CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0;"/><title>Micah 1 James Gray - Concise Bible Commentary</title><link rel="canonical" href="https://biblehub.com/commentaries/gray/micah/11.htm" /><link href='//fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Cardo&subset=greek-ext' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'><link rel="stylesheet" href="/5001com.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 4800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 4800px)" href="/4801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1550px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1550px)" href="/1551.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1250px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1250px)" href="/1251.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1050px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1050px)" href="/1051.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 900px), only screen and (max-device-width: 900px)" href="/901.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 800px)" href="/801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 575px), only screen and (max-device-width: 575px)" href="/501.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-height: 450px), only screen and (max-device-height: 450px)" href="/h451.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-LR4HSKRP2H"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-LR4HSKRP2H'); </script><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/micah/1.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="//biblehu.com/bmcom/micah/1-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="/commentaries/">Commentary</a> > <a href="../">Gray</a> > <a href="../micah/">Micah</a></div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../jonah/4.htm" title="Jonah 4">◄</a> Micah 1 <a href="../micah/2.htm" title="Micah 2">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">James Gray - Concise Bible Commentary</div><div class="chap"> <div class="versenum"><a href="/micah/1-1.htm">Micah 1:1</a></div><div class="verse">The word of the LORD 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.</div><span class="bld">Micah 1:1-7:20</span><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital"><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">MICAH INTRODUCTION</span></span><span class="p"><br /><br /></span>The little known of Micah is briefly stated. Calling himself a Morasthite indicates Moresheth, or Mareshah, as his birthplace in southwestern Judah, near Gath. The time of his prophesying is shown in the same verse (by the reference to the kings of Judah) as between 758-700 B.C. He seems to be the writer of his own book, if we may judge from the personal allusions in chapter 3:1, 8, and to have died in peace, judging by <a href="/context/jeremiah/26-18.htm" title="Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus said the LORD of hosts; Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest....">Jeremiah 26:18-19</a>. He is frequently referred to as a prophet, and his utterances quoted, not only in the instances above given, but in <a href="/context/isaiah/2-2.htm" title="And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it....">Isaiah 2:2-4</a>; <a href="/isaiah/41-15.htm" title="Behold, I will make you a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: you shall thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shall make the hills as chaff.">Isaiah 41:15</a>; <a href="/ezekiel/22-27.htm" title="Her princes in the middle thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.">Ezekiel 22:27</a>; <a href="/zephaniah/3-19.htm" title="Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict you: and I will save her that halts, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame.">Zephaniah 3:19</a>; <a href="/matthew/2-5.htm" title="And they said to him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,">Matthew 2:5</a>; and <a href="/john/7-42.htm" title="Has not the scripture said, That Christ comes of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?">John 7:42</a>. Jesus quotes him in <a href="/context/matthew/10-35.htm" title="For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law....">Matthew 10:35-36</a>. For further references to his period, see our lessons on Isaiah. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld"><span class="ital">A DESCRIPTION OF JUDGMENT</span><span class="p"><br /><br /></span></span>Chapters 1-3 contain a description of the approaching judgment on both kingdoms Israel and Judah. How does <a href="/micah/1-1.htm" title="The word of the LORD that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.">Micah 1:1</a>; <a href="/micah/1-5.htm" title="For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not Samaria? and what are the high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem?">Micah 1:5</a> indicate that both kingdoms are under consideration? <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>Notice the order in which the three classes of hearers are addressed: (1) The people at large (<a href="/micah/1-2.htm" title="Hear, all you people; listen, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord GOD be witness against you, the LORD from his holy temple.">Micah 1:2</a>) (2) The princes (chap. 3) (3) The false prophets (<a href="/micah/3-5.htm" title="Thus said the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that puts not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.">Micah 3:5</a>) According to <a href="/micah/3-11.htm" title="The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean on the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come on us.">Micah 3:11</a>, what seems to have been the most crying sin of all? And yet notwithstanding their covetousness and greed, how did they show either gross hypocrisy or gross ignorance of God (same verse, last part)? It is at this point that the declaration of judgment is expressed, and in language which has been literally fulfilled (<a href="/micah/3-12.htm" title="Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.">Micah 3:12</a>). <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld"><span class="ital">A VISION OF HOPE</span><span class="p"><br /><br /></span></span>Chapters 4 and 5 unfold the future and happier, because holier, experience of the nation. <a href="/context/micah/4-1.htm" title="But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow to it....">Micah 4:1-4</a> are quoted almost verbatim in Isaiah 2, unless we reverse the order and say that Micah quoted Isaiah. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>At what time are these better things to come to pass according to the beginning of this chapter? How are these things figuratively expressed in <a href="/micah/4-1.htm" title="But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow to it.">Micah 4:1</a>? It is not difficult to recognize in these figures of speech the exaltation of Jerusalem and Judah overall the nations in that day. But how does <a href="/micah/4-2.htm" title="And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.">Micah 4:2</a> show that the exaltation will not be exacting and tyrannous, but the opposite? What language shows that the millennial age is referred to, and no period which has yet appeared in the history of the world? How do <a href="/context/micah/4-3.htm" title="And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more....">Micah 4:3-4</a> strengthen this conviction? What expression in <a href="/micah/4-7.htm" title="And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion from now on, even for ever.">Micah 4:7</a> almost directly states this to be the case? In Joel we saw that prior to Israel’s deliverance, and, as incident thereto, the Gentile nations will be besieging Jerusalem and desirous of seizing her, and that Jehovah will interpose on her behalf. How do the closing verses of this chapter parallel that prophecy? <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>Addressing ourselves to chapter 5, we discover the common teaching of the prophets that these good times coming for Israel and Judah are connected with the person and work of Messiah. How is that led up to in <a href="/micah/5-2.htm" title="But you, Bethlehem Ephratah, though you be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall he come forth to me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.">Micah 5:2</a>? These words are quoted in Matthew 2 to apply to the first coming of Christ, but that does not exclude His second coming. Moreover, all the succeeding verses in this chapter point to events which did not occur at His first coming, but will be found to be uniformly predicated of His second coming. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld"><span class="ital">A CONTRAST DRAWN</span><span class="p"><br /><br /></span></span>Chapters 6 and 7 present a contrast between the reasonableness, purity and justice of the divine requirements, and the ingratitude, injustice and superstition of the people which caused their ruin. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>The closing chapter is peculiarly affecting, a kind of soliloquy of repentance on Israel’s part. The better element among the people are confessing and lamenting their sinful condition in <a href="/context/micah/6-1.htm" title="Hear you now what the LORD said; Arise, contend you before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice....">Micah 6:1-6</a>, but expressing confidence in God’s returning favor (<a href="/context/micah/6-7.htm" title="Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?...">Micah 6:7-8</a>). <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>There are few verses in the Bible more expressive of quiet hope and trust than these. The spirit of confession and submission (<a href="/micah/6-9.htm" title="The LORD's voice cries to the city, and the man of wisdom shall see your name: hear you the rod, and who has appointed it.">Micah 6:9</a>) is beautiful, as is the certainty of triumph over every foe (<a href="/micah/6-10.htm" title="Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is abominable?">Micah 6:10</a>). Note how Jehovah Himself speaks through the prophet (<a href="/context/micah/6-11.htm" title="Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights?...">Micah 6:11-13</a> RV). See the promise of interposition on Israel’s behalf in that day (<a href="/micah/6-15.htm" title="You shall sow, but you shall not reap; you shall tread the olives, but you shall not anoint you with oil; and sweet wine, but shall not drink wine.">Micah 6:15</a>); and the confusion of the Gentile nations at their triumph, and their own discomfiture (<a href="/context/micah/6-16.htm" title="For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and you walk in their counsels; that I should make you a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing: therefore you shall bear the reproach of my people....">Micah 6:16-16</a>). Of course, the temporal blessings coming upon Israel are predicated upon their return to the Lord and His forgiveness of their sins (Micah 6:18-19). Nevertheless these things will take place on the grounds of the original promise to Abraham (Micah 6:20). <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld"><span class="ital">QUESTIONS </span><span class="p"><br /><br /></span></span>1. What can you say of the history of Micah? <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>2. Name the three great divisions of the book. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>3. Analyze chapters 1-3. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>4. With what future event is the deliverance of Israel always associated? <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>5. What makes the closing chapter particularly affecting? <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> <div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">James Gray - Concise Bible Commentary<br /><br />Text Courtesy of <a href="//biblesupport.com" target="_top">BibleSupport.com</a>. Used by Permission. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/">Bible Hub</a></div></div></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="left"><a href="../jonah/4.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Jonah 4"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Jonah 4" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../micah/2.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Micah 2"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Micah 2" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="rightbox"><div class="padright"><div id="pic"><iframe width="100%" height="860" scrolling="no" src="//biblescan.com/mpc/micah/1-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></div></div><div id="rightbox4"><div class="padright2"><div id="spons1"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td class="sp1"><iframe width="122" height="860" scrolling="no" src="/commentaries/ellicott/sidemenu.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></div><div id="bot"><br /><br /><div align="center"> <script id="3d27ed63fc4348d5b062c4527ae09445"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=51ce25d5-1a8c-424a-8695-4bd48c750f35&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script> <script id="b817b7107f1d4a7997da1b3c33457e03"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=cb0edd8b-b416-47eb-8c6d-3cc96561f7e8&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-2'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-0' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-3'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-1' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div align="center" id='div-gpt-ad-1531425649696-0'> </div><br /><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:200px;height:200px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-3753401421161123" data-ad-slot="3592799687"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script> <br /><br /> </div><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhchap.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></td></tr></table></body></html>