Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Micah 7:1
Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grape gleanings of the vintage: [there is] no cluster to eat: my soul desired the firstripe fruit.
1. Woe is me ] The speaker in Mic 7:1-4, or at any rate in Mic 7:1, is not the prophet, but the true Israel, i.e. Israel within Israel, personified. He is like a garden at the time of the fruit-harvest, which has many delightful fruits, but of course no early figs; or, like a vineyard, after the grape-gathering. This the prophet expresses by saying that Israel is become ‘like the gatherings of the fruit-harvest, like the gleanings of the vintage,’ which in point of fact amount to nothing at all.
my soul desired ] Rather, ‘no early fig which my soul desireth.’
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Mic 7:1-6. These verses should be read in connexion with Chap. 6.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Woe – o is me! for I am, as when they have gathered the summer fruits , as the grape-gleanings of the vintage The vineyard of the Lord of hosts, Isaiah said at the same time, is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah His pleasant plants Isa 5:7. Isaiah said, brought forth wild grapes; Micah, that there are but gleanings, few and poor.
It is as though Satan pressed the vineyard of the Lord, and made the most his prey, and few were left to those who glean for Christ; the foxes have eaten the grapes Son 2:15. Some few remain too high out of their reach, or hidden behind the leaves, or, it may be , falling in the time of gathering, fouled, sullied, marred and stained, yet left. So in the gleaning there may be three sorts of souls; two or three in the top of the uppermost bough Isa 17:6, which were not touched; or those unripe, which are but imperfect and poor; or those who had fallen, yet were not wholly carried away. These too are all sought with difficulty; they had escaped the gatherers eye, they are few and rare; it might seem at first sight, us though there were none. There is no cluster to eat; for the vintage is past, the best is but as a sour grape which sets the teeth on edge.
My soul desired the first-ripe fig. These are they which, having survived the sharpness of winter, ripen early, about the end of June; they are the sweetest ; but he longed for them in vain. He addressed a carnal people, who could understand only carnal things, on the side which they could understand. Our longings, though we pervert them, are Gods gift. As they desired those things which refresh or recruit the thirsty body, as their whole self was gathered into the craving for that which was to restore them, so was it with him. Such is the longing of God for mans conversion and salvation; such is the thirst of His ministers; such their pains in seeking, their sorrow in not finding. Dionysius: There were none, through whose goodness the soul of the prophet might spiritually be refreshed, in joy at his growth in grace, as Paul saith to Philemon, refresh my bowels in the Lord Phm 1:20. So our Lord saith in Isaiah, I said, I have labored in vain, I hate spent my strength for nought and in vain Isa 49:4. Jesus was grieved at the hardness of their hearts Mar 3:5.
Rib.: The first-ripe fig may be the image of the righteous of old, as the Patriarchs or the Fathers, such as in the later days we fain would see.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Mic 7:1
There is no cluster to eat
The unrevived church
The picture before the eye of the prophet is that of famine in the midst of plenty, want in time of harvest, sterility amid summer fruits, soul fasting and wretchedness in a season of external prosperity and fulness. The time of ingathering is at hand. And yet Israel knew not the day of Divine visitation; she had no appreciation of the golden fruit, no heart or no capacity to pluck and eat the ripe clusters. This is a truthful representation of the experience of very many Christians and churches. There is no heartfelt appreciation of Gods outward mercies, or of His gracious, spiritual manifestations. He comes to them in the summer fruits, and in the autumn vintage; but so dull are their spiritual perceptions, so vitiated are their tastes, so surfeited are they with the apples of Sodom and the wild grapes of sinful indulgence, that they know it not, and feel no hungering after righteousness; there is no cluster in all Gods vintage which they can eat. So have we seen souls in times of glorious revival, when sinners were pressing into the kingdom, and many souls were refreshed and full of rejoicing, unrevived, unblest, crying, Woe is me! There is no cluster to eat. So have we seen whole churches and communities left to darkness and desolation and death, while the mighty God had bared His arm for salvation, and was deluging the land with a wave of regenerating and sanctifying power. (Homiletic Monthly.)
My soul desired the first ripe fruit–
The joy of the harvest inaugural
The nation of Israel had fallen into so sad and backsliding a condition that it was not like a vine covered with fruit, but like a vineyard after the whole vintage has been gathered, so that there was not to be found a single cluster. The prophet, speaking in the name of Israel, desired the first fruit., but there was none to be had. The lesson of the text, as it stands, would be that good men are the best fruit of a nation; they make it worth while that the nation should exist; they are the salt which preserves it; they are the fruit which adorns it, and blesses it. But I take the text out of its connection, and use it as the heading of a discourse upon ripeness in grace. We can all say, My soul desired the first ripe fruit. We would go on to maturity, and bring forth fruit unto perfection, to the honour and praise of Jesus Christ.
I. The marks of ripeness in grace.
1. Beauty. There is no more lovely object in all nature than the apple blossom. Much loveliness adorns youthful piety. Can anything be more delightful than our first graces? Autumn has a more sober aspect, but still it rivals the glory of spring. Ripe fruit has its own peculiar beauty. What a delicacy of bloom there is upon the grape, the peach, the plum, when they have attained perfection! Nature far excels art. The perfumed bloom yields in value to the golden apple, even as promise is surpassed by fulfilment. The blossom is painted by the pencil of hope, but the fruit is dyed in the hue of enjoyment. There is in ripe Christians the beauty of realised sanctification which the Word of God knows by the name of the beauty of holiness. This consecration to God, this setting apart for His service, this avoidance of evil, this careful walking in integrity, this dwelling near God, this being made like unto Christ,–in a word, this beauty of holiness, is one of the surest emblems of maturity in grace.
2. Tenderness. The young green fruit is hard and stone-like; but the ripe fruit is soft, yields to pressure, can almost be moulded, retains the mark of the finger. The mature Christian is noted for tenderness of spirit. I think I would give up many of the graces if I might possess very much tenderness of spirit. An extreme delicacy concerning sin should be cultivated by us all.
3. Sweetness. The unripe fruit is sour, and perhaps it ought to be, or else we should eat all the fruits while they were yet green. As we grow in grace we are sure to grow in charity, sympathy, and love. We shall have greater sweetness towards our fellow Christians.
4. A loose hold of the earth. Ripe fruit soon parts from the bough. You shake the tree and the ripest apples fall. You should measure your state of heart by your adhesiveness, or your resignation, in reference to the things of this world. The master will not let his ripe fruit hang long on the tree.
II. The causes of this ripeness. So gracious a result must have a gracious cause.
1. The inward working of the sap. The fruit could never be ripe in its raw state were it taken away from the bough. Outward agencies alone may produce rottenness, but not ripeness; sun, shower, what not, all would fail,–it is the vital sap within the tree that perfects the fruit. It is especially so in grace. Everything between hell and heaven which denotes salvation is the work of the Spirit of God, and the work of the grace of Jesus. That blessed Spirit, flowing to us from Christ, as He is the former of the first blossom, so He is the producer of the fruit, and He is the ripener of it until it is gathered into the heavenly garner.
2. The teaching of experience. Some fruit, like the sycamore fig, never will ripen except it be bruised. Many of us seem as if we never would be sweet till first we have been dipped in bitterness; never would be perfected till we have been smitten. We may trace many of our sharp trials, our bereavements, and our bodily pains, to the fact that we are such sour fruit; nothing will ripen us but heavy blows. Ripeness in grace is not the necessary result of age. Little children have been ripe for glory. Many an aged Christian is not an experienced Christian. Time may be wasted as well as improved; we may be petrified rather than perfected by the flow of years.
III. The desirability of ripeness in grace. Many Christians appear to think that if they are just believers it is enough. To be just alive as a Christian is horrid work. The fruit which under proper circumstances does not ripen is not a good fruit,; it must be an unwholesome production. Your soul can surely not be as it should be if it does not ripen under the influence of Gods love and the work of His grace. It is the ripe fruit that proves the excellence of the tree. The Church wants mature Christians very greatly, and especially when there are many fresh converts added to it. The Church wants, in these days of flimsiness and time-serving, more decided, thorough going, well-instructed and confirmed believers. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER VII
The prophet begins this chapter with lamenting the decay of
piety and the growth of ungodliness, using a beautiful allegory
to imply (as explained in Mic 7:2)
that the good man is as seldom to be met with as the early fig
of best quality in the advanced season, or the cluster after
the vintage, 1, 2.
He then reproves and threatens in terms so expressive of great
calamities as to be applied in the New Testament to times of
the hottest persecution, 3-6. See Mt 10:35-36.
Notwithstanding which a Jew is immediately introduced
declaring, in the name of his captive people, the strongest
faith in the mercy of God the most submissive resignation to
his will, and the firmest hope in his favour in future times,
when they should triumph over their enemies, 7-10.
The prophet upon this resumes the discourse, and predicts their
great prosperity and increase, 11, 12;
although the whole land of Israel must first be desolated on
account of the great wickedness of its inhabitants, 13.
The prophet intercedes in behalf of his people, 14.
After which God is introduced promising, in very ample terms,
their future restoration and prosperity, 15-17.
And then, to conclude, a chorus of Jews is introduced, singing
a beautiful hymn of thanksgiving, suggested by the gracious
promises which precede, 18-20.
NOTES ON CHAP. VII
Verse 1. Wo is me!] This is a continuation of the preceding discourse. And here the prophet points out the small number of the upright to be found in the land. He himself seemed to be the only person who was on God’s side; and he considers himself as a solitary grape, which had escaped the general gathering. The word kayits, which is sometimes used for summer, and summer fruits in general, is here translated late figs; and may here, says Bishop Newcome, be opposed to the early ripe fig of superior quality. See on Ho 9:10, and Am 8:1-2. He desired to see the first-ripe fruit – distinguished and eminent piety; but he found nothing but a very imperfect or spurious kind of godliness.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
All are agreed in the scope and meaning of these words, that they are designed a complaint for the great scarcity of men that feared God, did justice, and loved mercy; and so the prophet begins with a pathetical complaint,
Woe is me! ordinarily this phrase is minatory, but here it is lamentation, as every eye may see who discerns the propriety of the Hebrew.
For I; either the prophet in his own person, or else in the person of the good man; or, by a usual figure, the land may be brought in, complaining, that whereas it was once well stored, now it hath few right good in it.
Am as when they have gathered the summer fruits; all the fair, goodly, and ripe fruit gathered, none left, or none but evil fruit, such as the labourers thought not worth gathering up. So is the harvest of Israel and Judah too; though I and other prophets have sown good seed abundantly, yet goodness comes up very thin and scarce: so Isa 24:13,16.
As the grape-gleanings of the vintage, the same complaint in a like elegant metaphor, drawn from the vintage-gatherer, who leaves but few scattering single grapes. So Israel and Judah, which in bringing forth good men should have been as a fruitful vine full of clusters, but barren they have been, and are; and good men, i.e. just, compassionate, and humble men, are as grapes after the vintage is gathered.
There is no cluster to eat; such good mens converse would as much delight, refresh, and encourage me, as a fair cluster of grapes doth a thirsty and hungry person, but there is not one such cluster.
My soul desired; it speaks a vehement desire.
The first-ripe fruit; it is an ellipsis or aposiopesis, and to be supplied thus, but there was, or I found, none.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. I am as when, c.It is thesame with me as with one seeking fruits after the harvest, grapesafter the vintage. “There is not a cluster” to be found: no”first-ripe fruit” (or “early fig” see on Isa28:4) which “my soul desireth” [MAURER].So I look in vain for any good men left (Mic7:2).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Woe is me!…. Alas for me unhappy man that I am, to live in such an age, and among such a people, as I do! this the prophet says in his own name, or in the name of the church and people of God in his time; so Isaiah, who was contemporary with him, Isa 6:5; see also
Ps 120:5;
for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grape gleanings of the vintage; when there are only an apple or a pear or two, or such sort of fruit, and such a quantity of it left on the top of the tree, or on the outermost branches of it, after the rest are gathered in; or a few single grapes here and there, after the vintage is over; signifying either that he was like Elijah left alone, or however that the number of good men were very few; or that there were very few gathered in by his ministry, converted, taught, and instructed by it; or those that had the name of good men were but very indifferent, and not like those who were in times past; but were as refuse fruit left on trees, and dropped from thence when rotten, and when gathered up were good for little, and like single grapes, small and withered, and of no value; see Isa 17:6;
[there is] no cluster to eat; no large number or society of good men to converse with, only here and there a single person; and none that have an abundance of grace and goodness in them, and a large experience of spiritual and divine things; few that attend the ministry of the word; they do not come in clusters, in crowds; and fewer still that receive any advantage by it;
my soul desired the first ripe fruit; the company and conversation of such good men as lived in former times; who had the firstfruits of the Spirit, and arrived to a maturity of grace, and a lively exercise of it; and who were, in the age of the prophet, as scarce and rare as first ripe fruits, and as desirable as such were to a thirsty traveller; see Ho 9:10. The Targum is,
“the prophet said, woe unto me, because I am as when good men fail, in a time in which merciful men perish from the earth; behold, as the summer fruits, as the gleanings after the vintage, there is no man in whom there are good works; my soul desires good men.”
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
That the prophet is speaking in Mic 7:1 ff. not in his own name, but in the name of the church, which confesses and bemoans its rebellion against the Lord, is indisputably evident from Mic 7:7 ff., where, as all the expositors admit, the church speaks of itself in the first person, and that not “the existing corrupt Israelitish church,” as Caspari supposes, but the penitential, believing church of the future, which discerns in the judgment the chastising hand of its God, and expresses the hope that the Lord will conduct its conflict with its foe, etc. The contents of Mic 7:1-6, also, do not point to the prophet in distinction from the congregation, but may be understood throughout as the confession of sin on the part of the latter. Mic 7:1. “Woe to me! for I have become like a gathering of fruit, like a gleaning of the vintage: Not a grape to eat! an early fig, which my soul desired.” , which only occurs again in Job 10:15, differs from , and is “vox dolentis, gementis, et ululantis magis quam minantis” (March); and is not “that,” but “for,” giving the reason for . The meaning of is not, “it has happened to me as it generally happens to those who still seek for early figs at the fruit gathering, or for bunches of grapes at the gleaning of the vintage” (Caspari and others); for does not mean as at the fruit-gathering, but like the fruit-gathering. The nation or the church resembles the fruit-gathering and gleaning of the vineyard, namely, in this fact, that the fruit-gathering yields not more early figs, and the gleaning of the vintage yields no more grapes to eat; that is to say, its condition resembles that of an orchard in the time of the fruit-gathering, when you may find fruit enough indeed, but not a single early fig, since the early figs ripen as early as June, whereas the fruit-gathering does not take place till August (see at Isa 28:4). The second simile is a still simpler one, and is very easily explained. is not a participle, but a noun – the gathering (Isa 32:10); and the plural is probably used simply because of , the gleaning, and not with any allusion to the fact that the gleaning lasts several days, as Hitzig supposes, but because what is stated applies to all gatherings of fruit. , fruit; see at Amo 8:1. is to be taken in a relative sense, and the force of still extends to (compare Gen 30:33). The figure is explained in Mic 7:2 ff.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Sins of the People. | B. C. 700. |
1 Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grape-gleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the first-ripe fruit. 2 The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net. 3 That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up. 4 The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity. 5 Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom. 6 For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.
This is such a description of bad times as, some think, could scarcely agree to the times of Hezekiah, when this prophet prophesied; and therefore they rather take it as a prediction of what should be in the reign of Manasseh. But we may rather suppose it to be in the reign of Ahaz (and in that reign he prophesied, ch. i. 1) or in the beginning of Hezekiah’s time, before the reformation he was instrumental in; nay, in the best of his days, and when he had done his best to purge out corruptions, still there was much amiss. The prophet cries out, Woe is me! He bemoans himself that his lot was cast in such a degenerate age, and thinks it his great unhappiness that he lived among a people that were ripening apace for a ruin which many a good man would unavoidably be involved in. Thus David cries out, Woe is me that I sojourn in Mesech! He laments, 1. That there were so few good people to be found, even among those that were God’s people; and this was their reproach: The good man has perished out of the earth, or out of the land, the land of Canaan; it was a good land, and a land of uprightness (Isa. xxvi. 10), but there were few good men in it, none upright among them, v. 2. The good man is a godly man and a merciful man; the word signifies both. Those are completely good men that are devout towards God and compassionate and beneficent towards men, that love mercy and walk with God. “These have perished; those few honest men that some time ago enriched and adorned our country are now dead and gone, and there are none risen up in their stead that tread in their steps; honesty is banished, and there is no such thing as a good man to be met with. Those that were of religious education have degenerated, and become as bad as the worst; the godly man ceases,” Ps. xii. 1. This is illustrated by a comparison (v. 1): they were as when they have gathered the summer fruits; it was as hard a thing to find a good man as to find any of the summer-fruits (which were the choicest and best, and therefore must carefully be gathered in) when the harvest is over. The prophet is ready to say, as Elijah in his time (1 Kings xix. 10), I, even I only, am left. Good men, who used to hang in clusters, are now as the grape-gleanings of the vintage, here and there a berry, Isa. xvii. 6. You can find no societies of them as bunches of grapes, but those that are are single persons: There is no cluster to eat; and the best and fullest grapes are those that grow in large clusters. Some think that this intimates not only that good people were few, but that those few who remained, who went for good people, were good for little, like the small withered grapes, the refuse that were left behind, not only by the gatherer, but by the gleaner. When the prophet observed this universal degeneracy it made him desire the first-ripe fruit; he wished to see such worthy good men as were in the former ages, were the ornaments of the primitive times, and as far excelled the best of all the present age as the first and full-ripe fruits do those of the latter growth, that never come to maturity. When we read and hear of the wisdom and zeal, the strictness and conscientiousness, the devotion and charity, of the professors of religion in former ages, and see the reverse of this in those of the present age, we cannot but sit down, and wish, with a sigh, O for primitive Christianity again! Where are the plainness and integrity of those that went before us? Where are the Israelites indeed, without guile? Our souls desire them, but in vain. The golden age is gone, and past recall; we must make the best of what is, for we are not likely to see such times as have been. 2. That there were so many wicked mischievous people among them, not only none that did any good, but multitudes that did all the hurt they could: “They all lie in wait for blood, and hunt every man his brother. To get wealth to themselves, they care not what wrong, what hurt, they do to their neighbours and nearest relations. They act as if mankind were in a state of war, and force were the only right. They are as beasts of prey to their neighbours, for they all lie in wait for blood as lions for their prey; they thirst after it, make nothing of taking away any man’s life or livelihood to serve a turn for themselves, and lie in wait for an opportunity to do it. Their neighbours are as beasts of prey to them, for they hunt every man his brother with a net; they persecute them as noxious creatures, fit to be taken and destroyed, though they are innocent excellent ones.” We say of him that is outlawed, Caput gerit lupinum–He is to be hunted as a wolf. “Or they hunt them as men do the game, to feast upon it; they have a thousand cursed arts of ensnaring men to their ruin, so that they may but get by it. Thus they do mischief with both hands earnestly; their hearts desire it, their heads contrive it, and then both hands are ready to put it in execution.” Note, The more eager and intent men are upon any sinful pursuit, and the more pains they take in it, the more provoking it is. 3. That the magistrates, who by their office ought to have been the patrons and protectors of right, were the practicers and promoters of wrong: That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, to excite and animate themselves in it, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh, for a reward, for a bribe, with which they well be hired to exert all their power for the supporting and carrying on of any wicked design with both hands. They do evil with both hands well (so some read it); they do evil with a great deal of art and dexterity; they praise themselves for doing it so well. Others read it thus: To do evil they have both hands (they catch at an opportunity of doing mischief), but to do good the prince and the judge ask for a reward; if they do any good offices they are mercenary in them, and must be paid for them. The great man, who has wealth and power to do good, is not ashamed to utter his mischievous desire in conjunction with the prince and the judge, who are ready to support him and stand by him in it. So they wrap it up; they perplex the matter, involve it, and make it intricate (so some understand it), that they may lose equity in a mist, and so make the cause turn which way they please. It is ill with a people when their princes, and judges, and great men are in a confederacy to pervert justice. And it is a sad character that is given of them (v. 4), that the best of them is as a brier, and the most upright is sharper than a thorn-hedge; it is a dangerous thing to have any thing to do with them; he that touches them must be fenced with iron (2Sa 23:6; 2Sa 23:7), he shall be sure to be scratched, to have his clothes torn, and his eyes almost pulled out. And, if this be the character of the best and most upright, what are the worst? And, when things have come to this pass, the day of thy watchmen comes, that is, as it follows, the day of thy visitation, when God will reckon with thee for all this wickedness, which is called the day of the watchmen, because their prophets, whom God set as watchmen over them, had often warned them of that day. When all flesh have corrupted their way, even the best and the most upright, what can be expected but a day of visitation, a deluge of judgments, as that which drowned the old world when the earth was filled with violence? 4. That there was no faith in man; people had grown so universally treacherous that one knew not whom to repose any confidence in, v. 5. “Those that have any sense of honour, or spark of virtue, remaining in them, have a firm regard to the laws of friendship; they would not discover what passed in private conversation, nor divulge secrets, to the prejudice of a friend. But those things are now made a jest of; you will not meet with a friend that you dare trust, whose word you dare take, or who will have any tenderness or concern for you; so that wise men shall give it and take it for a rule, trust you not in a friend, for you will find him false, you can trust him no further than you can see him; and even him that passes for an honest man you will find to be so only with good looking to. Nay, as for him that undertakes to be your guide, to lead you into any business which he professes to understand better than you, you cannot put a confidence in him, for he will be sure to mislead you if he can get any thing by it.” Some by a guide understand a husband, who is called the guide of thy youth; and that agrees well enough with what follows, “Keep the doors of thy lips from her that lieth in thy bosom, from thy own wife; take heed what thou sayest before her, lest she betray thee, as Delilah did Samson, lest she be the bird of the air that carries the voice of that which thou sayest in thy bed-chamber,” Eccl. x. 20. It is an evil time indeed when the prudent are obliged even thus far to keep silence. 5. That children were abusive to their parents, and men had no comfort, no satisfaction, in their own families and their nearest relations, v. 6. The times are bad indeed when the son dishonours his father, gives him bad language, exposes him, threatens him, and studies to do him a mischief, when the daughter rises up in rebellion against her own mother, having no sense of duty, or natural affection; and no marvel that then the daughter-in-law quarrels with her mother-in-law, and is vexatious to her. Either they cannot agree about their property and interest, or their humours and passions clash, or from a spirit of bigotry and persecution, the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child,Mat 10:4; Luk 21:16. It is sad when a man’s betrayers and worst enemies are the men of his own house, his own children and servants, that should be his guard and his best friends. Note, The contempt and violation of the laws of domestic duties are a sad symptom of a universal corruption of manners. Those are never likely to come to good that are undutiful to their parents, and study to be provoking to them and cross them.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
MICAH – CHAPTER 7
Verse 1-6:
Jehovah’s Continued Controversy With His People, Israel
Verse 1 describes Israel’s mourning over her desolation as she confesses her condition to be like a vintage of the vineyard, after the gleanings are all gone. While she hungered and longed for a taste of the first-ripe (sweetest) flavor of the cluster, none was available; Such a search was in vain, for it pictured the fact that good men could no longer be found among even her leaders in
Israel any more, Isa 28:4; See also Psa 28:4; Jer 2:3; Hos 9:10.
Verse 2 asserts that the “good man”, (ideal man), one who followed, none remained upright in deportment in all the land; It was further charged that all couched, as a wild leopard, awaiting his blood-prey. Man sought, connived, to entrap his own brother, as a hunter or fisherman nets his prey; So covetous and greedy for wealth or gain were they, to their own destruction; Though the law directed a man to love his brother. Hab 1:15; Lev 15:18.
Verse 3 charges that the rulers tried to get gain by greed and graft with both hands, zealously, by premeditated design. Both the ruling nobles and the judges yearned for rewards, “shake down” money, from all whose civil or criminal case came into their hands; They extended both hands for bribes, not to mete out mercy or just judgment. The “great man,” “prince,” and “judge” made a three fold wicked cord, to buy off justice at the bar, to “wrap up the case,” Ecc 4:12.
Verse 4 charges the princes or nobles and judges are like briars and thorns in the hedges, only to cause pain and sharp injury. God is to visit them, as His judgment breaks forth like a volcano or a prairie fire on their watchmen, at which time they shall be perplexed victims, with nowhere to escape, for there is “no hiding place down here,” Isaiah 22; Isaiah 5; 2Sa 23:6-7; Isa 55:13; Eze 2:6.
Verse 5 warns against putting absolute trust in a friend (Psa 2:2) who may become a traitor, as Judas did; And further cautions against placing absolute confidence in a guide, for Judas too was guide to them that took Jesus; And a solemn note of warning is given to avoid unwise talk, or confidential talk to her that is in your bosom, even your wife, as Samson did, Deu 13:6; Jdg 16:13-30. Even so treachery was on every hand in Israel, in that day, Jer 9:2-6. When justice is perverted by the greatest, faith in no man is safe, Mat 10:35-36; Luk 12:53; Psa 118:8-9; Psa 146:3.
Verse 6 describes treachery among the entire members of an household in Israel, all because of their rebellion against their God, that led them into a pattern of heathen conduct, in matters of morals, ethics, and idolatrous religious worship, the three major causes of their chastening from the Lord, as also described Luk 21:16; 2Ti 3:1-13. They had become “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.” See also Deu 22:15; Jeremiah 14; Jeremiah 21; Psa 27:12; Treachery of the unfaithful breaches every family unit, to bring broken family ties, Mat 24:10-12.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
The meaning of the first verse is somewhat doubtful: some refer what the Prophet says to punishment; and others to the wickedness of the people. The first think that the calamity, with which the Lord had visited the sins of the people, is bewailed; as though the Prophet looked on the disordered state of the whole land. But it may be easily gathered from the second verse, that the Prophet speaks here of the wickedness of the people, rather than of the punishment already inflicted. I have therefore put the two verses together, that the full meaning may be more evident to us.
Woe then to me! Why? I am become as gatherings Too free, or rather too licentious is this version, — “I am become as one who seeks to gather summer-fruits, and finds none;” so that being disappointed of his hope, he burns with desire. This cannot possibly be considered as the rendering of the Prophet’s words. There is indeed some difficulty in the expressions: their import, however, seems to be this, — that the land, which the Prophet undertakes here to represent and personify, was like to a field, or a garden, or a vineyard, that was empty. He therefore says, that the land was stripped of all its fruit, as it is after harvest and the vintage. So by gatherings we must understand the collected fruit. Some understand the gleanings which remain, as when one leaves carelessly a few clusters on the vines: and thus, they say, a few just men remained alive on the land. But the former comparison harmonizes better with the rest of the passage, and that is, that the land was now stripped of all its fruit, as it is after the harvest and the vintage. I am become then as the gatherings of summer, that is, as in the summer, when the fruit has been already gathered; and as the clusters of the vintage, that is when the vintage is over. (181)
There is no cluster, he says to eat. The Prophet refers here to the scarcity of good men; yea, he says that there were no longer any righteous men living. For though God had ever preserved some hidden seed, yet it might have been justly declared with regard to the whole people, that they were like a field after gathering the corn, or a vineyard after the vintage. Some residue, indeed, remains in the field after harvest, but there are no ears of corn; and in the vineyard some bunches remain, but they are empty; nothing remains but leaves. Now this personification is very forcible when the Prophet comes forth as though he represented the land itself; for he speaks in his own name and person, Woe is to me, he says, for I am like summer-gatherings! It was then the same thing, as though he deplored his own nakedness and want, inasmuch as there were not remaining any upright and righteous men.
(181) Newcome renders the verse somewhat different, and makes the comparison more clear, —
“
Woe is me! For I am become As the gatherers of late figs, As the gleaners of the vintage: There is no cluster to eat; My soul desireth the first ripe fig.”
Substantially the same is the version of Dathius and of Henderson. “Late figs” is not strictly the meaning of קיף, which is properly summer or summer-fruit; yet, as the early or first ripe fig is mentioned in the last line, which forms a contrast with this, what is meant, no doubt, is the late figs. Then the word for “gleaners,” עללת, is properly, gleanings; but here it is evidently to be taken as a concrete, gleaners, to correspond with gatherers, though Newcome considers the women-gleaners to be intended. The four last lines form a parallelism, in which the first and the early fig, — the vintage and the cluster. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
MICAH: THE FAITHFUL AND FAR-SEEING MINISTER OF GOD.
Mic 1:1 to Mic 7:20
THERE is every reason to believe that this Book wears its authors name. Micah was a native of Morasthi, near Gath, and probably belonged to the time of Hosea, Amos, and Isaiah. His message is all the more marvelous when one remembers that he was a villager. Born doubtless in a humble house, brought up in a despised burg, bred in no college, he would have been unequal to the modern denominational Editors demands for the ministry. But he does illustrate a Divine custom expressed in Sacred Scripture viz. that, Not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.
God has never seen fit to limit Himself to the great financial or intellectual minds of the world. He is dependent upon no mans money; and just as independent of conceited minds. He can take Peter, the unlettered fisherman, and by instructing him in the Scripture and sending upon him His Holy Spirit, make of him a minister in whose presence the Pope himself would seem a pigmy by comparison.
It is related that when the Emperor Domitian was persecuting believers he heard of two men reputed to be akin to Jesus, and he sent for them, intending to put them to death. But when they came, and he saw their horny hands and realized that they were evidently day-laborers, he dismissed them saying, From such slaves we have nothing to fear.
And yet, those men belonged to the very class who rocked Domitians empire to its foundation, and spread the knowledge of the Gospel to the ends of the known earth; and, their humble station notwithstanding, have had few worthy successors in the ministry of the Truth. Let us not object to Micah because he is from a village and does not carry a graduates diploma. If he is Divinely appointed, and Divinely endued, his work will be well done.
The exact date of this Book, as that of other Minor Prophets, is in dispute, and it would in no wise help you to review the opinions of Hitzig, Wellhausen, Stade, Vatke, Kuenen, Driver, Von Ryssel, and the rest.
We are more interested in his message, or messages; and to those I invite your attention.
HE UNCOVERS THE CHURCH OF HIS TIMES
When I speak of the Church of his times I do not mean to say that there was any organized body of baptized believers in Micahs day; but I do mean to say that there was an ecclesia, not in the New Testament use of the term, but in the natural interpretation of that word, namely, a called out body.
In the opening part of this prophecy he deals with that body:
Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord God be witness against you, the Lord from His holy Temple.
For, 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, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place (Mic 1:2-4).
He indicts the churchman; not the worldling.
For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the House of Israel.
It is a good place for the minister to begin. Gods people must be set right before the minister can make any headway with the world. There is many a true prophet of God who is preaching his heart out in a church where the professed followers of the Lord Jesus Christ are, by their wickedness, bringing his every word to naught. It is not an exceptional experience for preachers to be requested to resign because the church is receiving no accessions, when the very men who make the request have rendered it impossible for any kind of preaching to bring converts into the church of which they are members. Rev. E. A. Whittier, in an old issue of The Watchman once remarked When Rev. Frank Remington came to the First Baptist Church in Lawrence many years ago the spiritual tide ebbed low. For six months he preached searching sermons to Gods people. It was like the voice of one of the old Prophets. The dry bones lived again. In about six months he turned to the unsaved, and the flood gates of Heaven were opened. In about three years he baptized nearly 500 converts in Lawrence and Andover, and organized the Second Baptist Church. Remington began at the right place. And Micah was Gods faithful minister, dealing first of all with Gods professed followers. Given a clean, consecrated membership, and accessions to the church of new converts is comparatively easy.
He arraigned the prospered; not the poor. After having spoken against the graven images, the idols, and the awful social sins, he tells Judah and Jerusalem what will be the result. He turns to the leaders of the land and says,
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.
And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.
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 go haughtily: for this time is evil.
In that day shall one take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and say, We be utterly spoiled: he hath changed the portion of my people: how hath he removed it from me! turning away he hath divided our fields (Mic 2:1-4).
It is a fact to which the prospered of earth do not take kindly, but none the less true on that account, and Micahs arraignment of the prospered was in perfect accord with the words of His Saviour. No man can read the New Testament without noting that Jesus Christ never uttered a sentence against the poor, and never let the prospered escape His strictures. This, not because poverty is always righteous, and riches always wicked, but on the great law which He Himself laid down, To whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required. Joseph Parker says, 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. * * Christ 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. * * But Jesus Christ never let the respectability of His age alone; He never gave it one moments rest. I often wonder if our socialists have considered this subject? I wonder if the men who walk the streets berating the rich because they have more than their share of material wealth, and demanding, if not an equal, an equitable division of all property, have forgotten that prosperity does not necessarily make for righteousness, that all men of competence are not men of prayer; that all persons of good bank account are not necessarily persons of good character? That the rich are accomplishing more evil than they ever could with their riches taken away; that they are tempted ten thousand times more often than they ever would have been had their riches never come? And that these awful sins, against which Micah here hurled his anathemas, sins of covetousness, violent appropriation and corporate oppression, can never be committed by the poor; and the penalty of them can never be escaped by the rich who practise them?
I wonder also if these same socialists have not noticed that a freighted table, broadcloth, silks, jewels, and all the rest, consume so much of thought that the soul seldom receives any attention. I have just been preaching in another Western state. I found a man there who has made a considerable fortune already, and who is still accumulating, A number of times he came to the services. On some occasions he was so deeply convicted that he shot out of the house the moment the service concluded, apparently not being able to endure the invitation. Once back at his home there was only one theme on which he would converse with youthat was the subject of the crops. The rain rejoiced his heart; it did not matter to him whether our audiences had reduced. He said, That will make great crops. Concerning the scorching heat of the day, of which others complained, he said, This will make good crops. And if the present outlook for crops realizes it means riches for this vicinity. And for sixty straight years he has been absorbed in one subject; and for sixty straight years his soul has been in neglect. The history of Dives he is writing over again. The accumulation of riches is his one concern; and while about it he is forgetting the Lazarus at his gate, and in that very act neglecting the Lord of Life. His mistake was less grievous than that of the people of whom Micah speaks, for they made their money by oppression. But they have their successors also. As a writer has said, Many men among us are able to live in fashionable streets, and keep their families comfortable only by paying their employees a wage upon which it is impossible for men to be strong or women to be virtuous. Truly, as Micah put it, such feed upon their fellows.
He reprimands alike prince, prophet and people.
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;
Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.
Then shall they cry unto the Lord, but He will not hear them: He will even hide His face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.
Thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.
Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.
Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God (Mic 3:1-7).
It is a serious thing when the princes of the land abhor judgment, and pervert equity; it is vastly more serious when the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money.
It is a question whether Micah is not needed in modern times. There are not a few preachers who charge the princes with their sins, and call the attention of the people to their iniquities. But who will uncover the prophets and expose their serving methods, and show how their concern is, to be as popular as politicians, and to make their ministry a source of much money for selfish employment. Is not the multitude of timeservers now to be found in the ministry one secret of failure in soul-winning and church building? Was not that unhappy man George Herron warranted in the words in his volume The New Redemption, when he said, The philanthropy of selfishness and covetousness is the social antichrist. The adulation which the religious press lavishes upon the benevolence of mammon, the adoration which it receives from the pulpit, converts the church into an apostle of atheism to the people. The priests who accompanied the pirate ships of the sixteenth century, to say mass and pray for the souls of the dead pirates, for a share of the spoil, were not a whit more superstitious or guilty of human blood, according to the light of their teaching, than Protestant leaders who flatter the ghastly philanthropy of men who have heaped their colossal fortunes upon the bodies of their brothers. Their fortunes are the proudest temples of the most defiant idolatry that has ever corrupted the worship of the Living God. Their philanthropy is the greatest peril that confronts and deceives and endangers the life of the Church, and thinks to bribe the judgments of God and deceive the Holy Ghost.
If there is any class of people who are in special need of the Evangel it is the prospered class. The Moody Institute did wisely when once it started two attractive young women up the North shore drive to call at palaces and remind the people of the need of repentance. If there is any profession upon whom a solemn responsibility rests more heavily than upon any other it is the profession of the prophet. It is within his power to lead the people into the paths of the just; and it is also within his power to make the people err, by seeking selfish ends, destroying the vision, bringing darkness upon himself, and deep night upon the deceived multitude. Oh, you who are accumulating fortunes; and you who are graduates of colleges, and you who have come with honors from theological seminaries, remember that to whomsoever much is givent of him shall be much required, and when the true prophet of God rises to uncover the church of his times, see to it that he uncovers not your shame.
HE DISCOVERS THE CHURCH OF OUR TIMES
It is a marvelous fact that Micah is as true as a seer as he was faithful as a preacher.
He beheld the beginning of the New Testament Church.
But 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.
And 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 (Mic 4:1-2).
That prophecy found the beginning of its fulfillment at Pentecost, and will find its consummation in the Kingdom. Joel had already said,
It shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions * * .
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance (Joe 2:28; Joe 2:32).
And Jesus remembering these prophecies reminds the people to whom He addresses Himself that It behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His Name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem (Luk 24:46-47).
Six and a half centuries before Jesus uttered these words, Micah, the Seer, had a vision of their beginning fulfillment in the coming and end of the New Testament Church. The ancient people hearing them, or reading them, were stirred with the prospect of this new movement which should make for righteousness, and be the real earnest of Gods conquest in the earth.
He pictured it also when its conquest should be perfected, and the Kingdom should come.
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.
But 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 (Mic 4:3-4).
As I have read the commentaries upon this passage and listened to the attempt of George Adam Smith and other students to make this reference merely a local one, and limit it to the time in which the Prophet lived, it has seemed to me not only a vain endeavor, but a foolish one! Centuries are in the sweep of the Prophets vision. The cause of God has many conquests to its credit, but, as yet, the major portion of this prophecy remains to be fulfilled, and will be in the coming of the Lord in the end of this age!
A few years since, not having studied the Scriptures wisely, or well, I joined in the common opinion that wars were probably at an end; and, that with an ever-increasing mutual admiration, the nations of the earth would arbitrate their difficulties and dwell together as loving princes of one house! But, alas for the thought! Recent years have shown how easy it is to strike a match at the powder houses of armies and navies; how easy it is to set rulers at one anothers throats; how hard it is for even the religious people of the earth to maintain peace when the unspeakable Turk long continued his slaughters of the Christian Armenian who happened to dwell within his borders; and Russian Soviet is red-handed by the outright murder of millions of Gods own.
When the most peace-loving of earth look on these things, or, standing afar off, read the red reports of them, he is tempted to join with the famed interpreter of these prophecies in saying, We are told by those who know best, and have most responsibility in the matter, that an ancient Church and people of Christ are being left a prey to the wrath of an infidel tyrant, not because Christendom is without strength to compel him to deliver, but because to use the strength, would be to imperil the peace of Christendom. It is an ignoble peace which cannot use the forces of redemption, and with the cry of Armenia in our ears the Unity of Europe is but a mockery. That cry has been lost in the wail from Russia. And one might add, With the cry of the murdered in our ears, the relations between Russia and the great English-speaking nations of Britain and America are kept undisturbed at the cost of character, and some think war were better.
That hour then to which this text refers must still be in the future, since as you come more and more into the last days you shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, such as the world has never known since time began, and yet, Beloved, Gods Word will not fail.
As sure as Jehovah lives and sits upon the throne so surely the last sentence of it shall see fulfillment, and one day the last reverberations and the thunderings of war shall be heard in the earth, and He who shall be chief among many people, will bring in such a reign of righteousness, as shall convert swords to plowshares and spears to pruninghooks, and many shall see it. But we will treat this text in a later chapter.
The Prophet assigns such power to the rise of the proper person.
Thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou he little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
Therefore will He give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth; then the remnant of His brethren shall return unto the Children of Israel.
And He shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the Name of the Lord His God; and they shall abide: for now shall He be great unto the ends of the earth (Mic 5:2-4).
George Adam Smith, says, Micah stands among the first, if he is not the very first, who thus focussed the hopes of Israel upon a great Redeemer. And beloved, more and more it is occurring to thoughtful men that power associates itself with personality. John Watson, in his Mind of the Master has called attention to this truth in his chapter entitled Devotion to a Person the Dynamic of Religion. And in that discussion he says one thing which ought never to be forgotten. Do you wish a cause to endure hardness, to rejoice in sacrifice, to accomplish mighty works, to retain forever the dew of its youth? Give it the best chance, the sanction of Love. Do not state it in books; do not defend it with argument. These are aids of the second order; if they succeed, it is a barren victorythe reason has now been exasperated. Identify your cause with a person. Even a bad cause will succeed for a space, associated with an attractive man. The later Stewards were hard kings both to England and Scotland, and yet women sent their husbands and sons to die for Bonnie Prince Charlie and the ashes of that Romantic devotion are not yet cold. When a good cause finds a befitting leader, it will be victorious before set of sun.
Ah, He is the secret of success for the New Testament Church. In spite of all its shortcomings, and, confessing as we must, all of its many and egregious failures, the destiny of that Church is gloriously determinedshe shall one day rule the world, for the solitary reason that Christ is her Head and God has already given Him the heathen for [His] inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for [His] possession. In spite of all adverse circumstances, all legions of enemies; in spite of Satan and the hosts of hell, He rises to victory. To Him The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before Him: all nations shall serve Him. Blessed be His glorious Name forever; and let the whole earth be filled with His glory; Amen and Amen.
But the Prophet continues:
HE DEFENDS BOTH THE DIVINE CHARACTER AND REQUIREMENTS
He rehearses the history of Gods past graces.
Hear ye now what the Lord saith * *
O My people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against Me.
For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
O My people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal; that ye may know the righteousness of the Lord (Mic 6:1; Mic 6:3-5).
It is a custom of the inspired writer to refer often to Israels early history. It was out of Egypt that God redeemed them; it was through the wilderness that God led them; it was in Canaan that God gave them conquest. This concern for the nations youth can never be forgotten. The older a man grows the more he appreciates what his parents did for him between the natal day and his twenty-first anniversary. The older a Christian grows the more highly he esteems his redemption from sin and the marvelous grace of God in keeping him in the early days of his spiritual life, when temptations were most strong; when in the wilderness Satan set before him the gifts of the world and the glories of them, an offer for an act of obeisance to him, their former master.
The older the Church grows the more highly it appreciates its early history, the pastors who did pioneer work, the people who sacrificed sorely to build the sanctuary, the men and women who bore the heat and burden of the day when they were so few in numbers; when their best efforts seemed so feeble. It ought to be so. It is a great thing to be brought to birth; it is a great thing to be kept through youth, and the nation for which God has accomplished this is no more able to discharge its obligation to Him than the child is to pay back all he owes to his parents. Right well did Israel inquire, Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the High God? That is the proper position for the people whose past is replete with such exhibitions of the keeping grace of great Jehovah.
He shows also the reasonableness of the Divine requirements.
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? (Mic 6:8).
Even the believing world commonly discredits Gods character by their thought as to His requirements. There are not a few people who imagine that God will not be pleased with them unless they are ready to take their first-born and lay him upon the altar; part with their child, perhaps giving him to the grave for the sin of their soul, and God has never hinted that He demands any such thing. People begin at the wrong place to get right with God. He may want your child for Africa, but you could give him and still not feel approved. The Apostle Paul says, Though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. And it is true; that is the one thing that God requires, for it covers all the rest. It leads one to do justly, and to love mercy and to walk humbly with God. And in that walk instead of finding the path to be one in which God is constantly calling for sacrifice, it will be discovered that there God is often bestowing blessing, and guiding into privilege, and making ones whole life a delight. Henry Van Dyke says, To please God. * * Simply to live our life, whatever it may be, so that He, the good and glorious God, shall approve and bless it, and say of it, Well done, and welcome it into the sense of His own joy,that is a Divine ambition. What vaster dream could hit the mood of love on earth? It has sustained martyrs at the stake, and comforted prisoners in the dungeon, and cheered warriors in the heat of perilous conflict, and inspired laborers in every noble cause, and made thousands of obscure and nameless heroes in every hidden place of earth. It is the pillar of light which shines before the journeying host. It is the secret watchword of the army, given not to the leaders alone, but flashing like fire through all the ranks. When that thought descends upon us, it kindles our hearts and makes them live. What though we miss the applause of men; what though friends misunderstand and foes defame, and the great world pass us by? There is One that seeth in secret and followeth the soul in its toils and struggles, the great King, whose approval is honor, whose love is happiness; to please Him is success, and victory, and peace.
Finally, He rests in the surety of the Divine justice, power, and grace. In the seventh chapter he speaks of the untoward circumstances in which he is situated. But after rehearsing the whole of it, he says, I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me (Mic 7:7). And in the seventeenth verse of the same chapter, speaking of the enemies of his soul, and of his Lord, he says, They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the Lord our God, and shall fear because of thee.
And in the nineteenth, and twentieth verses he says, He will turn again, He will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities; and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which Thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.
The whole of this seventh chapter is given to the personal sense of the Divine justice, Divine power, and Divine grace, and one must appreciate all of these or perish with fear. Divine justice is approved by all good men; and Divine power is conceded by those who study the universe about them, or the earth beneath them. But this all necessitates only fear, except you see also the Divine grace.
There is none other name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. One who has felt the justice of God and power of God feels the need of the grace of God, and is only filled with delight and joy unspeakable when he can say with the Apostle, For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
CRITICAL NOTES. The Church now mourns itself, and confesses that its condition is like a vintage after gleaning. No cluster] to be found. Ripe fruit] of excellent flavour chiefly desired.
Mic. 7:2. Good] Heb. merciful and good to man (Psa. 12:1); delivered from the evil to come (Isa. 57:1); or cut off by those in wait for bloodlit. bloods, i.e. blood-shedding. Net] used for hunting (Hab. 1:15). Brother] Bound by law to love another as himself (Lev. 19:18).
HOMILETICS
THE SCARCITY OF GODLY MEN.Mic. 7:1-2
The prophet mourns that he lives in a degenerate age. Good men have perished. Instead of finding the nation like a ripe vintage, there is not a cluster to eat. It is gleaned of the best and filled with the worst of men.
I. Godly men are scarce upon the earth. The good man is perished out of the earth. We should not complain, like Elijah, for we are not left alone in the present day. Yet good men are few.
1. Some are removed by cruelty. They are cut off by those who lie in wait for blood. In all ages the blood of martyrs has been freely spilt. The wicked plot and persecute, lie in ambuscade for the reputation and life of the godly now. All malice is cruelty, and would put to death those whom it hates. Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from bloody men.
2. Others perish by moral defection. Iniquity abounds, and the love of many grows cold. Difficulties and dangers terrify some, others are not sincere, get disappointed, and draw back unto perdition. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us no doubt they would have continued with us.
3. Many are taken away by death. Good men ripen on earth for the blessedness of heaven. They are gathered like the summer fruits, and thus escape the severity of winter. Merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.
II. The scarcity of godly men upon the earth is a cause of regret. Woe is me! Godly men are precious and profitable as the first ripe fruits; useful to the Christian Church and the world.
1. They are a loss to the Christian Church. Their presence and example adorn and strengthen the Church. They are pillars, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof. We require the wisdom and zeal, the faith and power, of former ages. Every death seems to diminish the faithful, and make them as the grape-gleanings of the vintage.
2. They are a loss to the world. As lights their influence is diffusive and blessed. Like the sun, says Hume, they cheer, invigorate, and sustain the surrounding world. As salt they preserve the earth from corruption, and quicken men to higher life. Their prayers draw blessings from heaven, and ward off judgments from men. They refresh and fructify the place in which they dwell. When they die, justice, benevolence, and beauty depart. The world is upheld by the veracity of good men, says Emerson; they make the earth wholesome. They who lived with them found life glad and nutritious. The saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent in whom is all my delight.
MATURITY REQUIRED BY GOD.Mic. 7:1
These words may be taken as expressing Gods desire for ripeness or maturity in grace. Hence they relate to our experience, character, and efforts.
I. God requires maturity in human experience. My soul desired the first ripe fruit.
1. The unconverted must be renewed. No clusters of grace and beauty adorn their conduct. They are like trees without foliage and fruit. Barren and unfruitful in the works and ways of God.
Here elements have lost their uses,
Air ripens not, nor earth produces [Swift].
2. The penitent must ripen in humility. Not mere blossoms of sorrow, but fruits meet for repentance must be produced. Penitence and pardon, faith and holiness, must be visible. First the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.
II. God requires maturity in Christian character. Christian character grows. In this growth are seed time and harvest; progress in knowledge and holiness. There are babes, but we must come to the full stature, not the mere outline, but the perfect likeness in Christ. He is but the counterfeit of a Christian who hath not the life of a Christian, says one. All the virtues of Christian conduct must ripen. God is glorified, and ministers glad, when we bring forth much fruit. I desire fruit that may abound to your account.
III. God requires maturity in personal effort. There must be thought and maturity in everything.
1. In efforts we must put forth our strength and work earnestly. Whatsoever our hands find to do, must be done with all our might. Decision and energy must be thrown into every undertaking.
2. In offerings we must give the first ripe fruit. In sacred worship and daily life let there be nothing sour and unripe. In the Sunday-school and the sick-room, think, prepare, and do your best. David would not offer to God of that which cost nothing. If we spare the seed we shall reap no harvest (Pro. 11:24; 2Co. 9:6); but thorough consecration will secure overflowing vintage. Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the first-fruits of all thine increase: so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Mic. 7:1. The moral contrast or,
1. What is desired. The first ripe fruit.
2. What is really found. There is no cluster to eat (Mic. 7:1).
Mic. 7:2. The picture of a good man.
1. The good man in his character. Good here means merciful, actively good and benevolent to men.
2. The good man in his influence. He upholds justice, checks corruptions, and testifies to God. When merciful men die, uprightness goes and cruelty enters the land. The good man is perished, and there is none upright.
3. The good man in his death. The Church and the servants of God lament the loss. Woe is me!
A combination, and a form, indeed,
Where every god did seem to set his seal,
To give the world assurance of a man. [Shakespeare.]
Brotherly cruelty. They hunt every man his brother.
1. Wicked men plan to assail others.
2. These plans are crafty. Nets of various kinds laid to ensnare.
3. These crafty plans often succeed. Fraud is added to force, and craft to cruelty. The guilt is greater because a brother, by race or grace, is humbled. Nearest friends are often entrapped like birds by the fowler.
Every man is the brother of every man, because he is a man, born of the same first parent, children of the same Father: yet they lay wait for one another, as hunters for wild beasts (cf. Psa. 35:7; Psa. 57:7; Jer. 5:26) [Pusey].
O what are these?
Deaths ministers, not men: who thus deal death
Inhumanly to men; and multiply
Ten thousandfold the sin of him who slew
His brother [Milton].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 7
Mic. 7:1-2. Good men few. They say that fish smell first at the head, and when godly men decay, the whole commonwealth will soon go rotten. We must not, however, be rash in our judgment on this point, for Elijah erred in counting himself the only servant of God alive, when there were thousands whom the Lord held in reserve [Spurgeon].
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
MICAH LONGS FOR GODLINESS . . . Mic. 7:1-6
RV . . . Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grape gleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat; my soul desireth the first-ripe fig. The godly man is perished out of the earth, and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net. Their hands are upon that which is evil to do it diligently; the prince asketh, and the judge is ready for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth the evil desire of his soul; thus they weave it together. The best of them is as a brier; the most upright is worse than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen, even thy visitation, is come; now shall be their perplexity. Trust ye not in a neighbor; put ye not confidence in a friend; keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom. For the son dishonoreth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a mans enemies are the men of his own house.
LXX . . . Alas for me! for I am become as one gathering straw in harvest, and as one gathering grape-gleanings in the vintage, when there is no cluster for me to eat the first-ripe fruit: alas my soul! For the godly is perished from the earth; and there is none among men that orders his way aright: they all quarrel even to blood: they grievously afflict every one his neighbour: they prepare their hands for mischief, the prince asks a reward, and the judge speaks flattering words; it is the desire of their soul: therefore I will take away their goods as a visitation. Woe, woe, thy times of vengeance are come; now shall be their lamentations. Trust not in friends, and confide not in guides; beware of thy wife, so as not to commit anything to her. For the son dishonours his father, the daughter will rise up against her mother, and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law: those in his house shall be all a mans enemies.
COMMENTS
WOE IS ME . . . THE GODLY MAN IS PERISHED . . . Mic. 7:1-2(a)
Chapter seven begins with a cry of despair from the lips of the prophet. His soul is hungry for the fellowship of godly men. In this he is disappointed as a man physically hungry who comes first to the vineyard and then the orchard and finds nothing to relieve his hunger.
Micah sees beyond the confines of the little kingdoms of Israel and Judah. If there are no godly men among the covenant people, then godliness has perished from the earth! Turning to idolatry, as the world worshipped idolatry, the chosen people had brought about a moral situation similar to that which would prevail if there were no God at all!
The statement, there is none upright . . . reminds us of Davids affirmation concerning those fools who say there is no God. In Psa. 14:1, David wrote The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works . . . This is repeated in Psa. 53:1 with the additional statement there is none that doeth good, The fifth and one hundred fortieth Psalms echo this thought and expand it.
In the case of the Psalmist it was the professed atheist who is described in vivid terms as grossly immoral. Micah says that because of the idolatry of the children of Israel the same is now true of the whole world!
In Rom. 3:9-18, Paul establishes this ungodliness as the universal state of man outside of Christ. There the apostle uses a catena, or chain of references, to prove that the Jews are in no better fix than Gentiles, for all are under sin.
Micah and Paul seem ready to say as Elijah in his time, I, even I only, am left. (1Ki. 19:10) Their hands are upon that which is evil . . . Mic. 7:2(b) Mic. 7:4(a)
There are, says Micah, not only none who do good, but multitudes that do positive hurt. They all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother . . . They have a thousand cursed arts of ensnaring men to their ruin.
The magistrates, office patrons and protectors of right are the practicers and promoters of wrong. The prince and judge may be hired for bribes to exert all their power to carry out wicked purposes. The great man who has wealth and the power to do good but who desires to do evil does not utter the evil desire of his soul lest his conspiring with the prince and judge become evident.
The best of them is a brier; the most upright is worse than a thorn hedge . . . They prick and injure all with whom they come in contact. (Cp. 2Sa. 23:6-7, Isa. 55:13, Eze. 2:6)
THE DAY OF THE WATCHMAN . . . Mic. 7:4(b)
This is the day of the watchman. Just as a policeman comes upon a criminal to arrest him, so the true prophet, Gods watchman, comes upon the false prophet and his corrupt followers. The party is over, the piper must be paid. Gods wrath is at hand.
TRUST YE NOT . . . Mic. 7:5-6
Here follows a list of those whom honest men (if indeed there were any) could not trust. The list includes a neighbor, a friend, her that lieth in thy bosom, i.e. ones own wife, the son, the daughter, the daughter-in-law. Such a society in indeed corrupt . . . ready for the wrath of God.
Jesus quotes Mic. 7:6(b) in connection with those He expected to persecute the new covenant people. (Mat. 10:35-36 cp. Luk. 12:53)
Chapter XQuestions
Jehovahs Controversy With His People
1.
Micah chapters six and seven are composed of a series of __________.
2.
Just as the sins of societys leaders filter down through all classes so __________ are applied to all people.
3.
Jehovahs first controversy with His people is occasioned by their having forgotten __________.
4.
Gods controversy with His people is before all creation because __________.
5.
How does Micah connect the final section of his book to the first section?
6.
In Mic. 6:3-5 the __________ is made. In Mic. 6:9 to Mic. 7:6, the case will be __________.
7.
The cry of Mic. 6:3-5 is the plea of a __________.
8.
Explain Micahs reference to Balaam. (Mic. 6:5)
9.
Why remember from Shittim to Gilgal? (Mic. 6:5(b))
10.
Show how Mic. 6:1-5 is timely in our day.
11.
What is alluded to by shall I give my first-born for my transgression? (Mic. 6:7 (b))
12.
Discuss Mic. 6:8 in connection with Mat. 26:16 and Heb. 2:1-4,
13.
Gods insistence upon faithfulness is not unreasonable when we remember __________ His __________ and __________.
14.
How does Micah answer the question, what doth Jehovah require of thee? (Mic. 6:8)
15.
The __________ is the Bible quoted by Jesus and the apostles.
16.
Mic. 6:8 does not claim that __________ an attribute of Gods character is required of Gods people.
17.
Rather than compassion, Micah insists that we are required to __________.
18.
Discuss Mic. 6:8 in connection with Mat. 23:23.
19.
Why must the outward forms of obedience always be expressive of inner reality?
20.
Compare Mic. 6:9 and Pro. 9:10.
21.
What is the significance of shall I be pure? Mic. 6:10-12
22.
The persistent fact of __________ is a prime factor in Micahs message.
23.
Compare Mic. 6:14 and Job. 20:15.
24.
What is meant by Mic. 6:15?
25.
What are the statutes of Omri? Mic. 6:15(a)
26.
Compare Mic. 6:16(b) and Mic. 3:12.
27.
Discuss the historic phenomena known as anti-semitism in light of Mic. 6:16.
28.
Compare Mic. 7:1-2(a) and Psa. 14:1-2.
29.
Discuss Mic. 7:1-2 in light of Rom. 3:9-18.
30.
Mic. 7:2(b) Mic. 7:4(a) refers to __________.
31.
Compare Mic. 7:2(b) Mic. 7:4(a) with 2Sa. 23:6-7, Isa. 55:13, and Eze. 2:6.
32.
Who are listed as those whom honest men cannot trust? (Mic. 7:5-6)
33.
Discuss Mic. 7:5-6 in connection with Mat. 10:35-36 and Luk. 12:53.
34.
Discuss Mic. 7:7 in connection with Jos. 24:14-15.
35.
Despite the wickedness of his time, Micah is unshaken in the conviction that __________.
36.
Discuss Mic. 7:8-10 in light of Rom. 8:31-39.
37.
Compare Mic. 7:9 to Psa. 22:1-24 and Rom. 7:24 to Rom. 8:1.
38.
What is meant by a day for rebuilding thy walls? (Mic. 7:11-13)
39.
If one requires proof of Micahs highest motives in writing his prophecies, his prayer for __________ provides it amply.
40.
The nations shall see what and be ashamed?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
VII.
(1) Woe is me!Micah gives here a fearful picture of the demoralised state of society in Judah which had called down the vengeance of God. As the early fig gathered in June is eagerly sought for by the traveller, so the prophet sought anxiously for a good man; but his experience was that of the Psalmist: The godly man ceaseth; the faithful fail from among the children of men.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
HOPELESSNESS OF THE NATION’S CONDITION, Mic 7:1-6.
Scholars are not agreed on the person of the speaker in these verses; some think of the prophet, some of Zion, some of the “true Israel,” that is, Israel after the spirit. If there is any connection between Mic 7:1-6, and chapter 6, which is, to say the least, quite probable, it seems best to consider the prophet as the speaker. He attempts to describe “the desperate condition of the nation, anarchy, persecution, universal corruption of justice, the ties of society dissolved, even friendship and wedded love is no longer to be trusted.” If Zion is understood as the speaker the verses imply a humility and penitence out of place following immediately upon Mic 6:16; hence most recent commentators who make Zion the speaker deny the verses to Micah.
In Mic 7:1 the prophet bewails, in figurative language, his sad and disappointing experience in preaching to the people.
Grape gleanings He was looking for good clusters of grapes, but he found nothing but poor gleanings.
My soul desired the first ripe fruit The context favors the rendering of R.V. margin, “nor first-ripe fig which my soul desired.” He looked for first-ripe figs (see on Hos 9:10), but found none.
The figures are explained in Mic 7:2-6. As he gazed about him he saw nothing but corruption and violence.
Earth among men Since the prophet is not thinking here of the whole earth, but of the land of Judah and its inhabitants, we should read “land” for “earth,” the Hebrew word having both meanings (otherwise in Mic 7:13). Good [“godly”] This word is from the same root as that translated in Mic 6:8, “mercy,” R.V., “kindness” (see on Hos 2:19). Here the adjective has an active meaning, he who shows kindness toward his fellow men. Such men have disappeared entirely (Mic 3:2-3; Mic 6:10-16; compare Hos 4:1-2).
Upright All have become crooked and corrupt.
They all lie in wait for blood Anxiously they are looking for opportunities to commit robbery and violence; and to accomplish their desires they are quite ready to shed blood (see on Mic 3:10).
Brother In the wider sense of “ fellow citizen” or “neighbor.”
Hunt with a net They have quenched the instincts of love and sympathy; they are scheming continually to do harm to one another.
The interpretation of Mic 7:3-4 is very uncertain. To remove the obscurities various emendations of the text have been proposed. If the present Hebrew text is correct, R.V. presents a more satisfactory translation of Mic 7:3: “Their hands are upon that which is evil to do it diligently; the prince asketh, and the judge is ready for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth the evil desire of his soul: thus they weave it together.” Following this translation the meaning seems to be:
Their hands Literally, both hands. All hands are stretched out to do evil; selfishness rules everywhere, and all are bent upon satisfying their own selfish ambitions. The prophet now enumerates those whose guilt is the greatest.
Prince See on Hos 3:4.
Judge The one occupying a judicial position.
Great man The man of wealth, power, and influence.
They weave it together The three classes enumerated conspire together to carry out their evil schemes (compare 1Ki 21:13). How they work together is also indicated.
The prince asketh Of the judge, to overlook a crime committed by a friend of the prince, or to condemn a man who has displeased him, though he may be innocent.
The judge for a reward The Hebrew has no verb; but if the present text is correct, R.V. undoubtedly reproduces correctly the thought. The judge is ready to accept a reward or bribe offered by the prince, and for such consideration he readily assents to the latter’s demands.
The great man uttereth The wealthy and powerful man freely makes known his desires, for he knows that his money and influence “talk,” and will secure for him the co-operation of others. Thus the nobles conspire together and rob and murder unhindered (compare Isa 1:21-23; Amo 5:12).
The best of them is as a briar Which pricks, hurts, and injures. Corruption in Judah is so widespread that even he who stands out as the best and the most upright is worse than a thorn hedge (compare 2Sa 23:6; Pro 15:19).
Thus far the prophet has described the present hopeless condition; with the present deal also Mic 7:5-6. Hence the context would favor the interpretation of 4b also as dealing with the present. However, the text itself is generally thought to point to a future judgment. Song of Solomon 4 b be regarded as a marginal gloss based upon Isa 3:1-7?
The day of thy watchmen The day foreseen by the watchmen of Jehovah or of Israel, the prophets (Isa 21:6); the day of Jehovah (see on Joe 1:15), a day to which the prophets preceding Micah refer quite frequently. This day is called “thy visitation” or “judgment,” because on it judgment will be executed on all the enemies of Jehovah. Cometh [“is come”] The prophetic perfect (see on Mic 6:13).
Now It is close at hand.
Their perplexity The change from the second to the third person is not uncommon in prophetic discourse (G.-K., 144p.). The judgment will produce the wildest, confusion (Isa 22:5), so that they will not know what to do.
Some interpret Mic 7:5-6 as explanatory of “perplexity,” in the sense that “at the outbreak of judgment and of the visitation the faithlessness will reach the height of treachery to the nearest friends, yea, even to the dissolution of every family tie.” This interpretation is based upon the New Testament use of these verses (Mat 10:35-36; Luk 12:53). However, in the light of the context it seems better to regard the verses a continuation of 4a, describing, in the form of warnings, the awfulness of the present corruption. Friendship can be trusted no longer, truth and fidelity are unknown, all alike practice deceit.
Friend guide her that lieth in thy bosom A climax. The friend (R.V., “neighbor”) is the person with whom one has ordinary, everyday intercourse; the guide (R.V., “friend”; margin, “confidant”), he to whom one is bound by closer ties of intimacy and friendship. Neither can be trusted any longer; and even the wife lying upon the bosom is not worthy of confidence, for she does not hesitate to betray her husband by revealing his secrets. “The closest ties of blood-relationship are trodden under foot, and all the bonds of reverence, love, and chastity are loosened.”
Dishonoreth Literally, treats as a fool (Deu 32:15).
Men of his own house These are not the persons already named, but others who formed a part of a Hebrew household, the servants (Gen 39:19; 2Sa 12:17-18).
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
JEHOVAH AND ISRAEL IN CONTROVERSY THE ULTIMATE SETTLEMENT, Mic 6:1 to Mic 7:20.
With Mic 6:1, begins a new series of utterances. The contents and arrangement are essentially the same as in the preceding sections, denunciation of sin, announcement of judgment, promise of the redemption and glorification of a remnant.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Micah (Or The Righteous Of Israel) Bewails The Condition Of The People ( Mic 7:1-6 ).
Micah (or the righteous of Israel whom he represents) now describe(s) the dreadful moral condition of his own people. From rich and powerful to the lowest level of society all are untrustworthy and undependable. Even close members of families cannot trust each other.
This passage bore heavily on the heart of Jesus when He considered the conditions of the people of His own day, and what was to come. The idea behind Mic 7:1 may well be the motivation which led to Jesus’ dealings with the fig tree in Mar 11:11-25; compare Mat 21:18-22, while Mic 7:6 was cited by Him in Mat 10:21; Mat 10:35-36.
Mic 7:1
‘Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits,
As the grape gleanings of the vintage,
There is no cluster to eat,
My soul desires the first ripe fig.
Micah is on the search for righteous people. He likens himself to a man going out into the orchards after the summer fruits have been gathered in, when according to the Law there should have been some left-overs, the gleanings, for the poor. But there were none. The rich had stripped every branch bare for greatest profit. Thus all that was left to him was to long for the firstripe fig which would begin the next season (which men could pluck if they were hungry). That was either an early green fig from a particular type of fig tree which could be gathered before the usual fig crop, or simply ‘the firstripe fig before the summer, which when he who looks on it sees, he eats it up while it is in his hand’ mentioned in Isa 28:4. There are two points to the illustration. Firstly that Micah went looking for fruit and found none, and could only wait in hope for the first ripe fig of the following season, (a disastrous situation for the poor who depended on the gleanings) an illustration of the barrenness of the nation. And secondly that the growers were failing to observe God’s commandments. Thus accentuating the barrenness. Jesus did not even find the first ripe figs, so bad were the spiritual and moral conditions in Jerusalem in His day.
Mic 7:2
The godly man is perished out of the earth,
And there is none upright among men,
They all lie in wait for blood,
They hunt every man his brother with a net.
In the same way as there was no fruit on the fruit trees, so were there no godly people in the land. As Micah looked around he bewailed the fact that ‘the godly man is perished out of the earth, and there is none upright among men.’ That was how it seemed to him. Christians in places where there is little fellowship often feel that way. But things are never quite as bad as they seem, as is evidenced by the fact that righteousness wins in the end, because of the activity of God.
Indeed rather than being upright men are steeped in sin. Like a hunter out to get his victim every man is out to entrap his brother. Violence abounds, and there is internecine rivalry. Brotherly love is totally lacking.
Mic 7:3
Their hands are on that which is evil,
To do it diligently,
The prince asks, and the judge is ready for a reward,
And the great man, he utters the evil desire of his soul,
Thus they weave it together.
Everyone is diligent in putting their hands to what is evil. Even the prince wants rewarding for his favours, and the judges are waiting for a bribe. The great man thus gets his own way by saying what he wants and then paying the appropriate bribe. They all in their own ways are weaving the same pattern of sin together. Of course such things happen in many societies. But here it had become blatant.
Mic 7:4
The best of them is as a briar,
The most upright is worse than a thorn hedge,
The day of your watchmen, even your visitation, is come,
Now will be their perplexity.
Indeed the best of them is like a briar which tears at the hands, and the most upright is worse than a thorn bush. Those who tangle with them soon wish they had not, because they find the equivalent of vicious thorns left in their hands.
But these people should beware. For the day of their watchmen, the day of their visitation is come. This may be referring to the prophets as their watchmen (Isa 21:6; Jer 6:17; Eze 3:17; Eze 33:7; Hab 2:1) and thus be speaking of the day of visitation against which they warned. Or it may have in mind the city’s watchmen. In times of peace the watchmen had a weary task for which none were grateful. Day after day they watched in vain, and achieved nothing. But their day came when the enemy were seen on the horizon and they were able to give the warning. All the waiting had then been worthwhile. All then recognised their worth. And this was the day that was now coming, the day when the enemy approached, the day when the people would be visited with God’s judgment. Now indeed they would find themselves in a state of perplexity.
Mic 7:5-6
Do not trust in a neighbour,
Do not put confidence in a friend,
Keep the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your bosom.
For the son dishonours the father,
The daughter rises up against her mother,
The daughter in law against her mother in law,
A man’s enemies are the men of his own house.
But the worst thing of all about the society in which Micah lived as he saw it was the total lack of confidence that it was possible for people to put in each other. Neighbour could not trust neighbour, friend could not trust friend, and even that bastion of loyalty the family, had become a haven of distrust and malice. It was a picture of society at its very lowest.
How far this reflected the actual circumstances under which he lived in Jerusalem, or how far it was simply the direction in which he saw things going, we are left to decide for ourselves. But the warning is clear. This is what eventually happens to society when it turns against God.
Jesus cited Mic 7:6 as an illustration of what Christians must expect from many of their unbelieving families. The thought is tragic. A son dishonouring his father. A daughter rivalling and going against her mother, a daughter-in-law being active against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies being those of his own household. It was almost inconceivable, but such was the depths of human sinfulness that it would happen.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Mic 7:6 For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.
Mic 7:5-6
Mic 7:14-20 Israel’s Future Glorification Mic 7:14-20 speaks of Israel’s future glorification.
Mic 7:14 Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.
Mic 7:14
Psa 68:15, “The hill of God is as the hill of Bashan; an high hill as the hill of Bashan.”
Son 6:5-6, “Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me: thy hair is as a flock of goats that appear from Gilead. Thy teeth are as a flock of sheep which go up from the washing, whereof every one beareth twins, and there is not one barren among them.”
Amo 4:1, “Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink.”
Mic 7:17 They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the LORD our God, and shall fear because of thee.
Mic 7:17
[12] Bret Baier, Rita Cosby and Jim Angle and The Associated Press, “Saddam Captured Like “Like a Rat” in a Raid,” FoxNews.com, 14 December 2003 [on-line]; accessed 29 September 2009; available from http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,105706,00.html ; Internet.
[13]
Mic 7:18 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.
Mic 7:18
“he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy” Comments – God actually takes pleasure in showing someone mercy and grace.
Mic 7:19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
Mic 7:20 Mic 7:20
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Prayer of Repentance
v. 1. Woe is me! v. 2. The good man is perished out of the earth, v. 3. That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, v. 4. The best of them is as a brier, v. 5. Trust ye not in a friend, v. 6. For the son dishonoreth the father, v. 7. Therefore, v. 8. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy, v. 9. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, v. 10. Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, v. 11. In the day that thy walls are to be built, rather, v. 12. In that day also He shall come even to thee, v. 13. Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
Mic 7:1-6
5. Israel’s penitential acknowledgment of the general corruption.
Mic 7:1
Woe is me! (Job 10:15). Micah threatens no more; he represents repentant Israel confessing its corruption and lamenting the necessity of punishment. I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits; literally, I am as the gatherings of the fruit harvest. The point of comparison is only to be inferred from the context. At the fruit. harvest no early figs are to be found, and (in the next clause) after the vintage no more grapes; so in Israel there is none righteous left. The Septuagint gives a plainer exposition, , “I became as one that gathereth straw in harvest;” so the Vulgate, Factus sum sicut qui collegit in autumno racemos vindimiae, joining the two clauses together. My soul desired the first ripe fruit; better, nor early fig which my soul desired. The holiness and grace of more primitive times are wholly absent from this later period (see Hos 9:10, where a similar figure is used; compare also Christ’s dealing with the barren fig tree, Mat 21:18, etc.). The first ripe figs were proverbially sweet and good (see Isa 28:4; Jer 24:2; and Hosea, loc cit.).
Mic 7:2
This verse explains the preceding comparison; the grape and the early fig represent the righteous man. The good man; LXX; , the godly, pious man. The Hebrew word (khasidh) implies one who exercises love to others, who is merciful, loving, and righteous. Is perished out of the earth; has disappeared from the world (comp. Psa 14:2, Psa 14:3; and especially Isa 57:1). They all lie in wait for blood. They all practise violence and rapine, and meditate how they may pursue their evil designs, even to the shedding of blood. LXX; , which narrows the charge to one special kind of iniquity, vie. committing judicial murders. They hunt every man his brother with a net. They ought to love their brethren, their fellow countrymen, partakers of the same hope and privileges (Le 19:18). Instead of this, they pursue them as the fowler traps birds, or the hunter beasts. The word rendered “net” (cherem) is in most versions translated “destruction.” Thus, Septuagint, : Vulgate, ad mortem venatur; so the Syriac and Chaldee. In the present connection it is best taken as “net” (Hab 1:15).
Mic 7:3
That they may do evil, etc. rather, both hands are upon (equivalent to “busy with”) evil to do it thoroughly. This clause and the rest of the verse are very obscure Cheyne supposes the text to be corrupt. Henderson renders, “For evil their hands are well prepared;” so virtually Hitzig, Pusey, and the Septuagint. Caspari agrees rather with the Vulgate (Malum manuum suarum dicunt bonum),” Hands are (busy) upon evil to make (it seem) good,” which looks to that extremity of iniquity when men “call evil good, and good evil” (Isa 5:20). The general meaning is that they are ready enough to do evil, and, as the next clause says, can be bribed to do anything. The prince asketh; makes some nefarious demand of the judge, some perversion of justice at his hands, as in the case of Naboth (1Ki 21:1-29.). The judge asketh (is ready) for a reward. The judge is willing to do what the prince wishes, if he is bribed for it. LXX; , “The judge speaks words of peace” (comp. Mic 3:11; Isa 1:23; Zep 3:8). He uttereth his mischievous desire; or, the mischief of his soul. The rich man speaks out unblushingly the evil that he has conceived in his heart, the wicked design which he meditates. So they wrap it up; better, and they weave it together. The prince, the judge, and the rich man weave their evil plan together, to make it strong and right in others’ eyes. The passage is altered in meaning by a different grouping of the Hebrew letters, thus: “The prince demandeth (a reward) to do good; and the judge, for the recompense of a great man, uttereth what he himself desireth. And they entangle the good more than briars, and the righteous more than a thorn hedge.” The LXX. carries on the sense to the next verse, , “And I will destroy their goods as a consuming moth.”
Mic 7:4
The best of them is as a briar; hard and piercing, catching and holding all that passes by. The plant intended by the word chedek is a thorny one used for hedges (Pro 15:19). Under another aspect thorns are a symbol of what is noxious and worthless (2Sa 23:6), or of sin and temptation. The most upright is sharper (worse) than a thorn hedge. Those who seem comparatively upright are more injurious, tangled, and inaccessible than a hedge of thorns. In punishment of all this corruption, the prophet points to the day of judgment. The day of thy watchmen. The day of retribution foretold by the prophets (Isa 21:6; Jer 6:17; Eze 3:17). And (even) thy visitation; in apposition with the day, the time, and explanatory of punishment. Cometh; is comethe perfect tense denoting the certainty of the future event. Septuagint, , “Woe! thy vengeance is come.” Now shall be their perplexity. When this day of the Lord comes, there shall be confusion (Isa 22:5); it shall bring chastise ment before deliverance. The prophet here, as elsewhere, changes from the second to the third person, speaking of the people gene rally. Septuagint, “Now shall be their weeping;” so the Syriac. Pusey notes the paronomasia here. They were as bad as a thorn hedge (merucah); they shall fall into perplexity (mebucah).
Mic 7:5
Such is the moral corruption that the nearest relations cannot be trusted: selfishness reigns everywhere The prophet emphasizes this universal evil by warning the better portion of the people. Friend guide. There is a gradation here, beginning with “neighbour,” or “common acquaintance,” and ending with “wife.” The word rendered “guide” means “closest, most familiar friend, as in Psa 55:13 (14, Hebrew). Our version is sanctioned by the Septuagint, , “leaders;” and the Vulgate, duce; but the context confirms the other translation (comp. Pro 16:28; Pro 17:9). Our Lord has used some of the expressions in the next verso in describing the miseries of the latter day (Mat 10:21, Mat 10:35, Mat 10:36; Mat 24:12; comp. Luk 12:53; Luk 21:16; 2Ti 3:2). Keep the doors of thy mouth. Guard thy secrets. (For the phrase, comp. Psa 141:3.) Her that lieth in thy bosom. Thy wife (Deu 13:6; Deu 28:54).
Mic 7:6
For the son dishonoureth; Septuagint, : Vulgate, contumeliam facit; literally, treats as a fool, despises (Deu 32:6, Deu 32:15). (For the rest of the verse, see Mat 10:21, Mat 10:35, etc.) Men of his own house. His domestic servants (Gen 17:27). Henderson, referring to this dissolution of every natural tie, compares Ovid, ‘Metamorph.,’ 1:144, etc.
“Vivitur ex rapto; non hospes ab hespite tutus,
Non socer a genero; fratrum quoque gratia rara est;
Imminet exitio vir conjugis, illa mariti;
Lurida terribiles miscent aconita novercae;
Filius ante diem patrios iuquirit in annos;
Victa jacet pietas.”
Mic 7:7-13
6. Israel expresses her faith in God, though she suffers grievous tribulation, and is confident in the fulfilment of the promised restoration.
Mic 7:7
Therefore I; rather, but as for me, I, etc. The prophet speaks in the name of the ideal Israel. Though love and confidence have disappeared, and the day of visitation has come, and human help fails, yet Israel loses not her trust in the Lord. Will look; gaze intently, as if posted on a watch tower to look out for help. Will wait with longing trust, unbroken by delay. The God of my salvation. The God from whom my salvation comes (Psa 18:46; Psa 25:5; Psa 27:9; Hab 3:18) My God will hear me. My prayer is sure to be answered (Isa 30:19).
Mic 7:8
Israel in her sorrow and captivity asserts her undiminished confidence in the Lord. O mine enemy. The oppressor of the Church, the worldly power, is represented at one time by Asshur, at another by Babylon. God uses these heathen kingdoms as agents of his vengeance. When I fall; have I fallen; if I have fallen; i.e. suppose I have suffered calamity and loss (Amo 5:2). Sit in darkness. Darkness is another metaphor for distress (Psa 23:4; Isa 9:2; Lam 3:6; Amo 5:18). The Lord shall be a light unto me, giving me gladness and true discernment (comp. Psa 27:1; Psa 97:11). The distinction between darkness and the full light of day is more marked in Eastern countries than in our Northern climes.
Mic 7:9
I will bear the indignation of the Lord. However long may be the delay before relief comes, Israel will patiently bear the chastisements inflicted upon her, because she knows that they are deserved. This is the language of the penitent people, owning the justice of the sentence, yet trusting to the covenant God, who in wrath remembers mercy. Until he plead my cause. Until God considers that the punishment has done its work, and takes my cause in hand, and judges between me and the instruments of his vengeance. Execute judgment for me. Secure my rights, violated by the heathen, who misuse the power given them by God. The light (see note on Mic 7:8). His righteousness (Mic 6:5); his faithfulness to his premises exhibited in the destruction of the enemies and the restoration of his people. For this conception of the Divine righteousness, Cheyne compares 1Jn 1:9, “He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins.”
Mic 7:10
She that is mine enemy. The worldly power is here personified, as so often “the daughter of Jerusalem.” Shall see it. She shall see that Israel was not conquered because God was powerless to save. Where is the Lord thy God? The Assyrians always attributed their success in arms to the assistance, of their gods and the superiority of their deities to those of the conquered nations (comp. Isa 10:9-11; Isa 37:10-13). Thus the inscription of the palace of Khorsabad begins, “The gods Assur, Nebo, and Merodach have conferred on me the royalty of the nations…. By the grace and power of the great gods, my masters, I have flung my arms, by my force I have defeated my enemies” (‘Records of the Past,’ vol. 9.). (For taunts like that in the text, see Psa 42:3; Psa 79:10; Psa 115:2; Joe 2:17.) Mine eyes shall behold her. Israel shall behold the destruction of the enemy. As the mire of the streets (Isa 10:6; Zec 10:5).
Mic 7:11
The prophet here addresses Zion, and announces her restoration. In the day that thy walls are to be built; rather, a day for building thy walls (gader) cometh. Zion is represented as a vineyard whose fence has been destroyed (Isa 5:5, Isa 5:7). The announcement is given abruptly and concisely in three short sentences. In that day shall the decree be far removed. The decree (Zep 2:2) is explained by Hengstenberg and many commentators, ancient and modern, to he that of the enemy by which they held Israel captive. Keil and others suppose the law to be meant which separated Israel from all other nations, the ancient ordinance which confined God’s people and the blessings of the theocracy to narrow limits. This is now to be set aside (comp. Eph 2:11-16), when heathen nations flock to the city of God. Oaspari, Hitzig, Cheyne, and others translate, “shall the bound be afar off,” i.e. the boundaries of the land of Israel shall be widely extended (comp. Isa 33:17, which Cheyne explains, “Thine eyes shall behold a widely extended territory”). Wordsworth obtains much the same meaning by taking the verb in the sense of “promulgated,” and referring the “decree,” as in Psa 2:7, Psa 2:8, to God’s purpose of giving to Messiah the utmost parts of the earth for a possession. The building, of the walls does not indicate the narowing of the limits of the theocratic kingdom. Whether chok be taken to signify “decree” (lex, Vulgate) or “boundary,” the effect of its removal afar is seen by the next verse to be the entrance of foreign nations into the kingdom of God. The LXX. favours the first interpretation, [, Alex.] [ omit, Alex.] , “That day shall utterly abolish thy ordinances.”
Mic 7:12
He shall come; they shall come. Men shall flock to Zion as the metropolis of the new kingdom (Mic 4:2). The countries named are those in which the Jews were dispersed (see Isa 11:11). Micah embraces in one view the restoration of Israel and the conversion of the heathen (comp. Isa 19:24; Isa 27:12, Isa 27:13). Assyria. The type of the greatest enemy of God. The fortified cities; rather, the cities of Mazor, the strong land, i.e. Egypt. The usual term for Egypt is Mizraim; but Mazor is found in 2Ki 19:24; Isa 19:6; Isa 37:25. Cheyne compares the Assyrian name for this country, Mucar. From the fortress; from Mazor; Septuagint, , “from Tyre” or Tsor. Even to the river. From Egypt to the Euphrates, which was the river par excellence. (Gen 15:18). From sea to sea. Not necessarily from the Mediterranean to the Dead Sea or to the Persian Gulf (as Joe 2:20), but generally, from one sea to another, from the earth as bounded by the seas; so, from mountain to mountain; i.e. not from Lebanon to Sinai, or from Hor (Num 20:22) to Hor (Num 34:7), which is too limited, but from all lands situated between mountain barriers, which are the bounds of the world (comp. Isa 60:3, etc.).
Mic 7:13
Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate. Very many commentators consider the land of Canaan to be here intended, the prophet recurring to threatenings of judgment before the great restoration comes to pass; but it is best to regard the clause as referring to all the world, exclusive of Canaan. While the Messianic kingdom is set up, judgment shall fail upon the sinful world. “For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted” (Isa 60:12; comp. Rev 12:12). And the material world shall suffer with its inhabitants (Gen 3:15, Gen 3:18; Gen 6:13; Gen 19:25; Isa 34:4, etc.). Their doings. Their evil deeds, especially the rejection of Messiah.
Mic 7:14-17
7. The prophet in the name of the people prays for this promised salvation, and the Lord assures him that his mercies shall not fail, and that the hostile nations shall be humbled.
Mic 7:14
Feed thy people with thy rod. The prophet prays to the Shepherd of Israel (Gen 49:24; Psa 80:1), beseeching him to rule and lead his people, and to find them pasture. The “rod” is the shepherd’s staff (Le 27:32; Psa 23:4). The flock of thine heritage. So Israel is called (Psa 28:9; Psa 95:7; comp. Zep 3:13). Which dwell solitarily; or, so that they dwell; separate from all other nations, religiously and physically, by institution and geo graphical position. Compare Balaam’s words (Num 23:9; also Deu 33:28). It was Israel’s special characteristic to be holy, i.e. set apart, and it was only when she observed her duty in this respect that she prospered (see Exo 33:16). In the wood (forest) in the midst of Carmel. The forest would isolate the flock, and secure it from interference. The chief pasture lands west and east of Jordan are named, and the whole country is included in the description. (For Carmel, see note on Amo 1:2.) Bashan and Gilead were also celebrated for their rich pasture. “Bulls of Bashan” were a proverb for well fed animals, and a metaphor for bloated, proud aristocrats (Deu 32:14; Psa 22:12; Eze 39:18; Amo 4:1). Gilead was so excellently adapted for cattle that Reuben and Gad were irresistibly drawn to settle there (Num 32:1, Num 32:5; 1Ch 5:9; see the parallel to this passage in Isa 65:9, Isa 65:10, and Eze 34:13, Eze 34:14). As in the days of old; usually taken to refer to the time of Moses and Joshua, but also and more probably, to that of David and Solomon, which realized the ideal of peace and prosperity (comp. Mic 4:4).
Mic 7:15
According to (as in) the days. The Lord answers the prophet’s prayer, taking up his last word, and promising even more than he asks, engaging to equal the wonders which marked the exodus from Egypt. That great deliverance was a type and foreshadowing of Messianic salvation (comp. Isa 43:15, etc.; Isa 51:10; 1Co 10:1, etc.). Unto him; unto the people of Israel (Mic 7:14). Marvellous things; Septuagint, , “Ye shall see marvellous things.” Supernatural occurrences are meant, as Exo 3:20; Exo 15:11; Psa 77:14. We do not read of any special miracles at the return from captivity, so the people were led to look onward to the advent of Messiah for these wonders.
Mic 7:16
Shall see. The heathen shall see these marvellous things. Be confounded at (ashamed of) all their might. Hostile nations shall be ashamed when they find the impotence of their boasted power. Compare the effect of the Exodus on contiguous nations (Exo 15:14, etc.; Jos 2:9, Jos 2:10). They shall lay their hand upon their mouth. They shall be silent from awe and astonishment (Jdg 18:19; Job 21:5; Isa 52:15). Their ears shall be deaf. Their senses shall be stupefied by the wonders which they seethat which Job (Job 26:14) calls “the thunder of his mighty deeds.” There may also be an allusion to their wilful obstinacy, and unbelief.
Mic 7:17
They shall lick the dust like a serpent (Gen 3:14; Isa 65:25). The enemies of God’s people “shall lick the dust” (Psa 72:9), shall be reduced to the utmost degradation (Isa 49:23). They shall move out of their holes, etc.; rather, they come trembling out of their close places (or, fastnesses, Psa 18:46), like crawling things of the earth. They who prided themselves on their security shall come forth from their strongholds in utter fear, driven out like snakes from their lairs (comp. Psa 2:11; Hos 11:10, etc.). They shall be afraid of (whine with fear unto) the Lord our God. They shall be driven by terror to acknowledge the God of Israel. The expression is ambiguous, and may mean servile fear, which makes a man shrink from God. or that fear. which is one step towards repentance; the latter seems intended here, as in Hos 3:5, where, as Pusey says, the words, “and his goodness,” determine the character of the fear. Because of (or, before) thee. It is the heathen who are still the subject, not the Israelites (Jer 10:7). The sudden change of persons is quite in the prophet’s style.
Mic 7:18-20
8. The book ends with a lyric ode in praise of God‘s mercy and faithfulness.
Mic 7:18
In view of the many provocations and backslidings of the people, Micah is filled with wonder at the goodness and long suffering of God. Who is a God like unto thee? The question seems to recall the prophet’s own name, which means, “Who is like Jehovah?” and the clause in Moses’ song (Exo 15:11), “Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods?” Such comparisons are made from the standpoint of the nations who believe in the real existence of their false gods. That pardoneth iniquty (comp. Exo 34:7; Num 14:18). Passeth by the transgression; Septuagint, , “passing over iniquities;” Vulgate, transis peccatum. To pass by, or pass over, is to forgive, as Amo 7:8. There is probably an allusion, as Jerome says, to the night of the Exodus. As the destroying angel passed over the Israelites and destroyed them not, so God spares his people, imputing not their iniquities unto them. The remnant (Mic 2:12; Mic 4:6, Mic 4:7). The true Israel, which is only s remnant (Isa 10:21; Rom 9:27). He retaineth not his anger forever (Psa 103:9). The word rendered “forever” is translated by Jerome ultra, and by the Septuagint , i.e. to testify the justice of his punishment. He delighteth in mercy. As the Collect says, “O God, whose nature and property is always to have mercy and to forgive” (comp. Wis. 11:24).
Mic 7:19
He will turn again, and have compassion upon us. The verb “turn again,” joined with another verb, often denotes the repetition of an action, as in Job 7:7; Hos 14:8, etc.; so here we may translate simply, “He will again have compassion.” He will subdue; literally, tread underfoot. Sin is regarded as a personal enemy, which by God’s sovereign grace will be entirely subdued. So, according to one interpretation, sin is personified (Gen 4:7; comp. Psa 65:8). Cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt blot out and bury completely and forever, as once thou didst overwhelm the Egyptians in the Red Sea (Exo 15:1, Exo 15:4, Exo 15:10, Exo 15:21). The miraculous deliverance of the Israelites at the Exodus is a type of the greater deliverance of the true Israelites in Christ (Psa 103:12; 1Jn 1:7; comp. Isa 43:25).
Mic 7:20
Thou wilt perform (literally, give) the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham. Jacob and Abraham are mentioned as the chiefs and representatives of the chosen family; and “the truth” (i.e. God’s faithfulness to his promises) and “mercy” are equally given to both, separately assigned only for the sake of the parallelism. Knabenbaner compares such passages as Psa 114:1, “When Israel went forth out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language” (Psalm or. 6; Isa 41:8; Isa 63:16, etc.). The general meaning, therefore, is that God will perform the promises made to the forefathers, as Luk 1:72, etc. Hast sworn, as in Gen 22:16. etc.; Gen 28:13, etc.; Deu 7:12. With the close of the ode Hengstenberg compares Rom 11:33-36. Thus the checkered prophecy ends with the glow of faith and happy hope.
HOMILETICS
Mic 7:1-13
The good in degenerate times.
We are not to understand these verses as referring specially to the prophet himself. In Mic 1:8, Mic 1:9 we have his own lamentation in view of the prevailing ungodliness; here “the speaker is not the prophet, but the true Israel, i.e. Israel within Israel, personified” (Cheyne). God has never left himself without witnesses. Even in the most corrupt and degenerate times he has had a people to show forth his praise. It was so in the age to which this book of Scripture refers. Widespread though the depravity was, “a remnant” continued faithful, true, loyal to God and obedient to his will; and Micah here speaks simply as the mouthpiece of these, setting forth their sadness in view of the abounding wickedness, yet withal their unshaken confidence in the triumph of truth and righteousness; whilst then, as the prophet of the Lord, he declared that this confidence should not be disappointed, but the victory anticipated be most surely won. Notice here, concerning the Church of God
I. HER BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT. (Verses 1-6.)
1. The desire for spiritual excellence was ardently cherished. This aspiration of the good is here expressed figuratively. “My soul desired the first ripe figs” (verse 1). These were accounted the choicest and sweetest, and were very refreshing and very welcome to the weary traveller, and hence were chosen as the symbol of spiritual excellence. So elsewhere in the prophetical writings (Hos 9:10; Jer 24:1-10.). The meaning, then, is that the good longed for the prevalence of piety in the nation, and to see the people bringing forth the fruits of righteousness. This is the aspiration of the good in every age. As the sculptor ardently desires to see the rough block transformed into the perfect statue, or the artist to see the bare canvas before him covered with the creations of his genius, or the horticulturist to see the waste field transformed into a garden of delight, and bearing, in infinite variety, the flowers and fruits; so all good men yearn to see the spiritual transformation of the world. “My soul desired the first ripe figs” (verse 1).
2. This ardently cherished desire was unrealized. (Verse 1.) The verse brings vividly before us the sense of disappointment arising from the spiritual barrenness and unproductiveness that prevailed in the land. The scene presented was not that of an abundant harvest, but of a land bare and barren, whose best days were of yore, in which so little good remained as to be but like gleanings when the vintage is over, not even a cluster remaining. “I am as when they have gathered,” etc. (verse 1). And as further illustrating this disappointment, a graphic description is given of the prevailing spiritual desolation.
(1) Mortality and martyrdom had impoverished the land in the removal from it of the tender, the trusty, the true (verse 2; Isa 57:1).
(2) Anarchy reigned, with its accompanying violence, treachery, and injustice (verses 2, 3).
(3) The administration of justice had become a burlesque, its administrators working together, “wrapping it up,” weaving it together so as to keep up the form, and to appear just, whilst really seeking their own selfish ends (verse 3), and even “the best” amongst them being “hard and piercing,” even as a briar, and “the most upright” being as “a thorn hedge which, set for protection, inflicts injury.” (verse 4).
(4) Friendship, “sweet’ner of life and solder of society,” had become insincere and unreal; yea, even the most sacred relationships of life had become perverted, and natural affection sacrificed and changed to hate (verses 5, 6).
3. This non-realization occasioned bitter disappointment. “Woe is me!” (verse 1). A life of piety is marked by the experience of true joy (Psa 1:1-3; Pro 3:17). Yet it is not always sunshine even with the good. “If we listen to David’s harp, we shall hear as many hearse-like harmonies as carols” (Bacon). And a very large ingredient in the cup of sorrow to the good is occasioned by the contemplation of the blighting effects of sin. As looking around them, and despite their endeavours to disseminate truth and righteousness, they see multitudes walking according to the world’s maxims, cherishing its spirit and reaping its sad harvest, sorrow fills their hearts, and they become desponding and sad. And hence the lament of the Church in view of her small numbers and the general corruption, as here expressed, “Woe is me!” etc. (verse 1).
II. HER UNSWERVING CONFIDENCE. (Verses 7-10.)
1. This confidence rested in God. “Therefore I will look unto the Lord” (verse 7). In times of seeming non success in holy service we should cherish unswerving trust in the God of truth, and having faithfully discharged our duty, should commit the rest unto him.
2. This confidence as expressed in patient waiting for God. He had “spoken good concerning Israel,” and had declared “glorious things” respecting Zion, the city of God. And in the dark days his servants were prepared patiently to wait for the fulfilment of these, even as she mariner waits for fair winds and favourable tide, or as the watchman waits through the long night for the coming of the day. “I will walt for the God of my salvation” (verse 7).
3. This confidence was sustained by inspiring hope. “My God will hear me.” So did hope cast her bow of promise across the stormy cloud and kindle the bright star in the dark sky.
4. This confidence triumphed even in the midst of adversity. The worm was very evil, and the good in the land were few. Iniquity, appeared to be victorious, and might to triumph over right. The hearts of the pious, full of patriotism and of the love of God, were sad; yet their reliance was unshaken and unswerving. Dark days were before them, severe chastisement must be experienced, and they would soon feel the rod of the oppressor and be exposed to the taunts of the heathen, who would mockingly ask, “Where is the Lord thy God?” But they could rest in the assurance that the Lord would be their Light in darkness; that he would interpose on their behalf, bringing them forth out of the gloom into the light covering their foes with shame, and vindicating his own righteousness. “Rejoice not against me,” etc. (verses 8-10).
III. HER ASSURED VICTORY. (Verses 11-13.) In these verses, speaking, not as the mouthpiece of the good but prophetically as the seer, Micah delivers the assurance he was inspired by God to utter, and bearing upon the time to come. His words, as rendered in the Authorized Version, are somewhat obscure, but we gather from them that a brighter future should dawn upon the world sin had darkened and defiled, and of that glorious era he here speaks. And as his people, in the days when they “sat by the rivers of Babylon, and wept as they remembered Zion,” and thought of the desolation sin had wrought, turned to these and similar assurances of the golden age yet to come, who can tell to what an extent they became nerved afresh and inspired with renewed courage and hope! Even so let those today who grieve, with the good through all ages, over the blighting effects of sin, rejoice in the prospect of the ultimate victory. “Lift up your heads redemption draweth nigh.” Now death reigns and sin triumphs; but ere long grace shall reign through righteousness untoeternal life. Every throe of sorrow is bringing us nearer to the time of the world’s full deliverance from the power of evil. The triumph is sure. “The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.” This suggestive paragraph closes with a note of warning. “Notwithstanding,” etc. (verse 13). There is a glorious future awaiting the Church of God, but meanwhile the work of judgment must be perfected. Notwithstanding the bright prospect here unfolded, sin will assuredly work its dire effects. The triumph of righteousness carries with it the defeat of unrighteousness. One of the poets sings of a bell suspended on the Inchcape rock, that the sound might warn the sailors of their nearness to danger; and tells how pirates cut the bell so as to silence the sound; and how that subsequently these same pirates struck upon the very rock which they had deprived of its means of warning them. Let us not thus treat this note of warning, but be constrained to “break off sin by righteousness,” as it reminds us that “God is not mocked,” and that “whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
Mic 7:7
Waiting for God.
“I will wait for the God of my salvation.” The good, personified, are here represented as declaring that they would place themselves in harmony with the wise and holy will of God; that they would trustingly acquiesce and quietly endure, drawing from intimate personal relationship to God that holy inspiration which would enable them in the dark days now before them, with true heroism to encounter every difficulty, and with calm resignation to bear every sorrow, and to find in so doing tranquillity and peace. “I will wait,” etc. (Mic 7:7).
I. OUR CIRCUMSTANCES IN LIFE OFTEN CALL FOR THE EXERCISE OF THIS SPIRIT OF PATIENT WAITING FOR GOD. It is the method of our God by slow processes to bring to pass all that he has designed, whether in nature, in providence, or in grace. His purposes are gradually evolved. His delays are for wise and gracious reasons. Hence instead of fretting and repining and growing impatient under adversity, as though some strange thing were happening to us, it behoves us to “rest in the Lord,” and so be cheerful even in the night and under the shadow of the cloud, assured that to those rightly exercised by sorrow “tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope” (Rom 5:8, Rom 5:4).
II. THE CHERISHING OF THIS SPIRIT ENNOBLES HUMAN CHARACTER.
1. You see in such a case a man who is continually gaining triumphs where multitudes are worsted and defeated. There are many who can do, but who cannot bear. They can actively serve God and strive to promote the interests of men, but they cannot passively yield themselves up to the will of God, and, without resentment, bear the reproaches of those who seek their hurt. And certainly the man who is able to do this is the more royal. Who can doubt the wisdom of Solomon when he said, “He that ruleth his spirit is better than he that taketh a city” (Pro 16:32)?
2. You see in such a case a man who is clearly under the influence of high Christian motives. The influences which impel a man calmly and trustingly to submit to God’s all-wise but often inscrutable appointments, are not human, but Divine. There is nothing in mere earthly considerations that is at all calculated to inspire this patience. It is only as we bring the realities of eternity to bear upon our present experiences that we become lifted up to a higher realm, and are enabled patiently to endure.
III. BY THIS PATIENT WAITING GOD IS GLORIFIED AND SERVED. The thought of service to God is too often restricted to active endeavour. It is overlooked that he may be nerved by us passively as well as actively; by quiet resignation to his will as well as by open and earnest toil in seeking the good of others. “They also serve who only stand and wait.” Great was the service rendered by the Man Christ Jesus as he traversed the cities and villages of Palestine, going about doing good, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God; but yet higher service was rendered by him as with holy resignation he acquiesced in the great Father’s will and “endured the cross, despising the shame.”
IV. THIS WAITING FOR THE LORD SHALL IN NO WISE LOSE ITS REWARD. There shall be ultimate deliverance; salvation shall come, and the thankful acknowledgment shall be, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he hath saved us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will evermore be glad and rejoice in his salvation” (Isa 25:9).
Mic 7:8, Mic 7:9
From darkness into light.
“When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a Light unto me.. He will bring me forth to the light.” The Bible is “the heart book of the world.” ‘In order to the unravelment of its deep spiritual teaching, we must study it in the light of our own soul experiences – of our joys and sorrows and needs. It is one thing to be able to understand the volume in the meaning of its words and the construction of its phrases and forms of expression; but it is quite another thing to feel that it is ours to enter into the inward experiences of God’s saints of old, through whom he speaks to us in these wondrous pagesexperiences by which he has fitted them to be his messengers of help and hope to the world; and to enter into these we must bring our hearts as well as our intellects to the study of the book, and endeavour to trace the application of its teachings to the wants and aspirations of the human spirit. Notice in the human experience here described
I. DARKNESS. The adverse influences of life are thus symbolized. We are constantly attended by these. It must be so. Human life is a pilgrimage, and no traveller can expect to reach the end of his journey without feeling weary and worn. It is a voyage, and hence we must encounter storms. The world is a stage, and we are the players, and although to outward appearances it may seem that we are acting our respective parts with ease, who can tell what anxiety is encountered behind the scenes? These adverse influences meet us in life’s daily duties. They are often occasioned by differences in temper and disposition, giving rise to misunderstanding; or by the temporal circumstances being straitened; or by prolonged and tedious suspense in reference to the success or failure of certain projects; or by baffled hopes and expecta
tions. They come to us in the form of the sorrows of life. There is failure of health, with the anxious days and weary nights it brings to the household. There is bereavement, with its attendant grief and gloom. There are also cruel misrepresentations, malicious censures, unjust reproaches (Mic 7:10). And these adverse influences follow in quick succession.
When sorrows come, they come not single spies,
But in battalions”
They fill the heart with sadness, and there settles down upon the troubled spirit the darkness of night. “I sit in darkness.”
II. LIGHT IN DARKNESS. Light is revealing, restoring, gladdening, in its effects. Under its influence that which was before concealed becomes manifest to us; new life is put into us, and joy and gladness become inspired within. So shall it be with the good in a spiritual sense. In their gloomiest seasons these gracious influences shall be experienced by them by reason of the presence with them of the Lord their God. It is not so much that the Lord will cause light to break in upon them (although that is gloriously true), as that he himself will be with them as their Light. “When I sit in darkness the Lord shall be a Light unto me;” “The Lord is my Light and my Salvation.” (Psa 27:1); “In his favour is life” (Psa 30:5). Light in darkness, springing from the conscious presence of the Lord, is the thought here expressed. And in the next verse is the additional, yet closely related thought of
III. PASSING OUT OF DARKNESS INTO THE LIGHT. “He will bring me forth to the light” (Mic 7:9). So has it been in the past in the experience of the good. Jacob (comp. Gen 42:36. with Gen 45:26-28); Elijah; the Sunammite; the Captivity (comp. Psa 123:1-4. with Psa 126:1-6.). So still to all trusting hearts; and so hereafter, “The Lord shall be thine everlasting Light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended” (Isa 60:20).
Mic 7:14-17
Prayer and its response.
How mysteriously great is the privilege of prayer! How wonderful that finite creatures may thus draw near to the Infinite, carrying their needs into the Divine presence, breathing their desires into the ear of God, and obtaining from him all required mercy and grace! We think of the patriarch who, weary and worn with his wanderings, slept, with a stone for his pillow, and we speak of the ladder he beheld connecting the spot where he lay with the very throne of God, as his vision; but the thought of prayer changes this into a blessed reality, for communication between earth and heaven has been established, and thus human spirits rise to God, and enrichments descend from him to satisfy men’s deepest needs! Prayer, in the highest conception of it, is a thoughtful communion with God. It is intercourse with God. It is sympathetic contact with him. It is an exercise in which we engage that we may have fellowship with the Invisible, and may thus understand the Divine will, and become increasingly disposed to become obedient thereunto. Helpful, indeed, is the influence we derive from communion with the pure and holy amongst men; then say how elevating must be contact with him who is perfect in purity, the Eternal Spirit! But prayer is also supplication. We have wants. God has constituted us dependent beings. Needs, both temporal and spiritual, press upon us at times with a heavy weight. And prayer is the soul, deeply conscious of these necessities, coming to God with intense desire seeking their supply. Our supplications, however, should rise beyond our own individual wants. Prayer should be presented by us on behalf of others. In this holy exercise we should seize upon interests broader than those pertaining to our own personal life, and, with a true concern, should bear these up before the throne of God. As the great Intercessor pleads for us before his Father’s throne, so we also in our measure are to be intercessors for men. The Prophet Micah comes before us in these verses as exercising this intercessory function. Note here
I. THE DEVOTED SEER PLEADING WITH GOD ON BEHALF OF HIS PEOPLE. (Verse 14.) Observe:
1. He makes mention of their peculiar relationship to the Most High:
(1) As being his chosen servants. “Thy people;” “the flock of thine inheritance.”
(2) As separated from the nations to his praise: “which dwell solitarily.”
2. He recalls the frowner manifestations to them of the Divine goodness in the bestowment of rich blessings. “The days of old.”
3. He supplicates the Divine Shepherd to be with them in the dark days now before them, sustaining them and enriching them with plenty (verse 14).
II. THE DIVINE RESPONSE TO THE EARNEST SUPPLICATION OF THE PROPHET.
1. The prophet was assured that there should be deliverance wrought for his people by Divine interposition (verse 15).
2. It was declared to him that the foes who would triumph over them should ultimately be covered with confusion and shame (verses 16, 17). Intercessory prayer is still an essential part of the ministry of the Church; it is mighty and prevailing; it commands and wields the forces of heaven. “The effectual fervent prayer of s righteous man availeth much” (Jas 5:16).
Mic 7:18, Mic 7:19
The forgiving God.
No words could possibly have been more appropriate than these by way of bringing this brief book of prophecy to a close. When we think of the degenerate character of the age in which this prophet lived, and when we remember that he had constantly to deal with human guilt and depravity, to declare the Divine judgments, and to endeavour by warnings and threatenings to bring home to men a sense of their sinfulness,what could be more fitting than that, in closing his contribution to the Divine oracles, he should expatiate, as he does here so impressively, upon Jehovah as being the forgiving God. His design in these verses clearly was to extol the grace and mercy of the Lord his God. As he thought of the Divine forgiving love, he felt that with the Most High none can compare. With warmest admiration, combined with the profoundest adoration, he asks, “Who is aged like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage?” (Mic 7:18). And instead of attempting to answer his own inquiry, he indicates what his answer would be by enlarging yet further upon God’s pardoning grace: “He retaineth not,” etc. (Mic 7:18, Mic 7:19). Let us reflect upon the incomparableness of the Lord our God, viewed as the Divine Forgiver. Consider
I. WHAT THIS DIVINE FORGIVENESS IMPLIES.
1. The great fact of sin. There are those who have endeavoured to explain away this solemn fact of sin; who contend that there is not to be found in man any intentional preference of wrong to right; that what we call sin is something predicable of society rather than of the individual; that man himself is right enough, but lacks the science required to organize society rightly; and that what we call sin is after all only the development of these discordant causes in society. See Bushnell’s reply to this, setting forth on this theory our inconsistency in blaming the persons by whom sinful acts have been wrought, and in censuring ourselves when we have done unworthy acts, etc. (‘Nature and the Supernatural,’ Mic 5:1-15.). There is no escape from admitting the great fact of sin. The Word is unerring as it declares that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23); that “there is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Rom 3:12); and that “every mouth must be stopped, and the whole world stand guilty before God” (Rom 3:19).
2. The Divine interposition with a view to the deliverance of the race from this terrible blight. We can form no true conception of the Divine forgiveness unless these facts of personal guilt and transgression, and of the Divine interposition in order to our deliverance, are kept prominently before us. And even at this stage our admiration is called into exercise, and we cry, “Who is a God like unto thee?” This is intensified as we consider
II. WHAT THIS DIVINE FORGIVENESS INCLUDES. It includes deliverance from the sad consequences of sire Note what these are.
1. Mark the consequences of sin to the individual.
(1) There is loss of power. Every spiritual defeat is attended by the weakening of moral strength.
(2) There is disquietude of conscience.
(3) Separation from God. There can be no communion where there is contrariety of nature. “How can two walk together except they be agreed?”
(4) Suffering and death. The connection between the spirit and the body is so intimate that the body necessarily suffers through the disorganization sin has wrought in the soul.
2. Consequences resulting to society. These also are sad and distressing. “The bad inheritance passes, and fears, frauds, crimes against property, character, and life, abuses of power, oppressions of the weak, persecutions of the good, piracies, wars of revolt, wars of conquest, are the staple of the world’s bitter history. It is a pitiless and dreadful power, as fallen society must necessarily be”. The Divine forgiveness means deliverance from all these sad consequences of evil It is not a bare pardon merely, but it carries with it enfranchisement from the blighting effects of evil There is the impartation to the forgiven of a Divine power, an inward spiritual force to enable them to resist the evil and downward tendencies; the lost power is restored, and which is mighty in “subduing our iniquities” (verse 19). There is the impartation to the forgiven of peace of conscience; the discordant and disturbing elements are hushed; the harmonies are restored. There is the experience of renewed communion with the Eternal. The soul, accepted and renewed, would ever abide at the feet of the Lord. There is oneness and agreement now, and hence fellowship is possible and practicable, yea, is felt to be desirable and essential “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” And whilst suffering and death remain, yet by a Divine alchemy the character of these life sorrows becomes entirely changed, and they cease to he viewed as harsh inflictions, but are accepted as the loving discipline by which the Divine Father renders the character perfect and entire, whilst “the sting of death” having been taken away, the terror also is gone. And as men become thus brought into this holy experience will the regeneration of the world and its complete deliverance from evil be brought to pass. What a fulness of meaning, then, there is when God is spoken of as “pardoning iniquity”! And as we think how that this forgiveness carries with it all the privileges, honours, and enjoyments here and hereafter of the spiritual life, our admiration of him who has made all this possible to the individual and the race rises higher still, and we cry with wondering and adoring love, “Who is a God like unto thee?”
III. WHAT THIS DIVINE FORGIVENESS INVOLVES.
1. It has involved on the part of God all that is comprehended in the gift and work of his Son Jesus Christ; for it is through Christ alone that this forgiveness of sin is secured. “In him have we redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of our sins” (Col 1:14). It involved the heavenly Shepherd’s coming forth to seek his lost and fallen world. “The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luk 19:10). Lo! the Christ of God, the Gift of the Father’s love, clothed himself in our humanity, obeyed the Law we had broken, atoned for sin in the death of the cross, that we might not perish, that we might exchange the wilderness for the fold, be lifted out of the lost condition into hope, dignity, and character here, and be raised hereafter to immortal purity, peace, and joy. The power of human language is too weak adequately to describe the love of God as expressed even in the minutest of his doings; but in reference to this seeking the erring, with a view to their restoration, it signally fails, and we can only adoringly cry, “Who is a God like unto thee?”
2. On the part of man this Divine forgiveness involves penitence and faith. “Repent ye, and believe the gospel” (Mar 1:15). On conditions thus simple the vilest transgressor may find mercy of the Lord. And if there is another thought which leads us to feel this pardoning love of God to be the more wonderful, it is the remembrance that he has not only provided the pardon, but even condescends to plead with men, that they may be led to fulfil the righteous conditions and to receive the boon (Isa 1:18; Rev 3:20). Let us not repel him who has come to bless us by turning us away from our iniquities, but rather give him a hearty greeting. Then, with this ancient seer and with the forgiven through all ages, we shall cry, with hearts overflowing, with love and praise, “Who is a God like unto thee?” (verses 18, 19).
Mic 7:20
The Divine promises and their fulfilment.
These words bear upon them the impress of deep human experience. They form the crowning testimony of a man who had long proved the reality of that which they affirm. In closing his book of prophecy he would, with all his heart and soul, affix his seal to the bright declaration that God is ever faithful and true. Jehovah was to him a living reality, the centre of his affections and the strength of his heart. “He endured as seeing him who is invisible.” And Divine, indeed, is that trust in the eternal Lord which fires the soul and nerves it for entering into “the holy war;” which stands the warrior in good stead, and proves invulnerable whilst he engages in the strife; and which also, when the good soldier, having fought well and grown grey in the service, begins to lay aside his armour and quietly to await the summons to the presence and joy of the Lord he has served, proves his consolation and support. Micah doubtless had in mind the rich promises given by God, first to Abraham, and then reiterated to Jacob, that they should be blessed and multiplied, and that through their line lasting blessings should flow to all the families of the earth (Gen 22:16-18; Gen 28:13, Gen 28:14). Notice
I. HE REPRESENTS THE DIVINE PROMISES AS CHARACTERIZED BY “MERCY” AND “TRUTH.” “The truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham” (verse 20). The expression is, at first sight, rather peculiar; yet it may easily be explained. By “mercy” we understand favour shown to the undeserving. Grand hero as Abraham was, there was nothing in him to merit such distinguishing honour as was conferred upon him. The choice was altogether traceable to the abounding mercy and grace of God. So also with Jacob, who, at the outset of his career, was about as unlovely as man could well be. Then why, it may be asked, the change in the form of expression? Why not “the mercy to Abraham” and the mercy to Jacob”? Why “the mercy to Abraham and the “truth to Jacob”? Simply to introduce the additional thought of “truth.” “Truth” here means the bringing into clearer light that which had been partially hinted at. “What was free mercy to Abraham became, when God had once promised it, his truth” (Pusey). And his revelation of truth became clearer and brighter, until at length he appeared in whom both “grace and truth” came in their unveiled clearness and their unrestricted fulness.
II. HE TRACES THESE DIVINE PROMISES AS HAVING THEIR SOURCE AND SPRING IN THE ETERNAL LOVE OF GOD.” From the days of old” i.e. from eternity, God has cherished the loving purpose of enriching us thus. It is not “a modern project, but an ancient charter.”
III. HE REJOICES IN THE ASSURANCE THAT THESE DIVINE PROMISES SHALL BE UNDOUBTEDLY FULFILLED. “Thou wilt perform,” etc. This assurance rested on the Divine pledge (“which thou hast sworn unto our fathers”), and which the faithful Promiser is both able and willing to redeem. “He cannot deny himself” (2Ti 2:13). In building the temple of Solomon two pillars were set up in the porch of the edificethe left one being called Boaz, i.e. “In God is strength;” and the other on the right being named Jachin, i.e. “He will establish”thus beautifully associating together the thoughts of God’s ability and his willing resolve to bless. Let these thoughts dwell in our minds respecting him, for on these pillars our faith and hope may ever securely rest.
HOMILIES BY E.S. PROUT
Mic 7:1, Mic 7:2
A moral dearth in the land.
The prophet, speaking in the name of the godly remnant of the land, laments their terrible isolation. We are thus reminded of the sad condition of a land in which there is a dearth of good men. For:
1. They are the choice fruit of the landwholesome, fragrant, delicious. The ideal Israel is compared to “grapes” and “the first ripe in the fig tree” (Hoe. 9:10). The Lord “taketh pleasure” in such; they satisfy the hunger of the Divine heart for godliness in the creature (Psa 147:11; Psa 149:4; Pro 11:20). So far as they share the spirit of Christ, they are, like him, “beloved of God,” and should be attractive to men.
2. They are the salt of the earththe one element that preserves from universal corruption. The picture presented to us is the gradual dying out of the godly; they “cease” (Psa 12:1), they “perish” (Isa 57:1). Some few remain, “two or three in the top of the uttermost bough,” which were not touched, or those unripe which were but imperfect and poor, or those which had fallen, “and thus were fouled and stained, and yet were not utterly carried away.” The promise, “Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children” (Psa 45:16), is no longer fulfilled. The sons and daughters of the godly do not rise up to fill their places in the Church The few godly survivors are heard lamenting and longing for the pious companions of former days; “my soul desireth the first ripe fig” (desiderio tam cari capitis). The fewer the good that remain, the more difficult it is for them to retain the fervour of their piety. Embers dispersed soon die out. It is hard to keep up a June temperature under December skies. From this dearth of the godly many evils follow. There is a loss of confidence, first in spiritual fellowship, and then in social relations (Mic 7:5). There is a loosening of the most sacred family bends. Depravity and degradation become deeper and darker (Mic 7:3, Mic 7:4). The little remnant of God’s servants are increasingly depressed and discouraged: “Woe is me!” (cf. Psa 120:5; Isa 6:5). This results from constant contact with sin and from the heart-sickness which it causes; “great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart” (Rom 9:2). Thus we learn:
1. The greatest calamity to a nation is not war, pestilence, or famine, but the withholding of the Spirit of grace to convert the hearts of men, and consequently the dying out of the righteous. The famine of bread is bad; the famine “of hearing the words of the Lord” is worse. But worst of all is the dearth of living witnesses for God in the land.
2. The winning of souls to God is the greatest wisdom and the most enlightened patriotism.
3. The welfare of a nation is bound up with the living God, the true Church, and believing prayer.E.S.P.
Mic 7:3
Earnest sinners.
A contrast is suggested between various grades of evil doing. Some are. not so much active as passive in sin. They drift; they are led; when sinners entice them they “consent,” perhaps reluctantly at first. For want of resisting power they are found walking “in the counsel of the ungodly.” Ere long they bestir themselves to gratify some sinful desire. At first they are half-hearted in the service of sin, for memory and conscience still restrain them. “Their heart is divided,” and it is only one band they stretch out to grasp the forbidden fruit. Their other hand has gill hold on the book of the Law of their God which they learned at their mother’s knee. They soon find that they cannot serve two masters. The book of God is dropped; the hand that held it, released from the mysterious magnetic power which the Bible exerts on those that study it, is stretched out to cooperate with its fellow in deeds of sin. Practice makes perfect; the appetite grows by what it feeds upon; and soon the transgressor, who not so long ago blushed even at the enticements to sin that were addressed to him, now is foremost among those who “do evil with both blinds earnestly.” In these earnest sinners we note the following points.
1. Unity of purpose. They are men of one ideahow to please themselves. As they have abandoned all thought of seeking their pleasure in doing the will of God, and doing “good unto all men;” they concentrate their energies, “both hands,” on gratifying every desire whatever the cost may be.
2. Perversion of conscience. We are reminded of this by Jerome’s rendering, “They call the evil of their hands good.” They speak of the evil done as “well done.” They could hardly be so earnest in sin unless they had in some way perverted conscience. Some of the forms of iniquity disclosed in Mic 7:3-6 imply this. And certainly this is one of the most fatal results of sinning. Acts of sin form habits of sinning which react on the judgment and pervert it till the doom is incurred, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil!” etc. (Isa 5:20).
3. A conspiracy of men of influence. We expect a certain amount of crime and moral obliquity in what has been called the residuum of society; but profligacy in high places is a scandal and “a reproach to any people.” See Jeremiah’s experience (Jer 5:1-5). Wherever the infection began, it has spread now to the court and the judgment hall: “Death is entered into our palaces.” There is such a dearth of good men (verses 1, 2) that the restraint of their protests, or even of the silent testimony of their presence, is awanting. The princes expect bribes, or “black mail.” The judges judge for reward. The testimony of contemporaneous and later prophets on this point is very strong (Isa 1:23; Eze 22:27; Hos 4:18; Amo 5:12). And they veil these crimes under milder names. The prince demands, but calls it “asking.” The judge’s bribe is called a reward for service rendered. The great man hesitates not to “utter his mischievous desire” in the presence of meaner men, who, he knows, will be ready enough to carry it out, if they can thus curry favour with him or earn money, though it be the price of blood; “thus they weave it together” (Revised Version). Illustrate by the conspiracy of Ahab, Jezebel, and the elders and nobles in the robbery and murder of Naboth.
4. We see this infection extending to the most sacred scenes of family life. What a terrible picture is suggested by verses 5, 61 The great men who have conspired in crime carry the contagion home with them. They cannot leave their sin on the threshold, like an infected garment. Their children catch the plague. Even a wife is not above suspicion. Thus curses come home to roost. The sins of the fathers are visited upon the children. Families are demoralized. “The end of those things is death.”
Learn.
1. Earnestness is not in itself an excellent thing. The devil is terribly in earnest, “going about as a roaring lion,” etc. (1Pe 5:8). False teachers are sometimes more earnest than the true. “They zealously seek you in no good way” (Gal 4:17). Earnestness may be as glowing as a fire, and as destructive.
2. Earnest sinners should be a motive and stimulus to the servants of Christ. If they are so eager in the work of destruction, what manner of persons ought we to be in the work of salvation? Yet some move neither hand, but stand all the day idle. Others are half-hearted, and therefore ply their work with but one hand, not devoting all their faculties to him whom they own as both Redeemer and Lord. Illustrate from King Joash’s interview with Elisha (2Ki 13:14 19). Loyalty to our Saviour-King demands concentration of energy and enthusiasm of devotion, that we may do good “with both hands earnestly.”E.S.P.
Mic 7:7
A soul shut up to God.
The word “therefore,” or the term in the Revised Version, “but as for me,” marks the transition from a terrible necessity to a priceless privilege. It was a time when it was needful to be suspicious of those who ought to have been worthy of unlimited confidence. Neither a companion nor a familiar friend, nor even a child or a wife, could be trusted (Mic 7:5, Mic 7:6). Such had been the experience of many in the past. Samson had been betrayed by his tribesmen, his friend, hie father-in-law (Jdg 14:20), and her that “lay in his bosom.” David had found his confidence betrayed by the men of Judah (1Sa 23:12, 1Sa 23:19), by Joab (2Sa 3:22-39), by Ahithophel, and by Absalom. As it was in the days of Micah, so would it be in the days of Jesus Christ, when many of his disciples would go back and walk no more with him, and when an apostle would betray him. No wonder that some of his servants are called to a similar experience (Mat 10:24, Mat 10:34-36). The prospect manward is thus dark and depressing in the extreme. Note what a disintegrating and destructive force sin is. It not only separates between man and God (Isa 59:2), but has a tendency to alienate friends, to break up families, to destroy human confidences, and gender a pessimism which finds expression in the passionate, though not deliberate, verdict of the psalmist, “All men are liars.” If we cannot repose confidence in others, can we trust in ourselves? Our consciousness of sin and utter failure forbids this (verses 8, 9; Jer 17:9). Thus we are utterly shut up to God. A military man, suffering from some obscure disease of the mind, was in the habit of promenading in a certain track on the ramparts, after sunset. When he walked eastward, and had nothing but the dark sky to look on, extreme dejection oppressed his clouded mind. But no sooner did he turn towards the west, where his eyes caught the brightness left by the sun that had set, than hope and peace revived in his heart. There are times when, if we look anywhere but towards God, our Sun, we may feel ready to despond or despair. Then we know what it is to be shut up to God. “But as for me, I will look unto the Lord.” That look implies hope: “I will wait;” and faith: “My God will hear me.” When we thus look, wait, trust, our thoughts may express themselves in the following thoughts about God, and our “meditation of him shall be sweet.”
I. HOW MUCH WE HAVE IN GOD.
1. His name, Jehovah, describes his nature. He is the eternal, unchangeable, faithful, covenant keeping God. He revealed himself by that new name when he came as the Redeemer of his distressed people. And this Jehovah is “my God.” Martin Luther remarks, “There is a great deal of divinity in the pronouns.” The theology taught in the term “my God” is worth more than all the lectures ever given on “the attributes.”
2. The figures employed for God remind us of the treasure we have in him. Look, for example, at a single group of figures in the sixty-second psalm. There God is described as “my Rock,” on which I can safely rest and securely build; as “my high Tower” (Revised Version); “my strong Habitation, whereunto I may continually resort” (Psa 71:3); and therefore as “my Refuge,” where I may be safe from the sword of the avenger of blood, or from any other foe. The city of Metz prided itself in the name “La Pucelle,” the virgin fortress; but in October, 1870, its fair fame was tarnished by its fall, and its inhabitants were at the mercy of their foes. But no such disaster can ever overtake those who can say of the Lord, “Fie is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God; in him will I trust.”
II. HOW MUCH WE MAY EXPECT FROM GOD. “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.” Among the blessings we may expect are the two crowning mercies which the prophet claims by faith.
1. Answers to prayer; which will be definite, appropriate, decisive (“My God will hear me”), such as God’s servants of old received; e.g. Jacob (Gen 32:1-32.), Moses (Num 14:18-20), Asa (2Ch 14:11, 2Ch 14:12), Jehoshaphat (2Ch 20:1-37.). These prayers will bring:
2. Deliverance; for “my God” is “the God of my salvation.” Thus in the midst of dangers from without or from within we can say, with the psalmist,” I shall not be greatly moved” (Psa 62:2). Like the rockingstones on the Cornish coast, we may at tunes be slightly shaken but not “greatly moved;” moved, but not removed. Like the magnet, we may oscillate for a time, and be slightly affected by changing conditions, but never greatly moved from our purpose of witnessing faithfully for God and his truth. Yet our confidence in regard to our stability is not in ourselves, but in our God, in “the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
III. HOW WORTHY HE IS OF UNLIMITED CONFIDENCE. “I will look;” “I will wait;” “My soul, wait thou only upon God;” “Trust in him at all times.” “It is comparatively easy,” says Dr. Edward Payson, “to wait upon God, but to wait upon him onlyto feel, so far as our strength, happiness, and usefulness are concerned, as if all creatures and second causes were annihilated, and we were alone in the universe with God is, I suspect a difficult and rare attainment.” This is the unlimited confidence to which we aspire. Then we may not only wait upon God, but wait for God, leaving the tune and method of our deliverance to him (Psa 37:7-9; Psa 130:5, Psa 130:6). Then we shall not only be shut up to God, but shut in with God (Psa 91:1). With God on our side we are in the majority. “How many do you count me for?” asked an ancient commander of an officer who was alarmed at the disparity of the forces they could array against the foe. “I will fear no evil, for thou art with me.”
“Be thou my God, and the whole world is mine;
Whilst thou art Sovereign, I’m secure;
I shall be rich till thou art poor;
For all I fear and all I wish, heaven,
Earth, and hell are thine.”
E.S.P.
Mic 7:8, Mic 7:9
God the Vindicator of the penitent.
The truths here taught might be applied to the people of Israel, with whom the prophet identifies himself, when humbled before exulting foes like the Edomites (Oba 1:8-15) or their Chaldean conquerors. Light came to them in Babylon, through the witness borne by Daniel and his friends, the ministry of Ezekiel, the favour of Cyrus, and above all by their deliverance from the curse of idolatry before their restoration to their land. They may be applied also to a Church in a depressed or fallen state. A godly remnant could yet look forward to deliverance and revival. E.g. Sardis (Rev 3:1-5). We may also use the words as describing the experience of a sinner humbled before God and man. Notice
I. HIS PRESENT STATE.
1. He has fallen. Then he had stood before. He has been no hypocrite, but a pilgrim on the highway from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City. Like Christian in Bunyan’s immortal allegory, he has been confronted by Apollyon. In the struggle he has been wounded in the head, the hand, and the foot. “Then Apollyon, espying his opportunity, began to gather up close to Christian, and, wrestling with him, gave him a dreadful fall; and with that Christian’s sword flew out of his hand.” Prostrate and powerless, he seems “drawn unto death and ready to be slain.”
2. He sits in darkness. A hardened sinner in such a crisis may have a light, such as it is (“Walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled,” Isa 50:11). But the fallen Christian is heard bemoaning himself (Job 29:2, Job 29:3). The sun, the light of God’s countenance, is gone. It is a night of mist. Not even a star of promise can be seen except when the mist is for a moment or two dispersed before a rising breath of the Divine Comforter, who, though grieved, will not depart.
3. He is exposed to the indignation of the Lord. He cannot attribute his darkness to sickness or nervous depression. In the gloom caused by conscience he sees the shadow caused by the righteous anger of God. “Therefore we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness,” “For our transgressions are multiplied,” etc. (verses 9, 12).
4. He has to bear the scorn of men. His enemies rejoice. This makes the cup of bitterness overflow. The self-righteous formalist thanks God he is not as other men, or even at this Christian. The profligate man finds one more excuse for asserting that there is no such thing as real religion (cf. Psa 35:15, Psa 35:16, Psa 35:21, Psa 35:25). We can imagine the morbid curiosity in the streets of Jerusalem, when it began to be whispered that a dark deed had been committed in the palace of King David, and that Uriah’s death had been procured by foul means. Would not the men of Belial mock at the royal psalmistseducermurderer Samuel Eze 12:14)? How the soldiers and the servants round the fire within the judgment must have chuckled while Peter was weeping without! The world may hold its most riotous carnival, not when martyrs are burning at the stake, or their dead bodies are lying in the street of Sodom, but when the Saviour is wounded in the house of his friends, and the Church is mourning over the lost reputations of its fallen members (Luk 17:1).
II. THE GROUNDS OF HIS CONFIDENCE FOR THE FUTURE. The fallen Christian looks forward to rising again. He anticipates a new day when the Sun of Righteousness shall again rise on him. He speaks boldly (Eze 12:8). This is either the grossest presumption or the noblest faith. It is like Samson’s boast, “I will go out as at other times;” or like David’s trustful anticipation, “Then will I teach transgressors thy ways,” etc. That these words are no vain vaunting we learn from the grounds of his confidence.
1. He resolves quietly to endure God‘s chastening strokes. Such submission is one sign of genuine repentance. Illust.: The Jews in captivity (Le 26:40-42, “and they then accept, the punishment of their iniquity; then will I remember my covenant, etc.); Eli (1Sa 3:18); David, all through his long chastisement (see e.g, 2Sa 12:20; 2Sa 15:25, 2Sa 15:26; 2Sa 16:11; cf. Job 34:1-37 :81; Lam 3:39; Heb 12:5-7).
2. He puts his trust entirely is God. He has just before (Eze 12:7) spoken of himself as shut up to God. Again he returns to him and repeatedly expresses his faith, “The Lord shall be a Light unto me: he shall plead my cause: he will bring me forth to the light.” His godly sorrow and cheerful submission are signs that there is a mystic film, a spiritual cord that binds him, even in his fallen state, to his Father-God And he has promises to plead (Psa 37:24; Pro 24:16). Illust.: Jonah (Jon 2:3, Jon 2:4), St. Paul (Rom 7:24, Rom 7:25). Grievous as are the sins of God’s adopted children, they are provided for: “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin”if any one of you little children sin, grievous and aggravated as your sin may be”we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is the Propitiation for our sins” (1Jn 2:1, 1Jn 2:2). God vindicates such a penitent. He restores his soul. He renews his peace. He re-establishes his tarnished reputation. He puts a new song in his mouth (Psa 40:1-3; Isa 12:1, Isa 12:2; Isa 57:18, Isa 57:19).E.S.P.
Mic 7:13
The fruit of their doings.
This expression is a most suggestive one. It occurs three times in the Prophet Jeremiah. In Jer 17:10 God declares, as one of the signs of his omniscient, heart-searching power, that he can not only recompense each individual according to his ways, but “according to the fruit of his doings.“ In Jer 21:14 a similar declaration is addressed to the royal house of David: “I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings.” And in Jer 32:17-19 the prophet expresses his admiration at the discriminating omnipotence of God”great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thine eyes are open upon the ways of the sons of men: to give unto every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.” Our text calls for exposition and admits of illustration.
I. EXPOSITION. An act is one thing; the fruit of that act is another thing. By fruit we understand that which is the natural result of the acts we perform. Those natural results under the reign of moral law we might foresee. Acts, like trees, bring forth fruit “after their kind.” For such fruit we are held responsible. Responsibility varies according to knowledge acquired or attainable. A child’s falsehood, though fraught with lifelong disasters, is lees criminal than the less injurious lie of an adult. But we cannot disconnect our acts and their fruit. We cannot kill them in the seed, or nip them in the bud, or blight them in the flower; they will bear fruit of some kind. We are not held responsible for what we may call the accidental issues of our acts Our good may be evil spoken of. The most unjustifiable inferences may be drawn from our words or deeds. Our Lord’s teaching has been the occasion of discord in families and strife in states (Mat 10:34-36). St. Paul’s doctrine was perverted (Rom 3:8). A clear judgment is needed to discern what will be the natural effect of our conduct. We may not, dare not, leave our influence on others out of the account. We must use the enlightening Word, and pray for the aid of the illuminating Spirit, that we may acquire an enlightened conscience. And then we must seek so to live that the fruit of our doings will bring honour to God and be for our own “praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.”
II. ILLUSTRATION. Our first class of illustrations will be those in which the fruit of our doings, like the fruit of the tree in the garden, is “good ‘ and “pleasant to the eyes,” and “to Be desired” as food for the soul,, through all eternity.
1. The life and work of Jesus Christ. The “good Master” “went about doing good.” He did the will of him that sent him, and in doing it “became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross,” What is the fruit of these doings? Eternity alone can reveal. His reward will be according to itaccording to the glory brought to God and the blessedness to men (Isa 53:11,Isa 53:12).
2. The characters and labours of devoted servants of Christ. The life and work of Christ is a pattern and an encouragement to all his followers (Luk 6:40). Sow now the seed of Christian bring and doing. It may seem to be lost, like the seed cast on the surface of flooded lands, but you shall find it after many days. You may die without seeing the fruitage in this life; you may rest from your labours, but your works will follow you (Gal 6:7-9). Incidents confirming this frequently come to light. At a Unitarian anniversary in New England a few years ago, one of the ministers, speaking of the small results of his work, added, “It must be remembered where my field is. The Connecticut valley is the home of Jonathan Edwards, and though he has been dead a century, he is a great name and a power for orthodoxy through all that country today.” A devoted Pastor, Rev. Thomas Hall, laboured for twenty-seven years at Heckmondwike, Yorkshire amid great discouragement because he saw so little fruit from his labours. His successor could report that for a long time after his death most of those who were added to the fellowship of the Curch acknowledged their indebtedness to their deceased pastor for their first religious impressions or some other special spiritual help. Take courage, fellow labourers. If you seem to have laboured in vain, you can add, “My judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God” (Isa 49:4). He will recompense you according to the natural results of your life’s work, “the fruit of your doings” (Isa 3:10). Yet this fruit must vary with the quality of our work (see this lesson taught in 1Co 3:8-15). But the truth of our text has its shady as well as its sunny side.
3. A nation will be recompensed according to its national sins and the fruit of them. Illust.: Great Britain and the opium traffic. Even national repentance and reformation may not avert some of the disastrous consequences of past transgressions. Colonial slavery has left some of its foul stains on the present generation.
4. Sinners must await “the harvest“ which is “the end of the world“ before they can receive the just recompense of their deeds. William Cowper, in a letter to John Newton, alluding to the translation of Homer on which he was engaged, says very truly, “An author had need narrowly to watch his pen, lest a line should escape it which by possibility may do mischief when he has been long dead and buried. What we have done when we have written a book will never be known till the day of judgment; then the account will be liquidated, and all the good that it has occasioned will witness either for or against us.” Homer himself supplies an illustration of this. We are told it was the ‘Iliad’ that did much to mould the character of Alexander of Macedon. The life of Alexander was the inspiration of two other notorious warriorsJulius Caesar and Charles XII. of Sweden. In contrast to the posthumous influence of Jonathan Edwards, there stands on record the baneful effect on a village in Berkshire of the infidel, wit, and libertine, Lord Bolingbroke. He died in 1751; but he had so poisoned the minds of the poor villagers against religion, that three quarters of a century afterwards “the fruit of his doings” was most distinctly to be traced. Nor need our acts be flagrantly evil to bring forth hitter fruit. The neglect of duty tends to make others neglect it, and thus to leave that duty altogether undone. The neglect of “assembling ourselves together” in public worship tends to the dissolution of such assemblies and the abandonment of such worship. The fruit of secret discipleship would be the dying out of Christian Churches. What can be the fruit of sin but sorrow, suffering, loss? “The harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow” (Isa 17:11). Even though sin be forgiven through repentance and faith, the consequences of misused or wasted years will remain. And as those consequences, ever widening, cannot be summed up till the great day of God, “we must all be made manifest before the judgment seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” Let us therefore “make it our aim to be well pleasing unto him” (2Co 5:9, 2Co 5:10).E.S.P.
Mic 7:18, Mic 7:19
Matchless mercy.
“The Lord thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the Lord thy God loved thee.” These words of Moses receive a striking illustration in the fact that every one of the “minor” prophets who threatens judgments against Israel ends by promises of deliverance which anticipate the days of the Messiah. In none is this more strikingly seen than in Micah. In this chapter the prophet, who has been lamenting the universal corruption of the people (verses 1-6), finds comfort in God alone, to whom he looks with submission and hope, and obtains an assurance of renewed Divine favour when the chastisement is past (verses 7-15). This encourages him to pray (verse 14). His prayer is answered by a promise of deliverance such as God accomplished for his people in Egypt (verses 15-17). Upon this he breaks forth in adoration of God’s matchless mercy, and anticipates the fulfilment of promises which would only be realized by the coming of the long looked for Deliverer (verses 18-20; and cf. Luk 1:70-75). This matchless mercy is shown both in God’s essential character and in his treatment of sinners. Each clause suggests some fresh thought on this attractive subject.
I. “WHO IS A GOD LIKE UNTO THEE?” The reference to the Exodus (verse 15) reminds us of Moses’ words (Exo 15:11). If there is none like God, “glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders,” what wonder can be so great as deliverance from sin? If even ungodly men are charmed rote adoration for a brief period as some deliverance from danger, how profoundly and unceasingly should we adore and glorify God for salvation from sin, which is a more dreadful evil than cholera, lunacy, or death! Notice how a question like this is often asked or answered; e.g. in regard to God’s power (Deu 33:26), his faithfulness (1Ki 8:23), his deliverance of the oppressed (Psa 35:10), his condescension to the lowly (Psa 113:5, Psa 113:6). In a word, in his character and in all his dealings he stands alone (Psa 89:6-8).
II. “THAT PARDONETH INIQUITY.” This is as essential a part of God’s character as is maternal love in a mother’s heart. When Moses said to God, “I Beseech thee, show me thy glory,” the answer was, “I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the Name of the Lord before thee” (Exo 33:18, Exo 33:19). And when the sublime proclamation was made, one of the essential elements of Jehovah’s character, as revealed in his Name, was “forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Exo 34:5-7). God loves to be reminded of his Name, and to see that it is that on which our hopes of pardon rest; e.g. Num 14:17-20; Psa 25:11; Psa 86:5, Psa 86:15; Psa 130:4; Dan 9:9.
III. “AND PASSETH BY THE TRANSGRESSION OF THE REMNANT OF HIS HERITAGE.” This denotes a continual action on the part of God. Isolated acts of pardon would not meet the case. He comes with his eyes as a flame of fire, and yet he does not “mark iniquities” (Psa 130:3; and cf. Num 23:21). What he commends he practises (Pro 19:11). Yet not because of any laxity in his relations to sin, but because of his righteous grace. Such declarations of Divine mercy as the Old Testament is full of can only be perfectly understood when read in the light of the New Testament, and of the atoning sacrifice of Christ, “for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant;” “Whom God set forth to be a Propitiation, through faith, by his Mood, to show his righteousness, because of the passing over of the sins done afore time, in the forbearance of God” (Rom 3:25; Heb 9:15).
IV. “HE RETAINETH NOT HIS ANGER FOREVER, BECAUSE HE DELIGHTETH IN MERCY.” In the midst of words of grace we have a distinct recognition of anger as one of God’s perfections. So in Exo 34:7, “that will by no means clear the guilty.” If he were not angry with sinners he would be less perfect. This truth needs to be emphasized in the present days of superficial views of sin. But if he were to retain his anger forever, it would be fatal (Isa 57:16). So “he will not always chide,” etc.; he “will not cast off forever; but though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies” (Psa 103:9; Lam 3:31, Lam 3:32). And this “because he delighteth in mercy.” In its literal sense “he is bent on mercy.” Proofs of this crowd on us from every side. We see it in the history of Israel (Neh 9:16-19, Neh 9:26-31; Psa 78:1-72.), in the cross of Christ (1Jn 4:10), in the long lives of many of the most impenitent (Rom 2:4), and in the experience of those who are now rejoicing in salvation (Eph 2:4-7; Tit 3:4-7). It is therefore a joy to God to forgive and save. The parables of Luk 15:1-10 remind us of this. The pearl of parables that follows might be called, not “The prodigal son,” but “The long suffering and rejoicing father.”
V. “HE WILL TURN AGAIN, HE WILL HAVE COMPASSION UPON US.” In our idiom “He will again have compassion on us.” When God sent Jesus Christ “preaching peace” to Israel, it was no new thing. It was the latest and sublimest illustration of a Divine habit (Heb 1:1). In the wilderness days, “he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath” (Psa 78:38). Thus God treated them all through their history. See the summary of the later history of Judah in 2Ch 36:14-16, “…till there was no remedy,” etc. But he again had compassion; he turned again their captivity, according to his promises by Moses (Deu 30:1-6). And though they crucified the Christ, and were “broken off,” they are still “beloved for the father’s sake.” God will again have compassion on them (Zec 12:10-14; Zec 13:1). “And so all Israel shall be saved.” These repeated acts of the mercy in which God delights may encourage the vilest to appeal for forgiveness, “according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies” (Psa 51:1).
VI. “HE WILL SUBDUE OUR INIQUITIES” He will tread them down, trample them underfoot. One of the marked peculiarities of the Divine forgiveness is the result on the sinner himself. No one pardons with such a good effect on the sinner pardoned. Some are disappointed in those they forgive. Not so God. Whenever he remits sin he reforms the sinner. His salvation being from the love and the power as well as the punishment of sin; a sinner cannot grasp the pardon and neglect the purity. Nor does he desire to. The most sacred motives forbid. The promise of pardon is accompanied with the assurance of the purifying Spirit (Eze 36:25-27; Rom 8:1, Rom 8:2; 1Co 6:11). Sin is a serpent to be crushed under the heel (Rom 16:20). It is a foe to be conquered, and who shall be conquered because we are “not under the Law, but under grace” (Rom 6:14). The victory is God’s, though the blessedness of it is ours (Psa 98:1), “He will subdue our iniquities.”
VII. “THOU WILT CAST ALL THEIR SINS INTO THE DEPTHS OF THE SEA.” This indicates the completeness of the Divine salvation. Elsewhere we have the promise (Psa 103:12). Hezekiah says, “Thou hast cast all my sins behind my back,” so that the accuser cannot get them without going behind the very throne of God; and God himself will never turn to see them. Here the figure is still more striking; sins cast, not in the shallows, subject to the tidal waves which might throw them up into sight again, but into the depths of the sea (cf. Jer 1:1-19 :20). Other figures are used to teach the same truththe cloud blotted out, never to be seen again (Isa 44:22); sin forgotten, even by God himself (Isa 43:25). Such is God’s matchless mercy in pardoning sin. And when our sins are finally subdued as well as pardoned, cast into the depths of the sea, while we are standing on the eternal shore, justified, sanctified, glorified, then we shall sing the final song, “Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” And because we are already being saved by a God of such matchless mercy, in whom we have placed our trust, we have no fear as to the issue (Rom 8:38, Rom 8:39).
“We lift our hands exulting
In thine Almighty favour,
The love Divine, which made us thine,
Shall keep us thine forever.”
E.S.P.
HOMILIES BY A. ROWLAND
Mic 7:18, Mic 7:19
A pardoning God.
In the days of Micah the social and religious condition of Jerusalem was deplorable. All through the country evils prevailed, but they were worst at its centre. Instinctively the vicious make their way to a crowded city. If vice is condemned in the nation, its disgracefulness is less conspicuous in a crowd; and if vice is not condemned, the city affords the best opportunities for the gratification of unholy desire. It still needs courage and wisdom to recognize and combat evils prevailing in great cities, and God still requires knights of the cross who will fight, not as of old for the grave of Christ, but for his Church. Micah was one of these. The prevalent sins of the prophet’s days were threatening the existence of society, loosening the ties which gave unity to the nation, and dividing into factions members of the same family. The wealthy were sucking the very life blood of the poor, and the judges openly asked for bribes, without the smallest sense of shame; so that the prophets were not only the teachers of truth, but also the tribunes of the people. Unbelief in God lay at the root of such wrong doing, for unless rulers recognize responsibility to him, one of the greatest safeguards against their abuse of authority is destroyed. Persuading themselves that God was such a one as themselves, idolatry prevailed, and although the temple still stood and its worship was as gorgeous as ever, unreality and hypocrisy rendered such religion worse than useless. A few voices were lifted up boldly against this condition of things. Isaiah and Micah stood side by side in their protests, and did much to stem the tide of iniquity. With all their vigorous denunciation of sin, however, hope was constantly held out to the sinner, and never was the mercy of God more clearly set forth than in the words of our text. Seven hundred years after this prophet’s death, Wise Men from the East came to Jerusalem inquiring for him who was born to be the King of the Jews and the Light of the world. They were answered in the words of Micah, and it was through following his directions that they saw and worshipped the infant Jesus. Even in our day we may say, “He being dead yet speaketh,” While the splendid orations of Cicero and Demosthenes have no influence over modern society, and the speeches recorded by Tacitus and Thucydides have only their marvellous literary value, the words of thin ancient prophet meet our necessities, give us guidance and comfort, emboldening us to trust in the mercy of a pardoning God. The subject of Divine pardon suggested here will now have our consideration.
I. THE PREROGATIVE OF PARDON IS CLAIMED BY GOD FOR HIMSELF. He knew the needs of his children, and therefore proclaimed his pardoning love from the first. Even amid the terrors of Sinai he revealed himself as a God “pardoning iniquity.” David was emboldened to come into his presence, after the commission of most grievous sins, praying, “Have mercy upon me, O Lord, according to thy loving kindness,” etc. He pardons of his own free will, because, as Micah says,” he delighteth in mercy; and with a perfect knowledge of what is worst in us, he declares his willingness to forgive all who are penitent. This power he has delegated to no man. If Jesus had simply been human, the Pharisees would have been justified in saying, “This man blasphemeth,” when he forgave the sins of the paralytic. Nor did our Lord’s declaration to his apostles, “Whose sins soever ye remit, they are remitted unto them,” endue them with a super natural or exclusive privilege. Their right was only ministerial and declarative, and is shared by all those who, by Divine grace, have been made “kings and priests unto God.”
II. DIVINE PARDON SEEMS THE MORE WONDERFUL WHEN COMPARED WITH MAN‘S FORGIVENESS. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways,” etc. Suppose the case of an employee, who, having robbed his master, is detected, but on evidence of sincere contrition is reinstated in his position. His restitution is accompanied by hard terms, he is watched suspiciously, and his employer considers that he has been exceptionally generous to restore him at all. Contrast this with what our Lord tells of God’s pardoning love in his parable of the prodigal son. Instead of being refused, his father sees him “when a great way off;” instead of angry reproaches, he has “compassion upon him;” instead of cold reserve, he falls on his neck, and kisses him; instead of suspicion, there is gladness, and all the house is filled with music and dancing. Or take, as another contrast, the reception given at home to a girl who has gone wrong, with the touching story of our Lord’s love to the woman who was a sinner. And Jesus says, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” “Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity?“
III. DIVINE PARDON IS PROFFERED FOE ALL KINDS OF SIN. Different words are used here and elsewhere in order to show that no sort of wrong doing is exempt from pardon; so that the moral and the vicious, those who have sinned inwardly or outwardly, may alike be encouraged to return to the Lord. “Transgression” is an act of evil committed against a Law acknowledged to be holy. It signifies stepping across a line which is drawn and visible. “Inquiry” is the inward tendency which responds to suggestions of evil; which we cannot root out, and which makes self-reformation hopeless. “Sins” are acts done from wrong motives. All these it is promised shall be done away with on our repentance.
IV. DIVINE PARDON IS COMPLETE AND THOROUGH.
1. “Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” If we drop a knife into a tidal pool, we can see it and regain it; but if we sail out of sight of land, and drop it overboard in the “depths of the sea,” it is gone forever. So completely gone are our forgiven sins.
2. “He will subdue our iniquities.” If our nature is not sanctified, we shall only do again our evil deeds. All our affections and thoughts must be subjected to the Divine will, and this can only be the result of God’s own work.
CONCLUSION. How can God be just, and yet our Justifier! This mystery, which lies at the root of his moral government, finds its only answer in the cross of Christ. God’s laws are eternal and inexorable. He cannot swerve from absolute righteousness. Sin must bring shame, misery, and death, here and hereafter. If, therefore, God had said all shall be overlooked, the penalty shall be removed, the Law repealed, it would appear to myriads of intelligent beings (compared with whose multitude the human race is as nothing) that the Law was either unjust in its enunciation or unjust in its repeal. Yet a sense of the perfect integrity of God is the foundation of his creature’s bliss. But the Son of God became the Son of man. He gathered up into himself all the sympathies, powers, and sufferings of our race. He stood forth as our Representative, vindicating the Law by his obedience, and dying on the cross for transgressors. This would evoke grander reverence for Law than if the race had been punished; and such a display of love wins all hearts from disobedience.
“My faith would lay her hand
On that dear head of thine,
While like a penitent I stand,
And there confess my sin.”
A.R.
HOMILIES BY D. THOMAS
Mic 7:1-6
The wail of a true patriot on the moral corruptions of his country.
“Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grape gleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the first ripe fruit,” etc. In these verses the prophet bewails the moral condition of his country. The picture he draws of its wickedness is a very hideous one. It answers not only to the character of the people in the reign of Ahaz, but to their character under the reign of other kings and in other times. Take the words as presenting the wail of a true patriot over the moral corruptions of his country. “Woe is me!” etc. He means to say, “It is with me as one seeking fruit after the harvest, grapes after the vintage; there is not one cluster.” There are several things that he bemoans.
I. THE DEPARTURE OF EXCELLENCE FROM HIS COUNTRY. “The good man is perished out of the earth.” Who are the good men referred to here is not known. The statement is put in general terms, and may imply merely that there are no good men to be found in the country. Or do the words, as some think, point especially to Hezekiah, Josiah, or to good men unknown to fame? They had, however, departed. Whether they had emigrated to distant lands or gone into the great eternity, is not said. The latter is the more probable idea. In any case, the departure of such men is a great lossa loss which true patriots may well bemoan. Good men are the “lights of the world.” They are the “salt of the earth.” Their influence penetrates the mass, counteracts its tendency to corruption, removes its moral insipidity, gives it a new spirita spirit pungent and savoury. They are the conservators of the good and the peaceful reformers of the bad. “Perished out of the earth.” It does not say, “perished out of being.” They had left the land, but not the universe. They were thinking, feeling, active still. There is a sense, indeed, in which they could not perish out of the land. Good men leave behind them principles, ideas, a character, which will live and spread and work to the end of time.
II. THE RAMPANCY OF AVARICE IN HIS COUNTRY. The workings of avarice are Indicated in the latter end of the second and two following verses.
1. Here we have its working amongst the general community. “They all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.” To get wealth for themselves was with them such a furious passion, that the rights and lives of others were disregarded. Their avarice was as ravenous as the passion of a wild beast. Nay, they looked upon men only as victims for their prey. Does not this avarice work thus in English society? Man has come to value man just in proportion as he can render him service, enrich his exchequer, and advance his aggrandizement. What nets are spread out in every street, in every mart and office, in every journal, in order to catch men! “They hunt every man.”
2. Here we have its working amongst the higher classes. “That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up.” The idea seems to be thisthat the “great man,” the “prince,” for some corrupt motive, seeks the condemnation of some innocent person; and the “judge,” for a bribe, gratifies his wish. A judge from avarice will pronounce an innocent man guilty. All this is done very industriously “with two hands.” The business must be despatched as soon as possible, lest some event should start up to thwart them; and when it is done “they wrap it up.” “So they wrap it up.” Avarice, like all sinful passions, seeks to wrap up its crimes. But the Authorized Version is probably wrong, and the rendering should be “they weave it together,” i.e. join in plotting (see Exposition).
III. THE MISCHIEVOUSNESS OF THE BEST IN HIS COUNTRY. “The best of them is as a briar: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge.” There is a gradation of wickedness of the men in the country, but the best of them is like a prickly thorn and worse than a thorn hedge. The prophet is so struck with this that the thought of retribution takes hold of him, and he says, “The day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity.”
IV. THE LACK OF TRUTHFULNESS IN THE COUNTRY. “Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide,” etc. “Place no faith in a companion; trust not a familiar friend; from her that lieth in thy bosom guard the doors of thy mouth. For the son despiseth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are the members of his own family” (Henderson). All social faith was gone; a man had lost all confidence in his brother. social scepticism and suspicion prevailed in all circles. No faith was to be put in a friend. The very lips were to be sealed. No confidence in the wife, no longer was she to be treated as an object of trust. No confidence in the son, the daughter, or the mother. The nearest relations were counted as enemies, “A man’s enemies are the men of his own house.”
CONCLUSION. Such were the evils over which this patriotic prophet pours forth his lamentations. What right-hearted man would not bewail such a moral corruption in his country? Jeremiah said, “Oh that mine head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night!” etc. Paul said, “Would that I were accursed!” etc. Christ said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem!” etc. It is the characteristic of a true patriot that he feels a deeper concern for the moral state of his country than for its educational or commercial condition.D.T.
Mic 7:7-9
The possibilities of godly men falling into great trouble.
“Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me,” etc. The prophet, having reverted in the preceding verses of this chapter to the wickedness of his people, which he had before depicted in most dark and dreadful colours, here proceeds to represent them in their state of captivity, reduced to repentance, and yearning for that Divine interposition which would involve the complete destruction of their enemies. I take the words as exhibiting the possibilities of godly?
I. THE POSSIBILITY OF GODLY MEN FALLING INTO GREAT TROUBLE. “Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise.” Who is the enemy here referred to scarcely matters, whether Babylon, Edom, or some other persons or peoples. All godly men have ever had their enemies. All who have ever endeavoured to lead a godly life have suffered persecution in some mode and measure. Two things are referred to here concerning the trouble.
1. It was a “fall.” Godly men are liable to many fallsfalls from health to sickness, from wealth to poverty, from social friendship to desolation; but the greatest fail is moralthe fall of character. To this the best of men are liable, e.g. Moses, David, Peter.
2. The trouble was a “darkness.” “When I sit in darkness.” Light and darkness are frequently used for prosperity and adversity. There are many things that darken the soul. Disappointment is a cloud, remorse is a cloud, despair is a cloud. Some of these clouds often mantle the mental heaven in sackcloth. Godly men are often permitted to walk in darkness and to have no light.
II. THE POSSIBILITY OF GODLY MEN BEING GLORIOUSLY SUSTAINED IN TROUBLE. “Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation,” etc. The godly man has a power within him, with the Divine help, of lifting his soul above the crushing cares, sufferings, and sorrows of life. “Rejoice not over me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.” How does he do it?
1. By looking at God. “Therefore I will look unto the Lord.” The man who fastens his eyes on the sun becomes unconscious of the small things around him. The soul which feels God to be the grand object in its horizon can scarcely fail to be buoyant and courageous.
2. By waiting upon God. “I will wait for the God of my salvation.” He is sure to come to my deliverance; it is only a question of time, and I will wait. As the farmer in the snows and storms of winter waits for the vernal season, certain that it will come, so the godly man, in trial, waits for God’s approach.
3. By trusting in God. “My God will hear me.” He has promised,, to do so; he has done so before; he is a prayer hearing God. He has said, “Unto that man will I look,” etc.
4. By submitting to God. “I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him.” I will not repine nor rebel under my suffering; I will bow to his will, for I deserve punishment, as I have sinned against him. The sufferings I endure are insignificant compared to the sins I have committed.
5. By hoping for God. “He will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.” “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh with the morning.” Thus it is possible for godly men to rise in courage and even triumph in the greatest calamities. Sunk in the deepest affliction, they may look their enemies in the face and say, “Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise.” Though l am now down, I shall rise again. Blessed hope!
“It whispers o’er the cradled child
Fast locked in peaceful sleep,
Ere its pure soul is sin beguiled,
Ere sorrow bids it weep.
“It soothes the mother’s ear with hope,
Like sweet bells’ silver chime,
And bodies forth the unknown scope
Of dark, mysterious Time!
“‘Tis heard in manhood’s risen day,
And nerves the soul to might,
When life shines forth with fullest ray,
Forewarning least of night.
“It speaks of noble ends to gain,
A world to mend by love
That tempers strength of hand and brain
With softness of the dove.
“It falls upon the aged ear
Though deaf to human voice,
And when man’s evening doses drear,
It bids him still rejoice.
“It tells of bliss beyond the grave,
The parted souls to thrill
The guerdon of the truly brave
Who fought the powers of ill.”
(Household Words.)
D.T.
Mic 7:10
Religious persecutors.
“Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is the Lord thy God? mine eyes shall behold her: now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets.” “And may mine enemy see it, and shame cover her who hath said to me, Where is Jehovah thy God? Mine eyes will see it; now will she be for a treading down like mire in the streets” (Delitzsch). “Although, for example, God had given up his nation to the power of its enemies, the nations of the world, on account of its sins, so that they accomplished the will of God by destroying the kingdoms of Israel and Judah and carrying away the people into exile; yet they grew proud of their own might in so doing, and did not recognize themselves as instruments of punishment in the hand of the Lord, but attributed their victories to the power of their own arm, and even amidst the destruction of Israel with scornful defiance of the living God. Thus they violated the rights of Israel, so that the Lord was obliged to conduct the contest of his people with the heathen, and secure the rights of Israel by the overthrow of the heathen power of the world” (ibid.). The words present to us a few thoughts concerning
I. THEIR HUMILIATING VISION. “Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her.” “See” what? The deliverance, the exaltation which God wrought for the victims. Few things are more painful to a malign nature than to witness the prosperity and happiness of the object of its intense aversion. Every beam of delight in the hated one falls as fire on the soul nerves of the hater. Witness Haman and Mordecai. It is destined that every ungodly persecutor shall witness one day the happiness of the godly whom he has tormented. The songs of the martyr shall fall on the ears of the human demons that forged his chains, kindled his fires, and tortured him when living. “There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.” Another thing in the passage presented to us concerning religious persecutors is
II. THEIR TAUNTING SPIRIT. “Where is the Lord thy God?” Scorn is one of the leading dements in the soul of the persecutor. “My tears,” said David, “have been my food day and night, while mine enemies continually say, Where is now thy God?” Again, “Mine enemies reproach, saying daily unto me, Where is thy God?” Again, “Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is their God?” How this taunting spirit was shown in those who persecuted and put to death the Son of God! “They that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, and saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross” (Mat 27:40). The taunting spirit is generally malific. It is fiendish, has in it the venom of hell. The taunting spirit is generally haughty. “Proud and haughty scorner is his name” (Pro 21:24). The taunting spirit is generally ignorant. He who deals in ridicule generally lacks the power of information and argument.
III. THEIR UTTER RUIN. “Now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets.” There is a God that judges on the earth, and his retributive forces are ever on the heels of crime. The blood of martyrs cries to heaven, and stirs these forces to action. “How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” (Rev 6:10).
“Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints, whose bones
Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold;
Ev’n them who kept thy truth so pure of old,
When all our fathers worshipped stocks and stones,
Forget not: in thy book record their groans
Who were thy sheep, and in their ancient fold
Slain by the bloody Piedmontese that rolled
Mother with infant down the rooks. Their moans
The vales redoubled to the hills, and they
To heaven. Their martyr’d blood and ashes sow
O’er all th’ Italian fields, where still doth sway
The triple tyrant; that from these may grow
A hundredfold, who, having learned thy way,
Early may fly the Babylonian woe.”
(Milton.)
D.T.
Mic 7:11, Mic 7:12
The good time coming.
“In the day that thy walls are to be built, in that day shall the decree be far removed. In that day also he shall come even to thee from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, and from the fortress even to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.” The prophet here speaks in the name of Israel, and seems to exult in the expectation of the full restoration of Jerusalem. Her walls would be rebuilt, and her scattered citizens would be gathered unto her from Assyria to Egypt, from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain. “The most natural construction,” says Henderson, “is that the decree of God respecting the political changes that were to take place was not to be confined to Babylon, but was to be extended to all the countries round about Judaea, in consequence of which great numbers would become proselytes to the Jewish faith?” The words may be used to illustrate two things concerning the good time coming.
I. IT WILL BE A TIME FOR REBUILDING THE RUINED. “In the day that thy walls are to be built.” The walls of Jerusalem are referred tothe walls of fortification, protection; these are to be rebuilt. Daniel said that they were to be rebuilt in troublesome times (Dan 9:25). There is, however, a more important rebuilding than thisa rebuilding that is going on, and will go on; until the great, moral city shall be complete.
1. The human soul is a building. It is a temple, a “spiritual house” reared as a residence for the Eternal, a home for the Holy Ghost to dwell in. It is “a city whose Builder and Maker is God.”
2. The human soul is a building in ruins. The walls are broken down; its columns, arches, roof, rooms, all in ruins.
3. The human soul is a building to be rebuilt. Christ is to be the Foundationstone, etc. “Ye are built together for a habitation of God through the Spirit” (Eph 2:22). This rebuilding is going on according to a plan of the great moral Architect; is being worked out by agents that know nothing of the plan. It will be completed one day; the topstone will be brought forth one day, with shouts of “Grace, grace!” (Zec 4:7). This new Jerusalem established on earth, what a magnificent city it will be! The words may be used to illustrate another thing concerning the good time coming.
II. IT WILL BE A TIME FOR REGATHERING THE SCATTERED. “In that day also he shall come even to thee from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, and from the fortresses even to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.” “All,” says an old writer, “that belong to the land of Israel, whithersoever dispersed and however distressed, far and wide over the face of the whole earth, shall come flocking to it again. He shall come even to thee, having liberty to return and a heart to return from Assyria, whither the ten tribes were carried away, though it lay remote from the fortified cities and from the fortressthose strongholds in which they thought they had them fast; for when God’s time comes, though Pharaoh will not let the people go, God will fetch them out with a high hand. They shall come from all the remote parts, from sea to sea, and mountain to mountain, not turning back for fear of your discouragements, but they shall go from strength to strength, till they come to Zion” The human family, which Heaven intended to live as one grand brotherhood, has been riven into moral sections, antagonistic to each other, and scattered all over the world. The time will come when they shall be gathered together, not, of course, in a local sense, but in a spiritualin unity of sentiment, sympathy, aim, soul. All shall be one in Christ. They will be gathered in spirit together from the four winds of heaven.
CONCLUSION. Haste this good time! May the chariot wheels of Providence revolve with greater speed!
“One song employs all nations; and all cry,
‘Worthy the Lamb, for he was slain for us!’
The dwellers in the vales and on the rocks
Shout to each other, and the mountain tops
From distant mountains catch the flying joy;
Till, nation after nation taught the strain,
Earth rolls the rapturous Hosanna round.”
(Cowper.) D.T.
Mic 7:13
Man’s ruin the fruit of his own conduct.
“Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings.” Here is a prediction of what would take place before the advent of those glorious events pointed out in the preceding verses. There will be a dark night before the morning, a great storm before the calm. The subject here isMan‘s ruin the fruit of his own conduct. The reason why the land should be “desolate” before the coming of the glorious times is here stated”for the fruit of their doings.” That man’s ruin springs from his conduct is demonstrated by universal experience as well as by the Word of God. “O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself… O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity” (Hos 13:9; Hos 14:1). It is the man who heareth the sayings of Christ and doeth them not that will be ruined at last. “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Assuming it to be a fact that man’s ruin is evermore the fruit of his own conduct, four things follow.
I. THAT HIS MISERY WILL BE IDENTIFIED WITH REMORSE. Morally it is impossible for a man to ascribe his ruin to his organization, to circumstances, or to any force over which he has no control. He must feel that he has brought it on himself; and this feeling it is that makes his miserable condition a very hell. The suffering of remorse is the soul of suffering. “A wounded spirit who can bear?”
II. THAT IN HIS SUFFERINGS HE MUST VINDICATE THE DIVINE CHARACTER. Forced to see and feel that all his sin and miseries spring from his own conduct, he will be compelled to say, “Just and right art thou,” etc. (Rev 15:3). Into the deepest heart of such God speaks the words, “They hated knowledge, they despised all my reproof; therefore shall they eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices” (Pro 1:29). All their misery is but the eating of the fruit of their own doings; they reap that which they have sown. As fruit answers to seed, as echoes to sound, their calamities answer to their conduct.
III. THAT HIS SALVATION FROM RUIN REQUIRES A CHANGE OF LIFE. Men’s conduct is fashioned and ruled by their likings and dislikings, their sympathies and antipathies; in other words, if their conduct is bad, it can only be made good by a change of heart. “Marvel not that I said unto you, Ye must be born again.”
IV. THAT CHRISTIANITY IS THE ONLY SYSTEM THAT CAN MEET HIS CASE. The mission of Christianity is to change the heart, to renew the life, and effect a spiritual reformation. This it is designed to do, this it is fitted to do, this it has done, this it is doing; and no other system on earth is capable of accomplishing this work.D.T.
Mic 7:14
A prayer.
“Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.” Here is a prayer addressed by the prophet to Almighty God. It is brief, but beautiful, beautiful in spirit and style. It has a prophetic aspect. This prayer recognizes three things.
I. AN INTERESTING RELATION BETWEEN GOD AND HIS PEOPLE, FLOCK AND SHEPHERD. The Jews, here as elsewhere, are metaphorically referred to as a flock, and Jehovah as their Shepherd (Psa 80:1; Psa 95:7, etc.). “The Lord is my Shepherd;” “I am the good Shepherd.” What a Shepherd is he!
1. He is the absolute Owner of the flock. “My sheep are mine, and I know them.” “All souls are mine.” How incalculably valuable is one soul!a free, ever active, influential, undying spirit! How rich is this Shepherd, to own untold millions of such!
2. He has a perfect knowledge of the flock. He knows what they are, what they have been, what they will be through all the future. “I know my sheep,” etc. (Joh 10:1-42.).
3. He has an infinite love for the flock. The good Shepherd hath laid down his life for them
4. He has abundant supplies for the flock. Though their wants are varied, numerous, urgent, ever-recurring, he is able to meet them all. “I give unto my sheep eternal life, neither shall any pluck them out of my hands;” “He is able to do exceeding abundantly more than we can ask or think” (Eph 3:20); “Feed thy people with thy rod,” or staff. It recognizes
II. THE TRYING CONDITION IN WHICH GOD‘S PEOPLE ARE SOMETIMES FOUND. “Which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel.” The primary reference is to their captivity in Babylon. (For another view, see Exposition.) They were as sheep in the forest or wood; in danger of being lost in the thickets or being devoured by beasts of prey. Human souls in this world are in a moral wilderness; beset with perils on every hand. “They are scattered on the mountains as sheep having no shepherd.” Two facts render this condition peculiarly distressing.
1. It is caused by self. Souls have not been driven away into moral captivity. “All we like sheep have gone astray.”
2. It is undeliverable by self. No soul ever found its way back to God by its own unaided efforts; hence Christ came to “seek and to save the lost.”
III. THE IMPORTANCE OF RESTORATION TO FORMER ENJOYMENTS. “Lot; them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.” The regions of Bashan and Gilead, on the east of the Jordan, were celebrated for their rich pasturage, and on this account were chosen by the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh (Num 12:1-16.; Deu 3:17). Morally, the great need of man is the restoration of normal rights, normal virtues, normal enjoyments.
“Good Shepherd, hasten thou that glorious day,
When we shall all
In the one fold abide with thee for aye!”
D.T.
Mic 7:15-17
The ultimate deliverance of man from sin.
“According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I show unto him marvellous things The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their cars shall be deaf. They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the Lord our God, and shall fear because of thee.” In this passage there is an answer to the prophet’s prayer. It contains a Divine assurance that wonders analogous to those displayed in the deliverance of the Jaws from Egypt would be vouchsafed in their deliverance from Babylonish captivity; and that the display of those wonders would lead to the utter confusion and ruin of the “nations” who were their enemies. They would feel that all their strength was contemptible impotence in the presence of God’s great power. This deliverance, thus described, resembles the ultimate deliverance of man from sin and ruin in two respects.
I. IT INVOLVES THE EXHIBITION OF THE MARVELLOUS. There were “marvellous things” shown when the Hebrews were delivered from Egypt; marvellous things when they were brought out of Babylonian captivity; but these marvellous things are but mere shadows of the marvels displayed in the moral redemption of mankind. The incarnation of Christ; the wonders that his mighty hand performed; the extraordinary phenomena connected with his death, his resurrection, and ascension to heaven; the revolutions in the moral character and institutions of mankind;all these are, in truth the wonders of the wonderful, the marvels of the marvellous.
II. IT INVOLVES THE CONFUSION OF ENEMIES. “The nations shall be confounded at their might, they shall lay their hand upon their mouth,” etc. As Egypt and Babylon were confounded, humbled, and terrified at God’s marvels in their deliverance, so will all the spiritual foes of Christ be ultimately overwhelmed at the wonders displayed at the redemption of the world. Matthew Henry’s remarks on this passage are worth quoting. “1. Those that had exulted over the people of God in their distress, and gloried that when they had them down they would keep them down, shall be confounded when they see them thus surprisingly rising up; they shall be confounded at all the might with which the captives shall now exert themselves, whom they thought forever disabled. They shall now lay their hands upon their mouths as being ashamed of what they have said, and not be able to say any more by way of triumph over Israel. Nay, their ears shall be deaf too, so much so that they shall be ashamed at the wonderful deliverance; they shall stop their ears as being not willing to hear any more of God’s wonders wrought for that people whom they had so despised and exulted over.
2. Those that had impudently confronted God himself shall now be struck with a fear of him, and thereby brought, in profession at least, to submit w him. They shall lick the dust like a serpent; they shall be so mortified as if they were to be sentenced to the same curse the serpent was laid under (Gen 3:14). They shall be brought to the lowest abasements imaginable, and shall be so dispirited that they shall tamely submit to them. They shall lick the dust of the Church’s feet (Isa 49:23). Proud oppressors shall be made sensible how mean and little they are before the great God; and they shall with trembling and the lowest submission move out of the holes into which they had crept, like worms of the earth as they are, being ashamed and afraid to show their heads; so low shall they be brought and such abjects shall they be when they are abased. When God did wonders for his Church, many of the people of the land became Jews because the fear of the Jews and of their God fell on them (Est 8:17). So it is promised here that they shall be afraid of the Lord our God, and shall fear because of thee, O Israel! Forced submissions are often feigned submissions; yet they redound to the glory of God and the Church, though not to the benefit of the dissemblers themselves.”D.T.
Mic 7:18
The incomparableness of God illustrated in his forgiveness of sin: 1. The nature of his forgiveness.
“Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage?” The prophet hereanticipating the full deliverance, not only of the Jews from Babylonian captivity, but probably of humanity itself from the curse of sin through Jesus Christbreaks forth in a sublime strain of praise and admiration in relation to the incomparable character of God. “Who is a God like unto thee?” The subject of the two verses (18, 19) is Divine forgiveness, its nature, its source, and its completeness. We shall confine ourselves now to the nature of Divine forgiveness. God’s forgiveness here is represented in the words, he “passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage.” This does not mean that God is unobservant of sin, for all things are naked and open unto him; nor that it is not an offence to him, for it is “an abomination in his sight” but that he regards it in no fault-finding spirit, but with a noble generosity. As loving parents are disposed to overlook much in their children of which they cannot approve, the great Father is disposed to overlook much. “He is not strict to mark iniquity.” He passes it by, pursues his benevolent march as if it did not exist. Theology, which has thrown a haze over many of the bright things of revelation, has clouded this, one of its most glorious orbs. Forgetting that the Bible is a popular book, using language in accommodation to our habits of thought and expression, it has constructed its theories upon the etymology of words. The truth and pertinence of this remark will be seen if, at the outset, we consider the very diversified forms in which the Bible represents to us the doctrine of Divine forgiveness. Generally, indeed, I find it set forth under figures corresponding to the aspects in which sin stands before the mind of the writer at the time. For example
I. WHEN SIN APPEARS AS A DEBT, AN UNFULFILLED OBLIGATION, THEN PARDON IS SPOKEN OF AS A CANCELING. Thus in the forty-third chapter of Isaiah Jehovah is represented as saying, “I, even I, am he who blotteth out thy transgressions;” and Peter, on the Day of Pentecost, exhorts his vast auditory to “repent, that their sins may be blotted out” When a man has paid his debts, or when some one else has discharged them, the creditor takes his pen in hand and strikes from the ledger both the name of the debtor and the amount. But sin is a debt in a very figurative sense, and therefore such representations of pardon must not be taken in a literal meaning.
II. WHEN SIN APPEARS AS AN ESTRANGEMENT FROM GOD, THEN FORGIVENESS IS REPRESENTED AS RECONCILIATION. But as the estrangement is not mutual, it being exclusively on man’s part; in the reconciliation there is no mutual change of mind. God cannot change, and need not change, to be reconciled to the sinner.
III. WHEN SIN APPEARS AS AN INDICTMENT, FORGIVENESS IS SPOKEN OF AS A JUSTIFICATION. But justification can in the nature of the case have but a very remote resemblance to the forensic term as used by men. In civil justification, for instance, the charge has been found false, the accused demands justification as a right, and retires from the court with a high sense of insulted innocence.
IV. WHEN SIN APPEARS AS A POLLUTION, FORGIVENESS IS REPRESENTED AS A CLEANSING. Hence we read of Christ’s blood cleansing from all sin. But it is only in a very figurative sense that you can employ the word “washing” to the mind, which is an invisible and impalpable power.
V. WHEN SIN APPEARS AS A DISEASE, FORGIVENESS IS REPRESENTED AS A HEALING. “I will heal your backsliding;” “I am come to bind up the broken hearted.”
VI. WHEN KIN APPEARS AS AN OBSTRUCTION BETWEEN THE SOUL AND GOD, FORGIVENESS IS REPRESENTED AS A CLEARING. The mountains are levelled, the clouds are dispersed, the foes are crushed and are buried as Pharaoh and his host were buried in the depths of the sea. There are three points of contrast between Divine forgiveness and human.
1. In human governments forgiveness is exercised with most cautious limitations. Human Sovereigns, however generous their natures, can only bestow pardon on a few out of numerous criminals. Were forgiveness to become general, the power of the government to maintain order would be weakened. There is no such limitation to the exercise of this prerogative in God. He offers pardon to all.
2. In human forelimbs there is no guarantee against future criminality. The prisoner pardoned by a human Sovereign may be inspired by gratitude and prompted perhaps to resolve upon a life of future obedience, and yet his heart remain unchanged. The principles that led to his crime may still be in him, and, being there, they may break forth again. But in Divine forgiveness it is not so. The pardoned man is a changed man: he has a new heart put within hima heart inspired with such love to the Sovereign as will secure a joyous and constant obedience.
3. Human forgiveness can never put the criminal in such a good position as he had before his transgression. He has his freedom as before, but he has not his self-respect, he has not the same standing in society; his contemporaries will never look upon him in the same light again. Some will shun him, others will suspect him, and few will venture to give him their confidence and their love. But in Divine forgiveness the criminal is raised to a higher status even than that of innocence. I know not whether the angels would have been his servants had he never fallen; but after his forgiveness they become so. They rejoice with him on his conversion, they cheer him on his pilgrimage, they bear him on their pinions to their heavenly scenes. He is brought into an “innumerable company of angels.” We see partially from his state in Eden what relations man would have entered into with his Maker had he never sinned; but I believe that he never would have had what the pardoned sinner has – the honour of seeing his Maker, in the Person of Jesus, on the throne of the universe, gazed on by every eye and worshipped by every eye and worshipped by every heart.D.T.
Mic 7:18
The incomparableness of God illustrated in his forgiveness of sin: 2. The source of his forgiveness.
“He retaineth not his anger forever, because he delighteth in mercy.” Anger in God is not passion, but principle; not antagonism to existence, but to the evils that curse existence. His anger is but love excited against everything that tends to disturb the harmony, cloud the brightness, and injure the happiness of his creation. “Fury is not in me,” etc. (Isa 27:4). Here is the source of forgiveness: “He delighteth in mercy.”
I. FORGIVENESS IS A MERCIFUL ACT. It is not an act of equity, but of compassion; not of justice, but of love. It is the prerogative of mercy. “The Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.” Again, “The Lord is long suffering and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression.” It is mercy that cancels the debt, blots out the cloud, effects the reconciliation, cleanses the stain, and heals the disease. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done,” etc. All the redeemed in heaven acknowledge this: “Unto him that loved us, and washed [loosed] us from our sins in his own blood,” etc. (Rev 1:5).
II. THIS ACT OF MERCY IS THE DELIGHT OF GOD. “He delighteth in mercy.” Mercy is a modification of benevolence. It always implies misery, for if there were no misery there would be no mercy. Whilst God does not delight in misery, he delights in removing it. What greater delight has a loving parent than in restoring to health and vigour a diseased and suffering child? To a true soul the delight of moral restoration is even greater than this. A noble father has perhaps more delight in the virtues and fellowship of the son whom he has been the means of raising from moral depravity to spiritual purity and power, than in those of the one who has always pursued the virtuous way. It is thus with him from whom all human love proceeds, he delights in mercy. Will not the song of the redeemed have more music in his ear than the lofty strains of those who have never fallen? He delights to welcome to his besom and his home his returning prodigals.
1. If he delights in mercy, then hush forever the pulpits that blasphemously represent him as malign. The God that you have in the Calvinian theology is not the God of the Bible, but the God of ill-natured, morose, and vindictive souls. Hence the masses of England turn away in horror from some modern pulpits. “He delighteth in mercy.” Let us declare this! “Let the wicked forsake his way,” etc.; “Come, let us reason together,” etc.; “Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden,” etc.
2. If he delights in mercy, then let no sinner despair on account of the enormity of his sins. Let all the sins of the world be embodied in one man’s life; let that one man return to God, and he will “abundantly pardon” him, He will do it, not reluctantly, not half-heartedly, but with aboundings of joy. He will rejoice over you. “There is more joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth,” etc.
3. If he delights in mercy, may we not hope that one day there will come an end to all the misery of the moral universe? “He retaineth not his anger forever” Who shall say but in some distant future, by some way not revealed, every discord in the moral universe shall be hushed, every prison opened, all sufferers delivered, and all hells quenched? What generous heart would not a thousand times rather believe in this, if they could, than in eternal torment or utter extinction?D.T.
Mic 7:19
The incomparableness of God illustrated in his forgiveness of sin: 3. The completeness of his forgiveness.
“He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” The reference is here, perhaps, to the destruction of Pharaoh and his host. “He will destroy their sins as he destroyed them, and buried them in the depths of the sea” (Exo 15:4, Exo 15:10).
I. THE ENTIRE SUBJUGATION OF ALL SINS. “Sin,” says Henderson, “must ever be regarded as hostile to man. It is not only contrary to his interests, but it powerfully opposes and combats the moral principles of his nature and the higher principles implanted by grace; and, but for the counteracting energy of Divine influence, must prove victorious. Without the subjugation of evil propensities, pardon would not be a blessing. If the idolatrous and rebellious disposition of the Jews had not been subdued during their stay in Babylon, they would not have been restored.” Sin is the enemy of all enemies. If it is in us, it sets the holy, happy heavens against us. Take it from us, and hell becomes our minister for good. This God subdues. In truth, Divine forgiveness is the destruction of sin in us, nothing else. It is not something outside; it is all within.
II. THE ENTIRE SUBMISSION OF ALL SIN. “Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea? Forgiveness is deliverance from sin. How strong is the imagery employed in the Bible to represent the completeness of this deliverance! It is as the blotting out of a thick cloud.” See that dark mass of cloud up yonder; how it hides the sun and chills the air! A breeze has sprung up, and it is gonethe sky is azure, the scene is bright, and the flowing air warm with life. That cloud can never come again; no more may thy sins. It is as the throwing of them behind God. “Thou hast cast all my sine behind thy back.” Who knows where the beck of God is? I see his face in nature. His smiles are the beauty of the world. I see his face in Jesus, “the Brightness of his glory.” But where is his back? It is the fathomless abyss of nothingness. It is a separation as far as the east is from the west. Tell me the distance from the east to the west, and I will tell you the distance which the pardoned. sinner is from sin. It is a casting them into the “depths of the sea.” Not on the shore, to be washed back by the incoming waves, but into the “depths.” Into the abysses of some mighty Atlantic, where no storms shall stir them up, no trump shall wake them from their graves. “In those days, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and shall not be found.” But where are they buried? In the forgetfulness of infinite love. “I will remember their sin no more.” Can Infinite Intelligence forget? Yes, and his forgetfulness is one of the radiant attributes of his character. Does not all true forgiveness involve forgetfulness? Those who say they forgive and cannot forget, lack the faculty of forgiveness; as yet, Heaven has not endowed them with the power of granting absolution. It is of the very nature of love to hide injuries. Charity covereth sins. God has the power of forgetting injuries, because he is Love. I see the power of love in hiding injuries working everywhere in nature. The sea hastes to cover up the wounds which ruthless ships have ploughed into its noble besom. The tree, bleeding with the sores which the woodman has inflicted, loses no time in its efforts to conceal the marks of violence it has received. Day by day goes on, until the year comes round, when, amidst its luxurious foliage you look in vain foe the old scars. And thus, as the waves of the sea and the flowing sap, love ever works. It hastes to cover up from the eye of memory the injuries it has received. How soon the love of a wife buries in forgetfulness any injuries she has received from the man she loves too well! The countless pains which the thoughtlessness and waywardness of children in their early days inflict upon the parental heart are soon buried in the sea of parental love. Love digs in the heart of parents a grave for the wrongs, and builds a museum for the virtues of their children. All this is of God, God-like. Infinite love “passeth by the transgression.” He leaves it behind him as he proceeds, in the majesty of his goodness, to diffuse wider and wider forever the blessedness of his own being.D.T.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Mic 7:1. For I am as when they have gathered For I am like to those who are about to gather the summer fruits, and to him who is about to pluck the vintage: there are no grapes which I can eat, nor first-fruits which my soul desireth. Houbigant; who supposes, that the prophet here introduces our Saviour speaking; and certainly the discourse of the prophet, and the conduct of our Lord, Mar 11:13 have a great conformity to each other.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
See Mic 6:1 ff for the passage comments with footnotes.
Chap. 7. Mic 7:1-6. The Lamentation of the People. As appears from the subjoined transitus, Mic 7:7, and especially Mic 7:8, where the holy common wealth is manifestly thought of as speaking, the speaker here is the prophet, not so much as prophet, but as organ of the ideal person, the true Israel; like Isa 59:1 ff; Isa 60:1 ff., where the prophet identifies himself with the true Israel, personified throughout Isaiah 40-66. under the name of the Servant of Jehovah. Israel must confess that God, in his bitter complaint (Mic 6:9 ff.), is just. In the later prophets this view is presented in a still more concrete form, when they personify the true Israel in the angelic character of the maleach (messenger) who represents the people before God, and receives from God the words which He has to communicate through the prophets to the members of the people, his members (Zec 1:12; Zec 1:14). Daniel, having shaped this personification of the ideal Israel to the image of a heavenly Son of Man, to whom the dominion of the world is assigned (Dan 7:13 if., cf. Dan 7:27), and having given both to this heavenly and to the earthly Israel the name of the Messiah (Dan 9:25 f.), furnishes the basis for the New Testament deyelopment, in which Christ appears on the one hand as a name of the people of Israel (Heb 11:26, cf. Heb 7:25), then as the Son of Man descended from heaven, and He in whom all the promises given for Israel are combined.Woe is me! thus begins the lament (cf. Job 10:15), for I am become as a gathering of the harvest, as a gleaning in the vintage. Were these words the words of the prophet, the sense would be obscure, and hence from ancient times the conjecture has been proposed, that the two substantives were to be regarded as participles; like gatherers of the fruit, like gleaners of the vintage. But the pointing by o under Aleph, utterly precludes this view, which has also been rejected by the most exact interpreters, from Ben Izaac down to Hitzig. Caspari: It has happened with me as with one who at the harvest time seeks early figs. But neither does mean it has occurred to me, for the passage Isa 1:9, quoted by Caspari, proves nothing like this, nor does this latter special limitation, the seeking of early figs, lie indicated at all in the general designation (Amo 8:1); but if figs and grapes are meant at all, the thought that the prophet finds none would be very unsuitably expressed by the harvest, where they find many figs, and by the gleaning of the vintage, where they still find some clusters left. A clear understanding results here only from the position before assumed, that the personified Israel himself speaks through the prophet: I am become like gleanings of the harvest (the plural stands for symmetry with the following plur. tantum, ). as gleanings of the vintage, i. e., I am so entirely gleaned that there is no cluster any more to eat; for an early fig, which was particularly relished (Jer 24:2; Isa 28:4), my soul pants.
Mic 7:2. What Israel intends by the clusters, and early figs, which he would so gladly find with him, but which have been snatched away (cf. Isa 33:4), appears from this verse; gone is the pious man; (collect, for the pious, , possessors of the chesed, the grace, who by their conduct show themselves worthy of the grace, and who taken together are the true Israel (Psa 16:10)from the earth, and an upright man is no more to be found. It lies in the nature of prophecy that it should extend its immediate horizon over the whole world. And in fact, when the righteous have already died out of Israel, how should it be with the heathen who have not Gods word? (Luk 23:31). All lie in wait for blood (Psa 10:8 ff.), each for his neighbor they hunt with the net. In the phrase each for his neighbor, which has usually a quite general signification : alter alterum, there lies here a special emphasis; those who lie in wait for each other are brethren, creatures of one God, sons of one forefather (Mai. Mic 2:10), and bound by the law to love each the other as himself (Lev 19:18).
Mic 7:3. The first three words form a parallel to the sentence just closed : for evil the hands are stout, and they are not with some Rabbins, Rosen-mller, and Ewald, to be connected with the following. stands for verbo finito, as Mic 5:1; Pro 19:8; 2Ch 11:2, and in the intrans. sense, to be joyful, glad, spirited (cf. Mic 2:7; Pro 15:13; Gen 4:7); cf. the parallel sentence : their feet run to evil (Isa 49:7). It would be still more suitable to the primary meaning of as well as to the connection with what follows, to propose as the sense of the phrase : upon evil they look favorably, are friendly to it; but then we should have, instead of , hands, or , Hitzig: only the evil do they practice well; which is the same as : for the evil alone have they hands, while if anything good is to be done, they have none for it. But this sense does not lie in his translation, whichitself breaks down upon the . Cocceius (Lex., p. 304): Super malo sunt manus ad bonum faciendum, i. e., fingunt et plasmant malum, ut bonum videatur. Similarly Umbreit, Keil, Caspari. But this sense nowhere has. Hence the two last offer ajso the alternative translation, to do it well; which coincides with Hitzigs. The corruption rests on a compromise of the ruling classes, and so on the worst moral vileness; the foundations are destroyed (Psa 11:3); the prince demands some deed of violence, (Mic 7:2), and the judge for a price from the princes may be bought (or says : For a price !); and the high-born: he speaks out the desire (Pro 10:13; the other sense: ruin, destroys the connection) of his soul; and together they extort it; each one gives his part, sothat a , a dark web of intrigues, a snare for the victim, results.
Mic 7:4. Their good man, i. e., the best among them (Ewald, 313, c), is like a thorn, the most upright worse than a hedge (of. 2Sa 23:6). That will all be proved, for in the day of thy seers, in the jom Jehovah, Gods judgment day, which all thy prophets (elsewhere rather partic. Kal , Jer 6:17; Eze 3:17) have so constantly proclaimed, when thy visitation comes (this sentence is likewise a more definite limitation, a second stat. absol. to jam, cf. Psa 56:4; Psa 88:2) then wilt thou be ensnared by them. According to the suffix in the previous member, is not third fem. (then will be her perplexity), but a second masc. in the address to the people, and the sense (cf. Isa 22:5) is, that Zion, in the day of Gods judgment, cannot free herself from the machinations of those seemingly respectable men who are really thorn hedges, but will be caught as a victim (cf. Gen 22:13; Nah 1:10.)
Mic 7:5. From that it follows that now what is otherwise a token of the greatest moral decay, in a land, must be practiced of design and for self-defense : trust not in a friend; he takes no notice of the fact that those to whom he calls are themselves, in the same relations, without love and fidelity (Caspari), Rely not on the most trusted; from her who lies in thy bosom, thy wife (Deu 13:7), keep the doors of thy mouth. The prophet mentions only the treachery of the wife against her husband, because his discourse is addressed to the men as genus potius; because the wife can much more easily prove treacherous to the husband than vice versa, since the man stands preeminently in relations which allow treachery; and because, finally, the wife is subject to the man, and so in a higher degree pledged to fidelity than he (?)Caspari.
Mic 7:6. Friendship and love are no longer securities for confidence, for even the relation of natural piety is lost in an unnatural perversion : the son makes a fool of his father [?] (Deu 32:15; Jer 14:21); the daughter stands up as a witness against her mother ( , as Psa 27:12); the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and the mans enemies are his servants men of his house are not his relations, who live in his house, but the company of servants: (Gen 17:23-27; Gen 39:14). The connection of Mic 7:4 with 5 and 6 shows how appropriately this description is again employed (Mat 10:35 ff.; Luk 12:53) as a sign of the last days (cf. also Mat 14:10 ff.).
Mic 7:7-8. Transitus. The true Israel shudders not in this time of need. He knows well that for him the promise cannot be broken, and that through the confusion of the judgment Gods light must break. By the as also the long preserved space between Mic 7:8-9 shows, these two verses are appended as a conclusion to the foregoing, while yet they constitute by their contents and psalm-like tone,a structural peculiarity, common to the prophetsthe transition to what follows: but as for me I look out for God. Both aspects of the spirit which speaks in the prophets appear in this looking out, in that he both as prophet looks out for, strives to anticipate, the fortunes of the future, the coming of God for salvation, and also as the spirit of the true people of God confidently trusts in this coming help (Psa 5:4; Heb 2:1). Prophecy and faith are correlatives. I will wait, the Opt. indicates that the word is an exhortation to his own soul (Ps. 42:12), for the God of my salvation, the God on whom my salvation rests; this also being a psalm-tone (Psa 27:9). My God will hear me, and his hearing is an active, effectual hearing.
Mic 7:8. Hence results immediately the apostrophe to the enemy, the world-power which (Mic 4:10) is called Babylon, to which the chastisement of Israel is committed: She must not regard this condition of chastisement as a perpetual thing. Rejoice not, my enemy; the pleonastic , which strengthens the emphasis, is likewise appropriate to the psalm style (Psa 25:2, et spe).1For if I fall, I rise again, I fall only to rise again.The conditionally gains energy by the parataxis without particles (Pro 18:22; Ewald, 357; 6). The second , as is shown also by the change of tenses, is temporal and not for additional confirmation. When I sit in darkness, a common figure for the affliction caused by Gods judgments (Isa 8:2-5; Isa 9:1; Isa 50:1 ff.); then is Jehovah my light (Psa 27:1); and this light cannot remain concealed, but must actively manifest itself.
Mic 7:9-10. With this transitus the psalmody is begun which sounds on through the whole lyric period which follows (Mic 7:9-20). This describes (in the form of a prayer, with hope and supplication, announcing and celebrating the completion of Gods doings with his people), the coming of the kingdom of light after the darkness, and is thus the fulfillment of the final clause of Mic 7:8; when I sit in darkness then is Jehovah my light. The position is an ideal one. As Mic 7:1, Israel, on account of his deficiency in righteous men, felt that the worst abominations were maturing, and with them the judgment, and by gradual approach stood finally (Mic 7:7 f.) in the crisis of the judgment, so he proceeds now in spirit through judgment, and exile to salvation. His language turns in a constant alternation, swaying lyrically (cf. Psalms 116.), now toward himself, now toward the offended and forgiving God, now toward the enemy who is to be judged (cf. Mic 7:8).
Mic 7:9. The indignation of Jehovah will I bear, with this humility (cf. Mic 6:8) and submission to the will of God, the germ of salvation is already given; when Gods will is accepted as their will the sorrow ceases to be sorrow. For I have sinned against him. Humiliation under sorrow flows from the recognition of sin; the sorrow must be recognized as indignation, that is, as the manifestation of Gods righteousness (Psa 51:6). Such recognition moves his heart, which cannot fail to answer the call of his people; and this confidence gives Israel a joyful courage to endure until he, as he surely must, shall maintain my cause. Instead of standing my foe, as now, in the suit (Mic 6:1), He will make my cause against the heathen his own (Psa 35:1; Psa 43:1), and secure for me my right (Psa 9:5). To the light will he bring me forth, out of the darkness of captivity (Psa 68:7) as once out of Egypt (Deu 8:14). I shall see with pleasure () his righteousness, for even the deliverance of the sin-laden people is righteousness, because it is a fulfillment of the ancient promises (cf. on Mic 6:5).
Mic 7:10. And that shall my enemy see with pain (cf. on Mic 7:8), and shame shall cover her. The verbs are not indicative, therefore not direct announcement, but jussive: the prophecy of supplicating confidence. Her who saith to me: Where is Jehovah thy God? on whose help thon hast rested thy hope (cf. Psa 69:10; Psa 115:2). This is the point of view from which Israels cause becomes a controversy for God. My eyes will look upon her with pleasureon the sharpened Nun, cf. Ewald, 198 aand she will be trodden down as mire in the streets. The last Qamets in is shortened into Pattach, on account of the coming together of two tone syllables (ef. Isa 10:6). From the enemy the discourse turns off
Mic 7:11-13. While the representative element gives way more to the prophetic, and announces salvation to the holy community. It is a day (so De Dieu, Hitz., Casp.) to build thy walls. The anticipation of the exile goes forward, and from the certainty of the threatenings (Mic 3:12; Mic 4:10), the prophet expects (cf. Mic 7:7) the restoration of Jerusalem. To take this whole first member, not independently, but as a designation of time to the second (on the day when thy walls shall be built, will, etc.) is forbidden by the in the second member; besides, that view would require the reading . At the bottom of the figure of wall-building lies the conception of the vineyard (Isa 27:2 ff.; Psalms 80.); is the inclosing wall of a vineyard (the wall of a city is ). In that day will the law be far removed. The Rabbinic Exegesis, and with that those among recent Christian interpreters who are influenced more or less by the legal spirit of the Rabbins, have been obliged at this passage to have recourse to rationalistic evasions. According to the Targum and Hengstenberg, should mean the statutes imposed by the heathen oppressors; but this is not even remotely suggested by the connection, and the passage cited from Psa 94:20 testifies rather for the opposite view. Caspari would have it mean that then the boundaries of the land of Israel shall lie in the far distance, be extended far beyond the original compass; but what should the walling around (Mic 7:11 a) mean if the border is abolished? That would be directly contrary to the figure. Keil : The limits between Israel and the nations, the law of Israels exclusiveness shall be abolished. But why this limitation to one particular law? is the law in its widest and most general sense (Psa 99:7; Psa 148:6; Exo 15:25), and as it is unquestionably the doctrine of the New Testament, that in the time of the Gospel the fence of the law is broken down (Eph 2:14), so there is the less ground for denying to the prophet this meaning in our passage, because the whole context has left the historical ground far behind, rising to the ideal height of a spiritual contemplation, and because Jeremiah also, in a like connection in the famous passage (Jer 3:16), prophesies a like triumph over the legal position (cf. Isa 45:1 f., and, in our prophet himself, Mic 6:6 f.) We may designate our passage as exactly the text of Jeremiahs great prophecy (Jer 31:31 ff.) concerning the new covenant. The parenthetical view therefore of the words (in that dayfar distant is the termin that day, etc., De Wette, Ewald, Umbreit), is to be rejected.
Mic 7:12. In that day, unto thee, the restored Zion,the of the apodosis after the elliptical protasis to designate the time, as Exo 16:6 f.; Ewald, 344 b,will one come from Assyria, and also the cities of Egypt will come; not merely the scattered believers of Israel, who already (cf. Mic 7:11) will have founded the new structure, but also the heathen peoples will be added (Psalms 87.), and Assyria the scourge, first of all, but also the cities of Egypt, which here, as Isa 19:6; Isa 37:25, received the poetical name Mazor, instead of the usual Mizraim. She stands forth as the second world-power, on the other side of Israel from Assyria (cf. Zec 10:11), and the cities are particularly regarded, as prcipua membra of the land of culture, even in Jehovahs Messianic prediction (Isa 19:18). Yea, from Egypt even unto the Euphrates, and even unto the sea from the sea, from the Western, Mediterranean to the Eastern, Persian Sea (cf. Joe 2:20), and from the mountain to the mountain, from Sinai in the south to Lebanon in the north, sc. will they come to thee. and are local accusatives, and the induction of a great extent of country by the antithesis of the quarters of the compass is a common turn of discourse (cf. Amo 8:12). The prophets enumeration confines itself, as was natural, to what was suggested by history and geographical position, and indeed with a special horizon, having reference to Gen 13:14 f.; but in the specification of the points of the compass lies potentially the universality of the plan of salvation (cf. Gen 4:1-2). The same thought is expressed with greater clearness and smoothness by Isaiah (Isa 19:23). But with cutting sharpness the prophet here also
Mic 7:13. For the last time connects with the promise the contrast of the judgment: but the land (we may understand, either with Caspari, from Mic 7:2, Canaan, which extends itself before those that flock unto it, or, with Keil, the whole earth, out of which those who seek deliverance crowd hither) will he waste on account of its inhabitants (cf. Mic 6:11), because of the fruit of their doings. For just in Zion alone, the seat of Gods congregation, will be deliverance (Oba 1:17; Joe 3:5), and this Zion is not the present, which itself is then destroyed (Mic 3:12, coll. Mic 4:1), but a spiritual, living Zion. So salvation and judgment lie side by side (Isa 45:24).
With that strikingly sudden turn, the occasion is given for the last supplication (Mic 7:14-17), which the prophet utters in the name of the congregation.
Mic 7:14. Feed thy people, who after the terrors of the judgment need the shepherds care, which also according to the promise (Mic 7:3) was to be given, with thy staff, the mark of the shepherd (cf. Zec 11:4 ff.); the flock (Psa 95:7) of thy possession (Psa 28:9) who dwell alone, whom thou hast as it were separated from among the nations, and whose distinction it is from of old that they, separately from the nations, belong to thee alone (cf. Num 23:9; Ps. 4:9, where belongs to the verb). an old form instead of the scat, constr. (Oba 1:3). Accusativus habitantem notat passionis non objectum sea effeclum, tit acervos desolatos (Jer 37:2-6). Ch. B. Michaelis. In the forest in the midst of Carmel let them feed; in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old. The kingdom of Zion shall extend over the whole desolated land, as was denoted by the enumeration of the east and west, as Psa 40:9. That both regions named belong to the Ten Tribes may be accidental, but is better regarded as a commentary on Mic 7:13, in such sense that, as the desolation of the Ten Tribes began sooner, so will it continue longer than that of Zion, that it lies waste while Zion has been built up. The phrase, in the forest in the midst of Carmel, is not to be dragged back to the preceding, where it would be a useless, obscure, and halting addition, but to be connected with the second half of the verse, as the parallel passage (Jer 50:19), which evidently rests on this, still more clearly shows. By the days of old are hardly meant the days of Uzziah, as Movers supposes, but those of Itevid, as the normal period of the unity of the kingdom (cf. on Mic 7:2).
Mic 7:15. As in that passage so here, the prophets glance, while he quotes Gods2 answer, confirmatory of the prayer in Mic 7:14, goes still further back; as in the days when thou, Israel, earnest out of the land of Egypt (Psalms 114.), will I to them, thy people, show wonders of grace are the special manifestations of Gods mercy, often in opposition to the course of nature (Exo 3:20), which will be repeated in the age of salvation (the Messianic age) (Exo 9:5). As the supplicating people in Mic 7:14 spoke of itself in the third person, , so God in the first member here addresses it with thou, but in the second, speaks of it in the third person; thou is the present Israel, he is the Israel of the future.
Mic 7:16. The old impression upon the heathen resulting from Gods wonderful deeds in behalf of Israel (cf. Exo 15:14 f; [Jos 2:9 ff.]) is to be repeated. The heathen will see it, those, namely, who even then remain rebellious (cf. on Mic 7:14), and be ashamed so that all their power vanishes (Eze 32:30). , as Isa 23:1,will lay their hand on their mouth; extreme astonishment takes away the power of speech (Jdg 18:19; Isa 52:15)their ears will be deaf before the thunder of Jehovahs mighty deeds (Job 26:14). Hitzig.
Mic 7:17. The evil in them is overcome by the good, the serpent which reared itself against Jehovah is, like his type (Genesis 3.), by the eternal judgment, cast down to the ground; dust shall they lick like the serpent (Psa 72:9; Isa 49:23) creeping on the earthproperly: as those things which creep on the earth; veritatis, as Isa 1:7. They shall tremble forth out of their hiding-places; to Jehovah our God (cf. Mic 4:5) shall they approach with terror [herbeizittern] (Hos 11:10 f), and be in fear before thee (Psa 40:4). With this the discourse passes over again to the congregation, and ends
Mic 7:18-20, in a final lyric strophe (as Psa 104:32 ff; Psa 68:30 ff.; Rom 11:33 ff.). The wonderful deeds of God, exhibitions of power to the adversaries, which bring them to trembling submission, are for Israel deeds of mercy and truth, which open his month for an inspired cry, lay in his soul the spirit of free heart devotion (, Psa 51:14), in the production of which all Gods discipline, through law, deeds, and prophecy, culminates. Who is a God like thee! This also is borrowed from the triumphal ode of Miriam (Exo 15:11; cf. Psa 76:8). Whether there is any play here on the name Micah, must be left undecided. Forgiving iniquity and graciously passing over all transgression for the remnant of his people (cf. on Mic 2:11). Back of this and what follows lies the description of the compassion of God in Exo 34:6 f.; in the word perhaps an allusion to the great act of mercy (Exo 12:12-13). He does not hold his anger forever, for he has his pleasure in mercy (Psa 103:9)
Mic 7:19. He will again have compassion on us (on the constr. vid. Gesen. 142, 3 b), will tread down our iniquities, which rise up against us as enemies, and overpower us (Psa 65:4). Yea, he will cast into the depth of the sea all their sins, the prophet adds in confirmation, here also regarding the sins as foes, and intentionally alluding to Exo 15:10.
Mic 7:20. Thou wilt show truth to Jacob, wilt maintain for the descendants what thou hast promised them in their progenitor, mercy to Abraham, who lives on in his posterity, and waits for the promise (Joh 8:56), and was not vainly called a father of a multitude. Thou wilt show to them the truth and grace which thou hast sworn to our fathers from the days of antiquity. The unity of the plan of salvation for Israel from beginning to end (for the mercy and truth of God are the scarlet threads which run through it), is the thought with which the prophet, placing himself at the culminating,point of revelation, concludes. This perspective has been expanded only from the point of view of the New Testament (Mat 25:34).
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
God has entered into a covenant relation with Israel, dating (Micah 7:21) from the days of the patriarchs. Hence, while His judgments roar against the heathen, unproclaimed and without pity, to Israel He first demonstrates his guilt, and that by setting before Himself and the people alike the eternal principles which He has given in His revelation by word and deed, and in the face of these proves to Israel that He lias kept His truth, but that Israel has broken the covenant and become guilty. This conviction He secures before the punishment, that the latter may not prove an annihilation, but be made fruitful of improvement. Eor such fruit results from the punishment, provided the latter turns the sinner in upon himself, and when it is borne with the consciousness that it is just. Only on this condition, finally, is forgiveness possible; yea (while it appears that the sin is too great to be possibly expiated by punishment), necessary according to the grace of God. To this end serves the controversy at law.
This begins with a reference to those original works of redemption by which God founded the congregation, and with marvelous exhibitions of favor called them to be his people. Thereby Israel from the beginning entered into an obligation to be specially consecrated to Him : I am the Lord thy God. This obligation was represented in an outward system of duties. The ceremonial cultns, however, is only a passing pedagogic stage. It cannot be regarded as the independent principle and soul of the relation, because it offers to God nothing which does not already belong to Him, and in consistency it would lead to ungodly murder. It must look beyond itself, and can furnish no couch of rest for the congregation. The regulative and substantial principle in the law is, rather, the moral kernel, the righteousness of the heart.
And according to this principle must Israel be judged and condemned; for, when Gods truth, appearing in judgment, looks around for wisdom (Pro 1:7) it perceives in every house the folly (Psa 14:1) of sinners, who would fain enjoy Gods blessing without purity of life. Therefore the greed and slavery of the sinner must become his punishment; to eat and not be satisfied, to labor and not enjoy the fruits, the miserable lot of involuntary servitude, is their normal end. Wherever like sins exist there is like punishment; no right of legitimacy can secure the kingdom of Judah against the fate of Samaria, if the ways here are the same as there.
Sent forth by God and his Spirit (Isa 48:16), the true Israel wanders through the ages, and struggles for embodiment. But the longer the time the less does present reality correspond to the character which he is obliged to demand of his members. According to this they should be a living possession, prophets and priests to God (Exo 19:5-6). Kay, he appears to himself now as a vineyard, a fruit garden which has been gleaned; of those who are now called Israelites he can scarcely recognize one as a member of his body. Not a blooming orchard is this people, not belted together by the bands of divine peace into one well-pleasing whole, but involved in the bonds of iniquity, which bind the chiefs of the people (Joh 7:48) together; so closely involved that in the day of judgment they cannot release themselves. The connection is external; inwardly, not the national bond merely, but all, even the most intimate relations of the family are utterly fretted away, and that will show itself in the worst outbreaks of alienation and discord.
But yet the true Israel knows that his time will come. Although he, with all his promises, is bound to the substratum of this neglected nationality, he knows still that when it has to be given up (Mic 5:2) to punishment, he with it will be given up only to redemption. In the darkness of their abandonment to the world, Jehovah is his light.
Hence comes that right disposition to endure, which the litigation was intended to produce: the endurance of the anger as a cross which we take upon ourselves without reluctance: I will bear; and the confident waiting for deliverance. He submits to be given up to the hands of the world-power, but nevertheless knows that in that day when God shall perform his promises, out of these heathen also all that are called shall enter into the new Jerusalem, which will be divested of all enclosure and narrowness; that if all lie in ruins the eternal kingdom of God will arise upon the ruins. Then will the Lord be the shepherd of the true Israel, now become actual and visible. He will march with might at the head of his own people. The adversaries, scattered and cast to the-ground, come trembling unto Jehovah whom they had despised.
That will be the great day of the forgiveness of sins, and of the infliction of punishment, which only the God of the true Israel can ensure, for he takes pleasure in compassion. And it must come because the compassionate God is a true and faithful God, and the Covenant made with the fathers can be broken by nothing which may come between.
Schmieder (Mic 6:4): Miriam, sister of Moses and Aaron, was a prophetess (Exo 15:20). Just as the deliverance out of Egypt, as beginning of the creation of the people of God, includes within it all the subsequent works of protection and redemption, so the three personages, Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, are the types of the whole legislation of the entire priesthood and prophecy, therefore all Gods saving institutions for Israel (Mic 7:11 ff.). The day of vengeance upon evil is the dawn of the day of redemption and restoration for the congregation of the saints. This is the pervading doctrine of the whole Bible; with the flood comes the rain-bow to Noah, with the destruction of Pharaoh the deliverance from Egypt, with Sauls death Davids glory, with the destruction of Jerusalem the new hope of Zion, with the fall of Babylon, the return of the Jews, with the judgment upon the heathen the return of the Jews.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Mirror of Evangelical Repentance
1. Everything is open and manifest before God; the dumb earth is his witness. Hide not thyself (Mic 6:1-2).
2. How much has He done for thee? Hast thou ever considered it 1 (Mic 6:3-5).
3. Thou hast outwardly taken part in his worship, mayest even have gone further in it than. was necessary. But how is it with thee inwardly? (Mic 6:6-7.)
4. Thou knowest his law, but thy life accuses thee (Mic 6:8-12).
5. Thou knowest that He is judge, and art acquainted with his judgments. But thy ways show that thou regardest them not (Mic 6:13-16).
6. Yea. Lord, I confess (Mic 7:1-6).
7. But I believe also; therefore will I fain bear thy judgments (Mic 6:7-9).
8. For I know thy promises (Mic 6:10-16).
9. And will celebrate thy great compassion (Micah 6:1821).
Or: The History of the congregation in Gods light (Isa 2:15). Exordium: The light of God a light of judgment (Mic 6:1-2).
1. The selection and establishment of the congregation (Mic 6:3-5).
2. The legislation (Mic 6:6-8).
3. Sin (Mic 6:9-16).
4. The acknowledgment of sin (Mic 7:1-6). Transitus: The light of God a light of grace (Mic 7:7-8).
5. The return (Mic 7:9).
6. The experience of grace (Mic 7:10-20).
Mic 6:1. The heart of man is harder than a stone. The rocks could not but be moved by the gratuitous beneficence of God, and his complaint. Men remain unaffected, If these should keep silence the stones would cry out.
Mic 6:2. Is there greater condescension than this, that the Lord of heaven and earth, before whom none living is just, and who sees through and through everything, will not judge Israel, unless He have seen his sins and consented to it. How soon, O Christian, art thou ready with thy judgments! and allowest thy brother no time for reply, and hast no ear for him!
Mic 6:3. What God has done for us from our youth up is nothing but benefits. Therefore we should, even in painful experiences, know that the hour cometh, when we shall recognizc them as mercies from God. What the deliverance from Egypt was for Israel, that is for us the redemption from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil. Thus have we become his holy people and possession.
Mic 6:4. A great benefit is it when God at the right time puts the right people at the head of the congregation. To such right people it pertains also that they should meet opposition.
Mic 6:5. Balaam came to curse, but when he sought God (Num 23:3), his curse was turned into a blessing. Whatever thou wotrldst do, forget not to seek God, that thou mayest do all as his instrument. To the upright He gives success. The end of all earnest meditation on the ways of God is that one perceives them to be righteousness.
Mic 6:6-8. A sermon in time of war. The people seek their God and thereby become conscious of their guilt. Then seeking is equivalent to atonement. Wherewith? (1.) Not with outward behavior. Fast-days help not, and the first-born who lie dead on battle-fields, atone not for the sins of the people. Rather (2) with the heart. Holy wars like those of David are scarcely waged any more, but it ought to be the case that wars should be waged holily. Those who are at home, however, should show mildness and modesty.
Mic 6:6. That is the way of sinful man, to excuse himself as if he knew not Gods word. Then we speak as if we knew not what He really demands (Luk 10:29 ff.). Or we capriciously form notions of God as if He demanded things which no man can perform. No heart is so lazy that it would not find out how to reach what is good (Pro 12:13).
Mic 6:8. If thou seekest God, ask thyself above all, What does God seek in me? To do right, (Act 10:39), is a hard piece of work, and whoever reflects upon it deeply perceives that no man alive is just before God. The power for that, however, comes from the loving mercy. Clemency towards our neighbor is doubtless intended (Hos 6:6), but the expression is designedly so put that we are obliged to think of the undeserved mercy of Him who first loved us. He who imagines that he loved first has not attained to the third thing, walking humbly. However much he may outwardly show humility, it is only a wretched gloss upon a puffed up and proud heart. And pride in the house of God is a miserable thing.
Mic 6:9. The voice of the Lord calls ever, but not ever in the same way; sometimes for invitation, again to judgment. He who hears not the former at the time must hear the other after the time. O that men would not always regard merely the rod of correction, but ever also Him who hath appointed it! They would then complain of nothing but their own sin.
Mic 6:10. It is a helpful means to repentance, to inquire carefully in regard to each of our physical and intellectual possessions, how we came by them. Trade is a dangerous art; but God condemns not the art, only the fraud which is practiced with it. The grain speculators, even in Micahs time, received the first curse.
Mic 6:11. He also has false weight who judges not his neighbor with the same measure as himself.
Mic 6:12. It soon comes to pass with a man that he believes his own lies, in fact no longer knows what lies he tells, so that his tongue is a demon to itself, deceit is in his mouth. When it has reached that point it is no wonder that God (Mic 6:13) carries away him who is himself sin with his sin.
Mic 6:14. The covetous pines after what he desires even in enjoying it. The feeling of perpetual emptiness is no longer a sign of sin merely, but already of the judgment of God. Save what thou canst, thou canst save nothing from God.
Mic 6:15. The curse that man should in the sweat of his face eat bread may still be aggravated. Gods eye looks about indeed for wisdom (Mic 6:9), but what He sees is men who with eyes open run into destruction as if they would do it by force. Generation after generation heaps up the curse; woe to the generation oh whom it breaks! Then the sins of fathers and children lie on one head. How canst thou excuse thy faults by maintaining that thou hast been a tender father or mother toward thine own, when they yet are to bear the punishment of thy faults? Take care that thou heap up the reward for the good works which thou hast done; that is the best inheritance.
Chap. 7. As the true Israel to the people of Israel, so Christ stands to his congregation. There an invisible head with many visible members, who can however be such only in name, as being called Israelites; here likewise with Christians.
What Christs congregation should say in an evil time.
1. Her complaint, Mic 7:1-4 a. That the saints have grown few and iniquity abundant. The complaint bears most hard upon the princes according to their various responsibility.
2. Their fear, Mic 7:4 b6. The day of God must certainly come, and that with fearful signs.
3. Their comfort.
(a.) They know on whom they trust, know his name, and his readiness to hear, his wounding and healing, and his nature, that he is light (Mic 7:7-8). Therefore they wait patiently in the darkness.
(b.) They know that right must remain right (Mic 7:9). Therefore they patiently endure wrong.
(c.) They know that to their adversaries an evil lot is appointed (Mic 7:10). Therefore they weary not.
(d.) They know what is before them, namely, that the evil and narrow is to be torn down, in order to build again well and wide (Mic 7:11-13). Therefore they complain not that it is torn down.
(e.) They know their shepherds voice and works from of old (Mic 7:15-18). Therefore they meditate on the days of old (Psa 77:6), and hold before him his Word.
(f.) They have a complete revelation of Gods nature, that He is the only, and a sin-forgiving, God, gracious and powerful over sin and faithful (Mic 7:18-20). Therefore, they celebrate and praise Him even in the most wretched time.
A pious soul is for the Lord a refreshment. That is not said, however, to puff up, but for the encouragement of those who love God. Who would not willingly prepare a delight for Him!
Mic 7:2. When once the saints die out of a land, there is soon manifested a whole abyss of abominable things, which they alone, through their life and prayers, have kept down. The prayers of the pious restrain the judgment.
Mic 7:3. How would Gods kingdom be promoted, if only the same activity, invention, and perseverance were applied to its objects, which are spent in works of wickedness.Every judge ought to think that he has an office from God, and that Gods cause should be cheap to no one.It is also a bad sign when in a land unbridled words prevail. Sins of the tongue increase also the burden. The further a mans voice is heard, the more honestly should he guard his mouth.
Mic 7:4. It is a bad thing to draw others into ones own matters and interests. Many a one has thought he did God service while he was making a party for the accomplishment of his own plans, and was only a snare for the day of judgment. God alone makes his parties for Himself; his programme is not theses, but the Holy Scriptures; his leader is the Holy Spirit. When He works not (and He works in truthfulness and peace, without any human addition, as a spirit of willingness, without any harm or calumny toward others), then all work is vain. All partisanship leads to the state of things described in Mic 7:5. How can the kingdom of God be built up, when its original foundation tears itself in pieces. It is written that Abraham went out from his kindred, but not that he stood up against them and mocked them.
Mic 7:7. Martha is careful and troubled about many things, but one thing is needful. To wait is the strongest power, to pray is the strongest weapon; for they both have God for an ally; and when He hears it is also effectually heard.
Mic 7:8. He who falls without God never rises again. What a fearful darkness is that in which they must sit who have no God! And what is all darkness for us if we have God? The name of God is a light shining in the depth of the heart, and therefore cannot be extinguished from without.
Mic 7:9. The evangelical call to repentance results in the conversion of the will with hearty sorrow. Evangelical repentance is not doing but suffering. Works of repentance (satisfactio operis) are not pain but pleasure, therefore self deception, or, if they were not a pleasure, but were imposed by authority, against ones will, they would be wholly useless, since then not the will of him who renders them performs them, but properly the will of Him by whom they are imposed. But the pain resulting from a clear discernment of the misery of sitting deservedly far from God in our misery, is an unspeakable grief; and he who has not felt it knows not yet what repentance is. It is so profound that if faith were not present (9 b), it must inevitably become despair.
Mic 7:11. Where life in the kingdom of God.must first be propped up by statutes, there is no life begun, but whitewashed death. The kingdom of God begins in a man with the law of liberty. The embracing wall which God draws around the new Jerusalem is He himself (Zec 2:8). That is a very wide room. There all the peoples of the earth have a place.
Mic 7:13. But this birth also takes place amid pains.
Mic 7:14. The shepherd of the new congregation is the Messiah (Mic 5:3). Therefore is her room also (against Mic 7:11) a very narrow, separate room; there, namely, where good pasture is for his sheep (Psa 23:2); the wilderness remains for the morally wild.
Mic 7:15. In the history of the kingdom, of God there is a constant similarity in the main lines. Naturally, for God is unchanging, and his doings always divine, wonderful.
Mic 7:16. When He once begins to work there is also an end of human power. Desire not to bring on yourselves the wonder!
Mic 7:17. How has the serpent revived in so many persons! The seed of the woman, Abrahams seed, has become as the sand of the sea, but the other not less. The final biting of the heel and the final crushing of the head are not yet come.
Mic 7:18. In all tiie world for Him whose look sees highest over the world and into eternity, there is nothing so commendable as the forgiveness of sins. He who said: Thy sins are forgiven thee, could be no other than God, unless he were more criminal than Adam; for he exercised the highest prerogative of God.
Mic 7:19. The last short sting of repentance : Belongest thou also to the remnant? The remnant is lame and crippled (Mic 4:7); it needs the physician. God takes pleasure in mercy; what a look does that give us into the deepest heart of God! There no man sees a bottom, but as deeply as he can see, nothing but delight.
Mic 7:20. God has a long memory; and his blessing extends to the thousandth generation.
On Mic 6:1. Luther: People are wont, especially if they hear of the anger of God, to believe that it will not go so fearfully with them. Hence they allow themselves to suppose that in the midst of sin they may hope to find forgiveness and pardon, and may either laugh at the prophets threatening or despise it as human fiction. Such mistake would the prophet guard against when Re says, not that men should hear him, but the Lord; the Lord speaks, and not he.
Taknov: From men who would not hear, the discourse turns to the hills and mountains, that it may be heard.
Mic 7:3. Chrysostom: He calls those his people who would not call Him God; those who strive to take from Him the kingdom He treats not as haughty rebels, but invites them to Him mildly, and says: My people, what have I done to thee? Have I been burdensome to thee? Thou canst say nothing of that kind. But even if thou couldst thou shouldst not have fallen away from Him. For who is the son whom his father chastiseth not? But not once hast thou occasion to speak of that. Cf. Jer 2:5.
Mic 7:4. Michaelis: It is an ungodly thing to injure him from whom thou hast received no evil, much more ungodly still to injure the most bountiful benefactor.
Mic 7:5. Hengstenberg: That also is regarded as a part of Balaams answer which served as its practical guaranty.
Mic 7:6. Luther: God had commanded sacrifices. But He would receive them as certain testimony of obedience toward Him if they were not disobedient in much greater and more important things. But since they neglect the greater acts of worship, and perform the lesser and more irrational acts with so ungodly a purpose, namely, that the sacrifices should be a payment for their sins, God regards their offerings as an abomination, and mocks them.
Michaelis: They are not able to deny their sins, but practice hypocrisy when they offer sacrifices and outward things, but are unconcerned about repentance.
Mic 7:8. Luther: That is also a service which all men in every position can render.
Michaelis: It is the most excellent things in the law which Christ, in opposition to the purely pedagogic Old Testament portions of the law, calls. . There is nothing more humble or more humbling than faith.
Mic 7:13. Luther: We Germans have experienced such things through war.
Mic 7:1. Burck: This is a complaint. To the pious teacher, namely, it is sad, that the perverseness of human nature is so great, that not only are the ungodly not improved, but in some sort actually with design and exertion become daily worse. On this account, however, we ought not to let the calling sleep nor be neglected. For on the teachers lie two things, says Luther: first, that they save their soul, as Ezekiel speaks, secondly, that the evil world should have a testimony against it. Had I not come and spoken, said Jesus, they had not had sin. To this may be added the third most important cause, that when all others blaspheme, Gods name may be hallowed.
Schlier: The prophet proclaims to his people the painful confession of sin, that they may learn by that what is necessary. The confession of sin is followed by the confession of faith.
Mic 7:2. Luther: There is none that walketh rightly. Because, namely, he sees that all men, when it goes well and prosperously, live without fear of God, and in the highest wantonness. Again when misfortune comes, they either faint or betake themselves to carnal helps and means.
Mic 7:3. Therefore should rulers let sins in them be freely punished (for it is Gods command), but they should stand clear of sins.
Mic 7:7. Calwer Bible: Thus speaks the prophet, in the name of the little flock, to the ungodly opposers.
Michaelis: But I: that is an antithesis to the foregoing, and means: It is even so; all is getting bad; the righteous and fearful judgments of God hang over mens heads; but what shall I do in such a state of things?:despair, or murmur, or speak impatiently? Rather, etc. He does not allow himself to be led away by the wickedness of the great mass, and what is more, he does not throw away hope; although the deluge must come, know that God can save even in the deluge. The ground of his hope lies in God: the God of my salvation. He will certainly save me, who has from ancient times been my salvation, and who is called God of salvation. Isa 18:1; Hab 3:18.
Mic 7:8. Calvin: The feeling of divine grace in adversity is quite peculiarly comparable to the light, as when one who has fallen into a deep pit yet perceives a distant gleam of the sun when he raises his eyes. So should we also not be confounded, however dense and gloomy the darkness may be in our trials, but ever keep the spark of light glowing for us, that is, faith should ever raise our eyes upward that we may have a feeling of the divine goodness.
Mic 7:9. Luther: It may seem an amusing thing, that Basilius, in a letter in which he laments his mothers death, says that this has happened because of her sin. But, truly, whoever thinks that even the most trifling misfortune has its source in this fountain, mistakes not, but lives nobly in the fear of God.
Calwer Bible: Even the pious can never except themselves from the general guilt, and must therefore also take their part of the general punishment, although they may live innocently from the world and before the world. Cf. 1Pe 4:12-19.
Michaelis; Until; that is twofold, first, the immovable patience of the congregation, secondly, the end of the appointed suffering.
Mic 7:10. Michaelis: They rejoice not so much over the destruction of enemies as over the assurance of the favor of God, whose name hitherto has been so much profaned by them.
Mic 7:12. Hengstenberg: It is not enough that the people of God be free from the slavery of the world; they become also the object of the longing of the nations, even the strongest and most hostile; the magnet which attracts them.
Mic 7:13. Luther: In these words we should notice the special diligence of the Holy Spirit, which sees clearly what sort of thoughts the wicked synagogue will have, that they will hope for a carnal kingdom, and despise the preaching of the Gospel on that account. Such an error, which not I only obscures the Kingdom of Heaven but utterly takes it away, the Holy Spirit would here anticipate and forestall.
Mic 7:14. Tarnov: With thy staff; not with the iron rod of Moses, but with thine, the leading of the Holy Spirit, with thy Word and Spirit; for these are the instruments of the kingdom of God.
Cocceius: With the staff the shepherd numbers his sheep, smites, leads them, points oui whither they should go, from what they should turn aside, where they should find pasture.
Mic 7:18. Michaelis: The congregation whicK here speaks through the prophet, is sunk in an abyss, while it contemplates the riches of the divine grace and mercy, which in the last times is to come upon it.
Mic 7:18 ff. Burck: The Holy Scriptures re veal a new, rich depth of the divine fullness, and a truly inexhaustible treasure of indulgence. There are no casus reservati.
Starke: Mic 6:1. Teachers and preachers in their teaching should not make a show of strange languages, or clothe themselves in the writings of Church fathers, or even in unprofitable fables, but should abide by Gods Word alone, and speak that. On the mountains and hills in particular was idolatry practiced, so that they had evidence of mens ungodliness.
Mic 7:3. God earnestly desires the salvation of all.
Mic 7:4. We should remember not only the benefits which God has shown to us, but particularly those also which our forefathers have experienced.The teaching and the governing office should be in accord with each other.
Mic 7:5. The wish of the enemies of the Church, to destroy it, has never succeeded.
Mic 7:6-7. Most powerfully does our own conscience bear witness to the necessity of a vicarious atonement, in that it cannot otherwise be pacified. It makes a great difference whether pious or ungodly people ask: How shall we appease God? Even with such works as God has commanded can He not be served, if they are performed by an impenitent man. By self-appointed acts of worship He is only angered the more.
Mic 7:8. Believe, love, and endure. As it is a great sorrow when men whom God has created and Christ redeemed, know neither God nor Christ, so, on the contrary, it is a great blessing, when we know from Gods Word, and perceive what is good, and what God demands of us. On the ground of ignorance, since we can know but will not, we cannot excuse ourselves.
Mic 7:9. A man sees only what is before his eyes, but God sees the heart. Those who will not give ear to Gods paternal admonitions must taste his sharp rod.
Mic 7:10. There are ungodly men who knowingly have in their house goods gained by unrighteousness. Such goods are not treasures, but a coal, by which the rest also that has been honestly gained shall be consumed.
Mic 7:11. A Christian householder should endure no false balance or false weight in his house.
Mic 7:12. Rich people who love unrighteousness, meet unrighteousness also as a reward. Covetous people are generally lying people also. Those who possess goods wickedly acquired commonly oppress the poor also with great violence and pride; covetousness is insatiable.
Mic 7:13. Here He begins to display the rod which He had commanded in Mic 7:9 to hear. God begins with lighter punishments, but when these do not secure improvement, He makes them heavier in proportion as they are more prolonged.
Mic 7:14. Famine is one of Gods greatest plagues. As the pious, in all their conduct, have God about, with, and for them, so the wicked, on the other hand, have Him against them.
Mic 7:15. If we would enjoy our labor, we must fear God and pursue piety, fairness, and justice.Vet. 16. Subjects are often much more submissive to their rulers in their wicked requirements than in just and commendable regulations.Mic 7:1. When teachers see no fruit of their labors, they should not straightway lay them down, but faithfully do their own part and commend it to Gods blessing.
Mic 7:2. Religion should not be judged by the lives of men. Cain has in all times his brother. Before God sends the general calamities on a land, He is wont to remove the pious people by death, that they may not see the evil. Those also who go about with secret plots and wicked practices are murderers before God, for He seeth the heart.
Mic 7:4. The ungodly believe not what is threatened them until they have it in hand; then they are utterly cast down and disheartened, so that they can counsel neither themselves nor others.
Mic 7:5. Christians ought to be prudent.
Mic 7:6. When men first give themselves up to carnal lusts, and lose sight of all shame and respect for God, then natural affection also commonly dies out.
Mic 7:7. See how strenuously he insists that he has a God, much as if the other crowd had no God. The wicked have a God, doubtless, but an angry God, a God of vengeance and not of salvation. He that would be secure against evil example must look to the Lord in obedience and patience.
Mic 7:8. God sometimes leaves believers also to stumble and fall, that they may be humbled, but He helps them up again.
Mic 7:9. The righteous complains first of himself.
Mic 7:10. God punishes not only the blasphemies which are cast upon Him, but the calumnies against his children also.
Mic 7:11. The preaching of the Gospel is the means by which God maintains and enlarges his Church.
Mic 7:13. The earth is the Lords, the men, however, are its guests and inhabitants.
Mic 7:14. God would have us pray to Him for the good things which He promises us. Believers have in Christ no want, but full enjoyment.
Mic 7:16. It annoys the wicked greatly, when they see that the Gospel is spread abroad in spite of them.
Mic 7:17. It is among the items of the great mystery, that the unbelieving world has believed the Gospel.
Mic 7:18. Not only is there no other God, but also there is in heaven and on earth no such loving-kindness to be found as with God, who forgiveth sins. God is not so compassionate as to have no anger, but only so that He holds it not forever. Sin is Satans work, forgiveness Gods.Var. 19. The sea is the blood of Jesus Christ. God not only forgives sins, but gives us the power also to subdue sin.
Mic 7:20. As God Himself is truth, so also is his Word truth, on which we may confidently rest.
Pfaff: Mic 6:6-8. Ye cannot excuse yourselves, ungodly men, as not having known the will of God. As clearly and richly as this has been made known to you, as many corrections, from the Good Spirit as ye have received in your souls, so often has conscience in you been awakened. But ye hold the truth in unrighteousness.
Mic 6:13. Public iniquity and deceit are certainly followed by heavy judgments; for the property gathered by them must become a disgrace (Mic 7:8). In the darkness of the greatest affliction, the pious still see the light, and find their pleasure in the Lords mercy, which is hidden in the cross.
Rieger: Ch. 6. (1) The forcible beginning, for the awakening of hearts, Mic 6:1-2. (2) The friendly direction, for the winning of hearts, Mic 6:3-8 (3) The sharp threatening against the sealed hearts, Mic 6:9-16. On Mic 6:6-7. As men now-a-days express their unreasonableness towards the service of God in spirit and in truth, when they say, One scarcely ever knows what one ought to do; they will be contented with nothing any more.
Mic 6:8. To conduct ones self in all things earnestly, according to the divine and not the human standard, and in this to give to the Word of God its judicial power; to practice kindness with delight, and to walk in humble faith before and with God: in that light let each one consider his own heart and conscience.
Mic 6:9 ff. God has never accumulated presages of future events for the gratification of curious inquisitiveness, but to promote improvement at the present, thereby to render aid against unrighteousness.Mic 7:1 ff. One must never rest satisfied with discourses and representations to men, but must support the public address by many words before and with the Father in secret; and if one will cover the unfruitfulness of the public labor with fatigue, one must refresh himself again by this intercourse with God.
Mic 6:2. For the righteous who doubtless yet remained it was a salutary prompting that they should not so conceal themselves (Pro 28:28), but be active also in the better spirit.
Mic 6:8 ff. There are always people who are glad to see it when the truth is so humbled, and her confessors brought into such straits, that it seems to be all over with religion, order, and discipline. They together make up the enemy that is hostile to Zion.
Mic 6:9. This makes one submissive under all the reproach upon the Church and her service, to observe that there is indignation at the bottom of it, that God thus withdraws Himself, and we no more attain to the blessing of former witnesses. But hope refreshes the heart.
Schmieder: Mic 6:3. This question of the conscience, cutting deep into the sinful heart, addresses itself still, and in a still more humiliating way, to the people whom the Lord has purchased with his blood. The liturgy of the Romish Church, on Good Friday, during the adoration of the cross (the so-called lamentations), has appropriated this complaint of the Lord to the holy people: I led you forty years long through the wilderness, fed thee with manna, and brought thee into a good land, and thou hast therefor crucified thy Saviour. I planted thee as my beautiful vineyard, and thou hast become bitter for me, hast given me vinegar to drink in my thirst, with a spear hast pierced my side. For thy sake I scourged Egypt and her firstborn, and thou hast caused me to be scourged, etc.
Mic 6:7. Not indeed, unless it is a sign of a heart offering itself to God.
Mic 6:8. Doing rightly is an exhibition of faith, complete devotion to God is the real spiritual burnt-offering. To love mercy toward others is the true daily meat-offering. To walk humbly, to be mindful that God is the Holy One, thou a poor sinner, that is the true spiritual sin-offering.
Mic 6:14. That is the curse of the covetous, that he is never satisfied; the blessing of God and contentment are wanting.Mic 7:3. Thus ever the history of Naboths vineyard repeats itself. The prince demands it; since Naboth will not consent, judges are bribed, and the queen says what she lusts after; Naboth, though innocent, must die as a blasphemer; thus they weave the net.
Mic 6:4. The thorn, the hedge, is in the vegetable kingdom the type of what is evil, because it injures (2 Kings 14.; Judges 9.); as the vine, the olive, the fig tree are the type of the good, because they give fruit and shadow.
Mic 6:5 ff. Compare Mat 10:35 f., where by the use which our Lord makes of this prophetic office it is clear that the times of such domestic discord and insecurity, come then especially when, after the undisturbed dominion of evil, the Spirit of God arouses and enlivens the remnant of the pious, so that they with word and deed bear witness against wickedness, and contend with Satan. Then must the pious man contend and suffer for the Lords sake, but also watch lest he commit sin, and thus be rightfully chastised for his sins sake.
Mic 6:14. Since on Carmel, in Bashan and Gilead, was the best pasture, and since Israel is here compared to a flock, these good pasture grounds are here typically assigned to the people, while yet only the fruitful abodes in the land of Canaan are really meant.
Micah 6:18. That is the so-called angry God of the Old Testament.
Micah 6:19. Our misdeeds are our most dangerous enemy and accuser; but even this Satan will the God of peace subdue to Himself and us, and has already done it, if we trust wholly to Him who treads the serpent under foot. Happy he whose sin is buried (Rom 6:4).
Quandt: Ch. 6. Of Israels gratitude. (1) Israels unthankfulness for Gods previous mercy, Mic 6:1-5. (2) Mic 6:6-8. How Israel should thank God. (3) Mic 6:9-16. How God will punish thankless Israel.
Mic 6:1. The mountains and hills signify the prominent leaders of the people.
Mic 6:10. Cf. Amo 8:5-6.
Mic 6:11. Inquiry of the conscience terrified by the searching of the Lord. Not as if the grain-speculators actually inquired thus. But Micah wishes that they would so inquire, that they might come to themselves and repent.
Mic 6:12. The punishment of men on earth is never the ultimate end, but ever the means to the end of their conversion.Ch. 7. Mercy glories over judgment.
Mic 6:2. The seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal were not wanting in Micahs time either. But if one would picture the impression made by a barren landscape, he does not stop on the description of a flower or two which may bloom somewhere in concealment. The Redeemer also said universally: Ye would not, and leaves Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea out of the account.
Micah 6:20. Gods oath, on which Micah here at the end leans as on a rock, is that of Gen 13:16 ff. How God kept it, see in Luk 1:72-75.
[Matthew Henry: on Mic 6:4. When we are calling to mind Gods former mercies to us, we must not forget the mercy of good teachers and governors when we were young. Let those be made mention of, to the glory of God, who went before us, saying, This is the way, walk in it; it was God that sent them before us, to prepare the way of the Lord, and to prepare a people for Him.
Mic 6:6-8. Deep convictions of guilt and wrath will put men upon inquiries after peace and pardon, and then, and not till then, there begins to be some hope of them. Those that are thoroughly convinced of sin, of the malignity of it, and of their misery and danger by reason of it, would give all the world, if they had it, for peace and pardon. Men will part with anything rather than their sins, but they part with nothing, to Gods acceptance, unless they part with them.
Mic 6:9. It is a point of true wisdom to discover the name of God in the voice of God, and to learn what He is from what He says. Every rod has a voice, and it is the voice of God that is to be heard in the rod of God; and it is well for those that understand the language of it; which if we would do, we must have an eye to Him that appointed it. Every rod is appointed, of what kind it shall be, where it shall light, and how long it snail lie. The work of ministers is to explain the providences of God, and to quicken and direct men to the lessons that are taught by them.
Mic 6:16. If professors of religion ruin themselves, their ruin will be the most reproachful of any other; and they in a special manner will rise at the last day to everlasting shame and contempt.Mic 6:1. Some think that this intimates not only that good people were few, but that those few who remained, who went for good people, were good for little; like the small withered grapes, the refuse that were left behind, not only by the gatherer, but by the gleaner. When the prophet observed this universal degeneracy, it made him desire the first-ripe fruit; he wished to see such worthy, good men as were in the former ages, were the ornaments of the primitive times, and as far exceeded the best of all the present age as the first and full-ripe fruits do those of the latter growth, that never come to maturity. When we read and hear of the wisdom and zeal, the strictness and conscientiousness, the devotion and charity, of the professors of religion in former ages, and see the reverse of this in those of the present age, we cannot but sit down and wish with a sigh, O,for primitive Christianity again! Where are the plainness and integrity of those that went before us? Where are the Israelites indeed, without guile? Our souls desire them, but in vain. The golden age is gone and past recall; we must make the best of what is, for we are not likely to see such times as have been.3
Mic 6:9. Those that are truly penitent for sin will see a great deal of reason to be patient under affliction.
Mic 6:15. Gods former favors to his Church are patterns of future favors, and shall again be copied out as there is occasion.Tr.]
Footnotes:
[1][Cf. Gram. and Text.Tr.]
[2]This from of dialogue between god and the people is very common in the hymnistic style of the prophets; more particularly at the conclusion where the prophetic ecstasy has reached its climax. Hosea 14, e.g., cannot be unterstood at all without bearing in mind that we have a dialogue before us. This is the , the solemn responsive song (Exo 15:21) at the time of the salvation, as Hosea (Micah 2:18 [Micah 2:16]) foretells.
[3][So good people have been wont to complain, in Church and State, since the Homeric heroes, at least, of the degeneracy of each generation, as compared with the preceding one. If such wailings were reasonable, what angelic piety and social virtue must have flourished three thousand years ago, and how dreadful to think of our posterity, three thousand years hence, looking back, over countless steps of deterioration, to us as paragons of lost perfection! This view of things is, rather, a lazy or helpless recognition of the remaining evil which it behooves each age to put away or diminish. As Henry himself says on Mic 7:9, When we complain to God of the badness of our own heats.Tr.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
The Prophet laments his solitary situation as a child of God. He takes comfort in the view of his rich consolation in the Lord. He closeth the Chapter in words of admiration at the free and gracious mercy of God, in Covenant love.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Here is a sad complaint of the Prophet concerning the times in which he lived. Like another Elijah, he was inclined to think that faith was lost in the earth. 1Ki 19:10 . He compares his state to that of a glean gatherer of the vineyard. Isa 28:4 . The several images he makes use of are very striking.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Chastisement and Mercy
Mic 7:8-9
When Christians have gone wrong in any way, whether in belief or in practice, scandalously or secretly, it seems that pardon is not explicitly and definitely promised them in Scripture as a matter of course; and the mere fact that they afterwards become better men, and are restored to God’s favour, does not decide the question whether they are in every sense pardoned; for David was restored and yet was afterwards punished. It is still a question whether a debt is not standing against them for their past sins, and is not now operating or to operate to their disadvantage. What its payment consists in, and how it will be exacted, is quite another question, and a hidden one. It may be such, if they die under it, as to diminish their blessedness in heaven; or it may be a sort of obstacle here to their rising to certain high points of Christian character; or it may be a hindrance to their ever attaining one or other particular Christian grace in perfection faith, purity, or humility; or it may prevent religion taking deep root within them, and imbuing their minds; or it may make them more liable to fall away; or it may hold them back from that point of attainment which is the fulfilment of their trial; or it may forfeit for them the full assurance of hope; or it may lessen their peace and comfort in the intermediate state, or even delay their knowledge there of their own salvation; or it may involve the necessity of certain temporal punishments, grievous bodily disease, or sharp pain, or worldly affliction, or an unhappy death. Such things are ‘secrets of the Lord our God,’ not to be pried into, but to be acted upon. We are all more or less sinners against His grace, many of us grievous sinners; and St. Paul and the other Apostles give us very scanty information what the consequences of such sin are. God may spare us, He may punish. In either case, however, our duty is to surrender ourselves into His hands, that He may do what He will.
J. H. Newman.
References. VII. 8, 9. J. H. Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons, vol. iv. p. 94. VII. 15. R. F. Horton, The Hidden God, p. 215.
Anger Changed to Compassion
Mic 7:18
I. We might have Expected that God would have Retained His Anger for Ever, for consider:
a. The nature and malignity of sin. Sin includes unbelief, rebellion, ingratitude. Does not unbelief give the lie to God? Is not ingratitude a libel on His goodness?
b. The character of God, absolute perfection; sin has made a demand on His justice; sin must be punished, or moral equity is at an end.
c. The demands of God’s righteous law.
d. The disinclination of man to listen to any terms of reconciliation. Man stands in the way of his own pardon and recovery.
e. The incompetence of man to make any sufficient reparation to God.
f. The awful example of righteous displeasure in the penal condition of the fallen angels. Thus it appears that we might have expected that He would have retained His anger for ever.
II. How is it that the Divine Anger is Reversed? ‘He retaineth not His anger for ever.’
a. Because of the infinite compassion and clemency of the Divine Redeemer. There is mercy with God.
b. Because of the arrangements of the covenant of grace and the council of peace (Isa 54:10 ; Eze 37:26 ; 2Ti 1:10 ).
c. Because of the effects of the undertaking of the Redeemer in assuming our nature and satisfying the demands of justice.
d. Because of the almighty influences of the Holy Spirit by which the dispositions hostile to our recovery are subdued.
Here we see the display of the merciful character of God. How should our love be called out to that Saviour Who hath so loved us?
The Grace of God to Sinners
Mic 7:18-19
I. The Sinner’s Astonishment. What is the first thing that brings out this astonishment in the Prophet’s heart, and makes it heard in this eloquent way from his lips? His wonder is he has to do with a God who forgives iniquity like his. It is that that gives an everlasting freshness to the pulpit. It is when a man has an everlasting sense of God’s unspeakable grace to his own soul that his message comes straight from his heart and comes hot to the heart of bis people. Let our pulpits be filled with men overwhelmed with a sense of God’s grace to their own souls, and you will not need to advertise singular subjects; you will fill your churches to the doors when the minister’s own heart is filled as Micah’s was with downright amazement at God’s long-suffering and patience with the preaching Prophet himself. He begins with the very ABC of the Gospel, the offer of pardon for sin. The first thing that amazes him even to seventy and eighty years of age is that God is still forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; and it is that that holds together his congregation in Jerusalem, that makes his own heart burn with freshness and power because of the memory and present experience of God’s unspeakable salvation and adorable patience to himself a sinner.
And what makes good preaching makes good hearing. But you must go back into the past and bring a broken heart out of it again to receive afresh the ever new and ever blessed Gospel of the grace of God in Jesus Christ.
II. Remnants. He passeth by for His own reasons the transgressions of the remnant of His heritage; He retaineth not His anger for ever for He delighteth in mercy. He retaineth it not It does not say He delights in anger; He delights in mercy; therefore if we need a great mercy let us comfort our hearts with this, that He delights in the thing we need. Mercy and misery are made for one another. There would be ho mercy in God if there was no misery in man. God is love, and His love becomes mercy in presence of my misery. He delighteth in mercy, and will cast all your sins in the depths of the sea that mystical, spiritual, wonderful sea, the sea of the grace of God.
Alexander Whyte, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxvii. 1905, p. 337.
References. VII. 18-20. G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 169. VII. 19. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxvii. No. 1577.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
A Standard of Morality
Mic 7
This is Micah when he has lost his mantle. This is not the Micah we have been accustomed to hear. A man is not always his best self. Do not find a man in a period of gloom, and represent his depression as being the real character and quality of his soul. Micah has been working hard; he is undergoing the misery of reaction. Micah came forth from the village thinking he would convert the whole kingdom, north and south; that men had only to hear his ringing and dominant voice, and they would instantaneously begin to weep and pray and repent. It is the old routine. Bless God for young enthusiasm. It dashes forth into the fray, saying, I have only got to show this banner, and that battlefield will become a church. We could not do without such high rapture and chivalrous passion. We know the end of it all. But he would be a cruel man who would discourage young devotion. Micah the villager begins to feel that he has been toiling all day, and has taken nothing. This is personal disappointment. The moment we cut our relation with the Infinite we are shorn Samsons. Micah hand-in-hand with God makes the kingdom reel again under the volley of his thundering; but when Micah withdraws his hands, and becomes a simple unit, he wraps his head with the mantle of midnight, and groans and complains, and says he has wasted his strength for nought. But that could not be. No man ever wastes his strength who gives it to God. “In all labour there is profit.” The young scribe is nearer being a good writer for the last attempt he made, though his friends smile at the rude caligraphy; the musician is nearer being master of his vocation through the last song he sung as the result of industry, though he was wrong in every note. “In all labour there is profit,” not always palpable, and estimable in figures; but there is some increase in the quality of the mind, some cunning added to the craft and skill of the fingers. So Micah should not have complained with so utter a depression. He has added something to the store of the world’s best riches. Every life well lived makes its addition to the sum-total. The world would not have been so rich had you, poorest mother of the race, never lived. You exclaim, What have I done? You cannot tell what you have done; it is no business of yours to make up the account. There is a registrar; running night and day through the ages, there is a recording pen: you will have the issue in the future. We are so impatient that we want to see results now. When did you sow the seed? Yesterday. When did you look for the harvest? This morning. This is impatience; this is ignorance; this is want of that restfulness which comes of deep practical learning in the school of experience.
Let us hear Micah, and, listening, we shall discover a tone that has come down to the present moment,
“The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net” ( Mic 7:2 ).
When we ourselves are down it is hard to believe that anybody else is up; when our prayer is choked in our throat it is easy to believe that God hears no prayer at all, nor cares for petitioning and supplicating man. We interpret all things by ourselves. There is a curious self-projection of the soul upon the disc of history, and we read according to the shadow which we throw upon that disc. This is what we call pessimism. We are always inventing strange words, and imagining that thereby we are making some kind of progress. Man has a fatal gift of giving names to things, and once give a name, and it will be almost impossible to obliterate it. We call this pessimism, that is, seeing all the wickedness and none of the goodness; seeing all the darkness and none of the light; seeing the utter desolation of all things, and not seeing in all the wilderness one green blade, one tiny flower, or hearing in the grim silence one trill of lark or soft note of thrush or nightingale. There are persons gifted with the genius of darkness. It may do us good to visit them occasionally; but on the whole it is better to live in the sunshine, and to hear the music, and to come under the influence of intelligent vivacity and cheerfulness. If people will shut themselves up in their own little houses for the biggest house is little, the palace is a mere hut and never keep any company but their own, they will go down. It is so ecclesiastically. There are persons who never see the universe except through their own church window, and as no window is as big as the horizon, there steals insidiously upon the mind a disposition to deny the existence of the horizon itself. It is so with reading. There are those who read only a certain set of books. They go down; there is no mental range, no scope, no variety, no mystery of colour, no hopefulness, no imagination. The very earth needs to have its crops changed. If you will go on growing the same crops you will cease to have any crop to grow that is worth gathering. There is, on the other hand, what is termed optimism. That is the exact contrary of pessimism. Optimism sees the best of everything. There is a danger along that line also; the danger is that we may not be stern enough, real enough, penetrating enough, going into the heart and inmost fibre of things to find out reality and truth, how bad or good soever the case may be. A most mischievous talent is this of giving names. You cannot now introduce an idea but some pedant will say, That is Buddhism. Well, suppose it is Buddhism, where is the crime? If you introduce another proposition there will be those who will tell you that it is a Greek thought Well, suppose it is a Greek thought, may it not have modern applications, new meanings, fresh aspects? May it not be utilised in the civilisation of to-day? Propound some doctrine that is apparently novel, and there will be those who will fasten upon it a term as if the term were an argument. Do not be afraid of such men. Polysyllables never broke any bones. Have you the truth? Then utter it. Do you believe you have it? Make it known, submit it for discussion; and be sure that if you see no blue sky above you, your eye is wrong, not the sky. The good man is not perished out of the earth. This is reaction. Elijah thought the same thing, and the Lord told him there were seven thousand men in the world better than ever he was perhaps; at all events they were faithful, loyal, constant hearts. But do not believe that the prophet is literally signifying the absolute non-existence of good men. You must read the Bible imaginatively as well as grammatically; and you must hear all your friends through the medium of your imagination as well as through the medium of the dictionary and the grammar, or your friendship will soon come to nothing. There are those who can be measured by dictionary and grammar, because they never say anything with any colour in it, any vitality, any possibility of expansion; by all means give them the largest lexicographical hospitality you can, and let them be interpreted through the medium of the alphabet. But there are other men who, when they say, “The good man is perished out of the earth,” do not mean it in the literal definite sense which the literalist would attach to the term. They simply feel that a process of decay has set in, that things are not so far on as they ought to be, and that the old mystery and glow of prayer are not so predominant and visible as in the former days. Thus read the prophets, and you will find that in them there is that central average truth which looks all ways, and takes in all passing time, and all days and ages to come.
Then we err so much in having a false standard of the good man, and the progress of society, and the results of earnest work. Thus the Lord sends upon us the punishment of perplexity, because he is growing plants we do not know the names or the uses of, and he is continually rebuking our faithlessness by new miracles of production. The Lord will not let us hold the reins. Sometimes he permits us to sit on the front seat as if we were actually taking part in the administration of the chariot. There is but one Lord, one Captain, one Sovereign, one Ruler, great, gracious, wise, tender, sympathetic, pitiful, and redeeming; and thou, poor man, seated on the box-seat, and imagining thyself of consequence to the chariot, take care that thou do not fall oft”, and be crushed under the wheels thou didst falsely imagine to be under thine own direction. We are sailing in God’s ship, we are being driven in God’s chariot, we are part and parcel of a great system of economics we cannot understand, and wise is he up to the point of rest who says, Let the Lord have his own way: the darkness and the light are both alike to him; he made every road he drives upon; he made every sea he sails over, he first created the tempest, and he holds the whirlwinds in his fist. Fretful, meddlesome, selfish, vain, eccentric man would like to sit upon the throne, if only for one moment, but in that one moment God knows he would wreck eternity.
Micah says, that in his day they were doing evil “with both hands earnestly.” A better word is “well,” and a better word is perhaps “skilful”; but we see the paradox more clearly by putting in the word “well,” then we read, “That they may do evil with both hands well.” There is no contradiction of terms. There are men who make a study of doing things that are wrong, skilfully, cunningly, well. There are thieves who are discovered, and there are thieves who are not discovered, because they thieve so well, so skilfully; they shake hands with the man they have robbed, and say Good-night to the soul they have plundered. Men may become experts in the devil’s academy. The cleverness does not excuse the iniquity; the ability does not restore the character. If that ability had been devoted otherwise, what fortunes lay within its grasp, what influence belonged of right to its mastery! But men love to work in the dark, they seem to be more at home there than in the sunlight; they have a gift of sight which enables them to see all their spectral comrades in the black darkness of night. How was it in the time of Micah? Once more he falls back on the prince and the judge and the great man. Not a word does he say about the poor, the oppressed, and the despised; he says, The wickedness of my age I trace to the prince and the judge and the great men to the men who have been to school and to college and university; certificated men, gold-medalists men who have had every advantage that society and civilisation can give them. We are so busy in looking after the small fry. Here we have seized upon a little boy who has stolen a pocket-handkerchief, and we say, We have got him now! And the man who took him up what may we say of him? And the judge who sentenced him, the grey-haired judge, the judge with the ploughed cheeks, the wrinkled forehead, the judge with solemn voice, the voice of doom? Open your hand, judge! What is there in it?
Micah said they did things so well in his day, so cleverly, that “they wrap it up.” They made an intricacy of it. The man who was not in the ring did not understand what was going on; they had a system that they called a quid pro quo (men do many things under dog Latin they would not do in plain English) they understood one another. Nothing was said; the reporter looked up for the purpose of catching the incriminating sentence, and the men said nothing; the prince nodded to the judge, and the judge made a sign to the great man, and so they wrap it up. But there it is, and it will be opened out, and it will be read, and every signature will be attested, and every writer will be called for to say whether he wrote it, how much he wrote, why he wrote it: they shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ. This is a terror; but on the other hand this is a joy, for righteousness then shall shine forth as the morning and judgment as the noonday, and misrepresented and misunderstood men will have all the advantage of morning light.
Micah continues his threnody,
“The best of them is as a briar: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge” ( Mic 7:4 ).
This is pessimism in all the completeness of its depression. The best is bad; the most upright, the picked men of society, are all thorns. Take care how you try to get through a thorn hedge; the scratches may identify you, the wounds may be witnesses against you in the day of visitation. This is what society comes to without God. Lose the religious element, and society falls to pieces. Society thinks not; for a time society thinks it can keep itself very well together, but experience shows that when the morale of society goes down, its money securities are waste paper. The reputation of a country is in its morality, and morality properly interpreted is the active or practical side of true spiritual religion. Morality may be derived from a word which signifies mere manner, attitude, posture, and the like; but not from this contemptible mos is morality truly derived, but from the very Spirit of God, and the very genius of the Cross. No morality can be trusted in the dark that is not metaphysical, spiritual, divine.
The Lord would send upon the people who acted criminally what is called “perplexity.” The word “perplexity” has a singular meaning. Herod was “perplexed.” He saw things in crosslights; all the roads came together, and he could not tell which one to take; it was not a question of two roads, but a question of five roads, bisecting and intersecting, and leaving the mind in a state of whirl and puzzle. That is perplexity. The Lord will send upon people who disbelieve him and disobey him the spirit of perplexity; they shall not know one another. Perplexity shall enter into the very use of words; terms shall lose their natural application. Man shall say to man, What sayest thou? And man shall reply to man, Fool, hearest thou not what I say in thy mother tongue? And thus the fray shall increase until it become fury and craziness and disintegration of social bond and trust. The Lord hath many ways of judgment; in heaven there are many bolts of fire; we cannot tell when one will fall, or how it will come. In such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh: what I say unto one I say unto all, Watch. The Lord goeth forth at all hours at midnight, at the crowing of the cock, at the early dawn, in the midday sun, and in the evening twilight; none can tell when he will open the door and step forth in majesty and rigour, and in the spirit of judgment. Thus we are trained, thus we are kept on the alert; we have no notice; our breath is in our nostrils, and we may die now: there is but a step between thee and death. The broadest, most herculean man always walks by the side of his own tomb a false step, and he is in. Be sober, be vigilant; walk as children of the light.
What is to guarantee society against this apostasy and this infamous declension in all high and sacred energies? There is only one guarantee, and that is the indwelling and perfect sovereignty of God the Holy Ghost. Do not try to evade the term, or to make a mystery of it; there is mystery enough in it, but there is more in it than mystery a simple, solemn, profound fact. We cannot keep ourselves; our lamps are only of a certain little size, and our oft is but a spoonful, and there is no independence in man; we live and move, and have our being in God. No man can go to the fountain once for all and take out water enough to keep his life going evermore. He may take his vessel full of water, and may quench his thirst for the moment, but he must keep the way to the fountain always open; never shut up the road: you are full and you abound for the present, but the time of necessity and of pain will inevitably recur. Here is the glory of Christianity: it provides for all time and for all need; it is the salt of the earth, it is the light of the world, it is the disinfector of all pestilential atmosphere. Do not make an argument of it, but submit it to practical test. Why should you make an argument of the ship when you want to go across the ocean, and the ship is ready to receive you into its hospitality? If you make an argument of it you will never risk the deep, and cross the ocean and touch the farther shore. There are questions which Christianity invites you to ask; there are inquiries which it is eager to consider and discuss with you, and so long as you keep within the lines of intelligence and reason and fair inquiry, you are entitled to push your interrogations; but when you begin to wriggle, and confuse yourselves, and use words that have more meanings in them than you have ever grasped, you are allowing the time to escape, and presently the ship will weigh anchor and be off, and you will be left behind. If society with a Christian element in it has come down to a state that may be described as unrighteous and unworthy, it is not because of the Christianity that was in it, but because the Christianity was misunderstood, or ignored, or misapplied. Do not blame Christianity because Christian countries are among the worst in the world. They are only amongst the worst because they are amongst the best That is not paradoxical; it is practical, simple, and literal. This colour that you hold in your hand may appear to be very white, but if you take in the other hand a real white, as pure as it can be obtained under our conditions, and bring the two together, you will then see that what you thought was white falls far short of the standard. And so there are many countries that are thought to be very good, very excellent really countries that might be lived in; but try them by comparison with Christian countries, even Christian countries of an inferior grade, and there will come a time when you will say, After all there is something in Christianity that is not to be found out of it; there is a standard of morality peculiar to itself; in it there is a unique righteousness. There may be a world of hypocrisy, but the hypocrisy would have been impossible but for the very glory of the thing that is simulated. Go forth into society, and take its best aspect. Do not believe yourselves when you are all moaning and complaining and reproaching. You are not yourselves; for the moment you are beside yourselves, and know not the real reason and progress of things. The progress of society is guaranteed by the existence of God. It is not guaranteed by the existence of your pulpit and your institutions and your literature and your fretful impetuosity: the progress of society is guaranteed by the Spirit of God, and heaven is guaranteed not because of your worth, but because of God’s purpose. God cannot be turned aside, his word cannot fail; the word of the Lord abideth for ever, and though it be oftentimes night and storm and cloud and strenuous battle, yet through it all there goes the soul of eternity, the spirit of the Cross, the purpose of God, and in the wilderness we shall find garden, and in stony places we shall find habitations of comfort. This is not the voice of human poetry. The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
Note
“In the last section (6, 7) Jehovah, by a bold poetical figure, is represented as holding a controversy with his people, pleading with them in justification of his conduct towards them and the reasonableness of his requirements. The dialogue form in which chap. 6 is cast renders the picture very dramatic and striking. In Mic 6:3-5 Jehovah speaks; the inquiry of the people follows in Mic 6:6 , indicating their entire ignorance of what was required of them; their inquiry is met by the almost impatient rejoinder, ‘Will Jehovah be pleased with thousands of rams, with myriads of torrents of oil?’ The still greater sacrifice suggested by the people, ‘Shall I give my firstborn for my transgressions?’ calls forth the definition of their true duty, ‘to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with their God.’ How far they had fallen short of this requirement is shown in what follows (9-12), and judgment is pronounced upon them (13-16). The prophet acknowledges and bewails the justice of the sentence ( Mic 7:1-6 ); the people in repentance patiently look to God, confident that their prayer will be heard (7-10), and are reassured by the promise of deliverance announced as following their punishment (11-13) by the prophet, who in his turn presents his petition to Jehovah for the restoration of his people (14, 15). The whole concludes with a triumphal song of joy at the great deliverance, like that from Egypt, which Jehovah will achieve, and a full acknowledgment of his mercy and faithfulness to his promises (16-20). The last verse is reproduced in the song of Zacharias ( Luk 1:72-73 ).” Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
XXIX
THE BOOK OF MICAH PART 2
Micah 3-7
The title of this section (Micah 3-5) in the analysis is “A Gross Sin, a Great Salvation (Restoration), and a Glorious Saviour.”
The prophet characterizes their sin in Mic 3:1-4 . In Mic 2 we have a painful picture of their sins but in this paragraph we have a more detailed account of their sins and the punishment. He again addresses the heads of Jacob and the rulers of the house of Israel, and asks them the question, “Is it not for you to know justice?” You are the men that should do right: you are the men appointed to bring justice to the people, but what are you like? “You hate the good, and love the evil.” And then he gives another and more terrible description of their oppression and the way they have treated the poor, “who pluck off their skin from off them and their flesh from off their bones; and flay their skin from off them, and break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron,” which of course) is an extremely strong way of putting it. Before the French Revolution it was much the same. A peasant said, “They crop us as a sheep would crop the grass,” and another peasant made the remark, “They treat us as if we were but food.” This condition existed many times previous to the time of Micah, and many times since. The result will be destruction: “Then shall they cry unto the Lord, but he will not hear them; he will even hide his face from them at that time.”
Micah attacks the false prophets in these words: “Thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that make my people to err; that bite with their teeth.” Most people thus bite, but these prophets had a peculiar purpose in biting with their teeth; they did all their prophesying that they might have something to bite. “They bite and cry, Peace; and whoso putteth not into their mouths they even prepare war against him.” Just as in Jeremiah’s day so they did in Micah’s day; both prophets had to contend with the false prophets. “And whoso putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him,” that is, if a person did not feed them or give them something they proclaimed a war against him in the name of God. Because of this, the result would be darkness, mental, moral, and spiritual as well as political: “It shall be night unto you that ye shall have no vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down upon the prophets, and the day shall be black over them.”
The seers, the soothsayers, the diviners, the visionaries, the fortunetellers, and the class that live by preying upon the people, shall be ashamed and confounded; “Yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.”
Now, the contrast between those false prophets and Micah, the true prophet of God, follows: “But as for me, 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.” The difference is an ethical and a spiritual one. One is indwelt and filled with the power of the Spirit, the other is indwelt and filled with the power of his own selfish ambition and desires. The difference is fundamentally one of character. In Mic 3:9-12 we hear Micah, again addressing the heads of Jacob, accusing them of abhorring justice and perverting equity. He says, “They build up Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity. The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet they lean upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord among us: No evil can come upon us.”
They felt this way when Jeremiah prophesied their downfall; they said, “The Temple ! The Temple! The Temple! It is impossible! This city, this temple, this people of Jehovah: God will protect us.” And in reply to this plea of false safety Micah says, “Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.” This, the princes in Jeremiah’s time said, produced in Hezekiah a deep repentance, and was largely influential in producing the reformation under that excellent king.
Micah’s vision of the mountain of the Lord’s house is found in Mic 4:1-5 . This magnificent passage is to be found almost word for word in Isaiah. Micah says,
In the latter days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of Jehovah’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and peoples shall flow unto it. And many nations shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, 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 out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. Mic 4:1-4
If we compare that with Isa 2:1-4 we see the verbal likeness between the two.
And it shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain of Jehovah’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many peoples shall go and say. Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. Isa 2:2 ff.
As we stated before these two prophets were contemporaries. Now the question arises, Which of these two copied from the other, which borrowed the other’s thought and the other’s phraseology, or are they both original, or did both Isaiah and Micah borrow from another prophet? It is the idea of a great many of the critics that both borrowed from another prophet, an earlier one, but it is not necessary to infer that Isaiah was the kind of man who needed to borrow from any other prophet. He himself was one of the most sublime poetic geniuses the world had ever seen; he possessed an imperial imagination, and he never needed to borrow or plagiarize. It seems more probable that Micah borrowed from Isaiah, if any borrowing was done. They lived in the same age, they prophesied at the same time and in the same city, and no doubt were acquainted with each other. They moved in a similar circle of ideas, and it is possible that a similar idea would come to both at the same time; that the Spirit of God would present a vision to each mind very much the same. That is possible, but the most reasonable explanation is that this is Isaiah’s vision, his phraseology, his picture. It is Isaiah’s imagination and Isaiah’s literary genius that is behind this, and Micah being familiar with the thought incorporated it into his prophecy and adds Mic 4:4-5 which we do not find in Isaiah, thus:
But 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. For all peoples walk every one in the name of his god; and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever.
For the interpretation and fulfilment of this great prophecy see, Interpretation on Isa 2:1-4 , pp. 115-117.
The thought is carried forward in Mic 4:6-8 . This is the promise of the restoration. Here he takes up the same thought from a little different standpoint. He comes now to the details and peculiarities of the age and deals with the conditions of those people to whom he is speaking, thus: “In that day, saith Jehovah, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted.” This refers to the exiles. “And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off, a strong nation; and the Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever.” This agrees with Isaiah, Amos, Hosea, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah. This is a picture of the restoration, while the other was a picture of the restored kingdom. This picture of the former power and dominion is expressed thus: “Thou, O tower of the flock, the hill of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, yea, the former dominion shall come, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.”
A period of anguish must precede this restoration. This is indicated by Micah’s questions, thus: “Now why dost thou cry out aloud? Is there no king in thee?” There didn’t seem to be when we remember the king was such a weakling. “Is thy counselor perished, that pangs have taken hold of thee as of a woman in travail?” All good counsellors had perished. He goes on: “Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail; for now shall thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt come even to Babylon: there shalt thou be delivered; there the Lord will redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.” This statement, that they should go into Babylon troubles the critical school. They say that Babylon was not in the ascendancy in the time of Micah. Assyria was the nation that loomed upon the horizon as the power that would destroy, therefore they reason that Micah could not have conceived of Babylon being the place of exile because Babylon was not the leading nation. Of course, according to their theory Micah could not see into the future one hundred years.
They also say that this is an interpolation, in fact many of them say that Micah did not prophesy this at all, but it was spoken during the exile or after by some anonymous writer. But in Mic 4:11 he pictures the attitude of the other nations toward Judah and Jerusalem, thus: “Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye see our desire upon Zion.” Isn’t that exactly why Ezekiel prophesied against all these nations and buried his threats of denunciation against them? Now Micah gives the reason why they act thus: “They know not the thoughts of Jehovah, neither understand they his counsel; for he hath gathered them as the sheaves into the threshing-floor.” Because of his attitude toward Judah they will be gathered as sheaves on the floor to be threshed.
The call of Mic 4:13-5:1 is a call to liberty and dominion. The prophet is now speaking of triumphant Israel whose time of deliverance is at hand, and through whom the nations are to be beaten and threshed in punishment. He says to the people of Israel, “Arise, and thresh, O daughter of Zion; for I will make thy horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass; and thou shalt beat in pieces many peoples: and I will consecrate their gain unto Jehovah, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth.” The figure is that of a great threshing floor upon which the sheaves lay, and the threshing instruments are driven over them, Israel is to be as a threshing instrument of iron which shall be driven over the other nations, and shall break in pieces many people, and their wealth shall be taken by Israel and devoted to the worship of Jehovah. That corresponds with Isa 60 one of the finest passages in Isaiah’s writings.
It also resembles his prediction of Tyre, which shall be destroyed and her whole wealth devoted to the worship of Jehovah. In Mic 5 he again summons Israel to activity: “Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us; they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.” A strange expression, “they shall smite.” In spite of the fact that “thou hast been smitten, arise, smite back and conquer; your time has come, your dominion ye shall receive again.”
Mic 5 is devoted to the glorious Saviour and consequent deliverance, or the messianic King and the Blessedness of Israel. This is another view of the same glorious age of the restoration, a different vision, a different point of view, but essentially the same.
The king of this blessed age arises from among the poor (Mic 5:2-4 ). We saw in the last chapter that Micah was the prophet of the poor, that his sympathies went out for them in particular and now when he pictures this glorious age, and its king as rising, he represents him as rising from the poor class: “But thou Bethlehem, Ephrathah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall one come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” Bethlehem, the home of David, the village where the shepherd boy, who afterward became the shepherd king, lived, the place dear to the heart of every Israelite; this is to be the place whence the king shall come. It is one of the smallest places, the most insignificant and most obscure little villages.
It was no accident that the Saviour of the world rose from among the poor, the working class. Is it not the most fitting thing that could possibly have happened that a king of the world should rise from among the poor? Whether it be wise or not in our estimation it certainly was in God’s estimation, and a little thought along that line will convince us that God could not have done a wiser thing than to have Christ rise from among the poor people. “Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting,” that is, there have been prophecies of him that had been looking forward, expecting him, and he had been manifesting himself in various ways from the beginning, and had been set forth in types and shadows as the one who should come and appear in his glory. Then he goes on with his picture: “Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.” And then this king, this shepherd-king, this descendant of David, as it says in Mic 5:4 , shall stand and shall feed his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. This is the picture of the Shepherd so common in Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Amos, Hosea, and again in that immortal parable of the shepherd as found in Joh 10:1 . “And they shall abide, for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.”
Micah’s vision of him as a deliverer is found in Mic 5:5-6 He is here presented as the one who shall deliver them from the Assyrian. He uses the Assyrian here because the Assyrian was the great barbaric power that was rising up on the horizon of the world at that time and extending her power over every nation. The very name itself sent terror to the people of that time. “And this man shall be our peace. When the Assyrian shall come into our land, and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men.” These officials will surround him as his cabinet, to stand by, to support, to give aid, and he will be amply and ably supported on his throne. “And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof.” On time’s horizon the end seems close with Micah. Twenty-six hundred years or more have passed by since, and time’s horizon is yet enlarging. The Assyrians have been extinct since a hundred years after Micah’s time. So the Assyrian here is used to represent the enemies of the Messiah’s kingdom and thus includes all the nations that know not God.
The relation of Israel to her friends and to her foes is stated in Mic 5:7-9 . To her friends the remnant of Jacob shall be as dew from Jehovah, as showers upon the grass that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.” That is true yet regarding the remnant of Israel. But for their enemies, “the remnant of Jacob shall be among all the nations in the midst of many people, as a lion among the beasts of the forests and as a young lion among the flocks of sheep; who, if he go through both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.” This is not to be taken literally. There is a sense in which God’s people go forth like a lion, conquering, but the Messiah’s kingdom is spiritual.
Israel’s relation to idolatry in this new condition is set forth in Mic 5:10-15 . All idolatrous connection shall be rooted out: “I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots: and I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strongholds. And I will cut off witchcraft out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers: thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands.” Israel shall be cleansed of her idolatry.
The title of Micah 6-7 in the analysis is “Jehovah’s Controversy with His People.” This is a different section of the book of Micah, different problems arise here, different modes of expression. A great many of the critics maintain that this was written during the reign of Manasseh when idolatry was revived, and heathen sacrifices were carried on. It would fit in with the reign of Ahaz, however, and Micah prophesied during the reign of Ahaz, Jotham, and Hezekiah. The conditions found here existed during that time.
The case of the controversy of Jehovah with his people is stated in Mic 6:1-9 . Here Jerusalem is called upon, thus: “Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice. Hear ye, the Lord’s controversy and ye strong foundations of the earth: for the Lord hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel.” All nature is called upon to hear. This is not mere poetry: there is eternal truth underlying it. “The Lord hath a controversy with his people and he will contend with Israel.” He goes on to describe the controversy. What is it about? Not about sin. Jeremiah calls the people to a great controversy regarding their sin; Micah does not. It is how they shall serve Jehovah, how they shall worship him.
Jehovah speaks: “O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me.” A marvelous statement, Jehovah asking his people to testify against him, if they have anything to testify. What condescension! Just like Isaiah I “Come now and let us reason together.” Then he goes on, “For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.” “Remember what happened between Shittim and Gilgal,” that plain bordering on the Jordan in Moab, and Gilgal across the Jordan. What happened between these two places? “Ye know the great miracle I performed, the stopping of the waters, and the multitude crossing over on dry ground; remember that ye may know the righteous acts of Jehovah.” Mic 6:6 gives a little glimpse into the religious condition of the people, “Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?” They had been doing that in abundance. “Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? and shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” The numbers used are an exaggeration of course, for purposes of rhetoric and making it effective “with ten thousands of rivers of oil.” Oil was a part of the sacrifice and worship. “Shall I give my firstborn for my transgressions, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” This gives us an idea of what the people were doing, and how they were worshiping. They were sacrificing the first-born, and seemed to seriously believe that Jehovah required them to do so.
Mic 6:8 is one of the greatest passages in the Old Testament. Micah sums up the whole of religion in one little verse; he gives one final answer to all such questions as to how we should serve and worship God, thus: “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?” No prophet or writer ever summed up the whole duty of religion better than Micah does here to do justly, righteously in all conduct, i.e., kings, rulers, business magnates, commercial princes, millionaires, land owners, workmen. That is the first thing. And more than that, “love mercy,” go beyond strict justice; go farther than that, delight in tenderness, show mercy. That goes as far as Christianity almost. And then finally, “humble thyself to walk with thy God,” or “walk humbly with thy God”; the better translation, perhaps is, “Humble thyself to walk with God.” This is the finest expression that has ever been used to describe the service of true religion: “Do justly,” there is our relationship in all civil life. “Love mercy,” there is, our relationship in all home life, family life, all social life; there is the tender side of human life. “Walk humbly with God”; there is the divine side. There is just one passage that equals this, says Dr. George Adam Smith, and that is where Jesus says, “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest” (Mat 11:28-29 ).
The charges here against the city (Mic 6:9-16 ) are their various sins which are the reasons for Jehovah’s visitation. Here we have the city’s life pictured in a vivid and lurid way. Mic 6:9 , “The Lord’s voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.” Mic 6:10 , “Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is abominable?” Mic 6:11 , “Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights? For the rich men thereof are full of violence and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.” And because of this he utters his threat of destruction and predicts the utter desolation of the country and the people. In Mic 6:16 he charges them with following the example of Omri: “For the statutes of Omri are kept and all the works of the house of Ahab.” Ahab seized Naboth’s vineyard and they followed his example, “and ye walk in their counsels: that I may make thee a desolation and the inhabitants thereof an hissing; therefore ye shall bear the reproach of my people.”
The prophet’s part in the case is found in Mic 7:1-6 . He appears as the prosecuting attorney here in this passage and bewails the utter corruption of society: “Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits as the grape gleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat; my soul desireth the first ripe fig. The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.” It does not necessarily mean literal blood, but when one takes away a man’s means of support, his wages, his necessities of life, he takes away his life because he will have less of the necessities of life. The oppression of the poor is simply the taking of the blood of the people. “They hunt every man his brother with a net,” and how many businessmen there are in this age that do love to get the net around another man! “That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge is ready for a reward; and the great man, uttereth his mischievous desire; thus they weave it together.” There is a lot of sharp dealing among them, a hard people to deal with; “The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge. Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.” No one can be trusted. When a man dare not confide in his own wife, it is about as bad as it can be. “For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.” How desperate the entire life of the nation must have been with every form of deceit practiced. Jesus Christ used this very expression to tell how his gospel was going to cause division and enmity.
The righteous remnant takes part in the case (Mic 7:7-13 ). They plead guilty and hope for mercy and pardon. It is the voice of the prophet and in the prophet the voice of the righteous kernel the true Israel that speaks here, not the voice of the people nor the rulers, but the righteous kernel, the true Israel, the mother of sorrow. Notice what she says in resignation: “As for me, I will look unto the Lord, I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.” That is a fine text, and the next one is even better: “Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.” To translate it literally: “I have fallen, I will arise.” Faith seldom, if ever, in dark moments, uttered a more hopeful, a more blessed sentiment than that. In Bunyan’s immortal allegory, where he describes Christian in the Valley of Humiliation and fighting with Apollyon, and Apollyon throws him to the ground, Christian thrusts him with his sword, quoting these words, “Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise.” In Mic 7:9 we have a note of resignation that is beautiful: “I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause and execute judgment for me; he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.” How hopeful and trustful that is!
Now the effect upon his enemies: “Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is the Lord thy God? mine eyes shall behold her: now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets.” He gives another glimpse of the future: “In that day thy walls are to be built, in that day shall the decree be far removed.” That reminds us of Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the walls. Micah says the time will come when the walls will be rebuilt. “The decree”; we do not know just what is meant here, perhaps the marginal reading, “boundary,” is correct. Then he goes on to picture in glowing language the return of the people from all nations whither they have been scattered: “They shall come unto thee from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, and from the fortress, even to the River, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain,” but that is to be after the desolation takes place, for in Mic 7:13 , it says, “Notwithstanding, the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings.”
The prophet’s final plea for and hope held out to Israel is as follows: “Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.” This seems to imply that Northern Israel had not been depopulated in Micah’s time, for just before this Tiglathpileser had deported all Palestine beyond the Jordan; that seems to have taken place and Micah pictures the return here as the people coming to feed in Bashan in the land from which they had been taken.
The hope here is that the nations, when they see this, shall come in dread and dismay, Mic 7:17 . “The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth; their ears shall be deaf. They shall lick the dust like the serpent,” referring to the account in Gen 3 regarding the serpent, saying that dust should be his meat, and that he should move along close to the earth and should lick up the dust. “They shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the Lord our God, and shall fear because of thee.” A picture of the terror of the nations after the Restoration. Ezekiel pictures them as being utterly subdued, so does Jeremiah to some extent, but Micah pictures them as being in abject submission and terror, crawling like servile beasts in fear before the presence of Israel.
Now come the beauties of the doxology (Mic 7:18 ): “Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.” Isn’t that a beautiful picture of God? There are several texts there. “He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us: he will subdue our iniquities: and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” How deep is the sea? In some places it is five miles deep. If their sins are cast down to the bottom of the sea they are gone forever. And he closes this beautiful statement thus: “Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob and the mercy to ABRAHAM, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.” He goes back to Abraham, God’s promise to him: “All nations shall be blessed in thee,” and that promise must be fulfilled.
QUESTIONS
1. What is the title of this section (Micah 3-5) in the analysis?
2. How does the prophet characterize their sins in Mic 3:1-4 , what instances in modern history, and what is the result of the sin of Jacob?
3. Describe Micah’s attack on the false prophets and his contrast between himself and them.
4. What charge does Micah bring against the heads, the priests & the prophets, respectively, what their reply and what the consequent result?
5. What is Micah’s vision of the mountain of the Lord’s house (Mic 4:1-5 ), how does it compare with Isa 2:1-4 . Who borrowed in this case?
6. How is the thought carried forward in Mic 4:6-8 ?
7. Describe the period of anguish that must precede this restoration, the radical critics’ position on this passage, and the attitude of the other nations toward Judah and Jerusalem.
8. What is the call of Mic 4:13-5:1 ?
9. To what is Mic 5 devoted?
10. What Micah’s vision of this king as to his origin and place of birth?
11. What Micah’s vision of him as a deliverer and why the mention of the Assyrian in this connection (Mic 5:5-6 ) ?
12. What the relation of Israel to her friends and to her foes (Mic 5:7-9 )?
13. What shall be Israel’s relation to idolatry in this new condition (Mic 5:10-15 )?
14. What the title of Micah 6-7 in the analysis and what can you say in general of this section?
15. State the case of the controversy of Jehovah with his people (Mic 6:1-8 ).
16. What can you say of the beauty and meaning of Mic 6:8 and what the application of its several points?
17. What are the charges here against the city (Mic 6:9-16 )?
18. What is the prophet’s part in the case (Mic 7:1-6 )?
19. What part does the righteous remnant take in the case (Mic 7:7-13 ), and what hope do they see?
20. What is the prophet’s final plea for and hope held out to Israel?
21. What are the beauties of the doxology (Mic 7:18 )?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Mic 7:1 Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grapegleanings of the vintage: [there is] no cluster to eat: my soul desired the firstripe fruit.
Ver. 1. Woe is me, for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits ] Allai li, Alas for me. This last sermon of his the prophet begins with a pathetic queritation, bewailing his own unhappiness in the little good success of his ministry. Mirifice autem nostris temporibus hic sermo convenit, saith Gualther. This discourse suits well with these times; wherein we may justly cry out with the prophet Isaiah, “Who hath believed our report?” And again, “O my leanness, my leanness! woe is me, for there is only as the shaking of an olive tree, and as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done,” Isa 24:13 ; Isa 24:16 . Hei mihi quam pingui macer est mihi taurus in arvo. Though he had worn himself to a very skeleton in the Lord’s work; yet had he laboured in vain, Israel was not gathered, Isa 49:4-5 , and hence his woeful complaint. The like we read of Elias, 1Ki 19:10 , where he bitterly bewails his aloneness; so did Athanasius in his age; and Basil in his Fasciculus temporum, A. D. 884, cries out, for the paucity of good people, Heu, heu, Domine Deus, Alas, Lord, how few appear to be on thy side.
“ Apparent rari nantes in gurgite vasto. ”
And Gualther complains, that the Anabaptists in Germany urged this as a chief argument to draw people from communion with our Churches, that there was so little good done by preaching, and so few souls converted. Hence some ministers despond, and are ready to kick up all. Latimer tells of one who gave this answer why he left off preaching, because he saw he did no good. This, saith Latimer, is a naughty, a very naughty answer. A grief it will be, and fit it should be; piety to God and pity to men calls for it. Christ wept over Jerusalem; Paul had great heaviness and continual sorrow in his heart (not inferior to that of a woman in travail ’ O , Rom 9:2 ) for his contumacious countrymen; neither could he speak of those lewd lowlies at Philippi with dry eyes, Phi 3:18 . But an utter discouragement it should not be, since our reward is with God however, Isa 49:5 , and perhaps a larger, because we have wrought with so little encouragement: we have ploughed when others have only trod out the grain: they trod and fed together, when as those that plough have no refreshing till the work be done, Hos 10:13 . Certain it is that God will reward his faithful servants, secundum laborem, non secundum proventum, according to their pains taken in the ministry, and not according to their people’s profiting, K ..
There is no cluster to eat
My soul desired the firstripe fruits
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mic 7:1-6
1Woe is me! For I am
Like the fruit pickers and the grape gatherers.
There is not a cluster of grapes to eat,
Or a first-ripe fig which I crave.
2The godly person has perished from the land,
And there is no upright person among men.
All of them lie in wait for bloodshed;
Each of them hunts the other with a net.
3Concerning evil, both hands do it well.
The prince asks, also the judge, for a bribe,
And a great man speaks the desire of his soul;
So they weave it together.
4The best of them is like a briar,
The most upright like a thorn hedge.
The day when you post a watchman,
Your punishment will come.
Then their confusion will occur.
5Do not trust in a neighbor;
Do not have confidence in a friend.
From her who lies in your bosom
Guard your lips.
6For son treats father contemptuously,
Daughter rises up against her mother,
Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
A man’s enemies are the men of his own household.
Mic 7:1 Woe is me! This is an individual lament (BDB 47). although at times it moves into the area of a corporate plea. This is a common literary technique of the Psalms (cf. Psalms 5, 13, 22, 55, 71).
It is uncertain who is speaking:
1. the prophet himself
2. the prophet as YHWH’s spokesperson
3. the prophet on behalf of the godly remnant
NASBI am like the fruit pickers
NKJVFor I am like those who gather summer fruit
NRSVFor I have become like one who, after the summer fruit has been gathered
TEVI am like a hungry person who finds no fruit left
NJBa harvester in summer time
The NASB has left out the term summer (BDB 884) which denotes heat. This gathering is not the initial harvest, but the last picking. YHWH waited and waited for fruit, but there was never a harvest!
Like the fruit-pickers and the grape gatherers Micah craves righteousness (or a righteous people or righteous leadership, i.e., Mic 7:3) as a hungry man craves food (cf. Mat 5:6). The concept of righteousness as food is found throughout the Bible (cf. Amo 6:12; Joh 15:1-8; Php 1:11; Gal 5:23).
The Jewish Publication Society of America (JPSOA) says Mic 7:1 refers to Samaria. They search for food, but cannot find it (i.e., because of [1] the siege or [2] God’s famine, cf. Deuteronomy 27-28). The JPSOA continues this thought through Mic 7:7.
However, I think this context relates to Jerusalem. In one sense they are too late (i.e., the harvest of their unrighteousness has occurredexile) and in another sense they are too early (i.e., the promise of restoration in the future has not yet come).
first ripe fig, which I crave These early figs were very sweet and sought after. They first appeared in June, although, the major harvest did not occur until August. Micah (as God’s spokesman) is searching for righteousness as a man longs for these first figs.
Mic 7:2 The godly person This is the ADJECTIVE form of the covenant term, hesed (see Special Topic: Lovingkindness [hesed] ), which means God’s unconditional, no strings attached, covenant loyalty (e.g., Mic 7:18; Mic 6:8; Mic 7:18; Jer 5:1). It is parallel to upright person. This is referring to a covenantly faithful person, of which there is none (e.g., Psa 12:1; Isa 57:1)!
All of them lie in wait for bloodshed The VERB (BDB 70, KB 83) is a Qal IMPERFECT, which is often used in Joshua and Judges and is translated ambush. This is a metaphor of hunting to describe the scheming violence of the elite of God’s people (i.e., the greedy, wealthy, powerful leaders).
NASBbloodshed
NKJV, NRSV,
NJBblood
TEVmurder
This term (BDB 196) is literally blood. It is used often in the eighth century prophets (mostly Ezekiel, cf. Hos 1:4; Hos 4:2; Hos 6:8; Hos 12:14; Jon 1:14; Mic 3:10) to describe violence and death.
Each of them hunts the other with a NET They exploit each other at every opportunity. Their motto would be more and more for me at any cost! Persons made in God’s image, covenant partners, have no value!
Mic 7:3 Concerning evil, both hands do it well This is another striking metaphor of ambidextrous evil. The VERB (BDB 405, KB 408, Hiphil INFINITIVE CONSTRUCT) means to do something well or thoroughly. Here a word normally used of doing something good is used of purposeful evil!
The prince asks, also the judge, for a bribe The leaders were seeking rewards (i.e., bribe, cf. Mic 3:11; Exo 23:8; Deu 10:17; Deu 16:19; Deu 27:25) instead of justice.
And a great man speaks the desire of his soul;
So they weave it together This verse describes the corrupt judicial and political situation (cf. Mic 3:1-12; Isa 59:9-12; Jer 8:8-12; Jeremiah 22; Jeremiah 23; Jer 26:12-15). The wealthy man tells the judges and governmental officials what he wants and they find a way to get it for him, no matter what it takes. God’s covenant people have become corrupt. They look and act just like all other fallen nations!
The VERB weave (BDB 721, KB 783, Piel IMPERFECT) is found only here. The related form is found in Joe 2:7 as deviate or swerve. This term may be a play on the concept of sin as a deviation from God’s standard (i.e., righteousness).
Mic 7:4 This seems to be sarcasm (cf. JPSOA translation), but it is possibly related to the idea that everything they tried to do to prepare for invasion did not work (cf. Isa 22:5). There seems to be a change of subject in Mic 7:4. The first two lines describe the ungodly mentioned in Mic 7:2-3. However, the next three lines may refer to (1) the prophets (watchmen, cf. Jer 6:17; Eze 3:17; Hos 9:8) or (2) Judah’s preparations for siege.
confusion This term (BDB 100) is used to describe God’s judgment (e.g., Isa 22:5).
Mic 7:5-6 These verses show (1) the level of corruption that had occurred within the Judean society or (2) the stress caused by the siege. Everyone was out for personal gain (cf. Mic 7:2-3; Jer 9:4; Jer 12:6). There were no true friends (i.e., Pro 17:17; Pro 27:6; Pro 27:9).
This verse has two IMPERFECTS used as JUSSIVES and one IMPERATIVE:
1. do not trust – BDB 52, KB 63, Hiphil IMPERFECT used as a JUSSIVE
2. do not have confidence – BDB 105, KB 120, Qal IMPERFECT used as a JUSSIVE
3. guard – BDB 1036, KB 1581, Qal IMPERATIVE
Mic 7:6 son treats father contemptuously The VERB (BDB 614, KB 663, Piel PARTICIPLE) means treat with contempt, dishonor, or scoff (e.g., Deu 32:15; Jer 14:21; Nah 3:6). This metaphor is also used in the NT in an eschatological sense (cf. Mat 10:35-36; Mar 13:12; Luk 12:53). God knows how this feels (cf. Mic. 2:18).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
soul. Hebrew. nephesh. App-13.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Chapter 7
The prophet said,
Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grape gleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desires the first ripe fruit ( Mic 7:1 ).
I’m desolate. I really don’t have anything.
The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is no upright men left: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net. That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asked, and the judges take bribes ( Mic 7:2-3 );
The princes are asking for and the judges are receiving bribes.
and the great man, he uttered his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up for him ( Mic 7:3 ).
Because of his prominence and all, he gets whatever he wants, just whatever his mischievous desires are, wrap it up and give it to him.
The best of them is as a brier: and the most upright is sharper than the thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation is coming; now will be their perplexity ( Mic 7:4 ).
Your day is coming. You may be flaunting the law of God now, but your day is coming.
Trust not in the friends, don’t put your confidence in the guides: keep the doors of your mouth from her that lies at your bosom. For the son will dishonor the father, and the daughter will rise up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be those of his own house ( Mic 7:5-6 ).
Jesus quoted that.
Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me ( Mic 7:7 ).
The whole situation is so desperate, so totally void of God’s work or power or love, mercy and grace and truth. My only hope, I will look for the Lord. “I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.”
Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: for when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light unto me. For I will bear the indignation of the LORD ( Mic 7:8-9 ),
The indignation is always a reference in the Old Testament to the tribulation period that will come. That great period of God’s indignation upon the earth and Israel will go through it. I will endure.
I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause, and he executes judgment for me: for he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness ( Mic 7:9 ).
And all Israel shall be saved, for as the scripture declares, “A deliverer shall come forth out of Zion who will turn the hearts of children to their fathers.” And that glorious day when Zion travails and brings forth through her prayers the return of Jesus Christ.
Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is Yahweh your God? mine eyes shall behold her: now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets [that is my enemies]. And in the day that your walls are to be built, in the day shall the decree be far removed. In that day also he shall come even to thee from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, and from the fortress even to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain. Notwithstanding, the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings. Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, and in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old. According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I show unto him the marvellous things ( Mic 7:10-15 ).
Even as when God delivered them and preserved them and parted the Red Sea. So, again, God is going to work among the people with marvelous miracles.
The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might ( Mic 7:16 ):
When God destroys the invading armies of Russia. He said, “Then I will be sanctified before the nations of the world and they will know that I am God.” As He works even as He did in delivering them from Egypt.
and they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf. They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the eaRuth ( Mic 7:16-17 ):
During the Great Tribulation period they’re going to cry unto the rocks and mountains and say, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the Lamb for the day of His wrath is come” ( Rev 6:16-17 ).
“Men will come crawling out of their holes.” Now there are a lot of people today who are making survival shelters. And they actually can give you instructions on how deep you should dig your hole in the ground and how much dirt you need overhead to survive the radiation and the fallout and how to make your little shelters and so forth. And, of course, during this time when this great nuclear holocaust takes place, if you were here it would be wise maybe to have that kind of a hole to hide in. But thank God we don’t have to be here. And if I am here during a nuclear holocaust, I’m not going to run and try to hide in some hole in the ground. I’m going to try and discover where the thing is going to explode. I’m going to go stand right underneath of it. I prefer that to the misery and the horror of trying to live after a whole nuclear holocaust. Trying to survive on an earth that has been devastated and with all of the slow death by radiation and all. Oh, that is not for me.
“But they will lick the dust like a serpent as they move out of their holes like worms on the earth.” Imagine man reduced to a worm, because of greed; because of his disobedience to God; because of his rebellion against God; because he won’t listen to God; because he has made man… Humanism has placed man at the top. Dethrone God; put man on the throne. Look what man on the throne is doing to the world in which you live, as they have sought to take God from the throne, as they sought to take God from our education, as they sought to take God from our national life, as they have sought to replace God with man and put man on the throne, declaring that man is the highest order of evolution, and thus is at the top. And he is the product of accidental circumstances and is not the creation of God and responsible then to God. But man is on the throne, and look what that concept is bringing your world to as we are spending money for all of these weapons to just get rid of this menace who is sitting on the throne. It is what it is leading the world to.
And so what if we do wipe out the world with nuclear holocaust? After all, we came in by an accident, maybe we’ll go out by an accident. What difference does it make? You know. For who can say it is evil? Who can say it is wrong? Everything is relative. So if it is important to my survival that I exterminate a whole race or segment of people, who is to say it is wrong? For there is no universal base of good. You see, this existential philosophy and this humanism gave rise to Hitler, and without conscience they could sterilize people. They could exterminate the Jews and the Christians, because the Jews were not the only ones that suffered Hitler’s paranoia. Christians also by the thousands were destroyed in the gas ovens in Germany, but who is to say it is wrong if indeed existentialism is correct? You can starve ten million people to death in China in order to set up the new republic. You can destroy millions of Russians in the Ukraine in order to establish your society. It’s is for the betterment of the society and the state is god. Caesar is lord; man on the throne, but man will bring himself to the worm. He crawls out of his cage, his hole.
they shall be afraid of the LORD our God, and shall fear because of him. Who is a God ( Mic 7:17-18 )
I like this.
Who is a God like unto thee, that pardons iniquity, and passes by the transgression [overlooks our transgressions] of the remnant of his heritage? he retains not his anger for ever, because he delights in mercy ( Mic 7:17-18 ).
So God is going to take these people back. They are still His people. He still says, “My people.” He is still going to deal with them and restore them unto Himself.
He will turn again, and he will have compassion upon us [referring to the nation of Israel]; he will subdue our iniquities; and he will cast out their sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercies to Abraham, which you have sworn unto our fathers ( Mic 7:19-20 )
God, You’ll keep Your word,
which you swore to our fathers in days of old ( Mic 7:20 ).
The confidence of the prophet in the Word of God; He will surely do it. And it will surely happen. What a glorious God who is a pardoning God like Thee who will overlook the transgressions and will again restore favor and glory upon His people, for He delights in mercy.
Shall we pray.
Father, we thank You for such a God that we have that You delight in mercy. That You are not willing, Lord, that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. Thus You have dealt with us with such patience and with such long suffering and such gentleness as You, Lord, with cords of love have drawn us to Yourself that we might know fellowship with Thee; that beautiful sweet communion with God. Oh Lord, how we have benefited from our relationship with You. What blessings and glory it has brought into our lives to walk with You. God, help us through the power of Your Holy Spirit, through the indwelling presence of Christ. Help us, Lord, to be all that You want us to be and to do that which is pleasing in Your sight. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
May the Lord be with you and give you a beautiful week. May He watch over you, and protect and shield you from the evil that is so prevalent in this world in which we live. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and just that beautiful sweet communion of the Holy Spirit rest and abide upon your heart and your life all week long as you live with Him and for Him. “
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
The prophet begins in a sorrowful strain, and there is much that is said in the chapter, yet there is also much of holy confidence in God.
Mic 7:1. Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grapegleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the first ripe fruit.
It is a terrible thing for a good man to find good men growing very scarce, and to see wicked men becoming more wicked than ever. It makes him feel his loneliness very keenly, and joy seems to be banished from his heart.
Mic 7:2. The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.
Those were sad times in which Micah lived; and yet, under some aspects, one might be willing and even glad to live in such times, for, if ever one could be useful to ones fellows, surely it would be then. God had need of a voice like that of the prophet Micah in the days when his worship was forsaken, and the true faith had almost died out among men. Unless God had left a Micah here and there, the land would have been as Sodom, and have been made like unto Gomorrah. So the more unpleasant the age was to the good man, the more necessary and profitable was he to that age.
Mic 7:3. That they may do evil with both hands earnestly,
I wish the professed followers of Christ did good with both hands, that is, with every faculty, with every capacity, in every way, and at every opportunity, just as wicked men do evil with both hands earnestly.
Mic 7:3. The prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up.
Honesty seemed to have died out of the nation; the highest people in the land, who ought to have been beyond the power of bribery, sold the administration of justice to the highest bidder. Ah, those were ill times indeed.
Mic 7:4. The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity.
Sin brings sorrow in its train; and, as nations will have no future as nations, God deals with national sin here upon earth, and visits it with national punishments. Now that sin had become so rampant in Israel, it would be the time of their perplexity, and when sins, like chickens, come home to roost, then will be the time of the sinners perplexity. He lets his sins fly abroad, and thinks that, like the wandering birds of the air, they will soon be gone, and he shall never see them again, but they will all come home to him, and he shall be made bitterly to rue the day in which he thought that he could make a profit by transgressing the righteous law of the Lord.
Mic 7:5. Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.
So saturated with dishonesty had the nation become that the evil had penetrated even into domestic life, so that, where all should have been in a state of mutual happy confidence, the prophet felt bound to tell them that each confidence could not exist between those who appeared to be friends, or even between husbands and wives.
Mic 7:6. For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; a mans enemies are the men of his own house.
And this is true in a measure still, for, without the fear of God, you will find that even the nearest and dearest relationships will not keep the unconverted from being the enemies of the godly. In that respect, a gracious man cannot trust her that lieth in his bosom, if she be not a true child of God.
Now mark the grandeur of faith. Set this white spot right in the middle of the black darkness of which we have been reading:-
Mic 7:7. Therefore I will look unto the LORD;-
There was nowhere else for the prophet to look. According to what he tells us, all men had become false; therefore, says he, I will look unto Jehovah;-
Mic 7:7-8. I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.
And this is all the light that Gods people need. Even if it be the darkness of a black Egyptian night into which our spirit has fallen, yet, if God shall but appear to us, there shall soon be light for us. Dr. Watts truly sang,-
In darkest shades, if he appear,
My dawning is begun;
He is my souls sweet morning star,
And he my rising sun.
Mic 7:9. I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.
Listen to this testimony of the prophet, tried child of God; even when in your own household you find enemies, put your trust in God, for he will yet appear to deliver you. Let this be your joy. Sit still in humble patience, and bear the indignation of the Lord, for, even though trouble is laid upon you, it is not so heavy as it might have been, and it is not so severe as it would have been if the Lord had dealt with you in strict justice. Therefore in patience possess your soul, and wait quietly before your God. Be not without hope, expect that he will plead your cause and that he will execute judgment for you; watch for his light, which will most surely come, and in which you shall behold, not your own righteousness, but his.
Mic 7:10. Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is the LORD thy God? mine eyes shall behold her: now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets.
This verse relates to the nation which, at that time, was oppressing Israel She should have her turn of suffering for she should be crushed beneath Jehovahs foot as the mire is trodden in the streets.
Mic 7:11-12. In the day that thy walls are to be built, in that day shall the decree be far removed. In that day also he shall come even to thee from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, and from the fortress even to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.
This is what was to befall those who had sinned against God, and oppressed his people; he would let loose the oppressors upon them, and they should find foes in every quarter.
Mic 7:13. Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings.
That is a wonderful expression, the fruit of their doings. All doings bear fruit of one kind or another, and sinful doings bear bitter and deadly fruit. Woe to the man who is made to eat the fruit of his own doings! That which men eat on earth they may have to digest in hell, and there shall they lie for ever digesting the terrible morsels which they ate with so much gusto here below.
Mic 7:14. Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.
Sometimes, there are pastures in the very center of woods, and Gods people in Micahs day were like a little flock of sheep hidden away from their enemies in the midst of a wood, but God will bring them out by-and-by to far larger liberty. They shall yet have Bashan and Gilead to be their pasture, as in the days of old; and so the little one shall become a thousand, and the small one a great nation, and they that were hidden away because of their many enemies shall have such liberty that everywhere they shall worship and praise the Lord their God.
Mic 7:15-17. According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I show unto him marvelous things. The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf: They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the LORD our God, and shall fear because of thee.
The day will come when there shall be such a fear of the people of God upon those who formerly persecuted them that they shall tremble before the Lord, and be afraid of the very people whom once they derided and oppressed.
Mic 7:18. Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.
He never delights in anger, especially in anger against his own people. That is but temporary anger, and is, after all, only another form of love, for the parental anger which hates sin in a dear child is but love on fire. May God never permit us to sin without being thus angry with us! We might almost beseech him never to tolerate sin in us, but to smite us with the rod rather than suffer us to be happy in the midst of evil. Perhaps the worst of horrors is peace in the midst of iniquity, happiness while yet sin is all round about us.
Mic 7:19. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us, he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
We read about their sins in the earlier part of the chapter; and what a horrible catalogue of evils it was, yet here we read, Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth inquiry? Even those mountainous sins of which the prophet writes, the Lord will tear up by their roots, and cast them into the depths of the sea.
Mic 7:20. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.
There is our comfort, our God is the covenant-keeping God who will perform every promise that he has made. Even if we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself. Blessed be his holy name.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
Mic 7:1-6
MICAH LONGS FOR GODLINESS . . . Mic 7:1-6
WOE IS ME . . . THE GODLY MAN IS PERISHED . . . Mic 7:1-2(a)
Chapter seven begins with a cry of despair from the lips of the prophet. His soul is hungry for the fellowship of godly men. In this he is disappointed as a man physically hungry who comes first to the vineyard and then the orchard and finds nothing to relieve his hunger. Micah sees beyond the confines of the little kingdoms of Israel and Judah. If there are no godly men among the covenant people, then godliness has perished from the earth! Turning to idolatry, as the world worshipped idolatry, the chosen people had brought about a moral situation similar to that which would prevail if there were no God at all!
Zerr: Mic 7:1. The prophet uses the first person in describing the undone condition of the nation, not that he is personally involved in the misdeeds so generally being committed. He describes the situation by likening the nation to a vineyard from which the main crop has been gathered. In such a stage one would not even find a single whole bunch of grapes that had matured, much less a piece of fruit among the firstripe. Mic 7:2. Dropping the figures, the prophet uses literal language and explains that there is scarcely a good man. Most of them have taken to murder and treachery and to the defrauding of the righteous out of their rightful possessions.
The statement, there is none upright . . . reminds us of Davids affirmation concerning those fools who say there is no God. In Psa 14:1, David wrote The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works . . . This is repeated in Psa 53:1 with the additional statement there is none that doeth good, The fifth and one hundred fortieth Psalms echo this thought and expand it. In the case of the Psalmist it was the professed atheist who is described in vivid terms as grossly immoral. Micah says that because of the idolatry of the children of Israel the same is now true of the whole world!
In Rom 3:9-18, Paul establishes this ungodliness as the universal state of man outside of Christ. There the apostle uses a catena, or chain of references, to prove that the Jews are in no better fix than Gentiles, for all are under sin. Micah and Paul seem ready to say as Elijah in his time, I, even I only, am left. (1Ki 19:10) Their hands are upon that which is evil . . . Mic 7:2(b) – Mic 7:4(a)
Zerr: Mic 7:3. The main subject of this verse is conspiracy to do wrong, which we have learned is especially displeas-ing to God. There were three classes who formed the conspiracy-; the prince, the judge, and the great or older. The thing which the three conspirators wished to obtain was a reward which is used in the sense of bribe. Wrap is from ahath, and Strongs definition is. “A primitive root; to Interlace, i.e. (figuratively) to pervert. The first part of the definition is especially applicable in this place, because to conspire together is the same as being interlaced in a transaction.
There are, says Micah, not only none who do good, but multitudes that do positive hurt. They all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother . . . They have a thousand cursed arts of ensnaring men to their ruin.
The magistrates, office patrons and protectors of right are the practicers and promoters of wrong. The prince and judge may be hired for bribes to exert all their power to carry out wicked purposes. The great man who has wealth and the power to do good but who desires to do evil does not utter the evil desire of his soul lest his conspiring with the prince and judge become evident.
The best of them is a brier; the most upright is worse than a thorn hedge . . . (Mic 7:4) They prick and injure all with whom they come in contact. (Cp. 2Sa 23:6-7, Isa 55:13, Eze 2:6)
THE DAY OF THE WATCHMAN . . . Mic 7:4(b)
This is the day of the watchman. Just as a policeman comes upon a criminal to arrest him, so the true prophet, Gods watchman, comes upon the false prophet and his corrupt followers. The party is over, the piper must be paid. Gods wrath is at hand.
Zerr: Mic 7:4. A brier and a thorn are very undesirable objects, and the prophet uses them to illustrate the best that Israel as a whole could produce. Day of thy watchman means the day that had been seen coming by the watchmen on the wails of the cities. It was the duty of a watchman to be on the alert and to warn his fellow citizens when he saw an enemy approaching. Of course only an inspired “watchman” could see the enemy in the present case, which was the army of the Assyrian Empire, and a true prophet constituted such a watchman, (See Eze 3:17.) Visitation means the arrival and application of the perplexing chastisement of siege and capture.
TRUST YE NOT . . . Mic 7:5-6
Here follows a list of those whom honest men (if indeed there were any) could not trust. The list includes a neighbor, a friend, her that lieth in thy bosom, i.e. ones own wife, the son, the daughter, the daughter-in-law. Such a society in indeed corrupt . . . ready for the wrath of God.
Zerr: Mic 7:5. This vense certainly paints a dark picture of society, for the advice given seems to be a contradiction of all the well established rules of friendship. It is a clear example of the incompleteness of many passages in the Bible if we stop with any particular verse, for such divisions are the arbitrary work of man and are done for convenience, and often cause a thought to be divided in the wrong place. We should always be watchful for this condition and not form a conclusion until we know we have considered all that is being offered on the subject.
Jesus quotes Mic 7:6(b) in connection with those He expected to persecute the new covenant people. (Mat 10:35-36 cp. Luk 12:53)
Zerr: Mic 7:6. The apparent difficulty in the preceding verse is accounted for in this. When people are normal in their attitude toward others such advice as the foregoing is uncalled for. But al! the usual influences between the various relations of members of families had become so corrupted that nobody eould be trusted. Jesus predicted a similar condition would come after He had done his work on the earth (Mat 10:34-36). In his case the situation was to be caused by the teaching which was to be delivered to mankind, because many would reject it and hence would become enemies of those who accepted it. Doubtless some such motives figured in the case as Micah sow it.
Questions
Jehovahs Controversy With His People
1. Micah chapters six and seven are composed of a series of __________.
2. Just as the sins of societys leaders filter down through all classes so __________ are applied to all people.
3. Jehovahs first controversy with His people is occasioned by their having forgotten __________.
4. Gods controversy with His people is before all creation because __________.
5. How does Micah connect the final section of his book to the first section?
6. In Mic 6:3-5 the __________ is made. In Mic 6:9 to Mic 7:6, the case will be __________.
7. The cry of Mic 6:3-5 is the plea of a __________.
8. Explain Micahs reference to Balaam. (Mic 6:5)
9. Why remember from Shittim to Gilgal? (Mic 6:5(b))
10. Show how Mic 6:1-5 is timely in our day.
11. What is alluded to by shall I give my first-born for my transgression? (Mic 6:7 (b))
12. Discuss Mic 6:8 in connection with Mat 26:16 and Heb 2:1-4,
13. Gods insistence upon faithfulness is not unreasonable when we remember __________ His __________ and __________.
14. How does Micah answer the question, what doth Jehovah require of thee? (Mic 6:8)
15. The __________ is the Bible quoted by Jesus and the apostles.
16. Mic 6:8 does not claim that __________ an attribute of Gods character is required of Gods people.
17. Rather than compassion, Micah insists that we are required to __________.
18. Discuss Mic 6:8 in connection with Mat 23:23.
19. Why must the outward forms of obedience always be expressive of inner reality?
20. Compare Mic 6:9 and Pro 9:10.
21. What is the significance of shall I be pure? Mic 6:10-12
22. The persistent fact of __________ is a prime factor in Micahs message.
23. Compare Mic 6:14 and Job 20:15.
24. What is meant by Mic 6:15?
25. What are the statutes of Omri? Mic 6:15(a)
26. Compare Mic 6:16(b) and Mic 3:12.
27. Discuss the historic phenomena known as anti-semitism in light of Mic 6:16.
28. Compare Mic 7:1-2(a) and Psa 14:1-2.
29. Discuss Mic 7:1-2 in light of Rom 3:9-18.
30. Mic 7:2(b) – Mic 7:4(a) refers to __________.
31. Compare Mic 7:2(b) – Mic 7:4(a) with 2Sa 23:6-7, Isa 55:13, and Eze 2:6.
32. Who are listed as those whom honest men cannot trust? (Mic 7:5-6)
33. Discuss Mic 7:5-6 in connection with Mat 10:35-36 and Luk 12:53.
34. Discuss Mic 7:7 in connection with Jos 24:14-15.
35. Despite the wickedness of his time, Micah is unshaken in the conviction that __________.
36. Discuss Mic 7:8-10 in light of Rom 8:31-39.
37. Compare Mic 7:9 to Psa 22:1-24 and Rom 7:24 to Rom 8:1.
38. What is meant by a day for rebuilding thy walls? (Mic 7:11-13)
39. If one requires proof of Micahs highest motives in writing his prophecies, his prayer for __________ provides it amply.
40. The nations shall see what and be ashamed?
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Following the charge, the people break into a lamentation which is of the nature of a confession, submission to judgment and hope. The prophet answers the cry with a message of hope, which, however, ends with the consciousness of the necessity for judgment.
Following this, the people pray for the guidance of Jehovah, and Jehovah answers with a promise that He will guide them as of old. Then the prophet in faith repeats Jehovah’s promise.
The last movement is a great final doxology, uttered by all the people, which celebrates the patience of God and His certain restoration of His people. The prophet’s message of hope is an exclamatory description of a new day, when the walls will be built, and the boundaries will be set far beyond the existing limitations, a day in which the people will gather from other countries and cities.
Thus the message of Micah centered on the subject of authority. The prophet arraigns and condemns the authority of those who had departed from the true standards of government, whether the princes, prophets, or priests; and foretold the coming of the true Ruler, under whom all false confidences would be destroyed and the true order restored.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
Gods Compassion for an Erring People
Mic 7:1-20
Things had come to an awful pass in the favored city. Oppression, bribery, and bloodshed, were everywhere in the ascendant. Men wrought evil with both hands. Husbands could not trust their wives. At such a time there is no refuge for Gods children save in God, Mic 7:7-13.
When we have learned our lesson we find God appearing for our help. He brings forth to the light and vindicates us. Then those that hated us, and suggested that He had forsaken, will be compelled to admit that He has completely vindicated us from their reproach. Be of good cheer, believer; wait for God. He will bring out thy righteousness as the light and thy judgment as the noonday, Mic 7:10-12.
Next, the prophet pleads with Israels Shepherd to repeat the marvels of the Exodus. He knows that God will not only pardon iniquities but subdue them, trampling them beneath His feet. This anticipates the Ascension, Eph 1:20-23. When a stone sinks into ocean depths, it cannot be recovered; and when sin is forgiven God never recalls it either here or hereafter.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Chapter 7
Future Repentance And Blessing
This last chapter, which forms the fourth division, is closely allied to the book of the Lamentations. It is the prayer of the repentant remnant in the days of the great tribulation, the time of Jacobs trouble. That is, the prophet sets forth the suited utterance of those who no longer walk in pride, but, humbled because of their sin, own the justice of the Hand that smote them. Excuses there are none, nor do they look at second causes, but they accept all as the due reward of their deeds, and yet look up in faith to the God of their fathers, upon whose unfailing grace they count for restoration. The three discourses, or divisions, that have gone before, were all designed to lead to this desired end: so that this chapter sets forth the future result of the ministry which at the time seemed to fall to the ground. It was the Word of the living God, and could not return unto Him void, but must accomplish that for which it was sent.
In the six opening verses we have a most graphic portrayal of conditions in the fearful days of the Antichrist. To the remnant it seems as though the good have been destroyed out of the earth, and there is none upright among men. Treachery and deceit shall so abound that one dare not put confidence in his most intimate friend. Even the wife of his bosom may betray him to the unholy inquisition of that fearful time. For those be the days of vengeance described by our Lord in Mat 24:9-31, when the abomination of desolation shall stand in the holy place; as also in Mat 10:21-36, where He quotes this very passage when referring to the final testimony ere the appearing of the Son of Man.
Such times have been known already in many places, as in the dark days of Roman Catholicisms power; but for Israel, in a special sense, darker days are yet to come.
The confidence of the remnant and their submission to the will of God are beautifully delineated in vers. 7 to 10. Owning the righteousness of His dealings, they yet look up to Him in faith, crying, I will wait for the God of my salvation; and they are assured that He will hear. The enemy may seem to triumph; but though fallen, they shall arise, and the Lord shall be their light when the darkness has become the deepest. In lowliness and humility they say, I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against Him. This is remarkably fine, and shows how truly their exercises have resulted in the peaceable fruits of righteousness. Thus they can count on God for deliverance, and wait in patience till He shall plead their cause and execute judgment for them, that they may glorify Him for His righteousness. Then shall Israels enemies, who taunted her in her forsaken condition, own that she is indeed the chosen of the Lord.
In that day temporal prosperity will return to Jerusalem, and her walls shall be rebuilt. Her children shall be brought back from Assyria and all the places whither they have been carried captive. Though the land shall first be desolated by the armies of the nations, because of the fruit of Israels doings, yet the old wastes shall be rebuilt, and the flock of Jehovahs heritage shall be brought from their hiding-places and shepherded in the choice pastures of Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old (vers. 11-14).
As once the Lord had brought them up in triumph out of the land of Egypt, He will show marvelous things when He arises for the salvation of His chosen in the last days. The Gentiles, who have despised and hated the Jew, will be filled with astonishment when the remnant are reestablished in the land of their fathers, and the first dominion has returned to Jacob (vers. 15-17). It will be a marvelous exhibition of grace, and of the loving-kindness of the Lord.
No wonder the book closes with so precious an ascription of adoring gratitude. Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retaineth not His anger forever, because He delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, He will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities; and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which Thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old (vers. 18-20).
This will be the happy ending of all Gods ways with Israel. Established in the kingdom of the Son of Man, they will be brought into the blessedness of the knowledge of transgressions forgiven and sin covered. And they will trace all that blessing back to the smitten Judge, who came in grace to save, but who was despised and rejected by the very people who held in their hands the Scripture of truth, foretelling the actual things which they in their unbelief fulfilled.
In the hour of their deepest anguish they will turn back to the same sacred books, and learn therefrom that the Nazarene was the long-expected One whose goings forth have been of old, from everlasting. At last convinced of their fearful sin, the remnant will bow in bitterness of soul before God, owning the guilt of their fathers, and judging their own past unbelief. Then grace will act on their behalf, and restoration to their land and their God will follow.
From every renewed heart will burst the cry of worshipful praise, Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity?
Into the sea of His forgetfulness He will cast all their sins, justifying them freely by His grace through the same wondrous redemption which is now the ground of blessing for every Jew and Gentile who trusts in the name of Jesus.
Thus Micahs prophecy reaches the end to which all the prophets pointed; when the oath of Jehovah to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will be performed, and their seed will be established in their ancient patrimony, never again to be uprooted, and enjoying all the blessings of the new covenant, confirmed by the precious blood of Christ.
21 Such is the divine title rendered here the Lord God.
22 The A. V. is very confusing here. Verse 6, according to eminent scholars, should read, Prophesy not! [say they; but] they shall prophesy: they shall not prophesy [indeed] to these, that reproach may not overtake them.
23 It is really wall-breaker.
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
Mic 7:3
I. “Without hands.” There are some good men who seem to be without hands altogether. From dawn of life until dusk they do nothing expressly for Christ. All the day passes thus in idleness with them. As to work: they could work with hands, because they do, in other things. But as soon as they come to any expressly Christian work both hands drop down, and there they stand-without hands.
II. “With one hand.” This is the second state. For so, many of God’s servants serve Him. And this is well when it is just at the beginning of the service. Let all the one-handed ones hear the “God speed” of the older workers. If the older hands in a manufactory, the men of skill and ready hand, were to come and look over the work of the apprentices in a mocking spirit, or even with an air of proud superiority, these young learners might feel justly aggrieved. But if these men come as instructed by the master; and, looking over the work in a spirit of kindliness, point out its deficiencies, and see how they can be remedied and supplied, will there be any cause of grievance then? If they say: “With both hands you must work, and watch with both eyes, if you wish to become prime and perfect workmen”-would not this be the greatest kindness to the young workers? Now this is just what we say to all learners in progress-in short, to all one-handed men, we say-
III. “With both hands.” For after all there is no perfection, even of a relative kind, with one. And the continued use of only one is a shocking imperfection in the Christian service. For as both hands have been given for use, the other will not be idle. It will be working in forbidden ways. It will be grasping the world. Work “with both hands” for very safety.
There is yet, however, a higher stage of obedience, the highest of all, which is expressed by all the words of the text “with both hands earnestly.” It is not enough that all the talents are laid out; they must be laid out to the best advantage. It is not enough that every power and passion shall be enlisted in the Lord’s service; they must all be baptized, inspired, and energized with a Christian’s earnestness. (1) Self-preservation requires an earnest life. (2) Honesty requires it. (3) Benevolence requires it. (4) Gratitude requires it. (5) Time requires it.
A. Raleigh, Quiet Resting Places, p. 299.
References: Mic 7:3.-J. G. Rogers, Christian World Pulpit, vol. v., p. 97. Mic 7:7.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxi., No. 1819; W. Jay, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. iii., p. 175.
Mic 7:8-9
I. Men commonly think a sin to be cancelled when it is done and over; or, in other words, that amendment is an expiation. They do not take the trouble to repent. Regret, vexation, sorrow,-such feelings seem to this busy, practical, unspiritual generation as idle; as something despicable and unmanly, just as tears may be. They are unbelieving, they are irrational, if they are nothing more than remorse, gloom, and despondency. Such is “the sorrow of the world,” which “worketh death.” Yet there is a “godly sorrow” also; a positive sorrowing for sin, and a deprecation of its consequences, and that quite distinct from faith or amendment; and this, so far from being a barren sorrow, worketh, as the Apostle assures us, “repentance to salvation, not to be repented of.”
II. When Christians have gone wrong in any way, whether in belief or in practice, scandalously or secretly, it seems that pardon is not explicitly, definitely, promised them in Scripture as a matter of course; and the mere fact that they afterwards become better men, and are restored to God’s favour, does not decide the question whether they are in every sense pardoned; for David was restored, and yet was afterwards punished. It is still a question whether a debt is not standing against them for their past sins, and is not now operating, or to operate, to their disadvantage. What the payment consists in, and how it will be exacted, is quite another question, and a hidden one. God may spare us, He may punish. In either case, however, our duty is to surrender ourselves into His hands, that He may do what He will.
J. H. Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons, vol. iv., p. 94.
References: Mic 7:8.-Homiletic Quarterly, vol. v., p. 32; J. Keble, Sermons from Easter to Ascension Day, p. 220. Mic 7:9.-Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. xi., p. 210; J. H. Evans, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. ii., p. 145. Mic 7:18.-Homiletic Quarterly, vol. ii., p. 259; H. W. Beecher, Sermons, 1870, p. 489. Mic 7:18-20.-G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 169. Mic 7:19.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxvii., No. 1577.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
CHAPTER 7
1. The prophets complaint (Mic 7:1-6)
2. Confession, prayer and thanksgiving (Mic 7:7-20)
Mic 7:1-6. It is the prophets voice complaining over the conditions of the people. But he is also the typical representative of the remnant during the time of travail in Zion. It is to be noted that our Lord quotes from this portion of Micah. (See Mat 10:21, which dispensationally applies to the future remnant.) In the midst of the conditions the prophet describes we read that his refuge was prayer, looking to the Lord with the assurance that He will hear. Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me (Mic 7:7). This will be the attitude of the godly Israelites during the time of trouble.
Mic 7:7-20. It is Israel speaking in the remnant, represented by the prophet. The enemy is addressed; at the time of Micah it was the Assyrian, the type of the end Assyrian; but it includes all the world powers in their anti-Semitic attitude. The real Israel has always had this comfort, founded on the fact that Gods gifts and calling are without repentance, that they are the elect nation, that their fall must be followed by a spiritual and national resurrection Rom 11:1-36). Hence they say, Rejoice not against me, mine enemy; when I fall I shall rise again; when I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light unto me. This will be the case when their greatest darkness comes in the end of the age Isa 60:1-22. It is a willing submission to the chastisement of the Lord expressed in Mic 6:9; they acknowledge their sins and once more declare, He will bring me forth to light, and I shall behold his righteousness.
This is followed by a prophetic declaration. The day is coming when her walls will be built again, and in that day shall the decree be far removed. The latter statement may mean the same which the prophet Jeremiah reveals in Jer 31:31 to the end of the chapter. The old decree, or law, will end, and there will be the new covenant into which Judah and Israel enter in that day. Then the nations will gather to restored Israel in the kingdom. (Compare Mic 7:12 with Isa 60:3-10.)
In the meantime the land will be desolate, as it is now, the fruit of their evil doings, till the day comes when the wilderness will be a fruitful field Isa 32:16 when the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose Isa 35:1 .
Once more the prophets voice is heard in supplication. The prayer in Mic 6:14 is answered by the Lord in Mic 7:15-17. The Lord will show again in that day the marvelous things as He did in their past redemption out of Egypt. The nations, their enemies, will be witness to it; they will be humiliated in the dust.
The three concluding verses belong to the greatest in the Old Testament Scriptures. Here we listen to a great praise and outburst of adoration. Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retaineth not His anger forever, because He delighted in mercy. He will turn again, He will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities; and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which Thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.
Such will be the future praise of the remnant of His heritage, when the Deliverer comes to Zion and turns away ungodliness from Jacob, when the covenant with them will be consummated and their sins will be taken away Rom 11:26-36). Once a year orthodox Jews go to a running stream and scatter into it bits of paper and small articles, repeating while they do it these three verses (the so-called Tashlik ceremony). It is but an outward act, yet testifying that there is still faith in Israel. It will be a glorious day when God forgives them their sins and remembers them no more.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
woe: Psa 120:5, Isa 6:5, Isa 24:16, Jer 4:31, Jer 15:10, Jer 45:3
when they have gathered the summer fruits: Heb. the gatherings of summer
as: Isa 17:6, Isa 24:13
desired: Isa 28:4, Hos 9:10
Reciprocal: Exo 22:29 – shalt not delay Lev 19:10 – glean Num 13:20 – the firstripe Num 18:13 – whatsoever 2Sa 16:1 – summer Neh 6:17 – the nobles Psa 12:1 – godly Pro 12:6 – words Jer 5:1 – if there Jer 9:2 – that I had Jer 24:2 – One basket Jer 34:19 – princes Jer 40:10 – summer Amo 8:2 – A basket Oba 1:5 – if the Hab 1:3 – General Mar 12:2 – a servant Phi 4:17 – fruit
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Mic 7:1. The prophet uses the first person in describing the undone condition of the nation, not that he is personally involved in the misdeeds so generally being committed. He describes the situation by likening the nation t.o a vineyard from which the main crop has been gathered. In such a stage one would not even find a single whole bunch of grapes that had matured, much less a piece of fruit among the firstripe.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mic 7:1-2. Wo is me, &c. Judea, or rather the prophet himself, is here introduced as complaining, that though good men once abounded in the land, there were now few or none to be found. I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, &c. I am like one who gathers up the ears of corn after the harvest, or grapes after the vintage: who meets with very few. There is no cluster, &c. Good men, that used to be found in clusters, are now as the grape-gleanings of the vintage, here and there a berry. No societies of pious men are to be found, assembling together for the purposes of devotion and mutual edification: those that are such, are individuals, unconnected with, and standing aloof from each other. And these are but very imperfectly pious, like the small withered grapes, the refuse, left behind, not only by the gatherer, but by the gleaner. My soul desired the first ripe fruit I wish to see such worthy good men as lived in the former ages, were the ornaments of the primitive times, and as far excelled the best of the present age, as the first and full ripe fruits do those of the later growth, that never come to maturity. To meet with such as these would be a refreshment, to me like that which a thirsty traveller receives when he finds the early fruits in the summer season. The good man Hebrew, , the pious, kind, merciful, and beneficent; is perished out of the earth Rather, out of the land, namely, Judea. There are few or none that are so truly and consistently pious as to delight in doing good to others, or making them as happy as lies in their power. And there is none upright As the early fig, of excellent flavour, cannot be found in the advanced season of summer, or the choice cluster of grapes after vintage, so neither can the good and upright man be discovered by diligent searching in Israel. Newcome. They hunt every man his brother, &c. They make a prey, each one of his neighbour, or those they have to do with, and use all arts to deceive and injure them.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Mic 7:1. I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits. I am become as the gatherers of late figs, as the gleaners of the vintage. NEWCOME.
Mic 7:8. Rejoice not against me, oh mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise. The prophet here anticipates the language of the church in captivity. Zion would have a fall, and for a time would sit in darkness. Babylon would cast her down, and shut her up as it were in prison, bound in affliction and iron. Psa 107:10-12. In this situation her inveterate enemies would rejoice over her. Edom and Babylon would triumph in the hope of her final ruin. But though Zion should fall, it would not be to rise no more, like other communities which have perished from the earth; and though she should sit in darkness, the Lord would be a light unto her. She could look her enemies in the face, and foretel the shame and confusion that should cover them, when they should be trodden down as the mire of the streets: Mic 7:10. Nations and kingdoms are doomed to fall, and rise no more, but the kingdom of Christ shall endure for ever. Egypt and Edom, the oppressors of the church, where are they? They said of Zion, rase it, rase it, even to the foundation; but they themselves have been rased from the earth, and Israel lived to see them buried. Where now is Babylon, that mighty city? Zion witnessed her downfall: her kingdom was numbered and finished, but the church lives and lives for ever.
Mic 7:12. He shall come to thee from Assyria. As this text refers to the gathering of converts from the surrounding nations, the pronoun must be in the plural, they shall come. So most of the versions read.The fortress refers apparently to Egypt. 2Ki 19:24. The river is thought to be the Euphrates. So the Synopsis.
Mic 7:14. Feed thy people with thy rod. These words are an apostrophe to Christ, the great and good shepherd: Mic 5:2-5. No shepherd, no god is like our God, forbearing, indulgent, and kind.
REFLECTIONS.
The prophet here identifies himself with the church; he grieves in her grief, and weeps in her tears. The first characteristic of piety is, in Gods esteem, to sigh for the wickedness of the people amongst whom we dwell; and to pray for a revival of religion in low and degenerate times. Woe is me, for my assemblies are attended but with the poorest of the people, who subsist on the gleanings of the vintage, and by the humblest occupations in life. I no longer see the heads of houses come forward as the friends of God, and the patrons of piety: they all walk in the high route of dissipation and crime. Hence the poor man who finds a difficulty in procuring food and raiment, should not repine at his lot: were he indulged with the luxuries of life, he might, like the rich, forget the Lord. Meanwhile, let us, like Zion, long for the first ripe fruits. Let us pray that the lovely youth of the age may not become the victims of vice, but be early converted to the Lord, and consecrate all their future days to his glory.
We have here the extreme wickedness of the Hebrew public. It was a total depravity, extending from the prince to the judges, and from the judges or nobles to the people. Good men had ceased from the higher walks of life; and the wicked were divided into factions, more eager of the blood of their rivals than the wild beasts are of their prey. A man could trust neither friend, nor host, nor wife. This happened in the reign of that wicked Ahaz, who polluted the Lords house, who burnt his child to Moloch, and so enrooted vice in the kingdom, that the reformations under Hezekiah, and under Josiah, were not able to eradicate it.
Next we have the duties of watchmen in evil times. They must connect great wickedness with great chastisements; they must cry, now thy visitation cometh! Nor did the vengeance slumber; for Resin king of Syria invaded and plundered Judah; and after that calamity, Pekah, the son of Remaliah, slew in one day a hundred and twenty thousand of the army of Ahaz. 2 Chronicles 28. And surely no feeling man can view this portrait without casting a pitying eye on the morals of our country, and on the state of our capital. May God Almighty inspire his watchmen to make united efforts for the conversion of the people.
We have also the churchs comfort under the desponding gloom of present evils. I will look to the Lord, I will wait for the God of my salvation. In man I have no hope; therefore I will hope in the Lord alone. Hence, leaning on the anchor of the promises, she says to the invading foe, Rejoice not against me, oh mine enemy. When I fall, I shall rise again; when I sit in the darkness of captivity, the Lord shall be a light unto me. And the promises which are made to the church, are made also to individual members of the church. Therefore every believer who falls under trouble may say, rejoice not against me; nor mock me, saying, where is thy God? Psa 42:3. Mat 27:43. When I fall, I shall rise again; when I sit in the darkness of affliction, as Job on the dunghill, the Lord shall change my darkness into day, and lift upon me the light of his countenance.
The church not only comforted herself with the hope of a return from captivity, but likewise with the prospect of evangelical glory. She saw, as in Mic 7:12, converts flowing to her from Assyria, from the fenced cities, from Egypt, from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain. Isaiah in the same manner saw kings coming to her light, and gentiles to her brightness: chap. 40. She saw the Messiah feed his flock in Carmel, Bashan, and Gilead, as in the days of old. She saw signs and wonders wrought by the Lord, and the nations confounded in silence at his works.
The church lastly consoled herself in the incomparable characters of the divine mercy in the remission of sins. Who is a God like unto thee, that passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? When good men view the mercy of God in pardoning a long line of sins, complicated sins, repeated and provoking sins, they are vanquished by the weight of grace. What, says the soul, all iniquity forgiven! Blotted out as a cloud, to be remembered no more, and cast as a burden into the depths of the sea. And all these oft repeated pardons, all this frequent dropping of the clouds of anger, only introductory to the richer blessings of the covenant. Oh it is not because of any merit in me, but because thou delightest in mercy; because thou delightest to fill the earth with thy glory, and to people heaven with the trophies of redeeming love.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Mic 7:1-6. Contemporary Violence, Corruption, and Disloyalty.This passage is distinct from the preceding, though the same introductory remark applies to it; in tone, however, it seems to come nearer to certain Psalms (cf. Psa 12:1 f.). Zion laments that the pious and upright man has become, through violence, as rare in her midst as the fruit in the garden or vineyard after the ingathering; men plot against their fellows as the huntsman against his prey (Psa 10:8 f.).
Mic 7:3 is corrupt; the general meaning appears to be that the powerful secure their interests through the bribery of dishonest judges, but the Hebrew of the first and last clauses cannot be translated. In Mic 7:4 (where the impossible worse than supplied by RV should be like) these evil men are compared with thorns, both for their harmfulness and their destiny (2Sa 23:6); the Day of Yahweh (Amo 5:18, etc.), foretold by His watchmen-prophets (Isa 21:6, Jer 6:17, Hab 2:1) will bring confusion upon them (text uncertain). So evil are the present times that the closest ties of intimacy and affection are unreliable (Mic 7:5 mg.); the natural authority of parents over their children (Exo 20:12; Exo 21:15; Exo 21:17, Deu 21:18 ff.) is disregarded, and the unity of the household (Gen 17:27) is lost.
Mic 7:1. Cf. Isa 24:13; for the first ripe fig as a delicacy, see Isa 28:4; read the clause as mg., but soul means appetite.
Mic 7:2. earth should be land.
Mic 7:6. Note the different application of the words in Mat 10:35 f.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
7:1 Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the {a} summer fruits, as the grapegleanings of the vintage: [there is] no cluster to eat: my soul desired the firstripe fruit.
(a) The Prophet takes upon himself the voice of the earth, which complains that all her fruits are gone, so that none are left: that is, that there is no godly man remaining, for all are given to cruelty and deceit, so that none spares his own brother.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
D. Micah’s lament over his decadent society 7:1-7
This section is an individual lament similar to many of the psalms (cf. Mic 1:8-16).
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Micah bewailed his own disappointment with Israel’s situation. He compared himself to Israel’s fruit pickers and grape gatherers who felt great disappointment over their poor harvests (Mic 6:15). Israel should have produced more spiritual fruit, but she did not (cf. Isa 5:7; Mar 11:12-14; Mar 11:20-22; Joh 15:1-8; Gal 5:22-23).
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
6
THE SIN OF THE SCANT MEASURE
Mic 6:9-16; Mic 7:1-6
THE state of the text of Mic 6:9-16; Mic 7:1-6 is as confused as the condition of society which it describes: it is difficult to get reason, and impossible to get rhyme, out of the separate clauses. We had best give it as it stands, and afterwards state the substance of its doctrine, which, in spite of the obscurity of details, is, as so often happens in similar cases, perfectly clear and forcible. The passage consists of two portions, which may not originally have belonged to each other, but which seem to reflect the same disorder of civic life, with the judgment that impends upon it. In the first of them, Mic 7:9-16, the prophet calls for attention to the voice of God, which describes the fraudulent life of Jerusalem, and the evils He is bringing on her. In the second, Mic 7:1-6, Jerusalem bemoans her corrupt society; but perhaps we hear her voice only in Mic 7:1, and thereafter the prophets.
The prophet speaks:-
“Hark! Jehovah crieth to the city! (Tis salvation to fear Thy name!) Hear ye, O tribe and council of the city!”
God speaks:-
” in the house of the wicked treasures of wickedness, And the scant measure accursed? Can she be pure with the evil balances, And with the bag of false weights, Whose rich men are full of violence, And her citizens speak falsehood, And their tongue is deceit in their mouth? But I on my part have begun to plague thee, To lay thee in ruin because of thy sins. Thou eatest and art not filled,”
“But thy famine is in the very midst of thee! And but try to remove, thou canst not bring off And what thou bringest off, I give to the sword. Thou sowest, but never reapest; Treadest olives, but never anointest with oil, And must, but not to drink wine! So thou keepest the statutes of Omri, And the habits of the house of Ahab, And walkest in their principles, Only that I may give thee to ruin, And her inhabitants for sport-Yea, the reproach of the Gentiles shall ye bear!”
Jerusalem speaks:-
“Woe, woe is me, for I am become like sweepings of harvest, Like gleanings of the vintage-Not a cluster to eat, not a fig that my soul lusteth after. Perished are the leal from the land, Of the upright among men there is none: All of them are lurking for blood; Every man takes his brother in a net. Their hands are on evil to do it thoroughly. The prince makes requisition, The judge judgeth for payment, And the great man he speaketh his lust; So together they weave it out. The best of them is but a thorn thicket, {cf. Pro 15:19} The most upright worse than a prickly hedge. The day that thy sentinels saw, thy visitation, draweth on; Now is their havoc {cf. Isa 22:5} come! Trust not any friend! Rely on no confidant! From her that lies in thy bosom guard the gates of thy mouth. For son insulteth father, daughter is risen against her mother, daughter-in- law against her mother-in-law; And the enemies of a man are the men of his house.”
Micah, though the prophet of the country and stern critic of its life, characterized Jerusalem herself as the center of the nations sins. He did not refer to idolatry alone, but also to the irreligion of the politicians, and the Cruel injustice of the rich in the capital. The poison which weakened the nations blood had found its entrance to their veins at the very heart. There had the evil gathered which was shaking the state to a rapid dissolution.
This section of the Book of Micah, whether it be by that prophet or not, describes no features of Jerusalems life which were not present in the eighth century; and it may be considered as the more detailed picture of the evils he summarily denounced. It is one of the most poignant criticisms of a commercial community which have ever appeared in literature. In equal relief we see the meanest instruments and the most prominent agents of covetousness and cruelty the scant measure, the false weights, the unscrupulous prince, and the venal judge. And although there are some sins denounced which are impossible in our civilization, yet falsehood, squalid fraud, pitilessness of the everlasting struggle for life are exposed exactly as we see them about us today. Through the prophets ancient and often obscure eloquence we feel just those shocks and sharp edges which still break everywhere through our Christian civilization. Let us remember, too, that the community addressed by the prophet was, like our own, professedly religious.
The most widespread sin with which the prophet charges Jerusalem in these days of her commercial activity is falsehood: “Her inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deceit in their mouth.” In Mr. Leckys “History of European Morals” we find the opinion that “the one respect in which the growth of industrial life has exercised a favorable influence on morals has been in the promotion of truth.” The tribute is just, but there is another side to it. The exigencies of commerce and industry are fatal to most of the conventional pretences, insincerities, and flatteries which tend to grow up in all kinds of society. In commercial life, more perhaps than in any other, a man is taken, and has to be taken, in his inherent worth. Business, the life which is called par excellence Busyness, wears off every mask, all false veneer and unction, and leaves no time for the cant and parade which are so prone to increase in all other professions. Moreover the soul of commerce is credit. Men have to show that they can be trusted before other men will traffic with them, at least upon that large and lavish scale on which alone the great undertakings of commerce can be conducted. When we look back upon the history of trade and industry, and see how they have created an atmosphere in which men must ultimately seem what they really are; how they have of their needs replaced the jealousies, subterfuges, intrigues which were once deemed indispensable to the relations of men of different peoples, by large international credit and trust; how they break through the false conventions that divide class from class, we must do homage to them, as among the greatest instruments of the truth which maketh free.
But to all this there is another side. If commerce has exploded so much conventional insincerity, it has developed a species of the genus which is quite its own. In our days nothing can lie like an advertisement. The saying, “the tricks of the trade” has become proverbial. Everyone knows that the awful strain and harassing of commercial life are largely due to the very amount of falseness that exists. The haste to be rich, the pitiless rivalry and competition, have developed a carelessness of the rights of others to the truth from ourselves, with a capacity for subterfuge and intrigue, which reminds one of no, thing so much as that state of barbarian war out of which it was the ancient glory of commerce to have assisted mankind to rise. Are the prophets words about Jerusalem too strong for large portions of our own commercial communities? Men who know these best will not say that they are. But let us cherish rather the powers of commerce which make for truth. Let us tell men who engage in trade that there are none for whom it is more easy to be clean and straight; that lies, whether of action or of speech, only increase the mental expense and the moral strain of life; and that the health, the capacity, the foresight, the opportunities of a great merchant depend ultimately on his resolve to be true and on the courage with which he sticks to the truth.
One habit of falseness on which the prophet dwells is the use of unjust scales and short measures. The “stores” or fortunes of his day are “scores of wickedness,” because they have been accumulated by the use of the ‘lean ephah,’ the balances of wrong,” and “the bag of false weights.” These are evils more common in the East than with us: modern government makes them almost impossible. But, all the same, ours is the sin of the scant measure, and the more so in proportion to the greater speed and rivalry of our commercial life. The prophets name for it, “measure of leanness,” of “consumption” or “shrinkage,” is a proper symbol of all those duties and offices of man to man, the full and generous discharge of which is diminished by the haste and the grudge of a prevalent selfishness. The speed of modern life tends to shorten, the time expended on every piece of work, and to turn it out untempered and incomplete. The struggle for life in commerce, the organized rivalry between labor and capital, not only puts every man on his guard against giving any other more than his due, but tempts him to use every opportunity to scamp and curtail his own service and output. You will hear men defend this parsimony as if it were a law. They say that business is impossible without the temper which they call “sharpness” or the habit which they call “cutting it fine.” But such character and conduct are the very decay of society. The shrinkage of the units must always and everywhere mean the disintegration of the mass. A society whose members strive to keep within their duties is a society which cannot continue to cohere. Selfishness may be firmness, but it is the firmness of frost, the rigor of death. Only the unselfish excess of duty, only the generous loyalty to others, give to society the compactness and indissolubleness of life. Who is responsible for the enmity of classes, and the distrust which exists between capital and labor? It is the workman whose one aim is to secure the largest amount of wages for the smallest amount of work, and who will, in his blind pursuit of that, wreck the whole trade of a town or a district; it is the employer who believes he has no duties to his men beyond paying them for their work the least that he can induce them to take; it is the customer who only and ever looks to the cheapness of an article-procurer in that prostitution of talent to the work of stamping which is fast killing art, and joy, and all pity for the bodies and souls of our brothers. These are the true anarchists and breakers-up of society. On their methods social coherence and harmony are impossible. Life itself is impossible. No organism can thrive whose various limbs are ever shrinking in upon themselves. There is no life except by living to others.
But the prophet covers the whole evil when he says that the “pious are perished out of the land.” “Pious” is a translation of despair. The original means the man distinguished by “hesedh,” that word which we have on several occasions translated “real love,” because it implies not only an affection but loyalty to a relation. And, as the use of the word frequently reminds us, “hesedh” is love and loyalty both to God and to our fellowmen. We need not dissociate these: they are one. But here it is the human direction in which the word looks. It means a character which fulfills all the relations of society with the fidelity, generosity, and grace which are the proper affections of man to man. Such a character, says the prophet, is perished from the land. Every man now lives for himself, and as a consequence preys upon his brother. “They all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.” This is not murder which the prophet describes: it is the reckless, pitiless competition of the new conditions of life developed in Judah by the long peace and commerce of the eighth century. And he carries this selfishness into a very striking figure in Mic 7:4 : “The best of them is as a thorn thicket, the most upright” worse “than a prickly hedge.” He realizes exactly what we mean by sharpness and sharp-dealing: bristling self-interest, all points; splendid in its own defense, but barren of fruit, and without nest or covert for any life.