VII.
(1) WOE IS ME! — Micah gives here a fearful picture of the
demoralised state of society in Judah which had called down the
vengeance of God. As the early fig gathered in June is eagerly sought
for by the traveller, so the prophet sought anxiously for a good man;
but his experience was that of... [ Continue Reading ]
WITH A NET. — The net, which in the Hebrew term comes from a verb
meaning to shut up, was used both by the fisherman and the fowler.
“They lay wait for one another, as hunters for wild beasts.”... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT THEY MAY DO EVIL WITH BOTH HANDS EARNESTLY. — Literally,
_well._ Dr. Benisch, in his Old Testament newly translated under the
supervision of the Rev. the Chief Rabbi of the United Congregations of
the British Empire (1852), avoids the oxymoron of doing “evil”
“well” by translating the passage,... [ Continue Reading ]
THE DAY OF THY WATCHMEN — _i.e.,_ the time which thy prophets have
foreseen, about which they have continually warned thee. “Also I set
watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But
they said, _We_ will not hearken” (Jeremiah 6:17).... [ Continue Reading ]
TRUST YE NOT... — All is now distrust and suspicion. The households
are divided each against itself, and the relationships which should
mean mutual confidence and support have become the occasion of the
most bitter hostility. Our Lord adopts these words to express the
strife and division which, He f... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE I WILL LOOK UNTO THE LORD. — Because of all this gloom
which has settled upon the earth, I, for my part, will lift up mine
eyes to the everlasting hills, whereon rests the light of Jehovah’s
presence.... [ Continue Reading ]
O MINE ENEMY. — The Hebrew word is strictly a female enemy (see
Micah 7:10), and is used of enemies collectively. The cities of
Babylon and Edom are probably intended. They are mentioned together in
Psalms 137 : “Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom.”... “O
Babylon, that art to be destroyed.” The... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL BEAR. — Micah places himself and his people with confidence
in the hands of God. So, too, id David speak when his sin was brought
home to him by God: “I am in a great strait; let us fall now into
the hand of the Lord: for His mercies are great; and let me not fall
into the hand of man” (2 Sam... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW SHALL SHE BE TRODDEN DOWN. — The enemy that had taunted the Jews
with the powerlessness of Jehovah should be trodden down when the Jews
were delivered. Such was the experience of Sennacherib, who inquired
contemptuously whether the Lord could deliver Jerusalem out of his
hand.... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THAT DAY SHALL THE DECREE BE FAR REMOVED. — The “decree” was
something “definite,” as an appointed law or statute, and this
should be far removed. Some interpret this prophecy to mean the
removal of the law of separation between Jews and Gentiles; others
explain it as predicting that the decree o... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THAT DAY ALSO HE SHALL COME. — Rather translate, _In that day
shall they_ (_impersonal_)_ come even to thee from Assyria and_
(_from_)_ the cities of Matzor_ (_i.e., Egypt_)_, and from Matzor even
to the river_ (_Euphrates_)_, and from sea to sea, and_ (_from_)_
mountain to mountain._ The prophet... [ Continue Reading ]
NOTWITHSTANDING THE LAND SHALL BE DESOLATE. — There is still
bitterness in the cup. In the midst of the triumphant expectation of
the glory to come, there rises up the vision of the desolation of the
land in the near future, by reason of the sins of the people.... [ Continue Reading ]
FEED THY PEOPLE WITH THY ROD. — Or, _with thy shepherd_’_s crook._
The prophet lifts up his prayer for the people, either dwelling
“alone” among the idolaters of Babylon — among them, but not of
them — or living a nation, mysteriously apart from other nations,
returned from Babylon, and settled on t... [ Continue Reading ]
ACCORDING TO THE DAYS OF THY COMING OUT. — The promise of Jehovah,
in reply to the prophet’s supplication, graciously recalls His
interposition in the land of Egypt. This interposition shall be
repeated.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY SHALL LICK THE DUST LIKE A SERPENT. — The doom of the
determined enemies of the Lord and His people recalls that of Satan,
the great enemy, as personified by the serpent. “Dust shalt thou eat
all the days of thy life” (Genesis 3:14).... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO IS A GOD LIKE UNTO THEE? — Micah, with an allusion to the
significance of his own name, concludes his book with a burst of
enthusiastic homage to the God of gods. The gracious character here
ascribed to Jehovah is unparalleled in the Bible in human utterances;
it is the response of the prophet t... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU WILT PERFORM. — The closing words in the prophecy of Micah are
gloriously taken up some centuries later by Zechariah: “As He spake
by the mouth of His holy prophets, which have been since the world
began: that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of
all that hate us, to perfor... [ Continue Reading ]