Hear, ye peoples, all of you; hearken, O earth, and all that is therein and let the Lord Jehovah be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple!
Micah's message does not begin with Judah alone. It calls the whole earth to listen while God gives evidence against them from His holy temple. Why is the world called into court when the charge is against Samaria and Jerusalem? And what does it mean that the witness comes from the temple?
The opening call is not local. It gathers the nations, the earth itself, and everything in it. Another prophet with the same name had spoken in a similar way.
The opening message is majestic. It is an appeal to all the nations, the whole earth and all that is in it. They are to listen to the witness of the Lord Jehovah against them, the witness which comes from His holy temple. The other Micah (Micaiah, the same as Micah) the son of Imlah, spoke similar words (1 Kings 22:28).
This word "hear" is the hinge of the whole book. It opens each of its three main divisions.
It is made up of three main divisions. Each one is introduced by a call to listen: "Hear, you peoples, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it" (Micah 1:2); "And I said, Hear, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel" (Micah 3:1); and "Hear what the LORD says" (Micah 6:1).
The witness comes from the temple — and then He leaves it. That move out of His place marks a work God does not delight in.
Adonai, from His holy temple, is "coming forth," as He says, "out of his place." That is a striking expression. His dealings in grace belong to where He is. God is in His place when He is showing His own sovereign mercy. For judgment He comes out of His place. In His own nature God is not a judge, but One who gives and blesses. Judgment is "His strange work," as another passage says. So if He must do it, He will do it quickly... Grace suits God and is His delight, as it is the energy of His nature in the face of ruin.
If the sin is Israel's, why must the whole earth listen? Because Israel existed to be God's witness in the world. When that witness fails, the testimony has to come from God Himself — and it comes as judgment.
He takes His place upon His earthly throne to judge the whole earth, in testimony against all the nations... And why this intervention in judgment? Why does He not leave the nations still to walk in their own ways, far from Him, in patience with their folly? It is because His own people, the witness for His name on the earth, are sinning against Him. They have given themselves up to the service of other gods, or to evil. There is no longer any testimony of God in the earth, except a false one; and God must therefore render it to Himself.
There is a second reason the nations must listen. What is true of Judah and Israel is true of everyone.
The condition of Judah and Israel shows the condition of "all the peoples" — the "earth, and all that is in it." In Amos, once God begins to judge the nations, He must judge Israel. In Micah, if Israel must be judged, He must judge the nations. Israel is only a sample of all mankind. Now that she is proven guilty, this proves the guilt of the whole world (compare Romans 3:19).
This is sobering for anyone who belongs to God. Being near Him does not keep judgment away. It is the reason judgment starts there.
All the earth was caught up in the judgements God was going to bring on His chosen people. It is a solemn thing when the people of God, instead of being a testimony for Him, bring God's judgements down on the world. The time has come that judgement must begin at the house of God.
The summons had an outcome in Micah's own day. Gaebelein sees it reaching further than that.
The near fulfilment was the double judgment which came upon the two kingdoms: the kingdom of the ten tribes, Samaria, and the kingdom of Judah. But the description of the coming of the Lord in judgment also relates to that great future event, the day of the Lord.
- Hear — the word that opens the book opens each of its three divisions. Micah reads like a courtroom, and the whole earth is called to the stand.
- Witness — God testifies from His holy temple. The place of mercy becomes the place where He gives evidence.
- Strange work — He comes out of His place to judge. Grace is where God is at home; judgment is the work He does quickly, because human evil forces it on Him.
- Failed testimony — God calls in the nations because His own people stopped being His witness. When the witness fails, God gives it Himself.
- Sample — Israel proven guilty proves the world guilty. Judgment begins at the house of God, and the verdict reaches everyone listening.
For behold, Jehovah cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth.
Micah calls every nation, and the earth itself, to listen. Verse 3 gives the reason: the LORD is leaving His dwelling to step down onto the world. Two questions follow. What is the "place" He comes out of, and why does He leave it?
The phrase describes a departure from God's normal way of acting. One writer treats it as the key to the whole prophecy:
It is a striking expression. His dealings in grace belong to where He is. God is in His place when He is showing His own sovereign mercy. For judgment He comes out of His place. In His own nature God is not a judge, but One who gives and blesses. Judgment is "His strange work," as it is said elsewhere — a work therefore that, if it must be done, He will do quickly... Man's wickedness forces this painful necessity. If He refused to judge evil, He would have to give up His own moral character.
So coming out is not a change of character but the cost of keeping it. Another writer names what God does while He is in His place:
In Micah we find Him coming out of His place (Micah 1:3). His true place is that of Blesser. It is His delight to give benefits to His people with a hand that holds nothing back. Judgment is His strange work. But holiness and truth demand that He take up the work He finds no pleasure in. They demand that He come out from His place, where He sits as the generous Source of blessing, to punish transgression and to rebuke transgressors. So sweeping destruction is foretold, both for Samaria and Judah.
Verse 2 addresses the whole earth, yet the sin named in verse 5 is Israel's. One writer traces the line between them:
The Lord speaks in this book from His temple, and addresses all the peoples — the whole earth. That is, He takes His place on His earthly throne to judge the whole earth, in testimony against all the nations. But He comes from on high, out of His place, to tread on the high places of the earth. And why this intervention in judgment? Why does He not leave the nations still to walk in their own ways, far from Him, patiently bearing with their folly? It is because His own people are in transgression against Him. They are the witness for His name on the earth, yet they have given themselves up to the service of other gods, or to iniquity. There is no longer any testimony of God on the earth, unless it is a false one. So God must give that testimony Himself.
The people meant to show God had misrepresented Him. So He shows Himself, by coming down in person.
One writer measures how far this judgment reaches:
Micah shows the Lord coming out in judgment, not only of Israel, but of all the nations. The condition of Judah and Israel shows the condition of "all the peoples" — the "earth, and all that is therein." In Amos, once God begins to judge the nations, He must judge Israel too. In Micah, if Israel must be judged, He must judge the nations. For Israel is only a sample of all mankind: now that she is proven guilty, this is proof of the guilt of all the world.
Two verses later the prophet names the high places of Judah. They turn out to be Jerusalem itself:
Samaria was the chief seat of Israel, and Jerusalem the chief seat of Judah, where the house of David reigned. Yet both were high places of iniquity against the LORD — Samaria completely, and Jerusalem more and more.
One writer places this coming on two horizons at once:
He is coming to judge; He is coming in wrath... The near fulfilment was the double judgment that fell on two kingdoms: Samaria, of the ten tribes, and Judah. But this description of the Lord coming in judgment also points to that great future event, the day of the Lord.
A prophecy of ruin published in advance has an audience beyond those it threatens:
But this makes an important principle clear. Warnings of coming judgment are not only to wake up the sinful and the careless. They are meant above all to do good to those who walk uprightly.
- His place. God's own place is the place of blessing and mercy; judgment is the work He steps out of it to do.
- His strange work. He would not be Himself if He let evil pass, so judgment guards the character that grace expresses.
- His people first. He comes down because the nation meant to be His witness had become a false one.
- His whole earth. Israel is a sample of mankind; her proven guilt is proof of the world's, so the summons goes to all peoples.
- His warning now. The judgment is announced in advance. It wakes the careless, and it does good to those who walk uprightly.
And the mountains shall be melted under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, as waters poured down a steep place.
Micah has just seen Jehovah leave His temple and come down to tread on the high places of the earth. The ground gives way under Him, and that raises two questions: what makes God leave the place He loves, and what is it that melts?
Verse 3 says God is coming out of His place. Commentators read God's "place" as the setting of His mercy, so that leaving it is unnatural to Him.
Grace belongs to the place where He is; God is in His place when He is showing His own sovereign mercy. For judgment He comes out of His place. In His own nature God is not a judge, but One who gives and blesses. Judgment is "His strange work," as it is said elsewhere — so if it must be done, He will make short work of it... Man's wickedness forces this painful necessity on Him. If He refused to judge evil, He would have to abandon His own moral character. But grace is His normal work, the working of divine love despite evil. It does not ignore evil, but raises out of it and above it.
So the melting in verse 4 is not God at His most natural. It is God forced out of the work He delights in. The chapter opens with Him taking the stand as a witness against His own people, and one writer weighs what that costs Him.
How painful a position this must have been for Him to occupy, we who know something of His tender, faithful love can in some degree understand. It is as if a father were called to the witness box to give evidence against a dearly loved child.
The same image appears in the book of Nahum. One writer explains it there, quoting an older translation.
"The mountains quake at him" — of course this is a figure. The word "mountains" stands for the great seats of power on earth.
Read that way, the verse pairs heights with hollows on purpose. No human power holds its shape. One writer sets high and low side by side, then asks why God steps in at all.
Everything lifted high will melt under Him, and everything brought low will be like wax before the fire. And why does He step in to judge? Why not leave the nations to walk in their own ways, far from Him, while He patiently bears with their folly? It is because His own people, the witness for His name upon the earth, are sinning against Him. They have given themselves up to serving other gods, or to wickedness. There is no longer any testimony of God on the earth, unless it is a false one. So God must bear that testimony Himself.
The nations, not just Israel, are told why the judgment falls. One writer sees the picture in verse 4 landing twice — once in history, once still ahead.
He is coming to judge; He is coming in wrath. The nations are to hear it, that the judgment is for the transgression of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel. On verse 4 see Psalm 18:7-10; Psalm 68:8 and Judges 5:4. The near fulfilment was the double judgment that fell on the two kingdoms: Samaria, the kingdom of the ten tribes, and the kingdom of Judah. But this picture of the Lord coming in judgment also points to that great future event, the day of the Lord.
Elsewhere a writer takes this melting as more than destruction. Wax that runs can be poured into a new mould.
"The earth melted." These vivid words describe the overthrow. The whole earth is pictured as melted down until it is soft enough for His mighty hand to remould it for the thousand-year age He is about to bring in.
- His place — God is at home in mercy. Judgment is His strange work, done because His own character demands it, not because He enjoys it.
- His grief — He takes the stand as witness against His own people. It is like a father giving evidence against a child he loves.
- His cause — God steps in not for the sins of the nations, but because His own people stopped bearing true witness to His name.
- His reach — mountains picture the great seats of power. High and low alike lose their shape, so no human authority survives His coming.
- His purpose — the near judgment fell on Samaria and Judah. The far one belongs to the day of the Lord. What melts before Him stays soft enough for His hand to remake.
For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. Whence is the transgression of Jacob? is it not [from] Samaria? And whence are the high places of Judah? are they not [from] Jerusalem?
Micah opens with God coming out from His place to judge. Verse 5 gives the reason for everything the prophet has just described. It names the guilt, then narrows it twice — from the nation, to two capital cities, to the worship practised in them.
Why does judgment touch the nations at all? One writer traces the whole scene back to the failure named in this verse.
Why does He not leave the nations still to walk in their own ways, far from Him, patiently bearing with their folly? It is because His own people are in transgression against Him. They are the witness for His name on the earth. They have given themselves up to the service of other gods, or to wickedness. There is no longer any testimony of God on the earth, except a false one; and so God must give that testimony Himself.
Verses 3-4 show God stepping out of His usual place. One writer explains what that place is.
His true place is that of Blesser. It is His delight to give good things to His people with a hand that holds nothing back. Judgment is His strange work. But holiness and truth demand that He put His hand to the work in which He finds no pleasure. They demand that He come out from His place, where He sits as the generous Source of blessing, to punish transgression and rebuke transgressors. This is why sweeping destruction is foretold, both for Samaria and Judah.
The verse points at two cities that should have been centres of loyalty to God. One writer weighs the guilt by who committed it.
Sin is always evil, but never so humiliating as in the people of God... Samaria was the chief city of Israel, and Jerusalem was the chief city of Judah, where the house of David reigned. Yet both were high places of wickedness against Jehovah — Samaria completely, and Jerusalem more and more.
The phrase "high place" carries a history. God told Israel to tear down the hilltop shrines of the surrounding nations. Israel copied them instead.
But human nature is no better in those who are near to God than in those who are far from Him. The time soon came when Israel chose high places for themselves. Some of these were for idol worship, and some for the worship of Jehovah. But all the high places were offensive in His sight, whatever the motives of those who set them up. They were the expression of the creature's self-will, of hearts not subject to His commandments.
The judgment named here landed in history. But one writer sees the description reaching further.
The near fulfilment was a double judgment. It came on the two kingdoms — the kingdom of the ten tribes, Samaria, and the kingdom of Judah. But the description of the Lord coming in judgment also points to that great future event, the day of the Lord.
A warning like this is not only for the people about to be judged. It does something in anyone who reads it.
It separates God's people, heart and soul, from that on which judgment is coming. This is where the prophecies of the book of Revelation are so valuable to us. We see there that certain things face unsparing judgment: the great world system, and the professing church that has turned away from God. The effect on us is that we thankfully keep clear of both. We have no wish to be mixed up with anything that is soon to be disastrously overthrown.
- Cause. The judgment on the land is not random. It comes from the transgression of God's own people, who were meant to be the witness for His name on the earth.
- Character. God's own place is that of Blesser; judgment is His strange work, and He comes out of His place to do it.
- Centre. The guilt is located at the capitals. Samaria was Israel's chief city and Jerusalem was Judah's. Yet both became high places of wickedness — Samaria completely, Jerusalem more and more.
- Content. The high places were self-will in worship. Even the ones meant for Jehovah offended Him. They came from hearts not subject to His commands.
- Consequence. The near fulfilment fell on both kingdoms. But the picture reaches on to the day of the Lord. Its purpose for readers is to pull the heart free from all that judgment is coming on.