Monthly Archives: September 2021

Micah 1

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Contrary to some prophets like Jonah, Micah gives us an anchor in history in which we can identify h1im. The first verse in Micah states – in part:

“The Word of Jehovah that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah…” [NKJV]

There are several men named Micah mentioned in the Bible. Micah the Prophet gives his identity by including his place of origin…Moresheth. Moresheth, also known as Moreseth-Gath, was a town of the tribe of Judah in ancient Israel. This puts him in the Kingdom of Judah. He also timestamps his prophetic career by identifying who sat on the throne in Judah during his time as a prophet; Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Three different kings. Our previous commentary study of Jonah was just the opposite. He tells us of his experience with Assyria, Nineveh and God, but says little else to help us put an identity or time stamp to him.

Interestingly, Micah came from near Tekoa, Judah. Tekoa is from where Amos originated. Isaiah was also a contemporary of Micah. Hosea came from Bethel and prophesied to the Kingdom of Israel just north of Moresheth. All four were 8th century B.C. prophets.

Micah 1:1 tells us that he saw “The Word of Jehovah” regarding Jerusalem and Samaria. He sees their past, present and their future state of being. The map to the right includes Moreseth-Gad and Moreseth.

We do not know, other than by speculation, from which of these two villages Micah came. We do know he was from the rural area of Judah but both Moreseth-Gad and Moreseth are rural areas in northern Judah.

One may ask why so many prophets to the Israelis all clustered in the 8th century B.C. The answer is God’s patients by then is running short. It was in the latter part of the 8th century B.C. [722 B.C.] that the Assyrians destroyed and exiled all residents of the Kingdom of Israel. 120 years later, Judah fell to the Babylonians. Yes, time was running out for Northern and Southern kingdoms of Israelites.

Time is Running Out

Prosperity is sometimes a key to a nation or kingdom’s fall away from God. Keith Greer puts I this way.

King Uzziah [of Judah] had brought a high degree of prosperity to Judah. Something they had not enjoyed since the days of Solomon. Yet, with this also came the mindset to forget who made it all possible. Jotham was a good man who followed the path of his father, 2 Kings 15:32-38. Ahaz, was the opposite and the pinnacle of wickedness. He followed the examples of other kings to lead God’s people into idolatry, 2 Kings 16:1-20. Hezekiah was an exceptionally good king. He did God’s commands and issued many reforms during his reign, 2 Kings 18-20. He commanded many reforms during his reign [2 Kings 18-20].

Micah 1:2 states that God himself is a witness against *Jerusalem and *Samaria; for all that matters, at th White Throne Judgement this included earth and mankind. Micah envisions the Lord God soon descending from his heavenly realm to his creation of earth. What a declaration of the return of God to earth. This will be the 2nd advent or coming of Jesus the Messiah. So, what occurs when this coming happens?

*Jerusalem is the capital of Judah. Samaria is the capital of the northern kingdom, Israel.

Micah 1:3 “For behold, the LORD is coming out of His place; He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth” [NJV]. Coming out of his place? Micah is foretelling the future time when God will leave heaven and reclaim earth as part of his kingdom with direct rule. We call it the Millennial Reign. There will be no doubt that God is present on earth at that time. (V3) He, meaning God, will come down from his place in heaven, mountains will melt, valleys will split like wax before a fire (heat); verse 4. But the next verse should dispel questions about the end time Tribulation being Israel, not the church…

Micah 1:5 states “the transgression of Jacob and the sins of the house of Israel.” There is not even a hint of the church being judged or involved at this time. This verse only mentions Jacob and the house of Israel. God in Jesus is not coming back again and again. This is the 2nd advent of Christ; the end of time as we understand it as created back in Genesis 1:5. Has not the corporate church itself sinned? Why are there so many religions and denominations if the church is united under Christ? Not! This is all about God’s chosen, his elect, his light that never shined on the hillside, i.e. Israelis.

The next several verses describe the “what” as in what will happen upon the return of God to exercise his authority over HIS creation. Verse 8 is amazing. It is very definitive and descriptive but the original KJV reads somewhat differently than does the NKJV. The King James uses the word “dragon.” This can draw speculative interpretations. Tannah, as translated dragon in the KJV, is the Hebrew for a female jackal. “I will make a wailing like a dragon (a female jackel)” (KJV). This translation is corrected in the more accurate and recent NKJV.

This ‘wailing’ in verse 5 is amazingly close to what happened to the Northern Kingdom of Israelis when the Assyrians captured and dispersed them in 722 B.C.  The hideousness of the Assyrian treatment of the ten northern tribes of Israel verges on unthinkable. They were stripped naked, marched for days and weeks bare foot, left without covering in the cold of the night, left for dead if they could not keep up with the main group being removed from their homelands, abused at the pleasure of the Assyrian soldiers.  Is it any wonder why, before the 722 B.C. dispersion of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, Jonah did NOT want the Assyrian capital of Nineveh to repent? Ninevites were Assyrians with the reputation as just described. It is probable, although we are not told, that Jonah was contemporary with Micah and the aforementioned prophets as 8th century B.C. prophets.

Micah 1:9 is a conclusion of God.” …her wound is incurable.” Over hundreds of years, God’s chosen people of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob could not stay faithful to God’s selection as a specific chosen people with a God-promise (covenant). A people personally selected by God to be an example and light unto the world. Jeremiah 8:22 is similar in description of an incurable wound. JIV NOTE: Selected does not mean elect.

Micah 1:9 specifically identifies the leadership and citizenry of the Kingdom of Judah being in the same shape as is their northern cousins. Judah’s demise came 120 years later at the hands of the Babylonians (607, 589 & 587 B.C). The difference? These Judeans were captured, not dispersed and then for only 70 years. After 70 years Daniel reminded the King of Babylon/Persia of God’s instructions. He then allowed the Jews to return. Oddly, only a few returned. Those who did return became the progenitors of those we read about in the New Testament.

Micah 1:10 There were five Philistine cities that bordered Israel/Judah at this time. Gath is mentioned but Micah means it to represent the Philistines next door to them. Today we know the descendants of these “next door neighbors” as Palestinians in Gaza. In the time of Joshua and the dividing of the Promised Land, The Tribe of Dan was to conquer and remove these people. They did not do it. In the time of Micah, the 700’s B.C., some 700 years after those released from Egypt captivity entered and conquered some of the Promised Land. The forever enemies of Israel still exist RIGHT NEXT DOOR to modern day Israel. Micah knew that the Palestinians would dance in the streets to see another catastrophe in Israel. Any Israeli weeping and wailing would be enough to get the dance tune going in the land of the Philistines, today’s self-proclaimed Palestinians.

NOTE: Palestinians and the PLO did not exist with this identity until the 1960’s.

The House of Aphrah [v10] takes God’s command to a personal level. First it is Gath, a location, a people who would rejoice in the misery imposed upon the Kingdom and people of Israel. Then, it gets very personal when told what to do at the household level in Israel. Weep [in private] and roll in the dust of the homeland lest you (Israel) weep and roll in the dust of captivity with the unbelievable cruelty practiced by the Assyrians [impal­ing, hamstringing, or flaying their enemies as well as leading captives away with hooks in their noses and lips].

Micah 1:11 *Saphir [Shaphir?], Bethezel, and Zaanan, are three Palestinian cities. It is important to keep in mind that a Palestinian city does not always mean a Philistine city. Palestine is the entirety of what we know today as Israel and some bordering territories. News broadcast today have confused, be it in ignorance or deliberate. Palestine today is distinct from Israel. The lands of Canaan were synonymous with Palestine. Palestine is derived from the name Canaan. Rome changed the identity of Israel to Palestine. This was around 72 B.C. soon after Rome destroyed the Jerusalem temple (70 B.C.). This is also when the Romans dispersed the remaining people of the remnant of Israel (Judah) to the hinterlands of the known and unknown world. Hundreds of thousands ended up in what eventually became known as Spain: aka the Iberian Peninsula. P.S; Eber was the great-grandson of Noah’s son Shem. Eber? Iber?

*S[h]aphir and Zaanan are sometime synonymous with each other.

Micah 1:12 mentions a place called Maroth. It is the only time in the entire Bible it is mentioned by name. It means “bitter springs.” We do not have any archeological evidence of its location in history. The rest of this prophetic history is Judean judgement. This means they will no longer follow God, not as if they had been, and will no longer be a kingdom or nation unto themselves. At least not until 1948 A.D.

Rev. Dr. Jstark
2021

Micah: Introduction

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Micah Introduction and outline

The following chart highlights the time-period of the Prophet Micah according to his own words in Micha 1:1. The total years these three kings ruled over Judah is well over 60 years; 66 years to be exact. We can deduce from this that Micah started his prophetic years sometime during King Jotham, through the reign of King Ahaz, and finished or died sometime during the reign of King Hezekiah. Ahaz is considered a bad king of Judah. He was not in the will of HaShem; G-d, and did evil in God’s eyes.

Note if you will, this list of kings over Judah were all related descending from King David from the Tribe of Judah.

Micah came from Moresheth sometimes spelled Moresheh. It is west south-west of Bethlehem inside the borders of the Kingdom of Judah. His prophecy was to both the northern and southern kingdoms, primarily to the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Note that since Israel to the north was conquered by the Assyrians in 722 B.C. Micah’s prophecy years overlap the ruin and destruction of the Northern Kingdom of Israel during the reign of Ahaz, King of Judah..

We at aha bible moments suggest Micah 6:8 as the central message to Micah’s prophecy challenges.

“He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?” [NJKV]

Like Isaiah, Micah’s contemporary living about the same time, Micah admonished his people to return to God. He was especially descriptive of the ruling classes, who used their positions of power to enrich themselves at the expense of the poor. Micah describes the sins of the people, and especially of their leaders and judges, “who make crooked all that is straight.” He has harsh words for the judges that can be bribed and the priests that can be hired, saying to themselves, “Evil cannot befall us.”

The following is an outline of the entire Book of Micah as presented by Bible Outlines on the Web. Keep it handy as we delve into our commentary studies of Micah. It will be a good study format, reminder, and insight as to where we will be going in our commentary articles.

Outline of Micah

Micah chapter 1
Micah 1:1.The time when Micah prophesied.
Micah 1:2-9.He shews the wrath of God against Jacob for idolatry.
Micah 1:10-16.He exhorts to mourning.
Micah chapter 2
Micah 2:1-3.Against oppression.
Micah 2:4-6.A lamentation.
Micah 2:7-11.A reproof of injustice and idolatry.
Micah 2:12-13.A promise of restoring Jacob.
Micah chapter 3
Micah 3:1-4.The cruelty of the princes.
Micah 3:5-7.The falsehood of the prophets.
Micah 3:8-12.Israel’s and Judah’s ill-grounded security.
Micah chapter 4
Micah 4:1-4.The glory,
Micah 4:5.and the peace of Christ’s kingdom.
Micah 4:6-10.The restoration,
Micah 4:11-13.and victory of the church.
Micah chapter 5
Micah 5:1-3.The birth of Christ.
Micah 5:4-7.His kingdom.
Micah 5:8-15.His conquest.
Micah chapter 6
Micah 6:1-5.God’s controversy for ingratitude;
Micah 6:6-9.for ignorance,
Micah 6:10-15.for injustice;
Micah 6:16.and for idolatry.
Micah chapter 7
Micah 7:1-2.The church, complaining of her small number,
Micah 7:3-4.and the general corruption,
Micah 7:5-7.puts her confidence not in man, but in God.
Micah 7:8-13.She triumphs over her enemies.
Micah 7:14.She prays to God.
Micah 7:15-17.God comforts her by promises of confusion to her enemies;
Micah 7:18-20.and by his mercies.

Rev. Dr. Jstark
2021

Joel 3b

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 Joel 3:9 The same phrase found in Joel 3:9 is found in Jeremiah 6:4. “prepare for war, arouse the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near, let them come up.” This similarity is uncanny because the woe, judgement, is unto the invading armies in both Joel and Jeremiah passages. As we noted in the previous commentary (Joel 3a) The “hook” is set in the jaws of Israel’s enemies. They will come up from Megiddo to the Valley of Kidron (judgement) be it by hook-or-crook.

This is precisely what God desires. Israel must be totally dismayed at any possibility of victory. Sometimes this is referred to as being at the bottom of the barrel. Over the thousands of years since Abraham, Israelis have had an attitude; an attitude of “it is all about us. How can we lose. We are invincible.” It will take this extreme situation with no allies on the side of Israel (yes, that includes the USA) for them to finally accept that they have lived more for self than for God. Up to this point God has been their relief-valve. Once upon a time God removed obstacles or enemies out of their way yet they always returned to self. God wants the credit. He is sovereign. It is here that God finally convinces them that “then *they will know that I am their God, and they are my people.” (see Joel 3:17)

Joel 3:10 Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning-knives into spears; let the weak say, I am strong. The plowshares and pruning-knives are obvious. Not so when reading “let the weak say, I am strong.” Who are the weak and perhaps cowardly? This massive invasion of Israel and Jerusalem by global powers even the weak amongst them will volunteer to join the defense against this the invasion. The odds are so stacked against Jerusalem the weak, faint-hearted, and the normally cowards will join these invading forces. It will seem impossible to lose. This is also true of Israelis. They will think it impossible to win.

Surrounded.

Once more we run the risk of a lack of understanding of a verse due to casual words. We too often fail to spend time looking up and understand the Hebrew and a word’s meaning. In our previous article [Joel 3a] we noted that what appears to be casual is all but that. As in Joel 3a we found out that haym (they will know) is an emphatic. At last, there will now remain no Israelite who doubts Jehovah-God.

Joel 3:12 “Let the nations be awakened and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat. For there I will sit to judge all the nations all around.” [LITV] Direct your attention to the words “all” in this passage. The word “all” in this section of scripture is kole in the Hebrew. It means “without exception.” It is like one asking, what part of NO do you fail to understand. There will be no exceptions. [Malachi 4:1-3] In the ESV it reads “Let the nations stir themselves up.” This translation is good. Invading nations will have such confidence of bulldozing Israel and Jerusalem once and for all, it is the confidence of a varsity squad playing against their 6th graders. The 6th graders wouldn’t stand a chance. This talk by the enemies of Israel is why the “weak will say they are strong.” Strong? Yes! Their opposition is so weak there is no fear even in the hearts of the weak in the enemy forces…similar to mob psychology. Jump into the middle or backside of the fight because the big guys on your side will make a mess out of Israel.

JIV: It is possible that this is driven by Satan to wipe out huge populations of foreign nations like suicide by police. Even if Satan knows the outcome, he does not want God to have their souls. Get them killed while yet sinners without salvation.

Joel 3:13 “Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Go in, tread, for the winepress is full. The vats overflow, for their evil is great.” What harvest is Joel addressing in verse 13. The consequence of continued sin against God. Joel 3:13 is similar to world events in the time of Noah [Luke 17:26].

Joel 3:14 multitudes, multitudes…The obvious is the vast horde of forces coming up against God and Jerusalem in the valley of decision (Jehosephat). By this time Satan has exhausted his warehouse of tools to displace God in heaven. Overwhelming forces should do the trick, thinks Satan. If not this, then the gathering of forces from all nations is an attempt to destroy all mankind.

JIV NOTE: Satan will be released after his 1,000 years of being bound by God. Somehow during the Millennial Reign of Christ multitudes and multitudes will rally to once again attack God, this time from his headquarters in Jerusalem. The difference in the final judgment may be that Satan will include the use of his own forces of fallen angels to assist in this final attack. “And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea” [Revelation 20:7 & 8]. Such a verse should stagger us. How will it be possible for Satan to gather men from the four corners of the earth to fight God a second time? The thousand-year millennial reign will distinguish between the goats and the sheep [Matthew 25:32]. A new spirit has yet to be put into the hearts of men.

Ahamoment:  In the Jewish Publication Society Bible, chapter 3 is chapter 4 in their bible. They subdivide chapter two into chapters 2 and 3.

How might we distinguish these as two different events in history? Joel 3:14b may offer good insight. “…for the day of the Lord is near” [ESV]. This means this initial confrontation with all nations against Jerusalem is not the final confrontation. The second confrontation is (JIV) Satan’s attempt to destroy God himself. Satan comes out to deceive the nations when in fact it is him who is deceived. He knows he cannot destroy God but if he can prove that after a thousand years of perfect justice there remain many of God’s creation who still want to reject him. Maybe, and just maybe thinks Satan, he can at least cast God out of the earth. The earth that once was Satan’s domain.

Now we have the theological issue of “is it the church or is it just Israelis?”

Joel 3:16 “The LORD roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth [both] quake. But the LORD is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel.” A stronghold to whom? To the people of Israel, not the church. We see that it will be the second coming of Christ when final judgement is given, Satan is condemned, his minions along with the anti-Christ and false prophet are tossed into the “lake” of fire. The church has been raptured so it is not on earth to be either condemned or to be a light onto the world.

In short, the time to which Joel refers is only near the time of the Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord is the end [of] time itself. This is after Satan is released for a short time to rally earthlings to do his bidding once again along with his minion of fallen angels and deceived.

Here is a quote from David Guzik’s commentary notes on Joel:

The idea of the “Valley of Decision” has been used in countless evangelistic meetings to show people that they stand in the “Valley of Decision,” and must decide for or against Jesus. Joel’s context is exactly the opposite. Man does indeed stand in the valley of decision, but it is God who does the deciding, not man. It is a valley of judgment – and we should decide for Jesus right now, so we never stand in this valley of decision. [italic emphasis mine]

Joel 3:17  And you shall know that I am Jehovah your God dwelling in Zion, My holy mountain. And Jerusalem shall be a holy thing, and aliens shall no more pass through her.

How can anyone read this verse and think it is about anything or anyone other than Jerusalem and the Israel? God dwelling in Zion; My Holy Mountain; Jerusalem shall be the holy thing; aliens will no longer pass through her. It is impossible other than to spiritualize this passage to include the church body of Christian believers who have been redeemed and raptured. We believers re-enter the scene when Christ returns in the clouds of the sky to do away with Satan once and forever. Now and only at this point do we get the New Heavens and the New Earth. This is not the time or the beginning of the Millennial Reign. It is at the end of it.

Joel 3:18-20 “And it shall be in that day, the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the streams of Judah shall flow with waters. And a fountain shall come forth from the house of Jehovah, and it shall water the valley of Shittim. (v19) Egypt shall be a ruin, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, from violence done to the sons of Judah, whose innocent blood they poured out in their land. (v20) But Judah will dwell forever, and Jerusalem to generation and generation. (v21) And I will cleanse their blood which I did not cleanse. And Jehovah is dwelling in Zion.”

God’s last covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is now fulfilled as we close the Book of Joel. God fulfills and keeps his promises [2 Peter 3:9, Romans 4:21, Joshua 21:45].

Rev Jstark
2021