Micah 6:5

O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal; that ye may know the righteousness of the LORD. O MY PEOPLE, REMEMBER NOW WHAT BALAK ... CONSULTED - how Balak plotted to destroy thee by getting Balaam to curse thee (Nun. 22:5). WHAT BALAAM THE SON OF BEOR ANSWERED - how the avaricious prophet was constrained against his own will, to bless Israel, whom he had desired to curse for the sake of Balak's reward (). (Maurer.) Grotius explains it, 'how Balaam answered, that the only way to injure thee was by tempting thee to idolatry and whoredom with the daughters of Moab' (). The mention of "Shittim" agrees with this as it was the scene of Israel's sin, in "joining himself unto Ba...

God briefly records here what happened in the desert, — that the people had need of some extraordinary help in addition to the many benefits which he had conferred on them. For though the people lived safely in the desert as to the Egyptians, though they were fed by manna and water from the rock flowed for them, though the cloud by day protected them from the heat of the sun, and the pillar of fire shone on them during the night, yet the stream of God’s mercy seemed to have been stopped when Balaam came forth, who was a Prophet, and then, as one armed with celestial weapons, fought against the people and opposed their deliverance. Now, had God permitted Balaam to curse the people, what could have taken place, but that they must have been deprived of all their blessings? This is the reason why the Prophet specifically refers to this history, — that the cursing of Balaam was miraculously t...

1-5 The people are called upon to declare why they were weary of God's worship, and prone to idolatry. Sin causes the controversy between God and man. God reasons with us, to teach us to reason with ourselves. Let them remember God's many favours to them and their fathers, and compare with them their unworthy, ungrateful conduct toward him....

Verse Micah 6:5. _REMEMBER NOW WHAT BALAK KING OF MOAB CONSULTED_] He sent for Balaam to _curse_ your fathers; but by my influence he was obliged to _bless them_. See Numbers 22:5-4 c., and Numbers 23:5-4; Numbers 23:20-4 c., and the notes there, where this subject is largely considered. _FROM SHITTIM UNTO GILGAL_] From the encampment at Shittim, Numbers 25:1, on the way to that of Gilgal, Joshua 4:19. Balaam gave different answer

REMEMBER NOW - The word translated now is a very tender one, like our “do now remember” or “do remember,” beseeching instead of commanding. Dionysius: “I might command, but I speak tenderly, that I may lead thee to own the truth.” “What Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him.” God did not only raise up Moses, Aaron, Miriam, out of their brethren, but He turned the curse of the alien Balaam into a blessing; and that, not for their righteousness, (for even then they were rebellious,) but against their deserts, out of His own truth and righteousness. Not that the curse of Balaam could in itself have hurt them; but, in proportion to his reputation, it would have infused great energy into their enemies: and its reversal must have struck a great panic into them and into others. Human might having failed in Sihon and Og, Balak sought superhuman. God showed th...

EXPOSITION VERSE 6:1-7:20 Part III. In this address, which is later than the preceding parts, the prophet sets forth the way of salvation: PUNISHMENT IS THE CONSEQUENCE OF SIN; REPENTANCE IS THE ONLY GROUND FOR HOPE OF PARTICIPATING IN THE COVENANT MERCIES. MICAH 6:1 1. _God_'_s controversy with his people for their ingratitude._ MICAH 6:1 HEAR YE NOW. The whol

O MY PEOPLE, REMEMBER NOW WHAT BALAK KING OF MOAB CONSULTED,.... What a scheme he had laid; what contrivances he had formed; what consultations he had with a soothsayer or diviner he sent for to curse Israel; how he sought to get the God of Israel on his side, and to set him against them, that he might be rid of them, and they be ruined and destroyed. The Moabites were the descendants of Moab, a son of Lot, by one of his daughters; when they first set up their kingdom is not certain; nor who their kings in succession were before Balak: it appears there was a former king, whom the king of the Amorites fought with, and took away his land from him, Numbers 21:26; who probably was Zippor, the father of Balak, and whom he succeeded; the kingdom being recovered by him, or by this his son; however, he was on the throne when Israel was upon the borders of his kingdom, which threw him into a pani...

Micah 6:1. _Hear ye now what the LORD saith;_ And yet some doubt the infallible inspiration of Scripture. I would commence every reading of the Scripture with such a word of admonition as this: «Hear ye now what the Lord saith.» That is what the prophet said; but God spake by the prophet: «Hear ye now what the Lord saith.» Micah 6:1. _Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice._ As men were hardened, and turned away their ears, the prophet was bidden to speak to the mountains, those mountains which had been disfigured with the shrines of idols, with altars on every high hill, or, perhaps, those higher hills that were never cultivated, and that remained untouched by the defiling hand of men. God makes an appeal to these ancient things....

THE THIRD PROPHETIC DISCOURSE (6-7) CHAPTER 6 _ 1. The words of Jehovah to His people (Micah 6:1) _ 2. Israel's answer (Micah 6:6) 3. The moral demands of Jehovah (Micah 6:8) 4. The Lord must judge them (Micah 6:9) Micah 6:1. This chapter is cast in the form of a controversy. The utterance has been called by some the most important in the prophetic literature. It is hardly this, nor is, as critics claim, the eighth verse a definition of religion, “the greatest saying in the Old Testament.” The beginning is sublime, “Hear ye now what

POPULAR_ V._ PROPHETIC RELIGION. The classical summary of prophetic religion in Micah 6:8 is introduced by the figure frequently employed (Hosea 4:1; Hosea 12:2; Isaiah 3:13; Isaiah 43:26; Jeremiah 25:31) of a legal controversy between Yahweh and His people. Possibly this figure did not originally precede Micah 6:6, as the terms of the address O man! are broader than we should expect if Israel had been add