Micah 1:2-16 is our reading for today. Last time we met we discussed the beginning of Micah. I don’t know that we will get through all 15 verses today, but we’ll how it goes eh?
Hear, you peoples, all of you;
pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it,
and let the Lord God be a witness against you,
the Lord from his holy temple.
3 For behold, the Lord is coming out of his place,
and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.
4 And the mountains will melt under him,
and the valleys will split open,
like wax before the fire,
like waters poured down a steep place.
5 All this is for the transgression of Jacob
and for the sins of the house of Israel.
What is the transgression of Jacob?
Is it not Samaria?
And what is the high place of Judah?
Is it not Jerusalem?
6 Therefore I will make Samaria a heap in the open country,
a place for planting vineyards,
and I will pour down her stones into the valley
and uncover her foundations.
7 All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces,
all her wages shall be burned with fire,
and all her idols I will lay waste,
for from the fee of a prostitute she gathered them,
and to the fee of a prostitute they shall return.
8 For this I will lament and wail;
I will go stripped and naked;
I will make lamentation like the jackals,
and mourning like the ostriches.
9 For her wound is incurable,
and it has come to Judah;
it has reached to the gate of my people,
to Jerusalem.
10 Tell it not in Gath;
weep not at all;
in Beth-le-aphrah
roll yourselves in the dust.
11 Pass on your way,
inhabitants of Shaphir,
in nakedness and shame;
the inhabitants of Zaanan
do not come out;
the lamentation of Beth-ezel
shall take away from you its standing place.
12 For the inhabitants of Maroth
wait anxiously for good,
because disaster has come down from the Lord
to the gate of Jerusalem.
13 Harness the steeds to the chariots,
inhabitants of Lachish;
it was the beginning of sin
to the daughter of Zion,
for in you were found
the transgressions of Israel.
14 Therefore you shall give parting gifts
to Moresheth-gath;
the houses of Achzib shall be a deceitful thing
to the kings of Israel.
15 I will again bring a conqueror to you,
inhabitants of Mareshah;
the glory of Israel
shall come to Adullam.
16 Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair,
for the children of your delight;
make yourselves as bald as the eagle,
for they shall go from you into exile.
Understanding God’s Word
Hear, you peoples, all of you;
pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it,
and let the Lord God be a witness against you,
the Lord from his holy temple.
3 For behold, the Lord is coming out of his place,
and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.
4 And the mountains will melt under him,
and the valleys will split open,
like wax before the fire,
like waters poured down a steep place.
Micah is clear. The Lord God himself is coming, the earth needs to prepare. We clearly see the power of the Lord. The mountains will melt, the valleys will split open… like wax. Have you ever seen a candle melt? What is what mountains and valleys will be like candles melting under a hot flame.
5 All this is for the transgression of Jacob
and for the sins of the house of Israel.
Why? Sin.. sin is what is bringing God down. The sin of Jacob and the sins of the house of Israel.
What is the transgression of Jacob?
Is it not Samaria?
And what is the high place of Judah?
Is it not Jerusalem?
The sin? Jacob’s is Samaria. Judah’s is the high place of Jerusalem.
6 Therefore I will make Samaria a heap in the open country,
a place for planting vineyards,
and I will pour down her stones into the valley
and uncover her foundations.
7 All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces,
all her wages shall be burned with fire,
and all her idols I will lay waste,
for from the fee of a prostitute she gathered them,
and to the fee of a prostitute they shall return.
And so Samaria will be brought low. Her carven images and her idols will be broken into pieces…. destroyed. The image is that of something being unmade … her foundations uncovered, stones brought into the valley, left as a heap in the open country. Makes me think of the stone piles we used to leave after cleaning the fields.
8 For this I will lament and wail;
I will go stripped and naked;
I will make lamentation like the jackals,
and mourning like the ostriches.
9 For her wound is incurable,
and it has come to Judah;
it has reached to the gate of my people,
to Jerusalem.
Can you see it? Micah laments at what is to happen. How Samaria will be destroyed. I can almost hear him howling like the jackals do.
10 Tell it not in Gath;
weep not at all;
in Beth-le-aphrah
roll yourselves in the dust.
11 Pass on your way,
inhabitants of Shaphir,
in nakedness and shame;
the inhabitants of Zaanan
do not come out;
the lamentation of Beth-ezel
shall take away from you its standing place.
12 For the inhabitants of Maroth
wait anxiously for good,
because disaster has come down from the Lord
to the gate of Jerusalem.
It’s a hard thing you know? To see a land destroyed. Micah tells the people, don’t speak of it in Gath. Those in Beth-le-aphrah… roll in the dust. People of Shaphir… be ashamed. Zaanan… stay where you are. And the sadness of the people of Beth-ezel… you won’t be able to stand in the presence of it. The folk of Maroth wait for good. Not quietly with hope, but with anxiety.
You see… disaster has come. The Lord has come down hard on Jerusalem.
13 Harness the steeds to the chariots,
inhabitants of Lachish;
it was the beginning of sin
to the daughter of Zion,
for in you were found
the transgressions of Israel.
Sin, sin has been found. Israel has transgressed. Lachish… the sin started here. Here was the beginning of Israel’s wrongdoing.
14 Therefore you shall give parting gifts
to Moresheth-gath;
the houses of Achzib shall be a deceitful thing
to the kings of Israel.
15 I will again bring a conqueror to you,
inhabitants of Mareshah;
the glory of Israel
shall come to Adullam.
16 Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair,
for the children of your delight;
make yourselves as bald as the eagle,
for they shall go from you into exile.
And so we see, exile is in the works. They need to give parting gifts to Moresheth-gath, and the house of Achzib will lie to them. A conqueror is coming. Weep, be sad, show your shame and dismay. Exile is coming.
Questions
I don’t really understand these lines:
What is the transgression of Jacob?
Is it not Samaria?
And what is the high place of Judah?
Is it not Jerusalem?
Answers and thoughts
Matthew Henry’s commentary addressed those lines. He talked about how Samaria and Jerusalem where the main cities. So if God is coming to discipline his wayward people, then those centres of power and influence would be where he addressed his concerns.
It’s hard right? These verses. Seeing God’s judgment is about to fall of the people. All the sorrow seen. The hardship felt. The anxiety this warning would produce. The punishment will be severe for the offence is against our holy God.
But God warned them. He didn’t have to. There’s no regulation saying before punishment the people must be warned it’s coming. In warning, heartfelt sorrow could be shown and then God could have relented. There are other occasions in the bible when God says “smart’en up” and the people do, and God relents in his anger.
So in the warning, I can see his love.
