mh_parser/vol_split/33 - Micah/Chapter 6.xml

<div2 id="Mic.vii" n="vii" next="Mic.viii" prev="Mic.vi" progress="88.04%" title="Chapter VI">
<h2 id="Mic.vii-p0.1">M I C A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Mic.vii-p0.2">CHAP. VI.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Mic.vii-p1" shownumber="no">After the precious promises in the two foregoing
chapters, relating to the Messiah's kingdom, the prophet is here
directed to set the sins of Israel in order before them, for their
conviction and humiliation, as necessary to make way for the
comfort of gospel-grace. Christ's forerunner was a reprover, and
preached repentance, and so prepared his way. Here, I. God enters
an action against his people for their base ingratitude, and the
bad returns they had made him for his favours, <scripRef id="Mic.vii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.6.1-Mic.6.5" parsed="|Mic|6|1|6|5" passage="Mic 6:1-5">ver. 1-5</scripRef>. II. He shows the wrong course they
should have taken, <scripRef id="Mic.vii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Mic.6.6-Mic.6.8" parsed="|Mic|6|6|6|8" passage="Mic 6:6-8">ver.
6-8</scripRef>. III. He calls upon them to hear the voice of his
judgments, and sets the sins in order before them for which he
still proceeded in his controversy with them (<scripRef id="Mic.vii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Mic.6.9" parsed="|Mic|6|9|0|0" passage="Mic 6:9">ver. 9</scripRef>), their injustice (<scripRef id="Mic.vii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Mic.6.10-Mic.6.15" parsed="|Mic|6|10|6|15" passage="Mic 6:10-15">ver. 10-15</scripRef>), and their idolatry (<scripRef id="Mic.vii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Mic.6.16" parsed="|Mic|6|16|0|0" passage="Mic 6:16">ver. 16</scripRef>), for both which ruin was
coming upon them.</p>
<scripCom id="Mic.vii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Mic.6" parsed="|Mic|6|0|0|0" passage="Mic 6" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Mic.vii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Mic.6.1-Mic.6.5" parsed="|Mic|6|1|6|5" passage="Mic 6:1-5" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Mic.vii-p1.8">
<h4 id="Mic.vii-p1.9">God's Expostulations with His
People. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Mic.vii-p1.10">b. c.</span> 710.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Mic.vii-p2" shownumber="no">1 Hear ye now what the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mic.vii-p2.1">Lord</span> saith; Arise, contend thou before the
mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.   2 Hear ye, O
mountains, the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mic.vii-p2.2">Lord</span>'s controversy,
and ye strong foundations of the earth: for the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mic.vii-p2.3">Lord</span> hath a controversy with his people, and he
will plead with Israel.   3 O my people, what have I done unto
thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me.   4
For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee
out of the house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron,
and Miriam.   5 O my people, remember now what Balak king of
Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from
Shittim unto Gilgal; that ye may know the righteousness of the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Mic.vii-p2.4">Lord</span>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.vii-p3" shownumber="no">Here, I. The prefaces to the message are
very solemn and such as may engage our most serious attention. 1.
The people are commanded to give audience: <i>Hear you now what the
Lord says.</i> What the prophet speaks he speaks from God, and in
his name; they are therefore bound to hear it, not as the word of a
sinful dying man, but of the holy living God. <i>Hear now</i> what
he saith, for, first or last, he will be heard. 2. The prophet is
commanded to speak in earnest, and to put an emphasis upon what he
said: <i>Arise, contend thou before the mountains,</i> or <i>with
the mountains,</i> and <i>let the hills hear thy voice,</i> if it
were possible; contend with the mountains and hills of Judea, that
is, with the inhabitants of those mountains and hills; and, some
think, reference is had to those mountains and hills on which they
worshipped idols and which were thus polluted. But it is rather to
be taken more generally, as appears by his call, not only to the
mountains, but to the <i>strong foundations of the earth,</i>
pursuant to the instructions given him. This is designed, (1.) To
excite the earnestness of the prophet; he must speak as vehemently
as if he designed to make even the hills and mountains hear him,
must <i>cry aloud, and not spare;</i> what he had to say in God's
name he must proclaim publicly before the mountains, as one that
was neither ashamed nor afraid to own his message; he must speak as
one concerned, as one that desired to speak to the heart, and
therefore appeared to speak from the heart. (2.) To expose the
stupidity of the people; "<i>Let the hills hear thy voice,</i> for
this senseless careless people will not hear it, will not heed it.
Let the rocks, the <i>foundations of the earth,</i> that have no
ears, hear, since Israel, that has ears, will not hear." It is an
appeal to the mountains and hills; let them bear witness that
Israel has fair warning given them, and good counsel, if they would
but take it. Thus Isaiah begins with, <i>Hear, O heavens! and give
ear, O earth!</i> Let them <i>judge between God and his
vineyard.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.vii-p4" shownumber="no">II. The message itself is very affecting.
He is to let all the world know that God has a quarrel with his
people, good ground for an action against them. Their offences are
public, and therefore so are the articles of impeachment exhibited
against them. Take notice <i>the Lord has a controversy with his
people and he will plead with Israel,</i> will plead by his
prophets, plead by his providences, to make good his charge. Note,
1. Sin begets a controversy between God and man. The righteous God
has an action against every sinner, an action of debt, an action of
trespass, an action of slander. 2. If Israel, God's own professing
people, provoke him by sin, he will let them know that he has a
controversy with them; he sees sin in them, and is displeased with
it, nay, their sins are more displeasing to him than the sins of
others, as they are a greater grief to his Spirit and dishonour to
his name. 3. God will plead with those whom he has a controversy
with, will plead with his people Israel, that they may be convinced
and that he may be justified. In the close of the foregoing chapter
he pleaded with the heathen in anger and fury, to bring them to
ruin; but here he pleads with Israel in compassion and tenderness,
to bring them to repentance, <i>Come now, and let us reason
together.</i> God reasons with us, to teach us to reason with
ourselves. See the equity of God's cause, it will bear to be
pleaded, and sinners themselves will be forced to confess judgment,
and to own that <i>God's ways are equal,</i> but their <i>ways are
unequal,</i> <scripRef id="Mic.vii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.18.25" parsed="|Ezek|18|25|0|0" passage="Eze 18:25">Ezek. xviii.
25</scripRef>. Now, (1.) God here challenges them to show what he
had done against them which might give them occasion to desert him.
They had revolted from God and rebelled against him; but had they
any cause to do so? (<scripRef id="Mic.vii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Mic.6.3" parsed="|Mic|6|3|0|0" passage="Mic 6:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>): "<i>O my people! what have I done unto thee? Wherein
have I wearied thee?</i>" If subjects quit their allegiance to
their prince, they will pretend (as the ten tribes did when they
revolted from Rehoboam), that his yoke is too heavy for them; but
can you pretend any such thing? <i>What have I done to you</i> that
is unjust or unkind? <i>Wherein have I wearied you</i> with the
impositions of service or the exactions of tribute? <i>Have I made
you to serve with an offering?</i> <scripRef id="Mic.vii-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.43.23" parsed="|Isa|43|23|0|0" passage="Isa 43:23">Isa. xliii. 23</scripRef>. <i>What iniquity have your
fathers found in me?</i> <scripRef id="Mic.vii-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.2.5" parsed="|Jer|2|5|0|0" passage="Jer 2:5">Jer. ii.
5</scripRef>. He never deceived us, nor disappointed our
expectations from him, never did us wrong, nor put disgrace upon
us; why then do we wrong and dishonour him, and frustrate his
expectations from us? Here is a challenge to all that ever were in
God's service to testify against him if they have found him, in any
thing, a hard Master, or if they have found his demands
unreasonable. (2.) Since they could not show any thing that he had
done against them, he will show them a great deal that he has done
for them, which should have engaged them for ever to his service,
<scripRef id="Mic.vii-p4.5" osisRef="Bible:Mic.6.4-Mic.6.5" parsed="|Mic|6|4|6|5" passage="Mic 6:4,5"><i>v.</i> 4, 5</scripRef>. They are
here directed, and we in them, to look a great way back in their
reviews of the divine favour; let them remember their former days,
their first days, when they were formed into a people, and the
great things God did for them, [1.] When he brought them out of
Egypt, the land of their bondage, <scripRef id="Mic.vii-p4.6" osisRef="Bible:Mic.6.4" parsed="|Mic|6|4|0|0" passage="Mic 6:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. They were content with their
slavery, and almost in love with their chains, for the sake of the
garlic and onions they had plenty of; but God <i>brought them
up,</i> inspired them with an ambition of liberty and animated them
with a resolution by a bold effort to shake off their fetters. The
Egyptians held them fast, and would not let the people go; but God
<i>redeemed them,</i> not by price, but by force, <i>out of the
house of servants,</i> or, rather, <i>the house of bondage,</i> for
it is the same word that is used in the preface to the ten
commandments, which insinuates that the considerations which are
arguments for duty, if they be not improved by us, will be improved
against us as aggravations of sin. When he brought them out of
Egypt into a vast howling wilderness, as he left not himself
without witness, so he left not them without guides, for he sent
before them <i>Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, three prophets</i> (says
the Chaldee paraphrase), Moses the great prophet of the Old
Testament, Aaron his prophet (<scripRef id="Mic.vii-p4.7" osisRef="Bible:Exod.7.1" parsed="|Exod|7|1|0|0" passage="Ex 7:1">Exod. vii.
1</scripRef>), and Miriam a prophetess, <scripRef id="Mic.vii-p4.8" osisRef="Bible:Exod.15.20" parsed="|Exod|15|20|0|0" passage="Ex 15:20">Exod. xv. 20</scripRef>. Note, When we are calling to
mind God's former mercies to us we must not forget the mercy of
good teachers and governors when we were young; let those be made
mention of, to the glory of God, who went before us, saying,
<i>This is the way, walk in it;</i> it was God that sent them
before us, to prepare the way of the Lord and to prepare a people
for him. [2.] When he brought them into Canaan. God no less
glorified himself, and honoured them, in what he did for them when
he brought them into the land of their rest than in what he did for
them when he brought them out of the land of their servitude. When
Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, were dead, yet they found God the same.
Let them remember now what God did for them, <i>First,</i> In
baffling and defeating the designs of Balak and Balaam against
them, which he did by the power he has over the hearts and tongues
of men, <scripRef id="Mic.vii-p4.9" osisRef="Bible:Mic.6.5" parsed="|Mic|6|5|0|0" passage="Mic 6:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. Let
them remember <i>what Balak the king of Moab consulted,</i> what
mischief he devised and designed to do to Israel, when they
encamped in the plains of Moab; that which he consulted was to
<i>curse Israel,</i> to divide between them and their God, and to
disengage him from the protection of them. Among the heathen, when
they made war upon any people, they endeavoured by magic charms or
otherwise to get from them their tutelar gods, as to rob Troy of
its Palladium. Macrobius has a chapter <i>de ritu evocandi
Deos—concerning the solemnity of calling out the gods.</i> Balak
would try this against Israel; but remember <i>what Balaam the son
of Beor answered him,</i> how contrary to his own intention and
inclination; instead of cursing Israel, he blessed them, to the
extreme confusion and vexation of Balak. Let them remember the
malice of the heathen against them, and for that reason never
<i>learn the way of the heathen,</i> nor associate with them. Let
them remember the kindness of their God to them, how he <i>turned
the curse into a blessing (because the Lord thy God loved thee,</i>
as it is, <scripRef id="Mic.vii-p4.10" osisRef="Bible:Deut.23.5" parsed="|Deut|23|5|0|0" passage="De 23:5">Deut. xxiii. 5</scripRef>),
and for that reason never forsake him. Note, The disappointing of
the devices of the church's enemies ought always to be remembered
to the glory of the church's protector, who can make <i>the answer
of the tongue</i> directly to contradict the preparation and
consultation of the heart, <scripRef id="Mic.vii-p4.11" osisRef="Bible:Prov.16.1" parsed="|Prov|16|1|0|0" passage="Pr 16:1">Prov. xvi.
1</scripRef>. <i>Secondly,</i> In bringing them <i>from
Shittim,</i> their last lodgment out of Canaan, <i>unto Gilgal,</i>
their first lodgment in Canaan. There it was, between Shittim and
Gilgal, that, upon the death of Moses, Joshua, a type of Christ,
was raised up to put Israel in possession of the land of promise
and to fight their battles; there it was that they passed over
Jordan through the divided waters, and renewed the covenant of
circumcision; these mercies of God to their fathers they must now
remember, that they may <i>know the righteousness of the Lord, his
righteousness</i> (so the word is), his justice in destroying the
Canaanites, his goodness in giving rest to his people Israel, and
his faithfulness to his promise made unto the fathers. The
remembrance of what God had done to them might convince them of all
this, and engage them for ever to his service. Or they may refer to
the controversy now pleaded between God and Israel; let them
remember God's many favours to them and their fathers, and compare
with them their unworthy ungrateful conduct towards him, <i>that
they may know the righteousness of the Lord</i> in contending with
them, and it may appear that in this controversy he has right on
his side; his ways are equal, for he will be <i>justified when he
speaks,</i> and <i>clear when he judges.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Mic.vii-p4.12" osisRef="Bible:Mic.6.6-Mic.6.8" parsed="|Mic|6|6|6|8" passage="Mic 6:6-8" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Mic.vii-p4.13">
<h4 id="Mic.vii-p4.14">Anxiety Respecting the Divine
Favour. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Mic.vii-p4.15">b. c.</span> 710.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Mic.vii-p5" shownumber="no">6 Wherewith shall I come before the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mic.vii-p5.1">Lord</span>, <i>and</i> bow myself before the high God?
shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year
old?   7 Will the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mic.vii-p5.2">Lord</span> be
pleased with thousands of rams, <i>or</i> with ten thousands of
rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn <i>for</i> my
transgression, the fruit of my body <i>for</i> the sin of my soul?
  8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what <i>is</i> good; and what
doth the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mic.vii-p5.3">Lord</span> require of thee, but
to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy
God?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.vii-p6" shownumber="no">Here is the proposal for accommodation
between God and Israel, the parties that were at variance in the
beginning of the chapter. Upon the trial, judgment is given against
Israel; they are convicted of injustice and ingratitude towards
God, the crimes with which they stood charged. Their guilt is too
plain to be denied, too great to be excused, and therefore,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.vii-p7" shownumber="no">I. They express their desires to be at
peace with God upon any terms (<scripRef id="Mic.vii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.6.6-Mic.6.7" parsed="|Mic|6|6|6|7" passage="Mic 6:6,7"><i>v.</i> 6, 7</scripRef>): <i>Wherewith shall I come
before the Lord?</i> Being made sensible of the justice of God's
controversy with them, and dreading the consequences of it, they
were inquisitive what they might do to be reconciled to God and to
make him their friend. They apply to a proper person, with this
enquiry, to the prophet, the Lord's messenger, by whose ministry
they had been convinced. Who so fit to show them their way as he
that had made them sensible of their having missed it? And it is
observable that each one speaks for himself: <i>Wherewith shall I
come?</i> Knowing every one the plague of his own heart, they ask,
not, <i>What shall this man do?</i> But, <i>What shall I do?</i>
Note, Deep convictions of guilt and wrath will put men upon careful
enquiries after peace and pardon, and then, and not till then,
there begins to be some hope of them. They enquire <i>wherewith
they may come before the Lord, and bow themselves before the high
God.</i> They believe there is a God, that he is Jehovah, and that
he is the <i>high God,</i> the <i>Most High.</i> Those whose
consciences are convinced learn to speak very honourably of God,
whom before they spoke slightly of. Now, 1. We know we must <i>come
before God;</i> he is the God with whom <i>we have to do;</i> we
must come as subjects, to pay our homage to him, as beggars, to ask
alms from him, nay, we must <i>come before him,</i> as criminals,
to receive our doom from him, must come before him as our Judge. 2.
When we come before him we must <i>bow before him;</i> it is our
duty to be very humble and reverent in our approaches to him; and,
when we come before him, there is no remedy but we must submit; it
is to no purpose to contend with him. 3. When we come and bow
before him it is our great concern to find favour with him, and to
be accepted of him; their enquiry is, <i>What will the Lord be
pleased with?</i> Note, All that rightly understand their own
interest cannot but be solicitous what they must do to please God,
to avoid his displeasure and to obtain his good-will. 4. In order
to God's being pleased with us, our care must be that the sin by
which we have displeased him may be taken away, and an atonement
made for it. The enquiry here is, <i>What shall I give for my
transgression,</i> for <i>the sin of my soul?</i> Note, The
transgression we are guilty of is the sin of our soul, for the soul
acts it (without the soul's act it is not sin) and the soul suffers
by it; it is the disorder, disease, and defilement of the soul, and
threatens to be the death of it: <i>What shall I give for my
transgressions?</i> What will be accepted as a satisfaction to his
justice, a reparation of his honour? And what will avail to shelter
me from his wrath? 5. We must therefore ask, <i>Wherewith may we
come before him?</i> We must not appear before the Lord empty. What
shall we bring with us? In what manner must we come? In whose name
must we come? We have not that in ourselves which will recommend us
to him, but must have it from another. What righteousness then
shall we appear before him in?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.vii-p8" shownumber="no">II. They make proposals, such as they are,
in order to it. Their enquiry was very good and right, and what we
are all concerned to make, but their proposals betray their
ignorance, though they show their zeal; let us examine them:—</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.vii-p9" shownumber="no">1. They bid high. They offer, (1.) That
which is very rich and costly—<i>thousands of rams.</i> God
required one ram for a sin-offering; they proffer flocks of them,
their whole stock, will be content to make themselves beggars, so
that they may but be at peace with God. They will bring the best
they have, the rams, and the most of them, till it comes to
thousands. (2.) That which is very dear to them, and which they
would be most loth to part with. They could be content to part with
<i>their first-born for their transgressions,</i> if that would be
accepted as an atonement, and the <i>fruit of their body for the
sin of their soul.</i> To those that had become <i>vain in their
imaginations</i> this seemed a probable expedient of making
satisfaction for sin, because our children are pieces of ourselves;
and therefore the heathen sacrificed their children, to appease
their offended deities. Note, Those that are thoroughly convinced
of sin, of the malignity of it, and of their misery and danger by
reason of it, would give all the world, if they had it, for peace
and pardon.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.vii-p10" shownumber="no">2. Yet they do not bid right. It is true
some of these things were instituted by the ceremonial law, as the
bringing of burnt-offerings to God's altar, and calves of a year
old, rams for sin-offerings, and oil for the meat-offerings; but
these alone would not recommend them to God. God had often declared
that <i>to obey is better than sacrifice,</i> and to <i>hearken
than the fat of rams,</i> that <i>sacrifice</i> and <i>offering he
would not;</i> the legal sacrifices had their virtue and value from
the institution, and the reference they had to Christ the great
propitiation; but otherwise, of themselves, it was <i>impossible
that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sin.</i> And as
to the other things here mentioned, (1.) Some of them are
impracticable things, as <i>rivers of oil,</i> which nature has not
provided to feed men's luxury, but rivers of water to supply men's
necessity. All the proposals of peace but those that are according
to the gospel are absurd. One stream of the blood of Christ is
worth ten thousand rivers of oil. (2.) Some of them are wicked
things, as to give our <i>first-born</i> and the <i>fruit of our
body</i> to death, which would but add to the transgression and the
<i>sin of the soul.</i> He that hates robbery for burnt-offerings
much more hates murder, such murder. What right have we to our
<i>first born</i> and the <i>fruit of our body?</i> Do they not
belong to God? Are they not his already, and born to him? Are they
not sinners by nature, and their lives forfeited upon their own
account? How then can they be a ransom for ours? (3.) They are all
external things, parts of that bodily exercise which profiteth
little, and which could not <i>make the comers thereunto
perfect.</i> (4.) They are all insignificant, and insufficient to
attain the end proposed; they could not answer the demands of
divine justice, nor satisfy the wrong done to God in his honour by
sin, nor would they serve in lieu of the sanctification of the
heart and the reformation of the life. Men will part with any thing
rather than their sins, but they part with nothing to God's
acceptance unless they part with them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.vii-p11" shownumber="no">III. God tells them plainly what he
demands, and insists upon, from those that would be accepted of
him, <scripRef id="Mic.vii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.6.8" parsed="|Mic|6|8|0|0" passage="Mic 6:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. Let their
money perish with them that think the pardon of sin and the favour
of God may be so purchased; no, <i>God has shown thee, O man! what
is good.</i> Here we are told,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.vii-p12" shownumber="no">1. That God has made a discovery of his
mind and will to us, for the rectifying of our mistakes and the
direction of our practice. (1.) It is God himself that has shown us
what we must do. We need not trouble ourselves to make proposals,
the terms are already settled and laid down. He whom we have
offended, and to whom we are accountable, has told us upon what
conditions he will be reconciled to us. (2.) It is to man that he
has shown it, not only to thee, <i>O Israel!</i> but <i>to thee, O
man!</i> Gentiles as well as Jews—to men, who are rational
creatures, and capable of receiving the discovery, and not to
brutes,—to men, for whom a remedy is provided, not to devils,
whose case is desperate. What is spoken to <i>all men every
where</i> in general, must by faith be applied to ourselves in
particular, as if it were spoken <i>to thee, O man!</i> by name,
and to no other. (3.) It is a discovery of <i>that which is
good,</i> and which <i>the Lord requires of us.</i> He has shown us
our end, which we should aim at, in showing us what is good,
wherein our true happiness does consist; he has shown us our way in
which we must walk towards that end in showing us what he requires
of us. There is something which God requires we should do for him
and devote to him; and it is good. It is good in itself; there is
an innate goodness in moral duties, antecedent to the command; they
are not, as ceremonial observances, good because they are
commanded, but commanded because they are good, consonant to the
eternal rule and reason of good and evil, which are unalterable. It
has likewise a direct tendency to our good; our conformity to it is
not only the condition of our future happiness, but is a great
expedient of our present happiness; <i>in keeping</i> God's
<i>commandments there is great reward,</i> as well as after keeping
them. (4.) It is shown us. God has not only made it known, but made
it plain; he has discovered it to us with such convincing evidence
as amounts to a demonstration. <i>Lo this, we have searched it, so
it is.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.vii-p13" shownumber="no">2. What that discovery is. The good which
God requires of us is not the paying of a price for the pardon of
sin and acceptance with God, but doing the duty which is the
condition of our interest in the pardon purchased. (1.) We must
<i>do justly,</i> must <i>render to all their due,</i> according as
our relation and obligation to them are; we must do wrong to none,
but do right to all, in their bodies, goods, and good name. (2.) We
must <i>love mercy;</i> we must delight in it, as our God does,
must be glad of an opportunity to do good, and do it cheerfully.
Justice is put before mercy, for we must not give that in alms
which is wrongfully got, or with which our debts should be paid.
<i>God hates robbery for a burnt-offering.</i> (3.) We must <i>walk
humbly with our God.</i> This includes all the duties of the first
table, as the two former include all the duties of the second
table. We must take the Lord for our God in covenant, must attend
on him and adhere to him as ours, and must make it our constant
care and business to please him. Enoch's walking with God is
interpreted (<scripRef id="Mic.vii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Heb.11.5" parsed="|Heb|11|5|0|0" passage="Heb 11:5">Heb. xi. 5</scripRef>)
his <i>pleasing God.</i> We must, in the whole course of our
conversation, conform ourselves to the will of God, keep up our
communion with God, and study to approve ourselves to him in our
integrity; and this we must do humbly (submitting our
understandings to the truths of God and our will to his precepts
and providences); we must <i>humble ourselves to walk with God</i>
(so the margin reads it); every thought within us must be brought
down, to be brought into obedience to God, if we would walk
comfortably with him. This is that which God requires, and without
which the most costly services are <i>vain oblations;</i> this is
more than <i>all burnt-offerings and sacrifices.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Mic.vii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Mic.6.9-Mic.6.16" parsed="|Mic|6|9|6|16" passage="Mic 6:9-16" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Mic.vii-p13.3">
<h4 id="Mic.vii-p13.4">Accusations and
Threatenings. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Mic.vii-p13.5">b. c.</span> 710.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Mic.vii-p14" shownumber="no">9 The <span class="smallcaps" id="Mic.vii-p14.1">Lord</span>'s
voice crieth unto the city, and <i>the man of</i> wisdom shall see
thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.   10 Are
there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked,
and the scant measure <i>that is</i> abominable?   11 Shall I
count <i>them</i> pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag
of deceitful weights?   12 For the rich men thereof are full
of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and
their tongue <i>is</i> deceitful in their mouth.   13
Therefore also will I make <i>thee</i> sick in smiting thee, in
making <i>thee</i> desolate because of thy sins.   14 Thou
shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy casting down <i>shall
be</i> in the midst of thee; and thou shalt take hold, but shalt
not deliver; and <i>that</i> which thou deliverest will I give up
to the sword.   15 Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap;
thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with
oil; and sweet wine, but shalt not drink wine.   16 For the
statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab,
and ye walk in their counsels; that I should make thee a
desolation, and the inhabitants thereof a hissing: therefore ye
shall bear the reproach of my people.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.vii-p15" shownumber="no">God, having shown them how necessary it was
that they should do justly, here shows them how plain it was that
they had done unjustly; and since they submitted not to his
controversy, nor went the right way to have it taken up, here he
proceeds in it. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.vii-p16" shownumber="no">I. How the action is entered against them,
<scripRef id="Mic.vii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.6.9" parsed="|Mic|6|9|0|0" passage="Mic 6:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. God speaks to
<i>the city,</i> to Jerusalem, to Samaria. His <i>voice cries</i>
to it by his servants the prophets who were to <i>cry aloud and not
spare.</i> Note, The voice of the prophets is <i>the Lord's
voice,</i> and that <i>cries to the city,</i> cries to the country.
<i>Doth not wisdom cry?</i> <scripRef id="Mic.vii-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.8.1" parsed="|Prov|8|1|0|0" passage="Pr 8:1">Prov. viii.
1</scripRef>. When the sin of a city cries to God his voice cries
against the city; and, when the judgments of God are coming upon a
city, his voice first <i>cries unto it.</i> He warns before he
wounds, because he is <i>not willing that any should perish.</i>
Now observe, 1. How the voice of God is discerned by some: <i>The
man of wisdom will see thy name.</i> When the voice of God cries to
us we may by it see his name, may discern and perceive that by
which he makes himself known. Yet many see it not, are not aware of
it, because they do not regard it. God <i>speaks once, yea, twice,
and they perceive it not</i> (<scripRef id="Mic.vii-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.14" parsed="|Job|33|14|0|0" passage="Job 33:14">Job
xxxiii. 14</scripRef>); but those that are men of wisdom will see
it, and perceive it, and make a good use of it. Note, It is a point
of true wisdom to discover the name of God in the voice of God, and
to learn what he is from what he says. <i>Wisdom shall see thy
name,</i> for <i>the knowledge of the holy is understanding.</i> 2.
What this voice of God says to all: "<i>Hear you the rod, and who
hath appointed it.</i> Hear the rod when it is coming; hear it at a
distance, before you see it and feel it; and be awakened to go
forth to meet the Lord in the way of his judgments. Hear the rod
when it has come, and is actually upon you, and you are sensible of
the smart of it; hear what it says to you, what convictions, what
counsels, what cautions, it speaks to you." Note, Every rod has a
voice, and it is the voice of God that is to be heard in the rod of
God, and it is well for those that understand the language of it,
which if we would do we must have an eye to <i>him that appointed
it.</i> Note, Every rod is appointed, of what kind it shall be,
where it shall light, and how long it shall lie. God in every
affliction <i>performs the thing that is appointed for us</i>
(<scripRef id="Mic.vii-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.23.14" parsed="|Job|23|14|0|0" passage="Job 23:14">Job xxiii. 14</scripRef>), and to
him therefore we must have an eye, to him we must have an ear; we
must hear what he says to us by the affliction. <i>Hear it, and
know it for thy good,</i> <scripRef id="Mic.vii-p16.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.5.6" parsed="|Job|5|6|0|0" passage="Job 5:6">Job v.
6</scripRef>. The work of ministers is to explain the providences
of God and to quicken and direct men to learn the lessons that are
taught by them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.vii-p17" shownumber="no">II. What is the ground of the action, and
what are the things that are laid to their charge.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.vii-p18" shownumber="no">1. They are charged with injustice, a sin
against the second table. Are there yet to be found among them the
marks and means of fraudulent dealing? What! after all the methods
that God has taken to teach them to do justly, will they yet deal
unjustly? It seems, they will, <scripRef id="Mic.vii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.6.10" parsed="|Mic|6|10|0|0" passage="Mic 6:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. And <i>shall I count them
pure?</i> <scripRef id="Mic.vii-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Mic.6.11" parsed="|Mic|6|11|0|0" passage="Mic 6:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. No;
this is a sin which will by no means consist with a profession of
purity. Those that are dishonest in their dealings have not the
spots of God's children, and shall never be reckoned pure, whatever
shows of devotion they may make. <i>Be not deceived, God is not
mocked.</i> When a man is suspected of theft, or fraud, the justice
of peace will send a warrant to search his house. God here does, as
it were, search the houses of those citizens, and there he finds,
(1.) <i>Treasures of wickedness,</i> abundance of wealth, but it is
ill-got, and not likely to prosper; for <i>treasures of wickedness
profit nothing.</i> (2.) A <i>scant measure,</i> by which they sold
to the poor, and so exacted upon them and cheated them. (3.) They
had <i>wicked balances and a bag of false weights,</i> by which,
under a pretence of weighing what they sold, and giving the buyer
what was right, they did him the greatest wrong, <scripRef id="Mic.vii-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:Mic.6.11" parsed="|Mic|6|11|0|0" passage="Mic 6:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. (4.) Those that had wealth and
power in their hands abused it to oppression and extortion; <i>The
rich men thereof are full of violence;</i> for those that have much
would have more, and are in a capacity of making it more by the
power which their abundance of wealth gives them. They are <i>full
of violence,</i> that is, they have their houses full of that which
is got by violence. (5.) Those that had not the advantage of doing
wrong by their wealth yet found means of defrauding those they
dealt with: <i>The inhabitants thereof have spoken lies;</i> if
they are not able to use force and violence, they use fraud and
deceit; the <i>inhabitants</i> have <i>spoken lies, and their
tongue is deceitful in their mouth;</i> they do not stick at a
deliberate lie, to make a good bargain. Some understand it of their
speaking falsely concerning God, saying, <i>The Lord seeth not; he
hath forsaken the earth,</i> <scripRef id="Mic.vii-p18.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.8.12" parsed="|Ezek|8|12|0|0" passage="Eze 8:12">Ezek.
viii. 12</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.vii-p19" shownumber="no">2. They are charged with idolatry
(<scripRef id="Mic.vii-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.6.6" parsed="|Mic|6|6|0|0" passage="Mic 6:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>): <i>The
statutes of Omri are kept, and all the work of the house of
Ahab.</i> Both these kings were wicked, and <i>did evil in the
sight of the Lord;</i> but the wickedness which they established by
a law, concerning which they made statutes, and which was the
peculiar work of that house, was idolatry. Omri walked in the way
of Jeroboam, and <i>in his sin of provoking God to anger with their
vanities,</i> <scripRef id="Mic.vii-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.26 Bible:1Kgs.16.31" parsed="|1Kgs|16|26|0|0;|1Kgs|16|31|0|0" passage="1Ki 16:26,31">1 Kings xvi. 26,
31</scripRef>. Ahab introduced the worship of Baal. These reigns
were some ages before the time when this prophet lived, and yet the
wickedness which they established by their laws and examples
remained to this day; those statutes were still kept, and that work
was still done; and the princes and people still <i>walked in their
counsels,</i> took the same measures, and governed themselves and
the people by the same politics. Observe, (1.) The same wickedness
continued from one generation to another. Sin is a <i>root of
bitterness,</i> soon planted, but not so soon plucked up again. The
iniquity of former ages is often transmitted to, and entailed upon,
the succeeding ones. Those that make corrupt laws, and bring in
corrupt usages, are doing that which perhaps may prove the ruin of
the child unborn. (2.) It was not the less evil in itself,
provoking to God, and dangerous to the sinners, for its having been
established and confirmed by the laws of princes, the examples of
great men, and a long prescription. Though the worship of idols is
enacted by the statutes of Omri, recommended by the practice of the
house of Ahab, and pleads that it has been the usage of many
generations, yet it is still displeasing to God and destructive to
Israel; for no laws nor customs are of force against the divine
command.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.vii-p20" shownumber="no">III. What is the judgment given upon this.
Being found guilty of these crimes, the sentence is that that which
God had given them warning of (<scripRef id="Mic.vii-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.6.9" parsed="|Mic|6|9|0|0" passage="Mic 6:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>) shall be brought upon them
(<scripRef id="Mic.vii-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Mic.6.13" parsed="|Mic|6|13|0|0" passage="Mic 6:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>):
<i>Therefore also will I make thee sick, in smiting thee.</i> As
they had smitten the poor with the rod of their oppressions, so
would God in like manner smite them, so as to make them sick, sick
of the gains they had unjustly gotten, so that though they had
<i>swallowed down riches</i> they should <i>vomit them up
again,</i> <scripRef id="Mic.vii-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.20.15" parsed="|Job|20|15|0|0" passage="Job 20:15">Job xx. 15</scripRef>.
Their doom is,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.vii-p21" shownumber="no">1. That what they have they shall not have
any comfortable enjoyment of; it shall do them no good. They
grasped at more than enough, but, when they have it, it shall not
be enough to make them easy and happy. What is got by fraud and
oppression cannot be kept or enjoyed with any satisfaction. (1.)
Their food shall not nourish them: <i>Thou shalt eat, but not be
satisfied,</i> either because the food shall not digest, for want
of God's blessing going along with it, or because the appetite
shall by disease be made insatiable and still craving, the just
punishment of those that were greedy of gain and enlarged their
desires as hell. Men may be surfeited with the good things of this
world and yet not satisfied, <scripRef id="Mic.vii-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.5.10 Bible:Isa.55.2" parsed="|Eccl|5|10|0|0;|Isa|55|2|0|0" passage="Ec 5:10,Isa 55:2">Eccl. v. 10; Isa. lv. 2</scripRef>. (2.) Their
country shall not harbour and protect them: "<i>Thy casting down
shall be in the midst of thee,</i> that is, thou shalt be broken
and ruined by the intestine troubles, mischiefs at home enough to
cast thee down, though thou shouldst not be invaded by a foreign
force." God can cast a nation down by that which is in the midst of
them, can consume them by a fire in their own bowels. (3.) They
shall not be able to preserve what they have from a foreign force,
nor to recover what they have lost: "<i>Thou shalt take hold</i> of
what is about to be taken from thee, but thou shalt not hold it
fast, shalt catch at it, but <i>shalt not deliver it,</i> shalt not
retrieve it." It is meant of their wives and children, that were
very dear to them, which they took hold of, as resolved not to part
with them, but there is no remedy, they must go into captivity.
Note, What we hold closest we commonly lose soonest, and that
proves least safe which is most dear. (4.) What they save for a
time shall be reserved for a future and sorer stroke: <i>That which
thou deliverest</i> out of the hand of one enemy <i>will I give up
to the sword</i> of another enemy; for God has many arrows in his
quiver; if one miss the sinner, the next shall not. (5.) What they
have laboured for they shall not enjoy (<scripRef id="Mic.vii-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Mic.6.15" parsed="|Mic|6|15|0|0" passage="Mic 6:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>): "<i>Thou shalt sow, but thou
shalt not reap;</i> it shall be blasted and withered, and there
shall be nothing to reap, or an enemy shall come and reap it for
himself, or thou shalt be carried into captivity, and leave it to
be reaped by thou knowest not whom. Thou shalt <i>tread the
olives,</i> but <i>thou shalt not anoint thyself with oil,</i>
having no heart to make use of ornaments and refreshments when all
is going to ruin. Thou shalt tread out <i>the sweet wine,</i> but
<i>shalt not drink wine,</i> for many things may fall between the
cup and the lip." Note, It is very grievous to be disappointed of
our expectations, and not to have the pleasure of that which we
have taken pains for; and this will be the just punishment of those
that frustrate God's expectations from them, and answer not the
cost he has been at upon them. See this threatened in the law,
<scripRef id="Mic.vii-p21.3" osisRef="Bible:Lev.26.16 Bible:Deut.28.30 Bible:Deut.28.38" parsed="|Lev|26|16|0|0;|Deut|28|30|0|0;|Deut|28|38|0|0" passage="Le 26:16,De 28:30,38">Lev. xxvi. 16; Deut.
xxviii. 30, 38</scripRef>, &amp;c.; and compare <scripRef id="Mic.vii-p21.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.62.8-Isa.62.9" parsed="|Isa|62|8|62|9" passage="Isa 62:8,9">Isa. lxii. 8, 9</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mic.vii-p22" shownumber="no">2. That all they have shall at length be
taken from them (<scripRef id="Mic.vii-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.6.13" parsed="|Mic|6|13|0|0" passage="Mic 6:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>): <i>Thou shalt be made desolate because of thy
sins;</i> and <scripRef id="Mic.vii-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Mic.6.16" parsed="|Mic|6|16|0|0" passage="Mic 6:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>,
<i>a desolation and a hissing.</i> Sin makes a nation desolate; and
when a people that have been famous and flourishing are made
desolate it is the astonishment of some and the triumph of others;
some lament it, and others hiss at it. Thus <i>you shall bear the
reproach of my people.</i> Their being the people of God, in name
and profession while they kept close to their duty and kept
themselves in his love, was an honour to them, and all their
neighbours thought it so; but now that they have corrupted and
ruined themselves, now that their sins and God's judgments have
made their land desolate, their having been once the people of God
does but turn so much the more to their reproach; their enemies
will say, <i>These are the people of the Lord,</i> <scripRef id="Mic.vii-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.36.20" parsed="|Ezek|36|20|0|0" passage="Eze 36:20">Ezek. xxxvi. 20</scripRef>. Note, If professors
of religion ruin themselves, their ruin will be the most
reproachful of any; and they in a special manner will rise at the
last day to everlasting shame and contempt.</p>
</div></div2>