Micah 6

Mic 6:1-16.

APPEAL BEFORE

ALL

CREATION TO THE

ISRAELITES TO

TESTIFY, IF

THEY

CAN, IF

JEHOVAH

EVER

DID

AUGHT BUT

ACTS OF

KINDNESS TO

THEM FROM THE

EARLIEST

PERIOD:

GOD

REQUIRES OF

THEM

NOT

SO

MUCH

SACRIFICES, AS

REAL

PIETY AND

JUSTICE:

THEIR

IMPIETIES AND

COMING

PUNISHMENT.

1. contend thou--Israel is called by Jehovah to plead with Him

in controversy.

Mic 5:11-13

suggested the transition from those happy times described in the fourth

and fifth chapters, to the prophet's own degenerate times and people.

before the mountains--in their presence; personified as if witnesses

(compare

Mic 1:2;

De 32:1;

Isa 1:2).

Not as the Margin, "with"; as God's controversy is with Israel,

not with them.

2. Lord's controversy--How great is Jehovah's condescension, who,

though the supreme Lord of all, yet wishes to prove to worms of the

earth the equity of His dealings

(Isa 5:3; 43:26).

3. my people--the greatest aggravation of their sin, that God always

treated them, and still treats them, as His people.

what have I done unto thee?--save kindness, that thou revoltest from

Me

(Jer 2:5, 31).

wherein have I wearied thee?--What commandments have I enjoined that

should have wearied thee as irksome

(1Jo 5:3)?

4. For--On the contrary, so far from doing anything harsh, I did

thee every kindness from the earliest years of thy nationality.

Miriam--mentioned, as being the prophetess who led the female chorus

who sang the song of Moses

(Ex 15:20).

God sent Moses to give the best laws; Aaron to pray for the people;

Miriam as an example to the women of Israel.

5. what Balak . . . consulted--how Balak plotted to destroy thee by

getting Balaam to curse thee

(Nu 22:5).

what Balaam . . . answered--how the avaricious prophet was constrained

against his own will, to bless Israel whom he had desired to curse for

the sake of Balak's reward

(Nu 24:9-11)

[MAURER]. GROTIUS explains

it, "how Balaam answered, that the only way to injure thee was

(Nu 31:16).

The mention of "Shittim" agrees with this: as it was the scene of

Israel's sin

(Nu 25:1-5;

2Pe 2:15;

Re 2:14).

from Shittim unto Gilgal--not that Balaam accompanied Israel from

Shittim to Gilgal: for he was slain in Midian

(Nu 31:8).

But the clause, "from Shittim," alone applies to Balaam. "Remember"

God's kindnesses "from Shittim," the scene of Balaam's wicked counsel

taking effect in Israel's sin, whereby Israel merited utter destruction

but for God's sparing mercy, "to Gilgal," the place of Israel's first

encampment in the promised land between Jericho and Jordan, where God

renewed the covenant with Israel by circumcision

(Jos 5:2-11).

know the righteousness--Recognize that, so far from God having treated

thee harshly

(Mic 6:3),

His dealings have been kindness itself (so "righteous acts" for

gracious,

Jud 5:11;

Ps 24:5, 112:9).

6. Wherewith shall I come before the Lord?--The people,

convicted by the previous appeal of Jehovah to them, ask as if they

knew not (compare

Mic 6:8)

what Jehovah requires of them to appease Him, adding that they are

ready to offer an immense heap of sacrifices, and those the most

costly, even to the fruit of their own body.

burnt offerings--

(Le 1:1-17).

calves of a year old--which used to be offered for a priest

(Le 9:2, 3).

7. rivers of oil--used in sacrifices

(Le 2:1, 15).

Will God be appeased by my offering so much oil that it shall flow in

myriads of torrents?

my first-born--

(2Ki 3:27).

As the king of Moab did.

fruit of my body--my children, as an atonement

(Ps 132:11).

The Jews offered human sacrifices in the valley of Hinnom

(Jer 19:5; 32:35;

Eze 23:27).

8. He--Jehovah.

hath showed thee--long ago, so that thou needest not ask the question

as if thou hadst never heard

(Mic 6:6;

compare

De 10:12; 30:11-14).

what is good--"the good things to come" under Messiah, of which "the

law had the shadow." The Mosaic sacrifices were but suggestive

foreshadowings of His better sacrifice

(Heb 9:23; 10:1).

To have this "good" first "showed," or revealed by the Spirit,

is the only basis for the superstructure of the moral requirements

which follow. Thus the way was prepared for the Gospel. The banishment

of the Jews from Palestine is designed to preclude the possibility of

their looking to the Mosaic rites for redemption, and shuts them up to

Messiah.

justly . . . mercy--preferred by God to sacrifices. For the latter

being positive ordinances, are only means designed with a view

to the former, which being moral duties are the ends, and of

everlasting obligation

(1Sa 15:22;

Ho 6:6; 12:6;

Am 5:22, 24).

Two duties towards man are specified--justice, or strict

equity; and mercy, or a kindly abatement of what we might justly

demand, and a hearty desire to do good to others.

to walk humbly with thy God--passive and active obedience towards God.

The three moral duties here are summed up by our Lord

(Mt 23:23),

"judgment, mercy, and faith" (in

Lu 11:42,

"the love of God"). Compare

Jas 1:27.

To walk with God implies constant prayer and watchfulness,

familiar yet "humble" converse with God

(Ge 5:24; 17:1).

9. unto the city--Jerusalem.

the man of wisdom--As in

Pr 13:6,

Hebrew, "sin" is used for "a man of sin," and in

Ps 109:4,

"prayer" for "a man of prayer"; so here "wisdom" for "the man

of wisdom."

shall see thy name--shall regard Thee, in Thy revelations of Thyself.

Compare the end of

Mic 2:7.

God's "name" expresses the sum-total of His revealed attributes.

Contrast with this

Isa 26:10,

"will not behold the majesty of the Lord." Another reading is adopted

deliverance for those who fear Thy name." English Version

is better suited to the connection; and the rarity of the Hebrew

expression, as compared with the frequency of that in the other

reading, makes it less likely to be an interpolation.

hear . . . the rod, &c.--Hear what punishment (compare

Mic 6:13,

&c.; Isa 9:3; 10:5, 24)

awaits you, and from whom. I am but a man, and so ye may disregard me;

but remember my message is not mine, but God's. Hear the rod when it

is come, and you feel its smart. Hear what counsels, what cautions it

speaks.

appointed it--

(Jer 47:7).

10. Are there yet--notwithstanding all My warnings. Is there to be

no end of acquiring treasures by wickedness? Jehovah is speaking

(Mic 6:9).

scant measure . . . abominable--

(Pr 11:1;

Am 8:5).

11. Shall I count them pure--literally, "Shall I be pure with?"

&c. With the pure God shows Himself pure; but with the

froward God shows Himself froward

(Ps 18:26).

Men often are changeable in their judgments. But God, in the case of

the impure who use "wicked balances," cannot be pure, that is, cannot

deal with them as He would with the pure. VATABLUS

and HENDERSON make the "I" to be "any one"; "Can I

(that is, one) be innocent with wicked balances?" But as "I," in

Mic 6:13,

refers to Jehovah, it must refer to Him also here.

the bag--in which weights used to be carried, as well as money

(De 25:13;

Pr 16:11).

12. For--rather, "Inasmuch as"; the conclusion "therefore," &c.

following in

Mic 6:13.

thereof--of Jerusalem.

13. make thee sick in smiting--

(Le 26:16,

to which perhaps the allusion here is, as in

Mic 6:14;

Ps 107:17, 18;

Jer 13:13).

14. eat . . . not be satisfied--fulfiling the threat,

Le 26:26.

thy casting down shall be in the midst of thee--Thou shalt be cast

down, not merely on My borders, but in the midst of thee, thy metropolis

and temple being overthrown

[TIRINUS]. Even though there should be no

enemy, yet thou shalt be consumed with intestine evils

[CALVIN].

MAURER

translates as from an Arabic root, "there shall be emptiness in

thy belly." Similarly GROTIUS, "there shall be a sinking of thy belly

(once filled with food), through hunger." This suits the parallelism to

the first clause. But English Version maintains the parallelism

sufficiently. The casting down in the midst of the land, including the

failure of food, through the invasion thus answering to, "Thou shalt

eat, and not be satisfied."

thou shalt take hold, but . . . not deliver--Thou shalt take hold (with

thine arms), in order to save

[CALVIN] thy wives, children and goods.

MAURER, from a different root, translates, "thou shalt remove them," in

order to save them from the foe. But thou shalt fail in the attempt to

deliver them

(Jer 50:37).

that which thou deliverest--If haply thou dost rescue aught, it will

be for a time: I will give it up to the foe's sword.

15. sow . . . not reap--fulfilling the threat

(Le 26:16;

De 28:38-40;

Am 5:11).

16. statutes of Omri--the founder of Samaria and of Ahab's wicked

house; and a supporter of Jeroboam's superstitions

(1Ki 16:16-28).

This verse is a recapitulation of what was more fully stated before,

Judah's sin and consequent punishment. Judah, though at variance with

Israel on all things else, imitated her impiety.

works of . . . Ahab--

(1Ki 21:25, 26).

ye walk in their counsels--Though these superstitions were the fruit

of their king's "counsels" as a master stroke of state policy, yet these

pretexts were no excuse for setting at naught the counsels and will of

God.

that I should make thee a desolation--Thy conduct is framed so, as

if it was thy set purpose "that I should make thee a desolation."

inhabitants thereof--namely, of Jerusalem.

hissing--

(La 2:15).

the reproach of my people--The very thing ye boast of, namely, that

ye are "My people," will only increase the severity of your punishment.

The greater My grace to you, the greater shall be your punishment for

having despised it, Your being God's people in name, while walking in

His love, was an honor; but now the name, without the reality, is only a

"reproach" to you.