Exploring the Meaning of Micah 1
Ngu 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.
Imibhalo yaphansi:
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 #6947
6947. 'What is that in your hand? And he said, A rod' means the power of the Lord's Divine Human. This is clear from the meaning of 'hand' as power, dealt with in 878, 3387, 4931-4937, 5327, 5328, 5544; and from the meaning of 'a rod' too as power, dealt with in 4013, 4876, 4936. The reason why it is the power of the Lord's Divine Human is that 'Moses' represents the Lord in respect of the law of God, which is the Word, and this is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Human, 6752. The power meant by 'hand' is the power emanating from the Lord's Divine Rational, whereas the power meant by 'the rod' is the power emanating from the Lord's Divine Natural. The reason why 'a rod' is the power emanating from the Lord's Divine Natural is that a rod is like a foot in that it supports the body, and by 'the foot' is meant the natural, 2161, 3147, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952; and 'lifting up the hand' is power in the spiritual, while 'lifting up the foot' is power in the natural, see 5727, 5328. And since 'hand' and 'rod' have these meanings, then depending on how high the things described in the internal sense rise Moses was sometimes told, when he was to work miracles, to lift up his hand, at other times his rod.
