MICAH, PROPHECY OF MICAH, ante), after the heading contained in the first verse, is divided into three sections, each beginning with " Hear ye,'' L—Chapters ii, addressed to all the people, describe the coming, of the Lord in judgment on the transgressions of Israel and Judah, the doom of Samaria; and the march of the invaders of the land from Samaria south to Jerusalem; denounce luxury and covetousness as the sources of trans gression, and condemn the false prophets for le,ading the people astray; foretell the banishment of the people into captivity and promise their return under the guidance of the Lord their king. addressed to the heads and princes of the people, con demn their oppressive rapacity, and declare that as they had been deaf to the cry of the poor in their wrongs, they too shall call on the Lord but will not be heard. The false prophets also who had deceived others should themselves be made ashamed. As the judges, priests, and people had become mercenary in all their service all of them should be left destitute, Zion should be a ploughed field, Jerusalem heaps of nuns, and the temple height a forest. This second threatening of judgment is followed by a second and fuller promise of Messianic times when the mountain of the Lord's house should be exalted on the top of the mountains, all nations flow to it, and the peaceful reign of the Messiah be extended over all the earth. His birth in Bethlehem Ephratah
is foretold, yet his being from everlasting also is affirmed; his government, it is declared shall be marked by divine strength and majesty, and his greatness be extended over all the earth. vii. The Lord, calling on the people the third time to hear, and on the mountains to be witnesses of the controversy, appeals to all his past govern ment over Israel as approving his righteousness. The people, answering, complain that the burden of the sacrifices required is too great to be borne, and the Lord in reply says that lie asks of them only to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. That they had failed to comply with these demands is shown by the treasures of wickedness found in their houses, by the scant measures used, the .alse balances, the deceitful weights. For these crimes punishments will be inflicted; the wheat, the oil, and wine shall be cut off. The prophet mourns the justice of the sentence, and ac,knowledges the guilt of all classes of the people who do evil with both hands earnestly, the best of them being sharp as briers and thorns. Yet he waits for the salvation of the Lord, triumphing in his pardoning mercy which will certainly be manifested and in his faithfulness which will perform all that he had promised with an oath to Abraham in the days of old.