CRITICAL NOTES.
Micah 1:2. Hear] Lit. Hear, ye peoples all of them “Some 140 or 150 years had flowed by since Micaiah, son of Imlah, had closed his prophecy in these words. Now they burst out anew. From age to age the Word of God holds its course, ever receiving new fulfilments, never dying out, until the end shall come” [Pusey]. All therein] Heb. the fulness thereof (Psalms 24:1). Similar appeals in Isaiah 1:2, and Deuteronomy 32:1. Witness] in a hostile sense, in judgment, as 1 Samuel 12:5; Malachi 3:5. Temple] i.e. from heaven where he is enthroned (Psalms 11:4), and from whence wrath is revealed (Romans 1:18).
HOMILETICS
THE PROPHETIC MESSAGE.—Micah 1:1-2
“The Prophet’s first address is throughout of a threatening and punitive character; it is not till quite the close, that the sun of Divine grace breaks brightly through the thunder-clouds of judgment” [Keil]. In these words we have an appeal to all nations to observe the message of the Prophet.
I. A message from God. “The word of the Lord.” All prophets have the same truth to assert. Their message is Divine and not from “the will of man.” It declares the purpose, reveals the mercy and the judgment of God. It is seen in prophetic vision, felt and known to be certain and true. It bears witness to God in the hearts of men and in the nations of the earth.
II. A message from God through man. “That came to Micah.” The Prophet and no other man of his day was specially chosen to declare the word of the Lord. He was qualified by vision and spiritual intercourse with God. There is a human as well as a Divine element in the spoken or written word. God acts not on, but in and through, man. Vital energy was not lost in a passive state, and growth reduced to mere existence. The prophets spoke not by mechanical impulse or dictation. Their natural and spiritual gifts were not set aside. They had sympathy with truth and men. Their intellect and heart were fixed on the same pursuit, and God’s word found them in a waiting position.
III. A message from God through man for all people. For the people of the present and the future generations.
1. The present. Samaria and Jerusalem were immediately concerned, the chief cities of the two kingdoms. Judgment first begins at the house of God. Jerusalem, God’s people, must not be spared. But other people are often prominent in sin and punishment. Samaria is put first as chief in provocation. God deals in equity with men and chastises according to desert. Some are threatened and comforted; others judged without mercy. We expect equity in our intercourse with each other. Shall not the Judge of the earth do right, mete justice to each individually and to all men in everything? At last all ranks will be adjusted, and to every one will be given his due.
2. The future. “Hear, all ye people.” God warns the future through the present generations. Angels and men, heaven and earth, are cited to witness the solemn scene. The whole creation stands in court, to reprove the sins of men, and testify to the justice of Divine pleading. The guilty cannot escape. The “holy temple” will not protect the hypocrite, as tutelar deities were thought to protect the heathen. The majesty of God from heaven will overawe and silence the sinner. God will purge his floor, and discern between his nominal and real people. “He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Micah 1:2. The Word. Micaiah son of his lmlah closed his prophecy with these words (1 Kings 22:28). The ministrations of one prophet are a continuation of his predecessors. They are not parts or parcels, but connected with Divine revelation in every age, and fill up one grand design. Hence learn,
1. The benevolence of the Word.
2. The adaptation of the Word.
3. The perpetuity of the Word.
Hear, all people. The judgment of Israel
1. A warning to all people.
2. A type of final judgment. God by the fulfilment of this word is a “witness” to the guilt of sin and the equity of his conduct. He warns before the stroke. Seek to be saved, and rest not in holy places and carnal security.
Hearken, O earth.
1. The trial of the Great Judges 2. The parties accused.
3. The witnesses called.
4. The seat of the Judge—The Judgment of the visible Church. It is Divine, public, searching, solemn, and righteous.
Holy temple. The elevation, supremacy, and invisibility of God’s throne [Spurgeon]. “The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.”
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 1
Micah 1:1. Word. The Word of God is the bodying forth of his mind, the incarnation of his thought, the vehicle of his will; by which he would bring himself near to us, to woo us and awe us, to attract us by his love or terrify us by his judgments. It is the sum of all that the world knows of him. It is the expression of his character, the history of his procedure [Legge].