Yahweh’s voice calls to the city, and wisdom sees your name: “Listen to the rod, and he who appointed it.
Parallel Translations
-
Yahweh’s voice calls to the city, and wisdom sees your name: “Listen to the rod, and he who appointed it.
-
The LORD’s voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.
-
Hark! the LORD crieth unto the city — and it is wisdom to have regard for Thy name — hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.
Cross-references (38)
Passages linked to Micah 6:9 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Hosea 14:9 Who is wise, that he may understand these things? Who is prudent, that he may know them? For the ways of Yahweh are right, and the righteous walk in them; But the rebellious stumble in them.
- Revelation 3:19 As many as I love, I reprove and chasten. Be zealous therefore, and repent.
- Isaiah 30:27 Behold, Yahweh’s name comes from far away, burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke. His lips are full of indignation. His tongue is as a devouring fire.
- Zephaniah 3:2 She didn’t obey the voice. She didn’t receive correction. She didn’t trust in Yahweh. She didn’t draw near to her God.
- Exodus 34:5-7 Yahweh descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed Yahweh’s name. Yahweh passed by before him, and proclaimed, “Yahweh! Yahweh, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth, keeping loving kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and disobedience and sin; and who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the children’s children, on the third and on the fourth generation.”
- 2 Samuel 21:1 There was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David sought the face of Yahweh. Yahweh said, “It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.”
- 2 Kings 22:11-20 When the king had heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes. The king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor the son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying, “Go inquire of Yahweh for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found; for great is Yahweh’s wrath that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book, to do according to all that which is written concerning us.” So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the second quarter); and they talked with her. She said to them, “Yahweh the God of Israel says, ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, “Yahweh says, ‘Behold, I will bring evil on this place, and on its inhabitants, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read. Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched.’ ” But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of Yahweh, tell him, “Yahweh the God of Israel says, ‘Concerning the words which you have heard, because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before Yahweh, when you heard what I spoke against this place, and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and have torn your clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard you,’ says Yahweh. ‘Therefore behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not see all the evil which I will bring on this place.’ ” ’ ” So they brought this message back to the king.
- Job 5:6-8 For affliction doesn’t come out of the dust, neither does trouble spring out of the ground; but man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward. “But as for me, I would seek God. I would commit my cause to God,
- Job 5:17 “Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects. Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty.
- Job 10:2 I will tell God, ‘Do not condemn me. Show me why you contend with me.
- Psalms 9:16 Yahweh has made himself known. He has executed judgment. The wicked is snared by the work of his own hands.
- Psalms 48:10 As is your name, God, so is your praise to the ends of the earth. Your right hand is full of righteousness.
- Psalms 83:18 that they may know that you alone, whose name is Yahweh, are the Most High over all the earth.
- Psalms 107:43 Whoever is wise will pay attention to these things. They will consider the loving kindnesses of Yahweh.
- Proverbs 22:3 A prudent man sees danger and hides himself; but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.
- Isaiah 9:13 Yet the people have not turned to him who struck them, neither have they sought Yahweh of Armies.
- Isaiah 10:5-6 Alas Assyrian, the rod of my anger, the staff in whose hand is my indignation! I will send him against a profane nation, and against the people who anger me I will give him a command to take the plunder and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
- Isaiah 24:10-12 The confused city is broken down. Every house is shut up, that no man may come in. There is a crying in the streets because of the wine. All joy is darkened. The mirth of the land is gone. The city is left in desolation, and the gate is struck with destruction.
- Isaiah 26:11 Yahweh, your hand is lifted up, yet they don’t see; but they will see your zeal for the people, and be disappointed. Yes, fire will consume your adversaries.
- Isaiah 27:10 For the fortified city is solitary, a habitation deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness. The calf will feed there, and there he will lie down, and consume its branches.
- Isaiah 32:13-14 Thorns and briers will come up on my people’s land; yes, on all the houses of joy in the joyous city. For the palace will be forsaken. The populous city will be deserted. The hill and the watchtower will be for dens forever, a delight for wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks,
- Isaiah 40:6-8 The voice of one saying, “Cry!” One said, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, because Yahweh’s breath blows on it. Surely the people are like grass. The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God stands forever.”
- Isaiah 66:6 A voice of tumult from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of Yahweh that repays his enemies what they deserve.
- Jeremiah 14:18-22 If I go out into the field, then, behold, the slain with the sword! If I enter into the city, then, behold, those who are sick with famine! For both the prophet and the priest go about in the land, and have no knowledge.’ ” Have you utterly rejected Judah? Has your soul loathed Zion? Why have you struck us, and there is no healing for us? We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of healing, and behold, dismay! We acknowledge, Yahweh, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers; for we have sinned against you. Do not abhor us, for your name’s sake. Do not disgrace the throne of your glory. Remember, and don’t break your covenant with us. Are there any among the vanities of the nations that can cause rain? Or can the sky give showers? Aren’t you he, Yahweh our God? Therefore we will wait for you; for you have made all these things.
- Jeremiah 19:11-13 and shall tell them, ‘Yahweh of Armies says: “Even so I will break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter’s vessel, that can’t be made whole again. They will bury in Topheth, until there is no place to bury. This is what I will do to this place,” says Yahweh, “and to its inhabitants, even making this city as Topheth. The houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, which are defiled, will be as the place of Topheth, even all the houses on whose roofs they have burned incense to all the army of the sky and have poured out drink offerings to other gods.” ’ ”
- Jeremiah 26:6 then I will make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.” ’ ”
- Jeremiah 26:18 “Micah the Morashtite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, ‘Yahweh of Armies says: “ ‘Zion will be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem will become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.’
- Jeremiah 37:8-10 The Chaldeans will come again, and fight against this city. They will take it and burn it with fire.” ’ “Yahweh says, ‘Don’t deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely depart from us;” for they will not depart. For though you had struck the whole army of the Chaldeans who fight against you, and only wounded men remained among them, they would each rise up in his tent and burn this city with fire.’ ”
- Lamentations 3:39-42 Why does a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins? Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to Yahweh. Let’s lift up our heart with our hands to God in the heavens. “We have transgressed and have rebelled. You have not pardoned.
- Hosea 13:16 Samaria will bear her guilt; for she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword. Their infants will be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women will be ripped open.”
- Joel 2:11-18 Yahweh thunders his voice before his army; for his forces are very great; for he is strong who obeys his command; for the day of Yahweh is great and very awesome, and who can endure it? “Yet even now,” says Yahweh, “turn to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning.” Tear your heart, and not your garments, and turn to Yahweh, your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and relents from sending calamity. Who knows? He may turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, even a meal offering and a drink offering to Yahweh, your God. Blow the trumpet in Zion! Sanctify a fast. Call a solemn assembly. Gather the people. Sanctify the assembly. Assemble the elders. Gather the children, and those who nurse from breasts. Let the bridegroom go out of his room, and the bride out of her room. Let the priests, the ministers of Yahweh, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, “Spare your people, Yahweh, and don’t give your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’ ” Then Yahweh was jealous for his land, And had pity on his people.
- Amos 2:5 but I will send a fire on Judah, and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem.”
- Amos 3:8-15 The lion has roared. Who will not fear? The Lord Yahweh has spoken. Who can but prophesy? Proclaim in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria, and see what unrest is in her, and what oppression is among them.” “Indeed they don’t know to do right,” says Yahweh, “Who hoard plunder and loot in their palaces.” Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: “An adversary will overrun the land; and he will pull down your strongholds, and your fortresses will be plundered.” Yahweh says: “As the shepherd rescues out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be rescued who sit in Samaria on the corner of a couch, and on the silken cushions of a bed.” “Listen, and testify against the house of Jacob,” says the Lord Yahweh, the God of Armies. “For in the day that I visit the transgressions of Israel on him, I will also visit the altars of Bethel; and the horns of the altar will be cut off, and fall to the ground. I will strike the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory will perish, and the great houses will have an end,” says Yahweh.
- Amos 4:6-12 “I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in every town; yet you haven’t returned to me,” says Yahweh. “I also have withheld the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest; and I caused it to rain on one city, and caused it not to rain on another city. One place was rained on, and the piece where it didn’t rain withered. So two or three cities staggered to one city to drink water, and were not satisfied: yet you haven’t returned to me,” says Yahweh. “I struck you with blight and mildew many times in your gardens and your vineyards; and the swarming locusts have devoured your fig trees and your olive trees; yet you haven’t returned to me,” says Yahweh. “I sent plagues among you like I did Egypt. I have slain your young men with the sword, and have carried away your horses; and I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camp, yet you haven’t returned to me,” says Yahweh. “I have overthrown some of you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a burning stick plucked out of the fire; yet you haven’t returned to me,” says Yahweh. “Therefore thus I will do to you, Israel; because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, Israel.
- Amos 6:1 Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who are secure on the mountain of Samaria, the notable men of the chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel come!
- Jonah 3:4-10 Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried out, and said, “In forty days, Nineveh will be overthrown!” The people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from their greatest even to their least. The news reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. He made a proclamation and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, “Let neither man nor animal, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, nor drink water; but let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and animal, and let them cry mightily to God. Yes, let them turn everyone from his evil way, and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows whether God will not turn and relent, and turn away from his fierce anger, so that we might not perish?” God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way. God relented of the disaster which he said he would do to them, and he didn’t do it.
- Micah 3:12 Therefore Zion for your sake will be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem will become heaps of rubble, and the mountain of the temple like the high places of a forest.
- Haggai 1:5-7 Now therefore this is what Yahweh of Armies says: Consider your ways. You have sown much, and bring in little. You eat, but you don’t have enough. You drink, but you aren’t filled with drink. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm, and he who earns wages earns wages to put them into a bag with holes in it.” This is what Yahweh of Armies says: “Consider your ways.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (20 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain The Prophet complains here that he and other teachers…
The Prophet complains here that he and other teachers did but little, though their cry resounded and was heard by the whole people. He therefore says, that the voice of God cried; as though he had said that there was no excuse for ignorance, for God had indiscriminately exhorted them all to repentance. Now, since what was taught was common to them all, the Prophet deplores their perverseness, for very few were attentive; and the fable was sung, according to the proverb, to the deaf. We must then notice the word cry; the voice of God, he says, crieth. God did not whisper in the ear of one or two, but he designed his voice to be heard by all from the least to the greatest. The Prophets then did cry loud enough, but there were no ears to hear them.
We may take the word לעיר, laoir, in two ways. עיר, oir, means a city. But some derive it from עור, our, and render it as if it were written להעיר, laeoir. If ה, he is put in, it must be rendered, To rouse; and the letter ה, he, may be concealed under the point chamets; and this sense would be the most suitable, The voice of Jehovah cries to arouse or awaken; that is though the people are torpid, and as it were overpowered with sleep, for they indulged themselves in their sins; yet the voice of God ought to be sufficient to arouse them all: however sleepy they might have been, there was yet power enough in the doctrine of the Law, which the Prophet daily proclaimed. But still this voice, by which the whole people ought to have been awakened, was not heard!
Read full note →
The man of understanding, he says will see thy name The word תושיה, tushie, means properly understanding, as it is clear from many other passages; but the Prophet means that there was a very small number who were teachable; and he calls them men of understanding. At the same time, he indirectly reproves the sottishness of the people, though they all boasted that they were wise, and boasted also that they were the learners of the Law. The Prophet shows here by implication, that understanding was a rare thing among that people; for few hearkened to the voice of God. And thus we see what his object was; for he wished to touch the Jews to the quick, that they might acknowledge that they were without mind and understanding, because they had hardened themselves against God, so that his voice did not reach their hearts. He therefore shows that they were all besides themselves; for had they any right understanding, they would have hearkened to God speaking to them, as they were his disciples. What indeed could have been more strange, nay more inhuman, than for men to reject the doctrine of their salvation, and to turn aside from hearing even God himself? Thus the madness of the people was reproved; for though the voice of God sounded in the ears of them all, it was not yet listened to.
If one prefers reading, In the city, then no doubt the Prophet means, that the voice of God was proclaimed through all the cities: for to confine it, as some interpreters do, to Jerusalem, or to Samaria, appears frigid. We must then understand a change of number, and take city for any large concourse of people; as though he had said, that there was no city in which God did not cry and yet that there were ears no where.
It afterwards follows, Shall see thy name. Some render it, Shall fear, as though it was from ירא, ira; but it comes on the contrary from ראה, rae; and rules of grammar will not allow it to be viewed otherwise. And the Prophet speaks in a striking manner, when he says, that the intelligent man seeth the name of God. For whence proceeded the contempt of wicked men, so that they disregarded the voice of God, except from this — that his majesty had no effect on them; that is, they did not acknowledge that they had to do with God? For if they really understood what I have said, — that God spoke to them, his majesty would have immediately come to view, it would have arrested all their thoughts. God then would have constrained even the most heedless to fear him, had it not been, that they imagined the voice which sounded in their ears was that of man. Significantly then does the Prophet say, that it was the act of singular prudence to see the name of God, that is to understand from whom the doctrine proceeded. For as soon as we hearken to God, his majesty, as I have said, must so penetrate all our thoughts, as to humble us before him, and to constrain us to do him homage. The contempt then of spiritual doctrine, and also the perverseness of ungodly men, proceed from this, — that they see not the name of God, that they understand not that it is his name.
He afterwards adds, Hear ye the rod, and him who proclaims it to you By rod he means threatening; as though he said, — “Your arrogance in mocking God shall not go unpunished, as though his voice were an empty sound: there is then no reason for you to deceive yourselves with the hope of impunity; for God will avenge the contempt of his word.” Now the Prophet’s design was, to denounce an approaching vengeance on those who came not willingly to God, and received not his word with genuine docility of mind. Whenever, then, men despise the voice of God, as though it proceeded only from a mortal being, on such Micah denounces an impending vengeance; for the contempt of his word is a thing intolerable to God. This is the reason why he immediately adds, after having complained of the contempt of his word, that vengeance was not afar off; Hear ye then the rod, and who declares or testifies concerning it
This last clause ought to be especially noticed; for the ungodly are not terrified when God declares that he will be an avenger, because they think not that they must give an account of their life, or they look only on mortal man, “Ah! who speaks? Is he indeed our God? Is he armed with celestial power? Do we not see a mortal man and one like ourselves?” We daily see that the ungodly do thus cast away every fear, and willfully harden themselves against God’s judgments. It is not then without reason that the Prophet bids the Jews seriously to consider who testifies of the rod; as though he said, — “I indeed confess that I am a mortal man, but remember who has sent me; for I go not forth as a private individual, nor have I presumptuously intruded into this office; but I am armed with God’s command; nay, God himself speaks through my mouth. If then ye despise me, the Lord is present, who will vindicate his own commands for he will not suffer himself to be despised in his servants though they may be contemptible according to the flesh, he will yet have the reverence which it deserves to be paid to his word.” We now perceive the real meaning of the Prophet. It now follows —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Meaning, that when God speaketh to any city or…
Meaning, that when God speaketh to any city or nation, the godly will acknowledge his majesty and consider not the mortal man that bringeth the threatening, but God that sendeth it.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Mic 6:9 The LORD’S voice crieth unto the city,…
Mic 6:9 The LORD’S voice crieth unto the city, and [the man of] wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.
Ver. 9. The Lord’s voice crieth unto the city] Or, shall cry, viz. by his prophets. φιλει ο θεος προσημαινειν, said the heathen. God loves to forewarn, to warn before he woundeth, to foretell a judgment before he inflicteth it. He had shown his people what was good, and what he required of them; but to little purpose, through their unteachableness and stubbornness. He threateneth, therefore, here to take another course with them.
Read full note →
And the man of wisdom shall see thy name] Gualther rendereth it, And the man of essence, &c., that is, qui revers vir est, non caudex aut truncus, he that is a man indeed, or not a stock, or trunk (such a one as was that sapless fellow Nabal, in whom all true reason was decayed and faded), will easily see God’s name, that is, the Divine majesty of the word working powerfully upon his heart, as the sunbeams beat upon Jonah’s head, and disquieted him. Danaeus rendereth it, And wisdom seeth thy name, that is, wisdom’s children, as Luk 7:35, which will justify her, when others are either so froward that nothing can please them (neither John fasting, nor Christ eating, Mat 11:16, &c.), or so dull that nothing can affect them, as these here; the word of God was worse than spilt upon them. Sure it is, that wisdom’s children are not many. "Who is wise, and he shall understand these things," saith Hosea, Hos 14:9, the very question imports a paucity; see the note there. Though a gun be discharged at a whole flight of birds, there are but a few killed; though the net be spread over the whole pond, but a few fishes are taken. Rari sunt qui philosophantur, saith Ulpian. It is with our hearers as it was with Jonathan’s signal arrows, two fell short, and but one beyond the mark; so where one shoots home to the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus, many fall short. Three sorts of four of those that heard our Saviour were naught, Mat 13:4-8. And of those that heard Paul at Athens, some derided, others doubted, and but a very few believed; as Dionysius, and Damaris, and some others with them, Act 17:34.
Hear ye the rod] Since ye would not hear the word, and so redeem your own sorrows. All God’s rods are vocal, they are speaking as well as smiting; they are not mute, but mingled with instructions. They are his free school teachers (Dιδασκαλοι αμισθοι); curst and crabbed, but such as whereby he openeth men’s ears (till then uncircumcised, and stopped with the superfluity of naughtiness) to discipline, and commandeth them to return from iniquity, Job 36:10. By chastening men God teacheth them out of his law, Psa 94:12. Hence Luther calleth affliction Theologium Christianorum the Christian man’s divinity; and another saith, that Schola crucis est schola lucis, The school of the cross is the school of light. There shall be only fear to make you understand the hearing, Isa 28:19. As God is said to hold his peace when he punisheth not, Psa 50:21 Isa 41:14, so, to preach and teach when he doth. And look bow Gideon, by threshing the men of Succoth with thorns and briers of the wilderness, taught them, Jdg 8:7; Jdg 8:16, so here. "I have a message from God unto thee, O king," said Ehud, Jdg 3:20. Lo, his dagger was God’s message. Whence one well observeth, that not only the vocal admonitions, but the real judgments, of God are his errands and instructions to the earth, the inhabitants of the world. "For when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness," Isa 26:9. Smart makes wit, and vexation giveth understanding.
And who hath appointed it] God, who hath not only a permissive, but an active hand in all our afflictions. Others render the text, Quis sit, qui accersat istud, Who is it that hath procured it, or sent for it, who, but yourselves? according to Hos 13:9, see the note there. Nemo laeditur nisi a seipso. Men may thank themselves for all their sufferings; for God afflicteth not willingly, Lam 3:33. He cometh forth of his place to do it, Isa 26:21, and counteth it "his work, his strange work," Isa 28:21. He doth justice (when there is no other remedy), but he loveth mercy, and so requireth us to do in the verse next before going.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The Lord’s voice; either by his judgments, each of…
The Lord’s voice; either by his judgments, each of which is the Lord’s voice, he speaks by them; or rather by his prophets; and whether people hear it, or forbear, the Lord himself is concerned in it.
Crieth, as to deaf or to sleepy and secure men, who will not hear the milder and softlier calls; the prophet must cry to them in the loudest manner he can speak.
Read full note →
Unto the city; to every city in Israel and Judah, but principally to Jerusalem and Samaria, places of greatest concourse, and where the men of greatest sense may reasonably be supposed to dwell, who should hear and consider.
The man of wisdom: man is supplied to make the sense entire, but without that supply the sense might have run plain, and wisdom will hear, which must have been resolved some way like to our translation, and I know none that better fits than that our learned translators have supplied. I know not but that the abstract, used here for the concrete, may express a superlative degree, wisdom, i.e. the wisest, will hear, &c.
Shall see my name; rightly apprehend and duly reverence the holiness, justice and necessariness of the proceedings of the Lord with his power and majesty in the execution of his just displeasure on brutish, hardened sinners.
Hear; consider well and discern.
Ye; citizens both of Jerusalem and Samaria, and every other city in the twelve tribes.
The rod; the punishments that God is now sending, by which he will plead his cause. These are called the rod, either because they are from God, who once was, and still would be, a Father to them, or because it is a comprehensive word, which takes in the various punishments inflicted.
And who hath appointed it; hath commissioned it, handleth the rod, hath chosen it out, and strikes with it, whether it be Assyrian, or Babylonian, or both, at several times. This is the plain literal sense; others there are, which are omitted because they suit not the design of this work.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain God, having shown them how necessary it was that…
God, having shown them how necessary it was that they should do justly, here shows them how plain it was that they had done unjustly; and since they submitted not to his controversy, nor went the right way to have it taken up, here he proceeds in it. Observe,
I. How the action is entered against them, Mic 6:9. God speaks to the city, to Jerusalem, to Samaria. His voice cries to it by his servants the prophets who were to cry aloud and not spare. Note, The voice of the prophets is the Lord's voice, and that cries to the city, cries to the country. Doth not wisdom cry? Pro 8:1. When the sin of a city cries to God his voice cries against the city; and, when the judgments of God are coming upon a city, his voice first cries unto it. He warns before he wounds, because he is not willing that any should perish. Now observe, 1. How the voice of God is discerned by some: The man of wisdom will see thy name. When the voice of God cries to us we may by it see his name, may discern and perceive that by which he makes himself known. Yet many see it not, are not aware of it, because they do not regard it. God speaks once, yea, twice, and they perceive it not (Job 33:14); but those that are men of wisdom will see it, and perceive it, and make a good use of it. Note, It is a point of true wisdom to discover the name of God in the voice of God, and to learn what he is from what he says. Wisdom shall see thy name, for the knowledge of the holy is understanding. 2. What this voice of God says to all: "Hear you the rod, and who hath appointed it. Hear the rod when it is coming; hear it at a distance, before you see it and feel it; and be awakened to go forth to meet the Lord in the way of his judgments. Hear the rod when it has come, and is actually upon you, and you are sensible of the smart of it; hear what it says to you, what convictions, what counsels, what cautions, it speaks to you." Note, Every rod has a voice, and it is the voice of God that is to be heard in the rod of God, and it is well for those that understand the language of it, which if we would do we must have an eye to him that appointed it. Note, Every rod is appointed, of what kind it shall be, where it shall light, and how long it shall lie. God in every affliction performs the thing that is appointed for us (Job 23:14), and to him therefore we must have an eye, to him we must have an ear; we must hear what he says to us by the affliction. Hear it, and know it for thy good, Job 5:27. The work of ministers is to explain the providences of God and to quicken and direct men to learn the lessons that are taught by them.
Read full note →
II. What is the ground of the action, and what are the things that are laid to their charge.
1. They are charged with injustice, a sin against the second table. Are there yet to be found among them the marks and means of fraudulent dealing? What! after all the methods that God has taken to teach them to do justly, will they yet deal unjustly? It seems, they will, Mic 6:10. And shall I count them pure? Mic 6:11. No; this is a sin which will by no means consist with a profession of purity. Those that are dishonest in their dealings have not the spots of God's children, and shall never be reckoned pure, whatever shows of devotion they may make. Be not deceived, God is not mocked. When a man is suspected of theft, or fraud, the justice of peace will send a warrant to search his house. God here does, as it were, search the houses of those citizens, and there he finds, (1.) Treasures of wickedness, abundance of wealth, but it is ill-got, and not likely to prosper; for treasures of wickedness profit nothing. (2.) A scant measure, by which they sold to the poor, and so exacted upon them and cheated them. (3.) They had wicked balances and a bag of false weights, by which, under a pretence of weighing what they sold, and giving the buyer what was right, they did him the greatest wrong, Mic 6:11. (4.) Those that had wealth and power in their hands abused it to oppression and extortion; The rich men thereof are full of violence; for those that have much would have more, and are in a capacity of making it more by the power which their abundance of wealth gives them. They are full of violence, that is, they have their houses full of that which is got by violence. (5.) Those that had not the advantage of doing wrong by their wealth yet found means of defrauding those they dealt with: The inhabitants thereof have spoken lies; if they are not able to use force and violence, they use fraud and deceit; the inhabitants have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth; they do not stick at a deliberate lie, to make a good bargain. Some understand it of their speaking falsely concerning God, saying, The Lord seeth not; he hath forsaken the earth, Eze 8:12.
2. They are charged with idolatry (Mic 6:6): The statutes of Omri are kept, and all the work of the house of Ahab. Both these kings were wicked, and did evil in the sight of the Lord; but the wickedness which they established by a law, concerning which they made statutes, and which was the peculiar work of that house, was idolatry. Omri walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin of provoking God to anger with their vanities, Kg1 16:26, Kg1 16:31. Ahab introduced the worship of Baal. These reigns were some ages before the time when this prophet lived, and yet the wickedness which they established by their laws and examples remained to this day; those statutes were still kept, and that work was still done; and the princes and people still walked in their counsels, took the same measures, and governed themselves and the people by the same politics. Observe, (1.) The same wickedness continued from one generation to another. Sin is a root of bitterness, soon planted, but not so soon plucked up again. The iniquity of former ages is often transmitted to, and entailed upon, the succeeding ones. Those that make corrupt laws, and bring in corrupt usages, are doing that which perhaps may prove the ruin of the child unborn. (2.) It was not the less evil in itself, provoking to God, and dangerous to the sinners, for its having been established and confirmed by the laws of princes, the examples of great men, and a long prescription. Though the worship of idols is enacted by the statutes of Omri, recommended by the practice of the house of Ahab, and pleads that it has been the usage of many generations, yet it is still displeasing to God and destructive to Israel; for no laws nor customs are of force against the divine command.
III. What is the judgment given upon this. Being found guilty of these crimes, the sentence is that that which God had given them warning of (Mic 6:9) shall be brought upon them (Mic 6:13): Therefore also will I make thee sick, in smiting thee. As they had smitten the poor with the rod of their oppressions, so would God in like manner smite them, so as to make them sick, sick of the gains they had unjustly gotten, so that though they had swallowed down riches they should vomit them up again, Job 20:15. Their doom is,
1. That what they have they shall not have any comfortable enjoyment of; it shall do them no good. They grasped at more than enough, but, when they have it, it shall not be enough to make them easy and happy. What is got by fraud and oppression cannot be kept or enjoyed with any satisfaction. (1.) Their food shall not nourish them: Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied, either because the food shall not digest, for want of God's blessing going along with it, or because the appetite shall by disease be made insatiable and still craving, the just punishment of those that were greedy of gain and enlarged their desires as hell. Men may be surfeited with the good things of this world and yet not satisfied, Ecc 5:10; Isa 55:2. (2.) Their country shall not harbour and protect them: "Thy casting down shall be in the midst of thee, that is, thou shalt be broken and ruined by the intestine troubles, mischiefs at home enough to cast thee down, though thou shouldst not be invaded by a foreign force." God can cast a nation down by that which is in the midst of them, can consume them by a fire in their own bowels. (3.) They shall not be able to preserve what they have from a foreign force, nor to recover what they have lost: "Thou shalt take hold of what is about to be taken from thee, but thou shalt not hold it fast, shalt catch at it, but shalt not deliver it, shalt not retrieve it." It is meant of their wives and children, that were very dear to them, which they took hold of, as resolved not to part with them, but there is no remedy, they must go into captivity. Note, What we hold closest we commonly lose soonest, and that proves least safe which is most dear. (4.) What they save for a time shall be reserved for a future and sorer stroke: That which thou deliverest out of the hand of one enemy will I give up to the sword of another enemy; for God has many arrows in his quiver; if one miss the sinner, the next shall not. (5.) What they have laboured for they shall not enjoy (Mic 6:15): "Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; it shall be blasted and withered, and there shall be nothing to reap, or an enemy shall come and reap it for himself, or thou shalt be carried into captivity, and leave it to be reaped by thou knowest not whom. Thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with oil, having no heart to make use of ornaments and refreshments when all is going to ruin. Thou shalt tread out the sweet wine, but shalt not drink wine, for many things may fall between the cup and the lip." Note, It is very grievous to be disappointed of our expectations, and not to have the pleasure of that which we have taken pains for; and this will be the just punishment of those that frustrate God's expectations from them, and answer not the cost he has been at upon them. See this threatened in the law, Lev 26:16; Deu 28:30, Deu 28:38, etc.; and compare Isa 62:8, Isa 62:9.
2. That all they have shall at length be taken from them (Mic 6:13): Thou shalt be made desolate because of thy sins; and Mic 6:16, a desolation and a hissing. Sin makes a nation desolate; and when a people that have been famous and flourishing are made desolate it is the astonishment of some and the triumph of others; some lament it, and others hiss at it. Thus you shall bear the reproach of my people. Their being the people of God, in name and profession while they kept close to their duty and kept themselves in his love, was an honour to them, and all their neighbours thought it so; but now that they have corrupted and ruined themselves, now that their sins and God's judgments have made their land desolate, their having been once the people of God does but turn so much the more to their reproach; their enemies will say, These are the people of the Lord, Eze 36:20. Note, If professors of religion ruin themselves, their ruin will be the most reproachful of any; and they in a special manner will rise at the last day to everlasting shame and contempt.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain The Lord's voice crieth unto the city,.... The Lord…
The Lord's voice crieth unto the city,.... The Lord having bid his prophet call to the mountains and hills to hear his voice, and the prophet having obeyed his will, and the Lord having by him addressed his people Israel, and expostulated with them about their ingratitude, observing to them many instances of his goodness; here informs them, that this voice of his, whether in his prophet, or in his judgments, was directed to the city, either Samaria or Jerusalem, or both, and even to all the cities of Israel and Judah, the singular being put for the plural; that is, to the inhabitants of them. Cities being populous, and where persons of the highest rank and figure, as well as of the best sense, dwell, and generally very wicked, though favoured with greater advantages; all which are reasons why the voice of the Lord, in his word and providences, particularly cries to them to repent of their sins, and reform from them, as might be expected from such persons; and so doing would set a good example to those who live in the country. Some render it, "the Lord's voice crieth to awake" (f); or to "stir up"; it calls upon men asleep to awake out of sleep; to arouse from their carnal security; to attend to their sins, their danger, and their duty; to repent of their sins, and so avoid the danger they were in through them, and perform their duty they had such a voice as this, see in Eph 5:14; this reading of the words is mentioned by Kimchi;
and the man of wisdom shall see thy name; not the mere natural man, or who is possessed only of natural wisdom, though he may have ever so great a share of it; for as he sees not the things of the Spirit of God, the things of the Gospel, so neither the name and perfections of God in his judgments on the earth; much less the man that is wise to do evil, full of wicked subtlety, and makes a jest of everything religious and serious; nor such as are wise in their own opinion, or have only a superficial share of wisdom; but such who have a share of solid and substantial wisdom, a man of "substance", as the word (g) sometimes signifies; see Pro 8:21; such who have true wisdom in the hidden part, that which comes from above, and is pure and peaceable, and makes men wise to salvation; such men see and discern the power and providence of God in all the judgments that are in the earth; his attributes and perfections; his severity on some, and goodness to others; his sparing grace and mercy, and his special lovingkindness, and even all his perfections, for he is known to such by the judgments he executeth; see Psa 9:16; and such, "fear" his "name" also, as some render the words (h); they not only fear the Lord and his goodness, but have an awful sense of his judgments, and tremble at them. Some read the words, "thy name sees that which is" (i); so the margin of our Bibles; that is, the Lord seeth that which is done in the city, though ever so secret and private, and therefore his voice cries to it;
Read full note →
hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it; these are the words of the man of wisdom, as Kimchi observes; who, seeing the name and perfections of God in his judgments on the earth, upon others, and exhorts them to hear the voice rod, of the rod of correction and affliction, the rod of judgment and vengeance, as held in the hand of God, and shook over a city or nation; which has a voice in if to men, reproving them for their sins; commanding them to return from them; calling them to repentance and humiliation; teaching and instructing them in their duty; and giving cautions and warnings to others, lest the like should befall them; and this is the voice that is to be attended to: audit should be considered, that there is no affliction, calamity, or judgment, but is appointed by the Lord, the kind and nature, measure and duration, of it; what its end, issue, and use; and he that has appointed it is all wise and all knowing, unchangeable and invariable, all powerful, and able to put his purposes and decrees into execution; nor can they be frustrated. The Targum of the whole is,
"with the voice the prophets of the Lord Cry to the city; and teachers fear the name (of the Lord); hear, O king and rulers, and the rest of the people of the land.''
(f) "ad suscitandum", Vatablus; "ad expergefaciendum", Calvin; "ad excitandum", Drusius. So Joseph Kimchi. (g) "vir constans", Pagninus; "vir essentilae", Gualtherus apud Tarnovium. (h) "timebit nomen tuum", Pagninus, Montanus. So the Targum. (i) "Nam quod res est, videt nomen tuum", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Tarnovius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Crieth - Either by his judgments, each of which…
Crieth - Either by his judgments, each of which is the Lord's voice, or by his prophets. The city - To every city in Israel and Judah, but principally to Jerusalem and Samaria. The man of wisdom - Every wise man. See thy name - Will perceive God in that cry. The rod - Hear ye the voice of God in the punishments God is now sending. Appointed it - Who hath chosen it out, and strikes with it.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 9. The Lord's voice crieth unto the city]…
Verse 9. The Lord's voice crieth unto the city] No man is found to hear; but the man of wisdom will hear, תושיה tushiyah; a word frequent in the writings of Solomon and Job, signifying wisdom, wealth, substance, reason, essence, happiness; any thing that is complete; or that which is substantial, in opposition to vanity, emptiness, mere show, unsubstantiality. When God speaks, the man of common sense, who has any knowledge of God or his own soul, will see thy name; but instead of יראה yireh, will see, the Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, and Arabic, with twelve of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS., have read יראי yirey, they that FEAR. The Vulgate reads: -
Et salus erit timentibus nomen tuum.
Read full note →
"And thou shalt be salvation to them that fear thy name."
The Septuagint - Και σωσει φαβουμενους το ονομα αυτου.
And he shall save those who fear his name. - This the Arabic copies.
The Targum has, "And the teachers shall fear the name." That is, Yehovah.
The French Bible is very strange: -
Car ton nom volt comme il va de tout.
"For thy name sees how every thing goes."
The word תושיה tushiyah, mentioned above, which occasions all the difficulty, has been read with an ע ain by the Vulgate and Septuagint, as coming from the root ישע yasha, to be saved; and it is very likely that this was the original reading. The two last letters in the word, יה, might have been easily mistaken in the MS. for the letter ע where I may suppose the word stood thus, תושע, shall be saved; and as several MSS. read יראי yirey, they who fear, instead of יראה yireh, he shall see, the whole clause might have been just what it appears in the Vulgate and Septuagint. It is also necessary to remark that the word in dispute has various forms in some MSS., which is a strong presumption against its authenticity. See Kennicott and De Rossi.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Mic 6:9. The Lord’s voice crieth — Either by…
Mic 6:9. The Lord’s voice crieth — Either by his judgments, each of which is his voice, or by his prophets; unto the city — To every city in Israel and Judah, but principally to Jerusalem and Samaria. The man of wisdom — Every wise man; shall see thy name — Will perceive God in that cry. Hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it — Who hath chosen it out, and strikes with it; that is, Hear ye the voice of God in the punishments he is now sending. Or, Hear what severe judgments are threatened against you, and who it is that threatens them, and is able to put them in execution.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The voice of the Lord crieth unto the city…
The voice of the Lord crieth unto the city - that is, Jerusalem, as the metropolis of their wealth and their sin, the head and heart of their offending. “Crieth,” aloud, earnestly, intently, so that all might hear. So God says, “Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding pat forth her voice? She crieth at the gates, - unto you, O men, I cry, and my voice is to the sons of men” Pro 8:1, Pro 8:3-4; and Isaiah prophesied of John the Immerser, “the voice of one crying in the wilderness” Isa 40:3; Mat 3:3; and our Lord saith, “He that heareth you, heareth Me. And the man of wisdom shall see Thy Name” Luk 10:16. The voice of God is in the hearing of all, but the wise only seeth the Name of God. The word rendered “wisdom” means, “that which is,” “See ye the word of the Lord.”) They shall see His power and majesty and all which His Name expresses, as they are displayed severally in each work of His: He shall speak to them by all things wherein He is; and so seeing Him now in a glass darkly, they shall hereafter see all, His Glory, His Goodness, His Love, Himself, “face to face.”
Hear ye the rod - that is, the scourge of the wrath of God. The name and the image recall the like propecies of Isaiah, so that Micah in one word epitomises the prophecies of Isaiah, or Isaiah expands the word of Micah. “The rod in thine hand is My indignation” Isa 10:5; “As if the rod lifted up Him, who is not wood” Isa 10:15; “He lifteth up his rod against thee” Isa 10:24; “Thou hast broken the rod (which is) on his shoulder” (Isa 9:3, Hebrew); “The Lord hath broken the rod of the wicked” Isa 14:5; “wheron the grounded (that is, fixed by the decree of God) staff shall pass” Isa 30:32.
Read full note →
And who hath appointed it - that is, beforehand, fixing the time and place, when and where it should come. So Jeremiah says, “How canst thou (sword of the Lord) be quiet, and the Lord hath given it a charge to Ashkelon and to the seashore? there hath He appointed it” Jer 47:7. He who has “appointed it,” changeth not His decree, unless man changeth; nor is He lacking in power to fulfill it. He will surely bring it to pass. All which can be thought of, of fear, terror, motives to repentance, awe, hope, trust, is in that word “who.” It is God; hopes and fears may be infinite.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain unto the city--Jerusalem.
unto the city--Jerusalem.
the man of wisdom--As in Pro 13:6, Hebrew, "sin" is used for "a man of sin," and in Psa 109:4, "prayer" for "a man of prayer"; so here "wisdom" for "the man of wisdom."
Read full note →
shall see thy name--shall regard Thee, in Thy revelations of Thyself. Compare the end of Mic 2:7. God's "name" expresses the sum-total of His revealed attributes. Contrast with this Isa 26:10, "will not behold the majesty of the Lord." Another reading is adopted by the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, "there is deliverance for those who fear Thy name." English Version is better suited to the connection; and the rarity of the Hebrew expression, as compared with the frequency of that in the other reading, makes it less likely to be an interpolation.
hear . . . the rod, &c.--Hear what punishment (compare Mic 6:13, &c.; Isa 9:3; Isa 10:5, Isa 10:24) awaits you, and from whom. I am but a man, and so ye may disregard me; but remember my message is not mine, but God's. Hear the rod when it is come, and you feel its smart. Hear what counsels, what cautions it speaks.
appointed it-- (Jer 47:7).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 9–16. Jehovah’s indignant Denunciation
9–16. Jehovah’s indignant Denunciation
9. The Lord’s voice] Because before this it was the prophet who spoke.
Read full note →
unto the city] i.e. Jerusalem.
the man of wisdom shall see thy name] A very dubious translation. Others render, ‘wisdom is it to fear thy name,’ which is supported to some extent by the ancient versions (‘fear’ for ‘see’ has this important sanction); this requires no alteration of the text (i.e., the consonants), but merely of one of the vowel-points. Caspari’s version of the received reading, ‘Thy name hath wisdom for its object,’ is unnatural.
hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it] i.e. hear ye the prophecy of punishment, and hear him who hath ordained the judgment. It is the Assyrian invasion which is referred to; comp. Isa_10:5; Isa_10:24.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (9) Unto the city—i.e., Jerusalem, the metropolis of the…
(9) Unto the city—i.e., Jerusalem, the metropolis of the wealth and sinfulness of Judah.
The man of wisdom shall see thy name—i.e., will regard it. The sentence may be thrown in parenthetically, as in the warning, “Whoso readeth, let him understand.” And he will perceive the hand of God in the visitations for sin.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 9-12. Because Israel was very far from acting…
Vers. 9-12. Because Israel was very far from acting in this spirit, God sternly rebukes her for prevailing sins.
The Lord"s voice. (Isa_30:31Jo Isa_2:11 Amo_1:2) These are no longer the words of the prophet, but those of God himself, and not spoken in secret, but unto the city, that all may hear the sentence who dwell in Jerusalem. The man of wisdom shall see thy Name; i.e. he who is wise regards thy Name and obeys time, does not simply hear, but profits by what he hears. The reading is uncertain. Others render, "Blessed is he who sees thy Name;" but the construction is against this. Others, "Thy Name looketh to wisdom" (or prosperity), has the true wisdom of life in sight. The versions read "fear" for "see." Thus the LXX, Swsei foboumenouv to Onoma autou , "Shall save those that fear his Name;" Vulgate, Salus erit timentibus Nomen tuum; Syriac, "He imparts instruction to those that fear his Name;" Chaldee, "The teachers fear his Name." This reading depends upon a change of vowel pointing. Orelli renders, "Happy is he who fears thy Name." The Authorized translation, which seems on the whole to be well established, takes the abstract noun "wisdom" as equivalent to "the wise," or "the man of wisdom." For similar expressions, Henderson refers to Psa_109:4 Pro_13:6 Pro_19:15. The prophet parenthetically announces that, however the bulk of the people might receive the message, the truly wise would listen and profit by it. Hear ye the rod. Observe the rod of God"s anger, the threatened judgments. (so Isa_9:4 Isa_10:5, Isa_10:24) The power of Assyriais meant, The LXX renders differently, Akoue fulh , "Hear, O tribe;" so the Vulgate, Audite, tribus. And who hath appointed it. Mark who it is who hath ordained this chastisement. It is from the Lord"s hand. Septuagint, Tiv kosmhsei polin ; "Who will adorn the city?" with some reference, perhaps, to Jer_31:4, "Again shalt thou be adorned with thy tabrets;" Vulgate, Et quis approbabit illud? This implies that few indeed will profit by the warning.
Read full note →
Vers. 9, 13-15. Divine chastisement.
I A SOLEMN DECLARATION OF COMING CHASTISEMENT. (Vers. 13-15) The form this chastisement would assume is suggestive of the thought of utter disappointment. Their gain should be turned into loss; their expectations should be completely frustrated; all that they hoped to realize as the result of their deceptions and extortions should fail them, even as the brook fails the parched traveller when coming to it to slake his burning thirst, lo! he finds it dried up. They should be made desolate because of their sins (ver. 13). Surrounded for a time, and through their ill-gotten gains, with all material comforts, they should no more be satisfied by these than he can be upon whom disease has fastened its deadly grasp (ver. 13). Nor should these material comforts abide. Internal conflicts and foreign invasion should result in their impoverishment. The toil of the sowing had been theirs, but they should not experience "the joy of harvest;" they had trodden the olives and had pressed the grapes, but they should not rejoice in the oil that makes the face to shine, or the wine that makes glad the heart of man (vers. 14, 15). They had broken God"s Law, and the judgment threatened in that Law they must now inevitably experience. (Lev_26:16 Deu_28:30, Deu_28:38)
II THIS CHASTISEMENT APPOINTED BY GOD. (Ver. 9) "The Lord"s voice crieth unto the city," bidding men hear him who had "appointed" the judgment (ver. 9). I will make thee sick," etc. (ver. 13). Their sin was allowed to work out its evil consequences upon them, that they might be led to see how evil a thing it was. God turns events into teachers, and sorrows into discipline. He allows the reeds upon which men were leaning to break, and the earthly pleasures upon which their hearts were set to yield only the bitterness of gall and wormwood, that thus they may be led to look to him, the unfailing Spring. It is not by chance that trials meet the children of men in the pathway of life. It is the Divine arrangement that men should be thus met, if perchance they may be impelled to turn away from an unsatisfying world, and be led to seek in him their chief good. Sometimes we are so wayward that we will not pause in our wandering until God reveals the peril that is in our path. The prodigal had to feel shame and hunger before "he came to himself." So we need at times to be startled and chastened into obedience. Even God"s chastisements are love. "Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth," etc.; (Heb_12:6-8) "As many as I love I rebuke and chasten". (Rev_3:19)
III THE WISDOM OF RECOGNIZING GOD IN THESE ADVERSE EXPERIENCES OF LIFE. "And the men of wisdom," etc. (ver. 9). We show the possession by us of this wisdom when we
(1) accept our life sorrows as coming to us with this wise and loving intent;
(2) when we calmly and trustingly bow to the Divine will in the seasons of grief;
(3) When we cherish solicitude that the gracious ends designed may be fulfilled in us; and
(4) when, our bonds "loosed," and the sorrow overpast, the grateful acknowledgment, springing from our inmost souls, breaks forth from our lips, "It is good for me that I have been afflicted"; (Psa_119:71) "Before I was afflicted I went astray," etc. (Psa_119:67)
The voice of the rod.
God"s voice has often called to Jerusalem in mercy and in warning; now it cries in judgment it is the voice of the rod. Notice
I THE SINS THAT CALL FOR IT. In the context many of the chief national sins are once more enumerated, such as ill-gotten gains (ver. 10), false weights and measures (vers. 10, 11), oppression of the poor by the petty magnates of the city (ver. 12), habitual fraud and falsehood (ver. 12). Apply these illustrations to some of England"s national sins. But as though these were not enough, there were added thereto the sins of the darkest period of the northern kingdom, viz. from Omri to Jehu (see ver. 16 margin, "He doth much keep," i.e. does diligently keep such statutes as these rather than the statutes of Jehovah, which his people are exhorted diligently to keep. (Exo_15:26, etc.) These sins included the establishment of idolatry and all the immoralities associated with Baal worship, the persecution of God"s faithful servants, (1Ki_18:13 1Ki_19:10 1Ki_22:27) and oppression even by the highest ( e.g. Naboth). In the days of Ahaz the kingdom of Judah sank to such a level as this. All these evils were concentrated at Jerusalem, so that it is to this city the rod appeals.
II THE MESSAGES IT BRINGS. Some elements of distinct retributive justice are discernible.
1. Uneasiness, from consciousness of guilt, while pursuing and seeking to enjoy their nefarious courses (ver. 11 margin," Shall I be pure," etc.?). Conscience may be like an Elijah confronting Ahab in Naboth"s vineyard. Illust.: Shakespeare"s Richard III
2. As they defrauded the poor, so should they be bitterly disappointed when seeking the fruit of their own labour (ver. 14; Ecc_6:1, Ecc_6:2).
3. Their labour would be for the benefit of others, and all their efforts to secure it for themselves would be as much frustrated as were the toilsome labours of those whom they had defrauded (vers, 14, 15). For they can save nothing from the hand of God.
4. Thus their wounds would be incurable (ver. 13), and their ill-gotten gain a treasure of wrath. (Jam_5:1-4)
5. These luxurious and delicate ones should become a scandal and a reproach to all around them (ver. 16).
III THE SPIRIT THAT WILL SILENCE IT.
1. Recognizing God"s hand as holding it. He "hath appointed it." (Illustrate from Isa_10:5 Jer_47:6, Jer_47:7; so now Amo_3:6)
2. Listening to God"s voice speaking through it. Their great sin in the past has been the disregard of God"s voice. (Isa_48:18 Jer_13:15-17) The voices of entreaty and warning were not heard, so now the voice of chastisement speaks. Yet even in the time of such chastisement there might be hope. (Pro_1:24-27, Pro_1:33; and see Lev_26:40-45)
3. Honouring God"s Name. "The man of wisdom shall see thy Name." God"s Name declares his character, and it is his character as a holy God that requires the punishment of the unrighteous. (Exo_34:7) So long as men persist in sin, they must remain under the wrath of God. Sinning and punishment are inseparable. Till sinners "see God"s Name" by recognizing its meaning and learning that they can honour it by nothing but a renunciation of sin, the voice of the rod must be heard even through the ages of eternity. E.S.P.
God"s voice to cities.
"The Lord"s voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy Name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it." We raise three remarks from this verse.
I THAT GOD HAS A "VOICE" TO CITIES. "The Lord"s voice crieth unto the city." The city meant here is Jerusalem. He speaks to a city:
1. Through its commerce. The failures that follow fraud, indolence, chicanery.
2. Through its morality. The funeral processions that darken the streets, the cemeteries that lie within and around.
3. Through its churches. The sermons that are preached, the agents that are employed to enlighten the ignorant, to comfort the distressed, reclaim the lost. Heavenly Wisdom "standeth at the corner of the streets; she crieth aloud," etc.
II THE WISE IN CITIES RECOGNIZE THE VOICE. "The man of wisdom shall see thy Name." "And wisdom has thy Name in its eye" (Delitzsch). "And he who is wise will regard thy Name" (Henderson). The idea seems to be this that the wise man will recognize God"s voice. Job says, "God speaks once, yea twice, and they perceive it not." The crowds that populate cities are deaf to the Divine "voice." The din of passion, the hum of commerce, the chimes of animal pleasures, drown the voice of God. But the wise man has his soul ever in a listening attitude. Like young Samuel, he says, "Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth." Abraham heard the voice of God concerning Sodom, Daniel concerning Babylon, Jonah concerning Nineveh, Jeremiah concerning Jerusalem. "I will hear what the Lord God will say this is the language of wise men.
III THE JUDGMENT OF CITIES IS IN THAT VOICE. "Hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it." The rod is the symbol of judgment. "O Assyrian, the rod of my anger, the staff in their hand is my indignation. (Isa_10:5)
1. God warns cities.
(1) He warns them of ultimate temporal ruin. All cities must go go with Nineveh, Greece, Babylon, Rome, Jerusalem. London, Paris, Petersburg, New York, etc., all must go as these have gone. It is only a question of time.
(2) He warns them of spiritual danger. "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." This is his voice to every citizen. Here is the "rod the warning over all cities.
2. His warning should be attended to. "Hear ye the rod." The only way to escape is attention. Hear it, and flee for refuge; hear it, and thunder it abroad to alarm the careless; hear it before it is too late. "If thou hadst known the things that belong to thy peace in this day! but now are they hid from thine eyes". (Luk_19:42) "Heaven gives the needful, but neglected, call. What day, what hour, but knocks at human hearts, To wake the soul to sense of future scenes? Deaths stand, like Mercuries, in every way, And kindly point us to our journey"s end. (Young.) D.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain The lords voice crieth unto the city, and the…
Mic_6:9
The lords voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name, hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it
Read full note →
The voice of God in His judgments
I.
This text announces that there is a message sent from God, The voice of the Lord, as the written Word, is the ordinary, the appointed means of conveying His will to men. By that means God has in every age announced His purposes, and made known to us our duty. But there are occasions when God adopts another mode of communication, and speaks to us in a different manner. There are times when He speaks to us through His providence, and conveys a lesson by a language which ensures respect, if it does not compel obedience. He speaks to us as individuals by afflictions, by calamities, by losses, by bereavements, and this makes the careless sensible, by addressing them in a form which ensures attention. At other times He raises His voice and addresses cities or communities by judgments of a far more comprehensive kind--by war, famine, or pestilence. Thus God speaks to a disobedient and rebellious people. If His Word is despised, if His frown is neglected, He must adopt another mode of procedure, He must smite; a sort of necessity compels Him to make use of means which are foreign to His nature, and differ from His ordinary treatment. All that we know of God leads us to suppose that the mode of His address will be adapted to the state of His people. If they are like sheep, gentle, docile, and obedient, He will lead them forth like a shepherd. If they are rebellious and proud, if they show by their behaviour that they are not the sheep of His pasture, He must take up other instruments, and lead them in another way. In that case He must rebuke, He must chastise, He must subdue by affliction those whom He cannot draw by love, and must humble the pride which resists instruction. But though He speaks, we dare not say that all hear. There were those, of old time, who had eyes and could not see, and ears and could not hear. There are those, even now, who can read the written Word, and see nothing that applies to themselves; or can sit under the sound of the Gospel, and hear nothing that they understand.
II. The text names the persons by whom that message will be understood. The men of wisdom, the few, the very few, whose hearts the Lord has opened, see what others overlook. They see His name, the end and the object of His doings, and learn to glorify God by being made acquainted with His nature in contemplating His works. Others see the rod, but do not perceive the hand that wields it. They see the event, but do not mark the providence. They see the afflictions, but will not observe the judgments. But just these things the man of wisdom does see. Nothing excites his attention which does not carry him to God, and lead him to look to God as the author of all that happens, the Ruler, the intelligent, the merciful Ruler of the world. The man of wisdom sees, and marks, and notes, what the fool does not; and the affliction which confounds the one becomes the means of illumination and correction to the other, while God is seen and considered in what is done.
III. The text describes the object and purport of the message. Consider the inference which is drawn by the man of wisdom, and how he applies it. Hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it. Convinced that the affliction which they undergo is a rod which God uses for the rebuke and chastisement of His people, they urge attention to what is passing. Despise not the chastening of the Lord. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due season. This is the language of wisdom, as wall as of piety. Admit the existence of God, and belief in His providence follows. Admit His providence, and you must see that providence such as His can have no limits. It extends to everything: it includes everything, the greatest as well as the least. But if this necessarily follows from the mere belief in God, remember that it is the part of wisdom to draw the necessary deduction, and to explain the event which appears by referring to the cause which produces it, and what is known of the character and will of Him with whom the event originates. Illustrate by reference to the failure of the potato crop during two succeeding seasons. We need not refer such calamities to any of the public or private iniquities which we have reason to lament. God deals with principles rather than with particulars. He corrects us by vindicating His own nature from our misconceptions; and a judgment which extends to all must be intended to convey to all a lesson which they need. We go to the root of all sins when we name the sinful heart of unbelief as the object of Gods displeasure, and believe that God is reproving that evil heart by the judgments He sends. We do not mean that speculative unbelief which denies the existence of God, but that practical unbelief which forgets Him. But just in proportion as a man is endeavouring to forget God, it is necessary that he should be reminded of Him. Unless we are to be given up to our idols, and left to work out our own destruction, we must be taught the secret of our dependence on God, and be led to seek Him in the way He has appointed. (Henry Raikes, M. A.)
The Divine cry against iniquity
Micah tells us his vision concerned both Samaria and Jerusalem. Against these there is a cry both of sins and of punishments.
1. Of sins. These two cities had corrupted the two kingdoms of which they were the respective heads. Atheism and immorality are nowhere so predominant as in great cities. The transgressions of Samaria were Baal and the golden calves. The transgressions of Jerusalem were her high places, where idolatries were practised. The idolatrous worship of these cities did not mean only a multiplication of images, altars, etc.; it consisted much in the gratification of their carnal lusts and passions. Gods voice also cries against their violence and oppression; their bribery and, corruption; their witchcrafts and soothsayers; their frauds in commerce and dealing; the treachery of friends, and the want of mutual affection in the nearest relations
2. Of punishments. The first woe denounced is the ruin of Samaria. The second is captivity. The third is the failure of the true prophecy and ministry of Gods Word among them. They did not care to hear unpleasant truths. The fourth is a pining, wasting sickness which should seize upon them. The fifth is famine. The sixth is the scorn and contempt with which their enemies should treat them. In these charges and denunciations, it is said, that the man of wisdom will see Gods name, that is, will acknowledge His commission and authority in them as fully as if he had seen Him write them. Such a man will confess, when the judgments are inflicted, that they are not fortuitous, coming in the ordinary course of things, or owing to the mere will of man, or concurrence of second causes; but that they are a rod from heaven, which God hath appointed for the punishment of His sinful people. (W. Reading, M. A.)
Mans blindness to his own evil
Nothing is more essential to the character of the Supreme Being than perfect holiness. He loves righteousness and hates iniquity. As every mans own conscience is a witness to the moral rectitude of the great Lawgiver, and leads to the expectation of His impartial judgment; so the remarkable interposition of Divine providence in the affairs of the world, by inflicting severe punishments for the obstinate wickedness of men, hath been universally acknowledged. Great and desolating strokes have been always attributed to the immediate avenging hand of God. Other catastrophes of nations and cities have been accounted for by the wisest of men as intended for examples of punishing obstinate wickedness and dissolute luxury. But the same uniformity is by no means observable in the effects of those judgments, as in their cause. We are not absolutely unconcerned at the strokes of providence which we see in the world. Stupidity cannot carry us quite so far; but we seldom consider them with such attention as we ought. In the afflictions which happen to mankind, every side deserves to be considered; and all is worthy of attention in these messages of Divine vengeance. It is a sad observation, that those men who above all boast of their reason, are least of all employed in such reflections. More occupied with nature than with the God of nature, they hold it weakness to discover the finger of the Almighty in the afflictions of men; they ascribe everything to second causes. But what is called nature, is either nothing or it is an assemblage of beings created by God: either the effects of nature are nothing, or they are the consequences of the laws by which the Supreme Creator governs those beings; and consequently, whatever we call natural effects, or actions of second causes, are the works of God, and the effects of laws established by Him. This reasoning, apparently sound, is confirmed in the Scriptures, which clearly teach that the calamities of particular men are designed for the instruction of all. But, not infrequently, the Divine judgments are abused in another manner; when men of a proud and uncharitable spirit, instead of considering them as warnings to themselves, think and speak of them as direct punishments for the crimes of those who suffer them. No reasoning can be worse than to say, such a man is a grievous sinner, because he is unhappy here on earth; and another is a great saint, because he is surrounded with all manner of delights. To reason in this manner is to set bounds to the Most High, without considering the different views which an infinite Intelligence may have in those strokes which He inflicts on mortals Sometimes He designs them for trials; sometimes to show forth His power and glory; sometimes to show the faith and fortitude of the sufferer. If any conclusion could be fairly drawn from the sufferings of men on earth, it ought rather to be of Gods love than His anger. In place of saying that the man who suffers is more culpable than he who suffers not, we might often have occasion to say, that he who suffers nothing at all is far more criminal than the man who suffers most. In general, there are very few sinners to whom any man hath a right to prefer himself. (A. MDonald.)
Hear the rod
God conveys instruction to the children of men by His Word, and by His providences. These two methods of instruction mutually aid each other. When both His Word and His providence unite in addressing us, the criminality of inattention is carried to the very highest degree. Yet such inattention is common.
I. It behoves us to be attentive to the dispensations of providence which now may be taking place. In them God is, as it were, shaking His rod over us.
II. Point out some lessons of instruction.
1. God is teaching us the very great evil and malignity of sin in general.
2. God is now calling upon us to examine our selves, in order to ascertain whether we ourselves, as a nation, or as individuals, have in any measure contributed to bring on these calamities.
3. God is calling us to deep repentance; to examine into the state of our immortal souls, and to prove the genuineness and reality of our religion. It behoves us individually to examine our own hearts, and compare them with the mirror of Gods most Holy Word.
4. God is calling upon us to pray for the commencement of that great and glorious day, when the Gospel shall be universally spread over the face of the whole globe, and the kingdoms of this world shall have become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ. (John Vaughan, LL. D.)
Gods voice to cities
I. God has a voice to cities. The city meant here is Jerusalem. He speaks to a city through its--
1. Commerce.
2. Mortality.
3. Churches.
The sermons that are preached, the agents that are employed to enlighten the ignorant, to comfort the distressed, reclaim the lost.
II. The wise in cities recognise the voice. The man of wisdom shall see Thy name. And wisdom has Thy name in its eye (Delitzsch). And he who is wise will regard Thy name (Henderson). The idea seems to be this, that the wise man will recognise Gods voice. Job says, God speaks once, yea twice, and they perceive it not. The crowds that populate cities are deaf to the Divine voice. The din of passion, the hum of commerce: the chimes of animal pleasures drown the voice of God. But me wise man haS his soul ever in a listening attitude. Like young Samuel, he says, Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth. Abraham heard the voice of God concerning Sodom, Daniel concerning Babylon, Jonah concerning Nineveh, Jeremiah concerning Jerusalem.
III. The judgment of cities is in that voice. Hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it. The rod is the symbol of judgment. O Assyria, the rod of My anger, the staff in My hand is My indignation.
1. God warns cities.
(1) He warns them of ultimate temporal ruin. All cities must go--go with Nineveh, Greece, Babylon, Rome, Jerusalem.
(2) He warns them of spiritual danger. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. This is His voice to every citizen.
2. His warning should be attended to. Hear ye the rod. The only way to escape, is attention. (Homilist.)
The voice of the rod
Our prophet is proclaiming Gods controversy with Israel. He represents God as sitting in judgment on Israel. Appealing to them in proof of His former kindnesses to them. Specifying the crimes with which they were chargeable. Threatening to punish them with desolating judgments. Showing Israel how the impending destruction might he averted. He supposes a penitent Israelite manifesting concern for salvation by instituting the most important inquiries, and expressing his readiness to comply with whatsoever God might be pleased to demand. To obtain Gods favour, Micah says, we must come to Him, not according to the devices of superstition, but as God prescribes in His Word. To please God we must live in the uniform practice of justice, mercy, and humble piety.
I. The adversities of mankind are appointed by God.
1. The afflictions of mankind are various.
2. They are all subject to the appointment of God. They could not exist without Him. He adjusts all their circumstances.
3. They are appointed for important purposes, They should not therefore be disregarded nor despised.
II. Adversity is the instrument of Gods fatherly correction. Like a rod--
1. He employs it reluctantly:
2. Only for mans benefit:
3. Only when necessary.
III. God speaks by the rod to those whom he chastens. He speaks withal.
1. A reproving,
2. A warning,
3. An encouraging voice.
IV. The instruction conveyed by the rod claims our attention.
1. With pious attention.
2. Inquisitive attention.
3. Candid attention.
4. Practical attention. (Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.)
Hearing the rod
(a funeral discourse):--Our Heavenly Father employs many instruments for the moral instruction of His children, To thoughtful and docile minds He teaches many an important and useful lesson by means of His providence perpetually operating around us. It is not in times of trial and affliction alone that providence conveys lessons designed for our enlightenment and benefit. But the lessons we are very slow to learn and very ready to forget. When some sudden and saddening affliction befalls us, the mind is often aroused, the heart is softened, we are compelled to pause and reflect. A painful dispensation solemnly speaks to us.
I. Of the brevity and uncertainty of human life. This is a lesson often sounded in our ears, and often addressed to our hearts. Early death is especially affecting. By it the young are urged so to live that death, whenever it may come, shall have no terror and no sting.
II. Of the disappointment of the brightest human hopes. The vanity of human wishes, and the frequent blighting of human hopes, have been in every age the theme of the moralist, the poet, and the preacher. Ought we not all to ask ourselves whether our hopes are such as death cannot destroy?
III. Of the mystery of providence. When we remember that all things are under the government of God, the Only Wise, the Almighty, and the All-loving, we ought not to complain even if we cannot comprehend. God works on a scale, and for a period, so vast, that it would be both presumption and folly for short-sighted and short-lived creatures, such as we are, to expect to comprehend His plans.
IV. Of the worth of a Christian faith. It supports the dying, it comforts the bereaved. It enables the believer in the conflict with the last enemy to come off more than conqueror; it enables those who mourn departed friends to live in the certainty of a future and blessed reunion. (G. D. Macgregor.)
The voice of God to the careless city
(on a visitation of cholera):--
1. This infliction is the Lords voice, as a rebuke and warning from Him. After every deduction and allowance for secondary causes, whether natural or artificial, we are compelled to return to the great first cause, and to acknowledge that this public calamity is indeed the voice of God. This voice of the Lord crieth unto the city. It is that of a watchman, or herald, proclaiming, with loud and unmistakable voice, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Let the people turn every one from the evil of his way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will return and repent, and turn from His fierce anger, that we perish not?
2. At such times the man of wisdom shall see Thy name. The name of the Lord in a special manner denotes His attributes--His justice, power, wisdom, goodness, love.
3. At such times, hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it. Not bear ye, but hear ye. The rod of Divine justice and love has a voice, both for the sufferer and the beholder. Invite to personal prayer and self-examination.
(1) As to your feelings in regard to sin in general.
(2) There should be a renunciation of self.
(3) But external reformation is not enough, nor will it ever be lasting unless the heart be touched within, and attracted by the loadstone of Divine grace. (L. M. Humbert, M. A.)
The voice of God to the nation
I. Public calamities are the voice of God to the nation. The dispensations of God are particular or general. The particular affect individuals; the general affect a nation or a world. A nation is but a larger family, a more numerous and extensive household. The voice of the Lord crieth unto the city--against the city. Why? On account of our national sins. They are many and great. Have not profligate luxury on the one hand, and commercial covetousness on the other, marked the latter period of our history? Gross immorality, daring crime, heaven defying impiety and blasphemy raise their unveiled, unblushing fronts in the broad light of day. Lying, uncleanness, and fraud are to be reckoned among the crying sins of our country. The voice of the Lord crieth against us on account of the little improvement we have made of our religious advantages. How few are living under the vital influence of those doctrines and principles, which distinguish the Gospel of the grace of God from all other systems! The voice charges us, not only with a shameful neglect of the Gospel, as a matter of personal concern, but also with indifference respecting its diffusion through the earth.
II. It is wisdom to see and acknowledge God in public calamities. His great, and venerable, and inviting name of wisdom, power, and love is inscribed upon all His works, and there it is seen and read by the man of wisdom. But especially it is visible upon the gloomy clouds of affliction. Multitudes live, and act, and form their judgments as if there were no Divine government--as if chance were universal monarch, They look only to secondary causes. The text implies that it is the part of folly not to perceive and acknowledge the hand of the Lord in public calamities. Such insensibility is an evidence of positive wickedness, approaching to atheism.
III. It is our duty and interest to improve public calamities. Why does a father chastise his children? That they may be improved by his correction. He uses the rod, not to gratify his own temper, but to profit them. It becomes our duty to seek personal improvement from the dispensations of our Heavenly Father. It is not only our duty, it is our interest to improve public calamities. The first lesson to learn is to examine and abase ourselves before God.
1. To be cheerfully resigned to the Divine will.
2. To bear upon our minds the claims which our rulers have on our prayers.
3. To nourish solemn and practical reflections upon death.
4. To derive improvement from this public calamity--the death of the Princess Charlotte of Wales--by seeking deeper impressions of the truth, that all is vanity except the Gospel (John East, A. B.)
Gods threatening rod
It is a question hard to determine, whether the greatness of God, or the condescendency of God, be the greater mystery. The day may be approaching when ye shall meet with these six silent things from God.
1. Silent rods, when ye shall not know nor understand the language of them.
2. A silent God. When ye shall cry to Him, and He shall not hear you.
3. Silent and dumb ordinances, which shall not speak to you.
4. Silent mercies, so that all the good things He doth unto you, ye shall not know their language.
5. The sad lot of a silent conscience.
6. Silent commands, threatenings, and promises; that is, ye shall never know what the commands call for, or the threatenings or the promises. The prophet accuses the people of neglect of duties which were lying at their door. In this verse we have the scope of it, which is this,--showing file people that the Lord would send a more sharp message, if they will not obey. Three things from the scope, before we come to the first thing in the words--
1. The slighting of known duties is the forerunner of some sad and lamentable stroke from the Lord. Note some aggravations of the sin of slighting known duties.
(1) When a person slights duty, after the sinfulness of that sin hath been discovered to him.
(2) When a person slights known duties, after God hath been discovering discontent with another person for that sin.
(3) After God hath begun to contend with them for so doing.
(4) Upon very small temptations.
(5) When persons do not as much as set about the well-doing of them.
(6) After God hath commended the beauty and excellency of such duties.
(7) Afar they have been convinced of the advantage which waits upon the doing of them.
(8) With very little resentment and grief of heart.
2. Some considerations to press you to the exercise of these duties.
(1) It is the Christian who practiseth, not who knoweth, to whom the promises are made.
(2) The Christian that is taken up in practising, and not the knowing Christian, is blessed. The blessed Christian is he who knoweth his duty, and doeth it.
(3) The practising, not the knowing, Christian is approven and commended of God.
(4) Not the knowledge, but the practice of Christian duties will give peace to the conscience.
(5) It is by the practice, not the knowledge of your duty, that you rise up in conformity with God.
3. Six things concerning known duties.
(1) Many persons are more desirous to know what they should do, than to do what they know.
(2) The question which shall be proposed to you in the great and notable day of the Lord, will be, O man, what didst thou?
(3) A grain weight of sincerity and practice is worth a talent of knowledge.
(4) The slighting of known duties hath many sad disadvantages waiting upon it. It makes Christians weary of duties. It brings on much hardness and stupidity of heart. It either mars the peace of conscience, or it hardens the conscience, or it lulls the conscience asleep. And the Christian who slights duty is likely to become exceeding formal in the duty he does.
(5) The slighting of known duty is the first step of the sin against the Holy Ghost.
I. God hath many ways in pressing people to their duties. Voice.
1. The voice of threatenings.
2. Of sad afflicting dispensations.
3. Of the promises.
4. Of all the mercies that we meet with.
5. Of our consciences.
6. Of public ordinances.
There are seven steps of judgment, which are likely to overtake us, if we hearken not to His voice,
1. God shall slight the voice of the disobeyers when they cry to Him.
2. At last God will speak no more to them.
3. God will draw His sword out of the sheath, and not replace it.
4. He will deliver us into the hand of the slayer.
5. He will cease to have correspondence with us any more.
6. He will purge us no more.
7. We shall be let alone, left alone in our sin.
II. God hath many rods to use in punishing those who slight their duties.
1. The rod of His mouth.
2. The rod of His hand; or afflictions and crosses,
3. The iron rod of destruction, when God doth utterly destroy.
Some will not take and make use of these threatenings, because they mistake what is their meaning; or they are in ignorance of their own condition. (A. Gray.)
Wisdom of hearing the voice of affliction
I. God appoints every affliction that men experience. He always acts agreeably to the counsel of His own will, in every evil He inflicts, and in every good He bestows. All the afflictions and sorrows and sufferings of Christ were brought upon Him according to the eternal appointment of God.
II. Every affliction has an instructive voice. This is intimated by the figurative expression in the text. God would not call upon men to hear the voice of His rod, if His rod had no voice. Men often speak as plainly by what they do as by what they say. And God often speaks as plainly by His rod as by His Word. God means to teach, and does teach by His providence. Afflictions tend to teach the afflicted their entire dependence upon God. This they are naturally insensible of, and need to be taught by the voice of the rod. Men must learn their dependence on God, before they can be happy, either in this life or in that which is to come. The voice of affliction tends to teach mankind the vanity of all earthly enjoyments. The great inquiry is, who will show us any temporal good? And if God grants outward prosperity, and pours the blessings of His providence upon men, they are ready to think that their mountain stands strong, that their happiness is secure, and that they shall never see corruption. Their hearts become wedded to the world. When God chastens them with the rod of correction, and takes away one earthly blessing after another, by His bereaving hand, they are ready to adopt the language of Job, Naked came I, etc. The voice of affliction naturally tends to turn the thoughts of the afflicted upon the most serious and solemn subjects. When the world appears vain, other things appear weighty and important. When temporal things lose their lustre, eternal things will assume their importance, and fix the whole soul in solemn reflections and anticipations. The day of adversity is the day to consider. This is one of the natural and salutary effects of Divine corrections. How often do afflictions prepare the way for awakenings, convictions, and conversions! Eliphaz very reasonably says, Happy is the man whom God correcteth.
III. It is always a point of wisdom to hear the instructive voice of affliction. This will appear, if we consider--
1. That the voice of affliction is the voice of God. The men of wisdom who see and know the name of God; that is, those who know and love the character, perfections, and govern merit of God; will hear, understand, and obey the voice of the rod of His wrath, which is His most solemn, imperious, and impressive voice.
2. To refuse to hear the voice of affliction will be highly displeasing to God.
3. By refusing to hear it, men will expose themselves to still severer marks of the Divine displeasure. Afflictions, bereavements, and fiery trials often follow one another in quick succession. One affliction seems to be the presage of another.
4. The afflicted never know when God calls to them by the voice of His rod, but that it is the last call He will ever give them, before He calls them into eternity.
Improve the subject--
1. If God appoints every affliction for the purpose of instructing the afflicted, then He can instruct those who are the most unwilling to be instructed.
2. If the voice of affliction be instructive, then all persons must be beneficially instructed, unless they use great efforts to prevent it.
3. If God Himself instructs the afflicted by the voice of His rod, then they never can have any excuse for not hearing His instructions.
4. If it be a point of wisdom in the afflicted to hear the instructive voice of the rod, then it argues want of wisdom in them to refuse to hear it.
5. If afflictions are instructive, then the afflicted are always in a peculiarly trying and dangerous situation. They must receive, or refuse to receive instruction.
6. This subject calls upon all to hear the voice of providence, which crieth to the nations who are now groaning under the rod of affliction and calamity. (N. Emmons, D. D.)
Gods threatening rod
There are three things which a Christian may meet with which are unspeakable.
1. An unspeakable sorrow, so that he cannot make language of it.
2. Unspeakable mercy.
3. Unspeakable joy.
There is not a grain weight of affliction in the cup which infinite wisdom doth not think fit should be there. There are some Christians that are forced to bless God more for their crosses than for their mercies. The cross of a Christian has two faces--an outward and an inward face. From this exhortation to Israel notice--
I. Every rod which a Christian meets with hath a voice in it.
1. It is a singular and remarkable step of the goodwill of God, when He doth manifest the meaning of a rod to a person or people.
2. The Christians of old have taken much pains to know the voice of the rods that they meet with.
3. It is exceeding anxious for a Christian to be under a silent rod; to be under such a dispensation that he knows not the language of it.
4. It is exceeding hard for a Christian to profit by a rod till once he take up the meaning of it.
5. A Christian may be long under a rod before he know the voice and language of it.
6. When a Christian wins apprehension of the meaning of his rod he should at once go about to answer it. How may a Christian gain the meaning of his rod? By making serious application to the throne of grace, that God would give light concerning it. If the rod was timed to thee, when the heart was under much distance from God, that probably is the meaning of the rod--to draw thee nigh again. We may also know the rod by reflecting on the manner and circumstances of the rod, and by observing the mind of the Lord in Scriptures; and by studying the circumstances associated with the rod; and by considering what are the Divine designs in sending rods. It is easier to bear a rod patiently which is for the trial and exercise of our predominant grace, than to bear a rod patiently that is for the mortification of our predominant idols. There is ordinarily some analogy between our crosses and our sins.
II. Some mistakes which Christians have concerning the meaning of the rod.
1. Many think the cross speaks wrath when it speaks love. Some think that love and the rod cannot be together at all.
2. Some think that God can never answer their prayers while He is afflicting them.
3. Some begin to dispute their interest when they meet with a rod or sad dispensation.
4. It is a great mistake of the voice and language of Gods threatening rod for a person to think religion but vanity and an empty thing under the cross.
5. Another mistake is, to dispute the fellowship a Christian hath with God.
III. How a Christian may be helped to obey the voice of the rod.
1. If the rod call for the mortifying of a particular lust and idol, it is incumbent to sit down, and bring up your hearts to a spiritual detestation of such an idol.
2. If the voice of the rod be to stir up a grace, then study to know that there is as much spiritual advantage in the real and spiritual exercise of such a grace as ye can lose by all the rods ye can meet with.
3. If the voice of the rod be that thou shouldst set about the exercise of a duty, then endeavour seriously that all impediments and lets to that duty be laid aside.
IV. What ought to be a Christians duty while he is walking under a silent rod. He should know God to be just, though he knoweth not for what He contends with him. He should be serious in making distinct supplications to God to know the meaning of such a rod. He should be serious to know the reason of Gods keeping up His mind from him in such a rod. He should study to bring his heart into a tender and spiritual frame. Study to have thy heart most united to Christ when under a silent cross, for at that time thou art most ready to fall. Take notice of the following observations concerning the cross. If affliction be spun out to any length, the Christian may turn impatient. There are five sorts of blasphemy which one that is under a cross may fall into. It shows the want of a son-like frame if the cross hinders us in the exercise of our duties. Look upon your crosses as divine gifts. There are some peaceable fruits of righteousness that redound to a Christian who is rightly exercised under the cross. The most rare enjoyments of the Christian are trysted to the time of his being under a cross. (A. Gray.)
The voice of the rod
In the presence of calamities let us say, Speak, Lord, for Thy servants hear. This, in substance, is--
I. To feel the strokes of Gods hand. If we feel the strokes of Gods hand we shall shake off a certain state of indolence in which many of us are found, and be clothed with the sentiments of humiliation, and of terror and awe. We shall be softened with sentiments of sorrow and repentance if we examine their origin and cause. And if we discover the remedies and resources we shall be animated with the sentiments of genuine conversion.
II. To trace the causes and the origin of our calamities. Micah wished the Jews to comprehend that the miseries under which they groaned were a consequence of their crimes. We would wish you to form the same judgment of yours. The subject has its difficulties. Under a pretence of entering into the spirit of humiliation, there is danger of our falling into the puerilities of superstition. Temporal prosperity and adversity are very equivocal marks of the favour or displeasure of God. By some, the slightest adversity is regarded as a stroke of Gods angry arm. It is better to form the criterion of our guilt or innocence, not by the exterior prosperity or adversity sent of God, but by our obedience or disobedience to His Word. But adversity is sometimes occasioned by crimes. This is apparent--
1. When there is a natural connection between the crimes we have committed and the calamities we suffer, God has placed harmony between happiness and virtue. Trace this harmony in the circles of society and in private life. An enlightened mind can find no solid happiness but in the exercises of virtue. The happiness procured by the passions is founded on mistake.
2. When great calamities follow upon great crimes.
III. To examine their consequences and connections. Some calamities are less formidable in themselves than in the awful consequences they produce. There are calamities whose distinguished characteristic is to be the forerunners of calamities still more terrible.
1. One calamity is the forerunner of a greater when the people whom God afflicts have recourse to second causes instead of the first cause, and when they seek the redress of their calamities in political resources and not in religion. This is the portrait Isaiah gives of Sennacheribs first expedition against Judaea.
2. When, instead of humiliation on reception of the warnings God sends by His servants, we turn those warnings into contempt. Inquire how far you are affected by this doctrine. Do you discover a teachable disposition, or do you revolt against the Word of Gods ministers?
3. When the anguish it excites proceeds more from the loss of our perishable riches than from sentiments of the insults offered to God.
4. When the plague fails in producing the reformation of those manners it was sent to chastise.
IV. To discover their resources and remedies. We found our hopes on the abundant mercies with which God has loaded us during the time of visitation. With the one hand He abases, with the other He exalts. We found our hopes on the resources He has still left our state to recover, and to reestablish itself in all the extent of its glory and prosperity. Frustrate not these hopes by a superficial devotion, by forgetfulness of promises and violation of vows. (James Saurin.)
Gods judgments
Do not be atheistical in the time of affliction. The rod means judgment. Sometimes judgment takes the form of chastening. We are not always to suppose that the rod means mere punishment,--an action of the strong upon the weak, or the righteous upon the wicked; the rod may be an instrument of education as well as of vengeance and of penalty. Do not suppose that the devil holds the rod. The devil is the weakest of all creatures; his is only the strength of boisterousness; there is nothing in it of abiding pith, stability, and power. Afflictions do not spring out of the dust. When the rod is lacerating your back, ask, What wilt Thou have me to do? When all things are dull and distressing and disappointing, say, This is the ministry of God; He is taking out of me some elements of vanity, which are always elements of weakness, and He is conducting me to the altar by a subterranean passage. We do not always go to the altar along a pathway of flowers; not always does God beckon us through a garden to follow Him to some chosen place of communion. Sometimes we are driven to the altar; often we do not want to pray; the soul will take no rest, and give none until a great, sweet, holy, burdened prayer has gone up to heaven by way of the cross. Is the rod lying heavy on your house now? Know ye the rod, and Him who hath appointed it; examine yourselves carefully and searchingly, and see if there be any wicked way in you, and drag it out: it will rot in the sunlight. (Joseph Parker, D. D.)
Grace and love
Herein are three things. The people the Lords voice crieth unto, and that is, unto the city. You have the exhortation to hear the voice of the rod. You have an argument to press you to do so. There is a rod of power and dignity, of discrimination, of direction, of government, of destruction. It is a rod of correction that we are to understand here. And we remark that when God visits the transgressions of His people with a rod, it is their best wisdom to hear the rod, and who hath appointed it.
1. God doth not steal upon a people with His judgments, but He first warns them before He smites them. He sometimes warns by His Word, and sometimes by His works and dispensations. By His judgments upon others, and by His afflictions upon themselves, He brings a lesser judgment to prevent a greater.
2. When God smites His own people He deals with them in the way of the rod.
(1) Because they are His own children.
(2) As they are children, He loves them, and He that spareth the rod hateth the child.
(3) God doth sometimes correct His people because of their folly.
It may be said, Doth not God use the rod with the wicked too? There is a whipping rod, and a breaking rod; a whipping rod for the saints, and a breaking rod for the wicked. Gods rod for His people only chastises in measure. And His visitations are always seasonable.
3. Gods rod is a teaching rod. What lessons does it teach; and how does it teach them?
4. This message is sent especially to the great cities and towns of a nation or people.
5. When God visits with a rod, it is true wisdom to hear it and the Sender. You must honour God in His dispensations. That is the way in which to get the best blessing out of the strokes, and to prevent further strokes. (W. Bridge, M. A.)
Fast day service
The world is a place of punishment for sin, but it is not the place. Because God does not usually visit each particular offence in this life upon the transgressor, men are apt to deny altogether the doctrine of judgments. The Indian Mutiny was a rod of God for our nation, but it was an appointed rod. Hear this rod.
1. It would have been as well if we had heard this rod before it fell upon us. The wise man may hear Gods rod before it smiteth. He that understandeth Gods moral government knows that sin carries punishment in its bowels.
2. But the rod has fallen. What are the most glaring sins for which God is now visiting us?
(1) There are sins in the community that never ought to have been allowed. Such as public immorality.
(2) There are class sins.
(3) There are sins of trade.
(4) Sins in the relations between masters and workmen.
(5) Sins of illiberality, deceit, bigotry, lasciviousness, carnality, pride, covetousness, and laziness.
3. Hear ye the rod when it shall again be still. (Anon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain Mic_6:9-16; Mic_7:1-6
THE SIN OF THE SCANT MEASURE
Mic_6:9-16; Mic_7:1-6
Read full note →
THE state of the text of Mic_6:9-16; Mic_7:1-6 is as confused as the condition of society which it describes: it is difficult to get reason, and impossible to get rhyme, out of the separate clauses. We had best give it as it stands, and afterwards state the substance of its doctrine, which, in spite of the obscurity of details, is, as so often happens in similar cases, perfectly clear and forcible. The passage consists of two portions, which may not originally have belonged to each other, but which seem to reflect the same disorder of civic life, with the judgment that impends upon it. In the first of them, Mic_7:9-16, the prophet calls for attention to the voice of God, which describes the fraudulent life of Jerusalem, and the evils He is bringing on her. In the second, Mic_7:1-6, Jerusalem bemoans her corrupt society; but perhaps we hear her voice only in Mic_7:1, and thereafter the prophets.
The prophet speaks:-
"Hark! Jehovah crieth to the city! (Tis salvation to fear Thy name!) Hear ye, O tribe and council of the city!"
God speaks:-
"… in the house of the wicked treasures of wickedness, And the scant measure accursed? Can she be pure with the evil balances, And with the bag of false weights, Whose rich men are full of violence, And her citizens speak falsehood, And their tongue is deceit in their mouth? But I on my part have begun to plague thee, To lay thee in ruin because of thy sins. Thou eatest and art not filled,"
"But thy famine is in the very midst of thee! And but try to remove, thou canst not bring off And what thou bringest off, I give to the sword. Thou sowest, but never reapest; Treadest olives, but never anointest with oil, And must, but not to drink wine! So thou keepest the statutes of Omri, And the habits of the house of Ahab, And walkest in their principles, Only that I may give thee to ruin, And her inhabitants for sport-Yea, the reproach of the Gentiles shall ye bear!"
Jerusalem speaks:-
"Woe, woe is me, for I am become like sweepings of harvest, Like gleanings of the vintage-Not a cluster to eat, not a fig that my soul lusteth after. Perished are the leal from the land, Of the upright among men there is none: All of them are lurking for blood; Every man takes his brother in a net. Their hands are on evil to do it thoroughly. The prince makes requisition, The judge judgeth for payment, And the great man he speaketh his lust; So together they weave it out. The best of them is but a thorn thicket, {cf. Pro_15:19} The most upright worse than a prickly hedge. The day that thy sentinels saw, thy visitation, draweth on; Now is their havoc {cf. Isa_22:5} come! Trust not any friend! Rely on no confidant! From her that lies in thy bosom guard the gates of thy mouth. For son insulteth father, daughter is risen against her mother, daughter-in- law against her mother-in-law; And the enemies of a man are the men of his house."
Micah, though the prophet of the country and stern critic of its life, characterized Jerusalem herself as the center of the nations sins. He did not refer to idolatry alone, but also to the irreligion of the politicians, and the Cruel injustice of the rich in the capital. The poison which weakened the nations blood had found its entrance to their veins at the very heart. There had the evil gathered which was shaking the state to a rapid dissolution.
This section of the Book of Micah, whether it be by that prophet or not, describes no features of Jerusalems life which were not present in the eighth century; and it may be considered as the more detailed picture of the evils he summarily denounced. It is one of the most poignant criticisms of a commercial community which have ever appeared in literature. In equal relief we see the meanest instruments and the most prominent agents of covetousness and cruelty the scant measure, the false weights, the unscrupulous prince, and the venal judge. And although there are some sins denounced which are impossible in our civilization, yet falsehood, squalid fraud, pitilessness of the everlasting struggle for life are exposed exactly as we see them about us today. Through the prophets ancient and often obscure eloquence we feel just those shocks and sharp edges which still break everywhere through our Christian civilization. Let us remember, too, that the community addressed by the prophet was, like our own, professedly religious.
The most widespread sin with which the prophet charges Jerusalem in these days of her commercial activity is falsehood: "Her inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deceit in their mouth." In Mr. Leckys "History of European Morals" we find the opinion that "the one respect in which the growth of industrial life has exercised a favorable influence on morals has been in the promotion of truth." The tribute is just, but there is another side to it. The exigencies of commerce and industry are fatal to most of the conventional pretences, insincerities, and flatteries which tend to grow up in all kinds of society. In commercial life, more perhaps than in any other, a man is taken, and has to be taken, in his inherent worth. Business, the life which is called par excellence Busyness, wears off every mask, all false veneer and unction, and leaves no time for the cant and parade which are so prone to increase in all other professions. Moreover the soul of commerce is credit. Men have to show that they can be trusted before other men will traffic with them, at least upon that large and lavish scale on which alone the great undertakings of commerce can be conducted. When we look back upon the history of trade and industry, and see how they have created an atmosphere in which men must ultimately seem what they really are; how they have of their needs replaced the jealousies, subterfuges, intrigues which were once deemed indispensable to the relations of men of different peoples, by large international credit and trust; how they break through the false conventions that divide class from class, we must do homage to them, as among the greatest instruments of the truth which maketh free.
But to all this there is another side. If commerce has exploded so much conventional insincerity, it has developed a species of the genus which is quite its own. In our days nothing can lie like an advertisement. The saying, "the tricks of the trade" has become proverbial. Everyone knows that the awful strain and harassing of commercial life are largely due to the very amount of falseness that exists. The haste to be rich, the pitiless rivalry and competition, have developed a carelessness of the rights of others to the truth from ourselves, with a capacity for subterfuge and intrigue, which reminds one of no, thing so much as that state of barbarian war out of which it was the ancient glory of commerce to have assisted mankind to rise. Are the prophets words about Jerusalem too strong for large portions of our own commercial communities? Men who know these best will not say that they are. But let us cherish rather the powers of commerce which make for truth. Let us tell men who engage in trade that there are none for whom it is more easy to be clean and straight; that lies, whether of action or of speech, only increase the mental expense and the moral strain of life; and that the health, the capacity, the foresight, the opportunities of a great merchant depend ultimately on his resolve to be true and on the courage with which he sticks to the truth.
One habit of falseness on which the prophet dwells is the use of unjust scales and short measures. The "stores" or fortunes of his day are "scores of wickedness," because they have been accumulated by the use of the 'lean ephah,' the balances of wrong," and "the bag of false weights." These are evils more common in the East than with us: modern government makes them almost impossible. But, all the same, ours is the sin of the scant measure, and the more so in proportion to the greater speed and rivalry of our commercial life. The prophets name for it, "measure of leanness," of "consumption" or "shrinkage," is a proper symbol of all those duties and offices of man to man, the full and generous discharge of which is diminished by the haste and the grudge of a prevalent selfishness. The speed of modern life tends to shorten, the time expended on every piece of work, and to turn it out untempered and incomplete. The struggle for life in commerce, the organized rivalry between labor and capital, not only puts every man on his guard against giving any other more than his due, but tempts him to use every opportunity to scamp and curtail his own service and output. You will hear men defend this parsimony as if it were a law. They say that business is impossible without the temper which they call "sharpness" or the habit which they call "cutting it fine." But such character and conduct are the very decay of society. The shrinkage of the units must always and everywhere mean the disintegration of the mass. A society whose members strive to keep within their duties is a society which cannot continue to cohere. Selfishness may be firmness, but it is the firmness of frost, the rigor of death. Only the unselfish excess of duty, only the generous loyalty to others, give to society the compactness and indissolubleness of life. Who is responsible for the enmity of classes, and the distrust which exists between capital and labor? It is the workman whose one aim is to secure the largest amount of wages for the smallest amount of work, and who will, in his blind pursuit of that, wreck the whole trade of a town or a district; it is the employer who believes he has no duties to his men beyond paying them for their work the least that he can induce them to take; it is the customer who only and ever looks to the cheapness of an article-procurer in that prostitution of talent to the work of stamping which is fast killing art, and joy, and all pity for the bodies and souls of our brothers. These are the true anarchists and breakers-up of society. On their methods social coherence and harmony are impossible. Life itself is impossible. No organism can thrive whose various limbs are ever shrinking in upon themselves. There is no life except by living to others.
But the prophet covers the whole evil when he says that the "pious are perished out of the land." "Pious" is a translation of despair. The original means the man distinguished by "hesedh," that word which we have on several occasions translated "real love," because it implies not only an affection but loyalty to a relation. And, as the use of the word frequently reminds us, "hesedh" is love and loyalty both to God and to our fellowmen. We need not dissociate these: they are one. But here it is the human direction in which the word looks. It means a character which fulfills all the relations of society with the fidelity, generosity, and grace which are the proper affections of man to man. Such a character, says the prophet, is perished from the land. Every man now lives for himself, and as a consequence preys upon his brother. "They all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net." This is not murder which the prophet describes: it is the reckless, pitiless competition of the new conditions of life developed in Judah by the long peace and commerce of the eighth century. And he carries this selfishness into a very striking figure in Mic_7:4 : "The best of them is as a thorn thicket, the most upright" worse "than a prickly hedge." He realizes exactly what we mean by sharpness and sharp-dealing: bristling self-interest, all points; splendid in its own defense, but barren of fruit, and without nest or covert for any life.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Mic_6:9.] Israel lacks these virtues. Crieth] Earnestly and loudly…
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Mic_6:9.] Israel lacks these virtues. Crieth] Earnestly and loudly in Jerusalem. Wisdom] Wise men will hear and discover God’s authority in the message. “Thy name sees wisdom, i.e., has the true wisdom of life in sight” [keil]. Thy name looks out, the holy manifestation of thyself in judgment (Isa_30:27; cf. Psa_14:2) [Lange]. Rod] Judgment threatened (Isa_9:13).
Read full note →
HOMILETICS
THE VOICE OF GOD IN THE DISPENSATIONS OF HIS PROVIDENCE.—Mic_6:9
These words refer to the solemn warnings given to Israel by the ministry of the prophets, and to the judgments about to fall upon Samaria and Jerusalem, because of their sins.
First. In what way may it be said that “the Lord’s voice crieth” unto cities and nations. God has spoken by the prophets (Heb_1:1); by his Son and by his Spirit in Apostles and teachers. In an indirect way the voice of God is heard in his works (Rom_1:20; Psa_19:12; Act_14:17). But especially in providential dispensations, of mercy or judgment, in events of an afflictive nature. He speaks to cities and nations when he exposes them to war and their young men fall by the sword—when the fruits of the earth are blasted or rot in the ground—when famine succeeds and thousands pine away with hunger. In pestilence, in dreaded cholera, the voice of God is distinctly heard. Secondly. Mark the impression which the voice of God produces upon different classes of individuals. Some boldly deny that he has ever spoken to men, except perhaps by the voice of natural conscience, and treat the doctrine of providence as superstitious (2Pe_3:3-4). Others are insensible to what is passing around them (Isa_26:11). Others brave the threatenings of the Almighty, as if secure against all attacks (Isa_5:19; Isa_28:15). On some only a temporary impression is made: it alarms but fails to convert (Isa_26:16). Others lay claim to superior wisdom, think in the discovery of the proximate or second causes of calamity that they have solved the mystery, and exclude the great First Cause that moves and regulates the whole. “The man of wisdom,” the enlightened and consistent believer, “hears a voice they cannot hear, and sees a hand they cannot see.” Thirdly. Notice the proper improvement to be made of such afflictive dispensations. “Hear ye the rod and who hath appointed it.” View it not merely as a national calamity, but as a chastisement from the hand of God. While others treat it with mute surprise or affected indifference, and refuse to acknowledge a Divine hand in it, beware of such a pernicious course. Let us search and try our ways and turn to the Lord. Deep humiliation and sincere repentance should be accompanied with proofs of active and self-denying works (Isa_58:6-8), in nations and individuals [Scottish Cong. Mag. 1847].
“THE MEN OF WISDOM.”—Mic_6:9
Wise men are here contrasted with ignorant, careless, and wicked men. Wisdom here signifies essence, and the men of wisdom are the men of essence, not men of emptiness and folly. They hear the voice of the rod and understand the purpose for which it is sent.
I. Wise men discern the providence of God in the calamities of life. “The Lord’s voice crieth unto the city.”
1. The rod of God speaks to men. It has a voice and cries aloud. Scourges and calamities speak of the neglect and sins of men. They are the voice of God speaking in power and authority. Awful judgments and visitations are a rod to check and chastise for sin, to prevent folly and further misery. Yet many see but hear them not. God speaks once, yea twice, yet men perceive it not (Job_33:14).
2. The rod of God is appointed for men. “Who hath appointed it.” Hume in his English History ascribes famines and desolating events, to the ignorance of the people, the rude methods of agriculture practised by our forefathers, and affirms that the progress of science and art will prevent calamities eventually. Men ascribe them to chance or to second causes, and ridicule the idea of Divine appointment. But these men recognize Divine purpose and direct interposition—believe in a fixed time and place; hear the rod and know it for their good (Job_5:6). “For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me; and many such things are with him” (Job_23:14).
II. Wise men learn the lessons of God in the calamities of life. “The man of wisdom shall see thy name.” They hear the voice and discern the majesty of God. They see the name of God, the power and presence of God in his dealings with men. The glory of the Divine attributes is displayed in the administrations of providence.
1. They understand afflictive dispensations. They hear and read what is spoken. They see the mind, the word of the Lord (Jer_2:31). Few are wise and understand these things. But wise men discern the truth of the rod in its reports of evil deeds and God’s displeasure. “The knowledge of the Holy (One) is understanding.”
2. They submit to afflictive dispensations. God’s voice cries to all men, but the wise only hear and obey. They bow to the rod as under the command of God. They mourn for sin, learn righteousness (Isa_28:21), and find that “the school of the cross is the school of light.” By humiliation they seek to avoid or mitigate the stroke. When the blow has fallen they look to God “who hath appointed it,” and learn the lessons of spiritual profit for which it was sent. “Lord, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see.” “Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice?”
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 6
Mic_6:9. Rod. The rod hath a voice that is in the hands of earthly fathers, but children hear it not, they understand it not till they are hushed and quiet, and brought to kiss it, and sit silently under it; no more shall we hear or understand the voice of the rod that is in our heavenly Father’s hand, till we come to kiss it, and sit silently under it [Brooks].
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain A Threat of Punishment
A Threat of Punishment
v. 9. The Lord’s voice crieth unto the city, in announcing His judgment, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name, literally, "Thy name beholds wisdom," that is, it is a matter of true wisdom to fear the name of Jehovah, or, His attention is directed to the true wisdom of life:. hear ye the rod, perceiving the scourge which the Lord threatens, which He has prepared for His apostate people, and who hath appointed it, for the Assyrian hosts were even then getting their war material ready.
Read full note →
v. 10. Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked? namely, such as had been gained by wickedness, by oppression and cheating, and the scant measure that is abominable? literally, "and the ephah of leanness, the accursed," for many of the rich had made their money by short-weighing the people.
v. 11. Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, when they were daily cheating in trade and business, and with the bag of deceitful weights? with which the scales were made incorrect.
v. 12. For the rich men thereof are full of violence, of criminal wickedness and oppression, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, in willful perversion of the truth, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth, being so full of deceit that it could no longer practice anything but deception.
v. 13. Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee, by inflicting a mortal blow, in making thee desolate because of thy sins, the devastation striking the entire country.
v. 14. Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied, on account of the shortage of food following the invasion of the enemy; and thy casting down shall be in the midst of thee, literally, "and thy emptiness remaineth in thy bowels"; and thou shalt take hold, but shalt not deliver, trying to flee with family and goods, but unable to save them; and that which thou deliverest, managing to save it when the enemy attacked, will I give up to the sword. Cf Jer 50:37; Jer 42:16.
v. 15. Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap, the enemy either destroying or robbing the crop; thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil, since the enemy would plunder the stores; and sweet wine, the must as pressed from the grapes, but shalt not drink wine, the finished product.
v. 16. For the statutes of Omri, who founded a wicked dynasty of rulers of the northern kingdom, 1Ki 16:25, are kept and all the works of the house of Ahab, the worship of Baal which had then been established, and ye walk in their counsels, in agreement with the idolatry and the abomination introduced by these wicked kings, that, as an actual result of this idolatrous behavior, I should make thee a desolation, an object of astonishment and horror, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing, to be jeered at on every side. Therefore ye shall bear the reproach of My people, the disgrace which is ordinarily heaped upon the people of God if it is delivered into the hands of its enemies. The greater the grace and mercy of the Lord which was upon them, the greater would be their punishment for having rejected His mercy. If people have a form of godliness, but deny its power, then this outward semblance is all the more liable to bring the Lord’s reproach upon such hypocrites.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 The voice of Yahweh is making a proclamation to…
The voice of Yahweh is making a proclamation to the city
The voice represents the person and the city represents the people who live in it. AT: "Yahweh is making an announcement to the people of Jerusalem" (See: Synecdoche and Metonymy)
Read full note →
even now wisdom acknowledges your name
Wisdom is spoken of as a person and is a metonym for the wise person. The word "name" here is a metonym for the person himself, what people think of him, and his authority. AT: "and the wise person will fear you" or "and the wise person will acknowledge that you are good and will obey you" (See: Metonymy and Personification)
Pay attention to the rod, and to the one who has put it in place
Here "rod" refers to the enemy army with which Yahweh, who "has put it in place," will discipline his people. (See: Metaphor)
There is wealth in the houses of the wicked that is dishonest
Dishonest wealth is a metonym for wealth that people have gained by acting dishonestly. The words "the wicked" refer to wicked people. Houses are a synecdoche for everything a person possesses. AT: "Wicked people have acted dishonestly to gain wealth" (See: Metonymy and Nominal Adjectives and Synecdoche)
false measures
incorrect weights that people use with scales to increase their wealth by deceiving those with whom they trade
translationWords
voice
Yahweh
preach
wise
name
rod
house
evil
abomination
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 6:9-16 People in Jerusalem were here invited to learn…
6:9-16 People in Jerusalem were here invited to learn the lesson from Samaria: If you oppress others in order to have an abundance for yourself (6:10-12), you will never have enough however much you get (6:13-15), and eventually you will lose even that (6:16). It is fitting for such people to become an object of scorn, not to receive honor and adulation (6:16).
6:9 Those who are wise fear the Lord; God’s voice calls to everyone in Jerusalem to learn wisdom (cp. Prov 1:7, 20, 28). • The armies of destruction . . . sending them: Assyria would carry out the Lord’s plan to destroy Samaria, while Babylon would be the instrument of destruction for Jerusalem (Mic 4:10).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.