Micah
Micah 1
Chapter I · Vol. III, pp. 1452–1454
2 Micah showeth the wrath of God against Israel for idolatry. 10 A lamentation for them.
1 The worda of the LORD1 that came to bMicah the Morasthite cin the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw dconcerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
2 Hear, all ye people;2 hearken,e O earth, and all that therein is:3 and let the Lord GOD beg witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.
3 For; behold, hthe LORD cometh forth4 out of ihis place, and will come down, jand tread upon the khigh places of the earth.
4 And lthe mountains shall be molten5 under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place.6
5 Forn the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. oWhat is the transgression of Jacob? is it not Samaria? and what are the high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem?8
n La.5.16. Is.1.20; lix. Je.2.17,19; 4.18; 5.25;6.19.
o Ho.8.5. Je.6.6,7. 2 Ki.16.3,4,11,12. 2 Ch.28.2-4,24.
7 Is it not Samaria? Where the calf worship is set up, Ho.7.1;8.6.—C.
8 Are they not Jerusalem? Where in my very temple they have set up idolatry.—C.
6 Therefore pI will make Samaria as an heap of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard: and qI will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof.
7 Andr all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires thereof shall be burned9 with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate: for she sgathered it of the hire of an harlot, and tthey shall return to the hire of an harlot.
8 Therefore uI will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked:1 I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls.2
9 For vher wound is incurable;3 for xit is come unto Judah; he is come unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.
v Is.1.5,6,23. Am.2.5-16. Ho.13.16. 2 Ki.17.3-6.
3 Or, she is grievously sick of her wounds.
10 Declarey ye it not at Gath, weep ye not at all: in the house of Aphrah4 rollz thyself in the dust.
11 Passa ye away, thou inhabitant5 of 6Saphir, bhaving thy shame naked:7 the inhabitant of Zanaan8 came not forth in the mourning of Beth-ezel;9 he shall receive of you his 1standing.
12 For the inhabitant of Maroth cwaited carefully2 for good; but devil came down from the LORD unto the gate of Jerusalem.
13 Oe thou inhabitant of Lachish, gbind the chariot to the swift beast: she is the hbeginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion; for the transgressions of Israel were found in thee.
14 Thereforei shalt thou give presents to Moresheth-gath: jthe houses of Achzib4 shall be a lie to the kings of Israel.
15 Yet kwill I bring an heir unto thee, O inhabitant of lMareshah: 5he shall come unto Adullam the glory of Israel.6
k Is.5.25-30;10.5,6, 28-30;8.7,8;7.17. 2 Ki.17.4;18.14.
l Jos.15.44,35. 2 Ch.11.7. 1 Sa.22.1.
5 Or, the glory of Israel shall come to, &c.
6 The towns here enumerated, so far as they are known, were situated in the plain of Philistia. Lachish lay between Eleutheropolis and Gaza. Saphir was a few miles farther north; Mareshah stood on a hill about three miles south of Eleutheropolis; Adullam was among the mountains. These places were all familiar to Micah because near his birth-place.—P.
Notes
Ver. 1. Samaria and Jerusalem, the chief cities, denote the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah. 2-4. Hear, ye Israelites and Jews, nay, the nations around, and even the senseless earth, and let God manifest his indignation against you from heaven, if ye despise this warning. Behold, Jehovah cometh to execute his just judgment upon you, and to destroy your proud rulers and strong cities, and irresistibly to spread destruction and misery among all ranks in every place. 5-17. Your idolatry and other wickedness, which prevail in the two capitals, and thence spread through the whole kingdoms, are the cause: and therefore shall the Assyrians render Samaria a ruinous heap, and shall seize upon the idols thereof, and their furniture, as a booty bestowed by their gods to reward the toils of the siege. 12-15. The inhabitants of the distressed cities earnestly longed for some news of deliverance; but the Assyrians marched up to Jerusalem itself. —Lachish, which first admitted the idolatries of the ten tribes, shall be peculiarly miserable.—The hired troops of the Philistines shall betray their trust.—The Assyrians shall plunder Mareshah, and pass on to Adullam, or even to Jerusalem. 8, 9, 16. Make therefore every possible demonstration of grief for the murder and captivity of thy people and the desolation of thy cities.
Ver. 6. This prophecy has been fulfilled to the letter, and the present state of this royal city and its site forms one of the most remarkable testimonies to the divine authority of Scripture which we possess. Samaria was built on the summit and sides of an oval-shaped hill, surrounded by fertile valleys, which were again encircled by loftier ridges. The village which represents the capital of Israel contains about sixty houses, all built of old materials. The only structure of importance is the church of St. John, now in ruins. The rest of the site has been long under cultivation, the stones of temples and palaces have been thrown into heaps, or built up in the rude walls which support the sides of the terraces. On the very summit of the hill in the midst of corn-fields stand fifteen columns, but the building with which they were connected is gone. On the south-western slope are the massive ruins of a gate, and from it runs a double colonnade along the side of the hill eastward for about half a mile. The shafts now rise up lonely and bare amid standing corn and luxuriant vineyards. The houses are all gone; the very foundations have disappeared: and away in the bottom of the valley below are great heaps of building-stones which have been rolled down the hill-side. How striking, therefore, and how graphic are the words of Micah in this verse, when viewed in the light of modern research! P.
Ver. 10. Weep ye not at all. The calamity may not be averted by any tears—the sin is finished—the cup of doom is full. C.
Ver. 15. An heir. An enemy that shall inherit all thy accumulated wealth and splendid ornaments. C.
Ver. 16. Make thee bald. Shave off the hair, as was customary in deep mourning, Job 1. 20; Is. 3. 24; Je. 7. 29.—As the eagle. A variety of which has the head totally bald. C.
Reflections.—It is very hard to awaken obstinate sinners. But if they will not hear God's voice, they must feel his hand; and nothing can protect them from his almighty wrath. No judgments are inflicted but what our sins have deserved. And the more wicked persons or places be, the larger share in them must they expect. If great cities will be ringleaders in impieties, they must be made distinguished monuments of ruin. Nor need they expect that ever that which hires or tempts men to sin will long prosper. But even the messengers of God ought never to desire the evil day, but to bewail the punishment of sinners, as well as the sufferings of saints. Nor should we ever gratify with tidings such as make merry with the sins or the sorrows of God's people. Alas! what shame, what contempt, what perplexity, what confusion, what anguish and misery, the most delicate sinners are exposed to at last! And by the very sins which themselves introduced, men are effectually driven out of their countries, cities, houses, and property.