Micah 1:4

And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place. AND THE MOUNTAINS SHALL BE MOLTEN UNDER HIM, AND THE VALLEYS SHALL BE CLEFT. Imagery from earthquakes and volcanic agency, to describe the terrors which attend Yahweh's coming in judgment (cf. , whence the language seems derived: "The mountains melted from before the Lord:" a proof of Micah's and Judah's familiarity with the earlier sacred books). Neither men of high degree, as the mountains, nor men of low degree, as the valleys, can secure themselves or their land from the judgments of God. Moreover, it is implied that not only the high grounds but the low grounds shall be made lower still. A yet deeper dissolution than that whereby the mountain is made a plain shall rend open the very valleys, at the c...

And he afterwards adds, that this going forth of God would be terrible, _Melt, _he says, _shall the mountains under him _It hence appears, that the Prophet did not speak in the last verse of the departure of God, as though he was going to forsake his own temple, but that he, on the contrary, described his going forth from the temple, that he might ascend his tribunal and execute punishment on the whole people, and thus, in reality, prove that he would be a judge, because he had been very daringly despised. Hence he says, _Melt shall the mountains under him, the valleys shall be rent, or cleave, as wax before the fire, as waters rolling into a lower place _(63) The Prophets do not often describe God in a manner so awful; but this representation is to be referred to the circumstance of this passage, for he sets forth God here as the judge of the people: it was therefore necessary that he s...

1-7 The earth is called upon, with all that are therein, to hear the prophet. God's holy temple will not protect false professors. Neither men of high degree, as the mountains, nor men of low degree, as the valleys, can secure themselves or the land from the judgments of God. If sin be found in God's people he will not spare them; and their sins are most provoking to him, for they are most reproaching. When we feel the smart of sin, it behoves us to seek what is the sin we smart for. Persons and places most exalted, are most exposed to spiritual diseases. The vices of leaders and rulers shall be surely and sorely punished. The punishment answers the sin. What they gave to idols, never shall prosper, nor do them any good. What is got by one lust, is wasted on another....

AND THE MOUNTAINS SHALL BE MOLTEN UNDER HIM - It has been thought that this is imagery, taken from volcanic eruptions ; but, although there is a very remarkable volcanic district just outside of Gilead, it is not thought to have been active at times so late as these; nor were the people to whom the words were said, familiar with it. Fire, the real agent at the end of the world, is, meanwhile, the symbol of God’s anger, as being the most terrible of His instruments of destruction: whence God revealed Himself as a consuming fire Deuteronomy 4:24, and at this same time said by Isaiah; “For behold, the Lord will come with fire ... to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire” Isaiah 66:15. And the valleys shall be c

EXPOSITION VERSE 1:1-2:13 Part I. THREATENINGS AND JUDGMENTS ON ISRAEL AND JUDAH, WITH PREDICTION OF EVENTUAL DELIVERANCE. MICAH 1:1 The _inscription, _or heading of the book, conveying the prophet's authority. The word of the Lord. The expression applies to the whole contents of the book, as in Hosea 1:1 and Zephaniah 1:1. It is often used for some particular message to a prophet, as J

AND THE MOUNTAINS SHALL BE MOLTEN UNDER HIM,.... As Sinai was when he descended on it, and as all nations will be at the general conflagration; but here the words are to be taken, not literally, but figuratively, for the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and for the kings, and princes, and great men in them, that lifted up their heads as high, and thought themselves as secure, as mountains; yet when the judgments of God should fall upon them, their hearts would melt through fear under him; as well as all their glory and greatness depart from them, and they be no more what they were before, but levelled with the meanest subject: AND THE VALLEYS SHALL BE CLEFT: have chasms made in them by the melting of the mountains, or by the flow of water from the hills: these may design the lower sort of people, who shall have their share in this calamity; the inhabitants of the valleys and country villag...

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATION THE FIRST PROPHETIC MESSAGE CHAPTER 1 _ 1. The introduction (Micah 1:1) _ 2. Judgment announced (Micah 1:2) 3. The destruction of Samaria (Micah 1:6) 4. The lamentation of the prophet over the coming judgment (Micah 1:8) Micah 1:1. This introduction tells us two things. In the first place, we learn that this book contains the word of the Lord that came to Micah, the Morasthite; in the second place, we are told when Micah exercised his office. As stated in the introduction, he was contemporary with Isaiah, proba

THE JUDGMENT OF ISRAEL. The nations of the earth are summoned to take warning from the Divine judgment to be executed on Israel. Yahweh comes forth from heaven (His holy temple; _cf._ Habakkuk 2:20; Isaiah 63:15, Psalms 114), and down (_cf._ Exodus 19:11) upon the heights (Amos 4:13), His presence being revealed as by earthquake shock (_cf._ Isaiah 24:19) and volcanic eruption (Micah 1:2). The moral rebellion of the northern kingdom is concentrated in its capital, Sam

THE MOUNTAINS, &C. This verse foretells the calamities of 2 Kings 17 and 25....

_the mountains shall be molten_ The figure is that of a storm, but no ordinary storm. Lightning descends, and dissolves the very mountains, and torrents of rain scoop out channels in the valleys. Similar symbolic descriptions occur in Judges 5:5; Isaiah 64:1; Habakkuk 3:6; comp. Exodus 19:18....