Micah

“ Micah seems to grasp the secret of the ages when he exclaims, "But thou, Bethlehem Ephrathah, which art little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall one come forth unto Me that is to be the ruler in Israel; whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting." For centuries there is suspense, and then over the quiet plain below the hill is heard the evangel: "Be not afraid: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people: for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." ”

“ It was true of the rich and mighty of the capital that
"They covet fields and seize them,
And houses, and take them away.
They oppress a man and his house,
Even a man and his heritage."
This much was clear on the surface of things. Rapacity on the part of the rich meant oppression of the poor; increase of power for the mighty meant decrease of opportunity for the humble tiller of the soil and for the wage earner.
Seeing all this and understanding it, Micah felt himself impelled to fight the cause of the common people.
Conditions and a sympathetic soul thus made Micah a Prophet. ”

“ Are there cannon there, brother?”
“Yes, there are,” said Micah, slowly. “Four six-pounders. They belonged to the Volunteers. We kept them. We thought they might be useful some day.”
“Ah,” said Donald, “it’s a pity. We shall have the trouble of re-capturing them. Come, let us go down to the meeting-house. I should like to see these terrible yeomen.”
“Some one has given them information,” said Micah. He was silent for a minute. Then he muttered as if to himself—
“Some one has informed against us. Some one has brought this evil upon us. Who has done this thing? Who is our secret enemy?” ”

“ I give you my word, Micah, I took in one hole of my sword-belt on Monday, two on Tuesday, one yesterday, and one to-day. I tell you, I am thawing like an icicle in the sun.’
‘If you should chance to dwindle to nought,’ said I, laughing, ‘what account are we to give of you in Taunton? Since you have donned armour and taken to winning the hearts of fair maidens, you have outstripped us all in importance, and become a man of weight and substance.’
‘I had more substance and weight ere I began trailing over the countryside like a Hambledon packman,’ quoth he. ”

“ This Isaiah was followed by Micah and Obadiah, who confirmed and embellished his soul-satisfying gospel. And these two brave messengers boldly denounced the priest-ridden ritual of the Hebrews and fearlessly attacked the whole sacrificial system.
Micah denounced "the rulers who judge for reward and the priests who teach for hire and the prophets who divine for money." He taught of a day of freedom from superstition and priestcraft, saying: "But every man shall sit under his own vine, and no one shall make him afraid, for all people will live, each one according to his understanding of God." ”

“ Did ye ever in yer life see a harnsumer, witchiner critter than Miss Adèle is?"
Micah fixed his keen eye triumphantly upon our hero, as if he was aware beforehand that but one response could be made. John surprised by the suddenness of the question, and somewhat confused, for the moment, by a vague consciousness that his companion had found the key to his thoughts, hesitated a little, but soon recovered sufficiently to parry the stroke.
"You don't mean to say, Micah, that there's any person for beauty and bewitchingness to be compared with Mrs. McNab?" ”

“ With the latter Micah begins a series of three oracles, which give the substance of his own prophesying in contrast to that of the false prophets whom he has just been satirising. He has told us what they say, and he now begins the first of his own oracles with the words, But I said. It is an attack upon the authorities of the nation, whom the false prophets flatter. Micah speaks very plainly to them. Their business is to know justice, and yet they love wrong. They flay the people with their exactions; they cut up the people like meat. ”

“ As, about noon, they were rapidly descending the gorge, on their way back to the promontory, the scene of their morning success, Micah proposed that they should have "a nice brile out of that fat buck at the pint, and then put for the settlement".
"Not yet", said John. "Why, we are just getting into this glorious life. What's your hurry, Mummychog?"
"Well, ye see", said Micah, "I can't be gone from hum, no longer [147] neow, any heow. Next week, I'll try it with ye agin, if ye say so". ”

“ Micah also says, “They shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree; and none shall make them afraid.” [11] Now it is certain that those who have taken refuge and rested under the Spirit, and under the shadow of the Word, shall not be alarmed, nor frightened by him who troubles the hearts of men. ”

“ You are as much out of your place as a vintage wine at a harvest supper. The whole of broad England, and not the streets of Havant, is the fit stage for a man of your kidney. What have you to do with the beating of skins and the tanning of leather?'
'My father would have you go forth as a knight-errant, Micah,' said Reuben, laughing. ”

“ Micah said, stoutly. "I wouldn't repeat it for the world."
"It's nice to have confidence in people, don't you think so?" she questioned, demurely.
"It is, Miss; it's a terrible comfort."
"Some people repeat everything they hear. But you and I can trust each other, eh, Micah?"
"I could trust you with uncounted gold, Miss," and Micah stuck his fork into the ground, with an energy that was meant to give emphasis to his assertion.
For awhile they talked about St. Gaved folks in general, but gradually Madeline led the conversation round to Rufus Sterne and the quarrel outside the Lodge gates. ”

“ The finest oracles of Micah (vi. 1-vii. 7) were probably uttered in the reign of Manasseh, and give the simplest and purest expression to the supremacy of morality as the one true end and test of religion. Micah is as indifferent as the Decalogue to all claims of rites, ceremonies, and outward worship. "Jehovah demands nothing for Himself; all that He asks is for man: this is the fundamental law of the theocracy."
The apostasies of the king and the denunciation of the prophets thus came into fierce collision, and led naturally to persecution and bloodshed. ”

“ Micah—for at the moment he felt much more like a Micah than a Menander—flushed all over. “I take a present to the idol at Tyre! You must be joking; but, with all respect, sir, it is a joke which I do not appreciate.”
“Come, my dear Menander,” said the high priest, with a laugh, “why all this fuss? You must excuse me for saying so, but you are really a little stupid this morning. What nonsense to talk about idols! The Greek heroes are really the same as our own. Hercules is nothing more or less than Samson [pg 12] under another name. ”

“ There is a twofold "travail" of Israel:
(1) that which brings forth the "man child" (Christ) Revelation 12:1,2 and (2) that which, in the last days, brings forth a believing "remnant" out of the still dispersed and unbelieving nation Micah 5:3; Jeremiah 30:6-14; Micah 4:10. Both aspects are combined in Isa. 66. In Micah 5:7 we have the "man-child" (Christ) of Revelation 12:1,2 in Micah 5:8-24 the remnant, established in kingdom blessing. The meaning of Micah 5:3 is that, from the rejection of Christ at His first coming Jehovah will give Israel up till the believing remnant appears ”

“ Nevertheless his heart clings most to his own home, and while Isaiah pictures the Assyrian entering Judah from the north by Migron, Michmash and Nob, Micah anticipates invasion by the opposite gateway of the land, at the door of his own village. His elegy sweeps across the landscape so dear to him. This obscure province was even more than Jerusalem his world, the world of his heart. It gives us a living interest in the man that the fate of these small villages, many of them vanished, should excite in him more passion than the fortunes of Zion herself. ”

“ The most natural division of the book is into three sections, ch. i.-ii., iii.-v., and vi.-vii., each beginning with a formula calling on the people to hear (i: 2, iii: 1, vi: 1) . Passages in Micah resemble others in Isaiah (see Micah iv: 1-5 and Isa. ii: 1-5) . Micah is quoted or alluded to in Matt. ii:5, 6; x: 35, 36; Mark xiii: 12; Luke xii: 53; John vii: 42. The canonical authority of the book has never been doubted. ”

“ At length, Micah exclaimed, "Well, Captin', this is the pootiest way of livin' I know on, any heow. My 'pinion is that human natur was meant to live reound on rivers and in the woods, or vyagin' on lakes, and sech. I never breathe jest nateral and lively, till I git eout o' between heouse walls into the free air".
"'Tis a glorious life, Micah! I agree to it".
"Hark!" said Micah! "Got yer piece ready? Maybe you'll hev' a chance to bring sumthin' deown. I heerd an old squaw holler jest neow".
"I'm ready", said John. ”

“ It is an unusual construction; but those words with which Micah begins his prophecy are the very same in the original with those wherewith Micaiah ended his, 1 Kings xxii. 28. 2. The earth is called upon, with all that therein is, to hear what the prophet has to say: Hearken, O earth! The earth shall be made to shake under the stroke and weight of the judgments coming; sooner will the earth hear than this stupid senseless people; but God will be heard when he pleads. If the church, and those in it, will not hear, the earth, and those in it, shall, and shame them. ”

“ Also in Micah: “Alas for me, O my soul, because truth has perished from the earth, and among all there is none that correcteth; all judge in blood. Every one treadeth down his neighbour with tribulation; they prepare their hands for evil.” ”

“ They just want tew be let alone", said Micah.
"I suppose they do wish to be let alone", said Mr. Norton. "But I cannot permit them to go down to wretchedness and sorrow unwarned. You have influence with your friends here, Mr. Micah. If you will collect the men, women, and children of this neighborhood together, some afternoon, in your beautiful grove, I will promise to give them not a long sermon, but something that will do them good to hear". ”

“ In the name of every village within sight he reads a symbol of the curse that is coming upon his country, and of the sins that have earned the curse. So some of the greatest poets have caught their music from the nameless brooklets of their boyhood's fields; and many a prophet has learned to read the tragedy of man and God's verdict upon sin in his experience of village life. But there was more than feeling in Micah's choice of his own country as the scene of the Assyrian invasion. He had better reasons for his fears than Isaiah, who imagined the approach of the Assyrian from the north. ”

“ After a moment's reconnoitre, John turned his face towards Micah with a look of blank disappointment.
But Micah looked cool and expectant. He merely pointed up the rocky gorge and said under his breath—
"'T aint time to expect 'em yet. The wind, what there is on it, is favorable tew,—it blows right in our faces and can't kerry any smell of us to 'em. Neow hide yourself right away. Keep near me, Captin', so that we ken make motions to each other". ”

“ The great cliff stands in front of us with the victor's prize on its topmost ledge, and man after man tries to climb, and falls bruised and broken at the base. 'There is none righteous, no, not one.' Micah's requirements come to every man that will honestly take stock of his life and his character as the statement of an unreached and unreachable ideal to which he never has climbed nor ever can climb. ”

“ Hence I will now say with the prophet Micah: “I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him.” Micah 7:9. And with Sirach: “I will rather fall into the hands of the Lord, than into the hands of men; for his mercy is as great as he himself is.” Sir. 2:18. He forgives sin, and helps in distress. Ps. 32:5. Hence, my dear wife, be patient in the tribulation that is upon us both; confess with Judith, that our punishment is less than our sins. Judith 8:27. And he helps in distress ”

“ Micah himself was the prophet of the country as distinct from the capital, of the peasants as against the rich who oppressed them. When, therefore, he fixed upon Bethlehem as the Messiah's birthplace, he doubtless desired, without departing from the orthodox hope in the Davidic dynasty, to throw round its new representative those associations which had so endeared to the people their father-monarch. The shepherds of Judah, that strong source of undefiled life from which the fortunes of the state and prophecy itself had ever been recuperated, should again send forth salvation. ”

“ There it is: behind Kiriath-jearim. 13 And they passed on from there to the hill-country of Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah. 14 Then the five men who went to spy out the land of Laish said to their brothers, "Did you know that in these houses there are an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a cast image? And now consider what you will do." 15 And they turned toward there, and came to the house of the young Levite, the house of Micah, and asked him how he was. 16 And the six hundred men armed with weapons for war stood at the entrance of the gate, who were from the Danites. ”

“ Micah, in the book of Judges, makes himself a houseful of gods, and hires a Levite as his domestic chaplain. How long the practice persisted we may judge from the royal scorn which Isaiah pours on the image-mongers, who hewed down cedars and cypresses, oaks and ashes, some for fuel and some for idols. Let us hear the great prophet: "He burneth part thereof in the fire ”