Micah 3 commentary

Men cannot expect to do ill, and fare well; but to find that done to them which they did to others. How seldom do wholesome truths reach the ears of those in high stations or in authority! Those who deceive others are preparing confusion for their own faces. The prophet had ardent love to God and to the souls of men; deep concern for his glory and their salvation, and zeal against sin. The difficulties he met with did not drive him from his work. He had this strength; not from and of himself, but he was full of power by the Spirit of the Lord. Those who act honestly, may act boldly. And those who come to hear the word of God, must be willing to be told of their faults, must take it kindly, and be thankful.

Zion's walls owe no thanks to those that build them up with blood and iniquity. The sin of man works not the righteousness of God. Even when men do that which in itself is good, but do it for filthy lucre, it becomes abomination both to God and man. Faith rests in the Lord as the soul's foundation: presumption only leans upon the Lord as a prop, and would use him to serve a turn. If men's having the Lord among them will not keep them from doing evil, it never can secure them from suffering evil for so doing. See the doom of wicked Jacob; Therefore shall Zion for your sake be ploughed as a field. This was exactly fulfilled at the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and is so at this day. If sacred places are polluted by sin, they will be wasted and ruined by the judgments of God.

The Prophet in this chapter assails and severely reproves the chief men as well as the teachers; for both were given to avarice and cruelty, to plunder, and, in short, to all other vices. And he begins with the magistrates, who exercised authority among the people; and briefly relates the words in which he inveighed against them. We have said elsewhere, that the Prophets did not record all that they had spoken, but only touched shortly on the heads or chief points: and this was done by Micah, that we might know what he did for forty or more years, in which he executed his office. He could have related, no doubt, in half-an-hour, all that exists of his writings: but from this small book, however small it is, we may learn what was the Prophet’s manner of teaching, and on what things he chiefly dwelt. I will now return to his words.

He says that the chief men of the kingdom had been reproved by him. It is probable, that these words were addressed to the Jews; for though at the beginning he includes the Israelites, we yet know that he was given as a teacher to the Jews, and not to the kingdom of Israel. It was as it were accidental, that he sometimes introduces the ten tribes together with the Jews. This address then was made, as I think, to the king as well as to his counselors and other judges, who then ruled over the people of Judah.

Hear this, I pray, he says. Such a preface betokens carelessness in the judges; for why does he demand a hearing from them, except that they had become so torpid in their vices, that they would attend to nothing? Inasmuch then as so brutal a stupor had seized on them, he says, Hear now ye chiefs, or heads, of Jacob, and ye rulers קצינים, from קצה, to cut off to sever, to separate: they were those who were separated from others, as leaders of an army, rendered in our version, captains, rulers, Joshua 10:24; Isaiah 22:3. — Ed. of the house of Israel But why does he still speak of the house of Israel? Because that name was especially known and celebrated, whenever a mention was made of the posterity of Abraham: and the other Prophets, even while speaking of the kingdom of Judah, often make use of this title, “ye who are called by the name of Israel;” and they did this, on account of the dignity of the holy Patriarch; and the meaning of the word itself was no ordinary testimonial of excellency as to his whole race. And this is what is frequently done by Isaiah. But the name of Israel is not put here, as elsewhere, as a title of distinction: on the contrary, the Prophet here amplifies their sin, because they were so corrupt, though they were the chief men among the chosen race, being those whom God had honored with so much dignity, as to set them over his Church and elect people. It was then an ingratitude, not to be endured to abuse that high and sacred authority, which had been conferred on them by God.

Does it not belong to you, he says, to know judgment? Here he intimates that rectitude ought to have a place among the chief men, in a manner more especial than among the common people; for it behaves them to excel others in the knowledge of what is just and right: for though the difference between good and evil be engraven on the hearts of all, yet they, who hold supremacy among the people, and excel in power, are as it were the eyes of the community; as the eyes direct the whole body, so also they, who are placed in any situation of honor, are thus made eminent, that they may show the right way to others. Hence by the word, to know, the Prophet intimates that they wickedly subverted the whole order of nature, for they were blind, while they ought to have been the luminaries of the whole people. Is it not for you, he says, to know judgment and equity? But why was this said, especially to the chief men? Because they, though they of themselves knew what was right, having the law engraven within ought yet as leaders to have possessed superior knowledge, so as to outshine others. It is therefore your duty to know judgment. We hence learn that it is not enough for princes and magistrates to be well disposed and upright; but it is required of them to know judgment and wisdom that they may discern matters above the common people. But if they are not thus endued with the gift of understanding and wisdom let them ask of the Lord. We indeed know, that without the Spirit of God, the acutest men are wholly unfit to rule; nor is it in vain, that the free Spirit of God is set forth, as holding the supreme power in the world; for we are thus reminded, that even they who are endued with the chief gifts are wholly incapable of governing except the Spirit of God be with them. This passage then shows that an upright mind is not a sufficient qualification in princes; they must also excel in wisdom, that they may be, as we have already said, as the eyes are to the body. In this sense it is that Micah now says that it belonged to the leaders of the people to know judgment and justice. Some, such as Marckius, and also Grotius, take another view of this sentence: Is it not for you, who judge and punish others, to know the judgment of God, which awaits you? But most agree in the view given here. — Ed.

He afterwards subjoins, But they hate good, and love evil, and pull off the skin Their skin, literally. The antecedent (which is not unusual in Hebrew) is mentioned afterwards: it is the word, people, which follows.

The idea of sheep or flock, to which the people are compared in the last chapter, is still retained here. Adam Clarke quotes from Suetonius a striking answer of Tiberius, the Emperor, to some governors, who solicited him to increase the taxes, — “It is the property of a good shepherd to shear his sheep, not to skin them” — Boni pastoris esse tondere pectus, non deglubere

To “hate good, and to love evil,” in the former sentence, betokens a character dreadful in the extreme; for good here, טוב means kindness, benevolence, the doing of good to others; this they hated: and evil, רעה, means wrong, mischief, injury, the doing of harm, of wrong, and of injustice to others; and this they loved. How transmuted they were in their spirit into that of very fiends! “They hate to do good, hate to have any good done, and hate those that are good; and they love the evil, delight in mischief, and in those that do mischief.” These words of Henry, no doubt, convey a correct view of the sentence. It might therefore be rendered, “Haters of benevolence, and lovers of mischief.” — Ed. from my people, the flesh from their bones; that is, they leave nothing, he says, sound and safe, their rapacity being so furious. The Prophet conveys first a general reproof, — that they not only perverted justice, but were also given to wickedness and hated good. He means then that they were openly wicked and ungodly, and also that they with a fixed purpose carried on war against every thing just and right. We hence learn how great and how abominable was the corruption of the people, when they were still the peculiar possession and heritage of God. Inasmuch then as the state of this ancient people had become so degenerated, let us learn to walk in solicitude and fear, while the Lord governs us by pious magistrates and faithful pastors: for what happened to the Jews might soon happen to us, so that wolves might bear rule over us, as indeed experience has proved even in this our city. The Prophet afterwards adds the kinds of cruelty which prevailed; of which he speaks in hyperbolical terms, though no doubt he sets before our eyes the state of things as it was. He compares the judges to wolves or to lions, or to other savage beasts. He says not that they sought the property of the people, or pillaged their houses; but he says that they devoured their flesh even to the very bones; he says that they pulled off their skin: and this he confirms in the next verse.

They devour, he says, the flesh of my people, and their skin they strip off from them, and their bones they break in pieces and make small, as that which into the pot is thrown, and which is in the midst of the caldron “Under the similitude of butchers the Prophet sets forth their savage cruelty: 1. They take off the skin; 2. They eat the flesh; 3. They break the bones, to pick out the marrow. The insatiable avarice of the princes is described.” — Cocceius. For when any one throws meat into the pot, he does not take the whole ox, but cuts it into pieces, and having broken it, he then fills with these pieces his pot or his caldron. The Prophet then enhances the cruelty of the princes; they were not content with one kind of oppression, but exercised every species of barbarous cruelty towards the people, and were in every respect like bears, or wolves, or lions, or some other savage beasts, and that they were also like gluttons. We now then perceive the Prophet’s meaning.

Now this passage teaches us what God requires mainly from those in power, — that they abstain from doing injustice: for as they are armed with power, so they ought to be a law to themselves. They assume authority over others; let them then begin with themselves, and restrain themselves from doing evil. For when a private man is disposed to do harm, he is restrained at least by fear of the laws, and dares not to do any thing at his pleasure; but in princes there is a greater boldness; and they are able to do greater injustice: and this is the reason why they ought to observe more forbearance and humanity. Hence levity and paternal kindness especially become princes and those in power. But the Prophet here condemns the princes of his age for what deserved the highest reprehension; and their chief crime was cruelty or inhumanity, inasmuch as they spared not their own subjects.

We now see that the Prophet in no degree flattered the great, though they took great pride in their own dignity. But when he saw that they wickedly and basely abused the power committed to them, he boldly resisted them, and exercised the full boldness of the Spirit. He therefore not only calls them robbers or plunderers of the people; but he says, that they were cruel wild beasts; he says, that they devoured the flesh, tore and pulled it in pieces, and made it small; and he says all this, that he might convey an idea of the various kinds of cruelty which they practiced. Now follow threatenings —

Micah 3:4

4. Then shall they cry unto the LORD, 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.

4. Tunc clamabunt ad Jehovam, et non respondebit illis; sed abscondet faciem suam ab ipsis tempore illo, quemadmodum perverse egerunt in factis suis.

Micah now denounces judgment on the chief men, such as they deserved. He says, They shall cry then to Jehovah The adverb אז, az, is often put indefinitely in Hebrew, and has the force of a demonstrative, and may be taken as pointing out a thing, (δεικτικως — demonstratively,) then, or there, as though the Prophet pointed out by his finger things which could be seen, though they were far away from the sight of men. But in this place, the Prophet seems rather to pursue the subject to which I have already referred: for he had before stated that God would take vengeance on that people. This adverb of time then is connected with the other combinations, which have been already explained. There is nothing in the context to which אז, then, or at that time, can be referred, except to the two concluding verses of the last chapter, which ought not to have been separated from this. And this connection confirms the view, that these two verses contain not a promise but a threatening. The same time is meant by אז as by בעת ההיא in the following part of the verse; for it is usual with the Prophets to express generally or indefinitely at first what they afterwards more distinctly specify. — Ed. If, however, any one prefer a different meaning, namely that the Prophet meant here to hold them in suspense, as to the nearness of God’s vengeance, I do not oppose him, for this sense is not unsuitable. However this may be, the Prophet here testifies that the crimes of the chief men would not go unpunished, though they did not think themselves to be subject either to laws or to punishment. As then the princes and magistrates regarded themselves as exempt, by some imaginary privilege, from the lot of other people, the Prophet declares here expressly, that a distress was nigh at hand, which would extort a cry from them: for by the word, cry, he means the miseries which were nigh at hand. They shall then cry in their distress. I have now explained the design of the Prophet.

We indeed see how at this day those who are in high stations swell with arrogance; for as they abound in wealth, and as honor is as it were an elevated degree, so that being propped up by the shoulders of others they seem eminent, and as they are also feared by the rest of the people, they are on these accounts led to think that no adversity can happen to them. But the Prophet says, that such would be their distress, that it would draw a cry from them.

They shall then cry, but Jehovah will not hear; that is, they shall be miserable and without any remedy. Jehovah will not answer them, but will hide from them his face, as they have done perversely; that is, God will not hear their complaints; for he will return on their own heads all the injuries with which he now sees his own people to be afflicted. And thus God will show that he was not asleep, while they were with so much effrontery practicing all kinds of wrong.

It may however be asked here, how it is that God rejects the prayers and entreaties of those who cry to him? It must first be observed, that the reprobate, though they rend the air with their cries, do not yet direct their prayers to God; but if they address God himself, they do this clamorously; for they expostulate with him, and contend with him, yea, they vomit out their blasphemies, or at least they murmur and complain of their evils. The ungodly then cry, but not to the Lord; or if they address their cries to God, they are, as it has been said, full of glamour. Hence, except one is guided by the Spirit of God, he cannot pray from the heart. And we know that it is the peculiar office of the Spirit to raise up our hearts to heaven: for in vain we pray, except we bring faith and repentance: and who is the author of these but the Holy Spirit? It appears then that the ungodly so cry, that they only violently contend with God: but this is not the right way of praying. It is therefore no wonder that God rejects their clamors. The ungodly do indeed at times pour forth a flood of prayers and call on God’s name with the mouth; but at the same time they are, as we have said, full of perverseness, and they never really humble themselves before God. Since then they pour forth their prayers from a bitter and a proud heart, this is the reason why the Prophet says now, that the Lord would not then hear, but hide his face from them at that time, inasmuch as they acted perversely Literally, “As they have rendered evil their deeds,” or, to coin a corresponding word, As they have evilized their deeds. To render their deeds evil was to render them afflictive, injurious, and oppressive to others, according to what has been previously described. Hence the following version of Henderson is incorrect, —

Because they have corrupted their doings.

— Ed.

He shows here that God would not be reconciled to men wholly irreclaimable, who could not be restored by any means to the right way. But when any one falls [and repents] he will ever find God propitious to him, as soon as he cries to him; but when with obstinate minds we pursue our own course, and give no place to repentance, we close up the door of mercy against ourselves; and so what the Prophet teaches here necessarily takes place, — the Lord hides his face in the day of distress. And we also hear what the Scripture says, — that judgment will be without mercy to those who are not merciful, (James 2:11.) Hence if any one be inexorable to his brethren, (as we see at this day many tyrants to be, and we also see many in the middle class to be of the same tyrannical and wholly sanguinary disposition,) he will at length, whoever he may be, meet with that judgment which Micah here denounces. The sentence then is not to be taken in a general sense, as though he had said, that the Lord would not be reconciled to the wicked; but he points out especially those irreclaimable men, who had wholly hardened themselves, so that they had become, as we have already seen, altogether inflexible. The Prophet now comes to his second reproof.

Micah 3:5

5. Thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.

5. sic dicit Jehova super (vel, ad) prophetas, qui decipiunt populum meum, et mordent dentibus suis, et clamant, Paz; et si quis non dederit in os ipsorum, edicunt contra eum proelium:

Micah accuses here the Prophets, in the first place, of avarice and of a desire for filthy lucre. But he begins by saying that he spoke by God’s command, and as it were from his mouth, in order that his combination might have more weight and power. Thus then saith Jehovah against the Prophets: and he calls them the deceivers of the people: but at the same time he points out the source of the evil, that is, why or by what passion they were instigated to deceive, and that was, because the desire of gain had wholly possessed them, so that they made no difference between what was true and what was false, but only sought to please for the sake of gain. And he shows also, on the other hand, that they were so covetous of gain, that they declared war, if any one did not feed them. And God repeats again the name of his people: this had escaped my notice lately in observing on the words of Micah, that the princes devoured the flesh of God’s people; for the indignity was increased when this wrong, was done to the people of God. Had the Assyrians, or the Ethiopians, or the Egyptians, been pillaged by their princes, it would have been more tolerable; but when the very people of God were thus devoured, it was, as I have said, less to be borne. So when the people of God were deceived, and the truth was turned to a lie, it was a sacrilege the more hateful.

This then was the reason why he said, Who deceive my people “Who deceive my people,” is better than, “Who cause my people to err,” according to Newcome and Henderson; for what is referred to is the “peace,” promised by the false prophets. Marckius’ version is, “Who seduce my people,” and he makes this remark, —that the people had three seducers, — the devil, their own deceitful hearts, and the false prophets. — Ed. “This people is sacred to me, for I have chosen them for myself; as then they are destroyed by frauds and deceptions, is not my majesty in a manner dishonored — is not my authority lessened?” We now then see the reason why the Prophet says, They deceive my people. It is indeed certain, that the Jews were worthy of such deceptions; and God elsewhere declares, that whenever he permitted false prophets to come among them, it was to try them to see what sort of people they were, (Deuteronomy 13.) It was then their just reward, when liberty was given to Satan to prevent sound doctrine among the people. And no one is ever deceived, except through his own will. Though their own simplicity seems to draw many to destruction, yet there is ever in them some hypocrisy. But it does not extenuate the sin of false teachers, that the people deserve such a punishment: and hence the Prophet still goes on with his reproof and says, that they were the people of God, — in what respect? By adoption. Though then the Jews had rendered themselves unworthy of such an honor, yet God counts them his people, that he might punish the wickedness of the false teachers, of which he now accuses them. It now follows, that they did bite with their teeth But I cannot finish today.

Prayer.

Grant, Almighty God, that as thou wouldest have the image of thy justice to shine in princes, and whom thou arrest with the sword, that they might rule in thy name, and be really thy ministers, — O grant, that this thy blessing may openly appear among us, and that by this evidence thou mayest testify that thou art not only propitious to us, but hadst also a care for our safety, and watches over our welfare and well-being: and do thou so shine by thy word, that it may never be obscured or clouded among us through any depraved cupidity, but ever retain its own clear purity, so that we may proceed in the right path of salvation, which thou hast discovered and prescribed, until we be at length gathered into thy celestial kingdom, to enjoy that eternal inheritance, which has been procured for us by the blood of thy only-begotten Son. Amen.

Lecture Eighty-sixth

Let us proceed to explain that sentence of the Prophet, in which he shows the cause why the teachers deceived the people and turned the truth of God to a lie; and this was, because they were greedy of gains and were wholly given to avarice. We hence see, according to the testimony of Paul, that avarice affords a cause to all evils, (1 Timothy 6:10;) and that wherever this contagion comes, all things necessarily fall into decay: for when avarice reigns in the hearts of men, the truth of God especially is ever adulterated.

But Micah adduces two evidences of avarice, — that they cried, Peace, when well fed and filled, — and that they proclaimed war, when they were hungry. Then as to the first points he says, הנשכים בשניהם וקראו שלום, that is, “who bite with their teeth, The expression, “to bite with the teeth,” is singular, when understood to signify voraciousness, as evidently it does here; for the corresponding words in the next distich, “who put not into their mouth,” seem to require this meaning. Almost all critics, except some of the Greek Fathers, who followed the Septuagint, agree in attaching to this import to the sentence. The paraphrase of Rabbi Jonathan is, “To him who offers to them a feast of meat, they prophesy peace.” Jerome’s view is the same. Dathias gives this paraphrase, dum illis datur quod edunt — “While is given them something to eat.”

Henry’s comment is much to the purpose, — “They will flatter and compliment those who will feed them with good bits, will give them something to eat; but as for those who put not into their mouths, who are not continually cramming them, they look upon them as their enemies; to them they do not cry, Peace, but even prepare war against them; against them they denounce the judgments of God: they preach either comfort or terror to men, not according as they are to God, but as they are to them; as the crafty priests of the Church of Rome, in some places, make their image either to smile or to frown upon the offerer, according as his offering is.” — Ed. and cry, Peace.” But the sentence is to be so understood, that when they did bite well, they announced peace with full confidence: for by the word, bite, the Prophet means their gormandizing; for they who, under the guise of God’s name, sought only their own advantage, were not satisfied with a moderate support, inasmuch as they were like hungry dogs. They therefore devoured, and gorged themselves, without any limits or moderation. This is the reason why he says that they did bite: for he compares them either to lions or to bears; and we know that wild beasts are not satiated with a small quantity of food, but that they gnash as it were their teeth except they are always pampered. So also Micah says, that the false teachers of his age were voracious men, who demanded a large proportion of food. We see the same thing in our day as to the monks under the Papacy, especially those who, under the name of mendacity, devour the substance of all people. Except they are pampered, they always murmur; nay, they are not content with murmurs, they proclaim war, as the Prophet says here. We indeed see at the same time, that they are insatiable; for when they come to tables well furnished, no one would say that they are men, but beasts, for they devour every thing. We now then understand the Prophet’s meaning.

But it is not voracity alone that is reprehended: he says, that they sold their blessings. when they were well filled and had their stomach well supplied. In the same manner the monks also are wont to pronounce peace when they are well fed, — “O! ye do good, when ye take care of the brethren; for they are careful of you: when ye sleep in your beds, they watch, and their prayers make you rich; for how could the world stand, were it not that the brethren make amends for it? As then ye are so kind to our community, all things shall turn out well and prosperously to you, and God also will bless you.” This then is the practice of those who for reward sell their blessings; they cry, Peace, that is, they confidently declare that all things shall be well, they make God propitious, provided such liberality towards their order be ever continued.

But, on the other hand, he also says, If any one gives not to their mouth, they instantly sanctify war against you The original may be thus rendered,—

But whosoever will not put into their mouth, Even against him they will proclaim war.

— Ed. : but I give a different rendering, as the passage requires, — that they reclaim war; though the word is literally to sanctify. But we have seen in Joel 2, that the word is used to designate any solemn proclamation, — “Sanctify a fast”, that is, Proclaim a fast. So also in this place, They sanctify war, that is, they proclaim war, when any one does not feed them, nor satisfy their gormandizing; for they could not bear want. In short, the Prophet shows, that these false teachers were so blinded by avarice, that they discerned not the difference between right and wrong; but only praised those who fed them: and, on the other hand, when they found that they and their stomach were not cared for nor satisfied, they cursed, fulminated, and uttered nothing but anathemas; as we see to be done at this day by the monks under the Papacy. The Prophet now says —

Micah 3:6-7

6. Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.

6. Propterea nox vobis erit a visione (vel, pro visione, vel propter visionem; dicemus postea de sensu,) et tenebrae vobis a divinatione (vel, propter divinationem,) et occumbet sol super prophetas, et obtenebrabitur super eos dies;

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.

7. Et pudefient videntes (hoc est, prophetae,) et erubescent divini, et velabunt (hoc est, velum opponent) super labium suum omnes; quia non erit responsum Dei.

God declares here to the false teachers by the mouth of Micah, that he would inflict punishment on them, so that they should be exposed to the reproach of all. Hence the kind of punishment of which the Prophet speaks is — that he would strip the false teachers of all their dignity, so that they should hereafter in vain put on an appearance, and claim the honorable name which they had so long abused. We indeed know, when ungodly and profane men clothe themselves with the dignified titles of being the princes, or bishops, or prelates of the Church, how audaciously they pervert every thing, and do so with impunity. There is then no other remedy, except God pulls off the mask from them, and openly discovers to all their baseness. Of this punishment Micah now speaks.

There shall be to you a night from vision; so is the phrase literally, but the particle מ, mem, means often, for, or, on account of; and we can easily see that the Prophet represents night as the reward for visions and darkness for divination. “As then my people have been deceived by your fallacies, for your visions and divinations have been nothing but lies and deceits, I will repay you with the reward which you have deserved: for instead of a vision you shall have night, and instead of divination you shall have thick darkness.” That this is the meaning is evident from the two last lines of the verse. It is a kind of parallelism, in which the four lines contain the same idea or ideas, announced in the two first lines in one form, and in the two last another, with more clearness, and sometimes with something additional. The preposition מ has sometimes the meaning of rather than, but here, instead of. I would render the verse thus, —

Therefore night shall be to you instead of vision, And darkness shall be to you instead of divination: Yea, set shall the sun upon the Prophets, And darken upon them shall the day.

Piscator gives the sense when he says, Visio vestra mutabitur in noctem — “Your vision shall be changed into night.” — Ed. It is indeed certain, that the false teachers, even when they were, as they say, in great reputation, that is, when they retained the honor and the title of their office, were blind and wholly destitute of all light: but the Prophet here declares, that as their baseness did not appear to the common people, God would cause it to be made at length fully evident. As for instance, there is nothing at this day more stupid and senseless than the bishops of the Papacy: for when any one draws from them any expression about religion, they instantly betray not only their ignorance, but also their shameful stupidity. With regard to the monks, though they be the most audacious kind of animals, (audacissimum animalium genus,) yet we know how unlearned and ignorant they are. Therefore at this time the night has not yet passed away, nor the darkness, of which Micah speaks here.

We now then understand what the Holy Spirit teaches here, and that is, — that God would at length strip those false teachers of that imaginary dignity, on account of which no one dared to speak against them, but received as an oracle whatever they uttered. Night, then, shall be to you instead of a vision; that is, “The whole world shall understand that you are not what you boast yourselves to be: for I will show that there is not in you, no, not a particle of the prophetic spirit, but that ye are men as dark as night, and darkness shall be to you instead of divination. Ye boast of great acuteness and great perspicuity of mind; but I will discover your baseness, so that the very children may know that you are not endued with the spirit.”

To the same purpose is what he adds, Go down shall the sun upon you, and darkened over you shall be the day; that is, such will be that darkness, that even at noon they will see nothing; the sun will shine on all, but they shall grope as in the dark; so that Gods vengeance would be made so manifest, that it might be noticed by all, from the least to the greatest.

He confirms the same thing in the next verse, And ashamed shall be the seers and confounded the diviners, רסמים, μαντεις, Sept. fatidici, sootsayers, diviners. It is used generally in a bad sense, while חזים, seers is commonly used in a good sense; but here both words denote pretenders, the false prophets. — Ed. and they shall cover their lip; that is they will put veils on their mouths. In short, he means, that they would become a reproach to all, so that they would be ashamed of themselves, and no more dare to boast with so much confidence of their name and of the prophetic office.

As to this form of expression, ועטו על-שפם, uothu ol shephim, some think that the practice of mourners is referred to; but this interpretation is frigid. I have therefore no doubt but that Micah intimates that the mouths of the false teachers would be closed. There is nearly the same denunciation mentioned by Zechariah; for speaking of the restoration of the Church, he says, — They who before went about boasting greatly, and gloried in the name of Prophets, shall cast away their mantle, and will no longer dare to show themselves; yea, when they shall come abroad, they shall be as it were herdsman or private persons, and shall say, “I am not a prophet, nor the son of a prophet, I am chastised by my father;” that is, they shall profess themselves unworthy of being called prophets; but that they are scholars under discipline, (Zechariah 13:5.) So also in this place, “They deceive at this day my people,” saith the Lord; “I will reward them as they deserve; I will fill them with disgrace and contempt. They shall not then dare hereafter to show themselves as they have been wont to do; they shall not presume boastingly to profess themselves to be the pillars of the Church, that the whole world may be made subject to them; they shall not dare with tyrannical force to oppress the common and ignorant portions of society Veil, then, shall they their mouth; that is, “I will cause their mouth to be closed, so that they shall not dare hereafter to utter even a word.” The version of Newcome is, “They shall cover the mouth;” that is, as he adds in a note, “with part of the long eastern vesture. This action was a sign of being put to silence, of disgrace and dejection, Leviticus 13:45; Ezekiel 24:17, 22.” There is no reason to render mouth, beard, as some have done. — Ed.

It follows, For there will be no answer from God. Some so explain this sentence, as though the Prophet upbraided them with their old deceits, which they boasted were the words of God: as then they were not faithful to God, but lied to miserable men, when they said, that they were sent from above, and brought messages from heaven, while they only uttered their own inventions or fables, they should on these accounts be constrained to cover their mouth. But different is the meaning of the Prophet, and it is this, — that they were to be deprived of any answer, so that their want of knowledge might be easily perceived even by the most ignorant: for false teachers, though they possess nothing certain, yet deceive the simple with disguises, and render plausible their absurdities, that they may seem to be the interpreters of God; and they further add great confidence: and then the stupidity of the people concedes to them such great power, according to what is said by Jeremiah 5 where he says that the priests received gifts and that for gifts the Prophets divined, and that the people loved such deprivations. But Micah declares here that such delusions would no longer be allowed, for God would dissipate them. It will then be made evident, that you have no answer from God; that is, “All will perceive that you are void and destitute of every celestial truth, and that you were formerly but gross cheats, when ye passed yourselves as God’s servants, though you had no ground for doing so.”

We now perceive what the Prophet means. But this punishment might have then contributed to the benefit of the people: for as it is a cause of ruin to the world, when there is no difference made between light and darkness; so when the baseness of those is discovered, who abuse God’s name and adulterate his pure truth, there is then a door open to repentance. Rightly then is this combination addressed to false prophets. It now follows —

Micah 3:8

8. But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the Lord, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.

8. Atqui vere ego repletus sum virtute a Spiritu Jehovae, et judicio, et fortitudine, ad annuntiandum Jacob scelus suum, et Israeli peccatum suum.

Here Micah, in a courageous spirit, stands up alone against all the false teachers even when he saw that they were a large number, and that they appealed to their number, according to their usual practice, as their shield. Hence he says, I am filled with power by the Spirit of Jehovah Jerome renders “the Spirit of Jehovah” in the genitive case, which in meaning amounts to the same thing; but Newcome puts the words in apposition with “power.” The את before Spirit seems to betoken a difference in its connection with “filled.” It appears to be here a preposition, ab, by. The “power,” כח, is the δυναμις of the New Testament; and “judgment,” משפט, is discernment or discrimination; and “might” or courage, גבורה, is “an intrepid firmness of mind,” as Marckius observes, “against all opposing evils and hindrances.” — Ed. This confidence is what all God’s servants should possess, that they may not succumb to the empty and vain boastings of those who subvert the whole order of the Church. Whenever then, God permits his pure truth to be corrupted by false teachers, and them to be popular among those high in honor, as well as the multitude, let this striking example be remembered by us, lest we be discouraged, lest the firmness and invincible power of the Holy Spirit be weakened in our hearts, but that we may proceed in the course of our calling, and learn to oppose the name of God to all the deceptions of men, if indeed we are convinced that our service is approved by him, as being faithful. Since, then, Micah says, that he was filled with power, he no doubt stood, as it were, in the presence of the whole people, and alone pitched his camp against the whole multitude; for there were then false teachers going about every where, as the devil sows always seed enough, whenever God lets loose the reins. Though then their number was not small, yet Micah hesitated not to go forth among them: I, he says; there is stress to be laid on the pronoun אנכי, anki, — Ye despise me, being one man, and ye despise a few men; ye may think that I alone serve the Lord; but I am a match for a thousand, yea, for an innumerable multitude; for God is on my side, and he approves of my ministry as it is. from him, nor do I bring any thing to you but what he has commanded: It is then I.

He further expresses a fuller confidence by using the word אולם, aulam Marckius renders it the same, verè, and says, that it is of the same import with Amen, Amen, so often used by our Savior. Truly is adopted by Newcome and Henderson. — Ed. ; Verily, he says, I am filled with power. This “verily” or truly is opposed to those lofty boastings by which the false prophets were ever wont to attain a name and honor among the people. But Micah intimates that all that they uttered was only evanescent: “Ye are,” he says, “wonderful prophets; nay, ye are superior to the angels, if you are to be believed; but show that you are so in reality; let there be some proof by which your calling can be confirmed. There is no proof. It then follows, that ye are only men of wind, and not really spiritual: but there is really in me what ye boast of with your mouths.” And he says, that he was filled, that he might not be thought one of the common sort: and Micah no doubt shows here, on account of the necessity of the occasion, that he was not supplied with ordinary or usual power; for, according as God employs the labors of his servants, so is he present with them, and furnishes them with suitable protection. When any one is not exercised with great difficulties in discharging his office of teaching, a common measure of the Spirit is only necessary for the performance of his duties; but when any one is drawn into arduous and difficult struggles, he is at the same time especially strengthened by the Lord: and we see daily examples of this; for many simple men, who have never been trained up in learning, have yet been so endued by the celestial Spirit, when they came to great trials, that they have closed the mouths of great doctors, who seemed to understand all oracles. By such evidences God openly proves at this day, that he is the same now as when he formerly endued his servant Micah with a power so rare and so extraordinary. This then is the reason why he says, that he was filled with power.

He afterwards adds, By the Spirit of Jehovah Here the Prophet casts aside every suspicious token of arrogance; lest he should seem to claim anything as his own, he says, that this power was conferred on him from above: and this circumstance ought to be particularly noticed. Though Micah rightly and justly claimed to himself the name of a teacher, he yet had nothing different from others before the world; for all his opponents discharged the same office, and obtained the same honor: the office was common to both parties. Micah was either alone, or connected with Isaiah and a few others. Since then he here dares to set up himself, we see that his call alone must be regarded; for we know how great is the propensity of Satan to oppose the kingdom of Christ, and also how proud and fierce are false teachers. Since then the rage of Satan is well known and the presumption of false teachers, there is no reason why the faithful should make much of mere naked titles: and when they, who lived at that time, declared, as Papists do at this day, that they had no discrimination nor judgment to know, whether of them ought to have been deemed impostors or the ministers of God, inasmuch as Micah was alone and they were many, and also that the others were prophets that at least they had the name and repute of being so, — what was to be done? This was the reason why I have said that this circumstance was worthy of special notice, — that though their vocation was common, yet as they had acted perfidiously, and Micah alone, or with few others, had faithfully performed what the Lord had commanded, he alone is to be deemed a Prophet and a teacher: in short, there is no reason for false prophets to set up against us a mere coveting, when they cannot prove that they are endued with the Spirit of God. Whosoever then desires to be deemed a servant of God, and a teacher in his Church, must have this seal which Micah here adduces; he must be endued with the Spirit of God; honor then will be given to God. But if any one brings nothing but the name, we see how vain before God it is.

He afterwards subjoins With judgment and courage. (fortitudine) By judgment, I have no doubt, he understands discernment, as this is also the common meaning of the word. He then adds courage These two things are especially necessary for all ministers of the word, — that is, to excel in wisdom, to understand what is true and right, and to be also endued with inflexible firmness, by which they may overcome both Satan and the whole world, and never turn aside from their course, though the devil may in all ways assail them. We hence see what these two words import. He had put כח, kech, first, power; but now he mentions גבורה, gebure, courage or magnanimity. By the term, power, he meant generally all the endowments, with which all who take upon them the office of teaching ought to be adorned. This qualification is then first required, and it is a general one: but Micah divides this power of the prophets into two kinds, even into wisdom or judgment, and into courage; and he did this, that they might understand what God intended: Let them excel in doctrine; and then that they may be confirmed, let them not yield to any gales that may blow, nor be overcome by threats and terrors; let them not bend here and there to please the world; in a word, let them not succumb to any corruptions: it is therefore necessary to add courage to judgment.

He then adds, To declare to Jacob his wickedness, Scelus, פשע; it means defection, apostacy, rebellion, a willful transgression, and a proud contempt of divine law and institutions; it is ανομια — lawlessness, as it is sometimes rendered by the Septuagint. But “sin,” חטאה, is a deviation from what is right through delusion, mistaken views, error, ignorance, or infirmity. The first included idolatry and gross acts of imposture and oppression; the second, the superstition of the people, and their common vices. Muis, as quoted by Leigh, says that פשע is “defection from God or rebellion, and prevarication towards God,” — defectio à Deo seu rebellio, ac praevaricatio in Deum And he quotes also Mollerius as describing חטאה as including not only sins of error, ignorance, and infirmity, but also those of omission, — Ea potissimum peccata significat, quae vel errore, vel per ignorantiam, vel per infirmitatem carnis, committuntur; item peccata omissionis — Ed. and to Israel his sin. We here see that the Prophet did not hunt for the favor of the people. Had he courted their approbation, he must have soothed with flatteries those who sought flatteries; and were already seized with such hatred and malignant feelings, that they had rejected Micah. He must then have spoken softly to them, to please them; but this he did not do. “On the one hand,” he says, “these men sell to you their blessings and deceive you with the hope of peace; and, on the other, they denounce war, except their voracity is satisfied; and thus it is that they please you; for so ye wish, and ye seek such teachers as will promise you wine and strong drink: but I am sent to you for another purpose; for the Lord has not deposited flatteries with me, such as may be pleasant to you; but he has deposited reproofs and threatenings. I shall therefore uncover your crimes, and will not hesitate to condemn you before the whole world, for ye deserve to be thus treated.” We now perceive why the Prophet says, that he was endued with power to declare his wickedness to Jacob, etc.

But we hence learn how necessary it is for us to be supported by celestial firmness, when we have to do with insincere and wicked men; and this is almost the common and uniform lot of all God’s servants; for all who are sent to teach the word are sent to carry on a contest. It is therefore not enough to teach faithfully what God commands, except we also contend: and though the wicked may violently rise up against us, we must yet put on a brazen front, as it is said in Ezekiel 3:8, 9; nor must we yield to their fury, but preserve invincible firmness. Since then we have a contest with the devil, with the world, and with all the wicked, that we may faithfully execute our office, we must be furnished with this courage of which Micah speaks.

As I have already shown that God’s servants ought courageously to break through all those obstacles by which Satan may attempt either to delay or to force them backward; so also the doctrine taught here ought to be applied to all the godly: they ought wisely to distinguish between the faithful servants of God and impostors who falsely pretend his name. Then no one, who desires truly and from the heart to obey God, will be deceived; for the Lord will ever give the spirit of judgment and discrimination. And the reason why at this day many miserable souls are led to endless ruin is, because they either shut their eyes, or willfully dissemble, or designedly involve themselves in such subterfuges as these, — “I cannot form any judgment; I see on both sides learned and celebrated men, at least those who are in some repute and esteem: some call me to the right hand, and others to the left, where am I to retake myself? I therefore prefer to close my mouth and my ears.” Thus many, seeking a cloak for their sloth, often manifest their ignorance: for we see that the eyes must be opened when the Lord exercises and tries our faith: and he suffers discords and contentions to arise in the Church that some may choose this, and others that. Though God then relaxes the reins of Satan, that contests and turmoils of this kind may be excited in the Church, there is yet no excuse for us, if we follow not what the Lord prescribes; for he will ever guide us by his Spirit, provided we foster not our own slothfulness. It follows—

Micah 3:9-10

9. Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.

9. Audite hoc, quaeso, principes domus Jacob, et gubernatores domus Israel, qui abominantur (est mutatio personae) judicium, et recitudinem omnem pervertunt;

10. They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.

10. Qui aedificat It is בנה, in the singular number, with no variation as to number in the MSS. The Septuagint gives it a plural participle, οἱοικοδομουντες. It may be rendered as a participial noun, “The building of Zion is by blood,” etc., for ה, when radical, does not always turn into ת, when in regimine. — Ed. (nunc est mutatio numeri) Sionem in sanguinibus, et Jerusalem in iniquitate.

The Prophet begins really to prove what he had stated, — that he was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit: and it was, as they say, an actual proof, when the Prophet dreaded no worldly power, but boldly addressed the princes and provoked their rage against him, Hear, he says, ye heads, ye rulers of the house of Jacob, ye men who are cruel, bloody, and iniquitous. We then see that the Prophet had not boasted of what he did not without delay really confirm. But he began with saying, that he was filled with the Spirit of God, that he might more freely address them, and that he might check their insolence. We indeed know that the ungodly are so led on headlong by Satan, that they hesitate not to resist God himself: but yet the name of God is often to them a sort of a hidden chain. However much then the wicked may rage, they yet become less ferocious when the name of God is introduced. This is the reason why the Prophet had mentioned the Spirit of God; it was, that there might be a freer course to his doctrine.

When he now says, Ye heads of the house of Jacob, ye rulers of the house of Israel, it is by way of concession, as though he had said, that these were indeed splendid titles, and that he was not so absurd as not to acknowledge what had been given them by God, even that they were eminent, a chosen race, being the children of Abraham. The Prophet then concedes to the princes what belonged to them, as though he had said, that he was not a seditious man, who had no care nor consideration for civil order. And this defense was very necessary, for nothing is more common than for the ungodly to charge God’s servants with sedition, whenever they use a freedom of speech as it becomes them. Hence all who govern the state, when they hear their corruptions reproved, or their avarice, or their cruelty, or any of their other crimes, immediately cry out, — “What! if we suffer these things, every thing will be upset: for when all respect is gone, what will follow but brutal outrage? for every one of the common people will rise up against the magistrates and the judges.” Thus then the wicked ever say, that God’s servants are seditious whenever they boldly reprove them. This is the reason why the Prophet concedes to the princes and judges of the people their honor; but a qualifying clause immediately follows, — Ye are indeed the heads, ye are rulers; but yet they hate judgment:” he does not think them worthy of being any longer addressed. He had indeed bidden them to hear as with authority; but having ordered them to hear, he now uncovers their wickedness, They hate, he says, judgments and all rectitude pervert: It often happens, as in the present case, that the relative ה, in Hebrew, prefixed to a participle, has after it a verb in the future connected by ו, and in person different from that to which the relative refers. The relative here refers to a noun in the second, and the verb connected with the participle is in the third person. It is an idiom, of which there are frequent instances. We find the same to be the case with the relative אשר, in the third verse. It refers to the chiefs, who are addressed, and must therefore be viewed as in the second person, and all the verbs which follow it are in the third. Some render the participle, “who hate,” which is in Hiphil, in a causative sense. See Amos 5:7; 6:12. The distich may then be rendered thus, —

Who render judgment hateful, (or, abominable,) And distort everything that is right, or more literally, And make crooked everything that is straight.

— Ed. each of them builds Zion by blood, and Jerusalem by iniquity; that is, they turn their pillages into buildings: “This, forsooth, is the splendor of my holy city even of Zion! where I designed the ark of my covenant to be placed, as in my only habitation, even there buildings are seen constructed by blood and by plunder! See, he says, how wickedly these princes conduct themselves under the cover of their dignity!” “They pretend,” says Henry, “in justification of their extortion and oppressions, that they build up Zion and Jerusalem; they add new streets and squares to the holy cities and adorn them; they establish and advance the public interests both in church and state, and think therein they do God and Israel good service; but it is with blood and with iniquity, and therefore it cannot prosper; nor will their intentions of good to the city of God justify their contradictions to the law of God.” A flaming zeal for a good cause can never consecrate extortion, injustice, and murder.

It may be asked, What is the difference between Zion and Jerusalem? Zion was the church, Jerusalem was the state; or it may be, that, according to the usual style of the Prophets, the more limited idea is given first, and the more extensive one is added to it. — Ed.

We now see that the word of God is not bound, but that it puts forth its power against the highest as well as the lowest; for it is the Spirit’s office to arraign the whole world, and not a part only.

‘When the Spirit shall come,’ says Christ, ‘it will convince the world,’ (John 16:8.)

He speaks not there of the common people only, but of the whole world, of which princes and magistrates form a prominent part. Let us then know, that though we ought to show respect to judges, (as the Lord has honored them with dignified titles, calling them his vicegerents and also gods,) yet the mouths of Prophets ought not to be closed; but they ought, without making any difference, to correct whatever is deserving of reproof, and not to spare even the chief men themselves. This is what ought in the first place to be observed.

Then when he says, that Zion was built by blood, and Jerusalem by iniquity, it is the same as though the Prophet had said, that whatever the great men expended on their palaces had been procured, and, as it were, scraped together from blood and plunder. The judges could not have possibly seized on spoils on every side, without being bloody, that is, without pillaging the poor: for the judges were for the most part corrupted by the rich and the great; and then they destroyed the miserable and the innocent. He then who is corrupted by money will become at the same time a thief; and he will not only extort money, but will also shed blood. There is then no wonder that Micah says, that Zion was built by blood He afterwards extends wider his meaning and mentions iniquity, as he wished to cast off every excuse from hypocrites. The expression is indeed somewhat strong, when he says, that Zion was built by blood. They might have objected and said, that they were not so cruel, though they could not wholly clear themselves from the charge of avarice. “When I speak of blood,” says the Prophet, “there is no reason that we should contend about a name; for all iniquity is blood before God: if then your houses have been built by plunder, your cruelty is sufficiently proved; it is as though miserable and innocent men had been slain by your own hands.” The words, Zion and Jerusalem, enhance their sin; for they polluted the holy city and the mount on which the temple was built by the order and command of God.

Prayer.

Grant, Almighty God, that as thou wouldest have us to be ruled by the preaching of thy word, — O grant, that those who have to discharge this office may be really endued with thy celestial power, that they may not attempt any thing of themselves, but with all devotedness spend all their labors for thee and for our benefit, that through them we may be thus edified, so that thou mayest ever dwell among us, and that we through our whole life may become the habitation of thy Majesty, and that finally we may come to thy heavenly sanctuary, where thou daily invites us, as an entrance there has been once for all opened to us by the blood of thy only-begotten Son. Amen.

Lecture Eighty-seventh

Micah 3:11-12

11. The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord among us? none evil can come upon us.

11. Principes ejus pro munere judicant, et sacerdotes ejus mercede docent, et prophetae ejus pecunia divinant, et super Jehova nituntur, dicendo, Annon Jehova in medio nostri? Non veniet super nos malum.

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 high places of the forest.

12. Itaque propter vos Sion ut ager arabitur, et Jerusalem acervus erit, et mons domus in excelsa sylvae. “As the Masoretes, in their division of the Bible, reckon the Twelve Minor Prophets but as one Book, they mark this verse (twelfth of chapter 3) the middle verse of these Prophets.” — Adam Clarke.

The Prophet shows here first, how gross and supine was the hypocrisy of princes as well as of the priests and prophets: and then he declares that they were greatly deceived in thus soothing themselves with vain flatteries; for the Lord would punish them for their sins since he had in his forbearance spared them, and found that they did not repent. But he does not address here the common people or the multitude, but he attacks the chief men: for he has previously told us, that he was endued with the spirit of courage. It was indeed necessary for the Prophet to be prepared with invincible firmness that he might freely and boldly declare the judgment of God, especially as he had to do with the great and the powerful, who, as it is well known, will not easily, or with unruffled minds, bear their crimes to be exposed; for they wish to be privileged above the ordinary class of men. But the Prophet not only does not spare them, but he even arraigns them alone, as though the blame of all evils lodged only with them, as indeed the contagion had proceeded from them; for though all orders were then corrupt, yet the cause and the beginning of all the evils could not have been ascribed to any but to the chief men themselves.

And he says, Princes for reward judge, priests teach for reward, Calvin has mercede in both instances. The first in Hebrew is שחד, a gift, a bribe; this was given to the princes: and the second is מחיר, a commutation, barter, price, something in exchange; this was given to the priests: and then what was given to the prophets is literally silver, כסף; but it often means money in general. The Septuagint renders the first, μετα δωρων — for gifts; the second, μετα μισθου — for reward; and the last, μετα αργυριου — for money. The princes decided matters according to the bribes given them, the priests, not satisfied with the regular allowance given them according to the law, did not teach except they were paid, had something in exchange, a reward for their trouble. And while the true prophets, who were extraordinary teachers sent by God, delivered their messages freely, without any pay, as they received them; the false prophets, who pretended that they came from God, required money for performing their office; see Jeremiah 6:13. And notwithstanding all their gains, all things were done badly. Money was extracted for doing wrong. The princes determined cases unjustly, the priests taught erroneous doctrine, and the prophets prophesied falsely: and yet for all these evils, money was required! How ignorant and infatuated the people must have been!

Cocceius enumerated six things as chargeable on the persons mentioned in this verse: 1. Avarice—the seeking of wealth instead of doing God’s will; 2. A mercenary disposition, influenced by gain and not by sense of duty; 3. The exacting of unlawful reward; 4. The doing, even for reward, of what was evil and wicked; 5. A false pretense of trust in God; and, 6. The tying of God’s favor to external privileges. — Ed. the prophets divine for money: as though he had said, that the ecclesiastical as well as the civil government was subject to all kinds of corruptions, for all things were made matters of sale. We know that what the Holy Spirit declares elsewhere is ever true, — that by gifts or rewards the eyes of the wise are blinded and the hearts of the just are corrupted, (Ecclus. 20:29,) for as soon erg judges open a way for rewards, they cannot preserve integrity, however much they may wish to do so. And the same is the case with the priests: for if any one is given to avarice, he will adulterate the pure truth: it cannot be, that a complete liberty in teaching should exist, except when the pastor is exempt from all desire of gain. It is not therefore without reason that Micah complains here, that the princes as well as the priests were hirelings in his day; and by this he means, that no integrity remained among them, for the one, as I have said, follows from the other. He does not say, that the princes were either cruel or perfidious, though he had before mentioned these crimes; but in this place he simply calls them mercenaries. But, as I have just said, the one vice cannot be separated from the other; for every one who is hired will pervert judgment, whether he be a teacher or a judge. Nothing then remains pure where avarice bears rule. It was therefore quite sufficient for the Prophet to condemn the judges and the prophets and the priests for avarice; for it is easy hence to conclude, that teaching was exposed to sale, and that judgments were bought, so that he who offered most money easily gained his cause. Princes then judge for reward, and priests also teach for reward

We can learn from this place the difference between prophets and priests. Micah ascribes here the office or the duty of teaching to the priests and leaves divination alone to the prophets. We have said elsewhere, that it happened through the idleness of the priests, that prophets were added to them; for prophesying belonged to them, until being content with the altar, they neglected the office of teaching: and the same thing, as we find, has taken place under the Papacy. For though it be quite evident for what reason pastors were appointed to preside over the Church, we yet see that all, who proudly call themselves pastors, are dumb dogs. Whence is this? Because they think that they discharge their duties, by being only attentive to ceremonies; and they have more than enough to occupy them: for the priestly office under the Papacy is laborious enough as to trifles and scenic performances: (ritus histrionicos — stage-playing rites) but at the same time they neglect the principal thing — to feed the Lord’s flock with the doctrine of salvation. Thus degenerated had the priests become under the Law. What is said by Malachi ought to have been perpetuated, — that the law should be in the mouth of the priest, that he should be the messenger and interpreter of the God of hosts, (Malachi 2:7;) but the priests cast from them this office: it became therefore necessary that prophets should be raised up, and as it were beyond the usual course of things while yet the regular course formally remained. But the priests taught in a cold manner; and the prophets divined, that is professed that oracles respecting future things were revealed to them.

This distinction is now observed by the Prophet, when he says, The priests teach for reward, that is, they were mercenaries, and hirelings in their office: and the prophets divined for money It then follows, that they yet leaned on Jehovah, and said, Is not Jehovah in the midst of us? Come then shall not evil upon us. The Prophet shows here, as I have said at the beginning, that these profane men trifled with God: for though they knew that they were extremely wicked, nay, their crimes were openly known to all; yet they were not ashamed to lay claim to the authority of God. And it has, we know, been a common wickedness almost in all ages, and it greatly prevails at this day, — that men are satisfied with having only the outward evidences of being the people of God. There was then indeed an altar erected by the command of God; there were sacrifices made according to the rule of the Law; and there were also great and illustrious promises respecting that kingdom. Since then the sacrifices were daily performed, and since the kingdom still retained its outward form, they thought that God was, in a manner, bound to them. The same is the case at this day with the great part of men; they presumptuously and absurdly boast of the external forms of religion. The Papists possess the name of a Church, with which they are extremely inflated; and then there is a great show and pomp in their ceremonies. The hypocrites also among us boast of Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper, and the name of Reformation; while, at the same time, these are nothing but mockeries, by which the name of God and the whole of religion are profaned, when no real piety flourishes in the heart. This was the reason why Micah now expostulated with the prophets and the priests, and the king’s counselors; it was, because they falsely pretended that they were the people of God. In unison with the foregoing are these striking remarks of Henry,—”Many are rocked sleep in a fatal security by their church privileges, as if these would protect them in sin and shelter them from punishment, which are really, and will be, the greatest aggravations both of their sin and of their punishment. If men’s having the Lord among them will not restrain them from doing evil, it can never secure them from suffering evil for so doing; and it is very absurd for sinners to think that their impudence will be their impunity.” — Ed.

But by saying; that they relied on Jehovah, he did not condemn that confidence which really reposes on God; for, in this respect, we cannot exceed the bounds: as God’s goodness is infinite, so we cannot trust in his word too much, if we embrace it in true faith. But the Prophet says, that hypocrites leaned on Jehovah, because they flattered themselves with that naked and empty distinction, that God had adopted them as his people. Hence the word, leaning or recumbing, is not to be applied to the real trust of the heart, but, on the contrary, to the presumption of men, who pretend the name of God, and so give way to their own will, that they shake off not only all fear of God, but also thought and reason. When, therefore, so great and so supine thoughtlessness occupies the minds of men, stupidity presently follows: and yet it is not without reason that Micah employs this expression, for hypocrites persuade themselves that all things will be well with them, as they think that they have God propitious to them. As then they feel no anxiety while they have the idea that God is altogether at peace with them, the Prophet declares, by way of irony, that they relied on Jehovah; as though he had said, that they made the name of God their support: but yet the Prophet speaks in words contrary to their obvious meaning, (καταχρηστικῶς loquitur — speaks catachrestically;) for it is certain that no one relies on Jehovah except he is humbled in himself. It is penitence that leads us to God; for it is when we are cast down that we recumb on him; but he who is inflated with self-confidence flies in the air, and has nothing solid in him. And our Prophet, as I have said, intended indirectly to condemn the false security in which hypocrites sleep, while they think it enough that the Lord had once testified that they would be his people; but the condition is by them disregarded.

He now recites their words, Is not Jehovah in the midst of us? Come will not evil upon us This question is a proof of a haughty self-confidence; for they ask as of a thing indubitable, and it is an emphatic mode of speaking, by which they meant to say, that Jehovah was among them. He who simply affirms a thing, does not show so much pride as these hypocrites when they set forth this question, “Who shall deny that Jehovah dwells in the midst of us?” God had indeed chosen an habitation among them for himself; but a condition was interposed, and yet they wished that he should be, as it were, tied to the temple, though they considered not what God required from them. They hence declared that Jehovah was in the midst of them; nay, they treated with disdain any one who dared to say a word to the contrary: nor is there a doubt but that they poured forth blasts of contempt on the Prophets. For whenever any one threatened what our Prophet immediately subjoins, such an answer as this was ever ready on their lips, — “What! will God then desert us and deny himself? Has he in vain commanded the temple to be built among us? Has he falsely promised that we should be a priestly kingdom? Dost thou not make God a covenant-breaker, by representing him as approving of the terrors of thy discourse? But he cannot deny himself:” We hence see why the Prophet had thus spoken; it was to show that hypocrites boasted so to speaks of their proud confidence, because they thought that God could not be separated from them.

Now this passage teaches us how preposterous it is thus to abuse the name of God. There is indeed a reason why the Lord calls us to himself, for without him we are miserable; he also promises to be propitious to us, though, in many respects, we are guilty before him: he yet, at the same time, calls us to repentance. Whosoever, then, indulges himself and continues sunk in his vices, he is greatly deceived, if he applies to himself the promises of God; for, as it has been said, the one cannot be separated from the other. That is, the promise from repentance. — Ed. But when God is propitious to them, they rightly conclude, that all things will be well with them, for we know that the paternal favor of God is a fountain of all felicity. But in this there was a vicious reasoning, — that they promised to themselves the favor of God through a false imagination of the flesh, and not through his word. Thus we see that there is ever in hypocrisy some imitation of piety: but there is a sophistry (paralogismus) either in the principle itself or in the argument.

Now follows a threatening, Therefore, on your account, Zion as a field shall be plowed, and Jerusalem a heap shall be, and the mount of the house as the high places of a forest We here see how intolerable to God hypocrites are; for it was no ordinary proof of a dreadful vengeance, that the Lord should expose to reproach the holy city, and mount Zion, and his own temple. This revenge, then, being so severe, shows that to God there is nothing less tolerable than that false confidence with which hypocrites swell, for it brings dishonor on God himself; for they could not boast that they were God’s people without aspersing him with many reproaches. What then is the meaning of this, “God is in the midst of us,” except that they thereby declared that they were the representatives (vicarios) of God, that the kingdom was sacred and also the priesthood? Since then they boasted that they did not presumptuously claim either the priesthood or the regal power, but that they were divinely appointed, we hence see that their profanation of God’s name was most shameful. It is then no wonder that God was so exceedingly displeased with them: and hence the Prophet says, For you shall Zion as a field be plowed; as though he said, “This is like something monstrous, that the temple should be subverted, that the holy mount and the whole city should be entirely demolished, and that nothing should remain but a horrible desolation, — who can believe all this? It shall however, take place, and it shall take place on your account; you will have to bear the blame of this so monstrous a change.” For it was as though God had thrown heaven and earth into confusion; inasmuch as he himself was the founder of the temple; and we know with what high encomiums the place was honored. Since then the temple was built, as it were, by the hand of God, how could it be otherwise, but that, when destroyed, the waste and desolate place should be regarded as a memorable proof of vengeance? There is therefore no doubt but that Micah intended to mark out the atrocity of their guilt, when he says, For you shall Zion as a field be plowed, Jerusalem shall become a heap of stones; that is, it shall be so desolated, that no vestige of a city, well formed and regularly built, shall remain.

And the mount of the house, etc. He again mentions Zion, and not without reason: for the Jews thought that they were protected by the city Jerusalem; the whole country rested under its shadow, because it was the holy habitation of God. And again, the city itself depended on the temple, and it was supposed, that it was safe under this protection, and that it could hardly be demolished without overthrowing the throne of God himself: for as God dwelt between the cherubim, it was regarded by the people as a fortress incapable of being assailed. As then the holiness of the mount deceived them, it was necessary to repeat what was then almost incredible, at least difficult of being believed. He therefore adds, The mount of the house shall be as the high places of a forest; that is, trees shall grow there.

Why does he again declare what had been before expressed with sufficient clearness? Because it was not only a thing difficult to be believed, but also wholly inconsistent with reason, when what the Lord had said was considered, and that overlooked which hypocrites ever forget. God had indeed made a covenant with the people; but hypocrites wished to have God, as it were, bound to them, and, at the same time, to remain themselves free, yea, to have a full liberty to lead a wicked life. Since then the Jews were fixed in this false opinion, — that God could not be disunited from his people, the Prophet confirms the same truth, that the mount of the house would be as the high places of a forest. And, by way of concession, he calls it the mount of the house, that is, of the temple; as though he said, “Though God had chosen to himself a habitation, in which to dwell, yet this favor shall not keep the temple from being deserted and laid waste; for it has been profaned by your wickedness.”

Let us now see at what time Micah delivered this prophecy. This we learn from Jeremiah 26; for when Jeremiah prophesied against the temple, he was immediately seized and cast into prison; a tumultuous council was held, and he was well nigh being brought forth unto execution. All the princes condemned him; and when now he had no hope of deliverance, he wished, not so much to plead his own cause, as to denounce a threatening on them, that they might know that they could effect no good by condemning an innocent man. “Micah, the Morasthite,” he said, “prophesied in the days of Hezekiah, and said thus, ‘Zion as a field shall be plowed, Jerusalem shall be a heap, and the mount of the house as the high placers of a forest.’” Did the king and the people, he said, consult together to kill him? Nay, but the king turned, and so God repented; that is, the Lord deferred his vengeance; for king Hezekiah humbly deprecated the punishment which had been denounced. We now then know with certainty the time.

But it was strange that under such a holy king so many and so shameful corruptions prevailed, for he no doubt tried all he could to exercise authority over the people, and by his own example taught the judges faithfully and uprightly to discharge their office; but he was not able, with all his efforts, to prevent the Priests, and the Judges, and the Prophets, from being mercenaries. We hence learn how sedulously pious magistrates ought to labor, lest the state of the Church should degenerate; for however vigilant they may be, they can yet hardly, even with the greatest care, keep things (as mankind are so full of vices) from becoming very soon worse. This is one thing. And now the circumstance of the time ought to be noticed for another purpose: Micah hesitated not to threaten with such a judgment the temple and the city, though he saw that the king was endued with singular virtues. He might have thought thus with himself, “King Hezekiah labored strenuously in the execution of his high office: now if a reproof so sharp and so severe will reach his ears, he will either despond, or think me to be a man extremely rigid, or, it may be, he will become exasperated against sound doctrine.” The Prophet might have weighed these things in his mind; but, nevertheless, he followed his true course in teaching, and there is no doubt but that his severity pleased the king, for we know that he was oppressed with great cares and anxieties, because he could not, by all his striving, keep within proper bounds his counselors, the priests and the prophets. He therefore wished to have God’s servants as his helpers. And this is what pious magistrates always desire, that their toils may in some measure be alleviated by the aid of the ministers of the word; for when the ministers of the word only teach in a cold manner, and are not intent on reproving vices, the severity of the magistrates will be hated by the people. “Why, see, the ministers say nothing, and we hence conclude that they do not perceive so great evils; and yet the magistrates with the drawn sword inflict new punishments daily.” When, therefore, teachers are thus silent, a greater odium no doubt is incurred by the magistrates: it is hence, as I have said, a desirable thing for them, that the free reproofs of teachers should be added to the punishments and judgments of the law.

We further see how calm and meek was the spirit of the king, that he could bear the great severity of the Prophet: Behold, he said, on your accounts etc.: “Thou oughtest at least to have excepted” me.” For the king was not himself guilty. Why then did he connect him with the rest? Because the whole body was infected with contagion, and he spoke generally; and the good king did not retort nor even murmur, but, as we have recited from Jeremiah, he humbly deprecated the wrath of God, as though a part of the guilt belonged to him. Now follows —

Chapter 4

Micah 4:1-2

1. But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.

1. Accidet ultimis diebus, ut sit mons domus Jehovae dispositus in capite montium, et extollentur ipse prae sublimitatibus; et venient ad eum populi:

2. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

2. Et proficiscentur gentes multae et dicent, Venite, et ascendemus ad montem Jehovae, et ad domum Dei Jacob; et docebit nos de viis suis, et ambulabimus in semitis ejus; quia ex Sion prodibit lex, et verbum Jehovae ex Jerusalem.

CHAPTER 3

Mi 3:1-12. The Sins of the Princes, Prophets, and Priests: The Consequent Desolation of Zion.

1. princes--magistrates or judges.

Is it not for you?--Is it not your special function (Jr 5:4, 5)?

judgment--justice. Ye sit in judgment on others; surely then ye ought to know the judgment for injustice which awaits yourselves (Ro 2:1).

2. pluck off their skin ... flesh--rob their fellow countrymen of all their substance (Psa 14:4; Pr 30:14).

3. pot ... flesh within ... caldron--manifold species of cruel oppressions. Compare Eze 24:3, &c., containing, as to the coming punishment, the same figure as is here used of the sin: implying that the sin and punishment exactly correspond.

4. Then--at the time of judgment, which Micah takes for granted, so certain is it (compare Mi 2:3).

they cry ... but he will not hear--just as those oppressed by them had formerly cried, and they would not hear. Their prayer shall be rejected, because it is the mere cry of nature for deliverance from pain, not that of repentance for deliverance from sin.

ill in their doings--Men cannot expect to do ill and fare well.

5. Here he attacks the false prophets, as before he had attacked the "princes."

make my people err--knowingly mislead My people by not denouncing their sins as incurring judgment.

bite with ... teeth, and cry, Peace--that is, who, so long as they are supplied with food, promise peace and prosperity in their prophecies.

he that putteth not into their mouths, they ... prepare war against him--Whenever they are not supplied with food, they foretell war and calamity.

prepare war--literally, "sanctify war," that is, proclaim it as a holy judgment of God because they are not fed (see on Jr 6:4; compare Is 13:3; Joe 1:14).

6. night ... dark--Calamities shall press on you so overwhelming as to compel you to cease pretending to divine (Zec 13:4). Darkness is often the image of calamity (Is 8:22; Am 5:18; 8:9).

7. cover their lips--The Orientals prided themselves on the moustache and beard ("upper lip," Margin). To cover it, therefore, was a token of shame and sorrow (Le 13:45; Eze 24:17, 22). "They shall be so ashamed of themselves as not to dare to open their mouths or boast of the name of prophet" [Calvin].

there is no answer of God--They shall no more profess to have responses from God, being struck dumb with calamities (Mi 3:6).

8. I--in contrast to the false prophets (Mi 3:5, 7).

full of power--that which "the Spirit of Jehovah" imparts for the discharge of the prophetical function (Lu 1:17; 24:49; Ac 1:8).

judgment--a sense of justice [Maurer]; as opposed to the false prophets' speaking to please men, not from a regard to truth. Or, "judgment" to discern between graver and lighter offenses, and to denounce punishments accordingly [Grotius].

might--moral intrepidity in speaking the truth at all costs (2Ti 1:7).

to declare unto Jacob his ... sin--(Is 58:1). Not to flatter the sinner as the false prophets do with promises of peace.

9. Hear--resumed from Mi 3:1. Here begins the leading subject of the prophecy: a demonstration of his assertion that he is "full of power by the Spirit of Jehovah" (Mi 3:8).

10. They--change of person from "ye" (Mi 3:9); the third person puts them to a greater distance as estranged from Him. It is, literally, "Whosoever builds," singular.

build up Zion with blood--build on it stately mansions with wealth obtained by the condemnation and murder of the innocent (Jr 22:13; Eze 22:27; Ha 2:12).

11. heads thereof--the princes of Jerusalem.

judge for reward--take bribes as judges (Mi 7:3).

priests teach for hire--It was their duty to teach the law and to decide controversies gratuitously (Le 10:11; De 17:11; Mal 2:7; compare Jr 6:13; Jude 11).

prophets ... divine--that is, false prophets.

Is not the Lord among us?--namely in the temple (Is 48:2; Jr 7:4, 8-11).

12. Jr 26:18 quotes this verse. The Talmud and Maimonides record that at the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans under Titus, Terentius Rufus, who was left in command of the army, with a ploughshare tore up the foundations of the temple.

mountain of the house--the height on which the temple stands.

as the high places of the forest--shall become as heights in a forest overrun with wild shrubs and brushwood.

Hear - O heads of Jacob - The metaphor of the flock is still carried on. The chiefs of Jacob, and the princes of Israel, instead of taking care of the flocks, defending them, and finding them pasture, oppressed them in various ways. They are like wolves, who tear the skin of the sheep, and the flesh off their bones. This applies to all unjust and oppressive rulers.

Suetonius tells us, in his Life of Tiberius, that when the governors of provinces wrote to the emperor, entreating him to increase the tributes, he wrote back: "It is the property of a good shepherd to shear his sheep, not to skin them." Praesidibus onerandas tributo provincias suadentibus rescripsit: Boni Pastoris esse Tondere pecus, non Deglubebe. This is a maxim which many rulers of the earth do not seem to understand.

Then shall they cry - When calamity comes upon these oppressors, they shall cry for deliverance: but they shall not be heard; because, in their unjust exactions upon the people, they went on ruthlessly, and would not hear the cry of the oppressed.

That bite with their teeth - That eat to the full; that are well provided for, and as long as they are so, prophesy smooth things, and cry, Peace! i.e., Ye shall have nothing but peace and prosperity. Whereas the true prophet, "who putteth not into their mouths," who makes no provision for their evil propensities, "they prepare war against him." קדשו עליו מלחמה kiddeshu alaiv milchamah, "They sanctify a war against him." They call on all to help them to put down a man who is speaking evil of the Lord's people; and predicting the destruction of his temple, and Israel his inheritance.

Night shall be unto you - Ye shall have no spiritual light, nor will God give you any revelation of his will.

The sun shall go down over the prophets - They prospered for a while, causing the people to err; but they shall also be carried into captivity, and then the sun of their prosperity shall go down for ever, and the very day that gives light and comfort to others, shall be darkness and calamity to them.

Shall the seers be ashamed - For the false visions of comfort and prosperity which they pretended to see.

And the diviners confounded - Who pretended to foretell future prosperity; for they themselves are now thralled in that very captivity which the true prophets foretold, and which the false prophets said should not happen.

But - I am full of power - Here is the character of the true prophet. He is filled, all his soul is occupied with power, כח coach, with heavenly energy; by the Spirit of the Lord, the fountain of all truth and might; and of judgment, which enables him to make a proper discernment between the precious and the vile; and of might, גבורה geburah, prevalent power, against which vice shall not be able to prevail, and before which iniquity shall not be able to stand: but all shall fall together, and be confounded.

Hear this - An appeal similar to that in Mic 3:1.

They build up Zion with blood - They might cry out loudly against that butchery practiced by Pekah, king of Israel, and Pul coadjutor of Rezie, against the Jews. See on Mic 2:9 (note). But these were by no means clear themselves; for if they strengthened the city, or decorated the temple, it was by the produce of their exactions and oppressions of the people.

I do not know a text more applicable than this to slave-dealers; or to any who have made their fortunes by such wrongs as affect the life of man; especially the former, who by the gains of this diabolic traffic have built houses etc.; for, following up the prophet's metaphor, the timbers, etc., are the bones of the hapless Africans; and the mortar, the blood of the defenceless progeny of Ham. What an account must all those who have any hand in or profit from this detestable, degrading, and inhuman traffic, give to Him who will shortly judge the quick and dead!

The heads thereof judge for reward - This does not apply to the regular law officers, who have their proper salaries for giving up their whole time and attention to the conscientious discharge of the duties of their office; but to those who take a reward, who take Bribes, for the perversion of justice; who will decide in favor of those from whom they get the greatest reward.

The prophets - divine for money - These are evidently the false prophets; for none, professing to be sent by God, used any kind of divination.

Yet will they lean upon the Lord - They will prescribe fasts and public thanksgivings, while not one sin is repented of or forsaken, and not one public grievance is redressed.

Is not the Lord among us? - Here is his temple, here are his ordinances, and here are his people. Will he leave these? Yes, he will abandon the whole, because all are polluted.

Therefore shall Zion - be ploughed as a field - It shall undergo a variety of reverses and sackages, till at last there shall not be one stone left on the top of another, that shall not be pulled down; and then a plough shall be drawn along the site of the walls, to signify an irreparable and endless destruction. Of this ancient custom Horace speaks, Odar. lib. i., Od. 16, ver. 18.

Altis urbibus ultimae

Stetere causae cur perirent

Funditus, imprimeretque muris

Hostile aratrum exercitus insolens. "From hence proud cities date their utter falls;

When, insolent in ruin, o'er their walls

The wrathful soldier drags the hostile plough,

That haughty mark of total overthrow."

Francis.

Thus did the Romans treat Jerusalem when it was taken by Titus. Turnus Rufus, or as he is called by St. Jerome, Titus Arinius Rufus, or Terentius Rufus, according to Josephus, caused a plough to be drawn over all the courts of the temple to signify that it should never be rebuilt, and the place only serve for agricultural purposes. See the note on Mat 24:2. Thus Jerusalem became heaps, an indiscriminate mass of ruins and rubbish; and the mountain of the house, Mount Moriah, on which the temple stood, became so much neglected after the total destruction of the temple, that it soon resembled the high places of the forest. What is said here may apply also, as before hinted, to the ruin of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar in the last year of the reign of Zedekiah, the last king of the Jews.

As the Masoretes, in their division of the Bible, reckon the twelve minor prophets but as one book, they mark this verse (Mic 3:12) the Middle verse of these prophets.

Is it not for you - Ought not you to understand, and conform to, the just laws of your God. You princes, magistrates, and ruling officers, ought of all men to know and do right.

The good - Ye who hate not only to do good, but the good which is done, and those that do it. The evil - Chuse, and delight in, both evil works and evil workers. Who pluck it off - Ye who use the flock as cruelly as the shepherd, who instead of shearing the fleece, would pluck off the skin and flesh.

The flesh - Ye who devour the goods, and livelihood of your brethren. Break their bones - An allusion to wolves, bears, or lions, which devour the flesh, and break the bones of the defenceless lambs.

Then - When these miseries come upon them.

That bite - When they are furnished with gifts, and well fed. Prepare war - They do them all the mischief they can.

Night - Heavy calamities. A vision - You shall no more pretend to have a vision, or dare to foretell any thing. And the sun - The hand of God shall be against them, making their sorrows the more dreadful, as darkness by the sun going down at noon.

The seers - So called by the deceived people. Cover their lips - Mourners did thus, Ezek 24:17,22. So these shall mourn and pine in their shame. No answer - Because the answer they had formerly, pretended to be from God, now appears not to have been from him.

Power - Courage, and vivacity. Of judgment - To discern times and seasons, right from wrong. Might - Resolution.

They - The heads and great ones enlarge, beautify, and fortify, the house in Zion, particularly the temple and the royal palace. Blood - With wealth, which they made themselves masters of by violence, taking away the life of the owners.

Lean - Pretend to trust in him. Among us - As our God and our shield.

For your sake - Because of your sins. The mountain - The mountain, on which the temple stood. This is that passage, which is quoted, Jer 26:18, which Hezekiah and his princes took well: yea, they repented and so the execution of it did not come in their days.

1 AND I said , Hear , I pray you , O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel ; is it not for you to know judgment?

In further discharge of his Prophetick Office, and his direction from the Lord, the Prophet proceeds to preach.

Attend diligently, and give good ear.

Being to address to Governours, he intreats their attention as we have the Hebrew particle here rendred, which might have been rendred now, and so the Gallic Version doth render it, and the particle signifieth both.

You that are by birth heads of the Families, and by office, Princes, and Rulers in Israel and Iacob, i. e. in the Kingdom both of the Ten Tribes▪ and more particularly the Two Tribes, as appears from the last verse of this chapter.

Are you not bound by Office? Do not men expect? Doth not God require? doth the publick-weal engage you to be well-skilled in the Laws of God?

Understand, approve, conform to, and Rule by Equity, and the just Laws of your God. You Princes, Magistrates, and Ruling Officers, ought to know, and do Judgment and Justice, you of all men should know and do right.

2 Who hate the good , and love the evil , who pluck off their skin from off them , and their flesh from off their bones .

In practice and affection these Rulers were directly contrary to what they should have been and done, they hated not onely to do good, but they hated the good which was to be done, and those that did it; and what kind of men may we judge they were who hated good men, and what was good, and by consequence hated also God himself.

Choose, embrace, encourage, delight in, and prefer both evil works and evil workers, and take pleasure to do evil your selves. The worst character that can be given of any sort of men.

You by Office are shepherds, and should feed, guide, heal, protect, and love the Flock, but you use them as cruelly as the shepherd, who instead of shearing of the Fleece, would pluck off the skin, and [illegible: 1 letter]lay them.

Another proverbial speech of the same import, and chargeth highest injustice, and inhumanity upon these Princes and Rulers, Vid. Ezek. 22.27. Zeph. 3.3.

3 Who also eat the flesh of my people , and slay their skin from off them , and they break their bones , and chop them in pieces as for the pot, and as flesh within the cauldron u.

Maintain themselves and their followers, nay, live in Luxury and excess, revelling in Banquets and Feasts as the word is many times used, Amos 6.4.

The Estates, Goods, and Livelyhood of their Subjects, Neighbours, and Brethren,

whom I have chosen, maintained, and allotted an inheritance unto, of whom I once said, who toucheth them, toucheth the apple of mine eye, Deut. 32.10. Zech. 2.8.

With barbarous cruelty, and unheard injustice strip off (as Butchers strip the sheep they kill) the very skin; or as hunters, which having taken the prey, wearied, and worried first by their Dogs, do strip off the skin to sell, and eat the flesh in feasts and riotous banquetings.

An allusion to Wolves, Bears, or Lyons which devour the flesh, tear the skin, and break the bones of the innocent, weak, and defenceless Lambs or sheep, thus our Prophet tells these Rulers plainly what they were, did, and how barbarously cruel and wicked.

These bloody Murtherers, Princes, and Chieftains are here compared to Cooks, and the Subjects, weak Neighbours, are compared to the bare bones which the Cook doth by his Art prepare for pot, and to the flesh cut small for the Cauldron, that all might be boil'd and extracted out to make pottage, and delicious brothes or jelleys: thus the great ones used the meaner sort, who lived under their Jurisdiction, possibly the Prophet may a[illegible: 1 letter]m at the bloody, cruel, and devouring times under Shallum, &c. or to that reported of Menahem, 2 Kings 15.16. ver. when probably much of this was done according to the very letter.

Marginal references: P[illegible: 1 letter]al. 14.4.; Ezek. 11.7.

4 Then shall they cry unto the LORD , 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 z.

When that time, and those miseries which Micah foretels shall come upon them, chap. 2.6, 7, 8▪ and 2.3. when God shall retaliate and pay these great ones in their own coin.

The cruel oppressours, these Tyrannical Judges that pityed none, devoured all, and feared not the Divine vengeance.

As if they were his, and as if he were bound to deliver; they then shall own he can, and none else can deliver them, and they will expect a saving hand after all their Rebellions against, and contempts of God.

As they heard the cry of the oppressed, but would not hear; so God will hear the cry of their distresses, but not hear the requests they make; he will do no more for them, then as if he did not hear them, he will be as a stranger to their case.

They turned away their face from beholding and pitying the poor, now God will turn away his eye from them, and as if unconcern'd, leave them to their own distresses, and their Enemies rage and cruelty.

This added to assure them they should have least respect from God, when they need it most, so they shall receive what they gave, judgment without mercy, as 'tis Iam. 2.13.

This speaks both the reason why, and the manner how God will thus leave them to the oppressour, the greatness of their sin deserved this, and such was the quality of their sins, that nothing fitter than a retaliation to punish the sin, convince the sinner, teach the world righteousness, and to vindicate God.

Marginal references: Psal. 18.41. Ezek. 8.18. Zech. 7.13.

5 ¶ Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err , that bite with their teeth , and cry, Peace : and he that putteth not into their mouthes , they even prepare war against him .

Now Micah in the Name of the Lord foretels what shall become of false Prophets, he had frankly dealt with the seculars, now he deals as plainly with the Ecclesiasticks.

Tho' he give them the Title they assume to themselves, yet he doth very fully describe them, and shews they are false Prophets, they err, and make others to err with them. Israel is too apt to mistake his God, and his wayes, these false Prophets make them err more, both concerning their former wayes of Religion, and civil policie, and concerning their present danger and duty; and concerning future judgments and punishments.

When they are furnisht with gifts, and well fed.

They promise great prosperity, they pretend to give assurance from God, that all shall go well with Israel, and none of the dismal woes threatned by Micah, and such like Prophets should ever be verifyed on them.

But those who will not feed these false Prophets, that bid them not welcom to their Tables, nor make good chear for them.

They do threaten with war, and all calamities that attend it, or else as Enemies prepared, they work them all the mischief they can, and shew what God they serve, even the God of this world, and their own bellies.

Marginal references: Isa. 56.10, 11. Ezek. 22.25.; chap. 2.11.; Ezek. 13.18, 19.

6 Therefore night shall be unto you , that ye shall not have a vision , and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine , and the sun shall go down over the prophets , and the day shall be dark over them.

Because of their irreligious, and Atheistical pretences to Divine Revelations, and to come from heaven with promises directly contrary to Gods purpose and word, even when their consciences told them they did lie herein.

Of ignorance, and loss of gifts, but since they had none such as they pretended to, I see not how they could lose them. I rather take this night to be a night of distresses, a time of great Calamities upon these Prophets more than ordinary, and upon all the people they seduced.

Deceivers, and false Prophets.

You shall no more pretend to have a vision, you shall not dare any more to foretel any thing to this people.

Very calamitous time to all, but most to you who lived upon lying Visions, and now shall starve for want of them.

Have neither skill, nor will any more to set up for your selves in that Trade, being found great Impostors, and such as have seduced this people into sin first, and misery next, they will be inraged against you, and you shall not safely appear among them.

A proverbial speech, and contains much the same, that night and dark do contain. Perhaps this intimates the visible hand of God extraordinarily against them, and making their sorrows the more dreadful, as darkness by the Sun going down at Noon, would speak it self an extraordinary judgment, and most terrifie the world.

The best circumstances any of them shall be in, shall be so sad and woful, that they shall not know which way to take for themselves, or direct for others.

Marginal references: Ezek. 13.23▪ Zech 13.4.; Heb. from a vision.; Heb. from divining.

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 .

In the dayes of this Calamity, which shall confute all the flattering promises of these Prophets.

Who call'd themselves, were accounted by others, and were advised with as men that had Visions from God, were Prophets in name and repute with the deceived people.

Their Impostures being detected they shall be covered with shame, the people shall talk what they are, and tell them to their faces where ever they meet them that they are false and lying Varlets, not worthy to live, and the very Consciences of these men shall then fly in their faces and upbraid them.

Diviners here are seers, and being confounded the same with ashamed, this ingemination adds to the thing spoken, at least a fuller verification of it.

So Lepers did, Lev. 13.45. and men ashamed, and Mourners did thus, Ezek. 24.17, 22. So these shall mourn and pine in their shame.

God doth not answer them, rather because the Answer they had formerly given and pretended to be from God now appears not to have been from him, they should therefore by the sentence of the Law be stoned, Deut. 13.10. & Zech. 13.3. so Elijah dealt with Baals Prophets, and 'tis like these false Prophets detected might fear the like from those they had deceived.

Marginal references: Heb. upper lip.

8 ¶ But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the LORD , and of judgment , and of might , to declare unto Jacob his transgression , and to Israel his sin .

Notwithstanding this shame, and silence covering these false Prophets, yet saith Micah.

Courage, Vivacity, and Ability becoming a Prophet of God.

Not from himself but from the Spirit of God given to him, and duly qualifying him to the faithful discharge of the Prophetic Office, and without fear, flattery, by-respects or self-seeking I have already and still do, and will declare the sins, duties and dangers of this People that they may repent, and be saved, or my God may be justified when he judgeth, and this people may know the difference between a false and true Prophet.

A Spirit of Judgment to discern aright times, and seasons, to discern right from wrong, truth from lies and pure worship of God from Idolatry, and what are the consequents of all these to a people who decline from the way of truth and purity, or adhere to it.

Resolution, undaunted in speaking Gods word to the greatest of men, as I have dared, I still do dare to tell the Heads of Jacob, and princes of Israel what they do against God, and what God will do against them.

With impartial Reproofs, with severe menaces from God to preach against Jacob's Transgressions.

The same repeated. All the Twelve Tribes have sinn'd and God will visit.

Marginal references: Isa. 58.1.

9 Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment , and pervert all equity .

Whereas judgment should be their great delight, as it is of every good Magistrate; these had hearts that detested it, were weary of the directions of Gods Law in their Polity, and hated to be controuled by it.

Where you can, you wrest the Law to countenance your unequal proceedings, and wrong those you should right, and acquit those you should condemn. And there is many a wo denounced against such.

This Verse is word for word the same in the former part of it, with the former part of the first verse of this Chapter; we refer thither for explication of it. The Prophet having asserted his Divine Call and avowed his Faithfulness in the Prophetick Office, ver. 8. he here gives us one more proof of it dealing roundly with the Magistrates in both Kingdoms, Israel and Iudah.

10 They build up Zion with blood , and Jerusalem with iniquity .

Heads, Princes, Judges and great-ones among them.

Enlarge or beautifie, and fortifie

The houses in Zion, or perhaps may be meant the Temple and its buildings, and the Royal Palace of the Kings of Iudah.

With Wealth and Gifts which these Builders made themselves masters of by violence taking away the life of the Owners, or else fining and amercing them. By this course they wrested part of their Estates from them, by the other they seised all; they also for gain sometimes acquitted the Guilty, and freed them in capital Cases, and so sold the blood of the Innocent.

By such Injustice Ierusalem was brought to Ruin at last, though some particular Persons and Families did raise themselves, their Houses and Palaces to a present largeness and stateliness.

Marginal references: Ezek. 22.27. Zeph. 3.1.; Heb. bloods.

11 The heads thereof judge for reward , and the priests thereof teach for hire , and the prophets thereof divine for money : yet will they lean upon the LORD , and say , Is not the LORD among us ? no evil can come upon us .

Whereas the Judges were Gods Deputies, to hear and determine Causes, as the merit of the Causes were found, without respect of persons; they should have been careful to give such judgment as God would give, for the judgment is the Lords, and he sits in the midst of the Judges. These corrupt Judges attended little to the Cause, but much to Rewards, and with them the greatest Bribe made the justest Cause, and he was most guilty who was poor and could not, or honest and would not, give the expected reward. This was most directly against the Law of God, Exod. 23.8. Deut. 16.19. and expresly cursed, yet 'twas the common course and practice with them.

These men should have impartially declared the Law of God to all, told them what was clean or unclean, what was prohibited, what permitted, what commanded; what was safe to them, being pleasing to God; and what dangerous to them, being offensive to their God; but these for hire would direct them how to please themselves, and though they broke the Law, not be guilty; to extort, yet not be guilty of Usury; to kill an Enemy, yet not be guilty of Murther, nor break the sixth Commandment; to be unnatural to Parents, yet not sin. Who paid them well should find them most excellently skill'd in the Casuistical Divinity the Iesuites at this day are Masters of.

Which being extraordinary persons raised of God, and sent by him to deliver his Message impartially to all his people, to all Rankes of men among them without fear, flattery, prejudice, or any by-respects. There were in this people at this day a sort of men called prophets, but were indeed meer Fortunetellers, as we call a vagabond sort of persons among us, and these made a Trade of Divining, and as if 'twere in their [illegible: 1 letter]ower to frame future things to the mind and humour of men, for a good round sum of money they would sell prosperity to them; for they never told great good to come to any but such as gave a great reward, and little money with them never purchas'd the news of a great advantage, and who so had first the misery to be poor, that they could not buy, or else were wiser than to beleive these Impostors, these were sure to be told a sad story of troubles and afflictions. Many Disciples of Balaam, 2 Pet. 2.15. they loved the wages of unrighteousness.

Whilest Magistrates, Priests and Prophets are thus abominably corrupt, yet they will presumptuously lean upon the Lord, and flatter themselves that he is present with them, that he owneth them as his peculiar people.

Yea, they boast so.

As our God, our Shield, whereas he was among them, but provoked to be their Enemy, though they will not believe it.

So they do falsly conclude against all the word of God, and against all his true Prophets admonitions. No evil of affliction such as War, Famine and Captivity can come upon them. Thus far these corrupt Iews.

Marginal references: Isa. 1.23. Hos. 4.18. chap. 7.3.; Heb. saying.

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 high places of the forrest .

By this it appears, that this Sermon was preach'd to Iudah and its Governours, Priests and Prophets who were thus wicked in A[illegible: 1 letter]az his time, and probably continued so in the beginning of Hezekiah's time; Ieremiah does put this out of all doubt, chap. 26.18. saying that Micah spake these words to all Iudah. As for the time, it was in all likelihood before the thirteenth year of Hezekiah, say some; I rather think 'twas in the very beginning of Hezekiah, and that this might awaken them of that Age to comply with Hezekiah in the Reformation. Zi[illegible: 2 letters] here is threatned as endangered, nay ruin'd by the sins of Magistrates, Priests and Prophets, they thought that Zion should be their safety, hower'e they sin'd, God by his Prophet assures them the quite contrary, their sins should be the danger and destruction of Zion.

Because your sins are so great and many, God would have spared Sodom for the sake of righteous men, these may be safety to a City; but God will not spare the wicked for any places sake, nor shall a Temple be more security to a wicked people, than Heaven was to sinning Angels. Though these flagitious men cry'd out against Micah, and such like men, as a publick danger, Truth is, the Injustice, Idolatry, and Inhumanity of publick persons were the great danger.

Either by the Enemy, and Conquerour, thereby forbidding it to be plowed without his leave, or by such as remained after the body of the People were carried Captive.

One of the goodliest Cities of the World, proud in its lofty, and beautiful buildings, the City of the great king.

Shall all lie in rubbish, its stately buildings shall be demolished and lie buried in their own ruines.

Holy mountain, on which the Temple, one of the Wonders of the World, did stand, beautified with rarest Buildings.

Shall lye so long waste, as to be run over with Wood as a Forrest, and be a Lodge of wild Beasts.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 paragraph]

II. Zion’s Deepest Degradation and Highest Exaltation - Micah 3-5

The prophet’s second address is of a predominantly Messianic character. The announcement of the utter desolation of Zion on account of the corruption of both the civil rulers and the spiritual leaders of the nation, with which this address opens in Mic 3:1-12, serves to a certain extent simply as a foil for the prophecy which follows in Mic 4:1-13 and Mic 5:1-15 of the salvation with which the remnant of Israel, that has been rescued throughout the judgment, will be blessed in the future. This salvation is depicted first of all in all its fulness (Mic 4:1-7); then in its gradual development, in the re-erection of the former dominion of the daughter of Zion, by her redemption out of Babylon, and her victory over the powers of the world (Mic 4:8-13); and lastly, in its realization by the Ruler proceeding out of Bethlehem, and by the power and blessing of His rule (Mic 5:1-15).

Sins of the Leaders of the Nation, and Destruction of Jerusalem - Mic 3:1-12

The threatening of punishment contained in this chapter is specially directed against the heads and leaders of Israel, and proclaims, in three strophes of four verses each, (a) to the princes, who turn right into wrong and flay the people (Mic 3:1-4), and (b) to the false prophets, who lead the people astray and confirm them in their sin by lying prophecies of peace (Mic 3:5-8), retribution for their wicked conduct; and (c) to all three classes of the divinely-appointed chiefs of the nation - the princes, the priests, and the prophets - the destruction of Jerusalem, and the turning of Zion and the temple mountain into a ploughed field and wooded heights on account of their degeneracy (Mic 3:9-12).

Mic 3:1-4

First strophe. - Mic 3:1. “And I said, Hear ye, O heads of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel: Is it not for you to know the right? Mic 3:2. Ye who hate good, and love evil; who draw off their skin from them, and their flesh from their bones. Mic 3:3. And who have eaten the flesh of my people, and stripped off their skin from them; and broken their bones, and cut them in pieces, as if in the pot, and like flesh in the midst of the caldron. Mic 3:4. Then will they cry to Jehovah, and He will not hearken; and let Him hide His face from them at the same time, as they have made their actions evil.” By the expression “And I said” (vâ'ōmar), the following address is indicated as a continuation of the preceding one. The reproofs of this chapter are also a still further expansion of the woe pronounced in Mic 2:1-2 upon the godless chiefs of the nation. The heads of Jacob are addressed, that is to say, the princes of the tribes and families of Israel, and the qetsı̄nı̄m, lit., deciders (answering to the Arabic qâḍy, a judge) of the house of Israel, i.e., the heads of families and households, upon whom the administration of justice devolved (cf. Isa 1:10; Isa 22:3). הלוא לכן, is it not your duty and your office to know justice? Da‛ath is practical knowledge, which manifests itself in practice; mishpât, the public administration of justice. Instead of this, they do the opposite. The description of this conduct is appended by participles, in the form of apposition to the heads and princes addressed in Mic 3:1. Hating good and loving evil refer to the disposition, and indicate the radical corruption of these men. רעה, generally misfortune, here evil; hence the Masoretes have altered it into רע; but the very fact that it deviates from the ordinary rule shows that it is the original word. Instead of administering justice to the people, they take off their skin, and tear the flesh from the bones. The suffixes attached to עורם and שׁארם point back to בּית־ישׂראל in Mic 3:1. The words answer to the German expression, “to pull the skin over the ears.” In Mic 3:3 the expression is still stronger; but the address is continued in the form of a simple description, and instead of the participles, אשׁר is used with the finite verb. They not only flay the people, i.e., rob them of all their means of subsistence, but even devour them - treat them like cattle, which men first of all flay, then break their bones, but the flesh into pieces, and boil it in the pot. In this figure, which is carried out into the most minute details, we must not give any special meaning to the particular features, such as that “the skin, and boiling portions, which are cut up and put into the pot, are figures signifying the pledged clothing and coveted fields (Mic 2:2, Mic 2:8).” The prophet paints in very glaring colours, to make an impression upon the ungodly. Therefore, in the time of judgment, God will not hear their crying to Him for help, but will hide His face from them, i.e., withdraw His mercy from them. אז and בּעה ההיא point back to the evil time announced in Mic 2:3. For Mic 3:4, compare Pro 1:28. Veyastēr in Mic 3:4 is an optative. The prophet continues the announcement of the punishment in the form of a desire. כּאשׁר, as = according to the way in which, as in 1Sa 28:18; Num 27:14, etc., i.e., answering to their evil doings.

Mic 3:5-8

In the second strophe, Micah turns from the godless princes and judges to the prophets who lead the people astray, with whom he contrasts the true prophets and their ways. Mic 3:5. Thus saith Jehovah concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who bite with their teeth, and preach peace; and whoever should put nothing into their mouths, against him they sanctify war. Mic 3:6. Therefore night to you because of the visions, and darkness to you because of the soothsaying! and the sun will set over the prophets, and the day blacken itself over them. Mic 3:7. And the seers will be ashamed, and the soothsayers blush, and all cover their beard, because (there is) no answer of God. Mic 3:8. But I, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of Jehovah, and with judgment and strength, to show to Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.” As the first strophe attaches itself to Mic 2:1-2, so does the second to Mic 2:6 and Mic 2:11, carrying out still further what is there affirmed concerning the false prophets. Micah describes them as people who predict peace and prosperity for a morsel of bread, and thereby lead the people astray, setting before them prosperity and salvation, instead of preaching repentance to them, by charging them with their sins. Thus they became accomplices of the wicked rulers, with whom they are therefore classed in Mic 3:11, together with the wicked priests. המּתעים, leading astray (cf. Isa 3:12; Isa 9:15) my people, namely, by failing to charge them with their sins, and preach repentance, as the true prophets do, and predicting prosperity for bread and payment. The words, “who bite with their teeth,” are to be connected closely with the next clause, “and they preach peace,” in the sense of “who preach peace if they can bite with their teeth,” i.e., if they receive something to bite (or eat). This explanation, which has already been expressed by the Chaldee, is necessarily required by the antithesis, “but whoever puts nothing into their mouth,” i.e., gives them nothing to eat, notwithstanding the fact that in other passages nâshakh only signifies to bite, in the sense of to wound, and is the word generally applied to the bite of a snake (Amo 5:19; Gen 49:17; Num 21:6, Num 21:8). If, however, we understand the biting with the teeth as a figurative representation of the words of the prophets who always preach prosperity, and of the injury they do to the real welfare of the people (Ros., Casp., and others), the obvious antithesis of the two double clauses of Mic 3:5 is totally destroyed. The harsh expression, to “bite with the teeth,” in the sense of “to eat,” is perfectly in harmony with the harsh words of Mic 3:2 and Mic 3:3. Qiddēsh milchâmâh, to sanctify war, i.e., to preach a holy war (cf. Joe 3:9), or, in reality, to proclaim the vengeance of God. For this shall night and darkness burst upon them. Night and darkness denote primarily the calamity which would come upon the false prophets (unto you) in connection with the judgment (Mic 2:4). The sun which sets to them is the sun of salvation or prosperity (Amo 8:9; Jer 15:9); and the day which becomes black over them is the day of judgment, which is darkness, and not light (Amo 5:18). This calamity is heightened by the fact that they will then stand ashamed, because their own former prophecies are thereby proved to be lies, and fresh, true prophecies fail them, because God gives no answer. “Convicted by the result, they are thus utterly put to shame, because God does not help them out of their trouble by any word of revelation” (Hitzig). Bōsh, to be ashamed, when connected with châphēr (cf. Jer 15:9; Psa 35:26., etc.), signifies to become pale with shame; châphēr, to blush, with min causae, to denote the thing of which a man is ashamed. Qōsemı̄m (diviners) alternates with chōzı̄m (seers), because these false prophets had no visions of God, but only divinations out of their own hearts. ‛Atâh sâphâm: to cover the beard, i.e., to cover the face up to the nose, is a sign of mourning (Lev 13:45), here of trouble and shame (cf. Eze 24:17), and is really equivalent to covering the head (Jer 14:4; Est 6:12). Ma‛ănēh, the construct state of the substantive, but in the sense of the participle; some codd. have indeed מענה. In Mic 3:8 Micah contrasts himself and his own doings with these false prophets, as being filled with power by the Spirit of Jehovah (i.e., through His assistance) and with judgment. Mishpât, governed by מלא, is the divine justice which the prophet has to proclaim, and gebhūrâh strength, manliness, to hold up before the people their sins and the justice of God. In this divine strength he can and must declare their unrighteousness to all ranks of the people, and predict the punishment of God (Mic 3:9-12).

Mic 3:9-11

Third strophe. - Mic 3:9. “Hear this, I pray, O he heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, who abhor right, and bend all that is straight. Mic 3:10. Building Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with wickedness. Mic 3:11. Their heads, they judge for reward; and their priests, they teach for hire; and their prophets, they divine for money, and lean upon Jehovah, saying, Is not Jehovah among us? evil will not come upon us.” With the words “Hear this, I pray,” the address returns to its starting-point in Mic 3:1, but only to announce to the leaders of the people the threat of punishment for which the way has been prepared by Mic 3:2-7. To this end their God-forgetting conduct is briefly summed up once more in Mic 3:10, Mic 3:11. The summons to hear is really attached to the end of Mic 3:8. They are to hear the sin of Jacob (Mic 3:9-11); but they are also to hear the punishment for their sin, to which the word “this” points. The civil rulers only are addressed in Mic 3:9, - namely, those who were charged with the administration of justice and of the affairs of the state, but who did the very opposite, who abhorred justice, and made the straight crooked, because they passed sentence for bribes (Mic 3:11). They thereby build Zion with blood, etc., i.e., obtain the means of erecting splendid buildings by cruel extortions, and partly also by actual judicial murders, as Ahab (1 Kings 21 compared with Mic 6:16), and after him Jehoiakim, had done (Jer 22:13-17). The Chaldeans built with blood in a different sense (Hab 2:12). The participle bōneh (building) is also in apposition to râ'shē bēth (heads of the house, etc.), and the singular without the article is to be taken collectively. They do not, however, truly build the city by this, they simply labour for its destruction (Mic 3:12). But before saying this, Micah once more sums up briefly all the sins of the leading ranks. The teaching of the priests for reward refers to the fact that they had to give instruction as to the ritual requirements of the law, and were to do this gratuitously (cf. Lev 10:11; Deu 17:11; Deu 33:10), and that in disputed cases the judges were to pronounce sentence accordingly. At the same time, these men (not the prophets merely, but also the priests and the heads of the nation as the administrators of justice) placed their reliance upon Jehovah, upon the assurance that He was in the midst of them enthroned in His temple at Jerusalem, and that He would protect the city and its inhabitants from misfortune, without ever reflecting that Jehovah as the Holy One demands sanctification of life, and exterminates the sinners out of His people.

Mic 3:12 “Therefore will Zion for your sake be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem become stone heaps, and the mountain of the house become forest heights.” Lâkhēn (therefore) applies primarily to Mic 3:11, directing the threat of punishment by בּגללכם to all the sinners mentioned there; but it also points back to Mic 3:9, Mic 3:10, expressing what is there indicated by “this.” Zion is not “the site on which the city stood,” or Jerusalem, “the mass of houses in the city,” as Maurer and Caspari suppose; but Zion is that portion of the city which contained the royal palace, and Jerusalem the rest of the city (cf. Mic 4:8). The mountain of the house, i.e., the temple hill, is also specially mentioned, for the purpose of destroying all false trust in the temple (cf. Jer 7:4). The predicates are divided rhetorically, and the thought is this: the royal palace, the city, and the temple shall be so utterly destroyed, that of all the houses and palaces only heaps of rubbish will remain, and the ground upon which the city stood will be partly used as a ploughed field, and partly overgrown with bushes (cf. Isa 32:13-14). On sâdeh as an accusative of effect (as a field = becoming a field), see Ewald, §281, e; and for the plural form עיּין, see Ewald, §177, a. Habbayith (the house) is probably chosen intentionally instead of bēth Yehōvâh (the house of Jehovah), because the temple ceased to be the dwelling-place of Jehovah as soon as it was destroyed. Hence in Ezekiel (Eze 10:18., Eze 11:22.) the Schechinah departs before the Babylonians destroy it. With regard to the fulfilment of this threat, see the points discussed at Mic 4:10. Glorification of the House of the Lord, and Restoration of the Dominion of Zion - Mic 4:1-13

Zion will eventually be exalted from the deepest degradation to the highest glory. This fundamental thought of the announcement of salvation contained in Mic 4:1-13 and Mic 5:1-15 is carried out thus far in Mic 4:1-13 : the first section (Mic 4:1-7) depicts the glorification of the temple mountain by the streaming of the heathen nations to it to hear the law of the Lord, and the blessing which Israel and the nations will derive therefrom; and the second section (Mic 4:8-13) describes the restoration of the dominion of Zion from its fallen condition through the redemption of the nation out of Babel, and its victorious conflict with the nations of the world.

The Crimes of the Princes and Prophets. (b. c. 726.)

1 And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment? 2 Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones; 3 Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron. 4 Then shall they cry unto the Lord , but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings. 5 Thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him. 6 Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them. 7 Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.

Princes and prophets, when they faithfully discharge the duty of their office, are to be highly honoured above other men; but when they betray their trust, and act contrary to it, they should hear of their faults as well as others, and shall be made to know that there is a God above them, to whom they are accountable; at his bar the prophet here, in his name, arraigns them.

I. Let the princes hear their charge and their doom. The heads of Jacob, and the princes of the house of Israel, are called upon to hear what the prophet has to say to them, v. 1. The word of God has reproofs for the greatest of men, which the ministers of that word ought to apply as there is occasion. The prophet here has comfort in the reflection upon it, that, whatever the success was, he had faithfully discharged his trust: And I said, Hear, O princes! He had the testimony of his conscience for him that he had not shrunk from his duty for fear of the face of men. He tells them,

1. What was expected from them: Is it not for you to know judgment? He means to do judgment, for otherwise the knowledge of it is of no avail. "Is it not your business to administer justice impartially, and not to know faces" (as the Hebrew phrase for partiality and respect of persons is), "but to know judgment, and the merits of every cause?" Or it may be taken for granted that the heads and rulers are well acquainted with the rules of justice, whatever others are; for they have those means of knowledge, and have not those excuses for ignorance, which some others have, that are poor and foolish (Jer. v. 4); and, if so, their transgression of the laws of justice is the more provoking to God, for they sin against knowledge. "Is it not for you to know judgment? Yes, it is; therefore stand still, and hear your own judgment, and judge if it be not right, whether any thing can be objected against it."

2. How wretchedly they had transgressed the rules of judgment, though they knew what they were. Their principle and disposition are bad: They hate the good and love the evil; they hate good in others, and hate it should have any influence on themselves; they hate to do good, hate to have any good done, and hate those that are good and do good; and they love the evil, delight in mischief. This being their principle, their practice is according to it; they are very cruel and severe towards those that are under their power, and whoever lies at their mercy will find that they have none. They barbarously devour those whom they should protect, and, as unfaithful shepherds, fleece the flock they should feed; nay, instead of feeding it, they feed upon it, Ezek. xxxiv. 2. It is fit indeed that he who feeds a flock should eat of the milk of the flock (1 Cor. ix. 7), but that will not content them: They eat the flesh of my people. It is fit that they should be clothed with the wool, but that will not serve: They flay the skin from off them, v. 3. By imposing heavier taxes upon them than they can bear, and exacting them with rigour, by mulcts, and fines, and corporal punishments, for pretended crimes, they ruined the estates and families of their subjects, took away from some their lives, from others their livelihoods, and were to their subjects as beasts of prey, rather than shepherds. "They break their bones to come at the marrow, and chop the flesh in pieces as for the pot." This intimates that they were, (1.) Very ravenous and greedy for themselves, indulging themselves in luxury and sensuality. (2.) Very barbarous and cruel to those that were under them, not caring whom they beggared, so they could but enrich themselves; such evil is the love of money the root of.

3. How they might expect that God should deal with them, since they had been thus cruel to his subjects. The rule is fixed, Those shall have judgment without mercy that have shown no mercy (v. 4): "They shall cry to the Lord, but he will not hear them, in the day of their distress, as the poor cried to them in the day of their prosperity and they would not hear them." There will come a time when the most proud and scornful sinners will cry to the Lord, and sue for that mercy which they once neither valued nor copied out. But it will then be in vain; God will even hide his face from them at that time, that time when they need his favour, and see themselves undone without it. At another time they would have turned their back upon him; but at that time he will turn his back upon them, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings. Note, Men cannot expect to do ill and fare well, but may expect to find, as Adoni-bezek did, that done to them which they did to others; for he is righteous who takes vengeance. With the froward God will show himself froward, and he often gives up cruel and unmerciful men into the hands of those who are cruel and unmerciful to them, as they themselves have formerly been to others. This agrees with Prov. xxi. 13, Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he shall cry himself and shall not be heard; but the merciful have reason to hope that they shall obtain mercy.

II. Let the prophets hear their charge too, and their doom; they were such as prophesied falsely, and the princes bore rule by their means. Observe,

1. What was their sin. (1.) They made it their business to flatter and deceive the people: They make my people err, lead them into mistakes, both concerning what they should do and concerning what God would do with them. It is ill with a people when their leaders cause them to err, and those draw them out of the way that should guide them and go before them in it. "They make them to err by crying peace, by telling them that they do well, and that all shall be well with them; whereas they are in the paths of sin, and within a step of ruin. They cry peace, but they bite with their teeth," which perhaps is meant of their biting their own lips, as we are apt to do when we would suppress something which we are ready to speak. When they cried peace their own hearts gave them the lie, and they were just ready to eat their own words and to contradict themselves, but they bit with their teeth, and kept it in. They were not blind leaders of the blind, for they saw the ditch before them, and yet led their followers into it. (2.) They made it all their aim to glut themselves, and serve their own belly, as the seducers in St. Paul's time (Rom. xvi. 18), for their god is their belly, Phil. iii. 19. They bite with their teeth, and cry peace; that is, they will flatter and compliment those that will feed them with good bits, will give them something to eat; but as for those that put not into their mouths, that are not continually cramming them, they look upon them as their enemies; to them they do not cry peace, as they do to those whom they look upon as their benefactors, but they even prepare war against them; against them they denounce the judgments of God, but as they are to them, as the crafty priests of the church of Rome, in some places, make their image either to smile or frown upon the offerer according as his offering is. Justly is it insisted on as a necessary qualification of a minister (1 Tim. iii. 3, and again Tit. i. 7) that he be not greedy of filthy lucre.

2. What is the sentence passed upon them for this sin, v. 6, 7. It is threatened, (1.) That they shall be involved in troubles and miseries with those to whom they had cried peace: Night shall be upon them, a dark cold night of calamity, such as they, in their flattery, led the people to hope would never come. It shall be dark unto you, darker to you than to others; the sun shall go down over the prophets, shall go down at noon; all comfort shall depart from them, and they shall be deprived of all hope of it. The day shall be dark over them, in which they promised themselves light. Nor shall they be surrounded with outward troubles only, but their mind shall be full of confusion, and they shall be brought to their wits' end; their heads shall be clouded, and their own thoughts shall trouble them; and that is trouble enough. They kept others in the dark, and now God will bring them into the dark. (2.) That thereby they shall be silenced, and all their pretensions to prophecy for ever shamed. They never had any true vision; and now, the event disproving their predictions of peace, it shall be made to appear that they never had any, that there never was an answer of God to them, but it was all a sham, and they were cheats and impostors. Their reputation being thus quite sunk, their confidence would of course fail them. And, their spirits being ruffled and confused, their invention would fail them too; and by reason of this darkness, both without and within too, they shall not divine, they shall not have so much as a counterfeit vision to produce, they shall be ashamed, and confounded, and cover their lips, as men that are quite baffled and have nothing to say for themselves. Note, Those who deceive others are but preparing confusion for their own faces.

The Crimes of the Princes and Prophets. (b. c. 726.)

8 But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the Lord , and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin. 9 Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity. 10 They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. 11 The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the Lord , and say, Is not the Lord among us? none evil can come upon us. 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 high places of the forest.

Here, I. The prophet experiences a divine power going along with him in his work, and he makes a solemn profession and protestation of it, as that which would justify him, and bear him out, in his plain dealing with the princes and rulers. He would not, he durst not, make thus bold with the great men, but that he was carried out to do it by a prophetical impulse and impression. It was not he that said it, but God by him, and he could not but speak the word that God put into his mouth. It comes in likewise by way of opposition to the false prophets, who were full of shame when they lived to see themselves proved liars, and who never had courage to deal faithfully with the people, but flattered them in their sins; they were sensual, not having the Spirit, but truly (says Micah) I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord, v. 8. Having in himself an assurance of the truth of what he said, he said it with assurance. Compare him with those false prophets, and you will say, There is no comparison between them. What is the chaff to the wheat? Jer. xxiii. 28. What is painted fire to real fire? Observe here, 1. What the qualifications were with which this prophet was endured: He was full of power, and of judgment, and of might; he had an ardent love to God and to the souls of men, a deep concern for his glory and their salvation, and a flaming zeal against sin. He had likewise courage to reprove it and witness against it, not fearing the wrath either of great men or of great multitudes; whatever difficulties or discouragements he met with, they did not deter him nor drive him from his work; none of these things moved him. And all this was guided by judgment and discretion; he was a man of wisdom as well as courage; in all his preaching there was light as well as heat, and a spirit of wisdom as well as of zeal. Thus was this man of God thoroughly furnished for every good word he had to say, and every good work he had to do. Those he preached to could not but perceive him to be full both of power and judgment, for they found both their understandings opened and their hearts made to burn within them, with such evidence and demonstration, and with such power, did the word come from him. 2. Whence he had these qualifications, not from and of himself, but he was full of power by the Spirit of the Lord. Knowing that it was indeed the Spirit of the Lord that was in him, and spoke by him, that it was a divine revelation that he delivered, he spoke it boldly, and as one having authority, set his face as a flint, knowing he should be justified and borne out in what he said, Isa. l. 7, 8. Note, Those who act honestly may act boldly; and those who are sure that they have a commission from God need not be afraid of opposition from men. Nay, he had not only a Spirit of prophecy, which was the ground of his boldness, but the Spirit of sanctification endued him with the boldness and wisdom which were requisite for him. It was not in any strength of his own that he was strong; for who is sufficient for these things? but in the Lord, and in the power of his might; for from him all our sufficiency is. Are we full of power at any time, for that which is good? It is purely by the Spirit of the Lord, for of ourselves we are weak as water; it is the God of Israel that gives strength and power both to his people and to his ministers. 3. What use he made of these qualifications—this judgment and this power; he declared to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin. If transgression be found in Jacob and Israel, they must be told of it, and it is the business of God's prophets to tell them of it, to cry aloud and not to spare, Isa. lviii. 1. Those who come to hear the word of God must be willing to be told of their faults, and must not only give their ministers leave to deal plainly and faithfully with them, but take it kindly, and be thankful; but, since few have meekness enough to receive reproof, those have need of a great deal of boldness who are to give reproofs, and must pray for a spirit both of wisdom and might.

II. The prophet exerts this power in dealing with the heads of the house of Jacob, both the princes and the prophets, whom he had drawn up a high charge against in the former part of the chapter. He repeats the summons of their attendance and attention (v. 9), the same that we had v. 1, directing himself to the princes of the house of Israel, yet he means those of Judah; for it appears (Jer. xxvi. 18, 19, where v. 12 is quoted) that this was spoken in Hezekiah's kingdom; but, the ten tribes being gone into captivity, Judah is all that is now left of Jacob and Israel. The prophet speaks respectfully to them (hear, I pray you) and gives them their titles of heads and princes. Ministers must be faithful to great men in reproving them for their sins, but they must not be rude and uncivil to them. Now observe here,

1. The great wickedness that these heads of the house of Jacob were guilty of, princes, priest, and prophets; in short, they were covetous and prostituted their offices to their love of money. (1.) The princes abhorred all judgment; they would not be governed by any of its laws, either in their own practice or in passing sentence upon appeals made to them; they perverted all equity, and scorned to be under the direction or correction of justice, when it could not be made pliable to their secular interests. When, under pretence of doing right, they did the most palpable wrongs, then they perverted equity, and made it serve a purpose contrary to the intention of the founder of magistracy and fountain of power. It is laid to their charge (v. 10) that they build up Zion with blood. "They pretend, in justification of their extortion and oppressions, that they build up Zion and Jerusalem; they add new streets and squares to the holy cities, and adorn them; they establish and advance the public interests both in church and state, and think that therein they do God and Israel good service. But it is with blood and with iniquity, and therefore it cannot prosper; nor will their intentions of good to the city of God justify their contradictions to the law of God." Those mistake who think that a burning zeal for holy church, and the propagating of the faith, will serve to consecrate robberies and murders, massacres and depredations; no, Zion's walls owe those no thanks that build them up with blood and iniquity. The sin of man works not the righteousness of God. "The office of the princes is to judge upon appeals made to them; but they judge for reward (v. 11); they give judgment on the side of those that give the bribe; the most righteous cause shall not be carried without a fee, and for a fee the most unrighteous cause shall be carried." Miserable is the people's case when the judge's enquiry upon a cause is not, "What is to be done in it?" but, "What is to be got by it?" (2.) The priests' work was to teach the people, and for that the law had provided them a very honourable comfortable maintenance; but that will not content them, they teach for hire over and above, and will be hired to teach anything, as an oracle of God, which they know will please and gain them an interest. (3.) The prophets, it should seem, had honorary fees given them by way of gratuity (1 Sam. ix. 7, 8); but these prophets governed themselves in their prophesying by the prospect of temporal advantage and that was the main thing they had in their eye: They divine for money. Their tongues were mercenary; they would either prophesy or let it alone, according as they found it most for their advantage; and a man might have what oracle he would from them if he would but pay them for it. Thus they were fit successors of Balaam, who loved the wages of unrighteousness. Note, Though that which is wicked can never be consecrated by a zeal for the church, yet that which is sacred may be, and often is, desecrated, by the love of the world. When men do that which in itself is good, but do it for filthy lucre, it loses its excellency, and becomes an abomination both to God and man.

2. Their vain presumption and carnal confidence, notwithstanding: They lean upon the Lord, and because they are, in profession, his people, they think there is neither harm nor danger in these their wicked practices. Faith builds upon the Lord, rests in him, and relies upon him, as the soul's foundation; presumption only leans upon the Lord as a prop, makes use of him to serve a turn, while still the world is the foundation that is built upon. They speak with a great deal of confidence, (1.) Of their honour: "Is not the Lord among us? Have we not the tokens of his presence with us, his temple, his ark, his lively oracles?" They are haughty because of the holy mountain and its dignities (Zeph. iii. 11), as if their church-privileges would palliate the worst of practices, or as if God's presence with them were intended to make the priests and people rich with the sale of their performances. It was true that the Lord was among them by his ordinances, and this puffed them up with pride; but, if they imagined that he was among them by his favour and love, they were mistaken: but it is a cheat the children of men often put upon themselves to think they have God with them, when they have by their sin provoked him to depart from them. (2.) They are confident of their own safety: No evil can come upon us. Many are rocked asleep; in a fatal security by their church-privileges, as if those would protect them in sin, and shelter them from punishment, which are really, and will be, the greatest aggravations both of their sin and of their punishment. If men's having the Lord among them will not restrain them from doing evil, it can never secure them from suffering evil for so doing; and it is very absurd for sinners to think that their impudence will be their impunity.

3. The doom passed upon them for their real wickedness, notwithstanding their imaginary protection (v. 12): Therefore shall Zion for your sake be ploughed as a field. This is that passage which is quoted as a bold word spoken by Micah (Jer. xxvi. 18), which yet Hezekiah and his princes took well, though in another reign it might have gone near to cost him his head; nay, they repented and reformed, and so the execution of this threatening was prevented, and did not come in those days. (1.) It is the ruin of holy places that is here foretold, places that had been highly honoured with the tokens of God's presence and the performances of his worship; it is Zion that shall be ploughed as a field, the building burnt to the ground and levelled with it. Some observe that this was literally fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, when the ground on which the city stood was ploughed up in token of its utter desolation, and that no city should be built upon that ground without the emperor's leave. Even Jerusalem, the holy city, shall become heaps of ruins, and the mountain of the house, on which the temple is built, shall be overgrown with briars and thorns, as the high places of the forest. If sacred places be polluted by sin, they must expect to be wasted and ruined by the judgments of God. (2.) It is the wickedness of those who preside in them that brings the ruin: "It is for your sake that Zion shall be ploughed as a field; you pretend to build up Zion, but, doing it by blood and iniquity, you pull it down." Note, The sin of priests and princes is often the ruin of states and churches. Delirant reges, plectuntur Achivi—The kings act foolishly and the people suffer for it.

CHAP. III.

Verſe 1. AND I ſaid,] viz. at another time, and in a new diſcourſe: the heads whereof [illegible: 1 span] we have here recorded. A ſtinging Sermon it is, preached to the Princes, and Prophets, thoſe great Heteroclites in the houſe of Iſrael. For as in a fiſh, ſo in a Church and State, corruption begins at the head: and as [illegible: 1 letter]heume falling from the head upon the lights, breeds a conſumption of the whole body, ſo is it here. To the chieftains therefore, and Capitanei, our Prophet applieth himſelf: And as it is ſaid of Suetonius, that ealibertate, ſcripſit Imperatorum vitas quà ipſi vix[illegible: 1 letter]runt, that hee wrote the Emperours lives with as much liberty, as they lived them: ſo did Micah as boldly reprove the Princes ſinnes, as they committed them. Such another Preacher amongſt us was Latimer, and after him De[illegible: 1 letter]ring; who in his Sermon afore Queen Elizabeth, ſpeaking of the diſorders of the times; Theſe things are ſo, ſaith He, and you ſit ſtill and do nothing. And again, May we not well ſay with the Prophet, ſaith He, It's the Lords mercy that we are not conſumed, ſeeing there is ſo much diſobedience, both in ſubjects and Prince. Once it was Tanquam ovis, as a ſheep before the ſheerer:Act. & Mon. but now it is Tanquam [illegible: 1 letter]uvenca petulca, as an untamed heifer, &c. In our dayes, Reverend Mr. Stock had this commendation given him by a faithfull witneſſe; that hee could ſpeak his minde fitly, and that he durſt ſpeak it freely. I will go to the Biſhop (Steven Gardiner, then Lord Chancellour) and tell him to his beard, that he doth naught, ſaid Dr. Taylour Martyr; and hee did ſo, though his friends diſſwaded him. Truth muſt be ſpoken, however it bee taken. And if Gods Meſſengers muſt be mannerly in the forme, yet in the matter of their meſſage, they muſt be reſolute, and plain-dealing. It is probable that Joſeph uſed ſome kind of preface to Pharaohs Baker, in reading him that hard deſtiny, Gen. 40.19. ſuch haply as was that of Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar, chap. 4.19. or as Phile brings him in with a Ʋtinam tale ſomnium non vidiſſes, &c. But for the matter, he gives him a ſound, though a ſharp interpretation. So dealeth Micah by theſe corrupt Princes, to whom nevertheleſſe he giveth their due Titles: and of whom hee fairly begs audience. Hear I pray you, yee heads of Jacob, &c. Or, hear yee now, who formerly have refuſed to hearken. It was in Hezekiah's dayes, that this Sermon was preached, as appeareth, Jer. 26.18. not long before Sennacherib invaded the land, Mic. 5. And although the King himſelf were religious, and righteous, yet many of his Princes and Courtiers, who in the reigne of his father Ahaz, had been habituated in rapine, and wrong-dealing, ſtill played their pranks, and are here as barely told their own.

Is it not for you to know judgement?] To know it, and do it? as it is ſaid of our Saviour, that he knew no ſinne, that is, he did none. And have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? they eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon God, Pſal. 14.4. Of all men Magiſtrates ſhould be knowing men, fearing God, hating covetouſneſſe, and cruelty, Exod. 18.21. They are the eyes of their Countrey, and if they be dark, how great is that darkneſſe? They are the common looking-glaſſes, by which other men uſe to dreſſe themſelves. Judges they are, to diſcern, and decide controverſies: fit it is therefore and neceſſary, that they know [illegible: 1 letter]udgement: how elſe ſhall they execute it? Tully complaineth of the Roman Prieſts in his dayes, that there were many things in their own lawes that themſelves underſtood not. I will get me to the great men, ſaith Jeremy, (when hee found things farre amiſſe among the vulgar) and will ſpeak unto them; for they have known the way of the Lord, and the judgement of their God: but theſe have altogether broken the yoke, and burſt the bonds, Jer. 5.5.

Verſe 2. Who hate the good, and love the evil,] q.d. That you know not judgement, but are men ignorant of the truth, which is according to godlineſſe, appeareth by your wicked practiſes. For you ſtand acroſſe to what God requireth,Homo eſt inverſus decalogus. hating what you ſhould love, and loving where you ſhould hate. Goodneſſe is in it ſelf amiable, and attractive: but you are perfect ſtrangers to it, and therefore hate it, and thoſe that profeſſe it. Evil is of the Devil: and muſt therefore needs be loathſome: and yet you love it, allow it, and wallow in it: [non-Latin text not transcribed]. whereas you ſhould abhorre that which is evil (hate it as hell) and cleave (or bee faſt glued) to that which is good, Rom. 12.9. You are direct Antipodes to the godly, Pſal. 15.4. and have nothing in you of the divine nature, 2 Pet. 1.4. or of the ſpot of Gods children: but are a perverſe and crooked generation, Deut. 32.3.

Who pluck off their skin from off them, and their fleſh from off their bones.] Like ſo many carnivorous Canibals, or truculent wild-beaſts. As the Oſſi[illegible: 2 letters]age, or Breakbone purſueth the prey, tears off the fleſh, breaks the bones, and ſucks out the marrow: ſuch were theſe griping tyrants: their furious rapacity ſurmounted all bounds of humanity. Such an one was Verres among the Romans, as Tully deſcribeth him: that Tigre Tiberius, thoſe Romiſh Uſurers in King Johns time here, called Caurſini quaſi capien[illegible: 1 letter]es Ʋrſi (quoth Paris) devouring Bears: who left not ſo much money in the whole Kingdom, as they either carried with them, or ſent to Rome before them. Money and lands are here called mens skin, fleſh, and bones: and a poor mans ſubſtance is his life. See Mark 12. ult. and Luke 8.43. Hence oppreſſion is called a bony ſinne, Amos 5.12, 13. and Oppreſſours Men-eaters, Pſal. 14.4. and murtherers, Hab. 2.12. Cyprian cries out, F[illegible: 1 letter]rae parcunt Danieli, Aves paſcunt Eliam, homines ſaeviunt; Lions ſpare Daniel, ravens feed Elias; but men rage and are worſe then both. Melancthon maketh mention of a certain Prince, ſome few years before his time, who, to get money out of his ſubjects, would ſend for them: and by knocking out firſt one tooth, and then another (threatning to leave them toothleſſe elſe) would extort from them what ſummes ſoever he pleaſed. Our King Johns exactours received from his ſubjects no leſſe ſummes of curſes, then of coin,Joh. Manl. loc. com. pag. 636. Speed. 568. Ibid. 1012. ſaith the Chronicler: And ſo did Cardinal Wolſey, under Henry 8. by his importable Subſidies: which cauſed Suffolk to riſe up in arms, making poverty their Captain.

Verſe 3. Who alſo eat the fleſh of my people, and flay their skin, &c.] He ſtills proceeds in the Allegory, the better to argue, and aggravate their extreme cruelty. Money, ſaith the Heathen, is a mans fleſh, blood, life, all. Of this, when the people were pilled, and polled, by their cruel princes, who are here compared to butchers and cooks, they are looked upon as not onely excoriated, but exca[illegible: 2 letters]i[illegible: 1 letter]ied, and even exoſſa[illegible: 1 letter]ed, and laid for dead: for mortis habet vi[illegible: 1 letter]es quae trahitur vi[illegible: 1 letter]a gemitibus. It is a lifeleſſe life that many poor people live for want of neceſſaries. Such ſavage Shepherds Ezekiel inveighes againſt, that not onely ſheer their ſheep, Ezek. 34. Tiber. ap. Sueton. but held them, and ſuck their blood. Atqui paſtoris eſt pecus tondere, non degl[illegible: 1 letter]bere, non carnem & oſſa concidere, &c.

Chop them in peeces, as for the pot, &c.] Making no more bones of undoing them and their families, then to eat a meals-meat, when hungry: yea nouriſhing their hearts therewith, as in a day of ſlaughter, or good cheer. Jam. 5.3.

Verſe 4. Then ſhall they cry unto the Lord, but he will not hear them] Then ſc. when God ſhall have changed their cheer, pulled the fat morſell from between their teeth, and fed them with the bread of affliction, and water of affliction, with priſoners pittance as they call it, which will neither keep them alive,1 King. 22.27. nor ſuffer them to die; Then ſhall they cry, and whine as hogs when hungry, as dogs when tied up from their meate; but God will not hear them. He will even caſt out their prayers with contempt, as beeing the prayers of the fleſh for eaſe, and not of the ſpirit for grace. They cry unto the Lord aloud, but it is only to be rid of his rod, they roare when upon the wrack, but 'tis only to get off, they look rufully as the fox doth when taken in a gin, but it is only to be ſet at liberty, they chatter out a charme when Gods chaſtening is upon them, yea they may be with child (as it were) of a prayer, and yet bring forth nothing but wind Eſa. 26.16, 17, 18. For either God anſwereth them not at all, which was Sauls caſe & curſe 1 Sam. 28.15. & Moabs Iſa. 16.12. and Davids enemies Pſal. 18.41. Or elſe he gives them bitter anſwers Ezek. 14.4. Judg. 10.13, 14. Or if better; it is but for a further miſchief, that he may curſe their bleſſings, and conſume them after that he hath done them good Ioſh. 24.20. Their preſervation from one evill is but a reſervation to ſeven worſe; as we ſee in Phaoh, Senacherih, Ahab, and others. Lo, this is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppreſſours which they ſhall receive of the almighty Iob 27, 13, 14, 15. &c. See the place. Remedileſſe miſery ſhall befall them, calamities that ſhall wring from them clamours but to no purpoſe, or profit See Prov. 1.28.

he will even hide his face from them] that is, withdraw his ſavour, care, providence, help, preſence, and benefits, of all which the face is the ſymbol: that like as they have turned upon God the back and not the face, and have been mercileſſe to men,Eſa. 58.7. hiding their eyes from their own fleſh: ſo ſhall it be done to them in the day of their diſtreſſe, God will award them judgement without mercy who ſhewed no mercy Iam. 2.13. He will ſet off all hearts from them, as he did from wicked Haman, See Prov. 21.13. with the Note. when the king frowned upon him. Laſtly, he will turn their own conſciences looſe upon them (as once he did upon Ioſephs brethren Gen. 42.21.) to ring that dolefull knell in their eares Iſa. 3[illegible: 1 letter] 1. Woe to thee that ſpoiliſt, &c. when thou ſhalt ceaſe to ſpoile, thou ſhalt be ſpoiled, &c. Talionis lege mulctabere, as Adonibezek, Phocas, Charles 9. &c.

Verſe 5. Thus ſaith the Lord concerning the Prophets] Falſe prophets, who pretended divine authority, when as God never ſent them, but expreſly declareth here againſt them, and threateneth them. Thoſe prophane Princes had their fleſh-flies, thoſe court-paraſites, to ſooth and ſmooth them up in their ſins: to promiſe th[illegible: 1 letter]m peace, albeit they walked in the imagination of their own hearts, to add drunkenneſſe to thirſt, Deut. 28.19. Bucholcer: and to live as they liſted. Mirifica eſt ſympathia inter Magnates & paraſitos, ſaith One. There is a ſtrange ſympathy betwixt Great men and claw-backs: nothing ſo troubleſome to ſuch, as truth; nothing ſo toothſome, as flattery: this is the fruit of [illegible: 1 word] ſelf-love: and the end thereof are the wayes of death Prov. 16.25.

that make my people to erre] That [illegible: 1 word] them and carry them out of the right way into by paths, [non-Latin text not transcribed] Act. 20.30. and blind thickets [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 letter]rrour, where they are loſt for ever. Deut. 13.13. Seducers are ſaid to draw [illegible: 1 word] violently or to thruſt them onward. Jeroboam is ſaid to have driven Iſrael from following the Lord: and the falſe Apoſtles to drag diſciples after them Act. 20. compelling them by their perſwaſions to embrace thoſe diſtorted doctrines, that cauſe convulſions of conſcience.

that bite with their teeth] The dogs of Congo bite through they bark not, ſaith Mr. Purchas: Pilgr of Religion. Chriſts Polititian by Tho. Scot. there are a ſort of cu[illegible: 1 letter]-dogs, ſaith Another, that ſuck a mans blood only with licking. Seducers are ſuch: Beware of falſe Prophets: for they come to you in ſheeps clo[illegible: 1 letter]thing; but inwardly they are ravening wolves. And in this ſenſe Hierome and Theodoret take this text: they devoure thoſe they make prize of, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. as the Apoſtles word ſignifieth Coloſ. 2.8. Others think their covetouſneſſe and gormandiſe is noted. O Monachi, Veſtri ſtomachi ſunt amphora Bacchi: Vos eſtis, Decis eſt teſtis, certiſſima peſtis. As hungry dogs they ſnap at a cruſt, and make cleane work, ſuch is their voracity and unſatisfiableneſſe: Ingluvies, & tempeſtas, barathrum que macelii.

And cry, Peace] [non-Latin text not transcribed] All ſhall be as well as heart can wiſh, or need require. Let theſe Cerberuſſes but be morſelled, and you ſhall heare no worſe of them. Like they are to the ravens of Arabia that full gorged have a tuneable ſweet record: but empty, ſcreech horribly. Si ventri benè ſi lateri as Epicurus ſaith in Horace, Let their bellyes be filled and their backs fitted, and they will prophecy all good to you: as thoſe falſe Prophets nouriſhed by Iezebel did to Ahab; as the Phariſees cryed up the Centurion, who had built them a ſynagogue Luk. 7. as the Popiſh Clergy canonize their benefactours, and extoll them to the skies. Wvlſin Biſhop of Sherborn diſplaced ſecular Prieſts and put in Monks. Hence the Monkiſh writers make him a very holy man; and report of him, that when he lay a dying he cryed out ſuddenly, I ſee the heavens open, Godw. Cataloc. 335. and Jeſus Chriſt ſtanding at the right hand of God, and ſo died. Yea, they had a trick to make their Images ſpeak their minds this way. As the rode of grace here in England had a man within it incloſed, with an hundred wires to make the image goggle with the eyes, nod with the head, hang the lip: move and ſhake his lawes according as the value was of the gift that was offered. If it were a ſmall peece of ſilver, he would hang a frowning lip: if a peece of gold, then ſhould his jawes go merrily. This idolatrous forgery was at laſt, by Cromwels meanes, diſcloſed:Act. & Mon. fol. 1034. and the image with all his engines ſhewed openly at Pauls croſſe, and there torn in peeces by the people, who had been ſo ſeduced.

and he that putteth not into their mouthes, they even prepare warr againſt him] Heb. ſanctifie a warr, id eſt, excomunicatis aquâ & igni interdicunt, Gualth. crucem adverſus eos praedicant &c. they thunder againſt them, and throw them out of the Church: publiſh their Croyſades, as they did againſt the Waldenſes in France, the Huſſites in Bohemia, and Luther in Germany: whom the pope excommunicated, the Emperour proſcribed, diverſe divines wrot againſt: the reaſon whereof when Eraſmus was asked by the Electour of Saxony, he rightly anſwered, Becauſe he meddleth with the Popes tripple crown, and with the Friars fat paunches.

Verſe 9. Therefore night ſhall be unto you] Ye ſhall be benighted, your gifts blaſted, and your perſons baffled: your lamp ſhall be put out in obſcure darkneſſe: the ſword ſhall be upon your arms, and upon your right eyes: your arms ſhall be clean dried up, Zech. 11.17. and your right eyes utterly darkened. Thoſe illuminations and inſpirations that ye ſeemed to have, ſhall be taken from you: and God ſhall paſſe that dreadfull ſentence, Take the talent from him, even here in this life: let him not have the leaſt dram or drop of a prophetick Spirit, of miniſteriall abilities; and then, in the next world, caſt ye the unprofitable ſervant into outer darkneſſe &c. Mat. 25.28.30.

and it ſhall be dark unto you, that ye ſhall not divine] Tenebrae vobis à divinatione, vel propter divinationem, ſo Calvin. All the reward ye ſhall have for your divination ſhall be diſgrace and confuſion: your folly ſhall be manifeſt unto all men, as was that of Jannes and Jambres 2 Tim. 3.9.

And the Sun ſhall goe down over the Prophets] The ſame thing is ſet forth by ſundry Metaphors, for more aſſurance: for Hypocritis nihil ſtupidius, it is hard to perſwade an hypocrite, that evill is toward him: ſee ver. 11.

Verſe 7. Then ſhall the Seers be aſhamed, and the diviners confounded] They ſhall be hiſſed and hooted at for Impoſtour, and falſaries: ſhame ſhall be the promotion of theſe fooles, as it is at this day of the Heathen Philoſophers, of the Iewiſh Rabbins, of the Popiſh Doctours and Schoole-men: who once caried the bell for moſt acute and accurate Divines, but now appear to be great triflers, a rotten generation of dunghil-divines as one ſtileth them: in deteſtation of whoſe vain jangling and doting about queſtions 1 Tim. 6.4. Luther ſaith,Luth. tom. 1. oper. lat. ep. 47. Prope eſt-ut jurem &c. I could ſwear almoſt, that there was not a Schoolman that underſtood one chapter of the Goſpel. Latimer profeſſed that by hearing Bilneys confeſſion, he learned more, then afore in many yeares. So from that time forward, ſaith He,Act. & Mon. 917 I began to ſmell the word of God, and forſake the School-doctours, and ſuch fooleries.

yea they ſhall all cover their lips] And ſtand aloof; as lepers. See Lev. 13.45. Ezek. 24.17, 22. Or they ſhall leave off their lying; for I will ſtop their mouthes,Ego illis os claudam. Calv. that they ſhall not hereafter ſo much as mute any more. The Septuagint render it, All men ſhall abhorre them, ſhall open their lips againſt them. Montanus, involuent myſta cem ſuam, they ſhall wrap up their muſtachoes, which (ſaith à Lapide) the falſe Prophets wore upon their upper-lip, & incedebant comptuli, and went neatly trimmed, as do now the Calviniſtical Miniſters. But if ſome do ſo, yet this is better then the Popiſh prieſts ſhaving, which is a ceremony ſo bald, that ſome Prieſts in France are aſhamed of the mark: and few of them have it, that can handſomly avoid it.

for there is no anſwer of God] He comes not at them, as ſometimes he did to Abimelech, Laban, Balaam; neither ſpeake they according to his word, for why? there is no light in them Eſ. 8.20. The Philoſophers profeſſing themſelves to be wiſe (but wanting the wi[illegible: 1 letter]dome from above) became fooles Rom. 1.22. The Phariſees had they known any thing aright and as they ought, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory 1 Cor. 2.8. Oracles they had and miracles enow: but they rejected the counſel of God againſt themſelves being not baptized Luke. 7.30. or if they were, yet remained they a viperous brood Mat. 3. and never attained to that anſwer of a good conſcience toward God 1 Pet. 3.21. The Schoolmen often cite the Philoſophers,Lombard Paſſim. ſeldome the Apoſtles; they count the authority of Fathers as good as that of Scriptures: neither doubt they to call the writings of the Eathers by the name of Scripture. Was not this to ſet mens threſhold by Gods threſhold: and their poſts by his poſts Ezek. 43.8. what marvel therefore though they became vain in their imaginations, and their fooliſh heart was darkened, while they taught for doctrines mens traditions? what marvell though Popiſh fopperies once ſo admired be now ſo much ſlighted, ſince the world ſeeth further into them, then formerly? Notable is that paſſage in K. Henry the eights proteſtation againſt the Pope; England is no more a babe; there is no man here, but now he knowes that they do fooliſhly, that part with gold for lead &c. Surely except God take away our right wits, not only the Popes authority ſhall be driven out for ever,Act. & Mon. 990. but his name alſo ſhortly ſhall be forgotten in England. We will from henceforth ask counſell of him and his, when we liſt to be deceived, when we covet to be in errour, when we deſire to offend God, Truth, and honeſty &c.

Ver. 8. But truely I am full of power] But doth it become the Prophet thus to praiſe himſelf? Laus proprio ſordeſcit in ore: and thoſe who vaunt moſt, have oft the leaſt courage; as thoſe creatures who have the greateſt hearts of fleſh, are the moſt timerous; as the Stag, Panther, Hare &c. For anſwer, it muſt be conſidered, that the Prophet ſpeaketh not here of his own good parts, out of a vain glorious humour (it was enough for him that he was all glorious within, Pſal. 45.13. virtuſque ſuo contenta theatro eſt) but to ſeparate himſelf from thoſe falſe prophets aforementioned, and to aſſert his calling by his qualifications, as doth likewiſe St. Paul 2 Cor. 12. to thoſe who ſought a proof of Chriſt ſpeaking in him. The word rendered But truly ſignifies, All which notwithſtanding: q. d. Albeit there is ſuch a generall defection from God, and ſuch unfaithfulneſſe in the Prophets of theſe times, yet I am full of power, lively and luſty, vigorous and vivacious.

by the ſpirit of the Lord] That noble Spirit, as David calleth him, that ſpirit of power, Pſal. 51. 2 Tim. 1.7. of love, and of a ſound mind (as Paul, that putteth ſpirituall mettle into the ſoule, and ſteeleth it againſt all oppoſition. And truely if the ſpirit put not vigour into us, how dead and flat are our duties and all ordinances like liquor that hath loſt its ſpirits? there is as much difference many times as betwixt cold water and Aquavitae.

and of judgment] to diſcern of things that differ, to time a word as the Prophet Eſay hath it,Eſa. 50.4. and to teach things profitable and proper to my auditours (not as He in the Emblem that gave ſtraw to the dog, and a bone to the Aſſe; or as thoſe falſe Prophets, who ſpake good of evill, and evill of good) and wiſely to diſtinguiſh betwixt law and Goſpel in praxi; Gratias agat Deo, & ſciatſe eſſe Theologum Luth. which who ſo can do, let him thank God, ſaith Luther, and let him know, that he is a Divine indeed.

and of might] Or, of manhood, virtue, prevalency againſt an adverſary, patience under whatſoever croſſe occurrences for the truths ſake, and for my p[illegible: 1 letter]ain-dealing. A miniſter had need be a man, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. every inch of him; and to play the man 1 Cor. 16.13. yea, as the good ſouldier of Jeſus Chriſt, to ſuffer hardſhip; being ſtrong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. He muſt be like the diamond in the High-prieſts breſtplate for hardneſſe and hardineſſe, as of Athanaſius Naz[illegible: 1 letter]a[illegible: 1 letter]zen teſtifieth, that he was Magnes & Adamas, both a loadſtone for his lovelineſſe and humility, and an Adamant for his reſolute ſtoutneſſe and magnanimity againſt thoſe that were evil.

to declare unto Jacob his tranſgreſſion, and to Iſrael his ſinne] to tell them of their wickedneſſe with the ſame liberty that they commit it. See here the true picture of a Preacher, both how he muſt be gifted, and how deeded; A thankleſſe office it is with the world to be thus bold and buſie; and very many miniſters affect to be counted no medlers: they think it enough to preach toothleſſe truths, and not to incurre the diſpleaſure of people, by telling them of their tranſgreſſions, and Gods jud[illegible: 1 letter]gements. But this is not the garb and guiſe of thoſe that are ſent and gifted by God. ſee Ezek. 3. and 33.

Verſ. 9. Hear this, I pray you, ye heads, &c.] He had had a bout with them before: but becauſe little good was thereby done, he is at them again; according to that counſel of the wiſeman, In the morning ſow thy ſeed, Eccleſ. 11.[illegible: 2 letters] in the evening withhold not thy hand; for thou knoweſt not, &c. Preach the word ſaith the Apoſtle, be inſtant (or ſtand over the work) in ſeaſon, out of ſeaſon, &c. 2 Tim. 4.2. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Chryſoſtome told his Antiochians, that he would never give over preaching againſt that ſinne of ſwearing, till they gave over their ſwearing: which becauſe he could not get them to do, he breaks out into theſe words. It will be an hard ſpeech unto you, but I will ſpeak it: Though there be ſo many thouſands of you, yet there cannot be found an hundred that ſhall be ſaved: and I tell you true, I doubt of them too.

Ye heads of the houſe of Jacob, and Princes of the houſe of Iſrael] As bad as they were he gives them their titles. The devil alſo is to have his due: he is called by the holy Ghoſt Prince of the ayr, and his Angels are ſtiled Principalities, powers, Rulers of the darkneſſe of this world, Eph. 6.12. See the Note on verſ. 1.

that abhorre judgement] They were not onely ignorant of it, verſ. 1. but abhorred it; and therefore abhorred it, becauſe they knew it not. Plato could ſay, that if morall vertue could be beheld with mortal eyes, it would attract all hearts to it ſelf. But theſe, as natural bruit beaſts made to be taken and deſtroyed, ſpake evil of thoſe things that they underſtood not, 2 Pet. 2.12. and what they knew naturally as bruit beaſts, in thoſe things they corrupted themſelves, Jude 10. being carried away by their impetuous and imperious luſts, they not onely did that which was evil, but alſo hated the light of the law that reproved and ſentenced them: licenſing others by their practiſe at leaſt, to do the like. Such Centaures and Cyclopes were theſe princes of Iſrael grown; ſuch Heteroclites theſe heads of the houſe of Iacob. The whole head was ſick, Iſai. 1.5. the Rulers were a ſcab, Chap. 5.7. The Lord looked for judgement, but behold oppreſſion: for righteouſneſſe, but behold a crie. [illegible: 1 word]. Caff. They had made the age not unlike that under Nero, wherein nothing almoſt was unlawful: but villany was acted by authority.

and pervert all equity] Heb. they pervert, &c. It is ſpoken to others, in token of abomination: See the like, Gen. 49.4. with the Note. Now equity or rectitude is perverted, when the guilty are acquitted and the innocent condemned,2 Chron. 19.7. (See Eſay. 5.20, 23. when there is accepting of perſons, and receiving of gifts.

Verſ. 10. They build up Zion with blood] Heb. bloods, that is, with goods gotten by rapine and robbery, to the utter undoing of many poor oppreſſed, whoſe livelihood is their life, Mar. 12. ult. Luk. 8.43. How much better Selymus the great Turk, who being upon his death-bed moved by Pyrrhus the Baſſa to beſtow the great wealth, taken by him from the Perſian Merchants,Turk. hiſt. [illegible: 3 letters] upon ſome notable hoſpital for relief of the poor, took order that thoſe evil-gotten goods ſhould be forthwith reſtored again to the right owners, to the ſhame of many Chriſtians who will not be drawn to do ſo. Our Henry the ſeventh indeed in his laſt will and Teſtament, deviſed and willed reſtitution ſhould be made of all ſuch moneys at had unjuſtly been levied by his officers. But how few ſuch princes are to be found?Speed. [illegible: 4 letters] It is held a goodly thing to build Zion, though it be with blood, and Jeruſalem with iniquity. But God, as he will not have ex rapina holocauſtum, ſo he infinitely abhorreth all thoſe, who, under pretext of religion in building ſome poor hoſpital with the fragments of their accurſed wealth, ſeek to make him a party, a partaker of their cruelty, as thoſe did, Eſa. 66.3, 4, Mar. 7.11. Mat. 23.14. Our Henry the third, when he had (after his many great exactions) ſent the Friar-Minors a load of freeſe to clothe them,Dan. hiſt. 168. had the ſame ſent back again with this meſſage, That he ought not to give almes of what he had rent from the poor, neither would they accept of that abominable gift. Zion is not to be builded or beautified with bloods, &c.

Verſ. 11. The heads thereof judge for reward,] Being ſo many locuſts, & latrones cum privilegio, as one ſaith, Well might Saint Paul ſay that covetouſneſſe is the root of all evil, 1 Tim. 6.10. It is here aſſigned as one cauſe (and carnal ſecurity as another) of that Regiment without righteouſneſſe, here juſtly complained of. And it was the worſe, becauſe it had over-run all ſorts of ſuch as were in place of power, whether Civil or Eccleſiaſtical. The Princes and Judges took gifts, which they ſhould not only not have taken, but have hated, Prov. 15.27. they ſhould have ſhaken their hands from holding of bribes, Eſay. 33.15. ſith there is a curſe to ſuch Magiſtrates with an Amen to it, Deut. 27.25. and Pſal. 15.5. excluſion out of heaven:Stapleton. Olim didici quid ſint munera, ſaid one once, Raine is good (ſaid another) and ground is good, ſed exeorum conjunctione fit lutum, of the mixture of theſe two is made dirt: So, Giving is kind, and taking is courteous: yet the mixing of them maketh the ſmooth paths of Juſtice foule and uneven. Nec prece nec precio, ſhould be the Magiſtrates Motto. And Iuſtice Iustice (as Moſes phraſeth it, Deut. 16.20.) that is, cleer ſheer juſtice without mud ſhould run down as waters, and righteouſneſſe as a mighty torrent, Am. 5.24.

and the Prieſts thereof teach for hire, and the Prophets thereof divine for money] They were meerly mercenary: and as Apollo's Oracles, corrupted by Philips gold, were ſaid [non-Latin text not transcribed], to ſpeak as he would have them, ſo was it here. Both Prieſts and Prophets were ignava ventris mancipia, (ſee verſ. 5. with the Note) greedy dogs,In Mat. 10.16 ſlow-bellies, they all looked to their own way, every one for his gain from his quarter, Eſay. 56.11. Albertus Magnus complained of the covetouſneſſe of Paſtours in his time: Bernard for this cauſe calleth them Impoſtours, and By-ſeers, Hugo Cardinalis ſaid that the devil had two daughters, Avarice and Luxury: the former whereof he had married to the Iewes, the latter to the Gentiles: but now, ſaith he, the Prieſts have taken away both of them from their right husbands, and make uſe of them for their own. Si poſui aurum in conjugium meum, So the Septuagint read that text, Job. 31.24. ſignifying the covetous mans great love to money: whence Saint Iames calleth ſuch,2 Pet. 2. adulterers, and adultereſſes, Chap. 4.4. Saint Paul ſaith they minde onely earthly things (ſc. their purſes and paunches) Phil. 3.19. and and unceſſantly wooe this Mundus immundus, this vile ſtrumpet the world: having eyes full of the adultereſſe, and that cannot ceaſe to ſinne. But their money ſhall periſh with them that teach for hire, that follow the miniſtery onely as a trade to pick a living out of, qui plus fiſco quam Chriſto vacant, plus attonſioni quam attentioni gregis, & ubi non vident quaeſtum, rident Chriſtum, &c. All ſeek their own, not the things which are Jeſus Chriſts, Pſal. 2.21.

yet will they lean upon the Lord] Or, lay their weight upon him, as upon a ſtaffe or crutch, velut firmiſſimo ſcipione. Thus their forefathers (Pſal. 78.32, 35.) though they ſinned ſtill, and believed not for his wondrous works, yet they would needs believe that God was their Rock, and the high God their Redeemer. So their ſucceſſours, Jer. 3.3, 4, 5. when they had ſpoken and done evil as they could, yet, having a whores forehead, they could give goodly words, Wilt thou not from this time crie unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth? Will he reſerve his anger for ever? Will he keep it to the end? Here were good words (for they are good cheap, as we ſay) but nothing more. The Lord was much in their mouthes, but farre from their reins, Jer. 12.2. Selfe-deceivers think they lean upon the Lord, when it is no ſuch matter: Their faith is a mock-faith, a ſtrong phanſie, a blind preſumption, which will prove but a broken reed, and was never true to thoſe that truſted it. Surely as he that maketh a bridge of his own ſhadow cannot but fall into the brook; ſo neither can he eſcape the burning lake, that had rather be carnally ſecured, then ſoundly comforted. Good gold is a cordial; ſo is not Alchymy gold: neither will it paſſe the ſeventh fire, as the other will. Security is the forerunner of calamity: neither miſcarry any ſo ſure or ſo ſoon, as the over-confident.

and ſay, Is not the Lord amongſt us] And hath he not promiſed ſo to be for ever? True, but upon condition that you be with him, and no otherwiſe, 2 Chron. 15.2. He is not ſo tied to you, but that he can go away from you. See his many removes, Ezek. 9, 10, and 11 Chapters; and obſerve, that ſtill as he goes out, ſome judgement comes in. They call themſelves of the holy city, and stay themſelves upon the God of Iſrael, the Lord of hoſts is his name, Jer. 48.2. but all this was but court-holy-water, as they call it, empty words; ſuch as our profligate profeſſours are full of. But wilt thou know, O vain man, (or, O empty man) that words without works are bootleſſe? Jam. 2.20. that externall priviledges alone profit not, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Jer. 7.4. Act. 6.14. that formal profeſſion and performances are diſaccepted, and thoſe that pleaſe themſelves therewith are but as women travelling with a falſe birth, Iſai. 26.18. Men are wont to do with theſe, as thoſe Conjurers did with the name of Jeſus; they thought if they uſed that name, it was enough. They heare therefore,Act. 19.5. Jeſus I know, and Paul I know, but who are ye? So ſhall it fare with ſuch as glory in this, that they were born in the boſome of the Church, live under the means of grace, &c. Gehezi took the Prophets ſtaffe: but there was ſomething more, elſe the childe had not been raiſed. Thoſe tell but an ill tale for themſelves, that have no more to ſay but this, Is not the Lord amongst us? Men are the worſe for his preſence with them, if they walk not worthy of the Lord in all wel-pleaſing, Col. 1.10. if they have not grace to ſerve him with reverence and godly fear: for even our God is a conſuming fire, Heb. 12.28, 29.

None evil can come upon us] Let Prophets ſay what they pleaſe, we ſhall have peace, Deut. 29.19. all ſhall be well with us, whiles God is with us, and for us.Job. 8.20. Exod. 34. Pſal. 5. But God will not take the wicked by the hand, ſaith Job, neither will he at all acquit the guilty, ſaith Moſes. The fooliſh ſhal not ſtand in his ſight, ſaith David: for he hateth al the workers of iniquity, Pſal. 5.5. Beware of him and obey his voice; provoke him not: for he will not pardon your tranſgreſſions, Exod. 23.21. or if he do, yet 'tis two to one, that he will take vengeance of your inventions, Pſal. 99.8. Shake off therefore carnal ſecurity: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.

Verſ. 12. Therefore ſhal Zion for your ſake be plowed as a field] even for your ſakes, O wicked Princes, Prieſts and Prophets; you are the traytours that have betrayed us all into the hands of divine juſtice: to be angry with us for ſaying ſo, and telling you what to truſt to, is as if ſome fond people ſhould be angry with the herald, or the trumpet, as the cauſe of their warres.

Zion ſhal be [illegible: 1 letter]lowed as a field] Shall be utterly laid waſte and ſevelled. Conquerours uſed to plow up thoſe places that they would not have re-edified; and to ſow them with ſalt, Judg. 9.45. It muſt needs be a diſmal deſtruction, that is deſcribed in ſuch exquiſite tearms. Alterius perditio tua ſit cautio. This threatning of the Prophet took ſo well, that the judgement was reſpited for above an hundred years, Jer. 26.19. But now mens hearts are more hardned, and therefore their deſtruction more haſtened.

and Jeruſalem ſhal become heaps] Rupes ruderum, This they once thought as poſſible, as to overthrow Gods own throne: the very diſciples had a conceit that the World could not outlaſt the Temple, as may be gathered from Mat. 24.3. But they (ſome of them) lived to ſee themſelves confuted, and our Saviours words verified, There ſhal not be left here one ſtone upon another, that ſhall not be thrown down, Verſ. 2.

and the mountain of the houſe] that famous houſe that was worthily reckoned one of the ſeven wonders of the world, and ſtood upon mount Moriah.

As the high places of the forreſt] As wooddy and deſert places, fit onely for wild beaſts, Lege & Luge, ſaith one, ſpeaking of Jeruſalems deſolation.