III. (1) HEAR, I PRAY YOU. — In the second division of his prophecy Micah protests against the evil influences exercised upon the people in high places. The princes, the prophets, and the priests, to whom their interests were confided, were guilty of wrong, oppression, and robbery. YE PRINCES. — R... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO HATE THE GOOD. — The judges, instead of fulfilling the obligations of their office, whereby they should be “for the people to God-ward,” perpetrated the most flagrant cruelty upon them. Micah compares it to the process of preparing food, in which every part of the animal, even to the bones, is u... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN SHALL THEY CRY. — “Then” — _i.e.,_ in the day of retribution — “then shall they call upon me, saith the Lord, but I will not hear; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me; and that because they hated knowledge, and received not the fear of the Lord, but abhorred my counsel and desp... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT BITE WITH THEIR TEETH. — The concluding statement that the false prophets declare war against those who do not put into their mouth indicates the meaning of the former expression, namely, “they say peace to those who feed and bribe them.” The Hebrew word, _nashak,_ which is rendered “bite,” is... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY SHALL ALL COVER THEIR LIPS. — As the lepers, who were cut off from all communication with men, so also these false prophets, being cut off from all communion with God, were to “put a covering upon the upper lip.” It was also a sign of mourning for one dead, and Ezekiel was commanded to awaken t... [ Continue Reading ]
I AM FULL OF POWER. — Micah reverts to his denunciation of sin in high places with the fearlessness of his namesake. He contrasts himself with the prophets of the “lying spirit,” and declares his own commission from the Spirit of the Lord, and the ample equipment with which he was endowed.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY BUILD UP ZION WITH BLOOD — _i.e._, they acquire money for the erection of splendid buildings by spoliation and robbery, not stopping short of murder. So also Habakkuk (Micah 2:12) denounces the king of Babylon for the bloody wars with which he obtained wealth for the enlargement of the city.... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR REWARD. — Every function is carried out by judges, priests, and prophets through bribery, and yet they claim and count upon the protection of Jehovah. They rely for safety upon the presence of the sacred buildings; they cry, “The Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE SHALL ZION... — Micah declared this sentence of Divine judgment with an intrepidity that was long remembered by the Jews. More than a century later the elders of the land, speaking in justification of the course taken by Jeremiah, used as a precedent the example of Micah. They spake to all... [ Continue Reading ]