mh_parser/vol_split/33 - Micah/Chapter 3.xml

<div2 id="Mic.iv" n="iv" next="Mic.v" prev="Mic.iii" progress="87.10%" title="Chapter III">
<h2 id="Mic.iv-p0.1">M I C A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Mic.iv-p0.2">CHAP. III.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Mic.iv-p1" shownumber="no">What the apostle says of another of the prophets
is true of this, who was also his contemporary—"Esaias is very
bold," <scripRef id="Mic.iv-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.10.20" parsed="|Rom|10|20|0|0" passage="Ro 10:20">Rom. x. 20</scripRef>. So, in
this chapter, Micah is very bold in reproving and threatening the
great men that were the ringleaders in sin; and he gives the reason
(<scripRef id="Mic.iv-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Mic.3.8" parsed="|Mic|3|8|0|0" passage="Mic 3:8">ver. 8</scripRef>) why he was so bold,
because he had commission and instruction from God to say what he
said, and was carried out in it by a higher spirit and power than
his own. Magistracy and ministry are two great ordinances of God,
for good to his church, but these were both corrupted and the
intentions of them perverted; and upon those that abused them, and
so abused the church with them, the prophet is very severe, and
justly so. I. He gives them their lesson severally, reproving and
threatening princes (<scripRef id="Mic.iv-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Mic.3.1-Mic.3.4" parsed="|Mic|3|1|3|4" passage="Mic 3:1-4">ver.
1-4</scripRef>) and false flattering prophets, <scripRef id="Mic.iv-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Mic.3.5-Mic.3.7" parsed="|Mic|3|5|3|7" passage="Mic 3:5-7">ver. 5-7</scripRef>. II. He gives them their lesson
jointly, putting them together, as acting in conjunction for the
ruin of the kingdom, which they should see the ruins of, <scripRef id="Mic.iv-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Mic.3.9-Mic.3.12" parsed="|Mic|3|9|3|12" passage="Mic 3:9-12">ver. 9-12</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Mic.iv-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Mic.3" parsed="|Mic|3|0|0|0" passage="Mic 3" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Mic.iv-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Mic.3.1-Mic.3.7" parsed="|Mic|3|1|3|7" passage="Mic 3:1-7" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Mic.iv-p1.8">
<h4 id="Mic.iv-p1.9">The Crimes of the Princes and
Prophets. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Mic.iv-p1.10">b. c.</span> 726.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Mic.iv-p2" shownumber="no">1 And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of
Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; <i>Is it</i> not for
you to know judgment?   2 Who hate the good, and love the
evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from
off their bones;   3 Who also eat the flesh of my people, and
flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop
them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.
  4 Then shall they cry unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mic.iv-p2.1">Lord</span>, but he will not hear them: he will even
hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved
themselves ill in their doings.   5 Thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mic.iv-p2.2">Lord</span> concerning the prophets that make my
people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that
putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.
  6 Therefore night <i>shall be</i> unto you, that ye shall
not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not
divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day
shall be dark over them.   7 Then shall the seers be ashamed,
and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips;
for <i>there is</i> no answer of God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.iv-p3" shownumber="no">Princes and prophets, when they faithfully
discharge the duty of their office, are to be highly honoured above
other men; but when they betray their trust, and act contrary to
it, they should hear of their faults as well as others, and shall
be made to know that there is a God above them, to whom they are
accountable; at his bar the prophet here, in his name, arraigns
them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.iv-p4" shownumber="no">I. Let the princes hear their charge and
their doom. The <i>heads of Jacob, and</i> the <i>princes of the
house of Israel,</i> are called upon to <i>hear</i> what the
prophet has to say to them, <scripRef id="Mic.iv-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.3.1" parsed="|Mic|3|1|0|0" passage="Mic 3:1"><i>v.</i>
1</scripRef>. The word of God has reproofs for the greatest of men,
which the ministers of that word ought to apply as there is
occasion. The prophet here has comfort in the reflection upon it,
that, whatever the success was, he had faithfully discharged his
trust: <i>And I said, Hear, O princes!</i> He had the testimony of
his conscience for him that he had not shrunk from his duty for
fear of the face of men. He tells them,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.iv-p5" shownumber="no">1. What was expected from them: <i>Is it
not for you to know judgment?</i> He means to <i>do</i> judgment,
for otherwise the knowledge of it is of no avail. "Is it not your
business to administer justice impartially, and not to <i>know
faces</i>" (as the Hebrew phrase for partiality and respect of
persons is), "but to <i>know judgment,</i> and the merits of every
cause?" Or it may be taken for granted that the heads and rulers
are well acquainted with the rules of justice, whatever others are;
for they have those means of knowledge, and have not those excuses
for ignorance, which some others have, that are poor and foolish
(<scripRef id="Mic.iv-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.4" parsed="|Jer|5|4|0|0" passage="Jer 5:4">Jer. v. 4</scripRef>); and, if so,
their transgression of the laws of justice is the more provoking to
God, for they sin against knowledge. "Is it not for you to know
judgment? Yes, it is; therefore stand still, and hear your own
judgment, and judge if it be not right, whether any thing can be
objected against it."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.iv-p6" shownumber="no">2. How wretchedly they had transgressed the
rules of judgment, though they knew what they were. Their principle
and disposition are bad: They <i>hate the good and love the
evil;</i> they hate good in others, and hate it should have any
influence on themselves; they hate to do good, hate to have any
good done, and hate those that are good and do good; and they
<i>love the evil,</i> delight in mischief. This being their
principle, their practice is according to it; they are very cruel
and severe towards those that are under their power, and whoever
lies at their mercy will find that they have none. They barbarously
devour those whom they should protect, and, as unfaithful
shepherds, fleece the flock they should feed; nay, instead of
feeding it, they feed upon it, <scripRef id="Mic.iv-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.34.2" parsed="|Ezek|34|2|0|0" passage="Eze 34:2">Ezek.
xxxiv. 2</scripRef>. It is fit indeed that he who feeds a flock
should <i>eat of the milk of the flock</i> (<scripRef id="Mic.iv-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.9.7" parsed="|1Cor|9|7|0|0" passage="1Co 9:7">1 Cor. ix. 7</scripRef>), but that will not content them:
They <i>eat the flesh of my people.</i> It is fit that they should
be clothed with the wool, but that will not serve: They <i>flay the
skin from off them,</i> <scripRef id="Mic.iv-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Mic.3.3" parsed="|Mic|3|3|0|0" passage="Mic 3:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>. By imposing heavier taxes upon them than they can
bear, and exacting them with rigour, by mulcts, and fines, and
corporal punishments, for pretended crimes, they ruined the estates
and families of their subjects, took away from some their lives,
from others their livelihoods, and were to their subjects as beasts
of prey, rather than shepherds. "They <i>break their bones</i> to
come at the marrow, and <i>chop</i> the flesh <i>in pieces as for
the pot.</i>" This intimates that they were, (1.) Very ravenous and
greedy for themselves, indulging themselves in luxury and
sensuality. (2.) Very barbarous and cruel to those that were under
them, not caring whom they beggared, so they could but enrich
themselves; such evil is the love of money the root of.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.iv-p7" shownumber="no">3. How they might expect that God should
deal with them, since they had been thus cruel to his subjects. The
rule is fixed, Those shall have judgment without mercy that have
shown no mercy (<scripRef id="Mic.iv-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.3.4" parsed="|Mic|3|4|0|0" passage="Mic 3:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>): "<i>They shall cry to the Lord, but he will not hear
them,</i> in the day of their distress, as the poor cried to them
in the day of their prosperity and they would not hear them." There
will come a time when the most proud and scornful sinners will
<i>cry to the Lord,</i> and sue for that mercy which they once
neither valued nor copied out. But it will then be in vain; God
will even hide his face from them at that time, that time when they
need his favour, and see themselves undone without it. At another
time they would have turned their back upon him; but at that time
he will turn his back upon them, <i>as they have behaved themselves
ill in their doings.</i> Note, Men cannot expect to do ill and fare
well, but may expect to find, as Adoni-bezek did, that done to them
which they did to others; for <i>he is righteous who takes
vengeance. With the froward God will show himself froward,</i> and
he often gives up cruel and unmerciful men into the hands of those
who are cruel and unmerciful to them, as they themselves have
formerly been to others. This agrees with <scripRef id="Mic.iv-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.21.13" parsed="|Prov|21|13|0|0" passage="Pr 21:13">Prov. xxi. 13</scripRef>, <i>Whoso stoppeth his ears at
the cry of the poor, he shall cry himself and shall not be
heard;</i> but the merciful have reason to hope that they shall
obtain mercy.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.iv-p8" shownumber="no">II. Let the prophets hear their charge too,
and their doom; they were such as prophesied falsely, and the
princes bore rule by their means. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.iv-p9" shownumber="no">1. What was their sin. (1.) They made it
their business to flatter and deceive the people: <i>They make my
people err,</i> lead them into mistakes, both concerning what they
should do and concerning what God would do with them. It is ill
with a people when their leaders cause them to err, and those draw
them out of the way that should guide them and go before them in
it. "They make them to err by crying peace, by telling them that
they do well, and that all shall be well with them; whereas they
are in the paths of sin, and within a step of ruin. They <i>cry
peace,</i> but they <i>bite with their teeth,</i>" which perhaps is
meant of their biting their own lips, as we are apt to do when we
would suppress something which we are ready to speak. When they
cried <i>peace</i> their own hearts gave them the lie, and they
were just ready to eat their own words and to contradict
themselves, but they bit with their teeth, and kept it in. They
were not blind leaders of the blind, for they saw the ditch before
them, and yet led their followers into it. (2.) They made it all
their aim to glut themselves, and serve their own belly, as the
seducers in St. Paul's time (<scripRef id="Mic.iv-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.16.18" parsed="|Rom|16|18|0|0" passage="Ro 16:18">Rom. xvi.
18</scripRef>), for <i>their god is their belly,</i> <scripRef id="Mic.iv-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Phil.3.19" parsed="|Phil|3|19|0|0" passage="Php 3:19">Phil. iii. 19</scripRef>. They <i>bite with
their teeth, and cry peace;</i> that is, they will flatter and
compliment those that will feed them with good bits, will give them
something to eat; but as for those that <i>put not into their
mouths,</i> that are not continually cramming them, they look upon
them as their enemies; to them they do not <i>cry peace,</i> as
they do to those whom they look upon as their benefactors, but they
<i>even prepare war against them;</i> against them they denounce
the judgments of God, but as they are to them, as the crafty
priests of the church of Rome, in some places, make their image
either to smile or frown upon the offerer according as his offering
is. Justly is it insisted on as a necessary qualification of a
minister (<scripRef id="Mic.iv-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:1Tim.3.3 Bible:Titus.1.7" parsed="|1Tim|3|3|0|0;|Titus|1|7|0|0" passage="1Ti 3:3,Tit 1:7">1 Tim. iii. 3, and
again Tit. i. 7</scripRef>) that he be not <i>greedy of filthy
lucre.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.iv-p10" shownumber="no">2. What is the sentence passed upon them
for this sin, <scripRef id="Mic.iv-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.3.6-Mic.3.7" parsed="|Mic|3|6|3|7" passage="Mic 3:6,7"><i>v.</i> 6,
7</scripRef>. It is threatened, (1.) That they shall be involved in
troubles and miseries with those to whom they had cried peace:
<i>Night shall be upon them,</i> a dark cold night of calamity,
such as they, in their flattery, led the people to hope would never
come. <i>It shall be dark unto you,</i> darker to you than to
others; <i>the sun shall go down over the prophets,</i> shall go
down at noon; all comfort shall depart from them, and they shall be
deprived of all hope of it. The <i>day shall be dark over them,</i>
in which they promised themselves light. Nor shall they be
surrounded with outward troubles only, but their mind shall be full
of confusion, and they shall be brought to their wits' end; their
heads shall be clouded, and their own thoughts shall trouble them;
and that is trouble enough. They kept others in the dark, and now
God will bring them into the dark. (2.) That thereby they shall be
silenced, and all their pretensions to prophecy for ever shamed.
They never had any true vision; and now, the event disproving their
predictions of peace, it shall be made to appear that they never
had any, that there never was an answer of God to them, but it was
all a sham, and they were cheats and impostors. Their reputation
being thus quite sunk, their confidence would of course fail them.
And, their spirits being ruffled and confused, their invention
would fail them too; and by reason of this darkness, both without
and within too, <i>they shall not divine,</i> they shall not have
so much as a counterfeit vision to produce, they shall be
<i>ashamed,</i> and <i>confounded,</i> and <i>cover their lips,</i>
as men that are quite baffled and have nothing to say for
themselves. Note, Those who deceive others are but preparing
confusion for their own faces.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Mic.iv-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Mic.3.8-Mic.3.12" parsed="|Mic|3|8|3|12" passage="Mic 3:8-12" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Mic.iv-p10.3">
<h4 id="Mic.iv-p10.4">The Crimes of the Princes and
Prophets. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Mic.iv-p10.5">b. c.</span> 726.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Mic.iv-p11" shownumber="no">8 But truly I am full of power by the spirit of
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mic.iv-p11.1">Lord</span>, and of judgment, and of
might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his
sin.   9 Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of
Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and
pervert all equity.   10 They build up Zion with blood, and
Jerusalem with iniquity.   11 The heads thereof judge for
reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets
thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mic.iv-p11.2">Lord</span>, and say, <i>Is</i> not the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mic.iv-p11.3">Lord</span> among us? none evil can come upon us.
  12 Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed <i>as</i> a
field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the
house as the high places of the forest.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.iv-p12" shownumber="no">Here, I. The prophet experiences a divine
power going along with him in his work, and he makes a solemn
profession and protestation of it, as that which would justify him,
and bear him out, in his plain dealing with the princes and rulers.
He would not, he durst not, make thus bold with the great men, but
that he was carried out to do it by a prophetical impulse and
impression. It was not he that said it, but God by him, and he
could not but speak the word that God put into his mouth. It comes
in likewise by way of opposition to the false prophets, who were
full of shame when they lived to see themselves proved liars, and
who never had courage to deal faithfully with the people, but
flattered them in their sins; they were <i>sensual, not having the
Spirit,</i> but truly (says Micah) <i>I am full of power by the
Spirit of the Lord,</i> <scripRef id="Mic.iv-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.3.8" parsed="|Mic|3|8|0|0" passage="Mic 3:8"><i>v.</i>
8</scripRef>. Having in himself an assurance of the truth of what
he said, he said it with assurance. Compare him with those false
prophets, and you will say, There is no comparison between them.
<i>What is the chaff to the wheat?</i> <scripRef id="Mic.iv-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.23.28" parsed="|Jer|23|28|0|0" passage="Jer 23:28">Jer. xxiii. 28</scripRef>. What is painted fire to real
fire? Observe here, 1. What the qualifications were with which this
prophet was endured: He was <i>full of power, and of judgment, and
of might;</i> he had an ardent love to God and to the souls of men,
a deep concern for his glory and their salvation, and a flaming
zeal against sin. He had likewise courage to reprove it and witness
against it, not fearing the wrath either of great men or of great
multitudes; whatever difficulties or discouragements he met with,
they did not deter him nor drive him from his work; <i>none of
these things moved him.</i> And all this was guided by judgment and
discretion; he was a man of wisdom as well as courage; in all his
preaching there was light as well as heat, and a spirit of wisdom
as well as of zeal. Thus was this man of God <i>thoroughly
furnished</i> for every good word he had to say, and every good
work he had to do. Those he preached to could not but perceive him
to be full both of <i>power</i> and <i>judgment,</i> for they found
both their <i>understandings opened</i> and their <i>hearts</i>
made <i>to burn within them,</i> with such evidence and
demonstration, and with such power, did the word come from him. 2.
Whence he had these qualifications, not from and of himself, but he
was <i>full of power by the Spirit of the Lord.</i> Knowing that it
was indeed the <i>Spirit of the Lord</i> that was in him, and spoke
by him, that it was a divine revelation that he delivered, he spoke
it boldly, and as one having authority, <i>set his face as a
flint,</i> knowing he should be justified and borne out in what he
said, <scripRef id="Mic.iv-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.50.7-Isa.50.8" parsed="|Isa|50|7|50|8" passage="Isa 50:7,8">Isa. l. 7, 8</scripRef>. Note,
Those who act honestly may act boldly; and those who are sure that
they have a commission from God need not be afraid of opposition
from men. Nay, he had not only a Spirit of prophecy, which was the
ground of his boldness, but the Spirit of sanctification endued him
with the boldness and wisdom which were requisite for him. It was
not in any strength of his own that he was strong; <i>for who is
sufficient for these things?</i> but in <i>the Lord, and in the
power of his might;</i> for <i>from him</i> all <i>our
sufficiency</i> is. Are we full of power at any time, for that
which is good? It is purely by <i>the Spirit of the Lord,</i> for
of ourselves we are weak as water; it is the God of Israel that
gives strength and power both to his people and to his ministers.
3. What use he made of these qualifications—this judgment and this
power; he <i>declared to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his
sin.</i> If transgression be found in Jacob and Israel, they must
be told of it, and it is the business of God's prophets to tell
them of it, to <i>cry aloud</i> and <i>not to spare,</i> <scripRef id="Mic.iv-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.1" parsed="|Isa|58|1|0|0" passage="Isa 58:1">Isa. lviii. 1</scripRef>. Those who come to hear
the word of God must be willing to be told of their faults, and
must not only give their ministers leave to deal plainly and
faithfully with them, but take it kindly, and be thankful; but,
since few have meekness enough to receive reproof, those have need
of a great deal of boldness who are to give reproofs, and must pray
for a spirit both of wisdom and might.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.iv-p13" shownumber="no">II. The prophet exerts this power in
dealing with the <i>heads of the house of Jacob,</i> both the
princes and the prophets, whom he had drawn up a high charge
against in the former part of the chapter. He repeats the summons
of their attendance and attention (<scripRef id="Mic.iv-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.3.9" parsed="|Mic|3|9|0|0" passage="Mic 3:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>), the same that we had <scripRef id="Mic.iv-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Mic.3.1" parsed="|Mic|3|1|0|0" passage="Mic 3:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>, directing himself to
<i>the princes of the house of Israel,</i> yet he means those of
<i>Judah;</i> for it appears (<scripRef id="Mic.iv-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.26.18-Jer.26.19" parsed="|Jer|26|18|26|19" passage="Jer 26:18,19">Jer.
xxvi. 18, 19</scripRef>, where <scripRef id="Mic.iv-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Mic.3.12" parsed="|Mic|3|12|0|0" passage="Mic 3:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef> is quoted) that this was spoken
in Hezekiah's kingdom; but, the ten tribes being gone into
captivity, Judah is all that is now left of Jacob and Israel. The
prophet speaks respectfully to them (<i>hear, I pray you</i>) and
gives them their titles of <i>heads</i> and <i>princes.</i>
Ministers must be faithful to great men in reproving them for their
sins, but they must not be rude and uncivil to them. Now observe
here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.iv-p14" shownumber="no">1. The great wickedness that these heads of
the house of Jacob were guilty of, <i>princes, priest,</i> and
<i>prophets;</i> in short, they were covetous and prostituted their
offices to their love of money. (1.) The <i>princes abhorred all
judgment;</i> they would not be governed by any of its laws, either
in their own practice or in passing sentence upon appeals made to
them; they <i>perverted all equity,</i> and scorned to be under the
direction or correction of justice, when it could not be made
pliable to their secular interests. When, under pretence of doing
right, they did the most palpable wrongs, then they perverted
equity, and made it serve a purpose contrary to the intention of
the founder of magistracy and fountain of power. It is laid to
their charge (<scripRef id="Mic.iv-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.3.10" parsed="|Mic|3|10|0|0" passage="Mic 3:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>)
that <i>they build up Zion with blood.</i> "They pretend, in
justification of their extortion and oppressions, that they build
up Zion and Jerusalem; they add new streets and squares to the holy
cities, and adorn them; they establish and advance the public
interests both in church and state, and think that therein they do
God and Israel good service. But it is <i>with blood</i> and
<i>with iniquity,</i> and therefore it cannot prosper; nor will
their intentions of good to the city of God justify their
contradictions to the law of God." Those mistake who think that a
burning zeal for holy church, and the propagating of the faith,
will serve to consecrate robberies and murders, massacres and
depredations; no, Zion's walls owe those no thanks that build them
up with blood and iniquity. The sin of man works not the
righteousness of God. "The office of the princes is to judge upon
appeals made to them; but <i>they judge for reward</i> (<scripRef id="Mic.iv-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Mic.3.11" parsed="|Mic|3|11|0|0" passage="Mic 3:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>); they give judgment on
the side of those that give the bribe; the most righteous cause
shall not be carried without a fee, and for a fee the most
unrighteous cause shall be carried." Miserable is the people's case
when the judge's enquiry upon a cause is not, "What is to be done
in it?" but, "What is to be got by it?" (2.) The priests' work was
to teach the people, and for that the law had provided them a very
honourable comfortable maintenance; but that will not content them,
they <i>teach for hire</i> over and above, and will be hired to
teach anything, as an oracle of God, which they know will please
and gain them an interest. (3.) The prophets, it should seem, had
honorary fees given them by way of gratuity (<scripRef id="Mic.iv-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.9.7-1Sam.9.8" parsed="|1Sam|9|7|9|8" passage="1Sa 9:7,8">1 Sam. ix. 7, 8</scripRef>); but these prophets
governed themselves in their prophesying by the prospect of
temporal advantage and that was the main thing they had in their
eye: They <i>divine for money.</i> Their tongues were mercenary;
they would either prophesy or let it alone, according as they found
it most for their advantage; and a man might have what oracle he
would from them if he would but pay them for it. Thus they were fit
successors of Balaam, who <i>loved the wages of
unrighteousness.</i> Note, Though that which is wicked can never be
consecrated by a zeal for the church, yet that which is sacred may
be, and often is, desecrated, by the love of the world. When men do
that which in itself is good, but do it for filthy lucre, it loses
its excellency, and becomes an abomination both to God and man.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.iv-p15" shownumber="no">2. Their vain presumption and carnal
confidence, notwithstanding: They <i>lean upon the Lord,</i> and
because they are, in profession, his people, they think there is
neither harm nor danger in these their wicked practices. Faith
builds upon the Lord, rests in him, and relies upon him, as the
soul's foundation; presumption only <i>leans upon the Lord</i> as a
prop, makes use of him to serve a turn, while still the world is
the foundation that is built upon. They speak with a great deal of
confidence, (1.) Of their honour: "<i>Is not the Lord among us?</i>
Have we not the tokens of his presence with us, his temple, his
ark, his lively oracles?" They are <i>haughty because of the holy
mountain</i> and its dignities (<scripRef id="Mic.iv-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.3.11" parsed="|Zeph|3|11|0|0" passage="Zep 3:11">Zeph.
iii. 11</scripRef>), as if their church-privileges would palliate
the worst of practices, or as if God's presence with them were
intended to make the priests and people rich with the sale of their
performances. It was true that the Lord was among them by his
ordinances, and this puffed them up with pride; but, if they
imagined that he was among them by his favour and love, they were
mistaken: but it is a cheat the children of men often put upon
themselves to think they have God with them, when they have by
their sin provoked him to depart from them. (2.) They are confident
of their own safety: <i>No evil can come upon us.</i> Many are
rocked asleep; in a fatal security by their church-privileges, as
if those would protect them in sin, and shelter them from
punishment, which are really, and will be, the greatest
aggravations both of their sin and of their punishment. If men's
having the Lord among them will not restrain them from doing evil,
it can never secure them from suffering evil for so doing; and it
is very absurd for sinners to think that their impudence will be
their impunity.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.iv-p16" shownumber="no">3. The doom passed upon them for their real
wickedness, notwithstanding their imaginary protection (<scripRef id="Mic.iv-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.3.12" parsed="|Mic|3|12|0|0" passage="Mic 3:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>): <i>Therefore shall
Zion for your sake be ploughed as a field.</i> This is that passage
which is quoted as a bold word spoken by Micah (<scripRef id="Mic.iv-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.26.18" parsed="|Jer|26|18|0|0" passage="Jer 26:18">Jer. xxvi. 18</scripRef>), which yet Hezekiah and his
princes took well, though in another reign it might have gone near
to cost him his head; nay, they repented and reformed, and so the
execution of this threatening was prevented, and did not come in
those days. (1.) It is the ruin of holy places that is here
foretold, places that had been highly honoured with the tokens of
God's presence and the performances of his worship; it is Zion that
shall be ploughed as a field, the building burnt to the ground and
levelled with it. Some observe that this was literally fulfilled in
the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, when the ground on
which the city stood was ploughed up in token of its utter
desolation, and that no city should be built upon that ground
without the emperor's leave. Even <i>Jerusalem,</i> the holy city,
shall <i>become heaps</i> of ruins, and the <i>mountain of the
house,</i> on which the temple is built, shall be overgrown with
briars and thorns, <i>as the high places of the forest.</i> If
sacred places be polluted by sin, they must expect to be wasted and
ruined by the judgments of God. (2.) It is the wickedness of those
who preside in them that brings the ruin: "It is <i>for your
sake</i> that <i>Zion shall be ploughed as a field;</i> you pretend
to build up Zion, but, doing it by blood and iniquity, you pull it
down." Note, The sin of priests and princes is often the ruin of
states and churches. <i>Delirant reges, plectuntur
Achivi</i>—<i>The kings act foolishly and the people suffer for
it.</i></p>
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