Reference: Micah
American
1. The Morasthite, or of Maresheth, a village near Eleutheropolis, in the west of Judah; the seventh in order of the lesser prophets. He prophesied under Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, for about fifty years, if with some we reckon from near the beginning of the reign of Jotham, to the last year of Hezekiah B. C. 750-698. He was nearly contemporary with Isaiah, and has some expressions in common with him. Compare Isa 2:2 with Mic 4:1, and Isa 41:15 with Mic 4:13. His bold fidelity served as a shield to the prophet Jeremiah a century afterwards, Jer 26:18-19; Mic 3:12. He wrote in an elevated and vehement style, with frequent transitions. His prophecy relates to the sins and judgments of Israel and Judah, the destruction of Samaria and Jerusalem, the return of the Jews from captivity, and the punishment of their enemies. He proclaims the coming of the Messiah, "whose going forth have been from of old, from everlasting," as the foundation of all hope for the glorious and blessed future he describes; and specifies Bethlehem in Judah as the place where He should be born of woman, Mic 5:2-3. The prediction was thus understood by the Jews, Mt 2:6; Joh 7:41-42.
2. An Ephraimite in the time of the Judges, soon after Joshua, who stole eleven hundred shekels of silver from his mother, but restored them, and with her consent employed them in establishing a private sanctuary, with an image to be used in the worship of Jehovah, and with a Levite for his priest. Providence frowned on his idolatrous service, and a troop of Danites robbed him of his priest and of all implements of worship, Jg 17:13.
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Then Micah said, Now I am certain that the Lord will do me good, seeing that the Levite has become my priest.
And it will come about in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord will be placed on the top of the mountains, and be lifted up over the hills; and all nations will come to it.
See, I will make you like a new grain-crushing instrument with teeth, crushing the mountains small, and making the hills like dry stems.
Micah the Morashtite, who was a prophet in the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah, said to all the people of Judah, This is what the Lord of armies has said: Zion will become like a ploughed field, and Jerusalem will become a mass of broken walls, and the mountain of the house like the high places of the woodland. Did Hezekiah and all Judah put him to death? did he not in the fear of the Lord make prayer for the grace of the Lord, and the Lord let himself be turned from the decision he had made against them for evil? By this act we might do great evil against ourselves.
For this reason, Zion will be ploughed like a field because of you, and Jerusalem will become a mass of broken walls, and the mountain of the house like a high place in the woods.
But in the last days it will come about that the mountain of the Lord's house will be placed on the top of the mountains, and be lifted up over the hills; and peoples will be flowing to it.
Up! and let the grain be crushed, O daughter of Zion, for I will make your horn iron and your feet brass, and a number of peoples will be broken by you, and you will give up their increase to the Lord and their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.
And you, Beth-lehem Ephrathah, the least among the families of Judah, out of you one will come to me who is to be ruler in Israel; whose going out has been purposed from time past, from the eternal days. For this cause he will give them up till the time when she who is with child has given birth: then the rest of his brothers will come back to the children of Israel.
You Beth-lehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the chiefs of Judah: out of you will come a ruler, who will be the keeper of my people Israel.
Others said, This is the Christ. But others said, Not so; will the Christ come from Galilee? Do not the Writings say that the Christ comes of the seed of David and from Beth-lehem, the little town where David was?
Easton
a shortened form of Micaiah, who is like Jehovah? (1.) A man of Mount Ephraim, whose history so far is introduced in Jg 17, apparently for the purpose of leading to an account of the settlement of the tribe of Dan in Northern Palestine, and for the purpose also of illustrating the lawlessness of the times in which he lived (Jg 18; 19:1-29; 21:25).
(2.) The son of Merib-baal (Mephibosheth), 1Ch 8:34-35.
(3.) The first in rank of the priests of the family of Kohathites (1Ch 23:20).
(4.) A descendant of Joel the Reubenite (1Ch 5:5).
(5.) "The Morasthite," so called to distinguish him from Micaiah, the son of Imlah (1Ki 22:8). He was a prophet of Judah, a contemporary of Isaiah (Mic 1:1), a native of Moresheth of Gath (Mic 1:14-15). Very little is known of the circumstances of his life (comp. Jer 26:18-19).
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And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, There is still one man by whom we may get directions from the Lord, Micaiah, son of Imlah; but I have no love for him, for he is a prophet of evil to me and not of good. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.
And the son of Jonathan was Merib-baal; and Merib-baal was the father of Micah. And the sons of Micah: Pithon and Melech and Tarea and Ahaz.
Micah the Morashtite, who was a prophet in the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah, said to all the people of Judah, This is what the Lord of armies has said: Zion will become like a ploughed field, and Jerusalem will become a mass of broken walls, and the mountain of the house like the high places of the woodland. Did Hezekiah and all Judah put him to death? did he not in the fear of the Lord make prayer for the grace of the Lord, and the Lord let himself be turned from the decision he had made against them for evil? By this act we might do great evil against ourselves.
The word of the Lord which came to Micah the Morashtite, in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah: his vision about Samaria and Jerusalem.
For this cause give a parting offering to Moresheth-gath: the daughter of Achzib will be a deceit to the king of Israel. Even now will the taker of your heritage come to you, you who are living in Mareshah: the glory of Israel will come to destruction for ever.
Fausets
1. Of Mount Ephraim. (See JONATHAN .) The date of the event is implied as before Samson, for the origin of the name Mahaneh Dan occurs in this narrative (Jg 18:12) and it is mentioned as already so named in Samson's childhood (Jg 13:25, margin). Josephus places the synchronous narrative of the Levite and his concubine at the beginning of the judges. Phinehas, Aaron's grandson, is mentioned (Jg 20:28). The narrative was written after the monarchy had begun (Jg 18:1; 19:1), while the tabernacle was still at Shiloh, not yet moved by David to Jerusalem (Jg 18:31).
2. MICAH THE PROPHET. The oldest form of the name was Mikaiahuw, "who is as Jah?" (compare MICHAEL.) In Mic 7:18 Micah alludes to the meaning of his name as embodying the most precious truth to a guilty people such as he had painted the Jews, "who is a God like unto Thee that pardon iniquity," etc. Sixth of the minor prophets in the Hebrew canon, third in the Septuagint. The Morasthite, i.e. of Moresheth, or Moresheth Gath (near Gath in S.W. of Judaea), where once was his tomb, but in Jerome's (Ep. Paulae 6) days a church, not far from Eleutheropolis. Micah prophesied in the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah somewhere between 756 and 697 B.C. Contemporary with Isaiah in Judah, with whose prophecies his have a close connection (compare Mic 4:1-3 with Isa 2:2-4, the latter stamping the former as inspired), and with Hosea and Amos during their later ministry in Israel.
His earlier prophecies under Jotham and Ahaz were collected and written out as one whole under Hezekiah. Probably the book was read before the assembled king and people on some fast or festival, as certain elders quoted to the princes and people assembled against Jeremiah (Jer 26:18) Mic 3:12, "Micah the Morasthite in the days of Hezekiah, and spoke to all the people of Judah, Thus saith 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. Did Hezekiah put him ... to death? Did he not fear the Lord and besought the Lord, and the Lord repented Him of the evil which He had pronounced against them?" The idolatries of Ahaz' reign accord with Micah 's denunciations. He prophesies partly against Israel (Samaria), partly against Judah.
Shalmaneser and Sargon took Samaria in the sixth year of Hezekiah (722 B.C.). The section in which is (Mic 1:6) "I will make Samaria as an heap" was therefore earlier. The "high places" (Mic 1:5) probably allude to those in Jotham's and Ahaz' reigns (2Ki 15:35; 16:4). The "horses and chariots" (Mic 5:10) accord with Jotham's time, when Uzziah's military establishments still flourished (2Ch 26:11-15). Mic 5:12-14; 6:16, "the statutes of Omri are kept and all the works of the house of Ahab," accord with the reign of Ahaz who "walked in the way of the kings of Israel" (2Ki 16:3).
DIVISIONS. The thrice repeated phrase "Hear ye" (Mic 1:2; 3:1; 6:1) divides the whole into three parts. The middle division (Micah 3-5) has Messiah and His kingdom for its subject. The first division prepares for this by foretelling the overthrow of the world kingdoms. The third division is the appeal based on the foregoing, and the elect church's anticipation of God's finally forgiving His people's sin completely, and restoring Israel because of the covenant with Jacob and Abraham of old. The intimations concerning the birth of Messiah as a child and His reign in peace, and Jacob's remnant destroying adversaries as a "lion," but being "a dew from the Lord amidst many people" (Mic 4:9-5:5), correspond to Isa 7:14-16; 9:6-7.
This middle section is the climax, failing into four strophes (Mic 4:1-8,5-9;Mic 4:2; 5:8-15). Mic 6:7, form a vivid dialogue wherein Jehovah expostulates with Israel for their sinful and monstrous ingratitude, and they attempt to reply and are convicted (Mic 6:6-8). Then the chosen remnant amidst the surrounding gloom looks to the Lord and receives assurance of final deliverance. Zacharias (Lu 1:72-73) reproduces the closing anticipation (Mic 7:16-20), "Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob and the mercy to Abraham which Thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old." Sennacherib's invasion is foreseen, Mic 1:9-16; especially Mic 1:13-14, compare 2Ki 18:14-17. Jerusalem's destruction in Mic 3:12; 7:13.
The Babylonian captivity and deliverance in Mic 4:10,1-8; 7:11, confirming the genuineness of the latter half of Isaiah his contemporary, with whom Micah has so much in common and who (Isaiah 39-66) similarly foretells the captivity and deliverance. The fall of Assyria and Babylon are referred to (Mic 5:5-6; 7:8,10). Hengstenberg thinks that Micaiah's words (1Ki 22:28), "hearken, O people, every one of you," were intentionally repeated by Micah to intimate that his own activity is a continuation of that of his predecessor who was so jealous for God, and that he had more in common with him than the mere name.
STYLE. His diction is pure and his parallelisms regular. His description of Jehovah (Mic 7:18-19), "who is a God like unto Thee, forgiving?" etc., alludes to the meaning of his own name and to Ex 15:11; 34:6-7, and is a fine specimen of his power and pathos. He is dramatic in Micah 6; 7. His similarity to Isaiah in style is due to their theme being alike (Mic 1:2; Isa 1:2; Mic 2:2; Isa 5:8; Mic 2:6,11; Isa 30:10; Mic 2:12; Isa 10:20-22; Mic 6:6-8; Isa 1:11-17).
He is abrupt in transitions, and elliptical, and so obscure; the contrast between Babylon, which triumphs over carnal Israel, and humble Bethlehem out of which shall come forth Israel's Deliverer and Babylon's Destroyer, is a striking instance: Mic 4:8-5:7. Pastoral and rural imagery is common (Mic 1:6,8; 2:12; 3:12; 4/3/type/bbe'>4:3,12-13; 5:4-8; 6:15; 7:1,4,14). Flays upon words abound (Mic 1:10-15). (See APHRAH; BETHEZEL; MAROTH; ACHZIB; MARESHAH.) New Testament quotations of Micah: Mt 2:5-6 (Mic 5:2); Mt 10:35-36 (Mic 7:6); Mt 9:13 (Mic 6:6-8); Mr 13:12; Lu 12:53 (Mic 7:6); Joh 7:42 (Mic 5:2); Eph 2:14 (Mic 5:5).
3. The Reubenite Joel's descendant (1Ch 5:5).
4. Mephibosheth's or Meribbaal's son (1Ch 8:34; 2Sa 9:12), MICHA.
5. A Kohathite Levite, Uzziel's oldest son; nephew of Amram, and cousin to Moses (1Ch 23:20; 24:24-25); the spelling varies in the two chapters.
6. Abdon's father (2Ch 34:20); Achbor's, 2Ki 22:12.
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Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? who is like you, in holy glory, to be praised with fear, doing wonders?
And the Lord went past before his eyes, saying, The Lord, the Lord, a God full of pity and grace, slow to wrath and great in mercy and faith; Having mercy on thousands, overlooking evil and wrongdoing and sin; he will not let wrongdoers go free, but will send punishment on children for the sins of their fathers, and on their children's children to the third and fourth generation.
And the spirit of the Lord first came on him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
In those days there was no king in Israel, and in those days the Danites were looking for a heritage for themselves, to be their living-place; for up to that time no distribution of land had been made to them among the tribes of Israel.
And they went up and put up their tents in Kiriath-jearim in Judah: so that place is named Mahaneh-dan to this day. It is to the west of Kiriath-jearim.
And they put up for themselves the image which Micah had made, and it was there all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.
Now in those days, when there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite was living in the inmost parts of the hill-country of Ephraim, and he got for himself a servant-wife from Beth-lehem-judah.
And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, was in his place before it,) and said, Am I still to go on with the fight against the children of Benjamin my brother, or am I to give it up? And the Lord said, Go on; for tomorrow I will give him into your hands.
And Micaiah said, If you come back at all in peace, the Lord has not sent his word by me.
But he did not take away the high places, and the people still went on making offerings and burning them in the high places. He was the builder of the higher doorway of the house of the Lord.
But he went in the ways of the kings of Israel, and even made his son go through the fire, copying the disgusting ways of the nations whom the Lord had sent out of the land before the children of Israel. And he made offerings, burning them in the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.
And Hezekiah, king of Judah, sent to Lachish, to the king of Assyria, saying, I have done wrong; give up attacking me, and whatever you put on me I will undergo. And the payment he was to make was fixed by the king of Assyria at three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. So Hezekiah gave him all the silver in the house of the Lord, and in the king's store-house. read more. And at that time Hezekiah had the gold from the doors of the Lord's house, and from the door-pillars plated by him, cut off and gave it to the king of Assyria. Then the king of Assyria sent the Tartan and the Rab-saris and the Rab-shakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem, to King Hezekiah, with a strong force. And they went up and came to Jerusalem, and took up their position by the stream of the higher pool, by the highway of the washerman's field.
And he gave orders to Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Achbor, the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying,
The sons of Uzziel, Micah; of the sons of Micah, Shamir. The brother of Micah, Isshiah; of the sons of Isshiah, Zechariah.
In addition, Uzziah had an army of fighting-men who went out to war in bands, as they had been listed by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the ruler, under the authority of Hananiah, one of the king's captains. The heads of families, the strong men of war, were two thousand, six hundred. read more. And under their orders was a trained army of three hundred and seven thousand, five hundred, of great strength in war, helping the king against any who came against him. And Uzziah had all these forces armed with body-covers and spears and head-covers and coats of metal and bows and stones for sending from leather bands. And in Jerusalem he made machines, the invention of expert men, to be placed on the towers and angles of the walls for sending arrows and great stones. And his name was honoured far and wide; for he was greatly helped till he was strong.
And he gave orders to Hilkiah and to Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Abdon, the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe and Asaiah, the king's servant, saying,
Give ear, O heavens, and you, O earth, to the word which the Lord has said: I have taken care of my children till they became men, but their hearts have been turned away from me.
What use to me is the number of the offerings which you give me? says the Lord; your burned offerings of sheep, and the best parts of fat cattle, are a weariness to me; I take no pleasure in the blood of oxen, or of lambs, or of he-goats. At whose request do you come before me, making my house unclean with your feet? read more. Give me no more false offerings; the smoke of burning flesh is disgusting to me, so are your new moons and Sabbaths and your holy meetings. Your new moons and your regular feasts are a grief to my soul: they are a weight in my spirit; I am crushed under them. And when your hands are stretched out to me, my eyes will be turned away from you: even though you go on making prayers, I will not give ear: your hands are full of blood. Be washed, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes; let there be an end of sinning; Take pleasure in well-doing; let your ways be upright, keep down the cruel, give a right decision for the child who has no father, see to the cause of the widow.
And it will come about in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord will be placed on the top of the mountains, and be lifted up over the hills; and all nations will come to it. And the peoples will say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob: and he will give us knowledge of his ways, and we will be guided by his word; for out of Zion the law will go out, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. read more. And he will be the judge between the nations, and the peoples will be ruled by his decisions: and their swords will be turned into plough-blades, and their spears into vine-knives: no longer will the nations be turning their swords against one another, and the knowledge of war will be gone for ever.
Cursed are those who are joining house to house, and putting field to field, till there is no more living-space for any but themselves in all the land!
For this cause the Lord himself will give you a sign; a young woman is now with child, and she will give birth to a son, and she will give him the name Immanuel. Butter and honey will be his food, when he is old enough to make a decision between evil and good. read more. For before the child is old enough to make a decision between evil and good, the land whose two kings you are now fearing will have become waste.
For to us a child has come, to us a son is given; and the government has been placed in his hands; and he has been named Wise Guide, Strong God, Father for ever, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his rule and of peace there will be no end, on the seat of David, and in his kingdom; to make it strong, supporting it with wise decision and righteousness, now and for ever. By the fixed purpose of the Lord of armies this will be done.
And it will be in that day that the rest of Israel, and those of Jacob who have come safely through these troubles, will no longer go for help to him whose rod was on their back, but their faith will be in the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. The rest, even the rest of Jacob, will come back to the Strong God. read more. For though your people, O Israel, are as the sand of the sea, only a small number will come back: for the destruction is fixed, overflowing in righteousness.
Who say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Do not give us word of what is true, but say false things to give us pleasure:
Micah the Morashtite, who was a prophet in the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah, said to all the people of Judah, This is what the Lord of armies has said: Zion will become like a ploughed field, and Jerusalem will become a mass of broken walls, and the mountain of the house like the high places of the woodland.
Give ear, you peoples, all of you; give attention, O earth and everything in it: let the Lord God be witness against you, the Lord from his holy Temple.
Give ear, you peoples, all of you; give attention, O earth and everything in it: let the Lord God be witness against you, the Lord from his holy Temple.
All this is because of the wrongdoing of Jacob and the sins of the children of Israel. What is the wrongdoing of Jacob? is it not Samaria? and what are the high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem? So I will make Samaria into a field and the plantings of a vine-garden: I will send its stones falling down into the valley, uncovering its bases.
So I will make Samaria into a field and the plantings of a vine-garden: I will send its stones falling down into the valley, uncovering its bases.
For this I will be full of sorrow and give cries of grief; I will go uncovered and unclothed: I will give cries of grief like the jackals and will be in sorrow like the ostriches. For her wounds may not be made well: for it has come even to Judah, stretching up to the doorway of my people, even to Jerusalem. read more. Give no word of it in Gath, let there be no weeping at all: at Beth-le-aphrah be rolling in the dust.
Give no word of it in Gath, let there be no weeping at all: at Beth-le-aphrah be rolling in the dust. Be uncovered and go away, you who are living in Shaphir: the one living in Zaanan has not come out of her town; Beth-ezel is taken away from its base, even from its resting-place.
Be uncovered and go away, you who are living in Shaphir: the one living in Zaanan has not come out of her town; Beth-ezel is taken away from its base, even from its resting-place. For the one living in Maroth is waiting for good: for evil has come down from the Lord to the doorways of Jerusalem.
For the one living in Maroth is waiting for good: for evil has come down from the Lord to the doorways of Jerusalem. Let the war-carriage be yoked to the quick-running horse, you who are living in Lachish: she was the first cause of sin to the daughter of Zion; for the wrongdoings of Israel were seen in you.
Let the war-carriage be yoked to the quick-running horse, you who are living in Lachish: she was the first cause of sin to the daughter of Zion; for the wrongdoings of Israel were seen in you.
Let the war-carriage be yoked to the quick-running horse, you who are living in Lachish: she was the first cause of sin to the daughter of Zion; for the wrongdoings of Israel were seen in you. For this cause give a parting offering to Moresheth-gath: the daughter of Achzib will be a deceit to the king of Israel.
For this cause give a parting offering to Moresheth-gath: the daughter of Achzib will be a deceit to the king of Israel.
For this cause give a parting offering to Moresheth-gath: the daughter of Achzib will be a deceit to the king of Israel. Even now will the taker of your heritage come to you, you who are living in Mareshah: the glory of Israel will come to destruction for ever.
Even now will the taker of your heritage come to you, you who are living in Mareshah: the glory of Israel will come to destruction for ever. Let your head be uncovered and your hair cut off in sorrow for the children of your delight: let the hair be pulled from your head like an eagle's; for they have been taken away from you as prisoners.
They have a desire for fields and take them by force; and for houses and take them away: they are cruel to a man and his family, even to a man and his heritage.
Let not words like these be dropped, they say: Shame and the curse will not come to the family of Jacob!
If a man came with a false spirit of deceit, saying, I will be a prophet to you of wine and strong drink: he would be the sort of prophet for this people. I will certainly make all of you, O Jacob, come together; I will get together the rest of Israel; I will put them together like the sheep in their circle: like a flock in their green field; they will be full of the noise of men.
I will certainly make all of you, O Jacob, come together; I will get together the rest of Israel; I will put them together like the sheep in their circle: like a flock in their green field; they will be full of the noise of men.
And I said, Give ear, now, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the people of Israel: is it not for you to have knowledge of what is right?
For this reason, Zion will be ploughed like a field because of you, and Jerusalem will become a mass of broken walls, and the mountain of the house like a high place in the woods.
For this reason, Zion will be ploughed like a field because of you, and Jerusalem will become a mass of broken walls, and the mountain of the house like a high place in the woods.
For this reason, Zion will be ploughed like a field because of you, and Jerusalem will become a mass of broken walls, and the mountain of the house like a high place in the woods.
But in the last days it will come about that the mountain of the Lord's house will be placed on the top of the mountains, and be lifted up over the hills; and peoples will be flowing to it.
But in the last days it will come about that the mountain of the Lord's house will be placed on the top of the mountains, and be lifted up over the hills; and peoples will be flowing to it.
But in the last days it will come about that the mountain of the Lord's house will be placed on the top of the mountains, and be lifted up over the hills; and peoples will be flowing to it. And a number of nations will go 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 give us knowledge of his ways and we will be guided by his word: for from Zion the law will go out, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
And a number of nations will go 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 give us knowledge of his ways and we will be guided by his word: for from Zion the law will go out, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
And a number of nations will go 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 give us knowledge of his ways and we will be guided by his word: for from Zion the law will go out, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
And a number of nations will go 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 give us knowledge of his ways and we will be guided by his word: for from Zion the law will go out, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he will be judge between great peoples, and strong nations far away will be ruled by his decisions; their swords will be hammered into plough-blades and their spears into vine-knives: nations will no longer be lifting up their swords against one another, and knowledge of war will have gone for ever.
And he will be judge between great peoples, and strong nations far away will be ruled by his decisions; their swords will be hammered into plough-blades and their spears into vine-knives: nations will no longer be lifting up their swords against one another, and knowledge of war will have gone for ever.
And he will be judge between great peoples, and strong nations far away will be ruled by his decisions; their swords will be hammered into plough-blades and their spears into vine-knives: nations will no longer be lifting up their swords against one another, and knowledge of war will have gone for ever.
And he will be judge between great peoples, and strong nations far away will be ruled by his decisions; their swords will be hammered into plough-blades and their spears into vine-knives: nations will no longer be lifting up their swords against one another, and knowledge of war will have gone for ever. But every man will be seated under his vine and under his fig-tree, and no one will be a cause of fear to them: for the mouth of the Lord of armies has said it.
But every man will be seated under his vine and under his fig-tree, and no one will be a cause of fear to them: for the mouth of the Lord of armies has said it. For all the peoples will be walking, every one in the name of his god, and we will be walking in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever.
For all the peoples will be walking, every one in the name of his god, and we will be walking in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever.
For all the peoples will be walking, every one in the name of his god, and we will be walking in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever. In that day, says the Lord, I will get together her who goes with uncertain steps, I will get together her who has been sent away, and her on whom I have sent evil;
In that day, says the Lord, I will get together her who goes with uncertain steps, I will get together her who has been sent away, and her on whom I have sent evil;
In that day, says the Lord, I will get together her who goes with uncertain steps, I will get together her who has been sent away, and her on whom I have sent evil; And I will make her whose steps were uncertain a small band, and her who was feeble a strong nation: and the Lord will be their King in Mount Zion from now and for ever.
And I will make her whose steps were uncertain a small band, and her who was feeble a strong nation: and the Lord will be their King in Mount Zion from now and for ever.
And I will make her whose steps were uncertain a small band, and her who was feeble a strong nation: and the Lord will be their King in Mount Zion from now and for ever. And you, O tower of the flock, Ophel of the daughter of Zion, to you it will come, even the earlier authority, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.
And you, O tower of the flock, Ophel of the daughter of Zion, to you it will come, even the earlier authority, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.
And you, O tower of the flock, Ophel of the daughter of Zion, to you it will come, even the earlier authority, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem. Now why are you crying so loudly? is there no king in you? has destruction come on your wise helper? so that pains have taken you like the pains of a woman in childbirth: read more. Be in pain, make sounds of grief, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in childbirth: for now you will go out of the town, living in the open country, and will come even to Babylon; there you will have salvation; there the Lord will make you free from the hands of your haters.
But they have no knowledge of the thoughts of the Lord, their minds are not able to see his purpose: for he has got them together like stems of grain to the crushing-floor. Up! and let the grain be crushed, O daughter of Zion, for I will make your horn iron and your feet brass, and a number of peoples will be broken by you, and you will give up their increase to the Lord and their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.
And you, Beth-lehem Ephrathah, the least among the families of Judah, out of you one will come to me who is to be ruler in Israel; whose going out has been purposed from time past, from the eternal days.
And you, Beth-lehem Ephrathah, the least among the families of Judah, out of you one will come to me who is to be ruler in Israel; whose going out has been purposed from time past, from the eternal days.
And he will take his place and give food to his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the glory of the name of the Lord his God; and their resting-place will be safe: for now he will be great to the ends of the earth. And this will be our peace: when the Assyrian comes into our country and his feet are in our land, then we will put up against him seven keepers of the flocks and eight chiefs among men.
And this will be our peace: when the Assyrian comes into our country and his feet are in our land, then we will put up against him seven keepers of the flocks and eight chiefs among men.
And this will be our peace: when the Assyrian comes into our country and his feet are in our land, then we will put up against him seven keepers of the flocks and eight chiefs among men. And they will make waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod with the edge of the sword: he will give us salvation from the Assyrian when he comes into our country, when his feet come inside the limit of our land.
And they will make waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod with the edge of the sword: he will give us salvation from the Assyrian when he comes into our country, when his feet come inside the limit of our land. And the rest of Jacob will be among the mass of peoples like dew from the Lord, like showers on the grass, which may not be kept back by man, or be waiting for the sons of men. read more. And the rest of Jacob will be among the nations, in the middle of the mass of peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the woods, like a young lion among the flocks of sheep: if he goes through, they will be crushed under foot and pulled to bits, and there will be no saviour.
And the rest of Jacob will be among the nations, in the middle of the mass of peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the woods, like a young lion among the flocks of sheep: if he goes through, they will be crushed under foot and pulled to bits, and there will be no saviour. Your hand is lifted up against those who are against you, and all your haters will be cut off. read more. And it will come about in that day, says the Lord, that I will take away your horses from you, and will give your war-carriages to destruction:
And it will come about in that day, says the Lord, that I will take away your horses from you, and will give your war-carriages to destruction: I will have the towns of your land cut off and all your strong places pulled down: read more. I will put an end to your use of secret arts, and you will have no more readers of signs:
I will put an end to your use of secret arts, and you will have no more readers of signs: And I will have your images and your pillars cut off from you; and you will no longer give worship to the work of your hands.
And I will have your images and your pillars cut off from you; and you will no longer give worship to the work of your hands. I will have your Asherahs pulled up from among you: and I will send destruction on your images.
I will have your Asherahs pulled up from among you: and I will send destruction on your images. And my punishment will be effected on the nations with such burning wrath as they have not had word of.
Give ear now to the words of the Lord: Up! put forward your cause before the mountains, let your voice be sounding among the hills.
With what am I to come before the Lord and go with bent head before the high God? am I to come before him with burned offerings, with young oxen a year old?
With what am I to come before the Lord and go with bent head before the high God? am I to come before him with burned offerings, with young oxen a year old?
With what am I to come before the Lord and go with bent head before the high God? am I to come before him with burned offerings, with young oxen a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of sheep or with ten thousand rivers of oil? am I to give my first child for my wrongdoing, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of sheep or with ten thousand rivers of oil? am I to give my first child for my wrongdoing, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of sheep or with ten thousand rivers of oil? am I to give my first child for my wrongdoing, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of sheep or with ten thousand rivers of oil? am I to give my first child for my wrongdoing, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has made clear to you, O man, what is good; and what is desired from you by the Lord; only doing what is right, and loving mercy, and walking without pride before your God.
He has made clear to you, O man, what is good; and what is desired from you by the Lord; only doing what is right, and loving mercy, and walking without pride before your God.
He has made clear to you, O man, what is good; and what is desired from you by the Lord; only doing what is right, and loving mercy, and walking without pride before your God.
You will put in seed, but you will not get in the grain; you will be crushing olives, but your bodies will not be rubbed with the oil; and you will get in the grapes, but you will have no wine. For you have kept the laws of Omri and all the works of the family of Ahab, and you have been guided by their designs: so that I might make you a cause of wonder and your people a cause of hisses; and the shame of my people will be on you.
Sorrow is mine! for I am as when they have got in the summer fruits, like the last of the grapes: there is nothing for food, not even an early fig for my desire.
The best of them is like a waste plant, and their upright ones are like a wall of thorns. Sorrow! the day of their fate has come; now will trouble come on them.
For the son puts shame on his father, the daughter goes against her mother and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's haters are those of his family.
For the son puts shame on his father, the daughter goes against her mother and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's haters are those of his family.
Do not be glad because of my sorrow, O my hater: after my fall I will be lifted up; when I am seated in the dark, the Lord will be a light to me.
And my hater will see it and be covered with shame; she who said to me, Where is the Lord your God? my eyes will see their desire effected on her, now she will be crushed under foot like the dust of the streets. A day for building your walls! in that day will your limits be stretched far and wide.
But the land will become a waste because of its people, as the fruit of their works. Keep your people safe with your rod, the flock of your heritage, living by themselves in the woods in the middle of Carmel: let them get their food in Bashan and Gilead as in the past.
The nations will see and be shamed because of all their strength; they will put their hands on their mouths, their ears will be stopped. They will take dust as their food like a snake, like the things which go flat on the earth; they will come shaking with fear out of their secret places: they will come with fear to the Lord our God, full of fear because of you. read more. Who is a God like you, offering forgiveness for evil-doing and overlooking the sins of the rest of his heritage? he does not keep his wrath for ever, because his delight is in mercy.
Who is a God like you, offering forgiveness for evil-doing and overlooking the sins of the rest of his heritage? he does not keep his wrath for ever, because his delight is in mercy.
Who is a God like you, offering forgiveness for evil-doing and overlooking the sins of the rest of his heritage? he does not keep his wrath for ever, because his delight is in mercy. He will again have pity on us; he will put our sins under his feet: and you will send all our sins down into the heart of the sea.
He will again have pity on us; he will put our sins under his feet: and you will send all our sins down into the heart of the sea. You will make clear your good faith to Jacob and your mercy to Abraham, as you gave your oath to our fathers from times long past.
And they said to him, In Beth-lehem of Judaea; for so it is said in the writings of the prophet, You Beth-lehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the chiefs of Judah: out of you will come a ruler, who will be the keeper of my people Israel.
But go and take to heart the sense of these words, My desire is for mercy, not offerings: for I have come not to get the upright, but sinners.
For I have come to put a man against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law: And a man will be hated by those of his house.
And brother will give up brother to death, and the father his child; and children will go against their fathers and mothers, and put them to death.
To do acts of mercy to our fathers and to keep in mind his holy word, The oath which he made to Abraham, our father,
They will be at war, the father against his son, and the son against his father; mother against daughter, and daughter against mother; mother-in-law against daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.
Do not the Writings say that the Christ comes of the seed of David and from Beth-lehem, the little town where David was?
For he is our peace, who has made the two into one, and by whom the middle wall of division has been broken down,
Hastings
The Morashtite, one of the four prophets of the 8th century b.c. whose writings have survived. Probably his prophecy does not extend beyond the first three chapters of the Book of Micah (see next art.).
According to the general interpretation of Mic 1:5, Micah prophesied, at least in part, before the destruction of Samaria, which took place in b.c. 722; though some place his prophetic activity entirely in the years 705
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Cursed are those who are joining house to house, and putting field to field, till there is no more living-space for any but themselves in all the land!
Micah the Morashtite, who was a prophet in the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah, said to all the people of Judah, This is what the Lord of armies has said: Zion will become like a ploughed field, and Jerusalem will become a mass of broken walls, and the mountain of the house like the high places of the woodland.
The word of the Lord which came to Micah the Morashtite, in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah: his vision about Samaria and Jerusalem.
All this is because of the wrongdoing of Jacob and the sins of the children of Israel. What is the wrongdoing of Jacob? is it not Samaria? and what are the high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem?
All this is because of the wrongdoing of Jacob and the sins of the children of Israel. What is the wrongdoing of Jacob? is it not Samaria? and what are the high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem?
For this cause give a parting offering to Moresheth-gath: the daughter of Achzib will be a deceit to the king of Israel.
A curse on the designers of evil, working on their beds! in the morning light they do it, because it is in their power.
And I said, Give ear, now, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the people of Israel: is it not for you to have knowledge of what is right? You who are haters of good and lovers of evil, pulling off their skin from them and their flesh from their bones; read more. Like meat they take the flesh of my people for their food, skinning them and crushing their bones, yes, cutting them up as if for the pot, like flesh inside the cooking-pot. Then they will be crying to the Lord for help, but he will not give them an answer: yes, he will keep his face veiled from them at that time, because their acts have been evil. This is what the Lord has said about the prophets by whom my people have been turned from the right way; who, biting with their teeth, say, Peace; and if anyone puts nothing in their mouths they make ready for war against him.
But I truly am full of the spirit of the Lord, with power of judging and with strength to make clear to Jacob his wrongdoing and to Israel his sin.
They are building up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with evil-doing. Its heads take rewards for judging, and the priests take payment for teaching, and the prophets get silver for reading the future: but still, supporting themselves on the Lord, they say, Is not the Lord among us? no evil will overtake us.
Its heads take rewards for judging, and the priests take payment for teaching, and the prophets get silver for reading the future: but still, supporting themselves on the Lord, they say, Is not the Lord among us? no evil will overtake us. For this reason, Zion will be ploughed like a field because of you, and Jerusalem will become a mass of broken walls, and the mountain of the house like a high place in the woods.
Morish
Micah. Mi'cah
1. A man of Mount Ephraim, whose history reveals the sad state of private life in Israel, as well as the mixture of idolatry with the name of Jehovah, early in the times of the Judges, Phinehas being still high priest. He had a house of gods, and made an ephod and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons to act as priest. A wandering son of Levi finding his way to Micah's house was gladly received by him, treated as one of his sons, and became his priest. Then Micah said, "Now know I that the Lord will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest." The Danites however, seeking a larger inheritance, sent spies to the north, who came near Micah's house, and knowing the voice of the Levite, asked him to inquire of God for them. He ventured to reply, "Go in peace: before the Lord is your way wherein ye go." A larger body of Danites afterwards came and carried away the gods of Micah, and the ephod and the teraphim, together with the Levite, and took them to the north, where they established themselves. Micah hastened after them, but could not recover his gods. There was no king in Israel, and every man did that which was right in his own eyes; and God, though nominally owned, was, alas, in reality ignored. Judges 17, Judges 18.
2. Son of Shimei, a descendant of Reuben. 1Ch 5:5.
3. Son of Merib-baal, or Mephibosheth, the grandson of Saul. 1Ch 8:34-35; 9:40-41. Called MICHA in 2Sa 9:12.
4. Son of Zichri, or Zabdi, or Zaccur, a Levite. 1Ch 9:15. Apparently called MICHA in Ne 11:17,22; and MICHAIAH in Ne 12:35.
5. Son of Uzziel, a Kohathite. 1Ch 23:20. Called MICHAH in 1Ch 24:24-25.
6. Father of Abdon. 2Ch 34:20. Called MICHAIAH in 2Ki 22:12.
7. The Morasthite, the prophet. Jer 26:18; Mic 1:1.
Micah, Mi'cah Book of.
Nothing is known of the prophet personally. He prophesied during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and was thus contemporary with Isaiah and Hosea. His prophecy was concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. God spoke from His holy temple, and the prophet exclaimed, "Hear, all ye peoples." He spoke to all people saying "Hearken, O earth." All the earth was involved in the judgements that God was going to bring upon His chosen people: a solemn consideration when the people of God, instead of being a testimony for Him, bring the judgements of God down on the world. The time has come that judgement must begin at the house of God. The prophecy seems to divide itself into three sections: the word 'hear' introducing each.
1. Mic 1:1; 2/1/type/bbe'>2:1;
2. Micah 3 - 5; and
Mic 1:1; 2:1 may be regarded as introductory. Judgements should fall upon Samaria, her wound was incurable; but they should also approach Judah and Jerusalem. The Assyrian is the special instrument of the judgements.
Micah 2. The prophet speaks of the moral state of the people that called for judgement. Schemes of violence were devised by them to gratify their covetousness. They had turned away from the testimony, and it should be taken from them. Mic 2:6 may be translated "Prophesy ye not, they prophesy. If they do not prophesy to these, the ignominy will not depart." Their wickedness spared neither women nor children. There was a call to arise and depart, for the land of promise was polluted. Nevertheless, God does not renounce His purpose concerning Israel, He will gather them together for blessing in the last days. There shall be a 'breaker' by whom He will remove all obstacles.
Micah 3. The princes and prophets are denounced because of their iniquity; but the prophet himself was full of power to declare the sin of Israel, consequently Zion should be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem should become heaps. This prophecy has been literally fulfilled.
Micah 4 turns to the blessing of the last days, when Mount Zion will have the first place, and many nations will approach the mountain of the Lord that they may learn His ways. The people will be judged in righteousness; and there will be peace, safety, and plenty. But before this there would be the loss of the royal power established in Zion, and their captivity in Babylon, but they should be redeemed. Eventually there would be many nations come against Zion, but the daughter of Zion should beat them to pieces, and consecrate their spoils to Jehovah, the Lord of the whole earth: comp. Ps. 83; Isa 17:12-14; Zec 14:2.
Micah 5 Another subject and another Person are introduced before the final blessings of Israel can be brought to them, namely, the MESSIAH, 'the judge of Israel,' whose goings forth had been from of old, from everlasting. Mic 5:2 tells where Christ would be born, and this prophecy was referred to by the religious rulers when Herod inquired of them respecting His birth. If this verse be read as a parenthesis it will make the context clearer. Because the Judge of Israel was smitten on the cheek with a rod, therefore He gave them up until the time of bringing forth, when the remnant of His brethren should return unto the children of Israel; that is, they will no longer be added to the church as in Ac 2:27. "He shall stand and feed in the strength of Jehovah, in the majesty of the name of Jehovah his God; and they shall abide."
The Assyrian will appear at the close, but only to be destroyed; for Jehovah will have renewed His connection with Israel. The remnant of Jacob will then be in power as a lion: horses and chariots will be destroyed; and all graven images and symbols of idolatry. God will execute such vengeance as will not previously have been heard of.
Micah 6 returns to the moral condition of the people, and the judgements that must follow. Jehovah pathetically appeals to His people. He recounts what He has done for them, and asks wherein He had wearied them. Let them testify against Him. He rehearses their sins, and the punishments that must follow.
Micah 7. The prophet takes the place of intercessor, and pleads with God for the people, lamenting their condition; but in faith he says, "I will look unto Jehovah; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me." Those who rejoiced at their tribulation shall be trodden down as mire. The city will be rebuilt and the people brought from far, to the amazement of the nations, who will be confounded to see them in power again. The prophet closes with expressions of faith in and adoration of the God that pardons. He has confidence that God will perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which He had sworn to their fathers from the days of old.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And Mephibosheth had a young son named Mica. And all the people living in the house of Ziba were servants to Mephibosheth.
And he gave orders to Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Achbor, the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying,
And the son of Jonathan was Merib-baal; and Merib-baal was the father of Micah. And the sons of Micah: Pithon and Melech and Tarea and Ahaz.
And Bakbakkar, Heresh, and Galal, and Mattaniah, the son of Mica, the son of Zichri, the son of Asaph;
And the son of Jonathan was Merib-baal; and Merib-baal was the father of Micah. And the sons of Micah: Pithon and Melech and Tahrea and Ahaz.
The sons of Uzziel, Micah; of the sons of Micah, Shamir. The brother of Micah, Isshiah; of the sons of Isshiah, Zechariah.
And he gave orders to Hilkiah and to Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Abdon, the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe and Asaiah, the king's servant, saying,
And Mattaniah, the son of Mica, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, who had to give the first note of the song of praise in prayer, and Bakbukiah, the second among his brothers, and Abda, the son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun.
And the overseer of the Levites at Jerusalem was Uzzi, the son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Mica, of the sons of Asaph, the music-makers, who was over the business of the house of God.
And certain of the priests' sons with wind instruments; Zechariah, the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph,
Ah! the voice of peoples, like the loud sounding of the seas, and the thundering of great nations rushing on like the bursting out of waters! But he will put a stop to them, and make them go in flight far away, driving them like the waste of the grain on the tops of the mountains before the wind, and like the circling dust before the storm. read more. In the evening there is fear, and in the morning they are gone. This is the fate of those who take our goods, and the reward of those who violently take our property for themselves.
Micah the Morashtite, who was a prophet in the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah, said to all the people of Judah, This is what the Lord of armies has said: Zion will become like a ploughed field, and Jerusalem will become a mass of broken walls, and the mountain of the house like the high places of the woodland.
The word of the Lord which came to Micah the Morashtite, in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah: his vision about Samaria and Jerusalem.
The word of the Lord which came to Micah the Morashtite, in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah: his vision about Samaria and Jerusalem.
The word of the Lord which came to Micah the Morashtite, in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah: his vision about Samaria and Jerusalem.
A curse on the designers of evil, working on their beds! in the morning light they do it, because it is in their power.
Let not words like these be dropped, they say: Shame and the curse will not come to the family of Jacob!
And you, Beth-lehem Ephrathah, the least among the families of Judah, out of you one will come to me who is to be ruler in Israel; whose going out has been purposed from time past, from the eternal days.
For I will get all the nations together to make war against Jerusalem; and the town will be overcome, and the goods taken from the houses, and the women taken by force: and half the town will go away as prisoners, and the rest of the people will not be cut off from the town.
For you will not let my soul be in hell and you will not give up your Holy One to destruction.
Smith
Mi'cah
(who is like God?), the same name as Micaiah. [MICAIAH]
See Micaiah
1. An Israelite whose familiar story is preserved in the 17th and 18th chapters of Judges. Micah is evidently a devout believers in Jehovah, and yet so completely ignorant is he of the law of Jehovah that the mode which he adopts of honoring him is to make a molten and graven image, teraphim or images of domestic gods, and to set up an unauthorized priesthood, first in his own family,
and then in the person of a Levite not of the priestly line. ver.
A body of 600 Danites break in upon and steal his idols from him.
2. The sixth in order of the minor prophets. He is called the Morasthite, that is, a native of Moresheth, a small village near Eleutheropolis to the east, where formerly the prophet's tomb was shown, though in the days of Jerome it had been succeeded by a church. Micah exercised the prophetical office during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, giving thus a maximum limit of 59 years, B.C. 756-697, from the accession of Jotham to the death of Hezekiah, and a minimum limit of 16 years, B.C. 742-726, from the death of Jotham to the accession of Hezekiah. He was contemporary with Hosea and Amos during the part of their ministry in Israel, and with Isaiah in Judah.
3. A descendant of Joel the Reubenite.
4. The son of Meribbaal or Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan.
5. A Kohathite levite, the eldest son of Uzziel the brother of Amram.
6. The father of Abdon, a man of high station in the reign of Josiah.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And the man Micah had a house of gods; and he made an ephod and family gods and put one of his sons in the position of priest.
And Micah gave the position to the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah.
And the son of Jonathan was Merib-baal; and Merib-baal was the father of Micah. And the sons of Micah: Pithon and Melech and Tarea and Ahaz.
And the son of Jonathan was Merib-baal; and Merib-baal was the father of Micah. And the sons of Micah: Pithon and Melech and Tahrea and Ahaz.
They had to take their places every morning to give praise and make melody to the Lord, and in the same way at evening;
And he gave orders to Hilkiah and to Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Abdon, the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe and Asaiah, the king's servant, saying,
Watsons
MICAH, the seventh in order of the twelve lesser prophets, is supposed to have prophesied about B.C. 750. He was commissioned to denounce the judgments of God against both the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, for their idolatry and wickedness. The principal predictions contained in this book are, the invasions of Shalmanezer and Sennecharib; the destruction of Samaria and of Jerusalem, mixed with consolatory promises of the deliverance of the Jews from the Babylonian captivity and of the downfall of the power of their Assyrian and Babylonian oppressors; the cessation of prophecy in consequence of their continued deceitfulness and hypocrisy; and a desolation in a then distant period, still greater than that which was declared to be impending. The birth of the Messiah at Bethlehem is also expressly foretold; and the Jews are directed to look to the establishment and extent of his kingdom, as an unfailing source of comfort amidst general distress. The style of Micah is nervous, concise, and elegant, often elevated, and poetical, but sometimes obscure from sudden transitions of subject; and the contrast of the neglected duties of justice, mercy, humility, and piety, with the punctilious observance of the ceremonial sacrifices, affords a beautiful example of the harmony which subsists between the Mosaic and Christian dispensations, and shows that the law partook of that spiritual nature which more immediately characterizes the religion of Jesus.
The prophecy of Micah, contained in the fifth chapter, is, perhaps, the most important single prophecy in all the Old Testament, and the most comprehensive respecting the personal character of the Messiah, and his successive manifestations to the world. It crowns the whole chain of predictions respecting the several limitations of the promised seed: to the line of Shem; to the family of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob; to the tribe of Judah; and to the royal house of David, terminating in his birth at Bethlehem, "the city of David." It carefully distinguishes his human nativity from his divine nature and eternal existence; foretels the casting off of the Israelites and Jews for a season; their ultimate restoration; and the universal peace which should prevail in the kingdom and under the government of the Messiah. This prophecy, therefore, forms the basis of the New Testament revelation which commences with the birth of the Messiah at Bethlehem, the miraculous circumstances of which are recorded by St. Matthew and St. Luke in the introduction to their respective histories; the eternal subsistence of Christ as "the Word," in the sublime introduction to St. John's Gospel; his prophetic character and second coming, illustrated in the four Gospels and in the apostolic epistles.