Micah 3:4

Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings. THEN - at the time of judgment, which Micah takes for granted, so certain is it (cf. , "Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks"). SHALL THEY CRY UNTO THE LORD, BUT HE WILL NOT HEAR - just as those oppressed by them had formerly cried, and they would not hear. Their prayer shall be rejected, because it is the mere cry of nature for deliverance from pain, not that of repentance for deliverance from sin. HE WILL EVEN HIDE HIS FACE FROM THEM AT THAT TIME, AS THEY HAVE BEHAVED THEMSELVES ILL IN THEIR DOINGS - men cannot expect to do ill and fare well....

Micah now denounces judgment on the chief men, such as they deserved. He says, _They shall cry then to Jehovah _The adverb אז, _az, _is often put indefinitely in Hebrew, and has the force of a demonstrative, and may be taken as pointing out a thing, ( δεικτικως — demonstratively,)_then, _or there, as though the Prophet pointed out by his finger things which could be seen, though they were far away from the sight of men. But in this place, the Prophet seems rather to pursue the subject to which I have already referred: for he had before stated that God would take vengeance on that people. This adverb of time then is connected with the other combinations, which have been already explained. (96) If, however, any one prefer a different meaning, namely that the Prophet meant here to hold them in suspense, as to the nearness of God’s vengeance, I do not oppose him, for th

1-8 Men cannot expect to do ill, and fare well; but to find that done to them which they did to others. How seldom do wholesome truths reach the ears of those in high stations or in authority! Those who deceive others are preparing confusion for their own faces. The prophet had ardent love to God and to the souls of men; deep concern for his glory and their salvation, and zeal against sin. The difficulties he met with did not drive him from his work. He had this strength; not from and of himself, but he was full of power by the Spirit of the Lord. Those who act honestly, may act boldly. And those who come to hear the word of God, must be willing to be told of their faults, must take it kindly, and be thankful....

Verse Micah 3:4. _THEN SHALL THEY CRY_] When calamity comes upon these oppressors, they shall cry for deliverance: but _they shall not be_ _heard_; because, in their unjust exactions upon the people, they went on ruthlessly, and would _not hear_ the cry of the oppressed....

THEN SHALL THEY CRY UNTO THE LORD - “Then.” The prophet looks on to the Day of the Lord, which is always before his mind. So the Psalmist, speaking of a time or place not expressed, says, “There were they in great fear” Psalms 53:5. He sees it, points to it, as seeing what those to whom he spoke, saw not, and the more awfully, because he saw, with superhuman (certain) vision, what was “hidden from their eyes.” The then was not then, “in the time of grace,” but when the Day of grace should be over, and the Day of Judgment should be come. So of that day, when judgment should set in, God says in Jeremiah, “Behold I will bring evil upon them which they shall not be able to go forth of, and they will cry unto Me, and I will not hearken unto them” Jeremiah 11:11. And David, “They cr

EXPOSITION VERSE 3:1-5:15 Part II. DENUNCIATION OF THE CRIMES OF THE GRANDEES, FOLLOWED BY A PROMISE OF THE GLORIFICATION OF ZION, THE BIRTH OF MESSIAH, AND THE HIGHEST EXALTATION OF THE PEOPLE. MICAH 3:1 § 1. _Sins of the rulers, and their punishment._ MICAH 3:1 The

THEN SHALL THEY CRY UNTO THE LORD, BUT HE WILL NOT HEAR THEM,.... When all the above evils threatened them in the preceding Chapter s shall come upon them; when the enemy shall invade their hind, besiege their cities, and take them, and they, their families and substance, just ready to fall into their hands, they shall cry unto the Lord; or pray unto him, as the Targum, in the time of their distress; but he will not hear their prayer, so as to answer it according to their desire; that is, he will not save them from imminent danger, but deliver them up, them, and all that belong unto them, into the hands of such that shall use them as they have done others: HE WILL EVEN HIDE HIS FACE FROM THEM AT THAT TIME; turn his back upon them, and a deaf ear to them, and show them no favour, nor grant them any help and protection: AS THEY HAVE BEHAVED THEMSELVES ILL IN THEIR DOINGS; he will punish...

THE SECOND PROPHETIC MESSAGE CHAPTER 3 _ 1. Address to the godless princes and judges (Micah 3:1) _ 2. Address to the false prophets (Micah 3:5) 3. The verdict of judgment (Micah 3:9) Micah 3:1. The second prophetic message of Micah contains the great Messianic prophecies. But first the prophet gives a description of the degradation of the nation, the moral corruption of the leaders and judges, as well as the false prophets. It is all summed up in one sentence, “who hate the good, and love the evil.” The princes and judges robbed the people, treated them like cattle ...

THE UNJUST RULERS AND FALSE PROPHETS OF JUDAH. Micah first addresses those whose official duty it is to know justice, _i.e._ sympathetically, and declares that in fact they love its opposite, and cruelly oppress (_cf._ Isaiah 3:15) those they govern. In their (coming) distress, Yahweh will not heed them (_cf._ Isaiah 1:15). Micah then turns to the false prophets, whose utterances are dictated by self-interest, and proclaims against them, instead of the well-being they have foretold, the darkness of the Day of Yahweh (Amos 5:18), when there shall be no response to the diviners, and they shall go mourning. In contrast with them, Micah declares that Yahweh's Spirit has given him the inner qualities of independent strength a

THE LORD. Hebrew. _Jehovah._ App-4. HEAR. answer. HIDE HIS FACE. Reference to Pentateuch (Deuteronomy 31:17; Deuteronomy 32:20). App-92. Compare Isaiah 59:1.Jeremiah 33:5....