MICAH
The prophecy of Micah parallels those of Isaiah, Hosea, and Amos, who were all prophets of the 8th century BC. The ministries of all four of these prophets were focused on forecasting God's impending judgment of the ancient northern Kingdom of Israel, although they all also prophesied of other things, such as the sin and impending judgment of Judah and Jerusalem, of Christ, and of Israel's eventual restoration.
The prophecy of Micah has three basic messages: the sin, punishment, and restoration of Israel
As the name Michael means “Who is like God?”, the name Micah means “Who is like Yahweh?”
Micah, like Hosea and Amos, was a countryman. His home was at Moresheth, a village to the south of Jerusalem and to the east of Gath, so he was of the Kingdom of Judah.
He was a contemporary with kings Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah of Judah and with the last kings of the northern Kingdom of Israel.
Micah's prophecies are of 'the near and the far.'
His own time he said of Samaria, the capital of Israel, that it would become 'as an heap of the field' and that it's stones would tumble into the valley. Samaria was on a hill. This prophecy was literally fulfilled in less than 50 years.
The 'far' prophecies included the First Advent of Yahshua Christ, and the Last Days.
Micah pin-pointed Bethlehem as the precise place where Christ would be born.
Micah also sees beyond the 'Day of the Prince' to the time which follows, that time which marks the Kingdom of Yahweh.
Micah in the Hebrew is Miychah.
Micah 1:1 The word of Yahweh that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw (as a seer) concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. (2Ki 15:32-38; 2Chr 27:1-7; 2Ki 16:1-20; 2Chr 28:1-27; 2Ki 18:1-20:21; 2Chr 29:1-32:33)
Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah were kings of Judah who reigned during the last days of the Northern kingdom, in the period leading up to when Samaria was finally destroyed by the Assyrians in 722 or 721 BC.
Micah calls himself “Micah the Morasthite” in the opening verse of his prophecy. In verse 14 of this chapter he prophesies concerning Moreshethgath. The name Moreshethgath can be interpreted to mean possession of Gath.
Strong derives the word Moresheth from a Hebrew word which means to expel, and more fully, to occupy a place by driving out the previous inhabitants. So it seems that there was indeed a district called Moreshethgath, where the Israelites had driven out the Philistines of Gath and dwelt in their place. That does not mean, however, that Israel drove the Philistines out of Gath entirely.
1:2 Hear, all you people; hearken, O earth (land), and all that therein is: and let Yahweh GOD be witness against you, Yahweh from His holy temple.
Here “all you people” can only refer to all Israel, since his message only concerns that “which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem” and therefore the word erets (776) can only refer to the land, and not the entire planet.
1:3 For, behold, Yahweh cometh forth out of His place, and will come down, and tread upon the (pagan) high places of the earth (land).
1:4 And the mountains shall be molten under Him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place.
Here Micah uses poetic language and a word-picture description of God's presence as a means of connecting His judgment to the wrath which is about to come upon the people of the land in the form of the Assyrian invasions.
Amos 9:5 And Yahweh GOD of hosts is He that toucheth the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up wholly like a flood; and shall be drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.
1:5 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 (pagan) high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem?
Samaria by its very existence has become a sin to Israel, and Jerusalem has become a place of idolatry. In the opening chapters of his prophecy, which gives an oracle against Judah and Jerusalem, the prophet Isaiah had said that “Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made” (Isaiah 2:8).
1:6 Therefore I will make Samaria as an heap of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof.
Rather than heap, the Septuagint has an obscure Greek word here which Brenton interpreted as a storehouse of the fruits, but which Liddell & Scott interpret as describing the hut of a garden-watcher. The same word appears at Isaiah 1:8, where he utters a very similar prophecy against Jerusalem.
If Yahweh used the Assyrians to fulfill His Word where He said “I will make Samaria as an heap of the field”, then we should not expect a literal fulfillment where Micah wrote “behold, Yahweh cometh forth out of His place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth”. The Assyrians did that. The Assyrians were the rod that Yahweh used to punish Israel.
Ezekiel 13:14 So will I break down the wall that you have daubed with untempered morter, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and you shall be consumed in the midst thereof: and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
1:7 And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires (of the harlots) thereof shall be burned with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate: for she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire of an harlot.
Yahweh would “discover the foundations” of Samaria, and these are the idols which were gathered “of the hire of a harlot”. This is a reference to an intercourse in trade and an unlawful communion, sexual and otherwise, with the non-Israel nations.
Hosea 2:5 For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.
1:8 (Micah speaking) Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the dragons (jackals), and mourning as the owls.
The Septuagint has the second person here, rather than the first, which makes a lot more sense, and Brenton's edition has: “Therefore shall she lament and wail, she shall go barefooted, and being naked she shall make lamentation as that of serpents, and mourning as of the daughters of sirens.”
Israel sought after profit in the trade with other nations, yet the result of that venture is that Israel is to be left stripped bare and naked.
1:9 For her wound is incurable; for it is come unto Judah; he is come unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.
“Her wound is incurable”, the use of the second person pronoun here, as a reference to the nation, seems to indicate that the Septuagint reading of verse 8 'she', is the more accurate one.
Both the NAS and the Septuagint have “it has come unto the gate”, meaning that the same wound has come to Judah. By this we see that the sins for which Israel is condemned are also being practiced in Judah.
1:10 Declare you it not at Gath, weep you not at all: in the house of Aphrah roll yourself in the dust.
Control over the cities of the Philistines had alternated between the Philistines and Israel.
The phrase “Declare you it not at Gath” may have been something of a proverb.
In 1 Samuel 1:20, at the death of Saul and Jonathan, we see the exclamation “20 Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.”
The reference to the “house of Aphrah” is sometimes interpreted as a place, but as the Septuagint translators had done, it is sometimes interpreted as an epithet, meaning “house of dust” or “house of derision”.
1:11 Pass you away, you inhabitant of Saphir (a place in Philistia), having your shame naked: the inhabitant of Zaanan came not forth in the mourning of Bethezel; He (Yahweh) shall receive of (take away from) you His standing.
Yahweh is going to remove Himself because of the abominations of His people.
The Septuagint has sennaan here in Greek letters, for which Brenton writes as Sennaar, but it is obviously the same place as Zaanan.
Zaanan seems to be a variation of the spelling of Zenan, mentioned in Joshua 15:37, which was a town of Judah.
The phrase “having your shame naked”, which is perhaps a play on the words of Genesis 2:25, seems to infer that the children of Israel are sinning shamelessly and out in the open, much like they often do today.
1:12 For the inhabitant of Maroth waited carefully for good: but evil (calamity) came down from Yahweh unto the gate of Jerusalem.
The Septuagint has “dwells in sorrow” instead of the words translated “inhabitant of Maroth” as they appear in the KJV, taking a literal meaning of the noun rather than interpreting it as a place name.
1:13 O you inhabitant of Lachish, bind the chariot to the swift beast: she (Lachish) is the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion: for the transgressions (idols) of Israel were found in you.
The meaning of the word Lachish could not be identified by Strong, but newer lexicons say that it means impregnable or invincible.
The Septuagint rendering of the verse has in part, “she is the leader of sin”.
Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
1:14 Therefore shalt you give presents to Moreshethgath: the houses of Achzib shall be a lie (a deceitful stream) to the kings of Israel.
The word for presents has been interpreted as parting gifts, however the word may simply and more literally mean a sending away. The word Achzib means deceit, however it was the name of a town of Judah, mentioned at Joshua 15:44 and 19:29. The word rendered lie in this passage is a closely related form of the same word which gives us the name Achzib, and thus Micah is making a play on words related to the meaning of the name.
Here, more than anywhere else in these passages of Micah, it seems that certain towns of Judah were singled out because of the names which they bore. Because nearly every Hebrew name was also a common word with a common meaning, the names of these towns seem to have contributed a much deeper meaning to this account of the judgment against Israel being related by Micah.
1:15 Yet will I bring an heir unto you, O inhabitant of Mareshah: he shall come unto Adullam the glory of Israel.
Mareshah is ancient Marissa, a place often mentioned by Flavius Josephus. It was once a city of Judah, mentioned at Joshua 15:44 along with Achzib.
The name Mareshah basically means summit, as the peak of a hill or mountain.
Adullam is a town of Judah, known from both Joshua 15:35 and the accounts where David found refuge in a certain cave there (1 Samuel 22:1, 2 Samuel 23:13), However in keeping with our observations of this prophecy of Micah, the name also has a meaning, and Adullam means justice of the people. The Septuagint translators understood it to refer to the name of the town here.
Yahweh is mocking their pagan practices of mourning in the next verse.
1:16 Make you bald, and poll you for your delicate children; enlarge your baldness as the eagle; for they are gone into captivity from you.
Shaving of the head was a sign of disgrace and grief. The Septuagint has this verse “Shave your hair, and make yourself bald for your delicate children; increase your widowhood as an eagle; for your people are gone into captivity from you.”
The prophet speaks of something which is imminent, which is the captivity being forewarned by Yahweh God, as if it had already happened.
Again with the name meanings:
From Micah 1: 10 Declare you it not at Gath [do not inform the enemy, lest they rejoice], weep you not at all: in the house of Aphrah [dust or figuratively derision] roll yourself in the dust [a sign of disgrace or humility]. 11 Pass you away, you inhabitant of Saphir [fair or beauty], having your shame naked: the inhabitant of Zaanan [said to mean pointed in the Enhanced Strong's lexicon, but it is primarily a sheep pasture] came not forth in the mourning of Bethezel [house of narrowing or nearness, the Septuagint version is good, where it has for the house next to her, in other words, the Septuagint can lead us to understand the passage to be saying that the sheep of the pasture had no care for their neighbors]; he shall receive of you his standing. 12 For the inhabitant of Maroth [bitterness, or more appropriately, sorrow, the phrase may be interpreted as he who dwells in sorrow] waited carefully for good: but evil came down from Yahweh unto the gate of Jerusalem [those of the people who sorrowed at the sin of Israel prayed for good but Israel would only receive Yahweh's judgment]. 13 O you inhabitant of Lachish [which means invincible], bind the chariot to the swift beast: she is the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion: for the transgressions of Israel were found in you [because Israel thought they were above reproach or judgment, they thought they could avoid punishment for their behavior - Micah 2:9-11 corroborates this interpretation]. 14 Therefore shalt you give presents to Moreshethgath [or you shalt send men to the possession of Gath]: the houses of Achzib [deceit] shall be a lie ['akzab] to the kings of Israel. 15 Yet will I bring an heir [one who takes possession] unto you, O inhabitant of Mareshah [the summit]: he shall come unto Adullam [the justice of the people] the glory of Israel [the fulfillment of that as the Edomites who came to possess Marissa, as well as many other cities, and how that eventually led to the Edomite takeover of Jerusalem, the temple, and the Crucifixion of Christ through which the children of Israel were rendered righteous].
Micah's prophecy concerning Israel's sin and judgment, and eventual restoration, is encoded, in a way, into the names of these towns of Judah which he prophesied against.
Micah 2:1 Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand.
The phrase “work evil upon their beds” is not a reference to the sexual fornication which had become commonplace, although it could certainly be inclusive of that. Rather, it is a reference to the proclivity of the people to dream up wicked schemes as they lie in bed at night, putting their ungodly desires to practice when they awake in the morning. The Septuagint reads: “They meditated troubles, and wrought wickedness on their beds, and they put it in execution with the daylight; for they have not lifted up their hands to God.”
2:2 And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage (property).
Israel, fallen into apostasy and the paganism which had been mandated by the State since the days of Jeroboam I (1 Kings 12:26-33), had fallen to the level of self-serving decadence which is found in what we now call materialism.
2:3 Therefore thus saith Yahweh; Behold, against this family do I devise an evil (calamity), from which you shall not remove your necks; neither shall you go haughtily: for this time is evil (calamity).
This evil is coming upon the nation in the form of the imminent Assyrian invasions and the resulting captivity, which the nation was not going to be able to avoid.
2:4 In that day shall one take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and say, We be utterly spoiled: he (the unrighteous) hath changed the portion of my people: how hath he removed it from me! turning away he hath divided our fields.
The Greek of the Septuagint, which Brenton's version reflects well here, punctuates the end of the verse differently: “... the portion of My people has been measured out with a line, and there was none to hinder him so as to turn him back; your fields have been divided.” The children of Israel are warned that their lands would be taken away, that new divisions of those lands would be assigned to others, and that they would have no recourse in the matter: “and there was none to turn him back”.
Yet there seems to be a deeper meaning here than simply a giving of the land of Israel over to the Assyrians. In the Septuagint version Yahweh is attributed as saying “the portion of My people has been measured out with a line”, and Yahweh's portion is His people, as He says in Deuteronomy 32:9 “9 For Yahweh's portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance.” Therefore the statement may be taken in two ways, referring to the people themselves in relation to God, and to the land in relation to the people. The people themselves were also divided, and some would be put to the sword while others would survive in Assyrian captivity, and others would escape altogether. From Amos chapter 7, where we see a very similar prophecy at this very same time: “7 Thus He shewed me: and, behold, Yahweh stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in His hand. 8 And Yahweh said unto me, Amos, what seest you? And I said, A plumbline. Then said Yahweh, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of My people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more: 9 And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”
2:5 Therefore you shalt have none that shall cast a cord by lot in the congregation of Yahweh.
A lot cord is a measuring line which established ownership of land.
None of Yahweh's people in Israel would have any part in the new division of the land.
2:6 Prophesy you not, say they to them that prophesy: they shall not prophesy to them, that they shall not take shame.
Figurative as referring to the prophets as prophesying. 'Don't prophesy, we don't want to hear it, we want to do what we want to do'.
Brenton's translation of the Septuagint Greek interprets the words for “in the congregation of Yahweh” with the text of verse 6.
The Septuagint rendering of verse 6 is quite different, and Brenton translates it to say: “6 Weep not with tears in the assembly of Yahweh, neither let any weep for these things; for He shall not remove the reproaches”. This makes much more sense in the Biblical context of the time, as there were several other prophets including Micah who were indeed prophesying at this very time and warning Israel of the impending and irreversible judgment which was to come. These were Isaiah, Hosea and Amos.
2:7 O you that art named the house of Jacob, is the spirit of Yahweh straitened? are these his doings? do not My words do good to him that walketh uprightly?
The punishment of Jacob was brought by his own doings. Yet even in captivity Israel was promised that seeking righteousness, God would be with them.
2:8 Even of late My people is risen up as an (hated) enemy: you pull off the (rich) robe with the garment from them that pass by securely as men averse from war.
2:9 The women of My people have you cast out from their pleasant houses; from their children have you taken away My glory for ever.
Verse 8 is explaining that the children of Israel had become wholly adversarial to God, which is indeed the case as the records attest throughout all of the prophets of the period, and also relates that they robbed the possessions of those who were peaceable, and verse 9 that they robbed the houses of widows and orphans.
2:10 Arise you, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction.
Deuteronomy 12:9 For you are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which Yahweh your God giveth you.
Leviticus 18:25 And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.
Jeremiah 3:2 Lift up your eyes unto the high places, and see where you hast not been utterly defiled. In the ways hast you sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and you hast polluted the land with your whoredoms and with your wickedness.
2:11 If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto you of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of this people.
Wine and strong drink here symbolize good times and prosperity. The people deserved no other prophet than a false prophet, who would foretell good times although their destruction was imminent.
2:12 I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of you; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men (adam).
Jeremiah 31:10 Hear the word of Yahweh, O you nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock.
Ezekiel 36:37 Thus saith Yahweh GOD; I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock.
This is a promise of regathering in the captivity into which they are about to enter. The word Bozrah is a simple noun which means sheepfold.
2:13 The breaker is come up before them: they have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it: and their king shall pass before them, and Yahweh on the head of them.
Those whom Yahweh shall use to pass His judgment on Israel are “the breaker” who is depicted as already coming.
The statement that “their king shall pass before them” is primarily a reference to Tiglath-Pileser III, the first of the Assyrian kings to invade Israel proper, beginning around 742 BC and then several times later. Both he and his successors, Sargon II and Sennacherib, invaded and deported most of Israel and then much of Judah, and these kings customarily accompanied their armies during these invasions, as Micah describes here and as their own inscriptions attest.
Micah 3:1 And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and you princes (rulers) of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment? (Jer 5:4-5)
3:2 Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;
3:3 Who also eat the flesh of My people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.
This criticism of the wealthy of Israel is a recurrent theme throughout Amos and now in Micah, and this, besides the, economic, religious and social fornication which Israel had been guilty of and which is elaborately detailed in Hosea, is one of the primary reasons for Israel's judgment.
Micah continues to address those princes of Israel who have oppressed the poor and who have cared more for the enrichment of their own lives than for the Kingdom of God.
3:4 Then shall they cry unto Yahweh, but He will not hear them: He will even hide His face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.
3:5 Thus saith Yahweh concerning the (false) prophets that make My people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.
Bite is 'nashak', meaning to strike with a sting (as a serpent); figuratively, to oppress with interest on a loan: - bite, lend upon usury.
3:6 Therefore night shall be unto you, that you shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that you shall not divine (foretell, distribute); and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.
Isaiah 8:20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
Ezekiel 13:23 Therefore you shall see no more vanity, nor divine divinations: for I will deliver My people out of your hand: and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
3:7 Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.
Amos 8:11 Behold, the days come, saith Yahweh GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of Yahweh:
The language used here indicates with all certainty that these prophets being chastised here must have been legitimate prophets who had turned away from God, since it is indicated that before their error they did indeed have visions and answers from God.
3:8 (Micah speaking) But truly I am full of power by the spirit of Yahweh, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin. (Is 58:1)
Here Micah asserts that his ministry is a legitimate prophetic ministry. It seems that Micah had the same sort of opposition which Amos also faced, from false prophets who attempted to silence him. The people simply did not want to hear of their own sin.
3:9 Hear this, I pray you, you heads of the house of Jacob, and princes (rulers) of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.
3:10 They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
Jeremiah 22:13 Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work;
Ezekiel 22:27 Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.
Zephaniah 3:3 Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow.
Isaiah 1:23 Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
3:11 The heads thereof judge for reward (bribes), and the priests thereof teach for hire (wages), and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon Yahweh, and say, Is not Yahweh among us? none evil can come upon us.
The heads thereof judge for reward: the judges of the people give judgment for bribes. By this alone the wealthy would always prevail over and be able to oppress the poor.
And the priests thereof teach for hire: the ministers of the people work for sake of money, and therefore they teach what their masters want to hear.
And the prophets thereof divine for money: doing that same thing which the priests do, foreboding good things that tickle the ears of their hearers for the sake of their own gain.
Yet will they lean upon Yahweh, and say, Is not Yahweh among us? none evil can come upon us: As we saw in Micah chapter 1, the meanings of the names of the towns of Judah which he prophesied against were a major facet to the message which he related.
3:12 Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the (pagan)high places of the forest. (Jer 26:18, Psa 79:1)
The Assyrian and Babylonian destruction of Israel and Jerusalem is this fulfillment, because it was the ancient kingdom of Israel and the first temple city of Jerusalem which Micah referred to.
The nation and the people were indeed plowed like a field by the Assyrians, so that Yahweh could then “sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve,” as He promised at Amos 9:9.
After Christ died, the Romans literally plowed Jerusalem after the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD.
In the first three chapters of Micah we saw pronouncements of judgment upon Israel and Judah, judgment which would carry all the way to the “gate of Jerusalem”. The fulfillment of those judgments were in the Assyrian invasions which were not long after Micah had begun preaching.
Micah 4:1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of Yahweh shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. (Ez 17:22)
In prophecy, mountains and hills are often allegories for nations great and small.
These are some of the verses that describe America.
4:2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh, 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 (torah) shall go forth of Zion, and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem.
Nations are properly people groups, and not governments or geographical areas. In order to find the fulfillment of this prophecy, we must find a great nation which other nations have flowed into. This great nation would govern with the law of God as its guide, and the Word of God as its inspiration. Definitely describes America.
4:3 And He (Yahweh) shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. (Is 2:4; Joel 3:10)
4:4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of Yahweh of hosts hath spoken it. (Zec 3:10)
We still have war with us today, and therefore this part of the prophecy is not yet fulfilled.
4:5 For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of Yahweh our God for ever and ever.
Yahweh is the God of Israel. From Psalm 147: “19 He sheweth His word unto Jacob, His statutes and His judgments unto Israel. 20 He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for His judgments, they have not known them. Praise you Yahweh.” This verse clearly tells us that all who are not of Israel will “walk every one in the name of his god”. From Psalm 96:5: “For all the gods of the nations are idols: but Yahweh made the heavens.” This verse, in relation to this great nation, is a refutation of humanist universalism that insists that all peoples should worship the same god. After the judgment of Yahweh, if you can find the gods of the other peoples, then perhaps you will find those people.
Elsewhere, in Jeremiah chapter 46, the Word of God says “28 Fear you not, O Jacob My servant, saith Yahweh: for I am with you; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven you: but I will not make a full end of you, but correct you in measure; yet will I not leave you wholly unpunished.”
Zechariah 10:12 And I will strengthen them in the Prince Yahshua Christ; and they shall walk up and down in His name, saith Yahweh.
When we walk in the ways of Yahweh our God, we live. We exist.
When the other races and the people that follow them walk in the ways of their gods, they die. And just like their gods, which don't exist, they will not exist.
4:6 In that day, saith Yahweh, will I assemble her that halteth (limps), and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted;
4:7 And I will make her that halted (limps) a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and Yahweh shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever.
The phrases her that halteth, her that is driven out, her that I have afflicted and her that was cast far off all refer to the children of Israel in the Assyrian and Babylonian deportations.
Ezekiel 34:16 I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.
These are the children of Israel that were “lost” cast off in punishment. The “churches” teach that they disappeared. They are our ancestors that went on to settle the white nations of the world today. The “churches” teach that all non-Jews are “Gentiles”, and that they make up the “church” and take the place of these Israelites. But Christ said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He came for His “lost” sheep. Those of the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities that were scattered and forgot who they were.
4:8 And you, O tower of the flock (shepherds watchtower in Bethlehem), the strong hold of the daughter of Zion (figurative for Jerusalem), unto you shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem (Bethlehem).
Matthew 21:43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
This applies to Assyria and Bablyon at their ends, and here in Matthew Christ is talking to the Edomite Jew Pharisees who controlled the priesthood at the time, and are still in control today.
4:9 Now why dost you cry out aloud? is there no king in you? is your counsellor perished? for pangs have taken you as a woman in travail.
4:10 Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt you go forth out of the city, and you shalt dwell in the field, and you shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt you be delivered; there Yahweh shall redeem (deliver) you from the hand of your enemies.
As for the promise that “you shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt you be delivered”, the children of the Assyrian captivity, which included nearly all of Israel as well as the greater part of Judah, did not go to Babylon. They weren't held captive there. Therefore Babylon here cannot mean to refer to the ancient city. Rather, Babylon must represent something else, something which transcends the ancient place. Revelation holds the key to Mystery Babylon. The Jewish usury and commerce trap.
4:11 Now also many nations are gathered against you, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion.
4:12 But they know not the thoughts of Yahweh, neither understand they His counsel: for He shall gather them as the sheaves into the (threshing)floor.
Verse 11 cannot mean to refer to the sieges of Israel in the time of the deportations, because at that time the enemies of Israel were successful in overcoming them, as Micah had already told them that they were going into captivity, and that they had no recourse in the matter. Yet here from verse 12, it is apparent that the enemies of Israel will certainly fail, and that they themselves will be gathered “as sheaves to the floor”, which is a description reminiscent of the fate of the tares in the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares in Matthew chapter 13. It is the threshing-floor where the wheat is separated from the tares and the chaff.
This prophecy must therefore be correlated to other similar prophecies, such as those in Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39, Revelation chapter 20, and in Psalm 118.
Ezekiel chapter 38 lists a consortium of nations in league under Gog, from the “land of Magog”, and the nations listed are names familiar from Genesis chapter 10. While it is evident upon examining the contents of the list of nations in this league, that all of these are now race-mixed nations and not the actual Genesis 10 Adamic peoples that the names once represented, these names are used, ostensibly, so that students of Scripture are able to identify who these peoples are today. These nations are now those of Eurasia, including Russia, and the Arab nations of the subcontinent and the Near East. Most of these nations are now Islamic, however a convincing case can be made, that Gog itself represents world Jewry, “Gog is Ezekiel's term for the eighth beast of Revelation chapter 18, which is world jewry. Having infiltrated 19th-century Christianity and having poisoned its doctrines with the Bullinger and Scofield Bibles and other such works, now most of the true Christian Israel peoples of the world worship this beast. This is the beast which gathers all of the nations to battle against the children of Israel, which is also described in Revelation chapter 20.” This is precisely what the Jews have been doing throughout all Christian nations at this very time. They are the facilitators of wickedness.
In Revelation chapter 20, we read “7 And when the thousand years are completed, the Adversary [Satan] shall be released from his prison 8 and shall go out to deceive the Nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them to battle, of which the number of them is as the sand of the sea. 9 And they had gone up upon the breadth of the earth and encircled the encampment of the saints and the beloved city, and fire descended from out of heaven and devoured them. 10 And the False Accuser who deceived them is cast into the lake of fire and sulfur where are also the beast and the false prophet, and they shall be tormented day and night for the eternal ages.” This prophecy began its fulfillment over two hundred years ago upon the emancipation of the Jews in Europe, granting them the ability to launch the political takeover of all Christendom which is also manifest in its fulness at this very time.
With this political takeover by Jewry, this deception of the nations, all of Christendom is being overrun with aliens under false pretenses. Therefore speaking of this same adversarial consortium of nations we see in Ezekiel 38 that it says “8 After many days you shalt be visited: in the latter years you shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them. 9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, you shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, you, and all your bands, and many people with you. 10 Thus saith Yahweh GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into your mind, and you shalt think an evil thought: 11 And you shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, 12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn your hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.”
However Ezekiel chapter 39 informs us of what the end of this invasion by the hordes of Gog and Magog is going to be: “2 And I will turn you back, and leave but the sixth part of you, and will cause you to come up from the north parts, and will bring you upon the mountains of Israel: 3 And I will smite your bow out of your left hand, and will cause your arrows to fall out of your right hand. 4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, you, and all your bands, and the people that is with you: I will give you unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. 5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith Yahweh GOD. 6 And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am Yahweh. 7 So will I make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel; and I will not let them pollute My holy name any more: and the [nations] shall know that I am Yahweh, the Holy One in Israel. 8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith Yahweh GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken. 9 And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years:”
There is a definitive completion in this promise, which although it is repeated in many other places is encapsulated quite succinctly in Jeremiah chapter 30 where it says: “11 For I am with you, saith Yahweh, to save you: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered you, yet will I not make a full end of you: but I will correct you in measure, and will not leave you altogether unpunished.” There should be no mistake in Israel as to the fate of the non-Israel peoples in the world today. And if the prophecy has been true for well over 2,700 years, then we can certainly expect it to come to a complete fulfillment.
4:13 Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make your horn (symbol of power) iron, and I will make your hoofs (of war) brass (bronze): and you shalt beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain (by violence) unto Yahweh, and their substance unto Yahweh of the whole earth (land).
It is indicated both here in Micah chapter 4 and in Obadiah, that the children of Israel will certainly have a part in the final vengeance of Yahweh God against His enemies.
Micah 5:1 Now gather yourself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.
When Yahweh uses other peoples to chastise the children of Israel, He permits those peoples to harm Israel, and it is He Himself who is being despised and smitten with “a rod upon the cheek”, just as Christ was also smitten on the cheek. So He was smitten when the Assyrians and Babylonians carried Israel into captivity, and He was smitten again when He came in the flesh to suffer on account of the sins of Israel, and He is once again being smitten in this present day, because all of Christendom is overrun with beasts and aliens on account of their own sin.
Lamentations 3:30-31
30 He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach.
31 For Yahweh will not cast off for ever:
5:2 But you, Bethlehem Ephratah, though you be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. (Matt 2:6)
This ruler prophesied to come out of Judah must be Yahweh God Himself, since only of God may it be said “whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”
Bethlehem is called Ephratah (another form of Ephrath) because Ephrath was the original name of the city, before the conquest of the land of Canaan by the children of Israel.
5:3 Therefore will He give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of His brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.
“She which travaileth” is Israel, and the children of Israel would therefore be given up, until the time when she brings forth the Ruler prophesied in verse 2. The children of Israel were alienated from Yahweh in the Assyrian and Babylonian deportations, and then later they were reconciled in Christ.
5:4 And He shall stand and feed (shepherd) in the strength of Yahweh, in the majesty of the name of Yahweh His God; and they shall abide: for now shall He be great unto the ends of the earth (land).
And this can only describe the Messiah Himself.
As for the phrase “and they shall abide”, the reference is to the “remnant of His brethren” and “children of Israel” in verse 3. The people of God can only abide in Christ. The “ruler in Israel” became “great unto the ends of the land” because all of Israel in their dispersions accepted the Gospel of Christ when it caught up with them.
5:5 And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men (adam).
The word man was added.
The Septuagint rendering of Micah 5:5 by Brenton reads “And she shall have peace when Asshur shall come into your land, and when he shall come up upon your country; and there shall be raised up against him seven shepherds, and eight attacks [the Greek word is literally bites or stings] of men.”
The authors of The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible (Abegg, Flint and Ulrich) interpreted Micah 5:5 quite differently, and in a manner with which is indeed quite agreeable. The first clause of the verse is rendered “And this shall be our peace”, where it is attached to the end of verse 4, something which is absolutely true concerning the Messiah who is the subject there. Then they begin a new paragraph with the words “when the Assyrian...”, and they render the remainder of the verse as “When the Assyrian comes into our land, and when he treads in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight leaders of men.”
So verses 4 and 5 should be as follows:
5:4 And He shall stand and feed in the strength of Yahweh, in the majesty of the name of Yahweh His God; and they shall abide: for now shall He be great unto the ends of the land, and this shall be our peace, (Ez 34:23)
5:5 When the Assyrian shall come into our land, and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men. (Is 10:5-21)
5:6 And they (which must be a reference to Israel under the “seven shepherds”) shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders.
5:7 And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from Yahweh, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men (adam).
Deuteronomy 32:2 My doctrine shall drop as the rain, My speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:
Psalm 72:6 He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.
5:8 And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles (nations) in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.
5:9 Your hand shall be lifted up upon your adversaries, and all your (hated) enemies shall be cut off.
When Nineveh was destroyed, the Scythians, who were Israelites, were in league with the Medes as well as other tribes of the Adamic society (Gen 10 nations), and dwelling among the Medes, Persians, Babylonians and others. and they crossed Anatolia soon after the destruction of Nineveh, beginning the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 66:19
The Scythians did indeed come to dominate the other nations which they were settled amongst.
The Parthians, a branch of the Scythians, conquered and ruled over all of Mesopotamia and Persia for several centuries, and through the Roman period.
5:10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Yahweh, that I will cut off your horses out of the midst of you, and I will destroy your chariots:
Horses and chariots represent the instruments of war
5:11 And I will cut off the cities of your land, and throw down all your strong holds:
5:12 And I will cut off witchcrafts out of your hand; and you shalt have no more soothsayers:
Isaiah 2:6 Therefore You hast forsaken Your people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.
5:13 Your graven images (carved idols) also will I cut off, and your standing images (sacred pillars) out of the midst of you; and you shalt no more worship the work of your hands.
Zechariah 13:2 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Yahweh of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.
Isaiah 2:8 Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made:
5:14 And I will pluck up your groves (Asherah poles) out of the midst of you: so will I destroy your cities.
In verse 13, the sacred pillars are obelisks, phallic symbols. Pagan worship pillars. The Washington Monument is one, and the steeples on “churches” are pagan images, even the cross is a pagan symbol.
In verse 14, the groves are Asherah poles, sacred trees or poles set up near an altar, a Babylonian (Astarte)-Canaanite goddess (of fortune and happiness), the supposed consort of Baal, her images. Also where we get Easter from, which is not Christian.
5:15 And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen (nations), such as they have not heard (obeyed).
2Thessalonians 1:8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Prince Jesus Christ:
The cities of ancient Israel were destroyed. However the entire prophecy in this chapter refers not to ancient Israel, but to Israel in dispersion.
In the fourth and fifth chapters of Micah, we saw what would become of Israel “in the last days”, in those days which followed her impending captivity at the hand of the Assyrians.
The destruction of the cities of Israel presaged in Micah chapter 5 is the execution of the Law of Yahweh against idolatry.
Micah 6:1 Hear you now what Yahweh saith; Arise, contend (as a legal case) you before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.
6:2 Hear you, O mountains, Yahweh's controversy, and you strong foundations of the earth (land): for Yahweh hath a controversy with His people, and He will plead with Israel.
This controversy (legal dispute) and this pleading represents the reason why Israel is being punished, and the things which Israel is to consider in the days of their captivity, which has already been decreed with a decree that cannot be reversed.
6:3 O My people, what have I done unto you? and wherein have I wearied you? testify against Me.
Jeremiah 2:5,31
5 Thus saith Yahweh, What iniquity have your fathers found in Me, that they are gone far from Me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?
31 O generation, see you the word of Yahweh. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness? wherefore say My people, We are lords; we will come no more unto you?
6:4 For I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of servants (bondage); and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. (Deut 4:20)
Yahweh did nothing but good things for Israel, and yet Israel has forsaken Him to pursue the worldly ways of God's enemies.
6:5 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 you may know the righteousness of Yahweh.
In Numbers chapters 22 through 24 we have a record of the consultation of Balak with the prophet Balaam of Pethor .
Balaam was hired by Balak to curse the children of Israel as they were invading Palestine, and every time he attempted to curse them, by the will of Yahweh he could only bless them instead.
6:6 (Micah speaking) Wherewith shall I come before Yahweh, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?
6:7 Will Yahweh 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?
6:8 He hath shewed you, O man (adam), what is good; and what doth Yahweh require of you, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
Deuteronomy 10:12 And now, Israel, what doth Yahweh your God require of you, but to fear Yahweh your God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
The religious system of sacrifices as well as the legal system of Levites and judges were being corrupted and used for oppression rather than for justice.
6:9 Yahweh's voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see Your name: hear you the rod (as a staff of authority), and who hath appointed it.
6:10 Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is abominable?
They were cheating people.
6:11 Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights?
Proverbs 11:1 A false balance is abomination to Yahweh: but a just weight is His delight.
Hosea 12:7 He is a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress.
6:12 For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
Jeremiah 9:3,5
3 And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not Me, saith Yahweh.
5 And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity.
6:13 Therefore also will I make you sick in smiting you, in making you desolate because of your sins.
Leviticus 26:16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
Among the sins of Israel recounted by Amos was their “making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit” (Amos 8:5).
The oppression of their own poor tribesmen by the wealthy is one of the chief transgressions of ancient Israel.
By seeking riches in international trade, the same riches described in Revelation 18, the nation was described as being in harlotry or whoredom.
6:14 You shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and your casting down shall be in the midst of you; and you shalt take hold, but shalt not deliver; and that which you deliverest will I give up to the sword.
Leviticus 26:26 And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and you shall eat, and not be satisfied.
6:15 You shalt sow, but you shalt not reap; you shalt tread the olives, but you shalt not anoint you with oil; and sweet (new) wine, but shalt not drink wine.
Amos 5:11 Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and you take from him burdens of wheat: you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not dwell in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink wine of them.
Prosperity and satisfaction in the works of men's hands is a blessing from God. When Israel is disobedient, those things are withdrawn from men.
Today we labor for salaries, and then price inflation and continual tax increases prevent us from saving anything.
6:16 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.
From 1 Kings chapter 16:23-33 it is evident why Omri and his son Ahab were so odious to God.
Hosea 5:11 Ephraim (northern house of Israel) is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked after (away from) the commandment.
Micah 7:1 Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grapegleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the firstripe fruit.
7:2 The good man is perished out of the earth (land): and there is none upright among men (adam): they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.
Psalm 12:1 Help, Yahweh; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.
The seeking of wealth in merchandise and trade for which Israel was explicitly chastised in the prophecies of Amos, Hosea and Micah, leads to competition amongst brethren and to that individualism which is the inevitable result of such commercialism, or as it is often called today, capitalism.
7:3 That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince (magistrate) asketh (demands), and the judge asketh (judges) for a reward (bribe); and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up (weave it as a perversion of the law).
7:4 The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of your watchmen and your visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity.
We must bear in mind that all of these things which are written represent the public pronouncements of the prophet to the people. Here Israel is being warned once again that judgment for the sins which are described is inevitable and impending. The Septuagint version of Micah 7:1-4 is more evidently agreeable to the interpretation provided here: “1 Alas for me! for I am become as one gathering straw in harvest, and as one gathering grape-gleanings in the vintage, when there is no cluster for me to eat the first-ripe fruit: alas my soul! 2 For the godly is perished from the earth; and there is none among men that orders his way aright: they all quarrel even to blood: they grievously afflict every one his neighbour: 3 they prepare their hands for mischief, the prince asks a reward, and the judge speaks flattering words; it is the desire of their soul: 4 therefore I will take away their goods as a devouring moth, and as one who acts by a rigid rule in a day of visitation. Woe, woe, your times of vengeance are come; now shall be their lamentations.”
7:5 Trust you not in a friend, put you not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of your mouth from her that lieth in your bosom.
In the economic, political and social climate of the nation, a man cannot even trust his own wife. The Septuagint says “Trust not in friends, and confide not in guides: beware of your wife, so as not to commit anything to her.” With the prevalence of divorce in society today, both men and women often have these same sentiments now.
7:6 For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; a man's (hated) enemies are the men of his own house.
Matthew 10:21 And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
In apostasy, the children of Israel are naturally divided between those who love God, and those who love the world. Now we see nearly every modern and marginally Christian family divided over the pressing social, political and economic issues of the day.
7:7 Therefore I will look unto Yahweh; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.
7:8 Rejoice not against me, O mine (hated) enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, Yahweh shall be a light unto me. (Prov 24:17, Psa 37:24)
7:9 I will bear the indignation (raging) of Yahweh, because I have sinned against Him, until He plead my cause, and execute judgment (justice) for me: He will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold His righteousness.
Lamentations 3:39-40
39 Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?
40 Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to Yahweh.
These things are true on levels both personal and national. The judgment of the nation is a direct result of their disobedience to God.
7:10 Then she that is mine (hated) enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is Yahweh your God? mine eyes shall behold her: now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets. (2 Peter 3:1-4,9-10)
Psalm 35:26 Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion together that rejoice at mine hurt: let them be clothed with shame and dishonour that magnify themselves against me.
Psalm 42:3 My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is your God?
7:11 In the day that your walls are to be built, in that day shall the decree be far removed.
The interpretation in the Septuagint seems to better fit the context of the chapter: “It is the day of making of brick; that day shall be your utter destruction, and that day shall utterly abolish your ordinances.” The ordinances referred to are apparently the wicked statutes of Omri mentioned at 1Kings 16:23-33.
7:12 In that day also he (the tramplers, v10) shall come even to you from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, and from the fortress even to the river (Euphrates), and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.
Isaiah 11:16 And there shall be an highway for the remnant of His people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.
This highway must be the Caucasus Mountains, named after the race (caucasians) of God's people, that they migrated through as they went on to settle Europe and eventually America.
7:13 Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings.
7:14 Feed Your people with Your rod, the flock of Your heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.
The meaning of being fed with a rod is a reference to chastisement.
From the 89th Psalm: “30 If his children forsake My law, and walk not in My judgments; 31 If they break My statutes, and keep not My commandments; 32 Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. 33 Nevertheless My loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer My faithfulness to fail.”
The rod was the Assyrians.
Isaiah 37:24 By your servants hast you reproached Yahweh, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel (a planted orchard, vineyard or park).
Psalm 68:22 Yahweh said, I will bring again from Bashan (from, or out of), I will bring My people again from the depths of the sea:
7:15 According to the days of your coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew unto him marvellous things.
7:16 The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf.
Isaiah 26:11 Yahweh, when Your hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at the people; yea, the fire of Your enemies shall devour them.
7:17 They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth (ground): they shall be afraid of Yahweh our God, and shall fear because of You.
The nations which shall “lick the dust like a serpent” are all of Israel's enemies, those nations gathered against Israel which are mentioned in the “last days” prophecy of Micah 4:11.
7:18 Who is a God like unto You, that pardoneth (lifts up) iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retaineth not His anger for ever, because He delighteth in mercy.
Exodus 15:11 Who is like unto You, O Yahweh, among the gods? who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?
7:19 He will turn again, He will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities; and You (Yahweh) wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
7:20 You wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which You hast sworn unto our (fore) fathers from the days of old.
Luke 1:72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember His holy covenant;
Psalm 105:9 Which covenant He made with Abraham, and His oath unto Isaac;
The hope of the children of Israel is manifest exclusively in Yahshua Christ. This book, these prophecies, promises and covenants were made to the children of Israel. Nobody else fits into this family heritage.
MICAH – CHURCH DOCTRINE VS. SCRIPTURE
Below are 3 sources of what the modern churches preach today about the book of Micah.
The purpose is to expose the apostasy and perversion of the scriptures, and to educate our people about the truth of our heritage. That we, the anglo-saxon race who are the descendants of ancient Israel, are the people of Abraham's seed and therefore the heirs of the promises of Yahweh. Not the Jews who distort and pervert the scriptures and teach the 'traditions of men'.
Biblehub.com
The book of Micah is a Prophetic Oracle. The prophet Micah wrote it 742-686 B.C. shortly before the Northern Kingdom’s fall in 722 B.C. Key personalities are all the people of Samaria and Jerusalem.
The purpose of the book of Micah was to proclaim warning and judgment to both the Northern and the Southern Kingdoms. His message was similar to that of Isaiah and was written at about the same time. Micah described the impending judgment that would eventually exile the nation.
• Chapters 1-5 specifically explain the judgment for the wicked nations, “For I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the open country, planting places for a vineyard. I will pour her stones down into the valley and will lay bare her foundations” (1:6). Then chapter five Micah miraculously predicts the birthplace of the Messiah in Bethlehem. Also in verse 2, he teaches that the Messiah is an infinite Savior, from everlasting, “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity” (5:2).
• In chapters 6-7, Micah declares what God requires of men, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (6:8). Micah then proclaims God’s restoration and salvation to His people, “Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in unchanging love” (7:18).
It must be stressed that God's people are not the Jews. They are children of Cain and Esau. Of darkness.
Biblestudytools.com
Summary of the Book of Micah
Author
Little is known about the prophet Micah beyond what can be learned from the book itself and from Jer 26:18. Micah was from the town of Moresheth (1:1), probably Moresheth Gath (1:14) in southern Judah. The prophecy attests to Micah's deep sensitivity to the social ills of his day, especially as they affected the small towns and villages of his homeland.
Date
Micah prophesied sometime between 750 and 686 b.c. during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah (1:1; Jer 26:18). He was therefore a contemporary of Isaiah (see Isa 1:1) and Hosea (see Hos 1:1). Micah predicted the fall of Samaria (1:6), which took place in 722-721. This would place his early ministry in the reigns of Jotham (750-732) and Ahaz (735-715). (The reigns of Jotham and Ahaz overlapped.) Micah's message reflects social conditions prior to the religious reforms under Hezekiah (715-686). Micah's ministry most likely fell within the period 735-700.
Historical Background
The background of the book is the same as that found in the earlier portions of Isaiah, though Micah does not exhibit the same knowledge of Jerusalem's political life as Isaiah does. Perhaps this is because he, like Amos, was from a village in Judah.
Israel was in an apostate condition. Micah predicted the fall of her capital, Samaria (1:5-7), and also foretold the inevitable desolation of Judah (1:9-16).
Several significant historical events occurred during this period:
In 734-732 b.c. Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria led a military campaign against Aram (Syria), Philistia and parts of Israel and Judah. Ashkelon and Gaza were defeated. Judah, Ammon, Edom and Moab paid tribute to the Assyrian king, but Israel did not fare as well. According to 2Ki 15:29 the northern kingdom lost most of its territory, including all of Gilead and much of Galilee. Damascus fell in 732 and was annexed to the Assyrian empire.
In 722-721 Samaria fell, and the northern kingdom of Israel was conquered by Assyria.
In 712 King Sargon II of Assyria captured Ashdod (isa 20:1;).
In 701 Judah joined a revolt against Assyria and was overrun by King Sennacherib and his army, though Jerusalem was spared.
Theme and Message
As the Outline shows, Micah's message alternates between oracles of doom and oracles of hope -- in terms of Ro 11:22, between God's "sternness" and his "kindness." The theme is divine judgment and deliverance. Micah also stresses that God hates idolatry, injustice, rebellion and empty ritualism ( 3:8 ), but delights in pardoning the penitent (7:18-19). Finally, the prophet declares that Zion will have greater glory in the future than ever before ( 4:1-2 , 4:1-5).
Insight.org
Who wrote the book?
The prophet Micah identified himself by his hometown, called Moresheth Gath, which sat near the border of Philistia and Judah about twenty-five miles southwest of Jerusalem. Dwelling in a largely agricultural part of the country, Micah lived outside the governmental centers of power in his nation, leading to his strong concern for the lowly and less fortunate of society—the lame, the outcasts, and the afflicted (Micah 4:6). Therefore, Micah directed much of his prophecy toward the powerful leaders of Samaria and Jerusalem, the capital cities of Israel and Judah, respectively (1:1).
Where are we?
As a contemporary of Isaiah and Hosea, Micah prophesied during the momentous years surrounding the tragic fall of Israel to the Assyrian Empire (722 BC), an event he also predicted (Micah 1:6). Micah stated in his introduction to the book that he prophesied during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah in Judah, failing to mention the simultaneous string of dishonorable kings that closed out the northern kingdom of Israel.
During this period, while Israel was imploding from the effects of evil and unfaithful leadership, Judah seemed on a roller-coaster ride—ascending to the heights of its destiny in one generation, only to fall into the doldrums in another. In Judah at this time, good kings and evil kings alternated with each other, a pattern seen in the reigns of Jotham (good, 2 Kings 15:32–34); Ahaz (evil, 2 Kings 16:1–4); and Hezekiah (good, 2 Kings 18:1–7).
Why is Micah so important?
The book of Micah provides one of the most significant prophecies of Jesus Christ’s birth in all the Old Testament, pointing some seven hundred years before Christ’s birth to His birthplace of Bethlehem and to His eternal nature (Micah 5:2).
Surrounding Micah’s prophecy of Jesus’s birth is one of the most lucid pictures of the world’s future under the reign of the Prince of Peace (5:5). This future kingdom, which scholars (incorrectly) call the millennial kingdom, will be characterized by the presence of many nations living with one another in peace and security (4:3–4) and coming to Jerusalem to worship the reigning king, that is, Jesus Himself (4:2). The millennial kingdom, which is the 1000 years that we rule with Christ, has already happened. This was the time between 800 and 1800 AD when the Reformation exploded by and through God's people (anglo-saxon true Israel) who brought the gospel to our kinsmen, who were settling all over the world. Christ is not coming back a 3rd time. Because these events have not yet occurred, we look forward to the millennial kingdom at some undetermined time in the future. The 1000 years has occurred, now we look forward to His final return when we will reign with Him here on earth.
The “rapture”, along with the “millennial reign (supposedly yet to happen)”, are not scriptural. They are some of the false doctrines warned about by our Prince.
What's the big idea?
Much of Micah’s book revolves around two significant predictions: one of judgment on Israel and Judah (Micah 1:1–3:12), the other of the restoration of God’s people in the millennial kingdom (4:1–5:15). In the kingdom. Christ is not going to set things right for a 1000 years, only to let the evil happen all over again. The scriptures teache that His 2nd Advent is the last. Judgment and restoration inspire fear and hope, two ideas wrapped up in the final sequence of Micah’s prophecy, a courtroom scene in which God’s people stand trial before their Creator for turning away from Him and from others (6:1–7:20). It's not a trial, the judgment is set, Assyria is the rod of punishment. In this sequence, God reminds the people of His good works on their behalf, how He cared for them while they cared only for themselves. But rather than leave God’s people with the fear and sting of judgment, the book of Micah concludes with the prophet’s call on the Lord as his only source of salvation and mercy (7:7), pointing the people toward an everlasting hope in their everlasting God.
How do I apply this?
Much of Micah’s indictment against Israel and Judah involves these nations’ injustice toward the lowly—unjust business dealings, robbery, mistreatment of women and children, and a government that lived in luxury off the hard work of its nation’s people.
Where does the injustice dwell in your own life? Who are the lowly in your life? Do you need a call toward repentance, like the people of Israel and Judah did?
Micah’s impassioned plea for God’s chosen people to repent will cut many of us to the quick. Most of us don’t decide daily to cut people down or find ways to carry out injustice. Instead, we do it out of habit. Let’s allow the words of Micah to break us out of our apathy about extending justice and kindness to others and press on toward a world that better resembles the harmonious millennial kingdom to come. Let’s determine to live as God desires—“to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God” (Micah 6:8).