Micah 1:2 KJV
Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth,
and all that therein is:
and let the Lord God be witness against you,
the Lord from his holy temple.
In other words:
Listen, all of you people everywhere! Hear this, everyone who lives on the earth! The Lord God will speak against you. You have done what is wrong. That is why he will speak against you. He will speak from his holy temple.
All ye people
Micah begins his prophecies by portraying an impressive trial at which the Lord is trying His own people. The people have broken the rules, and now have been summoned by the Lord. It is a public case. All peoples of the earth may take notice of it.
This case speaks of the holiness of God’s covenant.
That God has set Israel apart in His elective love is cause for wonder and worship. What a privilege. He did not want to act like that with any other people.
Yes, if Israel is unfaithful, it must also pay before all nations. That the nations might know that Israel’s God is a holy God. A God Who does not keep the guilty innocent.
Do you understand the lesson we can find in this?
After all, God entered into a gracious covenant relationship with us too!
We too are privileged over many others.
If church and congregation – and that is you and I – are not to be shamed before all nations, then we must walk in humility with our God.
After all, judgment begins at the house of God …!
All that therein is
Hebrew, “whatever fills it.”
Micaiah, son of Imlah, begins his prophecy similarly, “Hear, O people, every one of you.” Micah designedly uses the same preface, implying that his ministrations are a continuation of his predecessor’s of the same name. Both probably had before their mind Moses’ similar attestation of heaven and earth in a like case (Deuteronomy 31:28, 32:1; compare Isaiah 1:2).
Micah begins his prophecy by describing an appearance of the Lord. The highest mountains melt and the deepest waters split when the God of Israel, who is second to none, appears. All peoples are called upon, to heed this.
Let the Lord GOD be witness against you
- Because of the malice and obstinacy of the people, whom he had so often exhorted to repentance, he summons them to Gods judgments, taking all creatures, and God himself as witness, that the preaching of the Prophets, which they have abused, will be avenged.
- So none of you can say, when the time of your punishment shall come, that you were not forewarned. The punishment denounced is stated in Micah 1: 3, & c.
Perhaps Micah’s hearers have thought: God comes to judge the Gentiles.
But the Lord turns to Jacob because of the sin of Samaria.
And what are those sins? Idols and whore wages, says verse 7.
Adultery with other gods. After all, they were married to the Lord by the covenant.
Whoever serves another god, commits adultery. The nations must see that God does not spare His people if they break His commandment.
The Lord does not measure with two measures.
That is food for thought.
Whoever belongs to God’s people has a nobility that obliges.
One day God will descend into His Son to judge us.
From his holy temple
From his holy temple points to heaven (1 Kings 8:30, Psalms 11:4, Jonah 2:7; compare Romans 1:18).
We act wisely when we keep this in mind, and ensure that our lamps are burning.
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