Exploring the Meaning of Micah 1
Po New Christian Bible Study Staff
The prophet Micah lived in the days of Hezekiah, the King of Judah, and the kings that preceded him. In 722 BC, in the fourth year of Hezekiah's reign, Shalmaneser, the King of Assyria, conquered the kingdom of Israel. This was the northern kingdom that had begun with Jeroboam, after Solomon's death, based around Samaria. The Assyrians led away its people, as described in 2 Kings 18:9.
Perhaps the Assyrian victory and the dispersal of the 10 lost tribes are related to Micah's prophecy, but - as in the other books of prophecy - at heart Micah is predicting broader spiritual events, especially the Lord's advent.
In Micah 1:1, 2, Micah starts out by proclaiming that the Lord is coming down as a witness against the people of the earth. Here the earth, internally, means the church - the Lord’s church which forms a connection between God and man. 1
Micah 1:3 says that Jehovah Himself will come down and restructure the church (meant by the earth) and will form a new heaven for that church. 2
In Micah 1:4-7 shows us an internal picture of the judgment on the Israelitish and Jewish churches. Mountains, valleys, fire, and water are all mentioned; all are representations of spiritual realities. When people of the church remember what those realities are, they will come to mind when they worship on a mountain, or treat the fire on the altar as holy. But when the spiritual meanings are forgotten, the representative things are done away with. This was true of both Samaria and Judah (Micah 1:5). 3
Verses 6 and 7 show the wickedness of Samaria, and what will happen to the idols there. 4 From its inception, the northern kingdom of Israel never had a good king. It had, as idols, the two golden calves that Jeroboam set up. All this will be destroyed.
Micah 1:8, 9 tell of the mourning of the people who love what is good, as far as Judah and even Jerusalem, which represents heaven.
However, in Micah 1:10-11, there's a mourning over the punishment as witnessed in some cities, which mean those doctrines that are used to try to justify the idolatry. But the anger is misdirected: people are angry with Jehovah, and not with the sins of idolatry that cause the punishment.
Micah 1:12 describes the mourning about the devastation of the church, which extends through all the heavens, even up to the highest.
In Micah 1:13-15, he's saying that the sins that were widespread in Israel, or Samaria, have also spread to the kingdom of Judah. To come to Adullam means to turn oneself towards evil.
Finally, in Micah 1:16, baldness means a lack of truths. Delightful sons are truths from God. Making yourself bald by shearing off your hair means you are spiritually denying the truths from God, i.e. that you are exiling yourself from your delightful sons. Consequently, everyone suffers deprivation. 5
To apply this to our lives... here's what it looks like:
1. We should turn away from evil and actively seek spiritual truths.
2. We shouldn't set up false gods in our lives, e.g things that we "worship" that really aren't useful.
3. We should try to look for the Lord in the Word, and to connect with Him.
Bilješke:
1. See the description in Arcana Coelestia 10373.
2. See Arcana Coelestia 1311
3. For reference, see Apocalypse Explained 405[42] and Arcana Coelestia 9156[2].
4. See Apocalypse Explained 587[15].
5. See Arcana Coelestia 9960[6].
Arcana Coelestia #6376
6376. 'And the foal of his she-ass to the outstanding vine' means truth from the rational for the internal Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'the vine' as the spiritual Church, dealt with in 1069, 5113, so that 'the outstanding vine' means the internal Church (for the internal part of the Church is more outstanding than the external part of it); and from the meaning of 'the foal of a she-ass' as rational truth, dealt with in 2781. The external part of the Church is distinct and separate from the internal, in that it is located in the natural, thus in the external man, whereas the internal part is located in the rational, thus in the internal man. Members of the external Church are governed by truth, those of the internal Church by good. The former are motivated not so much by the good of charity as they are by the truth of faith, whereas the latter are motivated by the good of charity and from this by the truth of faith. Members of the internal Church are the ones meant by 'the outstanding vine', but members of the external Church are the ones meant by 'the vine'.
