mh_parser/vol_split/33 - Micah/Chapter 1.xml

<div2 id="Mic.ii" n="ii" next="Mic.iii" prev="Mic.i" progress="86.46%" title="Chapter I">
<h2 id="Mic.ii-p0.1">M I C A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Mic.ii-p0.2">CHAP. I.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Mic.ii-p1" shownumber="no">In this chapter we have, I. The title of the book
(<scripRef id="Mic.ii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.1.1" parsed="|Mic|1|1|0|0" passage="Mic 1:1">ver. 1</scripRef>) and a preface
demanding attention, <scripRef id="Mic.ii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Mic.1.2" parsed="|Mic|1|2|0|0" passage="Mic 1:2">ver. 2</scripRef>.
II. Warning given of desolating judgments hastening upon the
kingdoms of Israel and Judah (<scripRef id="Mic.ii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Mic.1.3-Mic.1.4" parsed="|Mic|1|3|1|4" passage="Mic 1:3,4">ver. 3,
4</scripRef>), and all for sin, <scripRef id="Mic.ii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Mic.1.5" parsed="|Mic|1|5|0|0" passage="Mic 1:5">ver.
5</scripRef>. III. The particulars of the destruction specified,
<scripRef id="Mic.ii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Mic.1.6-Mic.1.7" parsed="|Mic|1|6|1|7" passage="Mic 1:6,7">ver. 6, 7</scripRef>. IV. The
greatness of the destruction illustrated, 1. By the prophet's
sorrow for it, <scripRef id="Mic.ii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Mic.1.8-Mic.1.9" parsed="|Mic|1|8|1|9" passage="Mic 1:8,9">ver. 8, 9</scripRef>.
2. By the general sorrow that should be for it, in the several
places that must expect to share in it, <scripRef id="Mic.ii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Mic.1.10-Mic.1.16" parsed="|Mic|1|10|1|16" passage="Mic 1:10-16">ver. 10-16</scripRef>. These prophecies of Micah
might well be called his lamentations.</p>
<scripCom id="Mic.ii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Mic.1" parsed="|Mic|1|0|0|0" passage="Mic 1" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Mic.ii-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Mic.1.1-Mic.1.7" parsed="|Mic|1|1|1|7" passage="Mic 1:1-7" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Mic.ii-p1.10">
<h4 id="Mic.ii-p1.11">Judgments Predicted. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Mic.ii-p1.12">b. c.</span> 743.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Mic.ii-p2" shownumber="no">1 The word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mic.ii-p2.1">Lord</span> that came to Micah the Morasthite in the
days of Jotham, Ahaz, <i>and</i> Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he
saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.   2 Hear, all ye people;
hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Mic.ii-p2.2">God</span> be witness against you, the Lord from
his holy temple.   3 For, behold, the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mic.ii-p2.3">Lord</span> cometh forth out of his place, and will
come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth.   4
And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall
be cleft, as wax before the fire, <i>and</i> as the waters <i>that
are</i> poured down a steep place.   5 For the transgression
of Jacob <i>is</i> all this, and for the sins of the house of
Israel. What <i>is</i> the transgression of Jacob? <i>is it</i> not
Samaria? and what <i>are</i> the high places of Judah? <i>are
they</i> not Jerusalem?   6 Therefore I will make Samaria as a
heap of the field, <i>and</i> as plantings of a vineyard: and I
will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will
discover the foundations thereof.   7 And all the graven
images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires thereof
shall be burned with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay
desolate: for she gathered <i>it</i> of the hire of a harlot, and
they shall return to the hire of an harlot.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.ii-p3" shownumber="no">Here is, I. A general account of this
prophet and his prophecy, <scripRef id="Mic.ii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.1.1" parsed="|Mic|1|1|0|0" passage="Mic 1:1"><i>v.</i>
1</scripRef>. This is prefixed for the satisfaction of all that
read and hear the prophecy of this book, who will give the more
credit to it when they know the author and his authority. 1. The
prophecy is the <i>word of the Lord;</i> it is a divine revelation.
Note, What is written in the Bible, and what is preached by the
ministers of Christ according to what is written there, must be
heard and received, not as the word of dying men, which we may be
judges of, but as the word of the living God, which we must be
judged by, for so it is. This word of the Lord came to the prophet,
came plainly, came powerfully, came in a preventing way, and he saw
it, saw the vision in which it was conveyed to him, saw the things
themselves which he foretold, with as much clearness and certainty
as if they had been already accomplished. 2. The prophet is Micah
the Morasthite; his name <i>Micah</i> is a contraction of Micaiah,
the name of a prophet some ages before (in Ahab's time, <scripRef id="Mic.ii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.22.8" parsed="|1Kgs|22|8|0|0" passage="1Ki 22:8">1 Kings xxii. 8</scripRef>); his surname, the
<i>Morasthite,</i> signifies that he was born, or lived, at
Moresheth, which is mentioned here (<scripRef id="Mic.ii-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Mic.1.14" parsed="|Mic|1|14|0|0" passage="Mic 1:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>), or Mareshah, which is
mentioned <scripRef id="Mic.ii-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:Mic.1.15 Bible:Josh.15.44" parsed="|Mic|1|15|0|0;|Josh|15|44|0|0" passage="Mic 1:15,Jos 15:44"><i>v.</i> 15, and
Josh. xv. 44</scripRef>. The place of his abode is mentioned, that
any one might enquire in that place, at that time, and might find
there was, or had been, such a one there, who was generally reputed
to be a prophet. 3. The date of his prophecy is in the reigns of
three kings of Judah—Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Ahaz was one of
the worst of Judah's kings, and Hezekiah one of the best; such
variety of times pass over God's ministers, times that frown and
times that smile, to each of which they must study to accommodate
themselves, and to arm themselves against the temptations of both.
The promises and threatenings of this book are interwoven, by which
it appears that even in the wicked reign he preached comfort, and
said <i>to the righteous</i> then that it should be <i>well with
them;</i> and that in the pious reign he preached conviction, and
said to the wicked then that it should be <i>ill with them;</i>
for, however the times change, the word of the Lord is still the
same. 4. The parties concerned in this prophecy; it is
<i>concerning Samaria and Jerusalem,</i> the head cities of the two
kingdoms of Israel and Judah, under the influence of which the
kingdoms themselves were. Though the ten tribes have deserted the
houses both of David and Aaron, yet God is pleased to send prophets
to them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.ii-p4" shownumber="no">II. A very solemn introduction to the
following prophecy (<scripRef id="Mic.ii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.1.2" parsed="|Mic|1|2|0|0" passage="Mic 1:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>), in which, 1. The people are summoned to draw near
and give their attendance, as upon a court of judicature: <i>Hear,
all you people,</i> Note, Where God has a mouth to speak we must
have an ear to hear; we all must, for we are all concerned in what
is delivered. "<i>Hear, you people" (all of them,</i> so the margin
reads it), "all you that are now within hearing, and all others
that hear it at second hand." It is an unusual construction; but
those words with which Micah begins his prophecy are the very same
in the original with those wherewith Micaiah ended his, <scripRef id="Mic.ii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.22.28" parsed="|1Kgs|22|28|0|0" passage="1Ki 22:28">1 Kings xxii. 28</scripRef>. 2. The earth is
called upon, with <i>all that therein is,</i> to hear what the
prophet has to say: <i>Hearken, O earth!</i> The earth shall be
made to shake under the stroke and weight of the judgments coming;
sooner will the earth hear than this stupid senseless people; but
God will be heard when he pleads. If the church, and those in it,
will not hear, the earth, and those in it, shall, and shame them.
3. God himself is appealed to, and his omniscience, power, and
justice, are vouched in testimony against this people: "<i>Let the
Lord God be witness against you,</i> a witness that you had fair
warning given you, that your prophets did their duty faithfully as
watchmen, but you would not take the warning; let the
accomplishment of the prophecy be a witness against your contempt
and disbelief of it, and prove, to your conviction and confusion,
that it was the word of God, and no word of his shall fall to the
ground." Note, God himself will be a witness, by the judgments of
his hand, against those that would not receive his testimony in the
judgments of his mouth. He will be a witness <i>from his holy
temple</i> in heaven, when he comes down to execute judgment
(<scripRef id="Mic.ii-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Mic.1.3" parsed="|Mic|1|3|0|0" passage="Mic 1:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>) against those
that turned a deaf ear to his oracles, wherein he witnessed to
them, out of his holy temple at Jerusalem.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.ii-p5" shownumber="no">III. A terrible prediction of destroying
judgments which should come upon Judah and Israel, which had its
accomplishment soon after in Israel, and at length in Judah; for it
is foretold, 1. That God himself will appear against them,
<scripRef id="Mic.ii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.1.3" parsed="|Mic|1|3|0|0" passage="Mic 1:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. They boasted of
themselves and their relation to God, as if that would secure them;
but, though God never deceives the faith of the upright, he will
disappoint the presumption of the hypocrites, for, <i>behold, the
Lord comes forth out of his place,</i> quits his mercy-seat, where
they thought they had him fast, and prepares his throne for
judgment; his glory departs, for they drive it from them. God's way
towards this people had long been a way of mercy, but now he
changes his way, he <i>comes out of his place,</i> and will come
down. He had seemed to retire, as one regardless of what was done,
but now he will show himself, he will <i>rend the heavens,</i> and
will <i>come down,</i> not as sometimes, in surprising mercies, but
in surprising judgments, to do things not for them, but against
them, which they <i>looked not for,</i> <scripRef id="Mic.ii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.64.1 Bible:Isa.26.21" parsed="|Isa|64|1|0|0;|Isa|26|21|0|0" passage="Isa 64:1,26:21">Isa. lxiv. 1; xxvi. 21</scripRef>. 2. That when
the Creator appears against them it shall be in vain for any
creature to appear for them. He will <i>tread</i> with contempt and
disdain <i>upon the high places of the</i> earth, upon all the
powers that are advanced in competition with him or in opposition
to him; and he will so tread upon them as to tread them down and
level them. High places, set up for the worship of idols or for
military fortifications, shall all be trodden down and trampled
into the dust. Do men trust to the height and strength of the
mountains and rocks, as if they were sufficient to bear up their
hopes and bear off their fears? They shall be <i>molten under
him,</i> melted down <i>as wax before the fire,</i> <scripRef id="Mic.ii-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.68.2" parsed="|Ps|68|2|0|0" passage="Ps 68:2">Ps. lxviii. 2</scripRef>. Do they trust to the
fruitfulness of the valleys, and their products? They <i>shall be
cleft,</i> or rent, with those <i>fiery streams</i> that shall come
pouring down from the mountains when they are melted. They shall be
ploughed and washed away as the ground is by <i>the waters that are
poured down a steep place.</i> God is said to <i>cleave the earth
with rivers,</i> <scripRef id="Mic.ii-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Hab.3.9" parsed="|Hab|3|9|0|0" passage="Hab 3:9">Hab. iii.
9</scripRef>. Neither men of <i>high degree,</i> as the mountains,
nor <i>men of low degree,</i> as the valleys, shall be able to
secure either themselves or the land from judgments of God, when
they are sent with commission to lay all waste, and, like <i>a
sweeping rain,</i> to <i>leave no food,</i> <scripRef id="Mic.ii-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Prov.28.3" parsed="|Prov|28|3|0|0" passage="Pr 28:3">Prov. xxviii. 3</scripRef>. This is applied particularly
to the head city of Israel, which they hoped would be a protection
to the kingdom (<scripRef id="Mic.ii-p5.6" osisRef="Bible:Mic.1.6" parsed="|Mic|1|6|0|0" passage="Mic 1:6"><i>v.</i>
6</scripRef>): I <i>will make Samaria,</i> that is now a rich and
populous city, as <i>a heap of the field,</i> as a heap of dung
laid there to be spread, or as a heap of stones gathered together
to be carried away, and <i>as plantings of a vineyard,</i> as
hillocks of earth raised to plant vines in. God will make of that
<i>city a heap,</i> of that <i>defenced city a ruin,</i> <scripRef id="Mic.ii-p5.7" osisRef="Bible:Isa.25.2" parsed="|Isa|25|2|0|0" passage="Isa 25:2">Isa. xxv. 2</scripRef>. Their <i>altars</i> had
been as <i>heaps in the furrows of the fields</i> (<scripRef id="Mic.ii-p5.8" osisRef="Bible:Hos.12.11" parsed="|Hos|12|11|0|0" passage="Ho 12:11">Hos. xii. 11</scripRef>) and now their houses
shall be so, as ruinous heaps. The <i>stones of the city</i> are
<i>poured down into the valley</i> by the fury of the conqueror,
who will thus be revenged on those walls that so long held out
against him. They shall be quite pulled down, so that the very
<i>foundations</i> shall be <i>discovered,</i> that had been
covered by the superstructure; and not one stone shall be left upon
another.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.ii-p6" shownumber="no">IV. A charge of sin upon them, as the
procuring cause of these desolating judgments (<scripRef id="Mic.ii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.1.5" parsed="|Mic|1|5|0|0" passage="Mic 1:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>): <i>For the transgression of
Jacob is all this.</i> If it be asked, "Why is God so angry, and
why are Jacob and Israel thus brought to ruin by his anger?" the
answer is ready: Sin has done all the mischief; sin has laid all
waste; all the calamities of Jacob and Israel are owing to their
transgressions; if they had not gone away from God, he would never
have appeared thus against them. Note, External privileges and
professions will not secure a sinful people from the judgments of
God. If sin be found in the <i>house of Israel,</i> if Jacob be
guilty of transgression and rebellion, God will not spare them; no,
he will punish them first, for their sins are of all others most
provoking to him, for they are most reproaching. But it is asked,
<i>What is the transgression of Jacob?</i> Note, When we feel the
smart of sin it concerns us to enquire what the sin is which we
smart for, that we may particularly war against that which wars
against us. And what is it? 1. It is idolatry; it is the <i>high
places;</i> that is the transgression, the great transgression
which reigns in Israel; that is spiritual whoredom, the violation
of the marriage-covenant, which merits a divorce. Even the <i>high
places of Judah,</i> though not so bad as the transgression of
Jacob, were yet offensive enough to God, and a remaining blemish
upon some of the good reigns. <i>Howbeit the high places were not
taken away.</i> 2. It is the idolatry of Samaria and Jerusalem, the
royal cities of those two kingdoms. These were the most populous
places, and where there were most people there was most wickedness,
and they made one another worse. These were the most pompous
places; there men lived most in wealth and pleasure, and they
forgot God. These were the places that had the greatest influence
upon the country, by authority and example; so that from them
idolatry and <i>profaneness went forth throughout all the land,</i>
<scripRef id="Mic.ii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.23.15" parsed="|Jer|23|15|0|0" passage="Jer 23:15">Jer. xxiii. 15</scripRef>. Note,
Spiritual distempers are most contagious in persons and places that
are most conspicuous. If the head city of a kingdom, or the chief
family in a parish, be vicious and profane, <i>many will follow
their pernicious ways,</i> and write after a bad copy when great
ones set it for them. The vices of leaders and rulers are leading
ruling vices, and therefore shall be surely and sorely punished.
Those have a great deal to answer for indeed that not only sin, but
<i>make Israel to sin.</i> Those must expect to be made examples
that have been examples of wickedness. If the transgression of
Jacob is Samaria, therefore shall <i>Samaria become a heap.</i> Let
the ringleaders in sin hear this and fear.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.ii-p7" shownumber="no">V. The punishment made to answer the sin,
in the particular destruction of the idols, <scripRef id="Mic.ii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.1.7" parsed="|Mic|1|7|0|0" passage="Mic 1:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. 1. The gods they worshipped shall
be destroyed: <i>The graven images shall be beaten to pieces</i> by
the army of the Assyrians, <i>and all the idols shall be laid
desolate. Samaria and her idols</i> were ruined together by
Sennacherib (<scripRef id="Mic.ii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.10.11" parsed="|Isa|10|11|0|0" passage="Isa 10:11">Isa. x. 11</scripRef>),
and <i>their gods cast into the fire,</i> for <i>they were no
gods</i> (<scripRef id="Mic.ii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.37.19" parsed="|Isa|37|19|0|0" passage="Isa 37:19">Isa. xxxvii.
19</scripRef>); and this was the Lord's doing: <i>I will lay the
idols desolate.</i> Note, If the law of God prevail not to make men
in authority destroy idols, God will take the work into his own
hands, and will do it himself. 2. The gifts that passed between
them and their gods shall be destroyed; for <i>all the hires
thereof shall be burnt with fire,</i> which may be meant either of
the presents they made to their idols for the replenishing of their
altars, and the adorning of their statues and temples (these shall
become a prey to the victorious army, which shall rifle not only
private houses, but the houses of their gods), or of the corn, and
wine, and oil, which they called the <i>rewards,</i> or
<i>hires,</i> which <i>their idols,</i> their <i>lovers,</i> gave
them (<scripRef id="Mic.ii-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Hos.2.12" parsed="|Hos|2|12|0|0" passage="Ho 2:12">Hos. ii. 12</scripRef>); these
shall be taken from them by him whom (by ascribing them to their
dear idols) they had defrauded of the honour due to him. Note, That
cannot prosper by which men either are hired to sin or hire others
to sin; for <i>the wages of sin</i> will be <i>death. She gathered
it of the hire of the harlot,</i> and <i>it shall return to the
hire of a harlot.</i> They enriched themselves by their leagues
with the idolatrous nations, who gave them advantages, to court
them into the service of their idols, and their idols' temples were
enriched with gifts by those who went a whoring after them. And all
this wealth shall become a prey to the idolatrous nations, and so
be the <i>hire of a harlot</i> again, wages to an army of
idolaters, who shall take it as a reward given them by their gods.
<i>It shall be a present to king Jareb,</i> <scripRef id="Mic.ii-p7.5" osisRef="Bible:Hos.10.6" parsed="|Hos|10|6|0|0" passage="Ho 10:6">Hos. x. 6</scripRef>. What they gave to their idols, and
what they thought they got by them, shall be as the hire of a
harlot; the curse of God shall be upon it, and it shall never
prosper, nor do them any good. It is common that what is squeezed
out by one lust is squandered away upon another.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Mic.ii-p7.6" osisRef="Bible:Mic.1.8-Mic.1.16" parsed="|Mic|1|8|1|16" passage="Mic 1:8-16" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Mic.ii-p7.7">
<h4 id="Mic.ii-p7.8">Judgments Predicted. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Mic.ii-p7.9">b. c.</span> 743.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Mic.ii-p8" shownumber="no">8 Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go
stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the dragons, and
mourning as the owls.   9 For her wound <i>is</i> incurable;
for it is come unto Judah; he is come unto the gate of my people,
<i>even</i> to Jerusalem.   10 Declare ye <i>it</i> not at
Gath, weep ye not at all: in the house of Aphrah roll thyself in
the dust.   11 Pass ye away, thou inhabitant of Saphir, having
thy shame naked: the inhabitant of Zaanan came not forth in the
mourning of Beth-ezel; he shall receive of you his standing.  
12 For the inhabitant of Maroth waited carefully for good: but evil
came down from the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mic.ii-p8.1">Lord</span> unto the
gate of Jerusalem.   13 O thou inhabitant of Lachish, bind the
chariot to the swift beast: she <i>is</i> the beginning of the sin
to the daughter of Zion: for the transgressions of Israel were
found in thee.   14 Therefore shalt thou give presents to
Moresheth-gath: the houses of Achzib <i>shall be</i> a lie to the
kings of Israel.   15 Yet will I bring an heir unto thee, O
inhabitant of Mareshah: he shall come unto Adullam the glory of
Israel.   16 Make thee bald, and poll thee for thy delicate
children; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle; for they are gone into
captivity from thee.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.ii-p9" shownumber="no">We have here a long train of mourners
attending the funeral of a ruined kingdom.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.ii-p10" shownumber="no">I. The prophet is himself chief mourner
(<scripRef id="Mic.ii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.1.8-Mic.1.9" parsed="|Mic|1|8|1|9" passage="Mic 1:8,9"><i>v.</i> 8, 9</scripRef>): <i>I
will wail and howl; I will go stripped and naked,</i> as a man
distracted with grief. The prophets usually expressed their own
grief for the public grievances, partly to mollify the predictions
of them, and to make it appear that is was not out of ill-will that
they denounced the judgments of God (so far were they from desiring
the woeful day that they dreaded it more than any thing), partly to
show how very dreadful and mournful the calamities would be, and to
stir up in the people a holy fear of them, that by repentance they
might turn away the wrath of God. Note, We ought to lament the
punishments of sinners as well as the sufferings of saints in this
world; the weeping prophet did so (<scripRef id="Mic.ii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.9.1" parsed="|Jer|9|1|0|0" passage="Jer 9:1">Jer.
ix. 1</scripRef>); so did this prophet. He <i>makes a wailing like
the dragons,</i> or rather the <i>jackals,</i> ravenous beasts that
in those countries used to meet in the night, and <i>howl,</i> and
make <i>hideous noises;</i> he mourns <i>as the owls,</i> the
<i>screech-owls,</i> or <i>ostriches,</i> as some read it. Two
things the prophet here thus dolefully laments:—1. That Israel's
case is desperate: <i>Her wound is incurable;</i> it is ruin
without remedy; man cannot help her; God will not, because she will
not by repentance and reformation help herself. There is indeed
balm in Gilead and a physician there; but they will not apply to
the physician, nor apply the balm to themselves, and therefore
<i>the wound is incurable.</i> 2. That Judah likewise is in danger.
The cup is going round, and is now put into Judah's hand: <i>The
enemy has come to the gate of Jerusalem.</i> Soon after the
destruction of Samaria and the ten tribes, the Assyrian army, under
Sennacherib, laid siege to Jerusalem, came to the gate, but could
not force their way any further; however, it was with great concern
and trouble that the prophet foresaw the fright, so dearly did he
love the peace of Jerusalem.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.ii-p11" shownumber="no">II. Several places are here brought in
mourning, and are called upon to mourn; but with this proviso, that
they should not let the Philistines hear them (<scripRef id="Mic.ii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.1.10" parsed="|Mic|1|10|0|0" passage="Mic 1:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>): <i>Declare it not in Gath;</i>
this is borrowed from David's lamentation for Saul and Jonathan
(<scripRef id="Mic.ii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.1.20" parsed="|2Sam|1|20|0|0" passage="2Sa 1:20">2 Sam. i. 20</scripRef>), <i>Tell it
not in Gath,</i> for the uncircumcised will triumph in Israel's
tears. Note, One would not, if it could be helped, gratify those
that make themselves and their companions merry with the sins or
with the sorrows of God's Israel. David was silent, and stifled his
griefs, when <i>the wicked were before him,</i> <scripRef id="Mic.ii-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.39.1" parsed="|Ps|39|1|0|0" passage="Ps 39:1">Ps. xxxix. 1</scripRef>. But, though it may be prudent
not to give way to a noisy sorrow, yet it is duty to admit a silent
one when the church of God is in distress. "<i>Roll thyself in the
dust</i>" (as great mourners used to do) "and so let the house of
Judah and every house in Jerusalem become a <i>house of Aphrah,</i>
a <i>house of dust,</i> covered with dust, crumbled into dust."
When God makes the house dust it becomes us to humble ourselves
under his mighty hand, and to put our mouths in the dust, thus
accommodating ourselves to the providences that concern us. Dust we
are; God brings us to the dust, that we may know it, and own it.
Divers other places are here named that should be sharers in this
universal mourning, the names of some of which we do not find
elsewhere, whence it is conjectured that they are names put upon
them by the prophet, the signification of which might either
indicate or aggravate the miseries coming upon them, thereby to
awaken this secure and stupid people to a holy fear of divine
wrath. We find Sennacherib's invasion thus described, in the
prediction of it, by the impressions of terror it should make upon
the several cities that fell in his way, <scripRef id="Mic.ii-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.10.28-Isa.10.29" parsed="|Isa|10|28|10|29" passage="Isa 10:28,29">Isa. x. 28, 29</scripRef>, &amp;c. Let us observe
the particulars here, 1. <i>The inhabitants of Saphir,</i> which
signifies <i>neat</i> and <i>beautiful (thou that dwellest
fairly,</i> so the margin reads it), shall <i>pass away</i> into
captivity, or be forced to flee, stripped of all their ornaments
<i>and having their shame naked.</i> Note, Those who appear ever so
fine and delicate know not what contempt they may be exposed to;
and the more grievous will the shame be to those who have been
inhabitants of Saphir. 2. <i>The inhabitants of Zaanan,</i> which
signifies the <i>country of flocks,</i> a populous country, where
the people are as numerous and thick as flocks of sheep, shall yet
be so taken up with their own calamities, felt or feared, that they
shall <i>not come forth in the mourning of Bethezel,</i> which
signifies a <i>place near,</i> shall not condole with, nor bring
any succour to, their next neighbours in distress; for <i>he shall
receive of you his standing;</i> the enemy shall encamp among you,
O inhabitants of Zaanan! shall take up a station there, shall find
footing among you. Those may well think themselves excused from
helping their neighbours who find they have enough to do to help
themselves and to hold their own. 3. As for <i>the inhabitants of
Maroth</i> (which, some think, is put for Ramoth, others that it
signifies the <i>rough places</i>), they <i>waited carefully for
good,</i> and were grieved for the want of it, but were
disappointed; for <i>evil came from the Lord unto the gate of
Jerusalem,</i> when the Assyrian army besieged it, <scripRef id="Mic.ii-p11.5" osisRef="Bible:Mic.1.12" parsed="|Mic|1|12|0|0" passage="Mic 1:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>. The inhabitants of
Maroth might well overlook their own particular grievances when
they saw the holy city itself in danger, and might well overlook
the Assyrian, that was the instrument, when they saw the evil
coming <i>from the Lord.</i> 4. Lachish was a city of Judah, which
Sennacherib laid siege to, <scripRef id="Mic.ii-p11.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.36.1-Isa.36.2" parsed="|Isa|36|1|36|2" passage="Isa 36:1,2">Isa.
xxxvi. 1,2</scripRef>. The inhabitants of that city are called to
<i>bind the chariot to the swift beast,</i> to prepare for a speedy
flight, as having no other way left to secure themselves and their
families; or it is spoken ironically: "You have had your chariots
and your swift beasts, but where are they now?" God's quarrel with
Lachish is that she is <i>the beginning of sin,</i> probably the
sin of idolatry, <i>to the daughter of Zion</i> (<scripRef id="Mic.ii-p11.7" osisRef="Bible:Mic.1.13" parsed="|Mic|1|13|0|0" passage="Mic 1:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>); they had learned it from the
ten tribes, their near neighbours, and so infected the two tribes
with it. Note, Those that help to bring sin into a country do but
thereby prepare for the throwing of themselves out of it. Those
must expect to be first in the punishment who have been ringleaders
in sin. <i>The transgressions of Israel were found in thee;</i>
when they came to be traced up to their original they were found to
take rise very much from that city. God knows at whose door to lay
the blame of the transgressions of Israel, and whom to find guilty.
Lachish, having been so much accessory to the sin of Israel, shall
certainly be reckoned with: <i>Thou shalt give presents to
Moresheth-gath,</i> a city of the Philistines, which perhaps had a
dependence upon Gath, that famous Philistine city; thou shalt send
to court those of that city to assist thee, but it shall be in
vain, for (<scripRef id="Mic.ii-p11.8" osisRef="Bible:Mic.1.14" parsed="|Mic|1|14|0|0" passage="Mic 1:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>)
<i>the houses of Achzib</i> (a city which joined to Mareshah, or
Moresheth, and is mentioned with it, <scripRef id="Mic.ii-p11.9" osisRef="Bible:Josh.15.44" parsed="|Josh|15|44|0|0" passage="Jos 15:44">Josh. xv. 44</scripRef>) <i>shall be a lie to the kings
of Israel;</i> though they depend upon their strength, yet they
shall fail them. Here there is an allusion to the name.
<i>Achzib</i> signifies <i>a lie,</i> and so it shall prove to
those that trust in it. 5. Mareshah, that could not, or would not,
help Israel, shall herself be made a prey (<scripRef id="Mic.ii-p11.10" osisRef="Bible:Mic.1.15" parsed="|Mic|1|15|0|0" passage="Mic 1:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>): "<i>I will bring a heir</i>
(that is, an enemy) that shall take possession of thy lands, with
as much assurance as if he were heir at law to them, and <i>he
shall come to Adullam,</i> and <i>to the glory of Israel,</i> that
is, to Jerusalem the head city;" or "<i>The glory of Israel</i>
shall come to be as Adullam, a poor despicable place;" or, "The
king of Assyria, whom Israel had gloried in, shall come to Adullam,
in laying the country waste." 6. The whole land of Judah seems to
be spoken to (<scripRef id="Mic.ii-p11.11" osisRef="Bible:Mic.1.16" parsed="|Mic|1|16|0|0" passage="Mic 1:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>)
and called to weeping and mourning: "<i>Make thee bald,</i> by
tearing thy hair and shaving thy head; <i>poll thee for thy
delicate children,</i> that had been tenderly and nicely brought
up; <i>enlarge thy baldness as the eagle</i> when she casts her
feathers and is all over bald; <i>for they have gone into captivity
from thee,</i> and are not likely to return; and their captivity
will be the more grievous to them because they have been brought up
delicately and have not been inured to hardship." Or this is
directed particularly to the inhabitants of <i>Mareshah,</i> as
<scripRef id="Mic.ii-p11.12" osisRef="Bible:Mic.1.15" parsed="|Mic|1|15|0|0" passage="Mic 1:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>. That was the
prophet's own city, and yet he denounces the judgments of God
against it; for it shall be an aggravation of its sin that it had
such a prophet, and knew not the day of its visitation. Its being
thus privileged, since it improved not the privilege, shall not
procure favour for it either with God or with his prophet.</p>
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