Deeper Commentary

Micah Chapter 1

Micah 1:1 The word of Yahweh that came to Micah the Morashtite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem- We note that although Micah was based in Judah, his work was also in appealing to Samaria, the ten tribes, as well as the two tribe kingdom of Judah whose capital was Jerusalem. Micah's words were perhaps addressed specifically to the leadership and priests in the cities of Samaria and Jerusalem, although all the people were also addressed (:2).


Micah 1:2 Hear, you peoples, all of you- As noted on :1, Micah was appealing to both Israel and Judah. Hence "all" the earth / eretz / land was addressed. Perhaps there was a tendency for Judah to assume that all words of Divine condemnation were for others rather than themselves; and we all have that tendency.  Several of the prophets appeal to both Israel and Judah; potentially, if both nations had repented, they could have reunited as one nation under God and the dominion of God's Kingdom established over them both.

 

Listen, O earth, and all that is therein- The Hebrew terms for  "hear", usually meaning 'be obedient', and "listen", meaning literally to hear or pay attention, are often used together in the Hebrew Bible. The idea is that if we really hear, we will be obedient to what we hear. And this is our problem; the language of the Bible can drift over us, without us paying attention. And so the two terms are used together- to really hear God's word is to be obedient to it.

 

And let the Lord Yahweh be witness against you, the Lord from His holy temple- The imagery of the court room continues in :3. God is both the witness, and the judge. Just as the Lord Jesus is later presented as both the judge and also the advocate, on our side and successfully pleading our case, hopeless as it is. There is no essential contradiction; the imagery here gives us an insight into the thinking of God Himself. "From" is not a reflection of the original; the idea is that God in His heavenly temple, of which the Jerusalem temple was but a reflection, had entered into judgment with His people and was giving evidence.

Micah 1:3 For behold, Yahweh comes forth out of His place, and will come down and tread on the high places of the earth- God would come forth from the Heavenly temple and trample the "high places" where His people worshipped idols (:5). This probably has primary reference to the Angel going forth from the temple to slay the Assyrians in Hezekiah's time. See on Ps. 78:60. Micah's appeal for repentance was heard at Hezekiah's time (Jer. 26:18,19), and so God came forth in judgment upon the enemies of His people rather than upon Judah, as would otherwise have happened as Micah here foresees. This is an example of where God's stated purposes can be changed by human repentance. And yet the prophetic word comes true, but in a different form and time. Yahweh in His Angel did come out of His temple; but to judge Assyria and not Judah as originally intended.

 

There are a whole set of allusions to Saul and Jonathan's death in Micah 1 and 2, where they are connected with a spiritually collapsed Israel:

 David's lament over Saul and Jonathan was that of God and Micah over Israel. There is therefore the possible hint that Jonathan's personal spirituality was not what it might have been at this time. The grief of Micah for Israel was that of David for Jonathan: "I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls" (Mic. 1:8). The extent of David's grief is another indication of his love for Jonathan; and this is a prophecy of Christ's love for us. The spirit of Christ was in Micah.

 

Micah 1:4 The mountains melt under him- The language of Ps. 97:5,7 about the judgment upon idolaters.

And the valleys split apart, like wax before the fire- The language of condemnation of the wicked (Ps. 68:2). We note that on the cross, the Lord's heart was also like melted wax (Ps. 22:14). Although He never personally sinned, through the crucifixion process He endured the condemnation of sinners; those He condemns will therefore be given a judgment which He has Himself experienced although innocent. No human judge can do this. His judgment will therefore be ultimately just. And yet we also see how even sin doesn't put us in a position which He cannot appreciate.

 

Like waters that are poured down a steep place- Waters and rivers often represent Gentile powers. They would gush into the land in judgment, poured out by God, rather like the bowls of judgment are poured out upon eretz Israel in Revelation.

Micah 1:5 All this is because of the disobedience of Jacob, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the disobedience of Jacob? Isn’t it Samaria?- There are many hints in the Genesis record that the historical Jacob and his family were all too involved with idols as well as Yahweh. Gen. 31:36 uses the precise Hebrew words as here: "Jacob answered Laban, What is my trespass [s.w. "disobedience"]? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued after me?". The context is that Jacob's wife Rachel had stolen her father's idols, and Jacob was in denial of this. The disobedience of Jacob and the sins of the Jacob family, "Israel", was not only idolatry, but specifically the denial that they practiced it. Soon afterwards, Jacob urged the family of Israel to repentance and they buried their idols beneath a tree. And this was the ongoing sin of Israel at Micah's time- idolatry, and the denial of it. The disobedience of Jacob was at the idol shrine of Samaria, where the ten tribes worshipped their idols in the name of Yahweh, claiming that their ancestor Jacob had done the same; Hosea comments often about this. See on Hos. 7:1; 8:5,6; 10:5,7; 13:16.

 

And what are the high places of Judah? Aren’t they Jerusalem?- Just as the ten tribes worshipped their idols in the name of Yahweh worship, so the Jerusalem temple was used. Ezekiel was shown men worshipping idols right within the temple. And this is our tendency; not to totally deny Yahweh and fall into atheism, but to worship our idols in the name of serving God. Our passion for a career, nice house, car and vacations becomes justified as Yahweh worship when it is just the same idolatry which the people around us shamelessly practice.

Micah 1:6 Therefore I will make Samaria like a rubble heap of the field, like places for planting vineyards; and I will pour down its stones into the valley, and I will uncover its foundations- It was normal for victorious invaders to destroy the religious symbols of those they vanquished, and this was to happen to Samaria. And yet in wrath God always remembers mercy; the desolate site would become a place where vineyards could be planted. This is the very picture of God's restored Kingdom upon earth (Is. 65:21; Am. 9:14). God's anger is unlike human anger. It is to clear the ground for His restorative work, albeit with another generation and even nation.

 

Micah 1:7 All her idols will be beaten to pieces, and all her temple gifts will be burned with fire, and all her images will be destroyed; for as the hire of a prostitute has she obtained them, and to the hire of a prostitute shall they return- The condemnation of Jerusalem and her temple cult is more extreme than that of Samaria. Those who prided themselves that they were worshipping Yahweh correctly, in the temple rather than at Jeroboam's idolatrous calf shrines, were actually worse than those they felt superior to. And this is the danger of legalism to this day. As noted on :6, it was usual for victorious invaders to destroy the religious symbols of those they vanquished, and this was to happen to Jerusalem. It was only the reformation led by Isaiah's school of the prophets, which surely included Micah, aided by Hezekiah, which stopped this prophecy coming true at that time. The idols were "temple gifts"; they were justified as having been devoted to Yahweh. See on :5. Micah uses the same language as Hosea, in seeing Jerusalem as a prostitute who was paid for her services with idols which she treasured.

Micah 1:8 For this I will lament and wail; I will go stripped and naked- This was the judgment of prostitutes, and Micah has just likened Jerusalem to a prostitute in :7. He doesn't merely condemn, but feels himself into the shoes of those whose behaviour is so abhorrent. No wonder therefore that his appeal was successful in Hezekiah's time (Jer. 26:18,19).

I will howl like the jackals, and moan like the daughters of owls- The Hebrew specifically refers to female jackals and female owls. The females only howl like this when their very own young are taken from them. This was how Micah felt as he predicted the destruction of God's people; for in :16 he will speak of how they would lose their beloved offspring. It would be a very personal loss to Micah. Their diminishing was his diminishing, and in this he powerfully reflected the feelings of God. These terrible judgments were not therefore uttered in anger, and unlike Jonah, they were uttered with every appeal for the hearers to repent and to thereby change the otherwise inevitable.

 

Micah 1:9 For her wounds are incurable; and it has come even to Judah- The incurable wound was healed by their repentance (Jer. 26:18,19). This is the paradox of grace. God is really willing to change His stated purpose, as He did regarding Israel at the time of Moses, and for Nineveh- because He so respects the repentance of even a remnant, and their intercession.

It reaches to the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem- As noted on :8 and :10, Micah's personal identity with his target audience is impressive, and the root of his success. Hence he speaks of "my people". We see here too the unity of spirit between God and His prophet, His man on earth. These words about "my people" could be God speaking, or Micah. Micah was one in spirit with God in his feelings about God's people. The process of inspiration would have worked through this.

Micah 1:10 Don’t tell it in Gath- See on :3. Micah mourned for God's people as righteous David did for sinful Saul, whom he so loved despite all the wickedness that man did to him.

Don’t weep at all. At Beth Ophrah I have rolled myself in the dust- Rolling naked (:7) in the dust… this was the extent of Micah’s passion for the repentance of his audience. The success of his appeal (Jer. 26:18,19) was because of his personal appeal and identity with his target audience. And this is the lesson for every preacher. "Beth Ophrah" is literally 'house of dust', this was what that idol shrine would become; and Micah rolls himself in the dust in order to show his extreme identity with those facing such impending judgment. He didn't shrug and not care for those who refused to listen; his heart bled for them because of his urgent and desperate sense of identity with them. This shines through all of Micah's appeals. The prophets believed their message, to the point that it overcame them with grief that men wouldn’t heed them. Is this how we feel at the rejection of our message? Is our testimony to Jesus really in the spirit of these prophets…? Can we identify with Micah when he lamented and wailed, going stripped and naked, because of the import of what he was prophesying, and human rejection of it? Depending which translation we choose, it appears that Micah now lists 10 towns around Jerusalem which are to be judged. This may be in order to suggest that Judah is effectively no better than the ten tribe kingdom and will suffer their judgment.

Micah 1:11 Pass on, inhabitant of Shaphir, in nakedness and shame- As noted on :7 and :8, the judgment for a prostitute. "Shaphir" means 'beautiful woman', another connection with prostitution. They would flee the invaders, or be taken captive by them, in naked shame. Yet Micah also went naked and shamed because he so identified with them (:8). The towns of Judah listed here were presumably centers of idolatry. If we follow the LXX here, the identity of the next towns is no longer an issue: "The inhabitant of Sennaar, fairly inhabiting her cities, came not forth to mourn for the house next to her: she shall receive of you the stroke of grief". This would be in contrast to how Micah did mourn for those next to him.

The inhabitant of Zaanan won’t come out- "Zaanan" could be a form of "Zion". They would not be able to flee to Beth Ezel, possibly Azal near Jerusalem (Zech. 14:5). Zion would be surrounded by her enemies and there would be no place to escape to, as all the surrounding villages would have been captured. There is a similar idea in :12, where another village near Jerusalem is mentioned.

When you hear the wailing of Beth Ezel, you will know there is no protection there- Beth Ezel is "house of joining", perhaps a reference to the brothels associated with idol worship.

Micah 1:12 For the inhabitant of Maroth waits anxiously hoping for good- The villages around Jerusalem were to be overrun by the Assyrians as they closed in on Jerusalem. The problem was that the Jews had been worshipping idols in the name of Yahweh worship (see on :5), and they thought that therefore Yahweh would protect them; they 'anxiously hoped', s.w. "pray" in Zech. 8:22; but the response was to be "evil" rather than the "good" they asked for. Both "good" and "evil" come from Him, not Satan.

But evil has come down from Yahweh to the gate of Jerusalem- Clear evidence that evil in the sense of disaster comes from God and not from any supernatural being called Satan. Micah felt that the "evil" was already at the gate of Jerusalem, about to enter. The picture is of the enemies at the gates of Jerusalem, surrounding the city. This is what happened when Sennacherib invaded, but Micah's appeal was heard, a remnant repented, led by Isaiah and his school of the prophets, which included Micah, whose prophecies have much in common with Isaiah (Mic. 4 = Is. 2). And so the situation was averted, although the towns around Jerusalem did indeed fall to the Assyrians at that time.

Micah 1:13 Harness the chariot to the swift steed, inhabitant of Lachish- The idea could be that Lachish should prepare to flee. But the rest of the verse speaks as if there was particular sin found there. I suggest therefore that the idea is that the Assyrians had a camp at Lachish from which they would begin their assault on Jerusalem, and this is exactly what is stated in Is. 36:2. Yet that invasion was sent by God, at His command; see on :4.

 

She was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion; for the transgressions of Israel were found in you- As explained on :5, the transgression of Israel / Jacob was idolatry and refusing to accept their sin. The daughter of Zion refers specifically to the temple mount, which had become a place of idol worship in the name of Yahweh (:5). Some of the idols they worshipped came from the Assyrians who were now going to attack and destroy them. "The beginning of sin" can mean "the great sin".

Micah 1:14 Therefore you will give a parting gift to Moresheth Gath- Micah was from Moresheth (:1), he perhaps calls it "Gath" to suggest it was Philistine in spirit. Again, he is stressing that the judgment he is announcing affects him personally, "my people" (:9), and even his own home village. This continues the theme of Micah's complete identification with the audience he was preaching to.

 

The houses of Achzib will be a deceitful thing to the kings of Israel- There is a word play here, as "deceitful" is the same word as "Achzib". The word is used of the false prophets in Mic. 2:11, so perhaps these houses were the centers of the false prophets who had assured the people that they were serving Yahweh through their idolatry and He would therefore protect them from the invaders; see on :12.

Micah 1:15 I will yet hand you over to your enemy, inhabitant of Mareshah- Again the emphasis is upon the fact that God would do this, He would pour out the waters of the invaders upon His own people.

The leader who is the glory of Israel will come to hide in the Adullam cave- As noted on :3, Micah was lamenting for his people as David did for Saul. They gloried in their king just as Israel initially did in Saul, but he would come to hide himself in the Adullam cave just as Saul did. But again there is hope implied; for at that cave, David gave Saul the opportunity for repentance. And this is always the hint throughout Micah, and it seems some took it. The leader whom Israel glorified was presumably a king of Judah before Hezekiah; but the judgment of Jerusalem didn't then come, because Micah's message was responded to. The book of Micah has three discernible sections, possibly corresponding to the prophecies he uttered in the reign of the three kings mention in :1. These words may have therefore had Jotham or Ahaz in view.

Micah 1:16 Shave your heads, and cut off your hair for the children of your delight. Enlarge your baldness like the vulture; for they have gone into captivity from you!- I noted on :8 that Micah wept as if he had lost his children. He was totally identified with those who were so sinful, who were under certain judgment, but whom he hoped to save by bringing them to repentance. In no way did he practice guilt by association and mental separation from those who were under judgment. Instead, on God's behalf, he identified with them in order to try to win them to repentance. And this was supremely what God did through the work and death of His Son, who was "son of man" as much as any man was. A woman did not shave her head in grief for lost children; this was the punishment of a prostitute, and this is the theme of this section. Israel had prostituted themselves to other gods (:7). Judah was to cut off her hair in shame and grief (Is. 3:24; Jer. 7:29), and yet they would do so themselves.