CRITICAL NOTES.
Micah 7:3. Evil] Lit. Their hands are for evil, that they may do it earnestly, i.e. well, cleverly. Great] man. He] Emphatic, expresses desire, lit. the lust of his soul. They] Venal judges are ready to wrap, Heb. to weave or twist together; they pervert the cause of the poor.
Micah 7:4. Best] The prince asks, the judge grants, and the rich co-operate; all resemble the brier and thorn-bush, which only prick and injure. Visit.] Corruption is so high that judgment will break in upon them. Perplex.] They will be caught as victims, and not know what to do.
Micah 7:5. Trust] All are treacherous and pervert justice (Jeremiah 9:2-6); confidence will be unsafe. Guide] And heads of families to whom we naturally look, unworthy of confidence.
Micah 7:6. Dishon.] Treats the father as a fool (Deuteronomy 32:15; Jeremiah 14:21). Daughter] witnesses against her mother (Psalms 27:12). Treachery and faithlessness reach the nearest friends, and dissolve every family tie (cf. Matthew 24:10-12).
HOMILETICS
WITH BOTH HANDS EARNESTLY.—Micah 7:3
There is little of excellence in mere earnestness. The more earnest a man is in vital error, he inflicts, of necessity, the deeper injury on the interests of truth and men. The wicked men, in this picture of the prophet, stand in the very attitude which every good man should assume in the work of God.
I. Without hands. Some good men seem to be without hands. “They have hands, but they handle not; feet have they, but they walk not.” They work with hands in other things; strive manfully in a political struggle, or in a question of social right. They are diligent in business, but in Christian work idle, both hands drop down and there they stand—without hands. “Curse ye Meroz, curse ye bitterly!” Why? What had Meroz done to merit the curse? Nothing. That was the sin, that she had “not come up to the help of the Lord.”
II. With one hand. This is the second state in which many serve God. This is well to begin with, but a little more must be added, and so the service must grow into fulness. The Apostles were grand workers, learned by watching and following him who went about doing good. They were but one-handed men, made many mistakes, but got the use of both hands in time. The Master has always a great company of young workers, some young in life, some young in toil, but all learning and needing the word of encouragement from those of more experience. If you are speaking for Christ, anywhere, at any time, doing but a little service in a quiet way; God speed you in your work.
III. With both hands we say to all one-handed men; for there is no perfection, even of a relative kind, with one. Both hands are given for use; the other will not be idle, but will grasp at something, raise up another force of evil to balance Christian activity; so life in a little while will be in poise, not in motion; then in a little longer there will be motion, but in a wrong way. “With both hands” for safety. With all the powers and with all the talents given. None of them must rust, all must go out in use. How few things there are in the house, in labour, in business, that we can do with one hand! David’s men “were mighty men, helpers of the war; they were armed with bows, and could use both the right hand and the left.” These are the men whom Christ needs to fight his battles and do his work; “workmen needing not to be ashamed” of the work they do, or of the way in which they do it.
IV. There is a higher, the highest stage of obedience, expressed by all the words of the text, with both hands earnestly. It is not enough that the talents be laid out; they must be laid out to the best advantage. Every power and passion must be enlisted, baptized, inspired and energized in Christian service. This is just the thing to make some happy, heroic, and victorious. They work with both hands—the mechanism is perfect and the action steady—but it is mechanical not vital action. Christian earnestness is not mere vehemence and heat: it is “zeal according to knowledge.” Many reasons might be urged for an earnest life: Self-preservation requires it. Our faculties and senses cannot be kept bright and clear without use. The rust of moral decay will be within us unless we work “with our might.” Honesty requires it. We have undertaken a great service—if at all—on certain terms, clear conditions laid down by the Master. We must fulfil them or we do not live fairly. Benevolence requires it. If we love our fellow-men, the one thing we can do for them above all other things in value is, to live truly and intensely before them. Gratitude requires it. This is all we can do for Christ. He will take nothing from us but this. Time requires it. Not one of us would go out of the world without having lived for some time in it in this way. The future is unknown, and carries secrets undisclosed. We are not fully matched with the day unless working “with both hands earnestly” [Raleigh].
UNIVERSAL CORRUPTION AND UNIVERSAL JUDGMENT.—Micah 7:3-6
Corruption is prevalent in all ranks of the community, rests upon a compromise of the ruling classes, and thus the foundations of morality are destroyed.
I. Universal corruption. Sin was veiled under the name of virtue, or committed in the pretence of justice.
1. In official ranks. Men in authority expose justice for sale and avow bribery. They play into the hands of others to strengthen themselves in evil.
(1.) The prince asks for gifts.
(2.) The judge seeks reward.
(3.) The nobleman utters his mischievous desires.
2. In religous professions. “The best of them is as a briar.” The most upright and moral were carried away with the sins of the day. They were crooked in their dispositions, and sharper than thorns in their ways. Instead of being a protection to others, they were positively injurious and oppressive.
3. In social circles. Faith was not kept anywhere; all to a man were treacherous (Jeremiah 9:2-6).
(1.) A friend was not to be trusted.
(2.) The heads of families would not help and advise. The guide or counsellor, and the wife of his bosom (Deuteronomy 13:6), were alike guilty.
(3.) The members of families were in a state of lawlessness and impiety. Natural relationship was perverted. The son called the father a fool. The daughter testifies against her mother, and a man’s foes were found in his own household. Oppression was followed by inhumanity. The strongest ties of nature and religion were dissolved. A moral condition descriptive of the last times of the gospel dispensation (Luke 21:16; 2 Timothy 3:1-3).
II. Universal judgment. When men become oppressive and dangerous, and moral disease becomes universal, it is a sign of approaching ruin.
1. There will be a day of visitation. “Thy visitation cometh.” Men’s actions and lives are seen by God. God will reckon with them and visit them with punishment for sin.
2. This day of visitation is foretold. Watchmen and prophets foresee it and warn men of its speedy approach. 3. When it comes and finds men unprepared it is terrible. “Now shall be their perplexity.” Sinners are heedless, and the day breaks suddenly upon them. They will be caught in their own snares and, as they entangled others, they will not be able to escape their own retribution. “For it is a day of trouble and of treading down, and of perplexity by the Lord God of Hosts.”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Micah 7:3. The triple alliance for evil. Union is good, is necessary and advantageous, but alliance for evil is disgraceful and injurious.
1. The Prince asks i.e. for the condemnation of the righteous and innocent.
2. The Judge grants for recompense or reward.
3. The great man co-operates with both. “So they wrap it up,” turn and twist their efforts into a threefold cord which cannot easily be broken.
Micah 7:4. Men as briers. Giving grief for help, and fleecing when they ought to protect. Hard and sharp in their dealings; piercing and injurious in their conduct. “Folden together as thorns” (Nahum 1:10).
Micah 7:5-6. It is a part of the perplexity of crooked ways, that all relationships are put out of joint. Selfishness rends each from the other, and disjoints the whole frame of society. Passions and sin break every band of friendship, kindred, gratitude, nature. The words describe partly the inward corruption, partly the outward causes which shall call it forth. There is no real trust in any, where all are corrupt. The words deepen as they go on. First, the friend, or neighbour, the common band of man and man; then the guide (or, as the word also means, one familiar, united by intimacy, to whom by continual intercourse the soul was used); then the wife who lay in the bosom, nearest to the secrets of the heart; then those to whom also reverence is due, father and mother [Pusey].
1. There is no sure hold upon any man, however strictly he be bound, who is declining from God, and hath not a tender conscience standing in awe of him; for in this declining time, friends, guides, wives, &c., are not to be trusted in.
2. In times of defection and backsliding, the godly out of love should believe all things (1 Corinthians 13:7), and not easily take prejudice, and to walk warily and prudently; Trust not, saith he, put no confidence, keep the doors of thy mouth, especially trust in or look to none for help, but only in God [Hutcheson].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 7
Micah 7:3-4. Man is nothing but insincerity, falsehood, and hypocrisy, both in regard to himself and in regard to others. He does not wish that he should be told the truth; he shuns saying it to others; and all these moods, so inconsistent with justice and reason, have their roots in his heart [Pascal].
“Faithless is earth, and faithless are the skies!
Justice is fled, and truth is now no more.” [Virgil, Æneid.]
“Lean not on earth; twill pierce thee to the heart:
A broken reed at best, but oft a spear:
On its sharp point peace bleeds, and hope expires.” [Young.]
Micah 7:7-9. A holy silence unstrings every affliction, it takes off the weight of every burden, it adds sweet to every bitter, it changes dark nights into sunshiny days. The smallest sufferings will easily vanquish an unquiet spirit, but a quiet spirit will as easily triumph over the greatest sufferings [Brooks]. Micah 7:9. Indignation. Though of all burdens the indignation of the Lord be the greatest burden, yet Divine indignation is but a light burden in comparison of sin. A gracious soul can better stand under the burden of God’s indignation for sin, than it can stand under the burden of sin itself, which hath kindled that indignation [Ibid.].