Micah 5:14

And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee: so will I destroy thy cities. AND I WILL PLUCK UP THY GROVES ... SO WILL I DESTROY THY CITIES. The "groves" are the idolatrous symbol of Astarte (, "Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the altar of the Lord thy God:" so as to have no resemblance to the idolatrous usages of the pagan; , Manasseh "set a graven image of the grove in the house"). "Cities," being parallel to "groves," must mean cities in or near which such idolatrous groves existed. Compare "city of the house of Baal" () - i:e., a portion of the city sacred to Baal....

He afterwards subjoins, _I will take away thy groves_. The groves, we know, formed a part of their idolatry: they are therefore mentioned here as an addition by the Prophet. For he speaks not simply of trees, but refers to the wicked practices of the people: for wherever there were high and lofty trees, they thought that something divine was hid under their shade; hence their superstition. When therefore the Prophet mentions groves, it must be understood of vicious and false modes of worship; for they thought that those places acquired a sort of sanctity from the trees; as they also thought that they were nearer to God when they were on a hill. We hence see that this verse is to be connected with the last; as though the Prophet had said, that the Church could not be in safety and recover her pristine vigor, without being well cleansed from all the filth of idolatry. For we indeed know th...

7-15 The remnant of Israel, converted to Christ in the primitive times, were among many nations as the drops of dew, and were made instruments in calling a large increase of spiritual worshippers. But to those who neglected or opposed this salvation, they would, as lions, cause terror, their doctrine condemning them. The Lord also declares that he would cause not only the reformation of the Jews, but the purification of the Christian church. In like manner shall we be assured of victory in our personal conflicts, as we simply depend upon the Lord our salvation, worship him, and serve him with diligence....

I WILL CUT OFF THE CITIES OF THY LAND - So God promised by Zechariah, “Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls; for I will be unto her a wall of fire round about” Zechariah 2:4. The Church shall not need the temptation of human defense; for God shall fence her in on every side. Great cities too, as the abode of luxury and sin, of power and pride, and, mostly, of cruelty, are chiefly denounced as the objects of God’s anger. Babylon stands as the emblem of the whole city of the world or of the devil, as opposed to God. Rup.: “The first city was built by Cain; Abel and the other saints heed no continuing city” Hebrews 13:14 here. Cities then will include (Rup.) “all the tumults and evil passions and ambition and strife and bloodshed, which Cain brought in among men

EXPOSITION MICAH 5:1 _§ _8_. After Zion_'_s degradation Messiah shall be born, and shall bring the world into subjection._ MICAH 5:1 This verse is joined to the preceding chapter in the Hebrew. Jerusalem is addressed, as in Micah 4:9, Micah 4:11, not the invading army. The prophet returns to the view of the misery and humiliation expressed in that passage. GATHER THYSELF IN TROOPS; or, _thou shalt gather thyself, etc. _Jerusalem must collect its armies to defend itself from the enemy. O DAUGHTER OF TROOPS. Jerusalem is thus named from t

AND I WILL PLUCK UP THY GROVES OUT OF THE MIDST OF THEE,.... Planted for idolatrous worship, and which the Jews in the reigns of some of their kings raised, and made use of for such purposes; see 1 Kings 15:13; though contrary to the law of God, Deuteronomy 16:21; but now there should be nothing of this kind, all idolatry being rooted out of the world. The Targum is, "I will root out the plantations of the people out of the midst of thee:'' SO WILL I DESTROY THY CITIES; which some understand of cities given to idolatry; or rather it is to be understood in the same sense as in Micah 5:11; though by reason of that, and as something distinct from it, it is bette

CHAPTER 5 _ 1. The siege and the smitten judge (Micah 5:1) _ 2. The smitten judge: Who he is (Micah 5:2) 3. The events of the future: (Micah 5:3) 4. The Rejected One, the Shepherd of Israel (Micah 5:4) 5. The remnant of Jacob and the kingdom (Micah 5:7) Micah 5:1. This interesting chapter presents difficulties, but they all vanish if we view all in the light of the future as revealed in the prophetic Word. Here it is necessary to divide the Word of Truth rightly,

THE PURGING OF ISRAEL. Some modern commentators, _e.g._ Wellhausen and Nowack, refer this to Micah; if so, it would anticipate the Deuteronomic denunciation of the pillars and Asherim (Deuteronomy 7:5; Deuteronomy 12:3); but the general character of this Divine intervention, to secure a community purified from warfare and idolatry, rather suggests a post-exilic date, when similar references to Asherim, etc., continued to be made (_e.g._ Isaiah 27:9), Yahweh will remove from Israel its means of warfare (Zechariah 9:10; Hosea 14:3; _cf._

PLUCK UP. root up, or tear down. THY GROVES. thine _'Asherahs._ App-42. Reference to Pentateuch (Exodus 34:13.Deuteronomy 7:5; Deuteronomy 12:3). THY CITIES. Ginsburg thinks "thine idols". Authorized Version margin suggests "enemies"....

_PURPOSING TO REMOVE INIQUITY -- MICAH 5:11-15:_ God told them that they would not have nor need their fortified cities. It was not that cities were wrong but that those cities had been places where they had devoted themselves to the service of idolatry. It was also in those cities that the people decided that they did not need God to control their lives. Instead they felt that they were doing quite well on their own. God, not some fortified city, would be their protection. He would be their single focus for worship and service. God's desire was that the people seek help only at His hand. So we have the promise that He would cut off witchcrafts and sorceries and that there would be no more soothsayers. God also told the people that idolatry would be cut off. The idea of serving a thing as a god that was made by your own hand is the height of nonsense. The people had not been c