Miquéias 1

Miquéias 1

Morgan - Micah was a prophet to the people of God contemporary with Isaiah and Hosea. His messages were concerned with Samaria and Jerusalem, the capitals respectively of the Northern and Southern kingdoms, as being the centres of national thought and action. Their burden "vas that of authority. He denounced the false, and announced the true. The book contains three discourses, each commencing with the same formula "Hear" (see Mic 1.2; Mic 3.1 and Mic 6.1). The words we have emphasized constitute the introduction to the first of these. Necessarily the message was for the nation to which he spoke, but he couched it in the form of an address to all nations; and to the whole earth. The burden of the message is that of declaring the coming judgment of God upon the chosen nation on account of its apostasy. The nations are called upon to listen to this message, and to witness the Divine judgment. Micah recognized the Divine purpose of the chosen nation. It was to be the medium through which God bore witness concerning Himself to all the nations of the world. Israel, obedient to the Divine government, realized the blessings of the Divine government, and revealed its beneficence to the world. Israel disobedient to that law must be judged and punished, and thus the righteousness of the Divine government would be manifested to all the nations of the earth. Either in blessing or in blasting, Jehovah reveals Himself to the nations by His dealing with His ancient people. This is still so, if men have minds to apprehend. Let the rulers among the nations consider the history of the Hebrew people; let them ponder the reason of their long-continued suffering and scattered condition. God is speaking yet to the nations through the Jew. (Life Applications from Every Chapter of the Bible) Micah 1:3 For behold, the LORD is coming forth from His place. He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth. cometh Isaiah 26:21; 64:1,2; Ezekiel 3:12; Hosea 5:14,15 and tread Job 40:12; Isaiah 2:10-19; 25:10; 63:3,4; Amos 4:13 the high Deuteronomy 32:13; 33:29; Habakkuk 3:19 For - always be willing to slow down and query this strategic term of explanation. You will often be richly rewarded by your Teacher the Spirit as He illuminates aspects of the text and context you did not observe as you were "speed reading" the sacred text! In Micah 1:1 it was the Word of the LORD that came forth to Micah and now it is the LORD coming forth in a "theophany" if you will. When God created His world, He did not withdraw from His sovereign rule, but to the contrary is actively involved in bringing this age to its full and final consummation in the return of Jesus Christ. This truth should comfort the uncomfortable (in distress), but will bring distress to the "comfortable" (in their sin) Behold - The LORD coming forth should always attract our attention! "Behold" (hinneh) occurs some 1058 times in the OT and serves to call the reader's attention to the subsequent text, implying that the following words are deserving of special attention. It's as if the Spirit is saying "Don't speed read this next section (so to speak)"! The specific phrase "for behold" seems to call special attention to understanding the explanation and is used frequently by the major and minor prophets - Isa 3:1, 26:21; 60:2; 65:17, 18: 66:15; Jer 1:15; 8:17, 16:12, 25:29; 30:3, 10; 45:5; 49:15, Jer 50:9; Ezek 8:17, 30:9; 36:9; Hos 9:6 Joel 3:1 Amos 4:13, 6:11, 14, 9:9, Micah 1:3, Hab 1:6, Zech 2:9, 10; 3:8, 9, 11:16, Malachi 4:1.