MICAH 1 COMMETARYEDITED BY GLE

PEASE

ITRODUCTIO

JOSEPH BESO, "THE BOOK OF MICAH.ARGUMET.MICAH, of whose family nothing certain is known, was a Morasthite, or of Moresa, a village near Eleutheropolis, in the south of Judah. He was cotemporary with Isaiah, began to prophesy a little after him, and continued in the prophetic office about fifty years. What we find here in writing seems to be an abstract of what he preached during that time. He had seen the prophecies of Isaiah, and has introduced whole passages verbatim into his own. Compare Isaiah 2:2, with Micah 4:1; and Isaiah 41:15, with Micah 4:13. The style of Micah, says Bishop Lowth, is, for the most part, close, forcible, pointed, and concise; sometimes approaching the obscurity of Hosea: in many parts animated and sublime, and in general truly poetical. Like Amos and Hosea; says Archbishop ewcome, he reproves and threatens a corrupt people with great spirit and energy. See Micah 2:1-10; Micah 3:2-4; Micah 6:10-16; Micah 7:2-4. And, like Hosea, he inveighs against the princes and prophets with the highest indignation. See Micah 3:5-12; Micah 7:3. Some of his prophecies are distinct and illustrious ones, as Micah 2:12-13; Micah 3:12; Micah 4:1-4; Micah 4:10; Micah 5:2-4; Micah 7:8-10. In many passages, we may justly admire the beauty and elegance of his manner; his animation; his strength of expression; his pathos; his sublimity. The scope of his whole book Isaiah , 1. To convince Israel and Judah of their sins, and of the judgments of God ready to break in upon them; 2. To comfort the righteous with promises of mercy and deliverance, and especially with an assurance of the coming of the Messiah. To be more particular, In the first chapter of his prophecies he foretels the calamities of Samaria, which was some time after taken and spoiled by Shalmaneser; and then prophesies against Judah, denouncing the evils which were accordingly brought upon it by Sennacherib, in the reign of Hezekiah. In the second chapter he inveighs against those who devised evil against others, and who coveted and took away by violence other mens possessions, &c. In the third chapter he reproves the heads of Jacob, and the princes of the house of Israel, for their avarice, injustice, and oppression of the people; and also the false prophets, for their deceiving of the people; and tells them that they will be the occasion of Jerusalems being reduced to a heap of rubbish. After these terrible denunciations, in chapters fourth and fifth he speaks of their restoration, and, under the figure of that, of the times of the Messiah. In the sixth and seventh chapters the sins of the people are reproved, and threatenings denounced against them; but with promises of better things on their amendment. This prophet is cited by Jeremiah, (Jeremiah 26:18,) which shows that

he prophesied before Jeremiah. It is related by Epiphanius, and the Greek writers who copied him, that Micah was thrown from a precipice and killed by Jehoram, the son of Ahab, whom he erroneously calls king of Judah, but who was really king of Israel; and whose grandson Jehoram lived at least one hundred and thirty years before Micah. But these writers seem to have confounded Micah with Micaiah the son of Imlah, who flourished in Israel, and prophesied evil of Ahab. Micah does not appear to have suffered martyrdom, as may be collected from Jeremiah 26:18-19, but probably died in peace in the reign of Hezekiah. St. Jerome says, that his tomb was at Morasthi, and converted into a church in his time: and Sozomen professed to have heard, that his body was shown, in a divine vision, to Zebennus, bishop of Eleutheropolis, in the reign of Theodosius the Great, near a place called Berathsatia, which probably might be a corruption of Morasti, since Sozomen describes it to have been at nearly the same distance from Jerusalem that St. Jerome places Morasthi. Grays Key.

COMMETARY O THE PROPHECY OF MICAH.by Dr Peter Pett BA BD (Hons-London) DD"Micah" is a shortened form for "Micaiah," which means "Who is like YHWH?" He came from Moresheth, a small town south west of Jerusalem. This was probably the same as Moresheth-gath (Micah 1:14), in which case it must have been fairly close to the Philistine town of Gath, of which the exact location is uncertain. Moresheth-gath was also about six miles north-east of Lachish, the second largest city in Judah, which was on the Shephelah (lower hills leading down to the Coastal Plain).

Micah 1:1

The word of YHWH that came to Micah the Morashtite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.Micah came to the people of Judah with the word (dbr) of YHWH, a word which dealt with the situations of both Samaria, the capital city of Israel, and Jerusalem, the capital city of Judah. The fact that his fathers name is not given, and that he came from a smallish town, may suggest that he came of common stock. While Isaiah was influencing the nobility, Micah was appealing to the common people. The destruction of his own home town by the Assyrians around the time that they captured Lachish must have been a great blow to him.

He prophesied during the reigns of Jotham (c.740-732 BC), Ahaz (c.732-715 BC), and Hezekiah (c.715-687/6 BC), kings of Judah. This indicates that he was a late eighth-century contemporary of Isaiah, who also prophesied around the same time in Judah (compare Isaiah 1:1). Amos and Hosea were similarly prophesying in the northern kingdom of Israel (see Amos 1:1; Hosea 1:1). These were initially times of economic wellbeing following the long and prosperous reign of Uzziah (Azariah), but with the looming presence of Assyria, danger threatened and eventually arrived, especially in the first instance for Israel.

During the time of Jotham (although not affecting Judah) Assyria, under Tiglath Pileser III (Pulu), coming from the north over the Euphrates in undreamt of power, captured some of Israels northern lands and incorporated them into the Assyrian empire, taking many Israelites into exile, and subjecting Israel to heavy tribute. Israel had meanwhile descended into a state of spiritual decadence and partial anarchy. Both economic and religious conditions were rapidly deteriorating.

We can understand how this new situation must have affected the thinking of men of God at the time. Here was an indication of Gods displeasure with His people. Things had never got quite as bad as this before.

When Israel, along with the Philistines and the countries north of Israel, including Syria, rebelled against Assyrian rule and withheld tribute, they sought to form an alliance in order to deal with the threat. This they invited first Jotham (who conveniently died), and then Ahaz to join. On the new king Ahaz refusing to do so preparations were made by Syria and Israel to bring him into submission and replace him as king. At this point Isaiah tried to persuade Ahaz to trust in YHWH and ignore everyone else, assuring him that the plot would come to nothing (Isaiah 7). Howevr, Ahaz chose rather to submit to the king of Assyria, against the pleadings of Isaiah, and pay the necessary tribute by using the gold in the Temple in order to obtain his protection, which was duly forthcoming. Ahaz seemingly had little interest in Yahwism and appears to have encouraged a resurgence of native religions. This naturally resulted in less notice being paid to covenant law. Society in general became more corrupt. Micah was partly inveighing against this.

Israel was only at that point saved from final destruction when Hoshea staged a coup and made peace with Assyria, paying very heavy tribute, but averting further disaster. Israels one time prosperity was on the point of collapse. But inevitably rebellion again raised its head, for the tribute was ruinous and national pride was hurt, and this time Shalmaneser V who had succeeded Tiglath Pileser III, held nothing back. He first destroyed the Philistines, and then moved against Israel and, although he died, eventually his son Sargon II captured Samaria. This was in 722 BC. Once this had been accomplished Sargon attacked Syria and besieged Damascus which was also destroyed. At this time large numbers of Israelites were deported and settled in countries beyond the Euphrates which were under Assyrian control. Judah were unaffected because they remained firm in their allegiance although they would no doubt have Assyrian troops stationed on their soil. They thus continued to maintain a certain level of prosperity.

But paying tribute also involved accepting Assyrian gods into the Temple so that they could be given due honour, and Ahaz seems to have actually encouraged this and also to have allowed idolatry to run wild. He had seemingly little concern for YHWH (see Isaiah 7) or for His laws. People not only worshipped in the heretical high places, but also worshipped in every high hill, and under every green tree, following every pagan practise. Ahaz even sacrificed his son to Moloch (Melech). The hold of Yahwism was being weakened, even though much of the worship was

probably syncretistic. It was not difficult to align Baal (lord) with YHWH, to YHWHs detriment.

Meanwhile the covenant law was losing its hold, morals were deteriorating, and the wealthy were beginning to misuse their situations to the detriment of the poor, while justice itself was becoming corrupted. The moral state of Judah was thus in jeopardy. The priests were also becoming corrupted, and prophets were using their positions in order to prophesy good things in return for the appropriate bribe. So religious life and standards were also rapidly deteriorating. These were situations that Micah came to address.

When Hezekiah came to the throne he began a religious reformation. Yahwism once again came into the ascendancy, while the teaching of Isaiah, supported by Micah, was raising hopes of the coming of the future Davidic king (the Messiah). Widespread idolatrous practises were stamped down on, and no doubt the moral situation improved. Even the more orthodox but heretical high places, which had been in place since the death of Solomon, were eventually removed, and the Temple purified. Attempts were also made to encourage those who remained in northern Israel to join in worshipping YHWH (2 Chronicles 30:1-12). But nothing could be done for the time being about the Assyrian gods safely ensconced in the Temple. To have removed them would have been an act of rebellion against Assyria.

So for a while Hezekiah remained submissive to Assyria, but when Assyrian attention was taken up elsewhere, he appears from Assyrian records to have considered joining in an alliance which was being fostered by the Philistines, with encouragement from Egypt. This was in the early years of his reign. Fortunately for Judahs sake this did not for some reason come into fruition and they therefore escaped the wrath of Sargon II which was meted out on Philistia around 811 BC.

But on the death of Sargon II in 705 BC it was only a matter of time before Hezekiah withheld tribute. In alliance with the Philistines and encouraged by Egypt, their hope was probably that the new king would be too busy establishing himself to bother about far flung tributaries, especially in view of the might of the new Egypt. o doubt at this stage the idolatrous images were also removed from the Temple. But the new king of Assyria, Sennacherib, arrived in order to stamp out the rebellion and Hezekiah appears eventually to have submitted paying heavy tribute (2 Kings 18:14-16). The result was that many Judeans would meanwhile have been taken into exile.

However, under circumstances that we do not know, it may even have been after a number of years, Sennacherib was dissatisfied with the situation and determined to deal with Hezekiah once and for all. He slowly subjugated the cities of Judah (forty six cities of Judah I besieged and took) and that included Lachish, Judahs second city. Pictures of the capture of Lachish have been found on Assyrian inscriptions, and during this period many Judeans would again have been carried off into exile. It was standard Assyrian practise. But while some Assyrian troops do appear to have hemmed in Jerusalem something happened which prevented its capture, and

Jerusalem was never taken, as in fact Isaiah had promised. It seemed like a miracle. At this stage an indecisive battle with Egyptian forces, together with what is described as the remarkable destruction of Assyrian soldiers by the angel of YHWH (2 Kings 19:35), and urgent news from Assyria (2 Kings 19:7), caused Sennacherib to return home to Assyria. Hezekiah died before later repercussions could follow.

This is the brief background to the days of Jotham Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

The Book of Micah may be seen as dividing up into three main sections:

1) Judgments on Jerusalem and Samaria (chapters 1-3).2) The Hope That Lies Ahead (chapters 4-5).3) Continuing Warnings of Judgment and Hope (chapters 6-7).

1 The word of the LORD that came to Micah of Moresheth during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah--the vision he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

BARES. "The word of the Lord that came to Micah ... which he saw - No two of the prophets authenticate their prophecy in exactly the same way. They, one and all, have the same simple statement to make, that this which they say is from God, and through them. A later hand, had it added the titles, would have formed all upon one model. The title was an essential part of the prophetic book, as indicating to the people afterward, that it was not written after the event. It was a witness, not to the prophet whose name it bears, but to God. The prophet bare witness to God, that what he delivered came from Him. The event bare witness to the prophet, that he said this truly, in that he knew what God alone could know - futurity. Micah blends in one the facts, that he related in words given him by God, what he had seen spread before him in prophetic vision. His prophecy was, in one, the word of the Lord which came to him, and a sight which he saw.

Micah omits all mention of his father. His great predecessor was known as Micaiah son of Imlah. Micah, a villager, would be known only by the name of his native village. So Nahum names himself the Elkoshite; Jonah is related to be a native of Gath-hepher; Elijah, the Tishbite, a sojourner in the despised Gilead 1Ki_17:1; Elisha, of Abelmeholah; Jeremiah, of Anathoth; forerunners of Him, and taught by His Spirit who

willed to be born at Bethlehem, and, since this, although too little to be counted among the thousands of Judah, was yet a royal city and was to be the birthplace of the Christ, was known only as Jesus of Nazareth, the Nazarene. No prophet speaks of himself, or is spoken of, as born at Jerusalem, the holy city. They speak of themselves with titles of lowliness, not of greatness.

Micah dates his prophetic office from kings of Judah only, as the only kings of the line appointed by God. Kings of Israel are mentioned in addition, only by prophets of Israel. He names Samaria first, because, its iniquity being most nearly full, its punishment was the nearest.

CLARKE, "The word of the Lord that came to Micah the Morasthite - For all authentic particulars relative to this prophet, see the introduction.

In the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah - These three kings reigned about threescore years; and Micah is supposed to have prophesied about forty or fifty years; but no more of his prophecies have reached posterity than what are contained in this book, nor is there any evidence that any more was written. His time appears to have been spent chiefly in preaching and exhorting; and he was directed to write those parts only that were calculated to profit succeeding generations.

GILL, "The word of the Lord that came to Micah the Morasthite,.... So called, either from Mareshah, mentioned Mic_1:15; and was a city in the tribe of Judah, Jos_15:44; as the Targum, Jarchi, Kimchi, and Zacutus (i); or rather from Moresheth, from which Moreshethgath, Mic_1:14; is distinguished; which Jerom (k) says was in his time a small village in the land of Palestine, near Eleutheropolis. Some think these two cities to be one and the same; but they appear to be different from the account of Jerom (l)elsewhere. The Arabic version reads it, Micah the son of Morathi; so Cyril, in his commentary on this place, mentions it as the sense of some, that Morathi was the father of the prophet; which can by no means be assented to:

in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah; by which it appears that he was contemporary with Isaiah, Hoses, and Amos, though they began to prophesy somewhat sooner than he, even in the days of Uzziah; very probably he conversed with these prophets, especially Isaiah, with whom he agrees in many things; his style is like his, and sometimes uses the same phrases: he, being of the tribe of Judah, only mentions the kings of that nation most known to him; though he prophesied against Israel, and in the days of Zachariah, Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah, Pekah, and Hoshea:

which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem; in the vision of prophecy; Samaria was the metropolis of the ten tribes of Israel, and is put for them all; as Jerusalem was of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and is put for them Samaria is mentioned first, because it was the head of the greatest body of people; and as it was the first in transgression, it was the first in punishment.

HERY, "Here is, I. A general account of this prophet and his prophecy, Mic_1:1. This is prefixed for the satisfaction of all that read and hear the prophecy of this book, who will give the more credit to it when they know the author and his authority. 1. The prophecy is the word of the Lord; it is a divine revelation. Note, What is written in the

Bible, and what is preached by the ministers of Christ according to what is written there, must be heard and received, not as the word of dying men, which we may be judges of, but as the word of the living God, which we must be judged by, for so it is. This word of the Lord came to the prophet, came plainly, came powerfully, came in a preventing way, and he saw it, saw the vision in which it was conveyed to him, saw the things themselves which he foretold, with as much clearness and certainty as if they had been already accomplished. 2. The prophet is Micah the Morasthite; his name Micah is a contraction of Micaiah, the name of a prophet some ages before (in Ahab's time, 1Ki_22:8); his surname, the Morasthite, signifies that he was born, or lived, at Moresheth, which is mentioned here (Mic_1:14), or Mareshah, which is mentioned Mic_1:15, and Jos_15:44. The place of his abode is mentioned, that any one might enquire in that place, at that time, and might find there was, or had been, such a one there, who was generally reputed to be a prophet. 3. The date of his prophecy is in the reigns of three kings of Judah - Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Ahaz was one of the worst of Judah's kings, and Hezekiah one of the best; such variety of times pass over God's ministers, times that frown and times that smile, to each of which they must study to accommodate themselves, and to arm themselves against the temptations of both. The promises and threatenings of this book are interwoven, by which it appears that even in the wicked reign he preached comfort, and said to the righteous then that it should be well with them; and that in the pious reign he preached conviction, and said to the wicked then that it should be ill with them; for, however the times change, the word of the Lord is still the same. 4. The parties concerned in this prophecy; it is concerning Samaria and Jerusalem, the head cities of the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah, under the influence of which the kingdoms themselves were. Though the ten tribes have deserted the houses both of David and Aaron, yet God is pleased to send prophets to them.

JAMISO, "Mic_1:1-16. Gods wrath against Samaria and Judah; The former is to be overthrown; Such judgments in prospect call for mourning.

K&D 1-4, "The heading in Mic_1:1 has been explained in the introduction. Mic_1:2-4form the introduction to the prophet's address. Mic_1:2. Hear, all ye nations: observe, O earth, and that which fills it: and let the Lord Jehovah be a witness against you, the Lord out of His holy palace.Mic_1:3. For, behold, Jehovah cometh forth from His place, and cometh down, and marcheth over the high places of the earth.Mic_1:4. And the mountains will melt under Him, and the valleys split, like wax before the fire, like water poured out upon a slope. The introductory words, Hear, ye nations all, are taken by Micah from his earlier namesake the son of Imlah (1Ki_22:28). As the latter, in his attack upon the false prophets, called all nations as witnesses to confirm the truth of his prophecy, so does Micah the Morashite commence his prophetic testimony with the same appeal, so as to announce his labours at the very outset as a continuation of the activity of his predecessor who had been so zealous for the Lord. As the son of Imlah had to contend against the false prophets as seducers of the nation, so has also the Morashtite (compare Mic_2:6, Mic_2:11; Mic_3:5, Mic_3:11); and as the former had to announce to both kingdoms the judgment that would come upon them on account of their sins, so has also the latter; and he does it by frequently referring to the prophecy of the elder Micah, not only by designating the false prophets as those who walk after the

rch and lie, sheqer (Mic_2:11), which recals to mind the rchsheqer of the prophets of Ahab (1Ki_22:22-23), but also in his use of the figures of the horn of iron in Mic_4:13

(compare the horns of iron of the false prophet Zedekiah in 1Ki_22:11), and of the

smiting upon the cheek in Mic_5:1 (compare 1Ki_22:14). Ammmkullm does not mean

all the tribes of Israel; still less does it mean warlike nations. Ammm never has the second meaning, and the first it has only in the primitive language of the Pentateuch.

But here both these meanings are precluded by the parallel ; for this expression invariably signifies the whole earth, with that which fills it, except in such a case as Jer_

8:16, where 'erets is restricted to the land of Israel by the preceding h'rets, or Eze_

12:19, where it is so restricted by the suffix 'artsh. The appeal to the earth and its fulness is similar to the appeals to the heaven and the earth in Isa_1:2 and Deu_32:1. All nations, yea the whole earth, and all creatures upon it, are to hear, because the judgment which the prophet has to announce to Israel affects the whole earth (Mic_1:3, Mic_1:4), the judgment upon Israel being connected with the judgment upon all nations, or forming a portion of that judgment. In the second clause of the verse, the Lord Jehovah be witness against you, it is doubtful who is addressed in the expression against you. The words cannot well be addressed to all nations and to the earth, because the Lord only rises up as a witness against the man who has despised His word and transgressed His commandments. For being a witness is not equivalent to witnessing or giving testimony by words, - say, for example, by the admonitory and corrective address of the prophet which follows, as C. B. Michaelis supposes, - but refers to the practical testimony given by the Lord in the judgment (Mic_1:3 ff), as in Mal_3:5 and Jer_42:5. Now, although the Lord is described as the Judge of the world in Mic_1:3 and Mic_1:4, yet, according to Mic_1:5., He only comes to execute judgment upon Israel. Consequently we must refer the words to you to Israel, or rather to the capitals Samaria and Jerusalem mentioned in Mic_1:1, just as in Nah_1:8 the suffix simply refers to the Nineveh mentioned in the heading, to which there has been no further allusion in Nah_1:2-7. This view is also favoured by the fact that Micah summons all nations to hear his word, in the same sense as his earlier namesake in 1Ki_22:28. What the prophet announces in word, the Lord will confirm by deed, - namely, by executing the predicted judgment, - and indeed the Lord out of His holy temple, i.e., the heaven where He is enthroned (Psa_11:4); for (1Ki_22:3) the Lord will rise up from thence, and striding over the high places of the earth, i.e., as unbounded Ruler of the world (cf. Amo_4:13and Deu_32:13), will come down in fire, so that the mountains melt before Him, that is to say, as Judge of the world. The description of this theophany is founded upon the idea of a terrible storm and earthquake, as in Psa_18:8. The mountains melt (Jdg_5:4 and Psa_68:9) with the streams of water, which discharge themselves from heaven (Jdg_5:4), and the valleys split with the deep channels cut out by the torrents of water. The similes, like wax, etc. (as in Psa_68:3), and like water, etc., are intended to express the complete dissolution of mountains and valleys. The actual facts answering to this description are the destructive influences exerted upon nature by great national judgments.

CALVI, "This inscription, in the first place, shows the time in which Micah lived, and during which God employed his labors. And this deserves to be noticed: for at this day his sermons would be useless, or at least frigid, except his time were known to us, and we be thereby enabled to compare what is alike and what is different in the men of his age, and in those of our own: for when we understand that Micah

condemned this or that vice, as we may also learn from the other Prophets and from sacred history, we are able to apply more easily to ourselves what he then said, inasmuch as we can view our own life as it were in a mirror. This is the reason why the Prophets are wont to mention the time in which they executed their office.

But how long Micah followed the course of his vocation we cannot with certainty determine. It is, however, probable that he discharged his office as a Prophet for thirty years: it may be that he exceeded forty years; for he names here three kings, the first of whom, that is Jotham, reigned sixteen years; and he was followed by Ahab, who also reigned as many years. If then Micah was called at the beginning of the first reign, he must have prophesied for thirty-two years, the time of the two kings. Then the reign of Hezekiah followed, which continued to the twenty-ninth year: and it may be, that the Prophet served God to the death, or even beyond the death, of Hezekiah. (59) We hence see that the number of his years cannot with certainty be known; though it be sufficiently evident that he taught not for a few years, but that he so discharged his office, that for thirty years he was not wearied, but constantly persevered in executing the command of God.

I have said that he was contemporary with Isaiah: but as Isaiah began his office under Uzziah, we conclude that he was older. Why then was Micah joined to him? That the Lord might thus break down the stubbornness of the people. It was indeed enough that one man was sent by God to bear witness to the truth; but it pleased God that a testimony should be borne by the mouth of two, and that holy Isaiah should be assisted by this friend and, as it were, his colleague. And we shall hereafter find that they adopted the very same words; but there was no emulation between them, so that one accused the other of theft, when he repeated what had been said. othing was more gratifying to each of them than to receive a testimony from his colleague; and what was committed to them by God they declared not only in the same sense and meaning, but also in the same words, and, as it were, with one mouth.

Of the expression, that the word was sent to him, we have elsewhere reminded you, that it ought not to be understood of private teaching, as when the word of God is addressed to individuals; but the word was given to Micah, that he might be Gods ambassador to us. It means then that he came furnished with commands, as one sustaining the person of God himself; for he brought nothing of his own, but what the Lord commanded him to proclaim. But as I have elsewhere enlarged on this subject, I now only touch on it briefly.

This vision, he says, was given him against two cities Samaria and Jerusalem (60) It is certain that the Prophet was specifically sent to the Jews; and Maresah, from which he arose, as it appears from the inscription, was in the tribe of Judah: for Morasthite was an appellative, derived from the place Maresah. (61) But it may be asked, why does he say that visions had been given him against Samaria? We have said elsewhere, that though Hosea was specifically and in a peculiar manner destined for the kingdom of Israel, he yet by the way mingled sometimes those things which referred to the tribe or kingdom of Judah: and such was also the case

with our Prophet; he had a regard chiefly to his own kindred, for he knew that he was appointed for them; but, at the same time, he overlooked not wholly the other part of the people; for the kingdom of Israel was not so divided from the tribe of Judah that no connection remained: for God was unwilling that his covenant should be abolished by their defection from the kingdom of David. We hence see, that though Micah spent chiefly his labors in behalf of the Jews, he yet did not overlook or entirely neglect the Israelites.

But the title must be restricted to one part of the book; for threatenings only form the discourse here. But we shall find that promises, full of joy, are also introduced. The inscription then does not include all the contents of the book; but as his purpose was to begin with threatenings, and to terrify the Jews by setting before them the punishment that was at hand, this inscription was designedly given. There is, at the same time, no doubt but that the Prophet was ill received by the Jews on this account; for they deemed it a great indignity, and by no means to be endured, to be tied up in the same bundle with the Israelites; for Samaria was an abomination to the kingdom of Judah; and yet the Prophet here makes no difference between Samaria and Jerusalem. This was then an exasperating sentence: but we see how boldly the Prophet performs the office committed to him; for he regarded not what would be agreeable to men, nor endeavored to draw them by smooth things: though his message was disliked, he yet proclaimed it, for he was so commanded, nor could he shake off the yoke of his vocation. Let us now proceed

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

COFFMA, "This and the following chapter (2) which are grouped together in the sacred text have the record of the word of the Lord through Micah; and, since this section has a prophecy of the approaching destruction of Samaria, that part of it must surely have originated in the times of Jotham king of Judah, that doubtless being the reason for Micah's inclusion of that king in the superscription.

Micah 1:1

"The word of Jehovah that came to Micah the Morashtite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem."

The battle of Micah begins with this verse. It is clearly the imprimature of the Holy Spirit, validating the entire book of Micah as the word of the Lord. Concerning this author, and other inspired writers of the Old Testament, an apostle of Jesus Christ

declared that "Holy men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:21), and that the prophets themselves, far from merely commenting upon current conditions as they discerned and interpreted them, were delivering the true words of God to men, "which the Spirit of God that was in them did testify" (1 Peter 1:11). These comments by the apostle Peter are more valuable in understanding Micah than a hundred of the current commentaries that proceed to deny every other word of it as having any authenticity or significance whatever. This verse 1, like all the rest of the book, is written by Micah; without this verse, nothing is left. Although, to be sure, there are other examples of "thus saith the Lord" in the prophecy, this verse identifies (1) the author of its contents, God Himself, (2) the prophet through whom the message was delivered, and (3) the names of the kings of Judah during whose reigns the message was delivered "concerning Samaria and Jerusalem." In this verse, the Holy Bible says that the prophecy is "The word of the Lord." It is inconceivable that Micah could have delivered this great prophecy without this validating superscription, in exactly the same manner as that followed by many other prophets of the sacred scriptures. Micah, therefore, included it; he wrote it; he made it a part of his book; he testified that the prophecies in it must be dated as early as the days of Jotham, before the fulfillment of his prophecies.

Ever since the Garden of Eden, however, Satan has loved to contradict what God says; and the evil one has not hesitated to contradict what God says in this verse. He says that:

"This superscription is not the prophet's words.[1]; Micah 1:2 was inserted by the redactor.[2] The second and third lines of Micah 1:5 are not the language of Micah.[3] "Thus saith the Lord," God's Word still comes to those who hear and obey the prophetic call.[4] (in other words, Micah had no more insight into God's will than obedient Christians today!). Micah 1:1 was prefixed to Micah by a compiler (long after the book was written). etc., etc."[5]Just as God, of old, spake through men; so does Satan; and therefore we have accurately ascribed the above words to their true source. It is the old, old lie, "Ye shall not surely die," as delivered by our Enemy in the Paradise of Eden. This does not question the honesty or the sincerity of the evil one's spokesmen; but the very fact of God's Word being contradicted identifies the source of the contradiction by those who may, or may not, be deceived. We have hit this problem rather firmly here in the first verse, for it is our intention to waste very little time with it in the following notes. Before passing, however, it is a joy to recognize that there are many of the greatest scholars who have not hesitated to honor all of Micah, including this superscription as indeed the word of Jehovah. "This verse introduces the whole prophecy as having come from Jehovah."[6] "Micah began prophesying before the destruction of Samaria (Micah 1:5)."[7] "The threat of the destruction of Samaria was evidently uttered before 722 B.C."[8] We appreciate this especially from McKeating, because he went further and gave the reason why "some scholars" have felt compelled to tamper with this verse. The problem is predictive prophecy which they do not believe is possible! "They are therefore obliged either to translate the words differently, or to see the words as a prophecy after the event, inserted at a later date."[9] The faithful student should, therefore, always remember that

contradictions of the sacred prophecies are merely testimonials to the unbelief of their advocates, and that the most ridiculous and unscientific "reasons" imaginable are pressed into service to bolster their infidelity. The great giants of Biblical exegesis throughout the ages were unanimous (in all practical sense) in their acceptance of the total of this book as inspired of God. Rampant unbelief in the last century or so is not founded either upon intelligence, or scientific evidence, but merely upon the subjective speculations and imaginations of men who are determined, before they ever begin their investigations, not to believe. See more on this in the introduction. In recent times, many of the ablest scholars such as Deane, Keil, D. Clark, and many others, firmly hold to convictions that in this prophecy we are dealing with the Word of God. We may conclude this study of the superscription with Deane's flat statement: There really is no sufficient reason for doubting the accuracy of the superscription."

ELLICOTT, "Verse 1(1) Micah the Morasthite.Unlike Joel, who identifies himself by his fathers name, Micah introduces his personality with reference to his native village, Moresheth-gath, which was situated in the lowland district of Judah. The namea shortened form of Micaiah, meaning Who is like Jehovahwas not an uncommon one among the Jews, but it was chiefly famous in times prior to the prophet, through Micaiah, the son of Imlah, who, about 150 years previously, had withstood Ahab and his false prophets.

Samaria and Jerusalem.The younger capital is placed first because it was the first to fall through the greater sinfulness of the northern kingdom. The chief cities are mentioned as representatives of the wickedness of the respective nations.

COSTABLE, "Verse 1I. HEADIG1:1

Prophetic revelation from Yahweh came to Micah concerning Samaria (the

orthern Kingdom) and Jerusalem (the Southern Kingdom). These capital cities, by synecdoche, represent their respective nations and the people in them. These capital cities also, by metonymy, suggest the leaders of the nations, which Micah targeted for special responsibility. Micah "saw" these revelations (rather than "heard" them) because the Lord revealed them to him in visions and or dreams ( umbers 12:6; cf. Isaiah 1:1; Obadiah 1:1; ahum 1:1). Micah ("Who is like Yahweh?") was a resident of Moresheth-gath ( Micah 1:14), which was a Judean town in the Shephelah (foothills) of Judah west and a bit south of Jerusalem. The mention of Micah"s hometown rather than his father"s name suggests that he had come to Jerusalem and had become known there as the Micah from Moresheth. [ote: Allen, p265] ormally a man who was a longtime resident of a town was described as the son of so and so rather than as being from a particular place. Micah received and delivered his prophetic messages during the reigns of three of the kings of his nation: Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. This dates his ministry between750,686 B.C. [ote: See my comments on the writer and date in the Introduction section above.] Similar full headings (superscriptions) begin the books of Isaiah ,, Hosea ,, Amos ,

and Zephaniah.

EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE COMMETARY

Verses 1-16MICAH THE MORASTHITE

Micah 1:1-16

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

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

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

Moresheth was, therefore, a place in the Shephelah, or range of low hills which lie between the hill country of Judah and the Philistine plain. It is the opposite exposure from the wilderness of Tekoa, some seventeen miles away across the watershed. As the home of Amos is bare and desert, so the home of Micah is fair and fertile. The irregular chalk hills are separated by broad glens, in which the soil is alluvial and red, with room for cornfields on either side of the perennial or almost perennial streams. The olive groves on the braes are finer than either those of the plain below or of the Judean tableland above. There is herbage for cattle. Bees murmur everywhere, larks are singing, and although today you may wander in the maze of hills for hours without meeting a man or seeing a house, you are never out of sight of the traces of ancient habitation, and seldom beyond sound of the human

voice-shepherds and ploughmen calling to their flocks and to each other across the glens. There are none of the conditions or of the occasions of a large town. But, like the south of England, the country is one of villages and homesteads, breeding good yeomen-men satisfied and in love with their soil, yet borderers with a far outlook and a keen vigilance and sensibility. The Shephelah is sufficiently detached from the capital and body of the land to beget in her sons an independence of mind and feeling, but so much upon the edge of the open world as to endue them at the same time with that sense of the responsibilities of warfare, which the national statesmen, aloof and at ease in Zion, could not possibly have shared.

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

The valley-mouth near which Moresheth stands has always formed the southwestern gateway of Judea, the Philistine or Egyptian gate, as it might be called, with its outpost at Lachish, twelve miles across the plain. Roads converge upon this valley-mouth from all points of the compass. Beit-Jibrin, which lies in it, is midway between Jerusalem and Gaza, about twenty-five miles from either, nineteen miles from Bethlehem, and thirteen from Hebron. Visit the place at any point of the long history of Palestine, and you find it either full of passengers or a center of campaign. Asa defeated the Ethiopians here. The Maccabees and John Hyrcanus contested Mareshah, two miles off, with the Idumeans. Gabinius fortified Mare-shah. Vespasian and Saladin both deemed the occupation of the valley necessary before they marched upon Jerusalem. Septimius Severus made Beit-Jibrin the capital of the Shephelah, and laid out military roads, whose pavements still radiate from it in all directions. The Onomasticon measures distances in the Shephelah from Beit-Jibrin. Most of the early pilgrims from Jerusalem by Gaza to Sinai or Egypt passed through it, and it was a center of Crusading operations, whether against Egypt during the Latin kingdom or against Jerusalem during the Third Crusade. ot different was the place in the time of Micah. Micah must have seen pass by his door the frequent embassies which Isaiah tells us went down to Egypt from Hezekiahs court, and seen return those Egyptian subsidies in which a foolish people put their trust instead of in their God.

In touch, then, with the capital, feeling every throb of its folly and its panic, but standing on that border which must, as he believed, bear the brunt of the invasion that its crimes were attracting, Micah lifted up his voice. They were days of great excitement. The words of Amos and Hosea had been fulfilled upon orthern Israel. Should Judah escape, whose injustice and impurity were as flagrant as her sisters? It were vain to think so. The Assyrians had come up to her northern border. Isaiah

was expecting their assault upon Mount Zion. The Lords Controversy was not closed. Micah will summon the whole earth to hear the old indictment and the still unexhausted sentence.

The prophet speaks:-

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

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

God speaks:-

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

The prophet speaks:-

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

Within the capital itself Isaiah was also recording the extension of the Assyrian invasion to its walls, but in a different temper. [Isaiah 10:28] He was full of the exulting assurance that, although at the very gate, the Assyrian could not harm the city of Jehovah, but must fall when he lifted his impious hand against it. Micah has no such hope: he is overwhelmed with the thought of Jerusalems danger. Provincial though he be, and full of wrath at the danger into which the politicians of Jerusalem had dragged the whole country, he profoundly mourns the peril of the capital, "the gate of my people," as he fondly calls her. Therefore we must not exaggerate the frequently drawn contrast between Isaiah and himself. To Micah also Jerusalem was dear, and his subsequent prediction of her overthrow [Micah 3:12] ought to be read with the accent of this previous mourning for her peril. evertheless his heart clings most to his own home, and while Isaiah pictures the Assyrian entering Judah from the north by Migron, Michmash, and ob, Micah anticipates invasion by the opposite gateway of the land, at the door of his own village. His elegy sweeps across the landscape so dear to him. This obscure province was even more than Jerusalem his world, the world of his heart. It gives us a living interest in the man that the fate of these small villages, many of them vanished, should excite in him more passion

than the fortunes of Zion herself. In such passion we can incarnate his spirit. Micah is no longer a book, or an oration, but flesh and blood upon a home and a countryside of his own. We see him on his housetop pouring forth his words before the hills and the far-stretching heathen land. In the name of every village within sight he reads a symbol of the curse that is coming upon his country, and of the sins that have earned the curse. So some of the greatest poets have caught their music from the nameless brooklets of their boyhoods fields; and many a prophet has learned to read the tragedy of man and Gods verdict upon sin in his experience of village life. But there was more than feeling in Micahs choice of his own country as the scene of the Assyrian invasion. He had better reasons for his fears than Isaiah, who imagined the approach of the Assyrian from the north. For it is remarkable how invaders of Judea, from Sennacherib to Vespasian and from Vespasian to Saladin and Richard, have shunned the northern access to Jerusalem and endeavored to reach her by the very gateway at which Micah stood mourning. He had, too, this greater motive for his fear, that Sargon; as we have seen, was actually in the neighborhood, marching to the defeat of Judahs chosen patron, Egypt. Was it not probable that, when the latter was overthrown, Sargon would turn back upon Judah by Lachish and Mareshah? If we keep this in mind we shall appreciate, not only the fond anxiety, but the political foresight that inspires the following passage, which is to our Western taste so strangely cast in a series of plays upon place-names. The disappearance of many of these names, and our ignorance of the transactions to which the verses allude, often render both the text and the meaning very uncertain. Micah begins with the well-known play upon the name of Garb; the Acco which he couples with it is either the Phoenician port to the north of Carmel, the modern Acre, or some Philistine town, unknown to us, but in any case the line forms with the previous one an intelligible couplet: "Tell it not in Tell-town; Weep not in Weep-town." The following Beth-le-Aphrah, "House of Dust," must be taken with them, for in the phrase "roll thyself" there is a play upon the name Philistine. So, too, Shaphir, or Beauty, the modern Suafir, lay on the Philistine Region. Saanan and Bethesel and Maroth are unknown; but if Micah, as is probable, begins his list far away on the western horizon and comes gradually inland, they also are to be sought for on the maritime plain. Then he draws nearer by Lachish, on the first hills, and in the leading pass towards Judah, to Moresheth-Gath, Achzib, Mareshah, and Adullam, which all lie within Israels territory and about the prophets own home. We understand the allusion, at least, to Lachish in Micah 1:13. As the last Judean outpost towards Egypt, and on a main road thither, Lachish would receive the Egyptian subsidies of horses and chariots, in which the politicians put their trust instead of in Jehovah. Therefore she "was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion." And if we can trust the text of Micah 1:14, Lachish would pass on the Egyptian ambassadors to Moresheth-Gath, the next stage of their approach to Jerusalem. But this is uncertain. With Moresheth-Gath is coupled Ach-zib, a town at some distance from Jeromes site for the former, to the neighborhood of which, Mareshah, we are brought back again in Micah 1:15. Adullam, with which the list closes, lies some eight or ten miles to the northeast of Mareshah.

The prophet speaks:-

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

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

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

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

PARKER, "Verses 1-16Sin and Judgment

Micah 1 , Micah 2

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

otice that these prophets seldom, if ever, address the poor, the outcast, and the neglected, as the criminals of society. We have nourished ourselves into the pedantry of supposing that if a man has a bad coat he has of necessity a bad character. The Bible never proceeds along these lines. Micah specifies the objects of his prophecy with great definiteness: "Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel." This is in the tone of Jesus Christ. He did not gather around him the halt, the lame, the blind, the poor, the neglected, the homeless, and say, You are the curse of society; you are the criminal classes. I am not aware that any such incident or observation can be found in the whole narrative of the life of Jesus Christ upon the earth. But Jesus Christ never let the respectability of his age alone;

he never gave it one moment"s rest. He differs from all modern teachers in that he finds the wickedness of society in its high places. He would almost appear to proceed upon the doctrine that the poor cannot do wickedly as compared with the wickedness that can be done by the rich. What stone can a little child throw as compared with the power of a full-grown man? What wickedness can a little child do as compared with the deep-laid, subtly-elaborated villainy of a man who has had much schooling? It is worth while to dwell upon this point, because it strikes at many a sophismnotably at the sophism which we have often endeavoured to expose that men are made by circumstances; that if men were wealthy they would pray; if men had an abundance they would be reverent; if men knew not the pangs of hunger they would be lost in a holy absorption, they would be lost in the praise of God. There can be no greater lie. You have done more evil in the world since you were rich than you ever did when you were poor. When you were poor you sometimes did almost nobly; since you have become encased in luxury you have thought it fashionable and seasonable to doubt, and almost polite to sneer.

All the judgments of the Bible are pronounced upon the educated classes. or does the judgment of God rest upon education only; it proceeds to cover the whole religiousness of the epoch. It is the religion that is irreligious; it is the wine of piety that has soured into the vinegar of impiousness. Yet we gather our holy skirts, and speak about "the criminal classes." They are only criminal in the sense in which we condemn them, in the degree in which they have been fools enough to be discovered. Vulgarity has been their ruin; they have come into notoriety, not because of their sin, but because of their clumsiness: if they had served the devil with greater craft they might have spoken of others as the criminal classes. If the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! If education has been hired to do bad work, how much bad work it can do! If religion has been bribed into subservience to the black banner of the devil, with what loyalty it can serve that captain! This would give us quite a different estimate of society; this would destroy the whole respectability of the race. Jesus Christ found the throne occupied by the wrong people, and all the magistracies of his time distributed into wrong hands; the head of the house and the prince, the Judges , the king, the magistrate, the rulerthese were wrong. ever do we find Jesus surrounded by the East-enders of his day, receiving his condemnation because their poverty is the sign of wickedness. Education may have ruined society. Intelligence may be turned into an instrument of mischief. Is education then wrong? The question itself is frivolous, and ought not to be seriously answered. Is intelligence to be contemned? The same remark applies to that foolish inquiry. We are speaking of perverted education, misused intelligence; of education and intelligence without moral enthusiasm, and moral control, and spiritual purpose, and sanctified motive. Such education can do infinitely more mischief than can be done by blank ignorance. Education knows where the keys are; education knows where the grindstone is on which it can whet its weapons; intelligence means craft, cunning, duplicity, ingenuity in the art of concealment. Wealth can do greater mischief than poverty. This alters the whole complexion of missions and evangelistic agencies and Church arrangements; this reverses the whole picture as seen from the orthodox standpoint. Send your missionaries to the rich! Send your evangelists to pray at the doors of the wealthy,

the pampered, the self-indulgent, and the self-damned! Do not make the poor man"s poverty a plea for foisting your religion upon him. Lend your tracts to the magistrates, the Judges , the princes of the land; they need them.

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

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

Yet the prophet will not have all this evil and shame unduly proclaimed. He is not so far lost to patriotism and to tribal relations as to wish the evil news to be scattered broadcast, that the enemy may revel in it. So he says, "Declare ye it not at Gath." This has become a proverb"Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph." Do not foolishly trumpet forth all the evil that your friends have done. Yet men love to do this. Let a piece of good news be forthcoming, and it will have to make its own way in the world; it must needs crawl from door to

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

In the days of Micah there was a species of evil which is not yet extinct. All the evil was not done in public. The prophet therefore proceeds: "Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! When the morning is light they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand." The condemnation is upon deliberate evil. The evildoers are here in their beds; they are considering at leisure what can be done next. How can it be best attempted, how can it be elaborated to the greatest effect? They slumber over it; having nourished their brain into a higher degree of energy they revert to the subject: How can this policy be best carried out? This is deliberate sin, rolling it under the tongue as a sweet morsel, reverting to it, recalling it, asking for another vision of it. The soul, what a dungeon! The mind, what an

abyss of darkness! Soliloquy, how silent! There is sudden evil, and that must always be carefully distinguished from deliberate wickedness. There are bursts of passion, gusts of vehement will, stress brought to bear without notice upon the citadel of the soul. "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye who are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness. Consider yourselves, lest ye also be tempted." Distinguish between those who are carried away with a whirlwind, and those who mount the whirlwind deliberately that they may ride forth in that glowing chariot. Hear the words of the fiery apostle: "On some have compassion." Micah is not dealing with this class of men, but with those who have made their bed the sanctuary of the devil; he is dealing with men who say, We will sleep upon this, we will turn it over; we will see what can be done; we will polish and be prepared against the day of assault; we will shut out the world and count our resources; we will settle the whole thing in the privacy of the chamber, and then when the morning light comes we will spring up as naturally as if nothing had been done by way of preparation, and then we will strike with our whole force.

Deliberate sin shall have deliberate judgment. This follows quickly in chapter Micah 2:3 : "Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, against this family do I devise an evil." What, are there two devisers? Read Micah 2:1, "Woe to them that devise iniquity"; Micah 2:3, "Thus saith the Lord... do I devise." That is the ghostly aspect of life. There is the tremendous danger. The foolish man locks himself up in the darkness of his own concealment, and lays his plot, and works out with elaborate patience his whole conspiracy against the kingdom of light and honour, truth and beauty; he says, one seeth me; I can do this, and none shall be the wiser for my doing it; I will spring forth in the fulness of my preparation when nobody is aware that I have been laying this train of powder. A man once talked thus: "Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years: take thine ease, take life quietly, enjoy thyself." And one said to him, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee." That was the uncalculated element; that was the detestable ghostliness that haunts us. Even when we are most rationalistic, when we are inebriated with our own philosophy, a sudden touch makes us white, and a whisper drives the blood thickly upon the heart. A man shall rise in all his self-consciousness of power and capacity and ability to do what he pleases, and the wise man shall say to him, Are you aware that you may drop down dead at any moment, such is the condition of your physical system? This factor the man had not taken into account. Always remember that whilst we are devising God also is devising. "He taketh the wise in their own craftiness." And let this reflection make life completer in its repose: "o weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper," if so be thy soul be wedded to honour, to duty, to reverence, and to the Cross of Christ. Though men conspire against thee, and have the pit already dug, and have examined it carefully by the concealed candle light, and though they should say, "ow it is in a state of readiness, now let the victim come,"whilst they are stepping back to make way for the victim they will fall into the pit which they have dug for others. The Lord sitteth in the heavens. He watches all. He brings us into great extremities. He shows us over what a precipice we might have fallen. Then he says, Go home and pray!

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

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

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

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

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

III. In style, Micah is rather dramatic, given to the use of imagery and figures of speech.otice the picture with which the prophecy opens. It represents God as rising in indignation at the sins of His people, and coming forth in wrath from His place on high like a great consuming fire, before which the mountains melt, and the

valleys are broken. Samaria is the first to feel the heat of Gods indignation, but the tide of judgment comes rolling down even to the gate of Jerusalem, and still onward, until Micah sees in vision one after the other of the towns in the neighbourhood of his own home-town given over to destruction.

Illustration

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

PETT, "Verses 1-7YHWH Declares His Verdict On Samaria and Jerusalem (Micah 1:1-7).

The chapter opens with a declaration of YHWHs sovereign power as Creator, and of His interest in the affairs of Judah and Israel, which results in a proclamation of His judgment on Samaria and Jerusalem..

Micah 1:2-3

Hear, you peoples, all of you.

Listen, O earth, and all that is in it.

And let the Lord YHWH be witness against you,

The Lord from his holy temple.

For, behold, YHWH comes forth out of his place,

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

Like Isaiah (see Isaiah 1:2), although with a different slant, Micah calls on the whole earth and its peoples to witness the fact that YHWH is about to act from His holy Temple in Heaven. He is about to come down and tread on the high places of the earth. He will present His witness against all peoples, and especially against His own people of Israel and Judah. Thus He is seen as sovereign over all.

PULPIT, "Micah 1:1

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

BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, "Verse 1-2Micah 1:1-2The Word of the Lord that came to Micah the MorasthiteDivine revelation

I.It is the word of the lord. What is a word?

1. A mind manifesting power. In his word a true man manifests himself, his thought, feeling, character. His word is important according to the measure of his faculties, experiences, attainments. Divine revelation manifests the mind of God, especially the moral characteristics of that mind--His rectitude, holiness, mercy, etc.2. A mind influencing power. Man uses his word to influence other minds, to bring other minds into sympathy with his own. Thus God uses His Word. He uses it to correct human errors, dispel human ignorance, remove human perversities, and turn human thought and sympathy into a course harmonious with His own mind.

II. It is made to individual men. It came to Micah, not to his con temporaries. Why certain men were chosen as the special recipients of Gods Word is a problem whose solution must be left for eternity.

III. It is for all mankind. God did not speak to any individual man specially that the communication might be kept to himself, but that he might communicate it to others. He makes one man the special recipient of truth that he may become the organ and promoter of it. Gods Word is for the world. (Homilist.)

Moresheth

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

2 Hear, O peoples, all of you, listen, O earth and all who are in it, that the Sovereign LORD may witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.

BARES. "Hear, all ye people - Literally, hear, ye peoples, all of them. Some 140, or 150 years had flowed by, since Micaiah, son of Imlah, had closed his prophecy in these words. And now they burst out anew. From age to age the word of God holds its

course, ever receiving new fulfillments, never dying out, until the end shall come. The signal fulfillment of the prophecy, to which the former Micalah had called attention in these words, was an earnest of the fulfillment of this present message of God.

Hearken, O earth, and all that therein is - The peoples or nations are never Judah and Israel only: the earth and the fullness thereof is the well-known title of the whole earth and all its inhabitants. Moses Deu_32:1, Asaph Psa_50:7, Isaiah Isa_1:2, call heaven and earth as witnesses against Gods people. Jeremiah, Jer_6:19 as Micah here, summons the nations and the earth. The contest between good and evil, sin and holiness, the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan, everwhere, but most chiefly where Gods Presence is nearest, is a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men 1Co_4:9. The nations are witnesses of God against His own people, so that these should not say, that it was for want of faithfulness or justice or power Exo_32:12; Num_14:16; Jos_7:8-9, but in His righteous judgment, that He cast off whom He had chosen. So shall the Day of Judgment reveal His righteousness Rom_2:5. Hearken, O earth. The lifeless earth Psa_114:7; Psa_97:5 trembles at the Presence of God, and so reproaches the dullness of man. By it he summons man to listen with great reverence to the Voice of God.

And let the Lord God be witness against you - Not in words, but in deeds ye shall know, that I speak not of myself but God in me, when, what I declare, He shall by His Presence fulfill. But the nations are appealed to, not merely because the judgments of God on Israel should be made known to them by the prophets. He had not yet spoken of Israel or Judah, whereas he had spoken to the nations; hear, ye peoples. It seems then most likely that here too he is speaking to them. Every judgment is an earnest, a forerunner, a part, of the final judgment and an example of its principles. It is but the last great link in the chain, which unites Gods dealings in time with eternity. Gods judgments on one imply a judgment on all. His judgments in time imply a Judgment beyond time. Each sinner feels in his own heart response to Gods visible judgments on another. Each sinful nation may read its own doom in the sentence on each other nation.

God judges each according to his own measure of light and grace, accepted or refused. The pagan shall be judged by the law written in their heart Rom_2:12-15; the Jew, by the law of Moses and the light of the prophets; Christians, by the law of Christ. The word, Christ saith, that I have spoken, the same shall judge him at the last Day Joh_12:48. God Himself foretold, that the pagan should know the ground of His judgments against His people. All nations shall say, wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land? What meaneth the heat of this great anger? Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers which He made with them, when He brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, ... Deu_29:24-25. But in that the pagan knew why God so punished His people, they came so far to know the mind of God; and God, who at no time left Himself without witness Act_14:17, bore fresh witness to them, and, so far us they neglected it, against them. A Jew, wherever he is seen throughout the world, is a witness to the world of Gods judgments against sin.

Dionysius: Christ, the faithful Witness, shall witness against those who do ill, for those who do well.

The Lord from His holy temple - Either that at Jerusalem, where God shewed and revealed Himself, or Heaven of which it was the image. As David says, The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lords throne is in heaven Psa_11:4; and contrasts His dwelling in heaven and His coming down upon earth. He bowed the heavens also and came down Psa_18:9; and Isaiah, in like words, Behold, the Lord cometh out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity Isa_26:21.

CLARKE, "Hear, all ye people - The very commencement of this prophecy supposes preceding exhortations and predictions.

Hearken, O earth - arets, here, should be translated land, the country of the Hebrews being only intended.

And let the Lord God be Witness - Let him who has sent me with this message be witness that I have delivered it faithfully; and be a witness against you, if you take not the warning.

The Lord from his holy temple - The place where he still remains as your King, and your Judge; and where you profess to pay your devotions. The temple was yet standing, for Jerusalem was not taken for many years after this; and these prophecies were delivered before the captivity of the ten tribes, as Micah appears to have been sent both to Israel and to Judah. See Mic_1:5-9, Mic_1:12, Mic_1:13.

GILL, "Hear, all ye people,.... Or, "the people, all of them" (m); not all the nations of the world, but the nations of Israel, so called from their several tribes; though some (n)think the rest of the inhabitants of the earth are meant: thee are the same words which are used by Micaiah the prophet in the times of Ahab, long before this time, from whom they might be borrowed, 1Ki_22:28. The phrase in the Hebrew language, as Aben Ezra observes, is very wonderful, and serves to strike the minds and excite the attention of men; it is like the words of a crier, in a court of judicature, calling for silence:

hearken, O earth, and all that therein is; or, "its fulness" (o); the land of Israel and Judah, the whole land of promise, and all the inhabitants of it; for to them are the following words directed:

and let the Lord God be witness against you; or, "in you" (p); the Word of the Lord, as the Targum; let him who is the omniscient God, and knows all hearts, thoughts, words, and actions, let him bear witness in your consciences, that what I am about to say is truth, and comes from him; is not my own word, but his; and if you disregard it, and repent not, let him be a witness against you, and for me, that I have prophesied in his name; that I have faithfully delivered his message, and warned you of your danger, and reproved you for your sins, and have kept back nothing I have been charged and entrusted with: and now, you are summoned into open court, and at the tribunal of the great God of heaven and earth; let him be a witness against you of the many sins you have been guilty of, and attend while the indictment is read, the charge exhibited, and the proof given by

the Lord from his holy temple, from heaven, the habitation of his holiness; whose voice speaking from thence should be hearkened to; who from thence beholds all the actions of men, and from whence his wrath is revealed against their sins, and he gives visible tokens of his displeasure; and especially when he seems to come forth from thence in some remarkable instances of his power and providence, as follows:

HERY, "A very solemn introduction to the following prophecy (Mic_1:2), in which, 1. The people are summoned to draw near and give their attendance, as upon a court of

judicature: Hear, all you people, Note, Where God has a mouth to speak we must have an ear to hear; we all must, for we are all concerned in what is delivered. Hear, you people (all of them, so the margin reads it), all you that are now within hearing, and all others that hear it at second hand. It is an unusual construction; but those words with which Micah begins his prophecy are the very same in the original with those wherewith Micaiah ended his, 1Ki_22:28. 2. The earth is called upon, with all that therein is, to hear what the prophet has to say: Hearken, O earth! The earth shall be made to shake under the stroke and weight of the judgments coming; sooner will the earth hear than this stupid senseless people; but God will be heard when he pleads. If the church, and those in it, will not hear, the earth, and those in it, shall, and shame them. 3. God himself is appealed to, and his omniscience, power, and justice, are vouched in testimony against this people: Let the Lord God be witness against you, a witness that you had fair warning given you, that your prophets did their duty faithfully as watchmen, but you would not take the warning; let the accomplishment of the prophecy be a witness against your contempt and disbelief of it, and prove, to your conviction and confusion, that it was the word of God, and no word of his shall fall to the ground. Note, God himself will be a witness, by the judgments of his hand, against those that would not receive his testimony in the judgments of his mouth. He will be a witness from his holy temple in heaven, when he comes down to execute judgment (Mic_1:3) against those that turned a deaf ear to his oracles, wherein he witnessed to them, out of his holy temple at Jerusalem.

JAMISO, "all that therein isHebrew, whatever fills it. Micaiah, son of Imlah, our prophets namesake, begins his prophecy similarly, Hearken, O people, every one of you. Micah designedly uses the same preface, implying that his ministrations are a continuation of his predecessors of the same name. Both probably had before their mind Moses similar attestation of heaven and earth in a like case (Deu_31:28; Deu_32:1; compare Isa_1:2).

God be witness against you namely, that none of you can say, when the time of your punishment shall come, that you were not forewarned. The punishment denounced is stated in Mic_1:3, etc.

from his holy temple that is, heaven (1Ki_8:30; Psa_11:4; Jon_2:7; compare Rom_1:18).

CALVI, "The Prophet here rises into an elevated style, being not content with a simple and calm manner of speaking. We hence may learn, that having previous