INTRODUCTION TO MICAH 7 This chapter begins with a lamentation of the prophet, in the name of the church and people of God, concerning the general depravity and corruption of the times in which he lived, Micah 7:1; then declares what he was determined to do for his relief in such circumstances, Mic... [ Continue Reading ]
WOE IS ME!.... Alas for me unhappy man that I am, to live in such an age, and among such a people, as I do! this the prophet says in his own name, or in the name of the church and people of God in his time; so Isaiah, who was contemporary with him, Isaiah 6:5; see also Psalms 120:5; FOR I AM AS WH... [ Continue Reading ]
THE GOOD [MAN] IS PERISHED OUT OF THE EARTH,.... Here the prophet expresses in plain words what he had before delivered in figurative terms. The "good" or "godly" man, as in Psalms 12:1; is one that has received the grace of God, and blessings of grace from him, and lives a godly life and conversati... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT THEY MAY DO EVIL WITH BOTH HANDS EARNESTLY,.... Or "well" t, strenuously, diligently, to the utmost of their power, labouring at it with all their might and main; as wicked men generally are more industrious, and exert themselves more to do evil than good men do to do good; and even weary thems... [ Continue Reading ]
THE BEST OF THEM [IS] AS A BRIER,.... Good for nothing but for burning, very hurtful and mischievous, pricking and scratching those that have to do with them: THE MOST UPRIGHT IS SHARPER THAN A THORN HEDGE; which, if a man lays hold on to get over, or attempts to pass through, his hands will be pri... [ Continue Reading ]
TRUST YE NOT IN A FRIEND,.... This is not said to lessen the value of friendship; or to discourage the cultivation of it with agreeable persons; or to dissuade from a confidence in a real friend; or in the least to weaken it, and damp the pleasure of true friendship, which is one of the great blessi... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE SON DISHONOURETH THE FATHER,.... Speaks contemptibly of him; behaves rudely towards him; shows him no respect and reverence; exposes his failings, and makes him the object of his banter and ridicule; who ought to have honoured, reverenced, and obeyed him, being the instrument of his being, b... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE I WILL LOOK UNTO THE LORD,.... Here the prophet, in the name of the church and people of God, declares what he would do in such circumstances, since there was no dependence on men of any rank, in any relation or connection with each other; he resolved to look alone to the Lord, and put his... [ Continue Reading ]
REJOICE NOT AGAINST ME, O MINE ENEMY,.... These are the words of the prophet in the name of the church, continued in an apostrophe or address to his and their enemy; by whom may be meant, literally, the Chaldeans or Edomites, or both, who rejoiced at the destruction of Jerusalem, and the calamities... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL BEAR THE INDIGNATION OF THE LORD,.... The Targum prefaces these words with "Jerusalem saith;'' and they are the words of the prophet, in the name of Jerusalem or the church, resolving in the strength of divine grace to bear the present affliction, which had at least some appearance of divin... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN [SHE THAT IS] MINE ENEMY SHALL SEE [IT],.... The Chaldeans and Edomites shall see people of the Jews rising out of their calamities, brought out of the darkness of their captivity in Babylon, and enjoying the light of peace and prosperity in their own land. Some editions of the Targum, and Jarc... [ Continue Reading ]
[IN] THE DAY THAT THY WALLS ARE TO BE BUILT,.... These words are not spoken to the enemy, as some think; either the Chaldeans, the walls of whose city, Babylon, being demolished by the Persians, it would be a long day or time before they were rebuilt and when their power of sending their decrees abr... [ Continue Reading ]
[IN] THAT DAY [ALSO] HE SHALL COME EVEN TO THEE,.... Which words also are not directed to the enemy, as some interpret them; as to Chaldea or Babylon; and the sense be, that Cyrus should come thither, and take it; or any more remote enemy of the Jews in the latter day, to whom the day of the Lord sh... [ Continue Reading ]
NOTWITHSTANDING THE LAND SHALL BE DESOLATE,.... Not the land of Chaldea, as some; or the land of the nations, as Jarchi and Kimchi; but the land of Israel. That part of it, which was possessed by the ten tribes, was made desolate by Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and that which was inhabited by the tw... [ Continue Reading ]
FEED THY PEOPLE WITH THY ROD,.... These are either the words of God the Father to Christ, the great Shepherd of the sheep, calling upon him to do his office as such; to feed the people he had given him, the sheep of his hand, the flock of his pasture, by his Spirit, and with his word and ordinances;... [ Continue Reading ]
ACCORDING TO THE DAYS OF THY COMING OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT,.... This is an answer of the Lord to the prayer of the prophet, assuring him, and the church he represents, and on whose account he applies, that there would be as great a deliverance wrought for them, and as wonderful things done, as whe... [ Continue Reading ]
THE NATIONS SHALL SEE AND BE CONFOUNDED AT ALL THEIR MIGHT,.... The Chaldeans or Babylonians, when they shall see the wonderful things done by the Lord in the deliverance of his people out of their hands, shall be ashamed of their own power and might, in which they trusted, and of which they boasted... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY SHALL LICK THE DUST LIKE A SERPENT,.... Whose food is the dust of the earth, according to the curse pronounced on it, Genesis 3:14; and which is either its, natural food it chooses to live on, as some serpents however are said o to do; or, going upon its belly, it cannot but take in a good deal... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO [IS] A GOD LIKE UNTO THEE,.... There is no God besides him, none so great, so mighty, as he; none like him for the perfections of his nature; for the works of his hands; for the blessings of his goodness, both of providence and grace; and particularly for his pardoning grace and mercy, as follow... [ Continue Reading ]
HE WILL TURN AGAIN,.... From his anger, and show his face and favour; which is not inconsistent with his everlasting and unchangeable love; for anger is not opposite to love, and is only a displicency at sin, and not at the persons of his people; and, properly speaking, is not in God; is rather in a... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU WILT PERFORM THE TRUTH TO JACOB,.... That is, the promise made to Jacob, the Lord would faithfully perform and make good to his posterity, natural and spiritual, especially to those who are Israelites indeed; [AND] THE MERCY TO ABRAHAM; the gracious promises made to him, which sprung from mere... [ Continue Reading ]