CRITICAL NOTES.]
Micah 6:10. Yet] notwithstanding warnings, treasures acquired by fraud and oppression. Scant] Lit. lean ephah, the measure forbidden (too small), not the right measure (Deuteronomy 25:16; Deuteronomy 25:16; Leviticus 19:36). Abom.] Smitten by God (Proverbs 22:14); cursed (Numbers 23:7; Proverbs 24:24).
Micah 6:11. Pure] Men dream that they can be clean by sacrifices to God, in spite of daily sins. The prophet destroys this hope, reproves the rich for violence and the people for deceit. Bag] In which money and weights were carried (Deuteronomy 25:13; Proverbs 16:11).
COMMERCIAL IMMORALITY.—Micah 6:10-12
Here we have a special accusation of sins which procure the rod. Sins which are common in all ranks and committed after many admonitions. In social intercourse and business transactions covetousness, violence, and deceit prevailed. Riches were sought and acquired by cruel and unlawful means.
I. Fraud in the shops. Trickery has never lacked its representatives in all departments of trade.
1. Dishonest dealings. “Wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights.” Rich sellers gave scant measure and short weight. They cheated and deceived the poor in the necessities of life. The law is violated in the present day. Are grocers, drapers, and corn-merchants always honest in business transactions? Why so many fines for “colouring,” “adulteration,” and fraud? “Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in mete-yard, in weight, or in measure. Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin shall ye have.”
2. Ill-gotten gains. “The treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked.” Wealth was sought by wickedness. The house was a store-room of vanity, a monument of injustice, and an abomination to God. To heap up wickedness is to treasure up wrath (Romans 2:5). “Treasures of wickedness profit nothing” (Proverbs 10:2).
II. Oppression in the market-place. “For the rich men thereof are full of violence:” not the poor out of distress, but the rich in covetousness and luxury, lived by violence. Dishonest bargains, hard dealings, and rapacity were daily events. Equity was ignored. Justice, the foundation of the state and the right of the citizen, was openly defied. Commerce was a means of gain, not of mutual help. National injustice was the fundamental sin of commercial life. Rank and power used in violence will crush the possessor. Robbery with authority will bring a curse. “Envy thou not the oppressor (a man of violence, marg.), and choose none of his ways.”
III. Falsehood in the month of the poor. “The inhabitants thereof have spoken lies.”
1. This was a common practice. As often as they speak, in daily intercourse and conversation, “their tongue is deceitful (lit. deceit) in their mouth.” Nothing but deceit, and deceit to ruin others and enrich themselves.
2. This was a universal practice. No exception is made. “A population of liars,” says one. “It cannot be wrong for it is always done,” “It would be impossible to carry on business in any other way,” are pleas to justify the conduct of some in trade. Christianity requires no concealment, no misrepresentation, but strict adherence to truth. No earthly tribunal, no ancient custom, can exempt from eternal justice. An honest man will be guilty of no fraud. “The obligation of an honest man can never die,” said De Foe. “Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Micah 6:10. Treasures of wickedness. I. Illegal in their acquisition. Gained,
1. By dishonest means;
2. In opposition to Divine warning. II. Risky in their position. “In the house of the wicked,” which is exposed to danger and decay. III. Unsatisfactory in their nature. IV. Doomed in their existence. No power or combination of circumstances can keep them from the judgment of God.
Micah 6:11. He also has a false weight who judges not his neighbour with the same measure as himself [Lange]. God requires exact justice in all our dealings, and therefore it is our duty to take care that the weights and the balance be just [Wells]. Impositions; double-dealings; the hard bargain struck with self-complacent shrewdness (Proverbs 20:14)—this is the false balance forbidden alike by law (Leviticus 19:35-36), and gospel (Matthew 7:12; Philippians 4:8). Men may “commend its wisdom” (Luke 16:1-8); God not only forbids, but he abominates it (Proverbs 11:1) [Bridge].
Micah 6:10-12. I. Men are apt to sin even after many admonitions. “Are there yet treasures,” &c. II. Men are apt to dream of God’s approbation in their sinful ways. Hence the challenge, “Shall I count them pure?” III. After they have enriched themselves by sinful ways they grow worse and openly oppress. “Full of violence.” But God is a righteous judge, and will not acquit the guilty (Exodus 34:7). As men deal towards their fellow-men, so God deals with them. “Neither will he help the evil-doers” (Job 8:20).
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 6
Micah 6:10-11. Upright simplicity is the deepest wisdom, and perverse craft the merest shallowness [Barrow]. “No man is wise or safe but he that is honest.” An upright posture is easier than a stooping one, because it is more natural, and one part is better supported by another; so it is easier to be an honest man than a knave [Skelton].
Micah 6:12-15. Crafty counsels are joyful in the expectation, difficult in the management, and sad in the event [Tacitus]. “There is no law more just than that the contrivers of destruction should perish by their own acts.” “The deceiver is often ruined by deceit.”