←Micah 1→BSB

In This Chapter 7 people 26 places 36 terms

People

Israel 8 Jacob (Patriarch) 4 Jotham 2 Hezekiah 2 Micah (Jeremiah 26:18) Ahaz Jeshurun (Israel)

Places

    Key Terms

    Rebellion (Offense) 8 Sin 5 Word of the Lord 4 Have a Vision 2 Take Possession 2 Rebel (Act) Be Rebellious Rebel (Against Authority) Rebellion Rebelliousness To Sin Guilt (State) Transgression Sin (Act) Sin (Incur Guilt) Guilty (Responsible) Guilt (Consequence) Guiltiness Trespass (Sin) Sinful Sin (Offense) To Stand Guilty Sin (Guilty) Sin (Wrongdoing) Guilty Considered Guilty Guilty Of Sin Previously Sin Against Dispossess Inherit Greatness Glory (Presence of God) Glory (Splendor) Praise (Glorify) Praise (Respect)

    Judgment to Come

    (Isaiah 7:17–25)

    1This is the word of the LORD that came to Micah the Moreshite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah—what he saw regarding Samaria and Jerusalem:

    ⓘ This message of judgment introduces some of the...

    This message of judgment introduces some of the major concerns of Micah’s prophecies and asserts God’s determination to judge his people and put them into exile (1:16; 2:4–5), but it concludes with the Lord’s assurance that he will rescue a remnant from exile (2:12–13).
    ⓘ This oracle concerns Samaria prior to 722 BC,...

    This oracle concerns Samaria prior to 722 BC, when Samaria was destroyed and its people were deported. The Sovereign Lord was coming to judge his people.
    2Hear, O peoples, all of you;listen, O earth, and everyone in it!May the Lord GOD bear witness against you,the Lord from His holy temple.3For behold, the LORD comes forthfrom His dwelling place;He will come down and treadon the high places of the earth.4The mountains will melt beneath Him,and the valleys will split apart,like wax before the fire,like water rushing down a slope.
    5All this is for the transgression of Jacoband 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?
    ⓘ a heap of ruins: The Lord threatened to...
    • a heap of ruins: The Lord threatened to devastate his treasured cities. Assyria virtually annihilated Samaria in 724–722 BC in a horrendous three-year siege.
    • Samaria, like most cities, was built on a hill. Here, the stones of her walls crash into the valley below as they are violently dismantled. Ancient armies would systematically shatter city walls down to their foundation stones.
    • Samaria and Jerusalem were filled with carved images and sacred treasures put there by worshipers or taken as war booty.
    • Prostitution pictures Israel’s persistent spiritual and physical waywardness. This metaphor was regularly used by the Israelite prophets to express Israel’s abandonment of the Lord, her true husband, in order to obtain the blessings promised by the pagan gods. In addition, the worship of those gods often in fact involved sexual activity.
    • Elsewhere refers to the exile of Samaria into Assyria and its various provinces and conquered vassal states (722 BC). The same outcome was forecast for Jerusalem (3:12; Jer 26:18).
    6Therefore I will make Samariaa heap of rubble in the open field,a planting area for a vineyard.I will pour her stones into the valleyand expose her foundations.7All her carved images will be smashed to pieces;all her wages will be burned in the fire,and I will destroy all her idols.Since she collected the wages of a prostitute,they will be used again on a prostitute.

    Weeping and Mourning

    ⓘ In response to the Lord’s predicted judgment, Micah...
    • In response to the Lord’s predicted judgment, Micah walked around barefoot and naked to express mourning (cp. Isa 20:2; Lam 2:10; Ezek 24:17), vividly depicting what would happen to Samaria (Israel) and Jerusalem (Judah). They would be stripped of their wealth, power, and population.
    • A jackal and an owl make forlorn sounds and live in forsaken wilderness areas (Isa 34:13; Jer 50:39).
    8Because of this I will lament and wail;I will walk barefoot and naked.I will howl like a jackal†and mourn like an ostrich.†9For her wound is incurable;it has reached even Judah;it has approached the gate of my people,as far as Jerusalem itself.
    ⓘ The cities listed were in the lowlands of...

    The cities listed were in the lowlands of southwestern Judah’s coastal areas. The sequence may represent the Assyrian army’s march down the coastal plain and from there into Judah’s heartland in 703–701 BC.
    10Do not tell it in Gath;† do not weep at all.Roll in the dust in Beth-leaphrah.†11Depart in shameful nakedness,O dwellers of Shaphir.†The dwellers of Zaanan†will not come out.Beth-ezel† is in mourning;its support is taken from you.12For the dwellers of Maroth† pined for good,but calamity came down from the LORD,even to the gate of Jerusalem.
    13Harness your chariot horses,O dweller of Lachish.†You were the beginning of sin to the Daughter of Zion,for the transgressions of Israel were found in you.14Therefore, send farewell gifts† to Moresheth-gath;†the houses of Achzib† will prove deceptiveto the kings of Israel.15I will again bring a conqueror against you,O dweller of Mareshah.†The glory of Israel will come to Adullam.16Shave yourselves bald and cut off your hairin mourning for your precious children;make yourselves as bald as an eagle,for they will go from you into exile.