Day 272: Micah 5-7

(The previous post covered three chapters focused on Israel's coming captivity. It also covered one chapter focused on the events leading up to the Millennium. The next chapter continued the focus on events leading up to and including the Millennium...)

Micah 5
¹ Now shalt thou gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us; they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.
² But thou, Beth-lehem Ephrathah, which art little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall one come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.

(Messianic prophecy referenced by the scribes to Herod in Matthew 2:6: "Beth-lehem" would be the birthplace of the Messiah Jesus Christ. John 7:42 also referenced this verse when people were trying to figure out if Jesus was the Messiah during the final six months of His three year public ministry.)

³ Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she who travaileth hath brought forth: then the residue of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.
⁴ And he shall stand, and shall feed his flock in the strength of Jehovah, in the majesty of the name of Jehovah his God: and they shall abide; for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.

(Verse 4 transitioned all the way to Christ delivering Israel from the Antichrist.)

⁵ And this man shall be our peace. When the Assyrian shall come into our land, and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men.

(Micah still referred to Christ. The "peace" meant Christ will bring harmony to the people. The "seven shepherds" and "eight principal men" were unknown at this point. This will be fulfilled after the second coming of Christ.)

⁶ And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: and he shall deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our border.

(Verses 7-15: Israel's restoration at the second coming of Christ.)

⁷ And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples as dew from Jehovah, as showers upon the grass, that tarry not for man, nor wait for the sons of men.
⁸ And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep; who, if he go through, treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and there is none to deliver.
⁹ Let thy hand be lifted up above thine adversaries, and let all thine enemies be cut off.
¹⁰ And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Jehovah, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and will destroy thy chariots:
¹¹ and I will cut off the cities of thy land, and will throw down all thy strongholds.
¹² And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thy hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers:
¹³ and I will cut off thy graven images and thy pillars out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thy hands;
¹⁴ and I will pluck up thine Asherim out of the midst of thee; and I will destroy thy cities.

(Asherim was another name for "groves": idols/high places.)

¹⁵ And I will execute vengeance in anger and wrath upon the nations which hearkened not.

(The final two chapters focused again on Israel's causes for the coming judgment and the eventual blessings during end times.)




Micah 6
¹ Hear ye now what Jehovah saith: Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.
² Hear, O ye mountains, Jehovah's controversy, and ye enduring foundations of the earth; for Jehovah hath a controversy with his people, and he will contend with Israel.
³ O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me.

(God had a controversy (dispute) with the people and was asking for them to testify (answer, respond) against Him. God was being contrastive.)

⁴ For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of bondage; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
⁵ O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him; remember from Shittim unto Gilgal, that ye may know the righteous acts of Jehovah.

(God reminded the people of the Exodus and of Balaam that they would know the Righteousness of God.)

⁶ Wherewith shall I come before Jehovah, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt-offerings, with calves a year old?
⁷ will Jehovah be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
⁸ He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth Jehovah require of thee, but to do justly, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God?

(God showed that what was good and only required of man was to "do justly, and to love kindness (mercy), and to walk humbly with thy God.")

⁹ The voice of Jehovah crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom will see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.
¹⁰ Are there yet treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and a scant measure that is abominable?
¹¹ Shall I be pure with wicked balances, and with a bag of deceitful weights?
¹² For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
¹³ Therefore I also have smitten thee with a grievous wound; I have made thee desolate because of thy sins.

(Verses 14-15: the punishments listed in Leviticus 26.)

¹⁴ Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy humiliation shall be in the midst of thee: and thou shalt put away, but shalt not save; and that which thou savest will I give up to the sword.
¹⁵ Thou shalt sow, but shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but shalt not anoint thee with oil; and the vintage, but shalt not drink the wine.
¹⁶ For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels; that I may make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof a hissing: and ye shall bear the reproach of my people.

(Even with the warnings of forsaking God, the people chose to walk in wickedness.)




Micah 7
¹ Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grape gleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat; my soul desireth the first-ripe fig.
² The godly man is perished out of the earth, and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.
³ Their hands are upon that which is evil to do it diligently; the prince asketh, and the judge is ready for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth the evil desire of his soul: thus they weave it together.
⁴ The best of them is as a brier; the most upright is worse than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen, even thy visitation, is come; now shall be their perplexity.

(The best of the men was compared to a brier. A brier was a "thorn.")

⁵ Trust ye not in a neighbor; put ye not confidence in a friend; keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.

(Trust not in man for he brings destruction and division…)

⁶ For the son dishonoreth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man's enemies are the men of his own house.
⁷ But as for me, I will look unto Jehovah; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.

(…but trust in the Lord for He heard and brought salvation.)

⁸ Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, Jehovah will be a light unto me.

(God is light and in Him is no darkness at all: 1 John 1:5.)

⁹ I will bear the indignation of Jehovah, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.
¹⁰ Then mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her who said unto me, Where is Jehovah thy God? Mine eyes shall see my desire upon her; now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets.
¹¹ A day for building thy walls! in that day shall the decree be far removed.
¹² In that day shall they come unto thee from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, and from Egypt even to the River, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.
¹³ Yet shall the land be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings.

(The land would become desolate because of the people and their wicked works.)

¹⁴ Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thy heritage, which dwell solitarily, in the forest in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.
¹⁵ As in the days of thy coming forth out of the land of Egypt will I show unto them marvellous things.
¹⁶ The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might; they shall lay their hand upon their mouth; their ears shall be deaf.
¹⁷ They shall lick the dust like a serpent; like crawling things of the earth they shall come trembling out of their close places; they shall come with fear unto Jehovah our God, and shall be afraid because of thee.
¹⁸ Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in lovingkindness.

(Eventually, Israel would put their trust back in God during the battle of Armageddon and the Millennial Reign of Christ.)

¹⁹ He will again have compassion upon us; he will tread our iniquities under foot; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
²⁰ Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the lovingkindness to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.

(The Book of Micah was the sixth of the twelve books that made up the minor prophet section of the Old Testament. Micah was a prophet during the same time as Hosea. Micah was a prophet of Judah, however, the first three chapters focused on Israel's coming captivity. Chapters 4 and 5 focused on the events leading up to and including the Millennium. The final two chapters focused again on Israel's causes for the coming judgment and the eventual blessings during end times.)

Day 273