Micah Summarized
Summary and Highlights. Brit-Am/Hebrew Awareness Commentary
Continued from Micah ch.7. part 3.
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Micah is one of the Twelve Minor Prophets of the Hebrew Bible. He was a contemporary of the prophets Isaiah, Amos and Hosea.
Micah 1:
Micah 1:2 addresses himself to the "Peoples." Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki ,1040 - 1105) and the Radak say that Micah is here addressing the Israelite Tribes. Each one of the Tribes, they say, was a "people" in its own right!
Micah 1:3-4 indicate that tectonic and cosmic upheavals in the End Times.
Samaria (i.e. the Ten Tribes) is condemned for spiritual prostitution i.e. idolatry, especially worship of the sun. A chariot of the sun is mentioned an example of which was found in Scandinavia. Samaria had also been a cause of Judah going astray.
A portion of Judah was also exiled by the Assyrians along with the Ten Tribes. These exiles are referred to as a like a bald-headed eagle.
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Micah 2:
The Sages (Midrash Breishit Rabah 28; 5, Shir HaShirim Rabah 1:26) said the Ten Tribes were not destroyed by virtue of the "Righteous men and women that were destined to come out of them."
Rabbi Huna (Midrash Psikta Rabati 28:4) said, Israel [i..e. the Ten Tribes] were not exiled until they transgressed the commandment, "You shall not covet your neighbor's house" (Exodus 20:17).
The Israelites did not want to hear the reproval of their spiritual leaders. The Sages said one should be extremely careful not to come between a husband and wife. Even they who in most matters are relatively easy-going should be strict on this issue.
Micah 2:10-13 describes a regathering of the Tribes in the End Times. A Great Disaster will threaten them but they shall be saved from it.
Rabbi Valley says this hints at the future re-union of the Children of Rachel (Joseph) with those of Leah, i.e. Judah.
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Micah 3:
We are commanded to do good and hate evil. Some of us seem to be going in the opposite direction at times.
Our lives depend on taking the right track.
The Sages (Midrash Torat Cohanim,"BeChukotai 26:17) said that the worst enemies of the Hebrews come from their own people.
The Sages said that when the Judges are corrupt disasters comes upon the community.
They also said that the Divine Presence will not return to Israel until they remove the bad Judges and Policemen from ruling over them (Talmud, Shabat, 139;a).
The Muslim possession of the Temple Mount is considered a form of idolatry (Micah 3:12)!
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Micah 4:
Many peoples (Micah 4:2) will come and say one to another, 'Let us go with them and ascend with them unto the Mountain of the LORD. From that mountain we will proceed to the Holy Temple. They will teach us there the General Principles of God. Consequently we will ourselves apply these to our own ways and customs.' This means them to be saying, 'Through learning the Principles of True Religions and its Foundations we will endeavor to understand its practical application pertinent to us.' Zion in ancient times was where the Sanhedrin sat. The Word of God, in the form of Divine Prophecy, shall go forth from Jerusalem. Prophets will be present in every city.
Judah will be greatly honored (Micah 4:5). During all the long period of Exile when each of the peoples walked each in the name of its god, Judah still walked in the name of the LORD God. We did not forget the name of our God, even though we were killed all day long (Psalm 44:22). By virtue of this in the End Times "out of Zion shall go forth the Law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem (Micah 4:2).
The Malbim comments:
I have already clarified concerning, "will assemble the banished of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah" that "Israel" here refers to the Ten Tribes who were not dispersed in a great scattering among the nations but rather expelled from their place and cast into a far-away land. Their location is lost. They require a re-assembling from being outsiders to come back inside. This is what it means by "assemble the lame" (Micah 4:6). On the other hand the Tribe of Judah were scattered to the four corners of the earth. They need to be ingathered as it says "I will gather those who have been driven away" (Micah 4:6).
The Tribe of Judah suffers from many afflictions and troubles in their lands of their Dispersion. The Ten Tribes are not in such a situation. The expression "those whom I have afflicted" (Micah 4:6) refers to Judah such as what happened to them in the time of the "Yavanim" [i.e. The Greek-Macedonian Kingdom of the Seleucids who persecuted the Jews in the time of the Macabees], and after that by the Romans, and throughout their time of Exile.
The lame I will make the remnant (Micah 4:7) refers to the Ten Tribes. They are described as "lame" [in Hebrew "tsolayah" also connoting "limping"] since they were lost to the Generality of Israel. It was as if they did not exist at all; or that they lost their faith and became like all the Gentiles. I will make them [to appear] as a REMNANT and they shall be revealed.
The Tribe of Judah are "those who were cast off" (Micah 4:7). [In Hebrew the word translated as "cast off" in "Nehalaah" connoting "go further on." They were pushed out from nation to nation, and from place to place, and made to keep moving further on and on. Judah was very weak. Judah suffered from massacres and confusions. I will make them "a strong nation" (Micah 4:7). The LORD will reign over them. They will be in the Kingdom of God "in Mount Zion." Divine Guidance shall be over them. From this time forth and forevermore. From the Time of Redemption until the End of Time they shall not more be exiled.
The LORD will reign over them (Micah 4:7). The Commentary "Daat Mikra" understands this to mean that they (Judah and Israel) will no longer sin against the Almighty.
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Micah 4:
Jerusalem will be divided among all the Tribes. Each Tribe will have its own section within the city. "The gates of the city will be named after the Tribes of Israel" (Ezekiel 48:31).
Micah 4:10-13 concerns Judah who will have remained basically faithful to the Almighty despite many trials and tribulations.
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Micah 5.
Micah chapters 5 and 6 encompasses a description of the Lost Ten Tribes who joined with the Cimmerians and Scythians, overcame the Empire of Assyria, and then moved to the north into Southern Russia and southeastern Europe whence they continued to West and Northern Europe. This may also be a foreshadowing of what will happen in the End Times!
Bethlehem in the region of Ephrathah (present-day "Ephrat" south of Jerusalem) was not expected to account for much (Micah 5:2).
Nevertheless, from here emerged David king of Israel and from him will come the future Messiah.
Micah 5:6-10, The Almighty will give victory to the Israelites over their enemies.
The Israelites themselves will have to repent. Their places of idolatry and vice and their cities that were built in such a way not conducive to a God-Fearing life will be destroyed.
Things will have to change.
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Micah 6:
The Israelites sojourn in the Wilderness is symbolic of the Israelites sojourn in Exile in our time. Most Gentiles of Israelite descent in the USA practice circumcision. Some do not. Outside of the USA, Australia, New Zealand, in other Israelite countries circumcision is not common and may even be frowned upon.
The Almighty is again abortion. The Almighty gives reward and punishment according to HIS understanding.
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Micah 7:
Children rebel against their parents. In-laws fight with each other.
In normal times the family of a person is their bastion of strength.
Now due to our sins the opposite holds! (Micah 7:6).
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Micah (ESV) 7:
7 But as for me, I will look to the LORD;
I will wait for the God of my salvation;
my God will hear me.
Pray to God. Trust in HIM. He will help you!
Brit-AM Studies indicate that the tribe of Dan was divided into different sections. The two main parts were in the southwest and in the far north.
So too, Today we find Dan in Denmark (in the north) and in the far west especially in Northern Eire and Ireland (as well as in parts of North America).
The Midrash reflects this finding Dan in the Far North where darkness comes from i.e. in areas (such as Scandinavia) with short days in winter time.
The angel named "Oriel" parallels Dan and we find a Kingdom named "Oriel" that once existed in part of Northern Ireland.
The Jews and the Ten Tribes at some level always believed in God. Western Peoples, especially English-speaking ones to a degree were guided by the Bible. They had a Judeo-Christian ethic.
Other nations despised us for this.
Their end will come.
The way our inner heart told us to go, though we neglected to do so, we now realize was the correct one.
In continuation the Prophet speaks of the Ingathering and Return of Judah and the Ten Tribes in the End Times!
The Exiled Israelites will return from their places of Exile. A portion of them will come in the same way as they were exiled, via Armenia and Kurdistan ("Matsor"), and Syria, as well as by way of the sea (Micah 7:12).
Micah (ESV) 7:
14 Shepherd your people with your staff,
the flock of your inheritance,
who dwell alone in a forest
in the midst of a garden land;
let them graze in Bashan and Gilead
as in the days of old.
with your staff. in Hebrew "be-shivte-ca."
The word "shevet" in Hebrew can mean either "Staff" or "Tribe."
The Identity of Israelite Tribes and who belongs to them may play a role in the Future Redemption.
God will guide HIS people back to Bashan and Gilead. These are the regions of Jordan, Syria, and part of Iraq. They have suffered much ecological damage due to the overgrazing by the Arabs of sheep and goats.
They shall be rehabilitated.
Just as when the Israelites came out of Egypt great miracles were done for them so too will it be in the future.
God loves us. The God of Israel will forgive us our sins if we return unto HIM!
Micah (ESV) 7:
19 He will again have compassion on us;
he will tread our iniquities underfoot.
You will cast all our sins
into the depths of the sea.
God made promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob concerning the Children of Israel.
God keeps his promises.
The blessings will be fulfilled even more than the partial manner in which some of them to some degree already have been.