Micah 3:7

Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God. THEN SHALL THE SEERS BE ASHAMED, AND THE DIVINERS CONFOUNDED; YEA, THEY SHALL ALL COVER THEIR LIPS. The Orientals prided themselves on the moustache and beard (margin, 'upper lip'). To cover it, therefore, was a token of shame, mourning, and sorrow (; , "Cover not thy lips" - i:e., assume not the usual token of one mourning; ). 'They shall be so ashamed of themselves as not to dare to open their mouths, or boast of the name of prophet' (Calvin). FOR THERE IS NO ANSWER OF GOD - they shall no more profess to have responses from God, being struck dumb with...

He confirms the same thing in the next verse, _And ashamed shall be the seers and confounded the diviners, _(102) _and they shall cover their lip; _that is they will put veils on their mouths. In short, he means, that they would become a reproach to all, so that they would be ashamed of themselves, and no more dare to boast with so much confidence of their name and of the prophetic office. As to this form of expression, ועטו על-שפם, _uothu ol shephim, _some think that the practice of mourners is referred to; but this interpretation is frigid. I have therefore no doubt but that Micah intimates that the mouths of the false teachers would be closed. There is nearly the same denunciation mentioned by Zechariah; for speaking of the restoration of the Church, he says, — They who before went about boasting greatly, and gloried in the name of Prophets, shall cast away their mantle, and will no l...

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 3:7. _SHALL THE SEERS BE ASHAMED_] For the _false visions_ of comfort and prosperity which they pretended to see. _AND THE DIVINERS CONFOUNDED_] Who pretended to foretell future prosperity; for they themselves are now _thralled_ in that very _captivity_ which the true prophets foretold, and which the false prophets said should not happen....

THEY SHALL COVER THEIR LIPS - Literally, the hair of the upper lip . This was an action enjoined on lepers Leviticus 13:45, and a token of mourning Ezekiel 24:17, Ezekiel 24:22; a token then of sorrow and uncleanness. With their lips they had lied, and now they should cover their lips, as men dumb and ashamed. “For there is no answer of God,” as these deceivers had pretended to have. When all things shall come contrary to what they had promised, it shall be clear that God did not send them. And having plainly no answer of God, they shall not dare to feign one then. Jerome: “Then not even the devils shall receive power to deceive them by their craft. The oracles shall be dumb; the uncl

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 THE SEERS BE ASHAMED, AND THE DIVINERS CONFOUNDED,.... When the events of things will make it most clearly appear to all that their visions, divinations, and prophecies, are false; they will not be able to lift up their heads, or show their faces, but shame and confusion will cover them: YEA, THEY SHALL ALL COVER THEIR LIPS; stop their mouths, hold their tongues, and be entirely and totally silenced; they will not pretend to utter any other vision or prophecy; nor be able to say one word in defence of themselves, and of what they have before prophesied; every thing in providence being contrary to what they had said, and agreeable to the words of the true prophets; or they shall cover their lips as mourners; as the Targum adds, by way of explanation; see Ezekiel 24:17. It is said e there were two gates in Solomon's temple; one called the gate of the bridegroom

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

GOD. Hebrew. _Elohim._ App-4....