words as suggesting the subject of moral incurableness. Samaria and Jerusalem were, in a material and political sense, in a desperate and hopeless condition. Our subject is moral ineffableness, and we make two remarks concerning it.

I. IT IS A CONDITION INTO WHICH MEN MAY FALL.

1. Mental philosophy shows this. Such is the constitution of the human mind, that the repetition of an act can generate an uncontrollable tendency to repeat it; and the repetition of a sin deadens altogether that moral sensibility which constitutionally recoils from the wrong. The mind often makes habit, not only second nature, but the sovereign of nature.

2. Observation shows this. That man’s circle of acquaintance must be exceedingly limited who does not know men who become morally incurable. There are incurable liars, incurable misers, incurable sensualists, and incurable drunkards. No moral logician, however great his dialectic skill, can forge an argument strong enough to move them from their old ways, even when urged by the seraphic fervour of the highest rhetoric.

3. The Bible shows this. What did Solomon mean when he said, “Speak not in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of thy words” (Pro 23:9)? What did Christ mean when he said, “Give not that which is holy to the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine”? And again, “If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! But now they are hid from thine eyes”? We often speak of retribution as if it always lay beyond the grave, and the day of grace as extending through the whole life of man; but such is not the fact. Retribution begins with many men here; the day of grace terminates with many before the day of death. There are those who reach an unconvertible state; their characters are stereotyped and fixed as eternity.

II. IT IS A CONDITION FOR THE PROFOUNDEST LAMENTATION. At the desperate condition of his country the prophet is brought into the most poignant distress. “Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls.” Christ wept when he considered the moral incurableness of the men of Jerusalem. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem!” etc. There is no sight more distressing than the sight of a morally incurable soul. There is no building that I pass that strikes me with greater sadness than the Hospital for “Incurables;” but what are incurable bodies compared to morally incurable souls? There are anodynes that may deaden their bodily pains, and death will relieve them of their torture; but a morally incurable soul is destined to pass into anguish, intense and more intense as existence runs on, and peradventure without end. The incurable body may not necessarily be an injury to others; but a morally incurable soul must be a curse as long as it lives. Were we truly alive to the moral state of wicked men around us, we should be ready to break out in the words of the prophet, “Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked,” etc.D.T.

Mic 1:13

Be quick.

“Bind the chariot to the swift beast.” These words are addressed to the inhabitants of Lachish. “This place appears to have formed the link of idolatry between Israel and Judah. Lying in the Shephelah, a fortified place of great importance, she was the first city in Judah that was led away by the sin of Jeroboam; and from her the infection spread till at length it reached Jerusalem itself. In the prospect of a sudden attack, it behoved the inhabitants to use all despatch in removing their families and what property they could take with them to a distance. Lachish was besieged by Sennacherib before making the threatened attack on Jerusalem” (2Ki 18:14). Our subject is promptitude in action. “Bind the chariot to the swift beast.”

I. BE QUICK IN YOUR MATERIAL ENGAGEMENTS. Man has material duties; these are as sacred and as binding as spiritual ones. Indeed, the distinction between the secular and the spiritual is not real, but fictitious. A man should be quick in all his legitimate temporal engagements, whatever they may be. Whatever is to be done must be done at once. “Be diligent in business.” By quickness I do not mean the hurry of confusion, but adroit expertness, skilful promptitude. As Shakespeare says, “What the wise do quickly is not done rashly.”

1. The quicker you are, the more you will accomplish. An expert man will accomplish more in an hour than a slow man in a day.

2. The quicker you are, the better for your faculties. The quick movement of the limb is healthier than the slow; the quick action of the mental faculties is more invigorating than the slow. As a rule, the quick man is in every way healthier and happier than the slow.

3. The quicker you are, the more valuable you are in the market of the world. The skilful man who cultivates the habit of quickness and despatch increases his commercial value every day. Those trades unions that enact that all of a craft should be paid alike, however they work, enact an absurdity and an injustice. One quick and skilful man may accomplish as much in one day as six slow men, though equally clever. Be quick, then, in business. “Bind the chariot to the swift beast.”

II. BE QUICK IN YOUR INTELLECTUAL PURSUITS. You have an enormous amount of mental work to do, if you act up to your duty and discharge your mission in life. You have manifold faculties to discipline, numerous errors to correct, vast and varied knowledge to attain. “The soul without knowledge is not good” (Pro 19:2). No, not good either to itself or others. Be quick.

1. The quicker you are, the more you will attain. The more fields of truth you will traverse, the more fruits you will gather from the tree of knowledge. Some men in their studies move like elephants, and only traverse a small space. Others, like eagles, sweep continents in a day. The quick eye will see what escapes the dull eye; the quick ear will catch voices unheard by the slow of hearing.

2. The quicker you are, the better for your faculties. It is the brisk walker that best strengthens his limbs, the brisk fighter that wins the greatest victories. It is by quick action that the steel is polished and that weapons are sharpened. Intellectual quickness whets the faculties, makes them keen, agile, and apt. “Bind the chariot to the swift beast.”

III. BE QUICK IN YOUR SPIRITUAL AFFAIRS.

1. Morally you have a work to do for your own soul. It is in a ruined state, it is like the “field of the slothful” and the “vineyard of the man void of understanding” of which Solomon speaks; it needs cultivation. The work is great and urgent.

2. Morally you have a work to do for others. There are souls around you demanding your most earnest efforts, etc.

(1) Be quick; the work must be done during your life here, if ever done.

(2) Be quick; your life here is very short and uncertain.

(3) Be quick; the longer you delay, the more difficult it is to do.

Be quick: “Whatsoever your hand findeth to do, do it with your might; for there is no knowledge nor device in the grave whither we are all hastening.” “Bind the chariot to the swift beast.”

Oh, let all the soul within you

For the truth’s sake go abroad;

Strike! let every nerve and sinew

Tell on agestell for God.”
(A.C. Coxe.)

D.T.

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary

FIRST DIVISION

FIRST DISCOURSE

Micah 1

1 Word of Jehovah, which came to Micah the Morasthite, in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

2Hear, all ye peoples,

Attend, O earth,1 and all that is therein!

And let the Lord, Jehovah, be a witness against you,
The Lord from his holy temple.

3 For, behold Jehovah cometh forth out of his place,

And cometh down, and treadeth on the high places of the earth.

4And the mountains melt under him,

And the valleys cleave asunder,
As wax before the fire,
As waters poured down a descent.

5For the transgression of Jacob is all this,

And for the sins of the house of Israel.
Who is the transgression2 of Jacob?

Is it not Samaria?
And who are the high places of Judah?
Are they not Jerusalem?

6 And I3 will make Samaria a heap in the field,

Plantations of vines;
And will pour down into the ravine the stones thereof,
And lay bare her foundations.

7 And all her carved images shall be broken in pieces,

And all her hires be burned with fire;
And all her idols4 will I make a desolation:

For from the hire of a harlot has she gathered,
And to the hire of a harlot shall they return.

8 For this let me wail and howl,

Let me go stripped and naked;
I will make a wailing like the jackals, And a mourning like the ostriches.

9 For deadly are her wounds;

For it has come unto Judah:
He has reached unto the gate of my people, unto Jerusalem.

10 In Gath [Annunciation5] announce it not;

In Acco6 [vale of tears] weep not;

In Bethleaphra [Dusthouse] I wallow in the dust,

11 Pass on with you, inhabitant of Shaphir [Fairview],

In shameful nakedness.
The inhabitant of Zaanan [Outlet] goeth not out;

The wailing of Beth-ezel7 [house of separation]

Taketh from you its standing-place.

12For the inhabitant of Maroth [Bitterness] is anxious about good,

For evil has come down from Jehovah,
To the gate of Jerusalem.

13 Bind the chariot to the courser, inhabitant of Lachish;

The beginning of sin was she to the house of Zion;
For in thee were found the transgressions of Israel.

14 Therefore must thou give a release8

For Moresheth-gath [Gaths possession];
The houses of Achzib [Place of deceit]9 shall be a deception

To the kings of Israel.

15Yet will I bring an heir to thee

Inhabitant of Mareshah [Possession];10

To Adullam will come the glory of Israel.11

16 Make ihee bald and shave thy head,

For the sons of thy delight;
Enlarge thy baldness as the eagle;
For they are carried away from thee.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

The Judgment upon Samaria and the land of Judah. Concerning the inscription and the date of the writing, see the Introduction.12 The event fore told is, evidently, in the immediate historical sense, besides the capture of Samaria (Mic 1:6), the. expedition which, after this conquest, the Assyrian king (Salmanasar, [Shalmanezer,] or Sargon) sent out, under his general Tartan, against Philistia and Egypt (Isaiah 20 :), and which sorely wasted Judah (Mic 1:9 ff.). The same fact formed the subject also of the prophecy of Isa 5:5 ff., with which ours has otherwise much similarity (cf. also on Mic 1:10).

The discourse, in a rapid but beautiful flow, runs through a great circle of thought. Its structure is outwardly characterized by several leading themes which are expressed in brief sentences of lively rhythm, and about which as fixed centres the discourse revolves (5 b, 9 b, 12 b). It thus fells, in respect to its contents, into two main portions, each of which has an exordium and two subdivisions:

1. The threatening of the destruction of Ephraim, Mic 1:2-7.

(a) Exordium, Mic 1:2.

(b) General threatening, Mic 1:3-5.

(c) Special threatening, Mic 1:6-7.

2. The lamentation over the chastisement of the land of Judah, Mic 1:8-16.

(a) Exordium and new theme, Mic 1:8-9.

(b) Song of lament, Mic 1:10-12.

(c) Particular description, Mic 1:13-16.

In form, we clearly distinguish the two parts, symmetrical in the number (25) of their members, Mic 1:2-7; Mic 1:10-16, from the lyrical part thrown in between Mic 1:8-9.

1. The threatening, Mic 1:2-7. The exordium, Mic 1:2, attaches itself directly through the exclamation: Hear ye peoples all,13 to the discourse of Micahs namesake in the Book of Kings (1Ki 22:28), with whom our author had the common fate of being compelled to encounter false prophets (compare Mic 2:11, with 1Ki 22:23). In other respects also our Micah coincides frequently with the Book of Kings. Compare the allusion Mic 6:16 the phrase m Mic 4:4, with 1Ki 5:5; 1Ki 4:13-14, with 1Ki 22:11; 1Ki 22:24; the mode of writing (instead of ), Mic 1:15, with 1Ki 21:29; so that even Hitzig cannot shut out the perception that the historical sources of that book must have lain before him to read. Whether the address dedenotes merely the tribes of Israel, or all nations, is hard to decide. For the former view speaks not only the further tenor of the discourse, which is directed to Israel alone, but also the parallel Deu 32:8. For, towards the game snug of Moses, the subsequent sentences of this exordium point hack (as indeed that song sounds on through the whole course of prophecy); Attend, O land and its fulness. Cf. Jer 22:29; Jer 8:16. Micalt expressly addresses the land alone, and omits the addition commonly made to the other repetitions of this phrase, and O ye heavens, which would give to the signification earth: there is the same limitation to Israel as in ammim. The land is appealed to, as in the first of the passages cited from Jeremiah 14 not, as in Isa 1:2, as witness of a judgment, or, as in Ps. I. 4, a messenger; but Jeliovans complaints begun in the very address; give attention, and let the Lord Jehovah become a witness against you; in a hostile sense, as 1Sa 12:5; Mal 3:5; the lord, irotn his holy temple; whence all his holy and powerful announcement go forth over the land (Amo 1:2). The temple is emphatically a temple of the holiness of Jehovah, because by the massacres and deeds of judgment which proceed from it does He show himsdf as the Holy One, (Isa 5:16).

Mic 1:3-5. The Testimony itself. Jehovah will in person, and that soon (part. c. ), appear in a theophany (Psa 18:50) for judgment. for behold Jehovah conies forth out of His place. From the temple proceeds the discourse of God, his appearance from heaven, for there He has his habitation (Psa 2:4); and comes down and treads oa the heights of the earth, i.e., the mountains (Mic 1:4), which are nearest to heaven, and the highest of which, Sinai, saw the first theophany of God concerning his people (Deu 33:2; Hab 3:3). The word is, according to the constant reading of the Keri, regarded and pointed as plural of an obsolete form , while the Kcthib everywhere reads , or , a double plural of (Gcs. 87, 5, Rem. I).

Mic 1:4. And the mountains melt under him, and the valleys cleave asunder as the wax before the fire, as water poured down a descent. The description rests as in other places, on the analogy of a tempest, when the mountains are veiled in clouds, and the earth, dissolved into flowing mud, pours down so that deep gullies are torn through the plains (Jdg 5:5). Mountain and valley, height and depth are, furthermore, a more I comprehensive expression for the shaking of the whole land. The two comparisons, c, d, have the down rushing torrent of water for their object; the first is proper and one often employed (Psa 68:3), the second comes back to the reality; the is often (pleonastically) used in such comparisons also (Isa 1:7; Isa 14:19). As salvation comes amid the peacefulness of surrounding nature (Isaiah 11 :), so the judgment with prodigious disturbances of the natural course of things (Mat 24:7; Mat 24:29); for it is the consequence of sin, which has broken up the harmony of the world.

Mic 1:5 connects this representation with its ground in the present state of things, For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. pretii, compare e.g., 1 Sam. 3:27, 30. Hitzig. House is, as often, collective for sons. But the discourse does not pause with even this statement; it proceeds to a more exact indication in the decisive sentence 5 b: Who is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? In Samaria sin has reached such a climax that it has become the substance of the popular life, and from the capital outward has poisoned and polluted all the land (Hos 6:10). And already from this point forward the light is thrown in a striking parallel on the sin and fate of Judah, to which principally he will later turn: and who are the heights of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem? Jerusalem is a prominent city; the hills on which it lies should be sanctuaries of God (Psa 99:9), but as it now stands, the eternal heights have, through idolatry, become Bamoth (Eze 36:2) sensu odioso, i. e., hieh places for idols (1Ki 15:14).

It is accordingly not doubtful on whom the judgment of God must take effect. First Samaria: Mic 1:6-7. Therefore will I make Samaria a heap in the field, plantations of vines:i. e., not merely lay it in ruins (Hos 12:12), but make it waste for so long a time that husbandmen shall devote the depopulated region to tillage, and convert the fertile territory (Isa 28:1) into a vineyard; and pour down the stones of it into the valley, down from the hill on which it lay (Amo 6:1) (Robinson, Bib. Res. in Pal., 3:138 ff., 1st ed.; cf. Joseph., Ant., 13:10, 3), and lay bare its foundations, i.e., destroy it to the very ground (Fs. 137:7). The whole mountain on which the ancient city lay is now cultivated to the summit, but in the middle of it, on the field, a heap of ruins is to be seen, and not far off lies a miserable village, Jabustiah.” Quandt.

Mic 1:7. And all her carved images (, Exo 34:1) shall be broken in pieces; and all her hires be burned with fire. Hires (of harlotry) are primarily the consecrated offerings lavished on the idol altars, by which the preparations for the service were maintained (Ros., Casp., Keil); for, since God is the rightful husband of Israel (Hos 2:18 ff.), idolatry is whoredom (Hos 9:1). But they are also all the possessions of the city, because she looks upon her riches not as the gift of God, but of the idols, her paramour (Hos 2:7; Hos 2:15), (Hitzig). And all her idols will I make a desolation. For from the hire of a harlot has she gathered, and to the hire of a harlot shall they return: become a prey to other idolaters, who will devote these things again to their idols, , as in Gen 3:19.

2. The lamentation, Mic 1:8-16. Already in Mic 1:8, the prophet turns and prepares the transition Mic 1:8-9, to the new discourse, which according to 5 b is directed against Judah. For, that the complaint has reference specially to Judah appears from the connection and contents of what follows. It belongs to the theanthropic element in the nature of prophecy, that the prophets, on the one hand, standing above the people, utter with seeming mer-cilessness the decrees of Gods justice, while on the other, as members of the people, they enter sym-pathizingly into the deepest popular suffering. Therefore let me lament and wail, let me go stripped and naked. has the incorrect scriptio plena, like Psa 19:14; Exo 35:31; , from the stem , after the formation (Isa 16:9), signifies robbed, spdiatus; the Masoretes have without reason substituted another form , after Job 12:17. Wherein the robbery consists is shown by the addition: naked, i. e. without the over garment (1Sa 19:24). The prophets complaint also is symbolical prophecy; when he represents his nakedness as robbery it becomes the emblem of the fate of his people (cf. Isa 20:3 ff.). I will make a complaint like the jackals, and a mourning like the ostriches. In Job 30:29, also these animals appear as types of the cries of pain.

Mic 1:9. For deadly are her wounds [lit., the strokes inflicted upon her]. The plural is construed with the fem. sing, of the predicate according to Ew. 317 a [Ges. 147 b] There is implied in the subject the thought that the sad fate comes from God, is from above; in the pred., the common comparison of public calamities to diseases. (Isa 1:5 ff.) The suffix to takes the place of a genit. obj.; it refers to Samaria. The prophet mourns so bitterly over the afflictions appointed to Samaria, because they are deadly; and deadly for all Israel; for they come even to Judah; HE (Jehovah, cf. Job 3:20) reaches even to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem. Therefore are the wounds deadly, because they strike the heart of the land and the seat of the sanctuary; and yet according to Mic 1:5 b, it cannot be otherwise. The gate is, in eastern countries, the place of solemn assembly: hence Jerusalem is called the gate of Gods people, because there Israel held his solemn courts (Isa 33:20). Notice the affecting increase of intensity in the discourse, which reaches its climax, in the last clause of verse ninth. With this the theme is given also of the new turn to the thought, and now begins,

Mic 1:10, the proper lamentation itself. Following a view common in the O. T. (Psa 25:3; Lam 2:17), he thinks first of the malicious joy of their heathen neighbors. In Gath announce it not, the Philistine city on the northwest border of Judah. With this expression the prophet recalls an earlier occurrence, Davids lamentation over the death of Saul and Jonathan (2 Sam. i. 20). The paronomasia which he finds in the words of the songfor may be regarded, like 1Sa 4:19, as an infinitive from gives him occasion to repeat this figure to the end of the chapter, in ever new applications. (Compare the translation, where the paronomasia is indicated mostly alter the manner of Riickert).15 The very next member shows another instance of this play on words. The present text seems indeed to be capable of meaning only: Weep not. But in the apparent inf. abs. , there lurks (as Reland, Pal. Illustr., 534 flf., first perceived) a contraction : in Acco weep not. Acco is the later or , a city of the Canaanites lying northward on the coast (Jdg 1:31). That such contraction in fact exists is proved by a comparison of the LXX: who, according to the common reading of the Vatican, translate , with the statement in Euseb. (Onomast., ed. Larsow, p. 188), that in Micah, a city named is mentioned. This can refer only to the passage before us, and the statement in Eusebius rests evidently on the LXX: But the word which they offer is nothing. The Enakites, of whom alone they could be thinking, did not, according to Jos 11:21, dwell so far up as Acco, and are besides always called or by the LXX: Hence the Alexandrian reading is evidently preferable. (Some MSS. and the Aldina read , not understanding the contraction, and regarding the as belonging to the name). In , , then, we have the name of a city, especially if with Hitzig we assume that it was originally , and that the has been drawn back by mistake from the following .For our explanation speaks first, the fact that thus the parallelism is completely established, and the grammatical impossibility of connecting an inf. abs. with instead of is avoided. And secondly, that the contraction is possible is proved by the analogous examples for , Amo 8:8; for for , Jos 19:3; Jos 15:29, and the altogether analogous Psa 28:8, for , the replacement of the sharpened syllable by the lengthening of the vowel being a familiar fact. Finally, that it was necessary, when a paronomasia obvious to the ear was aimed at, is obvious.

After the malignant triumph of their enemies, the prophet sees next the sorrow of his fellow-countrymen. A series of devastated places meets the eye of the seer, and their names become to him the texts of his lamentation and gloomy previsions. Whether the designation of the places is connected, as in Isaiah 10 :., with the route of the hostile army is, owing to their generally more or less questionable position, and to the absence of any such express intimation as we have in Isaiah, very doubtful. So much at least is clear, however, that the territory in which the places named are contained reaches but a little beyond Jerusalem on the east, while westwardly it stretches to the border of the Philistines at Gath; that, accordingly, just such cities are named as must naturally be most harmed by an army streaming over Judith upon Philistia. The preterites are prophetic.16For Bethleaphra, on account of the misfortune of the Benjamite city Ophra, (Jos 18:23), not far from Jerusalem, I scatter dust on myself [better, roll myself in the dust], in token of deep affliction; cf. Jer 6:26, in accordance with which passage the useless correction of the margin is here made. Verba sentiendi are construed with (Ew. 217 f. 2 B.) [Ges. s. v. B. 5 c]; is an addition to names of places which may also be omitted (cf. ver. below, and Ges., Thes., 193).

Mic 1:11. Set out on thy journey inhabitant of Shafir (pleasantness) in shameful nakedness. The dat. eth. is in the plural because here, and in all the following verses is understood collectively; stands here, as in Exo 32:27, in antithesis to : depart, go away. Shaphir lay, according to the Onom., near Eleu-theropolis, and is perhaps identical with the Shamir, Jos 15:48, which was on the southwest of the mountain of Judah, nakedness-shame = shameful nakedness, is a compound idea, like Psa 45:5, humility-righteousness, and stands in ace. adv. (cf. Pro 31:9.

The meaning of what follows becomes plain when once we take as an ace. of direction, as it often stands with (Gen 27:3; 1Ch 5:18). Not the inhabitant of Zaanan (departure) shall go forth for mourning at Bethhaezel [Kleinert, Nimmhausen; Ges , Fixed hoise]. Zaanan is perhaps the Zenan mentioned in Jos 15:37, in the western lowland, and Bethhaezel (cf. on Mic 1:10) the Azel named by Zech. (Zec 14:5), which lay at the foot of Mount Olivet,and had gained, according to that passage, a mournful celebrity in the days of Uzziah, not long before Micahs time, from the fact that the people took refuge there in a great earthquake. There seems to have been an annual mourning held at that place, as was usual in commemorating such national calamities (Zec 12:11). This, according to our verse, can no more be the case with the cities of Judah, for which Zaanan, on account of the paronomasia, is made a representative, for he, who executes the judgment, as Mic 1:9, takes away from you his (Ezels) stations. It is carried away according to Gods appointment, by the enemies hand. Herein also lies a paronomasia, because as well as means: to take away. Hitzig translates: Zaanan goes not forth because the lamentation of the neighborhood takes away from you its standing-place. Umbreit: The grief of Bethhaezel turns away its places for you. Keil: The cry of Bethhaezel takes away from you the standing with it. [Maurer: “Planclus Bethaezel, i. e., quod oppressi ab hostibus tenentur Bethhaezelenses, id aufort vobis hospitium ejus, facit ut nullum ibi refugium haheatis.”]17

Mic 1:12. foras leading sentence must be supplied all along, from Mic 1:8, I cannotthe inhabitant of Maroth [bitterness] writhes in pain because of the [lost] prosperity. Maroth, a village, as the mention of it in connection with Ezel shows, lying near Jerusalem; otherwise of no significance. before the object of emotion (Ew. 217 d. 2 c). For, so the discourse turns, with a resumption of the main theme from Mic 1:9, to its last division, evil conies down from Jehovah unto the gate of Jerusalem.

In place of the sympathizing lamentation we have again, as at the beginning, the prophetic threat, first in the indirect, imperative form, so that actions are enjoined upon the object of the threatening, which must come as immediate effects of the threatened, judgment (Isa 2:10); Mic 1:13. Harness the chariot to the courser,inhabitant of Laehish, to escape, namely, from the punishment. The play upon words here lies in the homophony of the roots and . Lachish, a fortified city, not far from Eleutheropolis, still remaining as a ruin under the name of um Lakis. The beginning of the sin was it for the daughter of Jerusalem, for the population of Jerusalem, that in thee were found the transgressions of Israel, i. e., the idolatry of the ten tribes, which had, accordingly, first found admission at Laehish, and from thence had inundated Judah (Mic 6:16).

Mic 1:14. Therefore wilt thou give the release upon Moresheth Gath. Laehish is no longer addressed, as the connection shows, but Israel, which throughout, even in Mic 1:6, is the object; and is, as frequently, a free connective. At the marriages of princes a dowry was given, and this is expressed by (1Ki 9:16); this Israel gives to the enemy in the form of Moreshethalthough certainly not freely renounced. But there lies at the same time in the idea of the side thought that one divorces himself from the abandoned property, Jer 3:8 (Hitzig). Hence also the play on the words: the homophonous signifies the betrothed (Deu 32:23). On Moresheth-Gath, i.e., Moresheth near Gath, the home of the prophet, which likewise lay in the southwest portion of Judah, cf. the Introd. 2. The houses of Achzib [deception] will become a deceitful brook to the king of Israel., are brooks which dry up in the summer, and deceive the thirsty wayfarer who knowing their site, goes in search of them (Jer 15:18; Job 6:15 ff.; Psa 126:4). Like them will Achzib slip from the hands of the kings of Israel, i. e., those of Judah, for after the destruction of Samaria, the kingdom of the ten tribes has ceased. The city lay, like the others, in the lowland of Judaia (Jos 15:44); now the ruins Kussabeh.

Mic 1:15. I will moreover bring ( instead of , as in 1Ki 21:29,) the conqueror upon thee, inhabitant of Mareshah (conquered town). Maresha near Achzib (Jos 15:44) is the present Marasch (Tobler, Dritte Wanderung, p. 139, 142 f.); even to Adullam (Jos 12:15; Jos 15:35) northward from Maresha, but not discovered as yet, shall the nobility (Isa 5:13) of Israel come, namely, to hide themselves in the mountain caves there, in which David once sought refuge from Saul (1Sa 22:1).

The prophet has named twelve cities of Judah, six in the lamentation, and six in the threatening, and, still further intensifying his lament, closes the whole, Mic 1:16, with an address to the mourning mother, Israel, who must see her children dragged away into exile (Jer 31:15; Isa 3:26). Make thee bald and shear thy headin spite of the prohibition, Deu 14:1, this had remained a common sign of sorrowful lamentation for the dead (Jer 26:6; cf. Job 1:20; Isa 15:2)for the sons of thy delight; enlarge thy baldness like the eagle (the giiffin vulture is meant, which is often met with in Egypt and Syria, and has the whole forepart of the head bare of feathers); for they are carried away from thee, led away captives.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

Very differently goes the course of the two sister kingdoms (cf. Ezek. Micah 23:.), and yet goes with both to the same destruction. The sacred heights, on which the Lord will set his foot when He comes down to his people, have become in Judah also heights of corruption. What has she now of advantage over her apostate sister, Samaria, whom yet the Lord had let go her own way (cf. Romans 3 :)? She hasindeed, much still; she has the-holy temple, the fountain of Gods holy ordinances, and with that the certainty that God cannot allow her to be utterly destroyed, although ho has overthrown Samaria to the very foundation. But through judgment must Judah pass like Samaria; the holy ordinances profit not the sinful generation to whom they have become a dead and despised possession (cf. 2Ma 5:19 f.). Nay, such a possession insures to the people among whom it exists, a serious trial, for Gods holiness, proceeding from the Temple of his i holiness, is a beaming light which becomes a consuming fire when it finds no longer life but death I round about it (Isa 10:17). All the names of auspicious presage become then omens of judgment. For, as sin is the distortion of that which should be between man and God, the judgment is the turning straight again of that which has been turned awry (Psa 18:27 b). Israel, the mother who parted from God (Hos 2:8), has neglected her children; therefore will she have no friends in these children, but in her widowhood be also childless. Where the churches become empty the church herself is to blame for it.

Hengstenberg: The discourse, beginning with the general judgment of the world, turns suddenly to the judgment upon Israel. This is to be explained only from the relation in which the two judgments stand to each other, they being in essence completely the same, and different only in space, time, and unessential circumstances; so that one can say, that in every partial judgment upon Israel there is the world-judgment. Here, as always in the threatenings of the prophets, we must take care that we do not, in a particular historical event, lose sight of the animating idea. Let this be rightly apprehended, and it will appear that a particular, historical occurrence may indeed be specially intended, but never can exhaust the prediction; that in this passage also we ought not, on account of the primary reference to the Chaldtean (?) catastrophe, at all to exclude that in which, before or afterward, the same law was realized.

Rieger: From the (threatening) nature of the time we may most easily perceive the purport and aim of such prophecies, namely, to rebuke the then prevailing sins, to announce the judgment of God on account of them, but ever also to bring forward the promises of Christ, and thus to call to repentance; most especially to support believers, that they may find effectual comfort in the general disorder, and abide in patient waiting for the kingdom of God and Christ. Nay, when many were first awakened from their sleep under the punishment of their sins, they would be turned by words of this kind to their covenant God, and not despair of his promise.

On the Fulfillment. Keil: Micah prophesies in this chapter, for the most part, not particular definite punishments, but the judgment in general, without precise indications as to its accomplishment, so that his prediction embraces all the judgments against Judah which took place from the Assyrian invasion on until the Roman catastrophe.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

The judgment must begin at the house of God.

1. It must begin, for God, the injured One, is Judge of the, world; Mic 1:2-4.

2. It must begin at the house of God, i. e., at the congregation of his people. For –

(a) He has here his seat and place; yer. 2.

(b) Upon this his eye first falls when He comes to judge the whole earth; Mic 1:3.

(c) Here is the right knowledge of God, to have fallen away from which to idolatry is a peculiar guilt; Mic 1:5 b, 7.

3. In the congregation, moreover, it strikes all; Mic 1:8-16.

(a) Not the godless only but the pious also, who see it come and must share in the sorrow and lamentation; Mic 1:8-9.

(b) Not merely the capital, but all places are stations and signs of the judgment; Mic 1:10-15.

(c) Not merely the sin itself, but the generation that practice it must away to the place of punishment; Mic 1:16.

Mic 1:2. When Jehovah speaks, the whole land must tremble. Land and people belong together, and He smites both, the field for mans sake (Gen 3:17). Hence the creation also siahs for the redemption which comes to it too with the glorious liberty of the sons of God (Rom 8:19).

Mic 1:3. Jehovah is not a God afar off but always going forth out of his holy places to see and to judge what is on the earth.

Mic 1:4. His holy congregation lies so near his heart that for their sake he shakes the earth. Mic 1:5. Great cities, great sins (Gen 4:17; Isa 14:21).

Mic 1:6. When man builds without God, let it be ever so firmly fastened with stones to the strongest ground, the storm breaks from above, lays bare the foundation, and hurls the stones asunder. The best established church-system, when it becomes essentially sinful, is, in Gods hands, a spiders web. The judgment deeds of God are declarative; while He lays bare the ground, He shows that it is sinful, and with that the annihilation is pronounced.

Mic 1:8. Gods spirit in the congregation itself sympathizes with, when it must punish, the congregation. His righteousness is a self-infliction upon his love.

Mic 1:13. God retains accurately in mind the individual responsibilities and the starting-points of sin. Popular sins proceed from certain places, from certain classes, out over the whole; the whole is judged, but the root is not forgotten.

Theophylact (on Mic 1:1) : The prophets spoke to hard and disobedient hearts; hence they said: The vision is divine, and from God is the Word; thatthe world might give heed to the Word, and not despise them. Matthew, however, spake to believing and obedient souls, and therefore placed nothing of this kind at the beginning. Or thus: The prophets saw in the spirit what they saw, since the Holy Spirit made the exhibition, and so they named it, a vision. But Matthew saw it not spiritually and in a representation, but had bodily intercourse with Him, heard Him by the senses, saw Him in the flesh; therefore he says not vision, but Book of the generation of Jesus Christ.

Osiander (on Mic 1:3) : At the present day it is not necessary in preaching to call persons and places by name, in which we must proceed very prudently, in order not to tear down more than we build up; and yet the preacher may use such freedom and plainness in indicating errors and vices that those who need improvement may feel themselves aimed at, and repent and be saved.

Hengstenberg (on Mic 1:11): The instances of play upon words are no mere empty sport. They have throughout a practical aim. The threatening is to be located by them. Whoever thought of one of the designated places, in him was the thought of the divine judgment quickened.

Ch. B. Michaelis (on Mic 1:12): From Jehovah, he adds to make it plain that the calamity came not by blind chance, but was brought about by the supreme control of God, the righteous Judge.

Starke: Mic 1:1. Teachers must have a regular call, partly because of the divine command (Heb 5:4), partly for the sake of order (1Co 14:40). Preachers must not preach differently from Gods Word (1Pe 4:11). Those who practice like sins may expect like punishments

Mic 1:2. The Lord be a witness in you; let the Lord bear witness in you. For he who takes to heart the word concerning the judgment is convinced of his sins thereby, and feels the wrath of God. Even yet also God always puts in the mouth of his servants what He has to speak to his people, especially when teachers and hearers heartily call upon Him for this.

Mic 1:3. So secure is the natural man, that he perceives not Gods presence, nay even denies it, until He finally makes his presence known by notable punishments. God descends not actually, or as it regards his being, but He ceases to conceal himself, to be long-suffering, and begins to punish sin, to reveal and expose it. He assumes in effect another kind of presence.

Mic 1:5. God pours not out his anger upon innocent people. “Desine peccare et civitas non peribit” (Ambros.). Divine services set up without Gods word, although with good intention, are an abomination before God. And,

Mic 1:6, Gods judgments against the false systems of worship are terrible; for He is jealous of his own honor.

Mic 1:7. Idolaters have in general more of worldly goods than those who serve the true God.

Mic 1:10. It is often advisable to withhold our tears that the world may not rejoice over our misfortune. If one will weep he must do it before the outbreak of judgments, for when they are already here it is too late.

Mic 1:11. When God will punish a land for its sins He takes away their courage from the people.

Mic 1:12. That is the way of most men : that they mourn over the loss of their goods but not over their sins. On account of their bodily troubles, also, the righteous sometimes fall into great sorrow and fear.

Mic 1:13. Offenses given remain not unpunished.

Mic 1:14. Well may a stronghold proudly bear the name of deception, when it with its walls and good preparations causes the besiegers to be deceived in their hope. Princes should not trust in strong castles and towns, because they may be disappointed in them.

Mic 1:16. Those who give themselves up to luxury are at last given up to miserable slavery. When a man makes his children effeminate, he makes for himself grief and heart-pangs.

Pfaff: Mic 1:1. Think not, ye great sinners, that the word of the Lord which was formerly spoken concerning the Jews is of no concern to you, it is written for your punishment also.

Mic 1:2. When the Lord speaks we should listen, yea, and give good heed : with great reverence, with all humility, with fear and trembling, with most willing obedience.

Mic 1:8. Gods servants properly mourn over the wretched condition of their congregations. It would indeed be a poor promise of their doing anything to improve them if they did not pour out their tears before God, and if it did not touch their heart that the people are drawing near to their judgment.

Rieger: Even to the last (Micah lived still after the fall of Samaria), God shows that He has no pleasure in the death of the sinner, but, before the outbreak of such judgments, seeks once more by his word to save what can be saved. But He teaches us also that we should not, from the riches of his word, the crowd of gifted servants of God, the earnestness with which they urge the word of the Lord, be drawn into security, nor suppose ourselves on these accounts far from the evil day; but if often in respect to these circumstances, we seem to see planting and cultivation, it is often also near to the hewing down.

Mic 1:2. What a case it is when the protection which they hitherto had enjoyed from the golden altar in the temple of God, is thus declared at an end! (Rev 9:13 ff.)

Mic 1:4. All should truly feel their inability to stand before God, and not only with their power, but also with heart and courage, be like melted wax.

Mic 1:7. How accurately God knows in what way a property has been gathered, and how He directs himself in punishment accordingly!

Mic 1:11. How far God lets himself down in his word, in that He connects what He has determined in his holy temple with the names which we have given of old to our towns, in order the better to impress it upon us!

Quandt: That God by his prophets causes this dark picture to be drawn for the people, is itself a fact which affords hope. For if He had had pleasure in the death of the wicked, He would, straightway, and without wasting many words, have let them go to destruction. If He still takes the trouble to threaten, this threatening can only be a sign of his enduring love. The Last Hay has many solemn types in the precursory days of the wrath of God; and the universal judgment at the last has many a preliminary token in the partial judgments that are taking place on particular peoples.

Mic 1:4. The mountains symbolize the high and mighty in the creation; their melting down, therefore, signifies the annihilation of earthly greatness. The valleys symbolize the masses of the nations; the rending of them, therefore, their crumbling and being turned into dust, like water, signifies the annihilation of the nations.

Mic 1:9. A preacher renders poor service to God and man, when he remains silent about the plague which God threatens to sinners; but when he has plagues to announce, he should never do it with laughing mouth, nor even with indifferent manner, but, like Micah, with sorrow and with tears, as being also a child of the people, who suffers when all suffer. Our God will have even for his Jobs-posts messengers who are not only obedient but also full of sympathy.

[Dr. Pusey: Mic 1:3. Since the nature of God is goodness, it is proper and co-natural to Him to be propitious, have mercy and spare. In this way, the place of God is his mercy. When then He passeth from the sweetness of pity to the rigor of equity, and, on account of our sins, showeth Himself severe (which is, as it were, alien from Him), He goeth forth out of his place. Cited from Dion.

Mic 1:6. There is scarce a sadder natural sight than the fragments of human habitation, tokens of mans labor, his luxury, amid the rich beauty of nature when man himself is gone. For they are tracks of sin and punishment, mans rebellion and Gods judgment, mans unworthiness of the good natural gifts of God.

Mic 1:7. All forsaking of God being spiritual fornication from Him who made his creatures for himself, the hires are all that man could gain by that desertion of his God, all employed in mans intercourse with his idols, whether as bribing his idols to give him what are the gifts of God, or as himself bribed by them For there is no pure service, save that of the love of God. Yet herein were the heathen more religious than the Christian worldling. The heathen did not offer an ignorant service to they knew not what. Our idolatry of mammon, as being less abstract, is more evident self worship, a more visible ignoring, and so a more open dethroning of God, a worship of a material prosperity, of which we seem ourselves to be the authors, and to which we habitually immolate the souls of men, so habitually that we have ceased to be conscious of it.

Mic 1:10. The blaspheming of the enemies of God is the sorest part of his chastisements,it is hard to part with home, with country, to see all desolate, which one ever loved. But far, far above for temporal good, while living in bitterness, bittei desolate, which one ever loved. But far, far above all, is it, if, in the disgrace and desolation, Gods honor seems to be injured.

Mic 1:12. Strange contradiction! Yet a contradiction, which the whole unchristian world is continually enacting; nay, from which christians have often to be awakened, to look for good to themselves, nay, to pray for temporal good, while living in bitterness, bitter ways, displeasing to God. the words are calculated to be a religious proveb. Living in sin, as we say, dwelling in bitterness, she looked for good. Bitternesses! for it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the lord thy god, and that my fear is not in thee.

Mic 1:13. Beginning of sin towhat a world of evil lies in the three words!TR,

Footnotes:

[1]Mic 1:2.Although Dr. Kleinert, in the confessedly difficult question, Who are comprehended within the scope of this address? leans to the opinion that means peoples, and not tribes of Israel, still he would have denote simply the land of Israel. We prefer the judgment of Maurer and others (falling in with the Eng. vers.) which regards the people of the earth as summoned to the great controversy. This leaves, indeed, some difficulty, if the next clause be understood to refer strictly to the sacred nation, but not serious. Nothing, however, but the apparent unanimity of commentators in such reference, would prevent the present writer from suggesting that the in- should be regarded rather in its more usual signification, in, among. Then the conception would be that God makes this great display of judgment in the midst of the nations, at the central point, in Palestine. All would thus be preliminary to the announcement of its occasion and object, until the fifth verse, which points directly to Israel and Judah.Tr.]

[2]Mic 1:5. et , meton, pro eorundem causa et auctore. Maurer.Tr.]

[3]Mic 1:6.. Dr. Pusey, speaking (p. 292) of the simplicity of Micahs style, as exemplified in the frequent use of the conjunction and, in place of more explanatory conjunctions, says very truly what admits of wider application than lie gives it: An English reader loses some of the force of this simplicity by the paraphrase, which, for the simple copula, substitutes the inference or contrast, therefore, then, but, notwithstanding, which lie in the subjects themselves The English reader might have been puzzled, at first sight, by the monotonous simplicity of the and, and, joining together the mention of events, which stand either as the contrast or the consequence of those which precede them. The English version accordingly has consulted for the reader or hearer, by drawing out for him the contrast or consequence which lay beneath the surface. But this gain of clearness involved giving up so far the majestic simplicity of the Prophet, who at times speaks of things as they lay in the Divine Mind, and as, one by one, they would be unfolded to man, without explaining the relation in which they stood to one another. It might well be added that it is often difficult to make this relation more plain than the prophet has expressed it, with full certainty of not having made it something different.Tr.]

[4]Mic 1:9.Kleinert understands God to be the subject here (with Eng. Vers.), which is not unlike the prophets sudden changes of person, but the mase. form of the verb may possibly be accounted for by the general want of concord (sing. adj. for plur., and sing, verb for plural) in the preceding clauses, cf. Maur. and Hitz.Tr.]

[5]Mic 1:10.Kleinert, in his version of Mic 1:10-15, has followed the plan of adding to the names of places mentioned, other names (real or imaginary), denoting more plainly the sense which he supposes the prophet to have attached to them in his play upon the words. A different etymology is thus assumed in several instances,for the geographical names, from that ascribed to them by the best authorities. Gath, e. g., which Gesen. derives from and Frst from . Kleinert treats here as if from Similarly with Zaanan, and Beth-ezel.Tr.]

[6][Mic 1:10.Dr. Pusey (with Rosenm, Hieron., Eng. Vers.): Weep not at all (lit., weeping, weep not). Weeping is the stillest expression of grief. We speak of weeping in silence. Yet this also was too visible a token of grief Their weeping would be the joy and laughter of God:s enemies. In a foot-note he severely, almost scornfully, rejects the interpretation of our author (and most modern commentators), and brings strong reasons in support of his censure. (Kleinerts reasons may be seen in the Exeget. note.) He seems to me not to have allowed enough for the requirements of the parallelism in this connection, and to have maintained a sense of the clause which is strikingly incompatible with the conspicuous mourning of the next member.Tr.]

[7] [Mic 1:11.Locus vexatissimus! The exceeding conciseness of the expression renders it simply impossible, at this day, to say with full confidence whether c should be connected with the preceding, as the terminus ad quern, or with the following as its subject. Dr. Kleinert adopts the former view, and translates,

The population of Zaanan (Auszug) will not go out

To the mourning to Bethhaezel (House of removal),
For he takes away from you his place.

He thus approximates to the view of the Eng. Vers. But Hitzig, Umbreit, and Keil, quoted in the Exeget. notes, all regard the mourning, etc., as the subject of the following verb. With this agree Maurer and Pusey :

The mourning of Beth-ezel
Will take (or takes) from you its standing;

each with some varieties of interpretation. Translating as we have done, literally, the meaning is likely to be: The distressed inhabitants of Zaanan cannot leave their walls, because the supposed neighboring town of Beth-ezel can give no standing in it, being to like affliction from besieging foes. Zone gives a peculiar rendering; (Yet) has not inhabitants of Zaanan gone forth, (and) the funeral procession of Beth Hazel (already) takes its station by you.Tr.

[8][Mic 1:14., lit. dismissions, and applicable to the act or form of giving up possession of anything Some prefer to take it here in the sense of dowry or bridal presents, with which the father sent his daughter away (released her to her husband) in marriage (1Ki 9:16). The effect is the same.Tr.]

[9][Mic 1:14.Kieinert, following, Hitzig, translates , deceitful brook, relying apparently on Jer 15:18; but there the addition of along warrants that metaphor in .Tr.]

[10][Mic 1:15.So First; Gesen: hill city.Tr.]

[11][Mic 1:15.The choice which the English version gives between this and: He will come to Adullam the glory of Israel, still remains open, each rendering being supported by many high authorities.Tr.]

[12][No two of the prophets authen ticate their prophecy in exactly the same way. They, one and all, have the same simple statement to makethat this which they say is from God and through them. A later hand, had it added the titles, would have formed all on the same model. The title was an essential part of the pophetic book, as indicating to the people afterwards, that it was not writtenafter the event. It was a witness, not to the prophet whose name it hears, but to God. Pusey.Tr.]

[13][, negligentius, pro . Maurer.Tr.]

[14][But in this passage the context plainly restricts the application of the term to the country of Isrsel. The phrase, Hear, O Earth, had become stereotyped as a solemn in vocation of the world itself to appear as a witness or a party in Gods contest withmankind. Vid. Textual and Gram. on this verse.Tr].

[15] [Cowles on this passage, well says: The remainting part of this chapter, is a graphic painting of the first results of the Assyrian invasion, as they were felt in one city after another along the line of his mareh. In most of the cases, the things said of each city are a play on the significant name of that citya method of writing well adapted to impress the idea upon the memory. Sometimes there is merely a resemblance i sound between the prominent word spoken of a city and the name of that city. Both of these cases fall under that figure of speech, technically called a parononiasia. The latter form of itresembiance in soundsis of course untranslatable. The other forma play upon the signifuance of the name of a cityis as if one should exclaim: what! is there quarrelling in Concord? war in Salem [Peace]; family fends in Philadelphia [Brotheriy Love; slavery in Freetown?

Dr. Pusey (Intr. to Min. Proph., p. 293): His description of the destruction of the ities or villages of Judah corresponds in vividness to Isaiahs ideal march of Sennacherib. The flame of war spreads from place to place, but Micah relieves the sameness of the description of misery by every variety which language allows. He speaks of them in his own person, or to them; he describes the calamity in post in futrue, or by the use of imperative. The verbal allusions are crowed together in a way unexampled elsewhere. Moderns have spoken of them as not after their caste, or have apologized for them. The mighty prophet who wrought a repentance greater-than his great contemporary Isaiah, knew well what would impress the people to whom he spoke. The Hebrew names had definite meanings. We can well imagine how, as name after name passed from the prophets mouth, connected with some note of woe, all around awaited anxiously, to know upon what place the fire of the prophets word would next fall, and as at last it had fallen upon little and mighty round about Jerusalem, the names of the places would ring in teir ears as heralds of the coming woe; they would be like so many monuments, inscribed beforehand with the titles of departed greatness, reminding Jerusalem itself of its portion of the prophecy, that evil should come from the Lord unto the gate of Jerusalem,Tr.]

[16][The abrupt change, indicative of intensity of excitemen, from the imperf. in Mic 1:8, to the pret. in Mic 1:9-12, and to the imperat. in 11, 13, 16, is worthy of attention.Tr.]

[17][Cf. the Textual and Gram. note on this passage.Tr.]

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

CONTENTS

The Prophet opens his commission with a very sorrowful tale. Israel and Judah are under the Lord’s displeasure, and therefore Micah speaks of nothing but desolation.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

There is a great sameness between the writings of Isaiah and Micah; their vision opens much alike, only Micah’s vision is concerning Samaria and Jerusalem; and Isaiah’s of Judah and Jerusalem. Samaria was the chief city of the ten tribes of Israel; so that between the two Prophets, both Judah and Israel are alike reproved. See Isa 1:1-2 . But what I wish chiefly from both is, to impress the Reader’s mind with the one leading object of this and of all prophecy; namely, that the Lord is preparing the Church for the coming of Christ, by showing the universal depravity of the human mind. The gracious way the Holy Ghost takes to bring to Christ is, by convincing of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. Joh 16:8 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Sin and Judgment

Mic 1 , Mic 2

Micah was a villager. There are advantages in village life which are not to be found under metropolitan circumstances. It was no dishonour to be a villager in Bible times. We read of One of whom it is said, “He shall be called a Nazarene.” Little or nothing is known about Micah, but his prophecy stands out boldly, written in letters of fire, and surrounded by a very lurid and suggestive atmosphere. There is a great deal of gospel in Micah. How is it that flowers always look the lovelier because they are in unexpected places? When we go into a garden and find flowers we express no surprise; when we find them growing in rocky and stony and uncultivated places, we exclaim, we are filled with wonder, and sometimes our wonder touches the point of delight. We find the gospel of God in Micah; in Micah we find Bethlehem; in Micah we find the whole requirement of God.

Notice that these prophets seldom, if ever, address the poor, the outcast, and the neglected, as the criminals of society. We have nourished ourselves into the pedantry of supposing that if a man has a bad coat he has of necessity a bad character. The Bible never proceeds along these lines. Micah specifies the objects of his prophecy with great definiteness: “Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel.” This is in the tone of Jesus Christ. He did not gather around him the halt, the lame, the blind, the poor, the neglected, the homeless, and say, You are the curse of society; you are the criminal classes. I am not aware that any such incident or observation can be found in the whole narrative of the life of Jesus Christ upon the earth. But Jesus Christ never let the respectability of his age alone; he never gave it one moment’s rest. He differs from all modern teachers in that he finds the wickedness of society in its high places. He would almost appear to proceed upon the doctrine that the poor cannot do wickedly as compared with the wickedness that can be done by the rich. What stone can a little child throw as compared with the power of a full-grown man? What wickedness can a little child do as compared with the deep-laid, subtly-elaborated villainy of a man who has had much schooling? It is worth while to dwell upon this point, because it strikes at many a sophism notably at the sophism which we have often endeavoured to expose that men are made by circumstances; that if men were wealthy they would pray; if men had an abundance they would be reverent; if men knew not the pangs of hunger they would be lost in a holy absorption, they would be lost in the praise of God. There can be no greater lie. You have done more evil in the world since you were rich than you ever did when you were poor. When you were poor you sometimes did almost nobly; since you have become encased in luxury you have thought it fashionable and seasonable to doubt, and almost polite to sneer.

All the judgments of the Bible are pronounced upon the educated classes. Nor does the judgment of God rest upon education only; it proceeds to cover the whole religiousness of the epoch. It is the religion that is irreligious; it is the wine of piety that has soured into the vinegar of impiousness. Yet we gather our holy skirts, and speak about “the criminal classes.” They are only criminal in the sense in which we condemn them, in the degree in which they have been fools enough to be discovered. Vulgarity has been their ruin; they have come into notoriety, not because of their sin, but because of their clumsiness: if they had served the devil with greater craft they might have spoken of others as the criminal classes. If the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! If education has been hired to do bad work, how much bad work it can do! If religion has been bribed into subservience to the black banner of the devil, with what loyalty it can serve that captain! This would give us quite a different estimate of society; this would destroy the whole respectability of the race. Jesus Christ found the throne occupied by the wrong people, and all the magistracies of his time distributed into wrong hands; the head of the house and the prince, the judge, the king, the magistrate, the ruler these were wrong. Never do we find Jesus surrounded by the East-enders of his day, receiving his condemnation because their poverty is the sign of wickedness. Education may have ruined society. Intelligence may be turned into an instrument of mischief. Is education then wrong? The question itself is frivolous, and ought not to be seriously answered. Is intelligence to be contemned? The same remark applies to that foolish inquiry. We are speaking of perverted education, misused intelligence; of education and intelligence without moral enthusiasm, and moral control, and spiritual purpose, and sanctified motive. Such education can do infinitely more mischief than can be done by blank ignorance. Education knows where the keys are; education knows where the grindstone is on which it can whet its weapons; intelligence means craft, cunning, duplicity, ingenuity in the art of concealment. Wealth can do greater mischief than poverty. This alters the whole complexion of missions and evangelistic agencies and Church arrangements; this reverses the whole picture as seen from the orthodox standpoint. Send your missionaries to the rich! Send your evangelists to pray at the doors of the wealthy, the pampered, the self-indulgent, and the self-damned! Do not make the poor man’s poverty a plea for foisting your religion upon him. Lend your tracts to the magistrates, the judges, the princes of the land; they need them.

What, then, of the doctrine that men are made by circumstances? Let this be put down in plain letters, that amongst people who can hardly read and write there are some of the most upright, faithful, honourable souls that ever lived. Let this be said with loudest, most penetrating emphasis, that there are people who have no bank account who would scorn to tell a lie. Has poverty not its own genius, and its own record of heroism, and its own peculiar nobleness? Who shall speak for the dumb, and open his mouth for the afflicted, and plead the cause of those who are thought to be wicked, because they have had no social advantages? Where is there a rich man that is good? Jesus Christ could find none. He said, “How hardly” that is, with what infinite difficulty “can a rich man get into the kingdom of heaven.” It is not like him, it is not the kind of thing he can appreciate; he has no tables of calculation by which he can add up its value; if he get in at all it will be by infinite squeezing, pressing, straining; he will barely get in because his wealth is an instrument which turns his soul away from the metaphysic which finds in godliness all riches, in high thought and pure honour the very element and alphabet of heaven. Still, let it be said with equal plainness, a man is not good simply because he is poor. There are villains even in poverty. A man is not excellent simply because he has not had a good education. We must be just in the whole compass of this thought. As a man is not necessarily bad because he is educated and intelligent and quick-minded, and of large and penetrating intellectual sagacity, so a man is not necessarily all that he ought to be simply on the ground that he has no monetary resources.

Ponder for a moment the excellence of the religion that dare talk like this. It asks no favours. It does not want to sit down in the pictured room; it wants to get its foot on the threshold, and through an open door to deliver its message. You cannot invite such evangelism to dinner it never dines. It is in haste it flies, it thunders, it smites in the face those who uplift themselves in a blasphemous supremacy; it eats its food with gladness, and in the fellowship of the good, but it will have nothing to do with the poisoned wine of bribery. Again we come upon our favourite doctrine that the Bible ought to be the favourite Book of the poor, the neglected, the outcast; the Bible ought to be the people’s friend, the people’s charter, the very revelation of man and to man, the revelation of man to himself, as well as a revelation of God to man.

Yet the prophet will not have all this evil and shame unduly proclaimed. He is not so far lost to patriotism and to tribal relations as to wish the evil news to be scattered broadcast, that the enemy may revel in it. So he says, “Declare ye it not at Gath.” This has become a proverb “Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.” Do not foolishly trumpet forth all the evil that your friends have done. Yet men love to do this. Let a piece of good news be forthcoming, and it will have to make its own way in the world; it must needs crawl from door to door, and slowly impress itself upon the reluctant ears of those who would gladly turn away from the music of such messages. Let a scandal arise, and the world will know it ere one hour goes its little round. And Christians are errand-bearers in this evil agency. They do it as willingly as the worst men out of hell, only they do it in a different kind of tone; but they do it with ineffable energy, with sleepless industry, with patient detail. Give them a gospel, and it dies in the recesses of their own minds; give them a scandal, and they will not dine until they have told everybody they meet; and they will swallow their feast quickly, that they may get out into the highway to tell that the devil has scored another triumph. Not such was the spirit of this rough villager, yet this sanctified prophet of the Lord. He says, The case is bad; prince and priest and magistrate and ruler have gone wrong, but tell it not in Gath. In the days of Micah Gath was nothing, it had lost its Philistinian primacy; still there was the spirit of the proverb, which means, Tell it not to the enemy, let not the blasphemer hear of this; magnify excellence, but say nothing about defect A prophet actuated by such a spirit ought to be believed. Prophets have a variety of credentials; here is an indirect tribute to the man’s own excellence. He knew all, but would not tell it to all the world. Do you know one evil thing you have never told, never whispered, never hinted at? By that sign judge yourselves. Is your heart a grave in which you bury all bad things; or is it a garden in which you cultivate them? By that sign, and not by your blatant orthodoxy, judge your relation to the Cross of Christ. Such was the scathing criticism of the prophet; such is the judgment of Christ upon his Church and upon his nominal followers. He will not allow men to be round about him who take any delight in evil things or in the publication of evil circumstances; he ignores them, he dispenses with their service, and he thrusts them out into the completest darkness the only atmosphere they are fit for. Let them tell their evil to the heedless darkness; let them emit their poison where no soul can be hurt by its virus. This would alter the Church altogether; this would take away the Church’s occupation. There are men who acquire a reputation for themselves by condemning the vice of other people. We must all start again, or we shall make no progress in this divine life, nor shall we promote the best purpose, the holiest intent, of the divine kingdom. Search thyself; be cruel to thine own soul; torture thyself into a higher grade of goodness. The mere persecutor, the hired blocksman and fireman, may be said to be dead. Blessed be God there remains the age of self-martyrdom, there remains the crown due to him who smites himself in the eyes, and bruises himself, that by taking away his worst life he may truly gain his soul.

In the days of Micah there was a species of evil which is not yet extinct. All the evil was not done in public. The prophet therefore proceeds: “Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! When the morning is light they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.” The condemnation is upon deliberate evil. The evildoers are here in their beds; they are considering at leisure what can be done next. How can it be best attempted, how can it be elaborated to the greatest effect? They slumber over it; having nourished their brain into a higher degree of energy they revert to the subject: How can this policy be best carried out? This is deliberate sin, rolling it under the tongue as a sweet morsel, reverting to it, recalling it, asking for another vision of it. The soul, what a dungeon! The mind, what an abyss of darkness! Soliloquy, how silent! There is sudden evil, and that must always be carefully distinguished from deliberate wickedness. There are bursts of passion, gusts of vehement will, stress brought to bear without notice upon the citadel of the soul. “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye who are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness. Consider yourselves, lest ye also be tempted.” Distinguish between those who are carried away with a whirlwind, and those who mount the whirlwind deliberately that they may ride forth in that glowing chariot. Hear the words of the fiery apostle: “On some have compassion.” Micah is not dealing with this class of men, but with those who have made their bed the sanctuary of the devil; he is dealing with men who say, We will sleep upon this, we will turn it over; we will see what can be done; we will polish and be prepared against the day of assault; we will shut out the world and count our resources; we will settle the whole thing in the privacy of the chamber, and then when the morning light comes we will spring up as naturally as if nothing had been done by way of preparation, and then we will strike with our whole force.

Deliberate sin shall have deliberate judgment. This follows quickly in chapter Mic 2:3 : “Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, against this family do I devise an evil.” What, are there two devisers? Read Mic 2:1 , “Woe to them that devise iniquity”; Mic 2:3 , “Thus saith the Lord… do I devise.” That is the ghostly aspect of life. There is the tremendous danger. The foolish man locks himself up in the darkness of his own concealment, and lays his plot, and works out with elaborate patience his whole conspiracy against the kingdom of light and honour, truth and beauty; he says, None seeth me; I can do this, and none shall be the wiser for my doing it; I will spring forth in the fulness of my preparation when nobody is aware that I have been laying this train of powder. A man once talked thus: “Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years: take thine ease, take life quietly, enjoy thyself.” And one said to him, “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee.” That was the uncalculated element; that was the detestable ghostliness that haunts us. Even when we are most rationalistic, when we are inebriated with our own philosophy, a sudden touch makes us white, and a whisper drives the blood thickly upon the heart. A man shall rise in all his self-consciousness of power and capacity and ability to do what he pleases, and the wise man shall say to him, Are you aware that you may drop down dead at any moment, such is the condition of your physical system? This factor the man had not taken into account. Always remember that whilst we are devising God also is devising. “He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.” And let this reflection make life completer in its repose: “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper,” if so be thy soul be wedded to honour, to duty, to reverence, and to the Cross of Christ. Though men conspire against thee, and have the pit already dug, and have examined it carefully by the concealed candle light, and though they should say, “Now it is in a state of readiness, now let the victim come,” whilst they are stepping back to make way for the victim they will fall into the pit which they have dug for others. The Lord sitteth in the heavens. He watches all. He brings us into great extremities. He shows us over what a precipice we might have fallen. Then he says, Go home and pray!

Prayer

Almighty God, we have waited for thee more than they that wait for the morning when shall the morning come and the night be passed for ever? When shall we dwell in light, and see no shadow of death? We bless thee that these questions are not left unanswered; thou hast written the reply in our hearts, thou hast set forth the answer before our eyes in thy Holy Book; thou hast promised that death shall be swallowed up of life, and that all things shall praise thee, and that all voices shall be in thy great choir. We rejoice in the anticipation of the time when the ransomed of the Lord shall return unto Zion, and when sorrow and sighing shall flee away. Thou knowest when the earth has had enough of them; thou wilt not send upon the earth one sorrow too many; thou wilt not tear thy handiwork to pieces, for thine is not wanton strength. Thou lovest to uphold and construct and preserve; thou art God the builder of all things, and to this end all thy providence is ordered. Surely thou wilt put an end to evil, thou wilt tear down the house of iniquity; yea, thou wilt plough up its foundations, and it shall be found no more for ever. Thy face is set against all evil; thou canst not tolerate it; it is the abominable thing which thou dost hate: we leave it with thee; thou wilt scorch it and burn it, and finally annihilate it. But to what good ends wilt thou bring all things that are of the nature of virtue; how thou wilt uplift every holy thought; how thou wilt ennoble every generous impulse. Thou wilt not break the bruised reed, thou wilt not quench the smoking flax; wherever there is a little that is good, a little that is of the true quality of fire, thou wilt preserve it, and defend it, and mightily and triumphantly bring it to completeness of expression. The Lord reigneth; the throne of the Most High is upon the circle of the universe, there is nothing that lies beyond the sceptre of the Almighty. We bless thee for this confidence in thy personality and in thy government, in the tenderness and minuteness of thy providence. We know all this, and believe it right heartily, because we have been at the school of the Cross; there we have seen into God’s heart, there we see the sorrow that lies at the heart of all things as a root out of which alone true joy and true music can come. The Cross of Christ explains the throne of God; we tarry there, we wait in holy expectation; we have no fear of armed men, or of subtle enemies, or of mighty temptations whilst we are hidden within the sanctuary of the Cross. Mighty Saviour, mighty in thy weakness, thou wilt not suffer the least of thy children to be plucked out of thy hand. O dying Man, dying God, Saviour of the world, showing us the mystery of blood which is the mystery of life, lead us to see that where sin abounds grace doth much more abound; and in the overabounding of grace may we find our confidence, our pardon, our peace, our security. The Lord deliver us from all notions that are at variance with the purity of his own love; all conceptions that are unworthy of the mystery of sacrifice, and teach us, in all humbleness of mind and self-renunciation, how great is love, how wondrous is the death that is ennobled into sacrifice. Thus and thus, day by day, a little at a time, show us the noonday of thy glory, the full light of which we could not now endure. Amen.

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

XXVIII

THE BOOK OF MICAH PART I

INTRODUCTION AND EXPOSITION

Mic 1:1-2:13

Micah was a contemporary of Hosea of the Northern Kingdom and the great prophet, Isaiah, of the Southern Kingdom. They all prophesied in the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, during the last decades of the eighth century B.C. Micah and Isaiah present contrasts in many respects, as well as great similarities in other respects. It has been thought, with a degree of reason, that Isaiah belonged to the royal family, or at least, the princely families of Jerusalem. Micah evidently belonged to the poorer classes living in the country, but preached in the capital and doubtless in the country districts also. While Isaiah belonged to the noblest of families, we have no account whatever of the family of Micah. He does not give us his father’s name, which is an unusual thing among the Israelites, as they generally give the name of the father and sometimes the grandfather. Their home life was considerably different, as the life of the city is different from the life of a country village. Thus the sphere of their activity was somewhat different. Isaiah moved among the politicians and statesmen: he was a friend and a counselor of the king. Micah moved among the poorer classes, the yeomen, and was much less interested in the politics of the country than Isaiah was. Isaiah’s audiences many times were the royal and the princely families, the grandees of Jerusalem and Judah. Micah’s audiences were sometimes the peasantry living in the lowlands, or Shephelah, of Judea.

Micah has been termed “the prophet of the poor,” for he was born and reared among the villages, and his message is mainly a message on behalf of the poor.

The date of his preaching was somewhere between 735 B.C. and 700 B.C., probably somewhere about 730 B.C. or 720 B.C. We know that he preached during the reign of Hezekiah for we have a report of that fact in the book of Jeremiah He says he also preached in the reign of Jotham and Ahaz. We find by reference to Jer 26:17-19 that Micah had preached in Jerusalem, and had said that Zion should be plowed as a field, and that Jerusalem should become a heap and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest. We find also in Jer 26:19 of that same chapter that Hezekiah, the king of Judah, and all Judah heard him, but did not seek to put him to death, as Jehoiakim and the nobles were seeking to put Jeremiah to death. But the rulers of Jerusalem seem to imply that Micah’s preaching was largely influential in bringing about the reformation under Hezekiah. He says in that nineteenth verse, “Did Hezekiah not fear Jehovah, and entreat the favor of Jehovah, and Jehovah repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them?” All that seems to imply that the preaching of Micah largely influenced the life of the good king Hezekiah, and helped to bring about the reformation that took place in his reign, and that Micah was a man of great power and influence among the higher classes as well as among the lower.

The range of his prophecy was not as wide as that of Isaiah. The latter was to some extent a prophet of the nations, a statesman; his eye took in all the politics of the world at that time, and he prophesied concerning the policies of kings and counselors, princes, and grandees of Jerusalem. He uttered his stern denunciations and diatribes against the party that would seek for aid from Egypt, and likewise touched on the politics of other nations, especially Judah’s and Jerusalem’s relation to them. Isaiah dealt in world politics, but Micah did not deal with the political situation; he dealt with the moral, the civil, and the economic conditions of his country.

In many respects they are like each other. In their messages they are fundamentally the same they cry out against the same evils in Judah and Jerusalem; they denounce them in almost the same terms. Their conception of God is much the same, their conception of sin is almost identical, and their conception of the future of Judah and Jerusalem, and of the restoration, and the blessed messianic age, are almost the same. Thus God uses two men at the same time for the same end who are of very different mold, very different characteristics, and of very different temperaments.

Micah evidently preached among the people and also in Jerusalem among the leaders. He preached for some years, we do not know how long, and probably retired to his home and put in permanent form the substance of his preaching during these years. It is altogether likely that that is the case. Jeremiah did the same and probably others of the prophets, as many a man does today; after preaching twenty or thirty years, he chooses the best of his sermons and has them published and leaves them in permanent form.

There are three distinct addresses, or discourses, in the book, each commencing, “Hear ye, etc.” Following these marks as dividing points we have the following analysis:

Introduction: The author, place, date, and objective of the prophecy (Mic 1:1 )

I. Threatened judgment and promised restoration (Mic 1:2-2:13 )

1. Jehovah approaching in judgment on Samaria and Jerusalem (Mic 1:2-7 )

2. The prophet’s distress (Mic 1:2-7 )

3. The nature and punishment of their sin (Mic 2:1-11 )

4. The return and restoration of Israel (Mic 2:12-13 )

II. A gross sin, a great salvation (restoration) and a glorious Saviour (Micah 3-5) 1. Their gross sin and consequent destruction (Mic 3 )

2. Their great salvation (restoration) and consequent exaltation (Mic 4 )

3. Their glorious Saviour and consequent deliverance (Mic 5 )

III. Jehovah’s lawsuit with Israel (Micah 6-7) 1. A statement of the case (Mic 6:1-8 )

2. Jehovah’s charges against the city (Mic 6:9-16 )

3. The prosecution by the prophet (Mic 7:1-6 )

4. Pleading guilty and hoping for mercy and pardon (Mic 7:7-13 )

5. The final pleading of the case by the prophet with the hope of glorious triumph (Mic 7:14-17 )

6. The doxology (Mic 7:18-20 )

The introduction to the book of Micah says that he prophesied during the reigns of the three kings we have mentioned. This would imply that he preached during a period of probably twenty or thirty years, possibly sixty years. He says also that he prophesied concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. Amos’ message was directed mainly to Samaria, so was Hosea’s. Isaiah’s was mainly to Judah and Jerusalem, and Micah’s to Samaria and Jerusalem, but mainly to Jerusalem.

The theme of Mic 1:2-7 is Jehovah’s approaching in judgment on Samaria and Jerusalem. Micah begins his prophecy, “Hear ye people, all of you; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is.” Isaiah says, “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for Jehovah hath spoken.” Micah may have been influenced by Isaiah, and may have used, to some extent, his phraseology. Certainly the introductory words of his prophecy resemble Isaiah’s in a striking manner. And he goes on, “Let the Lord Jehovah witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.” The figure is a little different from that of Isaiah’s who represents Jehovah sitting upon his throne as Judge, and as accuser of the people. Here, he is a witness against the people because of their sins. The figure is much the same though not exactly.

In the next verse we have a vision of the appearance of God in judgment and this again very strikingly resembles the passage in Isaiah (Isa 64:1-2 ). He says, “Behold, Jehovah cometh forth out of his place, and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth, and the mountains shall be molten tinder him, and the valleys shall be cleft as wax before the fire, as waters that are poured down a steep place.” This of course, is Oriental imagery representing the appearance of God in judgment and the terrible effect of his presence and his power upon nature itself. Isa 64:1-2 says, “Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence, as when fire kindleth the brushwood and the fire causeth the waters to boil.”

Mic 1:5 tells why Jehovah is thus going to appear: “For the transgressions of Jacob,” referring to the entire people of Israel, “and for the sins of the house of Israel,” a parallel expression, synonymous with the former. Then he raises the question, “What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria?” What does he mean? He means that the transgressions of Northern Israel are all centered in its capital, concentrated there, and all her life her civil, economic, political, and religious life is determined by the life of Samaria, the capital. It is concentrated there, in the heart of the nation, and out of that heart issues the sins that are going to be the ruin of the nation. What are the high places of Judah? The high places, of course, refer to the idolatrous seats of worship, the centers of their iniquities, and the cause of their downfall. “Are they not Jerusalem?” Here again he means to imply that the iniquities of Judah are concentrated in Jerusalem and the life of Judah has been molded and shaped and fashioned according to the life of Jerusalem.

In other words, Micah emphasizes the one great thought which is now taking hold upon men, and which is sometimes overemphasized, that is, “as goes the city, so goes the country.” Now, that is to a large extent true. But it is not absolutely true. In certain respects it may be, but in a great many moral conflicts in our land we may thank God that it is not, for the country is wiping out the saloon element and many other evils which the city is unable to do. Yet in some respects the country is shaping the destiny of the nation. In Micah’s day is was different. All the power was centered in the city, and as Samaria so was Northern Israel, and as Jerusalem, so was Southern Israel. Micah was right in placing the source and cause of all their evil in their two capitals, Samaria and Jerusalem.

Now Mic 1:6 says, “Therefore I will make Samaria as a heap of the field.” Samaria was to be like a heap of stones and rubbish in a great field; as the planting of a vineyard where there was scarcely any vegetation, possibly a little life, possibly a stump or root, dead and dried out, decayed, or possibly a shoot with a little life in it. “I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, the walls and the great buildings and the palaces should be leveled to the earth, and he would discover or lay bare the very foundations of that magnificent capital, Samaria, built upon the second strongest fortification in all that part of the world.

And as a result, there was to come disaster upon all their idolatrous worship, their golden calves, their shrines, and their altars: “And all her graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, all her hire shall be burned with fire, and all her idols will I lay desolate.” Then he gives the reason for the destruction of all the instruments of their idolatrous worship: “For she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire of an harlot.” This means that Northern Israel had secured her wealth and luxury by means of idolatrous worship, which is always described as harlotry, or adultery, by the prophets, and because of this adultery and harlotry all their wealth should return to those from whom it came. All this implies that her idolatrous systems should be utterly wiped out, and all the profit gotten thereby should be utterly lost. All this was fulfilled in the capture of Samaria by Shalmaneser.

The special theme of Mic 1:8-16 is the prophet’s distress over this destruction. Here Micah gives us a glimpse into his heart, for he loved his people, his nation, and city, and as he sees the destruction that is to come, he tells us his feelings: “I will go stripped and naked; I will make a wailing like the jackals, and a lamentation like the ostriches. For her wounds are incurable (the wound of Samaria is in his mind) ; for it is come unto Judah.” It was incurable because of her sins. “It reacheth even unto the gate of my people,” to the very city of Jerusalem itself.

From Mic 1:10 on, Micah is looking out upon his own beloved country, the Shephelah, or the lowlands, from the hills of Judah, and he sees there a great many thriving villages that dot these lowlands from the Philistine plain on the west to the hills of Judah on the east, and in vision he sees the enemy spreading over that fair land and leaving it desolate, over his own beloved village where he was born and brought up, which he loved. Now in these verses there is a great play upon words, and the Hebrew of them must be an interesting study. I will try to give a little idea of how he plays with the meaning of words showing the fate that should overtake those villages. “Tell is not in Gath.” But the Septuagint has it, “Tell it not in Gath, weep not in Aceo.” Translated literally, it would be, “Tell it not in Tell-town; weep not in Weep-town.” “At Bethle-Aphrah have I rolled myself in the dust,” or literally, “At the house of dust, I have rolled myself in the dust.” “Pass away, O inhabitants of Shaphir,” or “Inhabitant of beauty,” pass away in anything but beauty in ugliness, in wretchedness, and shame. “The inhabitant of Zaanan,” or the village that means “going further,” is literally, “not going further.” “The wailing of Bethezel,” wailing on the house of support, “shall have taken away from her the support thereof.” “The inhabitant of Maroth” (bitterness), waiteth anxiously for good, because evil is come down from Jehovah unto the gate of Jerusalem.” What does he mean? He is using the names of those various villages to suggest the fate that shall overtake them. One shall not receive the news of the destruction of Jerusalem, another shall receive the news and another shall be left in shame and ugliness and wretchedness, etc.

Then he speaks of another city which was besieged by Sennacherib, near the parting of the caravan ways leading out from Judah down to Egypt. Every embassy passing from Pudah down to Egypt would pass by Lachish, and every conquering host would pass that way. “O inhabitant of Lachish, bind the chariot to the swift steed: she was the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion, for the transgressions of Israel were found in thee.” This means that, as Lachish was the hearquarters for the Egyptian steed and the Egyptian cavalry, which Judah and Jerusalem sent for, to aid them in their struggle against Assyria, the prophet denounces her because of her alliance with the heathen country in an attempt to secure horses and chariots for protection. That was their sin. “Therefore shalt thou give a parting gift to Moresheth-gath; the house of Achzib shall be a deceitful thing unto the king of Israel,” or, “The house of the beautiful spring shall be the house of the dried-up, deceitful spring.” “I will yet bring unto thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah,” or “I will bring unto the possessor, him that will possess thee.” “The glory of Israel shall come even unto Adullam,” the cave where David remained so long in hiding with his warriors.

Thus Micah saw the army of the Assyrians coming and taking the villages on the borders of the Philistine plain, reaching up to the foot of the great hills that lead up to Jerusalem, all the lowlands of Judah thus being laid waste. Because of this, “Make thee bald, and cut off thy hair for the children of thy delight: enlarge thy baldness as the eagle (baldness was a sign of grief and sorrow) ; for they are gone into captivity.”

The special theme of Mic 2:1-11 is the nature of the sin and the punishment. Micah inveighs against the commercial heads, the business magnates, the princes, and the great men of Judah. It is against them that he hurls his prophecies, and he represents them as businessmen pondering and scheming how they may seize upon the lands of the poor. “Woe unto them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand.” How many commercial men and land-grabbers, how many great corporation managers lie awake devising some way by which they may get their fellow’s land, to satisfy their insatiable greed for more land, or for the possessions of the poor! They did it in Micah’s day and they are doing it yet. They covet fields and seize them, foreclose mortgages, sell out the homes of the poor, seize the land and houses whenever they can possibly do so, and take them away, “So they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.”

Micah’s sympathy is with the poor in the lowlands of Judah and we cannot be surprised at that, for great commercial iniquity and the economic distress following therefrom nearly always attack the poor first. Many of the great uprisings of history have occurred among the poorer classes. The bloodiest wars among the Romans in ancient days arose because of the agrarian outrages perpetrated in that land. It was in the fourteenth century, that oppression of the yeomanry by the rich nobles and lords of England and France caused the great peasant uprisings. Just after the Reformation when a new spirit had been infused into the people there was a notable uprising in Germany, and among the peasants of France the volcano of the French Revolution broke forth, which made its impression upon all the world and all history. Micah’s sympathy goes out to the poor, for they are the backbone of the nation.

In Mic 2:3 he predicts the penalty of this sin that shall come: “therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks, neither shall ye walk haughtily; for it is an evil time.” You are going to be brought so low, that in that day one shall take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and say, “We are utterly ruined: he changeth the portion of my people: how doth he remove it from me I to the rebellious he divideth our fields,” showing how that all the land and law system would be completely changed and turned upside down by the terrible revolution that was to take place. The result was that there would be none left to divide the inhabitants and none to measure the fields and allot them to their owners: “Thou shalt have none that shall cast the line by lot in the congregation of the Lord.”

Micah deals again with the leaders of the people, and this is what they say to him, that is, these grandees, these business magnates: “Prophesy ye not . . . reproaches shall never cease.” Thus they try to persuade Micah to be quiet. “O thou that art named the house of Jacob, is the Spirit of the Lord straitened?” This is the reply on the part of Micah to those men who told him not to prophesy, and implies by way of answer to them that, if they will do the words of the law and walk uprightly, then the Spirit of Jehovah will not be straitened any more, but they will have the liberty which they claim they have at present. Then he goes on from Mic 2:8 to denounce their rapacity. These men were extremely covetous, extremely ruthless in their treatment of the poor: “Even of late my people is risen up as an enemy: ye pull off the robe with the garment from them that pass by securely, as men averse from war.” They so oppress the poor that they have robbed them of their very clothes and take their children from their homes: “The women of my people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses, from their children have ye taken away my glory for ever.” They oppress the women, the widows, and when they could seize upon a house or a field or anything belonging to them, they would seize it and drive the women and children from their own houses, the same as the Pharisees in the time of Christ, who “devoured widows’ houses and for a pretense made long prayers.”

Because of that he again denounces them: “Rise ye, and depart: for this is not your rest: because it is polluted: it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction.” Get away from this, go into exile. That will be the inevitable result. With stinging sarcasm, he refers to the false prophets and tells them they are the kind of preachers they like to listen to: “If a man walking in a spirit of falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink, he shall even be the prophet of this people.” That is the kind of a prophet they like, a man that will preach to them about wine and strong drink, or the man that will preach to them the things they like.

The theme of Mic 2:12-13 is the return and restoration of Israel. This passage has caused a great deal of discussion among commentators. The critics say it is out of place here; that it breaks the connection, and that it was written in exilic times or after, because it prophesies the restoration of the exiles. If it appears to break the logical connection, let it be remembered that Micah had already predicted their captivity and this paragraph simply gives the needed encouragement at this time. Surely Micah, prophesying as he did in the early part of 722 B.C., saw a vision of the restoration. He certainly gives us a picture here of Israel restored, as he says, “I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the flock in the midst of their fold; they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men. The breaker is gone up before them: they have broken forth and have passed on to the gate, and are gone out thereat, and their king is passed on before them, and Jehovah at the head of them.” This is sometimes taken as a prophecy of the exile itself, showing how the people are to be gathered together as a flock and led into captivity; that their king would be led before them, and Jehovah would be the real leader and cause of it all. The better interpretation, however, is that it represents Israel as returning from exile and led by their God.

QUESTIONS

1. With whom was Micah contemporary, during whose reigns did they prophesy, and what the contrasts between Micah and Isaiah?

2. What special characterization of Micah and why?

3. What is the date of Micah’s preaching and what the testimony from Jeremiah?

4. How does the range of Micah’s prophecy compare with that of Isaiah?

5. In what respects were they alike?

6. Who is the author of the book of Micah and what the probabilities in the case?

7. Give an analysis of the book.

8. What is the contents of the introduction (Mic 1:1 )?

9. What is the theme of Mic 1:2-7 , how does Micah begin his prophecy, how does it compare with the opening of Isaiah, and what other parallel with Isaiah?

10. What is reason assigned in Mic 1:5 for the appearance of Jehovah, what the meaning and application of this verse?

11. What is the results of this coming of Jehovah in judgments (Mic 1:6-7 ) and when fulfilled?

12. What is the special theme of Mic 1:8-16 , how does the prophet describe his feelings, and what the case as stated in Mic 1:9 ?

13. Show Micah’s play on words in his vision of the destruction of the cities of the plain (Mic 1:10-16 ).

14. What is the special theme of Mic 2:1-11 and against what class does Micah inveigh in this prophecy?

15. With whom was the sympathy of Micah and what examples in history of land troubles?

16. What is the penalty to be meted out for this sin (Mic 2:3-5 )?

17. What is the response of the leaders to the prophecy of Micah, what Micah’s reply, what the character of the leaders as herein revealed, and what kind of preaching suited them?

18. What is the theme of Mic 2:12-13 , what do the critics say about it, and what the fulfilment of this prophecy?

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

Mic 1:1 The word of the LORD that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, [and] Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

Ver. 1. The word of the Lord, &c. ] See Trapp on “ Hos 1:1 “

To Micah the Morasthite ] To distinguish him from Micaiah, the son of Imlah, who prophesied in Ahab’s days, over a hundred years before this. Micah the Morasthite, so called from the place of his birth or abode, which is made famous by him (as Abder was by Democritus, Hippo by Austin), and not he by it. Ambrose saith his name signifieth Quis iste? Who is this? Who (saith that father in answer)? not one of the common sort, but an elect vessel to carry God’s name to his people. Jerome, from his title, Morasthite, interpreted, calleth him cohaeredem Christi, co-heir with Christ, of whom and his kingdom he sweetly prophesieth; and may, therefore, be called the evangelical prophet; as was Isaiah, his contemporary, with whom he hath many things common; and this one thing above him, that he nameth Bethlehem, Christ’s birthplace, Mic 5:2 , for the which (as well as for his boldness, Jer 26:18 ) he was famous in the Church, Mat 2:6 Joh 7:42 .

In the days of Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah ] Ahaz standeth between Jotham and Hezekiah, as a thistle or thorn between two lilies, or roses. Manasseh comes after, and degenerates into his grandfather Ahaz. To his time Micah attained not, much less to Josiah’s, as Isidore hath it; for between Jotham and Josiah were a hundred and twenty years at least. It is probable that Micah prophesied forty years, if not more; wherein he saw many changes and met with many molestations; had cause enough to cry out with his colleague, “Who hath believed our report?” “My leanness, my leanness,” &c. Yet held he on his course; as being of Latimer’s mind, who, speaking in one of his sermons of a minister that gave this answer why he left off preaching? viz. because he saw he did no good. This, saith Latimer, is a naughty, a very naughty answer.

Which he saw ] sc. with the eyes of his mind for the use of the Church; whereto this prophecy comes commended, first, as “the word of the Lord,” and, secondly, as extraordinarily revealed to this prophet.

Concerning Samaria and Jerusalem ] Samaria seemeth to be first named because most guilty before God. They are yoked together, because there was scarcely ever a better (Aholah and Aholibah, sisters in sin), and one the much worse for the other’s neighbourhood. Jerusalem would take it in high scorn, likely, to be matched with Samaria, so much slighted and shunned by her, Joh 4:9 , as Papists now do to be set by Protestants, Turks by Christians (the word of a Mussulman bears down all other testimony among them). But this prophet is very bold (as it is said of Isaiah’s contemporaries, Rom 10:20 ), binds them both up in one bundle, and spareth not to show Judah their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mic 1:1-7

1The Word of the LORD which came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

2Hear, O peoples, all of you;

Listen, O earth and all it contains,

And let the LORD God be a witness against you,

The LORD from His holy temple.

3For behold, the LORD is coming forth from His place.

He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth.

4The mountains will melt under Him,

And the valleys will be split,

Like wax before the fire,

Like water poured down a steep place.

5And all this is for the rebellion of Jacob

And for the sins of the house of Israel.

What is the rebellion of Jacob?

Is it not Samaria?

What is the high place of Judah?

Is it not Jerusalem?

6For I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the open country,

Planting places for a vineyard.

I will pour her stones down into the valley,

And will lay bare her foundations.

7All of her idols will be smashed,

All of her earnings will be burned with fire,

And all of her images I will make desolate,

For she collected them from a harlot’s earnings,

And to the earnings of a harlot they will return.

Mic 1:1 The Word of the LORD These prophecies are not Micah’s words, thoughts, or feelings, but YHWH’s (cf. Hos 1:1)! This is revelation, not political or theological guesswork.

Micah This is a short form of the Hebrew name Micaiah, which means who is like YHWH (cf. Jer 26:18). This prophet was a country preacher (i.e., no mention of his father or ancestor) like Amos, not associated with the professional prophetic guild or the court prophets (i.e., Isaiah).

the Moresheth This refers to the city mentioned in Mic 1:14 (Moresheth-Gath), which was a small village between Lachish and Gath in the Philistine area about 20 miles southwest of Jerusalem.

in the days of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah See chart, The Kings of the Divided Kigdom in the Appendix. The exact dates on these reigns are disputed because of (1) different ways to count the ascension year and (2) the dates of co-reigns. See Edwin R. Thiele, The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings.

which he saw The term (BDB 302) is used of prophets in an ecstatic state receiving a message from God (e.g., Isa 1:1; Isa 2:1; Isa 13:1; Amo 1:1; Hab 1:1). Often it refers to prophecies or visions of judgment (e.g., Isa 2:1; Isa 28:7; Isa 30:10; Amo 1:1). The term is often used to describe a prophet as a seer (e.g., Amo 7:12; Mic 3:7; Isa 29:10; Isa 30:10). See Special Topic: Prophet (the different Hebrew terms) .

Samaria The capitals stand for the nations. Most of Micah’s prophecy deals with the southern kingdom of Judah. However, his prophecy is introduced by a judgment pronouncement against the capital of the Northern Ten Tribes, Samaria (cf. Mic 1:2-9). This may have been a literary technique to get the attention of the people in Judah or it may show how Micah was influenced by Amos’ ministry and message, who also was a prophet to the north and included references to Judah.

Mic 1:2 Hear Chapters 1 and 6 both use the literary technique of a court scene to describe God’s legal case against His people. Both of them begin with the word hear (BDB 1033, KB 1570, Qal IMPERATIVE), as does chapter 3. See notes at Amo 3:1 and Hos 4:1. This threefold use of shema (i.e., hear so as to do, cf. Deu 6:4) may reveal the author’s outline (see Introduction, VII. C.). However, Micah uses this word often (cf. Mic 1:2; Mic 3:1; Mic 3:9; Mic 5:15; Mic 6:1[twice],2,9; Mic 7:7). Seven of them, like this one, are Qal IMPERATIVES (cf Mic 3:1; Mic 3:9; Mic 6:1-2; Mic 6:9).

Listen The VERB (BDB 904, KB 1151, Hiphil IMPERATIVE), meaning give attention to, is parallel to hear. This same pattern is found in Isa 28:23; Hos 5:1, and Zec 1:4 and similar in Jer 34:1; Jer 49:1.

let the LORD God be a witness against you The VERB (BDB 224, KB 243, Qal JUSSIVE) matches the two previous IMPERATIVES (hear, listen) and now God is a witness! This is obviously a court scene. God witnesses wickedness (e.g., Jer. 29:33) and then He becomes one who testifies in court (e.g., 1Sa 12:5; Mal 3:5). He is (1) the judge; (2) the witness; and (3) the one who exercises the court’s decision.

O peoples. . .O earth In Jewish law, two or three witnesses are needed to confirm a point in a law court (cf. Num 35:30; Deu 17:6; Deu 19:15). Therefore, God of the earth and all the people of the earth itself are to be the witnesses in this court case (cf. Deu 4:26; Isa 1:2). YHWH Himself acts as a witness against His own people (cf. Deu 31:19-21; Deu 31:26).

the LORD God Literally this is translated Adon – YHWH (e.g., Isa 56:7). See Special Topic: Names for Deity .

The LORD from His holy temple YHWH symbolically dwelt above and between the wings of the Cherubim, which were on the lid of Ark of the Covenant. The Ark was housed in the Holy of Holies in Jerusalem (cf. Exo 25:22). This is where heaven and earth, the spiritual and the physical, the transcendent and the immanent met. The line of poetry in Mic 1:2 d is parallel to Mic 1:3 a (also a judgment idiom, cf. Isa 26:21).

For the word holy see Special Topic: Holy .

Mic 1:3 tread on the high places of the earth This VERB (BDB 201, KB 231, Qal PERFECT) is also in Amo 4:13, which speaks of the intimate presence of God with His physical creation (cf. Job 9:8). The term earth (BDB 75) may mean land (i.e., His land, the Promised Land), but here probably all creation.

To tread may imply (1) God’s intimate presence or (2) His judgment in the symbol of crushing grapes with His feet (e.g., Isa 63:3; Lam 1:15).

The term high places (BDB 119) can refer to the mountains of the earth or, because the same word is used in Mic 1:5 for the local fertility altars, it may reflect YHWH’s destruction of these local worship sites (cf. Mic 1:7).

Mic 1:4 God’s coming (for blessing or judgment, in this context, judgment) is often associated with upheavals in nature (e.g., Exo 19:16-20; Psa 18:7-15; Psa 97:1-6; Isa 40:4; Isa 64:1-2; Joe 2:30-31; Amo 9:5). Mic 1:4 has a poetic pattern of parallelism (i.e., line 1 goes with line 3 and line 2 with line 4). This is incipient apocalyptic imagery. Human sin has affected physical creation (cf. Genesis 3; Rom 8:19-22).

fire See Special Topic: FIRE .

poured This VERB (BDB 620, KB 669) and smashed (BDB 510, KB 507) are both Hophal forms, which are PASSIVE and ACCUSATIVE.

Mic 1:5 all of this is for the rebellion of Jacob. . .Israel See Special Topic: HEBREW POETRY . Lines 1 and 2 of Mic 1:5 are a good example of synonymous parallelism. There are no VERBS in Mic 1:5.

Samaria This is the capital of the Northern Ten Tribes called Israel, built by Omri, whose son, Ahab, married Jezebel and thereby introduced Canaanite fertility worship into the northern kingdom (cf. 1Ki 16:29-33; 1 Kings 17-18). It was a heavily fortified city that took the Assyrians three years to conquer (finally Sargon II in 722 B.C. did). These capitals are a way of referring to the nation as a whole. The leaders (kings, prophets, and priests) of both Israel and Judah are responsible for their nation’s idolatry and collapse!

What is the high place of Judah The word place is plural in the Masoretic Text; therefore, it might refer to the idolatrous high places of Ba’al spread throughout the land (cf. 2Ch 34:3-4; 2Ch 34:7). By parallelism it refers to the capital of Judah, Jerusalem.

Mic 1:6-7 YHWH is the speaker as He may be in Mic 1:8-16.

Mic 1:6 Samaria a heap of ruins This refers to the fall of the city in 722 B.C. under Sargon II of Assyria.

Planting places for a vineyard Samaria will be so destroyed she will look like an open field which could be turned into a vineyard. This is parallel in thought to Jerusalem being plowed as a field (cf. Mic 3:12; Jer 26:18).

I will pour her stones down into the valley This refers to Samaria’s stone fortifications being pulled down from the mesa into the valley.

Mic 1:7 This reflects the worship of the female fertility god, Asherah, which amounted to spiritual adultery against YHWH, thus divorce court.

earnings The term (BDB 1072-1073) is used three times and refers to Israel’s idolatry (TEV, cf. Deu 23:18; Isa 23:17). In some contexts it refers to foreign alliances (e.g., Eze 16:23-29) and may be an allusion to them here (cf. NRSV). The NIDOTTE, vol. 3, p. 1281, suggests three possible meanings:

1. the wages of cultic prostitutes (who were used to beautify the shrines)

2. the produce of the land regarded as a gift from Ba’al

3. the offerings at the idol shrines used to beautify the shrines

4. gold and silver idols sold at the shrines (NIDOTTE, vol. 3, p. 207)

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

The word of the LORD. The only occurrence of this expression in this book: bidding us to receive it from Jehovah, not Micah, and to note Micah’s pen but Jehovah’s words.

the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4.

Micah = Who is like Jehovah? An abbreviated form of Micaiah (2Ch 18:7, &c.); it is used in Jer 26:18 (in the Heb). Compare Mic 7:18.

Morasthite: Mareshah (Mic 1:15) or Moresheth-gath (Mic 1:14); now Tel Sandahanna, in the Shephelah, or plain, between Judea and Philistia. In the excavations at Sandahanna the ancient name is seen as Marissa. Marissa was a Sidonian colony (cent. 3 B. C), and was afterward used as the capital of’ Idumea by the Edomites during the captivity of Judah (see Records of the Past, vol. iv, part x, pp. 291-306).

which he saw. Compare Isa 1:1. Oba 1:1. Nah 1:1.

concerning, &c. This furnishes the subject.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Shall we turn now to the book of Micah.

As is the very typical opening of most of the books of the prophets,

The word of the LORD that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, the kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem ( Mic 1:1 ).

So he introduces himself Micah; the city from which he hailed, Morasthite; the time of his prophecy, it is about the same time that Isaiah was prophesying. He was a contemporary to Isaiah.

As we go back in the history of II Kings and we look at Ahaz. He was one of the bad kings of the Southern Kingdom of Judah and he did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord, but he established high places for the worship of the false gods in Jerusalem. Hezekiah was a good king, instituted reforms when he came to the throne.

Now, prophesying during this period of time would mean that he was prophesying during the time that the Northern Kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians. The Assyrians having conquered the Northern Kingdom then invaded the Southern Kingdom at the time of Hezekiah and, of course, were defeated by the work of the Lord, the intervention of God. So the time that Samaria and the Northern Kingdom of Israel fell. So his prophecy is against Samaria and also against Jerusalem.

Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that is therein: and let the Lord GOD be the witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple ( Mic 1:2 ).

So his calling unto the people now to hear God’s indictment, what God is witnessing against you.

For, behold, the LORD has come forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the eaRuth ( Mic 1:3 ).

So he begins to use figurative language in describing the judgments of God that are going to be coming against them.

And upon the mountains shall be molten under him, the valleys shall be split, as wax before the fire, and as waters that are poured down from a steep place ( Mic 1:4 ).

So the mountains will be melting.

[And the reason] for the transgression of Jacob has all of this happened, and for the sins of the house of Israel. But what is the transgression of Jacob? is it not centered in Samaria? ( Mic 1:5 )

Where they had introduced the Baal worship in the Northern Kingdom.

Is it not the high places of worship for false gods that were established in Jerusalem under king Ahaz? Therefore [the Lord declares] I will make Samaria as a heap of the field, and as the plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof ( Mic 1:5-6 ).

That is the buildings will be destroyed right down to the foundations.

Now today as you are traveling in the middle portion of Jerusalem, leaving Shechem and heading towards Megiddo, you come to a very beautiful valley and there is a hill in the valley that is the sight of Samaria. The hills are covered with olive trees and fruit trees of all sorts. But as you turn off the main road and you head up towards Samaria, you first get to the gate that was once the entrance to the city during the Roman period, and then you go along a road where there are Roman columns on either side. For the city of Samaria was rebuilt by the Romans. But as you get up to the top of the hill, you can find the palace of Ahab and of Omri, those palaces that were once adorned with ivory furniture; those palaces which were once such a glorious spectacle for everyone. The city of Samaria was a fabulous city set there on the hill. They thought that they were impregnable. And yet, God had prophesied the destruction of Samaria. As you stand there, you can see where they have rolled the stones down the hillside. You can see the rubble, and even as the prophecy here goes, God uncovered the foundations and you can see what was once the foundation of the palace of Ahab and of the palace of Omri there in Samaria. And this prophecy, of course, has been fulfilled and you can go there today and see the fulfillment of this prophecy. It is like a heap in the field. It is destroyed; lies in ruins to the present day; foundations of the city having been uncovered.

And all the graven images that are there will be beaten to pieces, and all the hires thereof shall be burned with fire, and all of the idols thereof will I lay desolate: for she has gathered it of the hire of a harlot, and they shall return to the hire of a harlot. Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked [the prophet declares]: I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls. For her wound [that is, of Samaria, her illness] is incurable; for it is come unto Judah ( Mic 1:7-9 );

It has actually also infected the Southern Kingdom and they have begun the worship in the groves and in the high places.

he is come unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem [referring to the Assyrian invasion]. Declare ye it not at Gath ( Mic 1:9-10 ),

Now Gath was one of the capital cities of the Philistines. And when David was lamenting over the death of Saul and Jonathan, he made the same statement, “Declare it not at Gath.” They hated to have their enemies rejoicing over their misfortunes and, of course, that was usually the case. The Philistines loved to rejoice over the misfortunes of God’s people.

You remember when they brought Samson into the house of their god Dagon, the purpose was to make sport, to rejoice over the helplessness of Samson. And so the idea was always, “Don’t publish it, don’t tell it in Gath lest they rejoice at the calamity of God’s people.”

Now, here he begins to use a play on words, and you have to really have a smattering of an understanding of Hebrew. The King James doesn’t really give it to you here, but it is sort of a play on words. And he is saying,

weep not in weep town ( Mic 1:10 ):

For Aphrah means weep town. So he said, “Don’t weep in weep town,” or not Aphrah. Aprah is dust, and so he said,

in dust town roll in the dust ( Mic 1:10 ).

Weep not in weep town, in dust town roll in the dust.

Saphir means beautiful, but here is a change.

That which is beautiful shall be stripped naked, and shall be ashamed because of her nakedness: the inhabitants of Zaanan [which means march] came not foRuth ( Mic 1:11 )

Or did not march forth. So the inhabitants of march did not march.

in the mourning of Bethezel; he shall receive of you his standing. For the inhabitant of Maroth ( Mic 1:11-12 )

And Maroth is bitterness.

waited carefully for good: but evil came down from the LORD to the gate of Jerusalem [the Assyrian invasion again]. O thou inhabitant of Lachish ( Mic 1:12-13 ),

Now Lachish is horse town.

bind the chariot to the swift horses: she is the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion ( Mic 1:13 ):

Lachish was one of the fortified cities. It was taken in the Assyrian invasion, but Jerusalem was not taken by the Assyrians, for God intervened.

for the transgressions of Israel were found in thee. Therefore shalt thou give presents to Moreshethgath: the houses of Achzib ( Mic 1:13-14 )

Now Achzib is lies.

shall be a lie to the kings of Israel ( Mic 1:14 ).

So the house of lies will be a lie to the kings of Israel. So here Micah makes quite a play on words through these particular passages.

Yet [the Lord said] will I bring an heir unto thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah: he shall come unto Adullam the glory of Israel ( Mic 1:15 ).

Then he speaks of the mourning. That is, the shaving of their heads that they did when they mourned. And then they would shave their heads and for a period of time let their hair grow. Then they would shave all the hair that grew over a thirty-day period and they’d take and offer it to the Lord. They’d burn it as a offering unto the Lord and it was a sign of mourning. They do this to the present day. If there is a death in the family, then they don’t shave for thirty days. So you see many times a person in Israel… of course, a lot of them just have beards, a lot of the rabbis. But we’ve had friends, we go over there and they’ll have beards, and the reason being there has been a death in the family. So, they shave and then they let their hair grow for thirty days and offer it and it is a sign of their mourning.

So make thee bald, poll thee for the delicate children ( Mic 1:16 );

Which, of course, the children have been slain.

enlarge thy baldness as an eagle; for they are gone into the captivity from thee ( Mic 1:16 ).

The children are slain. Those that are not slain have been carried away captive. So a time of mourning for them. “

Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary

Mic 1:1

SUPERSCRIPTION . . . Mic 1:1

The record of Micahs prophecy begins with a claim to inspiration. There is no description of his call, as in Isaiah and others, but the simple statement that the word of Jehovah came to Micah the Morashite. It is echoed by Heb 1:1 and 2Pe 1:19-21. Micah is also recognized as a prophet by Jeremiah, (Jer 26:18), who says he speaks to all people of Judah in the day of Hezekiah.

Zerr: Mic 1:1. The word of the Lord that came to Micah shows that he was inspired to write his book. Moreover, in Jer 26:17-18 we have his writing referred to favorably by some elders of the land and there is no Indication that his predictions were called in question by anyone. His predictions pertained to the 10-tribe and the 3-tribe kingdom of the Jews, for Samaria was the capital of the first and Jerusalem that of the second. The date of his writing is identified with the reigns of some of the kings of the 2-tribe kingdom. A glance at the history of those times will show that Micah began writing about 40 years before the captivity of the 10- tribe kingdom and some 150 years before that of the 2-tribe kingdom. Since those revolutionary events were so near, we may expect the prophet to have a great deal to say on the subject. He will also say many things relative to the corruption that was the cause of Gods wrath toward his people, namely, their worship of idols.

Pusey makes the significant observation that the title and date are an important part of a prophetic book, since they indicate to people who come after that what the prophet wrote was not writ ten after the event. To say it simply, there is evidence in the prophets identifying both himself and his time of writing, that what he says is going to happen was not in fact written after it happened. It is not written ex post facto.

It is impossible to overstate this truth or the importance of it, since fulfilled prophecy represents some of the best possible evidence for the inspiration of the Scriptures. As we have seen, the foretelling of the future was not the primary concern of the prophets. Nevertheless, when they did deal with the future, they did so with infallible accuracy.

In view of the fact that no mere human can foretell what is going to happen two minutes from now, the accuracy with which the prophets write of the future bespeaks divine guidance. They often dealt with events which were not minutes but years, even centuries into the future, and they did so without equivocation. If they missed it would prove they were delivering their own conjectures rather than a divine message . . . but they did not miss. They preached and wrote what only God could know.

Micah not only claims that what came to him was the word of Jehovah, he also claims to have seen in a vision those things which he foretold concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. Hos 1:1 employs the phrase the word of Jehovah, while Nah 1:1 speaks of his writing as the record of a vision. Micah employs both terms.

Had a later editor compiled these works they would probably have begun each book with identical headings. The variation with which each of the writers claims divine origin for his message lends weight of evidence to the conviction that what they wrote was from God through the prophets. One thinks at once of the Hebrew writers assertion that God spoke to the fathers in the prophets in varying degrees and in varying ways. (Heb 1:1)

The significant thing is that in each of these three cases (Micah, Nahun, Hosea), there is a direct claim to divine inspiration. Micah makes a double claim indicating not only that what he is about to write is the word of Jehovah but indicating also the method by which it came to him, i.e. in a vision. As Matthew Henry has aptly put it, what is written . . . must be heard and received, not as the word of dying men . . . but as the word of the living God.

Micahs phrase, in a vision, merits special attention. He claims to have seen vividly that which he writes. His record is an eyewitness account of history in advance! This accounts for the unhesitating certainty with which he describes events that at the time of writing lay in the future. History has long since vindicated his confidence in what he wrote by confirming its accuracy. It is well to note, before attempting a study of this book, that Micahs message is not arranged chronologically but logically. The emphasis is upon the message rather than upon the calendar of events.

The time of Micahs call is set by his reference to three kings of the southern kingdom. They are Jotham, who reigned from 750 to 735 B.C., Ahaz, who reigned from 735 to 715, and Hezekiah, who reigned from 715 to 687. Because of the nature of the persons and reigns of these kings, Micah saw the leadership of Judah swing from holiness, peace, and prosperity, to crass idolatry and immorality, and then, almost desperately, back again toward righteousness and national respectability.

Jotham, the first of the kings mentioned by Micah, was the eleventh king of the southern kingdom. His contemporaries in the north were Shallum, who reigned one month, Menahem, who reigned two years, and Pekahiah, who reigned two years. Jothams reign totaled forty years, the first twenty-five of which were spent as co-regent with his father, Uzziah (also called Azariah). He reigned alone for sixteen years. The record of his rule is found in 2Ki 15:30; 2Ki 15:32-33. Jotham is best described as holy, his reign as peaceful and prosperous. (Cf. 2Ch 27:2-6) He was succeeded on the throne of Judah by his son, Ahaz, whose person and administration were the exact opposite of his own.

The twelfth king of Judah, Ahaz, became king at the age of twenty. He was idolatrous in the extreme, to the point of sacrificing his own children to Baal. It was his reign that brought about the conditions which led to the destruction of Judah. Despite the efforts of his successor-son at reform, the seeds of Gods wrath were deeply planted. It was to Ahaz that Isaiah gave the prophecy of the virgin birth of the Messiah. (Cf. Isa 7:14) The efforts of modern translators (e.g. the Revised Standard Version) to deny Isaiahs intent to foretell a birth without benefit of natural father is based solely upon the ambiguous literal meaning of the word alma, translated virgin in Isa 7:14. Literally, alma may mean, also, young maiden. This overlooks the historic context of the writing, which is set against the backdrop of Baal worship. It also ignores the intended impact of Isaiahs prophecy upon King Ahaz, a devotee of Baal.

The worship of the sun god, in his many guises from Babylon to Rome, always included the alma mater or virgin mother. Isaiahs use of the term alma to describe the birth of the Savior is part of the prophets attempt to call the king back from idolatry to the worship of the true God, Whose Son would indeed one day be born of a virgin, (See above section on Baal worship.) Fearing the northern alliance of Syria and Israel, the idolatrous Ahaz entered into a compact with Tiglath Pileser III, the wily ruler of Assyria. The results were disasterous for Judah. The southern kingdom became a mere satellite nation, a vassal state, tributary to Tigleth Pilesers Assyrian Empire.

The third king mentioned by Micah is regarded as a reformer. Hezekiah, the thirteenth king of Judah, and the son of the Baalworshipping Ahaz, became king at the age of twenty-five. Most of his energies were given to attempting to undo what his father had done in the corrupting of Gods people with idolatry. What motivated Hezekiahs commitment to Jehovah and the restoration of temple worship, we can only guess. Some interesting fiction could be written describing him as a child, horrified at the sacrifice of his brothers and sisters to his fathers pagan god.

Hezekiahs contemporaries in Israel were Pekah, who reigned for twenty years and Hoshea, who ruled for nine years. It was early following Hezekiahs ascension to the throne of Judth that Israel was overrun by Assyria. Although the fall of Israel left Judah exposed on the north to the Assyrian armies of Sennacharib, the dedicated Hezekiah refused to pay tribute to the invader. As a result, in the fourteenth year of his reign, he found his own kingdom invaded by Sennacharib and his capital city, Jerusalem, threatened. Because of the kings dedication to God, Jehovah intervened in behalf of Judah and Sennacharib was stopped just short of the city and turned back. (Cf. II Kings 28 and Isa 36:1-22)

Just following the deliverance of his kingdom from Assyrian invasion, Hezekiah fell desperately ill. It has been suggested that his illness was of divine origin to prevent him falling prey to his own pride. In any event, God intervened a second time on his behalf, when in answer to prayer, the kings illness was prevented from being fatal, and he was given the promise of fifteen more years of life and prosperity. For this second deliverance, Hezekiahs gratitude was eloquent, (Cf. Isa 38:10-20) but short-lived. He shortly made a vain show of pride and possessions before Merodach-baladar of Babylon and as punishment received a message from God that, at a future time, his wealth would be taken to Babylon.

Concerning Micah himself little is known, but that little is enough to give a picture of a God-fearing man from the country, shocked and enraged at the luxurious degeneracy which he found in the capital cities of Samaria and Jerusalem. He is best described as a younger contemporary of Isaiah, a country man whose home was in Moresheth, some thirty miles southwest of Jerusalem.

In the Septuagint Moresheth is referred to as Moresheth-Gath, meaning a possession of Gath. There are those who believe that Moresheth and Gath are one and the same. If this is true, Micahs home is to be identified with Gath southwest of Jerusalem rather than Gath-Gittain which lies about the same distance to the northwest. Jerome places it just east of Eleuheropolis. Moresheth is mentioned explicitly by name only once in the Bible in Mic 1:14 There is one other allusion to it in Jer 26:18. The village lay in the Judean piedmont bordered on the north and east by the hill country and on the south and west by the plain which marks the way from Jerusalem to Gaza just on the border of the land of the Philistines.

Micah mentions the towns and villages in this area in such a way as to leave no doubt that he was personally familiar with them. The area is grazing country, with fields of grain and olive groves. Micah, the prophet, is concerned with the plights of the poor in a land of affluence and plenty. The contrast between the much of the haves and the little of the have nots is reminiscent of our own unbalanced distribution of wealth.

Micahs answer was not political pressure. He led no poor peoples marches, he burned no businesses, he headed no political pressure group. To him, as he spoke the Word of Jehovah, social injustice was a symptom of spiritual decay for which repentance of the oppressor was the only solution. The problem was, to him, ethical. The advantage taken of the poor by the rich, of the powerless by the powerful was, in the eyes of this country-bred preacher, an affront to God. He does not preach mans duty to man as a separate ideal from mans duty to God. Rather the former is the outworking of the latter.

In keeping with this, Micahs understanding of the work of a prophet was not primarily concerned for the future. His understanding of this mission is best expressed in his own words, But as for me, I am full of power by the Spirit of Jehovah, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin. (Mic 3:8) Whatever he said about what lay in the future, he said it first to move his contemporaries to immediate repentance, and secondly to reassure them that God would not forget His covenants.

As a contemporary of Isaiah and Hosea, Micahs surroundings were those common also to them. It is not strange, then, that his message is also similar to theirs. As background, a reading of 2Ki 15:32 to 2Ki 20:21 and 2Ch 27:1 to 2Ch 32:33 will prove invaluable.

Fifty years of peace and prosperity had ended with the death of Jeroboam II. In 745 B.C. the Assyrians, led by Tiglath Pileser III, began their westward march and expansion. By 738 Damascus had fallen. In 721 the same fate would engulf the northern kingdom and its capital city, Samaria.

Although Judah, the southern kingdom. did not fall at that time, Hezekiahs anti-Assyrian policies later turned Sennacherib and the armies of Assyria on Judah. In 711, as previously stated, the southern kingdom became a tributary, a mere satellite of the Assyrian empire. When Sennacharib marched westward to put down a revolt in the philistine states, he humbled Judah with the same effort.

Thus Micah spoke in a time of social unrest, national insecurity, and religious turmoil not unlike those of the United States in mid-twentieth century. He viewed evil as a failure to grasp the nature of true religion, and believed that the only remedy was to strike at the source by denouncing the wickedness and demanding repentance upon pain of national annihilation. He would have agreed with Jas 1:27 completely.

He makes no hesitation in insisting that the demands of God are binding upon the rich and powerful as well as the poor and powerless. He does not preach a middle class morality but eternal ethical right determined by Jehovah.

Questions

1. Micahs prophecy begins with a claim to __________.

2. Why is the date of a prophetic statement an important part of the book?

3. Micahs double claim to inspiration indicates both __________ __________ and __________.

4. Account for the unhesitating certainty with which Micah describes the events of the future.

5. Micahs message is not chronological but __________.

6. The time of Micahs call is set by his reference to three kings: Jotham, who reigned from __________ to __________. Ahaz, who reigned from __________ to __________ and __________ who reigned from 715 to 687 B.C.

7. The first 25 years of Jothams reign were as co-regent with __________.

8. Describe Jothams reign.

9. Ahazs reign was characterized by __________.

10. __________ is also called __________.

11. Ahaz entered into an alliance with __________ of Assyria.

12. This resulted in the southern kingdom becoming a __________.

13. Hezekiah, the third king mentioned by Micah, was the __________ king of Judah, He was the son of Ahaz, but he did not worship __________.

14. Hezekiahs contemporaries in Israel were __________ and __________ __________.

15. Due to Hezekiahs dedication to Jehovah, __________ was stopped just short of Jerusalem and turned back.

16. Micah is described as a younger __________ of Isaiah.

17. To Micah, social injustice was a symptom of __________.

18. How did Micah understand his mission? (Mic 3:8)

19. Micah does not preach a middle class morality but __________.

20. The overthrow of the northern kingdom was accomplished by the __________ empire while Judah was conquered later by __________ who were in turn defeated by __________ who released the captive remnant.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

The first message of Micah consists of a summons, a proclamation of Jehovah, and a prophetic message based on the proclamation. This division ends with an account of the intenuption of the false prophets, and finally the promise of ultimate deliverance.

In the summons the prophet had clearly in mind the attitude of Jehovah toward the whole earth. All peoples are called upon to attend. Israel was Jehovah’s medium of teaching, if not in blessing, then in judgment. He witnesses among the nations by His dealings with Israel. The description of His coming forth from His place is full of poetic beauty. Under the figure of a great upheaval of nature the prophet described the advent of God.

The proclamation of Jehovah first declares the cause of judgment. It is for the transgression of Jacob . . . for the sins of the house of Israel.” The reason for judgment is the apostasy of the nation as evidenced in the cities. Jehovah next describes the course of judgment, commencing with the destruction of false religion. The city wherein was gathered the wealth and wherein authority was exercised was to be demolished, and the religion of apostasy swept away.

On the basis of this proclamation the prophet delivers his message. It opens with a personal lamentation expressive of his own grief concerning the incurable wounds of the people.

This is followed by a wailing description of the judgment. The passage is a strange mixture of grief and satire. At the calamity the prophet was grieved. Because of the sin he was angry. This merging of agony and anger flashes in satire. The connection of contrast is not easy to discover. A translation of the proper names appearing in this section may enable the reader to discover the remarkable play on words which runs through it.

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible

Gods Witness against His Chosen

Mic 1:1-16

Micah was contemporary with Isaiah and Hosea. Jeremiah quotes from him. Compare Mic 3:12 and Jer 26:18.

In Mic 1:1-4 the prophet summons the nations to behold the just punishment which Jehovah would mete out to His faithless people. Mic 1:5-6 portray the desolation of Samaria. Destruction would settle on the homes and fields of men, and the prospect of this so affected the prophet that he divested himself of outer garment and sandals, that his disheveled condition might depict the calamities that he announced. Mic 1:10-16 make clear that Judah also would suffer similar chastisements. Aphrah and Shaphir would be hurried into captivity. So universal would be the calamity that Zaanan would not come to bewail with the neighboring city of Bethezel.

The prophets were true patriots and they felt that all good citizens should lament with them, Mic 1:16, in the hope of averting impending judgments. Are we feeling the sins and sorrows of our time, as Jesus felt those of Jerusalem, when He wept over the city?

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

Notes on the Prophecy of Micah

Chapter 1

The Summons To Hearken

Micahs prophecy, while simple in structure and clear in the main, yet contains a number of seemingly involved and obscure passages. In taking up its study, one feels more than ever the need of divine illumination to understand aright the dark sayings so frequently occurring. But the theme of the book is plain. It is the wretched estate of all Israel because of their sin, and the wonderful deliverance to be brought in by Him whose goings-forth have been of old, from everlasting, yet who was to come out of Bethlehem-Ephratah to effect salvation for His people. Hence, though this first chapter begins with their solemn arraignment for the transgression of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel, the book concludes with the precious assurance that He whom they have offended will cast all their sins into the depth of the sea. In all this we are on familiar ground, often trodden heretofore, and cast up as a highway by Moses and all the prophets. It is only as to details there is difficulty, and then nothing of a fundamental character.

Micah is called the Morasthite, that is, a man of Moreshah; or, as he himself calls it in verse 14, Moresheth-gath; or, again, Mareshah, in the following verse, a town lying to the south-west of Jerusalem, and therefore in the land of Judah.

Micah is cited by the elders of Jerusalem in the days of Jeremiah, a hundred years later, as an example of one who had prophesied ever against Israel, but who was not apprehended therefor by the godly king Hezekiah (Jer 26:16-19).

His prophecy might have been all delivered at one time, as there are no clear breaks in its continuity; but it seems more likely that it consists of three discourses and a prayer-each of the former commencing with a summons to hear. In that case the first division would embrace chaps. 1 and 2; the second, chaps. 3 to 5; and the third, chap. 6; while chap. 7 would be the fourth and last.

Coming to the front a little later than Isaiah, Micah is his contemporary for the greater part of his ministry. In verse 1 we find, as also on examination of the book before us, that it embraces all Israel, not merely Judah, where the seer himself dwelt.

Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth (or land), and all that therein is: and let the Lord God be witness against you, the Lord from His holy temple (ver. 2). In spirit the people are called back to the days of Lev 1:1, when the voice of Jehovah was heard from the sanctuary, setting forth the holiness that was comely in those among whom He dwelt. Now, He speaks again from the sanctuary; but, this time, to convict them of having violated His Word in every particular, and thus forfeited all title to blessing under the covenant of works entered into at Sinai and confirmed in the plains of Moab. They are summoned to let Adonai Jehovah21 be witness against them. To do so will be to justify God and to condemn themselves; and for a failed people this is the path of blessing.

It is a great thing to bow to the whole Word of God, even when it judges me and condemns my ways. To do so is the precursor to something better; but to excuse myself at the expense of Gods truth is a process most hardening to the conscience.

In verses 3 and 4 the Lord is represented as coming out of His place to inquire into Israels state. The language used is highly figurative, the sublimity of which must be conceded by all. Like volcanic fires bursting forth and rending the earth is the awakening of Jehovah to judge His people.

The transgression of Jacob and the sins of the house of Israel furnish the occasion for this display of power and wrath. Samaria, with her mixture of idolatrous rites and Israelitish worship, is the transgression of Jacob. Jerusalem, in its treachery and apostasy, is the sin of Judah. Therefore Samaria was to become a desolation, as a vineyard given over to destruction. All the graven images and idols of every kind were to be beaten to pieces, and her hires (Lesser translates, her wages of sin) burned in the fire. Nothing shall abide the day of Jehovahs fury (vers. 5-7).

Ver. 8 seems to be language put into the mouth of the despoiled nation; or it may be the prophets own picture of his bitter sorrow at the fate about to befall Samaria. It is an instance of the peculiar character of this book.

Nothing now could stay the avenging hand, for her wound is incurable! It is solemn indeed when God thus has to pronounce upon the malady affecting those who bear His name. Like a spreading pestilence, it is come unto Judah, [and] hath reached unto the gate of My people, even to Jerusalem (ver. 9). The whole body was affected, and the whole head sick. See Isa 1:5, 6.

Alas, that the Philistine enemes of Israel should hear of so wretched a condition prevailing among those who were called The redeemed of the Lord! Tell it not in Gath, weep ye not loudly [there]. But in Beth-le-aphrah (the house of the dust ) roll thyself in the dust! (ver. 10). The prophet plays on the word Aphrah, signifying the dust. There, might fallen Israel well resort, and roll themselves in the dust because of their sins.

To city after city desolation and woe are assured. Saphir, the fair, shall be given up to shame. Zaanan, the place of flocks, was to be without any to come forth of her portals. The mourning of Beth-ezel (or, Beth-haezel, the house at hand) taketh from you its halting-place. Here, again, the prophet is playing on the name. Beth-ezel was evidently what we would call a half-way house. It shall no longer be a halting-place for travelers on their way to the city of the great King (ver. 11).

The dweller in Maroth (bitterness) finds only the bitter, and bewails the good that comes not. To Jerusalems gate, evil sweeps down like a flood; and what is so solemn is, that it is from the Lord. He it is who is judging His people because of their sin (ver. 12).

The 13th verse is difficult of interpretation. For some reason Lachish is declared to be the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion. Hence her people shall flee before the advancing enemy.

Neither are the two following verses sufficiently clear to dogmatize as to their explanation. They seem to imply an unsuccessful effort to form a Philistine alliance for protection from the common foe; but Achzib (the lie) shall become indeed that to the kings of Israel. Typically the passage may well point us to the coming day when the lie of Antichrist will be believed, and when he will be confided in to deliver the apostate nation from the onslaught of the last Assyrian; but all in vain. For the Assyrian shall prove to be in very deed the rod of Jehovahs anger.

Unhappy Israel, fallen so low that conscience no longer troubled, may well make herself bald and mourn in anguish for her delicate children, destroyed by the sins of the fathers. They are gone into captivity from thee (ver. 16).

The whole chapter is a dirge of unappeasable sorrow because the nation has forsaken Him who would have blessed them so richly had they but walked in His ways. May there be in us a different spirit! Otherwise we too must learn in bitterness of soul the folly of departure from the living God.

Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets

Analysis and Annotation

THE FIRST PROPHETIC MESSAGE

CHAPTER 1

1. The introduction (Mic 1:1)

2. Judgment announced (Mic 1:2-5)

3. The destruction of Samaria (Mic 1:6-7)

4. The lamentation of the prophet over the coming judgment (Mic 1:8-16)

Mic 1:1. This introduction tells us two things. In the first place, we learn that this book contains the word of the Lord that came to Micah, the Morasthite; in the second place, we are told when Micah exercised his office. As stated in the introduction, he was contemporary with Isaiah, probably for about twenty-nine years. Criticism has attacked the authorship of this book also. Since criticism began, with Ewald, to question the unity of this little book, it has raged with increasing violence, until Professor Cheyne, improving on Robertson Smith in the Encyclopedia Britannica, concludes: In no part of chapters 4-7 can we venture to detect the hand of Micah. There is no need to answer such statements. The unity of the book of Micah is fully demonstrated by the message it contains. If chapters 4-7 were not written by Micah, will the critics give us light on who the author is?

Mic 1:2-5. The opening message is sublime, it is an appeal to all the nations, the whole earth and all that is in it, to listen to the witness of the Lord Jehovah against them, the witness which comes from His holy temple. The other Micah (Micaiah, the same as Micah) the son of Imlah, uttered similar words 1Ki 22:28. He next describes the Lord coming out of His place, the place where He dwells in mercy, to come down and tread upon the high places of the earth. He is coming to judge; He is coming in wrath. The nations are to hear it, that the judgment is for the transgression of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel. On Mic 1:4 see Psa 18:7-10; Psa 68:8 and Jdg 5:4. The near fulfillment was the double judgment which came upon the two kingdoms, the kingdom of the ten tribes, Samaria, and the kingdom of Judah. But the description of the coming of the Lord in judgment also relates to that great future event, the day of the Lord.

Mic 1:6-7. The sin of Israel was Samaria, it originated there and consisted of idol worship; the sins of Judah were the high places in Jerusalem. (See Jer 32:35.) Complete destruction of Samaria would come with this announced judgment and all her graven images would be broken to pieces, and her whoredoms burned with fire Joe 2:3; Hos 2:7.

Mic 1:8-16. Here is the lamentation of Micah as directed by the Spirit of God, not only over the fate of Samaria, but over Judah as well. He weeps for both Samaria and Judah. I will wail and howl; I will go stripped and naked; I will make a wailing like the jackals, and a mourning like the owls (ostriches). It shows how these men of God entered in a whole-souled manner into the divine revelations they received. It created deep soul exercise. This must be the result of faith in the prophetic word with all His people at all times. In verse nine (Mic 1:9) the prophet speaks of one who comes to execute the threatened judgment. He is come unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem. This enemy is the Assyrian whom Micah beholds advancing and who came before the gates of Jerusalem. (See Isa 10:1-34.) The Assyrian was used in ending the kingdom of Israel; Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar was the instrument used against Judah and Jerusalem. Sennacherib came against Jerusalem, but it was Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, who carried Israel away into captivity. Isaiahs prophecy enters more fully into this. He describes both the Assyrian and the Babylonian power. And both will appear again at the close of the times of the Gentiles. The little horn of Daniels prophecy in chapter 7, the head of the confederated nations, the revived Roman Empire, corresponds with the final King of Babylon, while the final Assyrian is the other little horn in Dan 8:1-27. (See annotations on Dan 7:1-28; Dan 8:1-27) .

Mic 1:10-13 correspond to Isa 10:28-34; it is a description of the advance of the Assyrian. The coming disaster is not to be published in Gath, that is, the Philistines are not to hear of it. (See 2Sa 1:20.) There is a remarkable play of words in these statements. It may be literally rendered as follows: Weep not in Weep-town; in Dust-town (the meaning of Aphrah) roll thyself in dust; then a contrast, in Beauty-town (Saphir means beauty) be in nakedness and shame; and in March-town (the meaning of Zaanan) march not forth.

The inhabitant of Maroth waited anxiously for good, but evil came from the LORD unto the gate of Jerusalem (Maroth means bitterness). In the Assyrian cylinder, known as Taylors cylinder, Sennacherib mentions the great gate of Jerusalem.

Then follows a call to Lachish to escape. Bind the chariot to the swift beast. Lachish was a fortified city, as the excavations have shown, and was taken by Sennacherib. Here is still another play of words in the original. Lachish means Horse-town, so that it can be translated Bind the chariot to the horse, O inhabitant of Horse-town. It has been suggested that the sin mentioned in connection with Lachish was that the horses of the sun in connection with idolatry were kept there 2Ki 23:11).

In Mic 1:14 the prophet mentions his home town Moresheth-gath; there is to be a parting gift for she shall go into captivity. And Achzib will not keep the invader back; Achzib means a lie–the Lie-town shall be a lie to the kings of Israel, a false hope.

The heir who is to possess Moreshah is the Assyrian, and the glory of Israel shall come even unto Adullam, the nobles of Israel shall gather in the cave of Adullam, like outcasts. (See 1Sa 22:1.)

They were now to mourn, expressed in making themselves bald Job 1:20; Isa 15:2; Isa 22:12; Jer 16:6), for they are gone into captivity.

Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)

Marg

Nineveh (See Scofield “Nah 1:1”)

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

Micah: Mic 1:14, Mic 1:15, Jer 26:18

Jotham: 2Ch 27:1 – 2Ch 32:33, Isa 1:1, Hos 1:1

which: Amo 1:1, Hab 1:1

concerning: Mic 1:5, Hos 4:15, Hos 5:5-14, Hos 6:10, Hos 6:11, Hos 8:14, Hos 12:1, Hos 12:2, Amo 2:4-8, Amo 3:1, Amo 3:2, Amo 6:1

Reciprocal: 2Ki 16:1 – Ahaz 2Ki 16:20 – Hezekiah 2Ch 28:1 – Ahaz 2Ch 29:1 – Hezekiah Pro 25:1 – which Isa 2:1 – saw Isa 9:8 – sent a word Jer 1:2 – the word Jer 26:17 – Then rose Eze 46:18 – thrust Luk 3:2 – the word

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

THE PROPHET MICAH

Micah the Morasthite.

Mic 1:1

When the ministry of the courtly and cultured Isaiah was about half over, there appeared in Judah another prophet of a very different type, Micah by name. Isaiah was the associate of kings, being himself, according to Jewish tradition, of royal birth; but Micah came from the little country village of Moreshah (Mic 1:1), in Western Palestine, and in dress, gestures, and expressions, if we may judge from chap. Mic 1:8, reminds one of the prophet Elijah.

I. Though differing widely in personality, Isaiah and Micah were in close sympathy and harmony, as is shown by their messages; and it is very likely they often met and talked and prayed together. They both condemned unsparingly the evils of the times; both predicted judgment as the result of the nations sin; and both prophesied of Christs Advent and of His glorious reign. See how almost identical are the words of Mic 4:1-3 with the passage found in Isa 2:2-4, causing one to think that one prophet quoted the other. There is a strong resemblance between the two Books in several respects. The peculiarity of Micahs prophecy is that it is concerning both the northern and the southern kingdoms (see chap. Mic 1:1; Mic 1:5), although the burden of his message seems to be intended for Judah.

II. One thing which distinguishes Micah is the result of his ministry.There is no hint of this in his Book, but from Jeremiahs one reference to him we gather that Micah was instrumental in the conversion of King Hezekiah. You will recall that Jeremiah, living about one hundred years after Micah, was arrested in the Temple one day, by the priests, prophets, and people, for prophesying the destruction of the Temple and city, and was in danger of being put to death when the princes of Judah interfered. The disturbance was quelled, and the tide of public sentiment against Jeremiah was turned by the elders calling attention to the similarity of Micahs teaching and its results (see Jer 26:18-19).

We know, from the record in Kings, that this attitude of submission to God on the part of King Hezekiah brought upon himself and his kingdom such blessing that his was the most glorious reign of all the kings of Judah since Solomon. So Micah, by his faithful preaching, served well his sovereign, his country, and his God.

Micah seems to have made a deep impression upon the minds and hearts of the Jewish people. He is often referred to, and his utterances quoted by Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Zephaniah. St. Matthew and St. John also quote him. It is Micah who pointed out the birthplace of the Messiah, thus enabling the scribes and Pharisees to direct the wise men to Bethlehem, where they should find the Christ-child.

III. In style, Micah is rather dramatic, given to the use of imagery and figures of speech.Notice the picture with which the prophecy opens. It represents God as rising in indignation at the sins of His people, and coming forth in wrath from His place on high like a great consuming fire, before which the mountains melt, and the valleys are broken. Samaria is the first to feel the heat of Gods indignation, but the tide of judgment comes rolling down even to the gate of Jerusalem, and still onward, until Micah sees in vision one after the other of the towns in the neighbourhood of his own home-town given over to destruction.

Illustration

Micah came from the neighbourhood of Gath, in the Philistine plain, with its luxuriant vineyards, orchards, and cornfields, its busy towns and its glimpses of the great sea. He exerted a strong influence over Hezekiah and his times. Though of humble birth, he came to stand in the front rank of the prophetic band. The 8th verse tells us that he perambulated the streets and public places of Jerusalem, mingling his prophetic appeals and warnings with loud wails, like the deep hollow roar of the ostrich or the piteous howl of the jackal. Such an apparition, proclaiming day after day the national sins and threatening impending doom, struck the hearts of king and people with awe. In days long after the elders of the city recalled him, and ascribed to his preaching the great revival which inaugurated Hezekiahs reign.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

A Bird’s-Eye View of Micah

Micah

INTRODUCTORY WORDS

The story of Micah is a most interesting and instructive study concerning one of God’s greatest men.

1. The key to Micah’s unusual gifts (Mic 3:8). “But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.” Here is a message for those of us who would seek to do the Lord’s work and will. If we would go forth to victory in a successful service, we must not go clothed in our own innate powers, or in our own wisdom. Schools and seminaries cannot panoply the child of God for a successful ministry.

There is a wonderful promise for all of us in Act 1:8. Here it is: “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me.” Is it not true that all of the disciples went forth clothed with the Holy Spirit and with power? When God called Micah to declare unto Jacob his transgression, He clothed Micah with that power of the Spirit which would make his testimony effective. May we also be so clothed!

2. The time of Micah’s prophecy. In Jer 26:18, are found these words: “Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord of Hosts; Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.” This tells us that Micah lived in the days of one of Judah’s greatest kings. Hezekiah was a good king, and he ruled under the power of the Lord. Micah, however, was giving Israel due warning concerning her coming devastations.

3. How Micah summed up man’s obligation to God. We find this in Mic 6:8. Let us read it: “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.”

If we would epitomize man’s religious obligations toward God and toward his fellow man, as expressed by Micah, we would immediately go over to the Words of Christ, as found in Mat 7:12 : “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

If you want to turn to one of the later Epistles in the Bible, we might read from the Book of James. In the 1st chapter is this expression: “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” It is still true that we must love the Lord our God with all our heart and our neighbor as ourselves. This age of grace never lends any leniency to the one who walks in sin.

I. A MAGNIFICAT TO THE LORD (Mic 1:2-4)

We have in our verses several wonderful statements of adoration and praise concerning our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

1. The first statement is this:” The Lord from His holy Temple.” This means that the Lord is speaking unto His people from His Temple. His Temple, of course, is in the heavens, and from thence, through the Prophet, He is giving His message to a sinful and rebellious people.

We believe that the Lord also dwelt in the midst of the cherubim in those days, and there He met His people, as the high priest came once a year, but not without blood, into the Holy of Holies.

We believe also that the Lord is now in His holy Temple. Even where two or three are gathered together in His Name, He is in the midst. In the Book of Malachi the Lord is described as coming suddenly unto His Temple. This is when He leaves the Temple above, which is in Heaven, and comes to Jerusalem.

2. The second statement is: “For, behold, the Lord cometh forth out of His place, and will come down.” Here is another place of adoration, for the Lord is coming in power and in great glory. He is coming with ten thousands of His holy ones. In the day of His Coming, His feet will stand upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem to the East. It will be a wonderful day.

That Micah is prophesying of the Second Coming of Christ in our key verse we do not doubt. The Prophets, not one, but many, foretold the literal, personal, visible, corporeal Return of Christ. Micah describes Him as coming forth out of His place, and coming down.

In the Book of Isaiah we read: “Oh * * that Thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at Thy Presence.” Here is, practically, the same thing. The Lord is coming down to “tread upon the high places of the earth. And the mountains shall be molten under Him, and the valleys, shall be cleft, as wax before the fire.” This is the message of the whole Bible.

3. The third statement is:” Declare ye it not at Gath.” Gath, of course, stands for the leading city of the Philistines. The Philistines gloried against Israel. Now that the Prophet is giving his testimony against God’s chosen nation, he cries, “Declare ye it not at Gath.” In other words, do not let the Philistines know of the great judgment which is about to fall upon the chosen race.

How careful we should all be lest the judgment that falls from on high, should hinder the Name and glory of our Lord.

II. A QUERY CONCERNING THE SPIRIT (Mic 2:7)

Here is the way our key verse reads: “O thou that art named the House of Jacob, is the Spirit of the Lord straitened?”

1. Is it possible for saints to straiten the Spirit? The word, “straiten,” suggests the thought of His inability to move, act and accomplish His Word and work. In the 78th Psalm, we read this amazing word, Ye “limited the Holy One of Israel.” Israel limited God, because Israel walked after Balaam.

The Lord Jesus Christ went into the city of Nazareth. At first the people marveled at the gracious words which proceeded from His mouth. It was not long, however, until Satan filled them with rage, and they led the Holy One of God to the brow of the hill upon which the city was builded, that they might cast Him down. Then it was that we read concerning Nazareth, “And He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.”

Certainly, we may limit God.

2. God can do good only to those who walk uprightly. This is the expression in the last part of our key verse. When Christian people are walking close to the Lord in prayer and in trust, then it is that the Lord will work in their behalf.

3. God will punish His people for their unbelief and their sins. This is the message of Micah. It was true in his day. It is also true in our day.

III. A WARNING TO THE PRINCES AND THE PRIESTS (Mic 3:1-3)

In our 3d chapter, there are four things we shall suggest.

1. An exercising of lordship. We read:” Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the House of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment? Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones.”

Here was a tremendous charge against the rulers. They were, so to speak, eating the flesh of God’s people. They were flaying them, breaking their bones, chopping them in pieces. The whole vision is that of the rule of a demagogue, heartless, and cruel.

Even in our day we find something similar to this. There are rulers in the church, as well as there were rulers in Israel. These men often lay heavy burdens upon saints, while they, themselves, would not lift a finger to bear them.

In the Epistle to Peter we read: “Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.”

2. They made the people to err. They abhorred judgment and perverted equity. They judged the people for reward, while the priests taught for hire, and the prophets divined for money. While they were doing all of this, they were deceiving the people; they were crying, “Peace,” even while they were preparing for war. There are marry who prophesy falsely. In doing this, there are thousands who follow their “pernicious ways.” There is no great truth of the Bible that is not profaned and denied by a large group of clerical leaders. They even go so far as to mutilate the inspired Word, itself. God help us to remain true.

IV. A FAR-FLUNG PROPHECY OF ISRAEL’S FUTURE GLORY (Mic 4:1-4)

1. God’s people are to be established in their own land. Mic 4:1 says: “In the last days it shall come to pass that the mountain of the House of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.” Thank God for this wonderful promise of reestablishment! The people who have been scattered among the nations will be restored to their own land, and the Lord shall dwell in Zion.

2. God’s people will head a universal and world-wide kingdom. Mic 4:2 says, “Many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the House of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for the Law shall go forth of Zion, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” Here is something that has never been fulfilled thus far, yet every Word of God is Yea and Amen in Christ Jesus. The men of the nations will say, “Let us go up to * * the House of the God of Jacob.” The glory of the Lord will arise in Jerusalem, and it will cover the whole earth, “as the waters cover the sea.”

3. God’s people will know a reign of world-wide peace. Our verse says of Christ, “And He shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”

Every jot and tittle of this prophecy will be fulfilled. This is not the age of peace, for the simple reason that it is not the age of the Prince of Peace. When the Lord comes, however, His Name will be called “The Prince of Peace,” and the nations shall practice war no more.

4. There shall be a rule of universal righteousness and equity. Our key verse says (Mic 4:4): “They shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of Hosts hath spoken it.” We hear much of socialism these days, and we are ready to grant that from the ethical view, it presents many beautiful dreams. It is seeking to bring in that which alone can be brought in when the Lord returns to earth. The trouble with these high reaches of ethical conception is that the heart of man is not prepared during this age to carry them out. The heart is deceitfully wicked, and it cannot produce the dream of righteousness and equity which many have vainly sought to establish under the rule of Law.

V. THE CHRIST OF BETHLEHEM (Mic 5:2)

We now have a very remarkable prophecy hidden away in this remarkable Book. Read it in Mic 5:2.

1. Let us observe how God can magnify the small and insignificant. Our key verse says: “Though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth.” Here is a truth that has been verified. Bethlehem was indeed but a village, but it became a village magnified and glorified the world over. There is not a wee child who rejoices on Christmas who has not heard of Bethlehem and its manger.

Is it not true that everything that God touches is glorified? He comes to a human heart and a life deluged in sin, and He touches that life; and lo, one is born again who shall dwell in the realms of light forevermore.

2. Let us observe the eternity of our Lord. He is spoken of here as One “whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” How wonderful is this! It is, however, in line with all other Scriptures. “In the beginning was the Word,” and the Word was none other than our Lord and Saviour. That Word “was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory as of the only begotten of the Father).” Our Lord is the eternal Son, He came forth from the Father, and again, He goes to the Father.

3. We have before us a Ruler in Israel. The Babe whose goings forth were from of old, even from everlasting, is announced as One who is to be Ruler in Israel. This statement is in line with the message of Isaiah: “Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder.” Micah’s statement is also in line with that of the angel, Gabriel, who said to Mary, “Thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a Son, * * and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David: and He shall reign over the House of Jacob for ever; and of His Kingdom there shall be no end.” Thank God for this marvelous promise!

VI. THE LORD’S CONTROVERSY WITH ISRAEL (Mic 6:2-3)

1. As we read the Prophet, we think of Israel’s past glory. Far back in history the Lord called Abraham. From Abraham came Isaac, and then Jacob. From Jacob came twelve sons who headed the twelve tribes of Israel. God found Israel in a desert land. He brought her unto Himself. He blessed her. He clothed her with His own righteousness, and she was beautiful because of His beauty which He had placed upon her. Her renown went to the ends of the earth. There was none among the nations of the earth like unto this nation.

God reminds Israel of the marvelous prophecy of Balaam, the son of Beor, and of how Balaam said, “[God] hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob.” Thus we find the climacteric glory of Israel. She was clothed with the righteousness of God.

2. As we read the Prophet Micah we find this query: “Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God?” We wonder if such a question has not often come to us? Micah cried out: “Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil?”

In answer to this query, the Prophet says, “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”

In the 1st chapter of Isaiah, we have a similar message. Israel is seeking to approach God with formal sacrifices. Read Isa 1:10-20. How can we set forth our faith in the buried and risen Lord, and our union with Him in His death, and our resurrection with Him to walk in newness of life, unless we are walking in, and living out the righteousness which these ordinances proclaim?

VII. THE MERCIES OF GOD (Mic 7:18-20)

1. “Trust ye not in a friend.” This is the statement of Mic 7:5. It does not mean that human friends are never true. It does mean that they may fail in the hour of our need. A son may dishonor a father, even a daughter may rise up against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man’s enemies may prove to be the men of his own house.

This is the reason that Micah cried, “Trust ye not in a friend.”

2. “I will look unto the Lord.” When our father and mother forsake us, the Lord will take us up. When our friend becomes our foe, then the Lord will call us into the covert of His secret place. That is the reason that Micah calls upon Israel to look unto the Lord, and to wait for the God of her salvation.

3. “The Lord shall be a light unto me.” Somehow or other this marvelous Prophet grips us. No matter how deep Israel’s darkness may be, she shall some day walk in the light. If she falls, she shall arise again.

4. “Who is a God like unto Thee?” Here are some of the statements concerning Israel’s God, and our God in Mic 7:18-20.

(1) A God who pardoneth iniquity.

(2) A God who passeth by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage.

(3) A God who retaineth not His anger forever.

(4) A God who delighteth in mercy,

(5) A God who will have compassion upon us.

(6) A God who will subdue our iniquities.

(7) A God who will cast our sins into the depths of the sea.

(8) A God who will perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham which He swore unto them in the days of old.

Such an One is our God. To such an One we may come. Upon such on One we may lean. Surely, salvation is of the Lord.

AN ILLUSTRATION

Micah pressed home to Israel and to us the need of Christ as precedent to victory.

If you ever visit Florence in Italy, and go into the Uffizi Gallery, you will see there a magnificent painting of the Battle of Ivry, in which the forces of Henry IV of Navarre are contending against the host led on by his enemies. The picture, true to life, represents a terrific struggle. There is no suggestion of retreat by the one side, nor a suggestion of victory for the other, but both are mingled in awful onslaught, fierce and bloody. But there is one part of the picture from which the artist’s brush speaks in no uncertain evidence of the issues of the day. On one side of the picture, up in the corner, hovers a great company of warrior angels, with swords drawn. You know, at once, that God is on the side of Henry IV of Navarre, and you know whose is the victory.

When the Syrian host surrounded Elisha, the man of God, his servant trembled and cried, “How shall we do?” But Elisha said, “Fear not; for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.” And when he had prayed, the young man’s eyes were opened and he saw the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire round about them.

Sometimes when the forces of evil have arrayed themselves against the good, the conflict has seemed uncertain and sometimes it has seemed as though iniquity was destined to prevail. Even the bravest souls of earth, have been tempted here and tried, because the days were dark, and it seemed, for the time, as if there were no God. But, if we only had the eyes to see, we’d find an angel host about us, leading us on to victory. It is true that vice often wears the purple and virtue is clothed in rags. Truth is often on the scaffold and wrong is on the throne. But you may be sure that within the shadow of the scaffold, God is standing, keeping watch over His own.-W. E. B.

Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water

Mic 1:1. The word of the Lord that came to Micah shows that he was inspired to write his book. Moreover, in Jer 26:17-18 we have his writing referred to favorably by some elders of the land and there is no Indication that his predictions were called in question by anyone. His predictions pertained to the 10-tribe and the 3-tribe kingdom of the Jews, for Samaria was the capital of the first and Jerusalem that of the second. The date of his writing is identified with the reigns of some of the kings of the 2-tribe kingdom. A glance at the history of those times will show that Micah began writing about 40 years before the captivity of the 10- tribe kingdom and some 150 years before that of the 2-tribe kingdom. Since those revolutionary events were so near, we may expect the prophet to have a great deal to say on the subject. He will also say many things relative to the corruption that was the cause of Gods wrath toward his people, namely, their worship of idols.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Mic 1:1. In the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah Micah is thought to have prophesied about sixteen years in Jothams time, as many under Ahaz, and fourteen under Hezekiah: in all, forty-six years. And he survived the captivity of Israel ten years, which he lamented as well as foretold. Which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem Concerning both the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, whereof Samaria and Jerusalem were the capital cities. It is said, Which he saw, &c., because the prophets having the general name of seers, every kind of prophecy, in whatever way delivered, seems to have been generally called a vision.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Mic 1:1. Micah the Morasthite, alluding to a village in the tribe of Judah, near the city of Eleuthera, which distinguishes him from the prophet Micaiah, who foretold the defeat of Ahab. 1Ki 22:8.

In the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Micah was therefore contemporary with Isaiah, having begun to prophesy after the death of Uzziah, and continued his ministry during part of the reign of Hezekiah. Jer 26:18.

Mic 1:2. Hear, all ye people; hearken, oh earth. He opened his ministry like Isa 1:2, calling the whole nation to hear, and the gentiles to witness the divine procedure with the Hebrew nation.

Mic 1:4. The mountains shall be molten [melted] under him. These bolder figures of rhetoric are often used by the prophets to designate great national events. The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord. Psa 97:5.

Mic 1:6. I will make Samaria as a heap. Salmanezer destroyed it for rebellion, a little after Micahs death, and a hundred and twenty years before the fall of Jerusalem. 2Ki 17:6.

Mic 1:7. All the idols thereof will I lay desolate. The Chaldaic reads, her temple of idols. The inner parts of all the heathen temples in India are to this day full of idols. In the times of idolatry, Ezekiel complains of a chamber of images in the temple of Jerusalem.

Mic 1:8. Make a wailing like the dragons. The critics refer us here to the dreadful noise of elephants when they fight, and the wailings of the wounded. The word mostly means the larger serpents. Deu 32:33.

Mic 1:11. Pass ye away, thou inhabitant of Saphir. This name being equivalent to pleasant, is thought to be a delicate allusion to the king of Israel, and a denunciation against his palace and his court. In the topography of Palestine we find no name of Saphir.

Having thy shame naked. This is a declaration that the Assyrian soldiers would strip the richer captives as nearly naked as possible, and in that plight, drive them away to the market. The slave dealers should ever keep these reverses in mind.

Mic 1:16. He shallenlarge thy baldness as the eagle. Natural history records, that the eagle lives to a hundred years of age; and that not only his head, but nearly his whole body loses its plumage. In like manner should the Assyrian invaders strip the Israelites of their robes, and the palaces of their riches, and all their glory.

REFLECTIONS.

Our prophet was taught to regard the visitations of war on the Hebrew nation as emanations of divine counsel. Behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to tread down the mountains. Of course, men in their sins should ever reckon on the day of punishment. Why then glory in mansions and palaces, and splendour of equipage? Are they not so many temptations to the invading foe to come and carry them away?

The first strokes therefore of the prophets ministry, like the first onsets of battle, were impetuous. Like a faithful watch on the high tower, he blew the trumpet of alarm. As a harbinger he led on the Assyrian army, in all their wide-spreading detachment, from Aphrah in Benjamin to Saphir on the hills. He excites weeping in Bethezel, like the moanings of wounded dragons. Bethezel could not assist Saphir, if he would; neither could Jerusalem lend assistance, she herself being sickly, and afraid of the powerful invader.

The whole of these warnings then were evidently intended to excite alarm, to bring the nation back to the covenant of God, and to effectual reformation of manners. And if ancient events are left on record for our example, then those alarms still speak to the nations of Europe.

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Mic 1:1. The (editorial) superscription to the prophecy (Mica 13) of Micah of Moresheth-Gath (Mic 1:14) assigns it to the period 739693, but, as stated in the Introduction, the date is probably a little before 701. The subject, Samaria and Jerusalem, is correctly given, though the chief concern of the prophet is Jerusalem and Judah.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

1:1 The word of the LORD that came to Micah the {a} Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, [and] Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

(a) Born in Mareshah, a city of Judah.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

I. HEADING 1:1

Prophetic revelation from Yahweh came to Micah concerning Samaria (the Northern Kingdom) and Jerusalem (the Southern Kingdom). These capital cities, by synecdoche, represent their respective nations and the people in them. These capital cities also, by metonymy, suggest the leaders of the nations, which Micah targeted for special responsibility. Micah "saw" these revelations (rather than "heard" them) because the Lord revealed them to him in visions and or dreams (Num 12:6; cf. Isa 1:1; Oba 1:1; Nah 1:1). Micah ("Who is like Yahweh?") was a resident of Moresheth-gath (Mic 1:14), which was a Judean town in the Shephelah (foothills) of Judah west and a bit south of Jerusalem. The mention of Micah’s hometown rather than his father’s name suggests that he had come to Jerusalem and had become known there as the Micah from Moresheth. [Note: Allen, p. 265] Normally a man who was a longtime resident of a town was described as the son of so and so rather than as being from a particular place. Micah received and delivered his prophetic messages during the reigns of three of the kings of his nation: Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. This dates his ministry between 750 and 686 B.C. [Note: See my comments on the writer and date in the Introduction section above.] Similar full headings (superscriptions) begin the books of Isaiah, Hosea, Amos, and Zephaniah.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

MICAH THE MORASTHITE

Mic 1:1-16

SOME time in the reign of Hezekiah, when the kingdom of Judah was still inviolate, but shivering to the shock of the fall of Samaria, and probably while Sargon the destroyer was pushing his way past Judah to meet Egypt at Raphia, a Judean prophet of the name of Micah, standing in sight of the Assyrian march, attacked the sins of his people and prophesied their speedy overthrow beneath the same flood of war. If we be correct in our surmise, the exact year was 720-719 B.C. Amos had been silent thirty years. Hoses hardly fifteen; Isaiah was in the midway of his career. The title of Micahs book asserts that he had previously prophesied under Jotham and Ahaz, and though we have seen it to be possible, it is by no means proved, that certain passages of the book date from these reigns.

Micah is called the Morasthite. {Mic 1:1, Jer 26:18} For this designation there appears to be no other meaning than that of a native of Moresheth-Gath, a village mentioned by himself. {Mic 1:14} It signifies Property or Territory of Gath, and after the fall of the latter, which from this time no more appears in history, Moresheth may have been used alone. Compare the analogous cases of Helkath (portion of-) Galilee, Ataroth, Chesulloth, and Iim.

In our ignorance of Gaths position, we should be equally at fault about Moresheth, for the name has vanished, were it not for one or two plausible pieces of evidence. Belonging to Gath, Moresheth must have lain near the Philistine border: the towns among which Micah includes it are situated in that region; and Jerome declares that the name-though the form, Morasthi, in which he cites it is suspicious-was in his time still extant in a small village to the east of Eleutheropolis or Beit-Jibrin. Jerome cites Morasthi as distinct from the neighboring Mareshah, which is also quoted by Micah beside Moresheth-Gath.

Moresheth was, therefore, a place in the Shephelah, or range of low hills which lie between the hill country of Judah and the Philistine plain. It is the opposite exposure from the wilderness of Tekoa, some seventeen miles away across the watershed. As the home of Amos is bare and desert, so the home of Micah is fair and fertile. The irregular chalk hills are separated by broad glens, in which the soil is alluvial and red, with room for cornfields on either side of the perennial or almost perennial streams. The olive groves on the braes are finer than either those of the plain below or of the Judean tableland above. There is herbage for cattle. Bees murmur everywhere, larks are singing, and although today you may wander in the maze of hills for hours without meeting a man or seeing a house, you are never out of sight of the traces of ancient habitation, and seldom beyond sound of the human voice-shepherds and ploughmen calling to their flocks and to each other across the glens. There are none of the conditions or of the occasions of a large town. But, like the south of England, the country is one of villages and homesteads, breeding good yeomen-men satisfied and in love with their soil, yet borderers with a far outlook and a keen vigilance and sensibility. The Shephelah is sufficiently detached from the capital and body of the land to beget in her sons an independence of mind and feeling, but so much upon the edge of the open world as to endue them at the same time with that sense of the responsibilities of warfare, which the national statesmen, aloof and at ease in Zion, could not possibly have shared.

Upon one of the west-most terraces of this Shephelah, nearly a thousand feet above the sea, lay Moresheth itself. There is a great view across the undulating plain with its towns and fortresses, Lachish, Eglon, Shaphir, and others, beyond which runs the coast road, the famous war-path between Asia and Africa. Ashdod and Gaza are hardly discernible against the glitter of the sea, twenty-two miles away. Behind roll the round bush-covered hills of the Shephelah, with Davids hold at Adullam, the field where he fought Goliath, and many another scene of border warfare; while over them rises the high wall of the Judean plateau, with the defiles breaking through it to Hebron and Bethlehem.

The valley-mouth near which Moresheth stands has always formed the southwestern gateway of Judea, the Philistine or Egyptian gate, as it might be called, with its outpost at Lachish, twelve miles across the plain. Roads converge upon this valley-mouth from all points of the compass. Beit-Jibrin, which lies in it, is midway between Jerusalem and Gaza, about twenty-five miles from either, nineteen miles from Bethlehem, and thirteen from Hebron. Visit the place at any point of the long history of Palestine, and you find it either full of passengers or a center of campaign. Asa defeated the Ethiopians here. The Maccabees and John Hyrcanus contested Mareshah, two miles off, with the Idumeans. Gabinius fortified Mare-shah. Vespasian and Saladin both deemed the occupation of the valley necessary before they marched upon Jerusalem. Septimius Severus made Beit-Jibrin the capital of the Shephelah, and laid out military roads, whose pavements still radiate from it in all directions. The Onomasticon measures distances in the Shephelah from Beit-Jibrin. Most of the early pilgrims from Jerusalem by Gaza to Sinai or Egypt passed through it, and it was a center of Crusading operations, whether against Egypt during the Latin kingdom or against Jerusalem during the Third Crusade. Not different was the place in the time of Micah. Micah must have seen pass by his door the frequent embassies which Isaiah tells us went down to Egypt from Hezekiahs court, and seen return those Egyptian subsidies in which a foolish people put their trust instead of in their God.

In touch, then, with the capital, feeling every throb of its folly and its panic, but standing on that border which must, as he believed, bear the brunt of the invasion that its crimes were attracting, Micah lifted up his voice. They were days of great excitement. The words of Amos and Hosea had been fulfilled upon Northern Israel. Should Judah escape, whose injustice and impurity were as flagrant as her sisters? It were vain to think so. The Assyrians had come up to her northern border. Isaiah was expecting their assault upon Mount Zion. The Lords Controversy was not closed. Micah will summon the whole earth to hear the old indictment and the still unexhausted sentence.

The prophet speaks:-

“Hear ye, peoples all; Hearken, O Earth, and her fullness! That Jehovah may be among you to testify, The Lord from His holy temple! For, lo! Jehovah goeth forth from His place; He descendeth and marcheth on the heights of the earth.”

“Molten are the mountains beneath Him, And the valleys gape open, Like wax in face of the fire Like water poured over a fall.”

God speaks:-

“For the transgression of Jacob is all this, And for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not Sarnaria? And what is the sin of the house of Judah? is it not Jerusalem? Therefore do I turn Samaria into a ruin of the field, And into vineyard terraces; And I pour down her stones to the glen And lay hare her foundations. All her images are shattered, And all her hires are being burned in the fire; And all her idols I lay desolate, For from the hire of a harlot they were gathered, And to a harlots hire they return.”

The prophet speaks:-

“For this let me mourn, let me wail. Let me go barefoot and stripped (of my robe), Let me make lamentations like the jackals, And mourning like the daughters of the desert, For her stroke is desperate; Yea, it hath come unto Judah! It hath smitten right up to the gate of my people. Up to Jerusalem.”

Within the capital itself Isaiah was also recording the extension of the Assyrian invasion to its walls, but in a different temper. {Isa 10:28} He was full of the exulting assurance that, although at the very gate, the Assyrian could not harm the city of Jehovah, but must fall when he lifted his impious hand against it. Micah has no such hope: he is overwhelmed with the thought of Jerusalems danger. Provincial though he be, and full of wrath at the danger into which the politicians of Jerusalem had dragged the whole country, he profoundly mourns the peril of the capital, “the gate of my people,” as he fondly calls her. Therefore we must not exaggerate the frequently drawn contrast between Isaiah and himself. To Micah also Jerusalem was dear, and his subsequent prediction of her overthrow {Mic 3:12} ought to be read with the accent of this previous mourning for her peril. Nevertheless his heart clings most to his own home, and while Isaiah pictures the Assyrian entering Judah from the north by Migron, Michmash, and Nob, Micah anticipates invasion by the opposite gateway of the land, at the door of his own village. His elegy sweeps across the landscape so dear to him. This obscure province was even more than Jerusalem his world, the world of his heart. It gives us a living interest in the man that the fate of these small villages, many of them vanished, should excite in him more passion than the fortunes of Zion herself. In such passion we can incarnate his spirit. Micah is no longer a book, or an oration, but flesh and blood upon a home and a countryside of his own. We see him on his housetop pouring forth his words before the hills and the far-stretching heathen land. In the name of every village within sight he reads a symbol of the curse that is coming upon his country, and of the sins that have earned the curse. So some of the greatest poets have caught their music from the nameless brooklets of their boyhoods fields; and many a prophet has learned to read the tragedy of man and Gods verdict upon sin in his experience of village life. But there was more than feeling in Micahs choice of his own country as the scene of the Assyrian invasion. He had better reasons for his fears than Isaiah, who imagined the approach of the Assyrian from the north. For it is remarkable how invaders of Judea, from Sennacherib to Vespasian and from Vespasian to Saladin and Richard, have shunned the northern access to Jerusalem and endeavored to reach her by the very gateway at which Micah stood mourning. He had, too, this greater motive for his fear, that Sargon; as we have seen, was actually in the neighborhood, marching to the defeat of Judahs chosen patron, Egypt. Was it not probable that, when the latter was overthrown, Sargon would turn back upon Judah by Lachish and Mareshah? If we keep this in mind we shall appreciate, not only the fond anxiety, but the political foresight that inspires the following passage, which is to our Western taste so strangely cast in a series of plays upon place-names. The disappearance of many of these names, and our ignorance of the transactions to which the verses allude, often render both the text and the meaning very uncertain. Micah begins with the well-known play upon the name of Garb; the Acco which he couples with it is either the Phoenician port to the north of Carmel, the modern Acre, or some Philistine town, unknown to us, but in any case the line forms with the previous one an intelligible couplet: “Tell it not in Tell-town; Weep not in Weep-town.” The following Beth-le-Aphrah, “House of Dust,” must be taken with them, for in the phrase “roll thyself” there is a play upon the name Philistine. So, too, Shaphir, or Beauty, the modern Suafir, lay on the Philistine Region. Saanan and Bethesel and Maroth are unknown; but if Micah, as is probable, begins his list far away on the western horizon and comes gradually inland, they also are to be sought for on the maritime plain. Then he draws nearer by Lachish, on the first hills, and in the leading pass towards Judah, to Moresheth-Gath, Achzib, Mareshah, and Adullam, which all lie within Israels territory and about the prophets own home. We understand the allusion, at least, to Lachish in Mic 1:13. As the last Judean outpost towards Egypt, and on a main road thither, Lachish would receive the Egyptian subsidies of horses and chariots, in which the politicians put their trust instead of in Jehovah. Therefore she “was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion.” And if we can trust the text of Mic 1:14, Lachish would pass on the Egyptian ambassadors to Moresheth-Gath, the next stage of their approach to Jerusalem. But this is uncertain. With Moresheth-Gath is coupled Ach-zib, a town at some distance from Jeromes site for the former, to the neighborhood of which, Mareshah, we are brought back again in Mic 1:15. Adullam, with which the list closes, lies some eight or ten miles to the northeast of Mareshah.

The prophet speaks:-

“Tell it not in Gath, Weep not in Aeco. In Beth-le-Aphrah roll thyself in dust. Pass over, inhabitress of Shaphir, thy shame uncovered! The inhabitress of Saanan shall not march forth The lamentation of Beth-esel taketh from you its standing. The inhabitress of Maroth trembleth for good, For evil hath come down from Jehovah to the gate of Jerusalem. Harness the horse to the chariot, inhabitress of Lachish, That hast been the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion”;

“Yea, in thee are found the transgressions of Israel Therefore thou givest to Moresheth-Gath The houses of Aehzib shall deceive the kings of Israel. Again shall I bring the Possessor [conqueror] to thee inhabitress of Mareshah; To Adullam shall come the glory of Israel. Make thee bald, and shave thee for thy darlings; Make broad thy baldness like the vulture, For they go into banishment from thee.”

This was the terrible fate which the Assyrian kept before the peoples with whom he was at war. Other foes raided, burned, and slew: he carried off whole populations into exile.

Having thus pictured the doom which threatened his people, Micah turns to declare the sins for which it has been sent upon them.

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary