_Hear now what the Lord saith_ Here begins a new discourse, respecting the causes of the evils which hung over the Jewish nation. _Arise_ This is God's command to Micah; _contend thou before the mountains_ Argue the case between God and thy people; and speak as if thou wouldest make the mountains he... [ Continue Reading ]
_O my people, what have I done unto thee?_ What injustice or unkindness? _Wherein have I wearied thee?_ What grievous, burdensome impositions have I laid upon thee? Or, what have I done, or said, or enjoined, to cause thee to be weary of me? The words allude to the forms of courts of justice, wherei... [ Continue Reading ]
_O my people, remember_, &c. Call to remembrance what Balaam said in answer to Balak, when he consulted him, namely, that _there was no enchantment against Jacob_, &c., nothing that could be done against them, nothing that could overthrow them but their own sins; that they were blessed, and it could... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wherewith shall I come before the Lord_ After the preceding reproof of the people's ingratitude, they are here introduced as anxiously inquiring how they may propitiate God's displeasure, and avert his judgments. They intimate that they are ready to offer any expiatory sacrifices, though never so c... [ Continue Reading ]
_He hath showed thee, O man, what is good_ He hath showed thee that there is no forgiveness without repentance, and that repentance is but a name, unless there be a ceasing to do evil, and learning to do well: and that this implies the practice of every branch of piety and virtue; the performance of... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Lord's voice crieth_ Either by his judgments, each of which is his voice, or by his prophets; _unto the city_ To every city in Israel and Judah, but principally to Jerusalem and Samaria. _The man of wisdom_ Every wise man; _shall see thy name_ Will perceive God in that cry. _Hear ye the rod, an... [ Continue Reading ]
_Are there yet the treasures of wickedness_, &c. Notwithstanding all the express laws, the exhortations and reproofs given you upon this subject, and so many examples of punishment set before you; still are there many that use unjust and fraudulent means to enrich themselves? who keep scant measures... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore will I make thee sick in smiting thee _ Therefore, upon account of these thy sins, I will, ere long, so smite thee, O Israel, that the strokes shall reach thy heart, and make thee sick unto death of thy wounds. Or, the punishment wherewith I will afflict thee shall waste thy strength like... [ Continue Reading ]
_For the statutes of Omri are kept_ An idolatrous king, of whom it is said, 1 Kings 16:25, that he _did worse than all that were before him_, and therefore we may judge of the corruption of the people who imitated the example, and followed the institutions of such a one. By his _statutes_, seem to b... [ Continue Reading ]