And what does the Lord require of you
But bto do justly,
To love1 mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?
Punishment of Israel’s Injustice
In the house of the wicked,
And the short measure that is an abomination?
Her inhabitants have spoken lies,
And btheir tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
By making you desolate because of your sins.
1Hunger shall be in your midst.
You may carry some away,1 but shall not save them;
And what you do rescue I will give over to the sword.
You shall tread the olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil;
And make sweet wine, but not drink wine.
All the works of Ahab’s house are done;
And you walk in their counsels,
That I may make you a1 desolation,
And your inhabitants a hissing.
Therefore you shall bear the creproach of My people.”
Micah
MICAH was a native of Moresheth, not the same as Mareshah in Micah 1:15, but the town called Moresheth-gath (Micah 1:14), which lay near Eleutheropolis, west of Jerusalem, on the border of the Philistine country; so called to distinguish it from Moresheth of Judah. His full name is Micaiah (not the Micaiah mentioned I Kings 22:8, the son of Imlah), signifying, Who is like Jehovah? The time of his prophesying is stated in the introduction to be in the reigns of Jotham. Ahaz, and Hezekiah, that is, between 757 and 699 BC Jeremiah (Jeremiah 26:18) quotes Micah 3:12, as delivered in the reign of Hezekiah. He was thus a contemporary of Isaiah and Hosea. The idolatries practised in the reign of Ahaz accord with Micah's denunciations of such gross evils, and confirm the truth of the time assigned Micah 1:1. His prophecies are partly against Israel (Samaria), partly against Judah. As Samaria, Israel's metropolis, was taken first, and Jerusalem, the capital of Judah subsequently, in the introductory heading, Micah 1:1, Samaria is put first, then Jerusalem. He prophesies the capture of both; the Jews captivity and restoration; and the coming and reign of Messiah. His style is full, round, and perspicuous; his diction pure, and his parallelisms regular. His description of Jehovah (Micah 7:18-19) is not surpassed by any elsewhere in Scripture. The similarity between Isaiah and Micah in some passages (compare Micah 4:1-3, with Isaiah 2:2-4) is to be accounted for by their being contemporaries, acquainted with each other's inspired writings, and having the same subjects for their theme. HENGSTENBERG maintains that the passage in Micah is the original. Isaiah was somewhat the older, being a prophet in the reign of Uzziah, Jotham's predecessor, whereas Micah began his prophecies under Jotham.
The book consists of two parts: (1) the first through fifth chapters; (2) the sixth and seventh chapters, a dialogue or contestation between Jehovah and His people, in which He reproaches them with their unnatural and ungrateful conduct, and threatens judgment for their corruptions, but consoles them with the promise of restoration from captivity.
Micah stands sixth of the minor prophets in the Hebrew canon, but third in the Septuagint.
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