Heb. ? > fulneſs I The Prophet here by Proclamation requires earneſt Attention to thereof, his Word : So Moſes, Dent. 4. 26. and 30. 19. and 32. I. So the Plal- miſt, 7ſal. 50. 1, 4+ and lo 7/a. 1, 2. and 34. 1- 1 Either all the Peo- ple of both Kingdoms, all Jſrael and Fudab ; or elſe univerſally all Peo- ple of all Kingdoms whatever, both of that preſent Age and all of fu- ture Ages. # It may be taken for the meaner ſort of People, the Commonalty ; but I rather incline ro interpret-it as both a tacit Re- proof of the Deafnels of this finful and hardned People, with whom Micah now contends, and an Appeal to the ſenſleſs Creatures, Or a Summons to bring them in Evidences for God againſt thoſe King- doms. o Animate or inanimate Creatures, a!l that are on the Earth ; If we interpret Earth for the meaner ſort of People, then this Fulneſs of the Earth will be the whole Multitude of the People : It 1s a lofty Strain, {uch as thoſe of Moſes, Dent. 32. 1. David, Pſal. $0. 1+ Iſatah, chap. 1. 1, 2. and Feremiah, chap. 6, 19. p The mighty, holy, gract- ous, and faithtul God, Lord of Heaven and Earth z who knows all your Ways, who is a juſt Judg, and a ſevere Avenger of obdurate Sin- ners. q By his Word, the Voice of his Law ; by his Prophets whom he hatk ſent, by the Judgments he doth execute according: to his Me. naces : as by his Sovereignty he is ſupream Judg, ſo by bis Omnilci- ence and Truth he is an authentick Witneſs againtt you, O Houſe of Facob. r Either from his Temple at Feruſalem, or elſe from Heaven, * 1.26.21, 45 7/4. 11. 4. and Heb. 2. 20. . * PC,n5-3- 3 For behold s, * the LORD cometh forth t out of his * Deut. * place #, and will come down x, and tread upon y the
oy i2and x high places of the Earth z. POO s There is great Reaſon for Earneftneſs with all People, and there-
fore once more I adviſe you to conſider it well : Behold, attend to what is ſaid. & Who is Tudg himſelf, Pſal. 50. 1, 4. whoſe holy Ma- jeſty you hare provoked to Diſpleaſurez who is a Jealous God, and hath an Almighty Power to daſh his Enemies into pieces: He comerh
forth as a Judg prepared to hear, determine and puniſh: Now when 'God, who is in all Places at all Times, is ſaid ro come forth, *tis not to be meant of his leaving a Place where he was, to come to a Place where before he was not ; but 'tis to be underſtood of his Diſcovering his Preſence by ſome Effes of it, which before in that Place were not diſcovered. # Heaven, the Place of his glorious Throne. x Shew by the Effefts of his Power, Juſtice and Wiſdom, that he is more emi- nently preſent there. y Trample under foot, ſtain, abaſe and break, 2 All that is high, excellent, and matter of your glorying z whether flouriſhing State of your Kingdoms, or Power of your Kings, or Strength of your Fortreſſes and Temples, Altars, or Cities and Par- laces : In that Day the' Zaughrineſs of Man ſhall be laid low, and the Pride of Man ſhall be brought down, Tſa. 2. 17. your Sins will procure this to you, O Samariz and Feruſalem ; of which God is my Witneſs,
—_— I have plainly told you. _—_ '4 And * the mountains a ſhall be molten under
Amosg.5. him b, and the valleys c ſhall be eh d : as wax e before
+ Heb.de- the fire, and as the waters that are,poured down a Þ| ſteep ſcent, place F |
a If literally underſtood, we know it hath been ſo: When God will kindle that Fire which ſhall burn up the Earth, and the Works of it, as he will when hecoineth finally to judg the World, it ſhall be done again : But figuratively, Mountains are mighty States and Kingdoms, flouriſhing with Proſperity, and which do think the Foundation of this ſure as Mountains: 'So chap. 6. 1, 2. #ab. 3. 6. 1ſa. 2. 14+ Or poſ- fibly theſe Mountains may be by a Synecdoche put for thoſe who dwell on them, Mountainers who were uſually more fierce, ſecure, hardy, and of difficult Acceſs, and therefore leſs regardiul of Threats and Puniſhments. 5 Which way ſoever you take Mountains, yet the Ef- feft of God's powerful Anger and Juſtice ſhall be this ; they ſhall be no more able to bear his Indignation, or withſtand it, than that which like Wax melts before a ftrong Fire. «c Which either are Emblems of the lower ſort of Men, er the Men that dwell in the Valleys with their Cities built there 5 which might hope to eſcape the Storm, lying more under Corert : But ſuch ſhall be the ſweeping, ſearching, and rapid Storm of God's Judgments, that no Wyaces, no Perſons $hall ei- ther withftand or divert them. 4 Or, renr in junder, broken up, as the word Gen. 7. 11. and flid away. e Which doth eafily and ſpeedily diffolve, and run before the Fire. f Which immediately ſpreads it ſelf, and runs down the Precipice, not able to keep together in one body ; but ſcattered one part from other, loſeth it {elf without reme- ay ; ſo shall-the Glory and Strength of Sam:r44 melt away betore the Fire of God's Diſpleafure, executed by Shal/maneſer, and by Senacherib and Nebuchadnezzar on Fudah 5
5 For the trangreſſion g of Jacob þ i all this 7, and
fcr the ſins of the Houſe of Iſrael k, What 1 & the
which was Samaria, where the Kings of that Kingdom had their Rox. al Refidence;z where they worshipped Idols, whence they iFfued 0, their Edits, and which became Example to the reft of the Iſraeli Kingdom. » Or, who is, #.e. Cauſe of the high Places, and the Ido- fry there prattiſed ? o Which was the chief City of that Kingdy
and Place where their Kings dwelt, had the ſame Influence on ti, Kingdom as Samar! had on the Ten Tribes z there was the Examyle they imitated, thence the Laws they obeyed contrary to God's Lay
the held 7, and as plantings of a Vineyard s , and [ yij pour down the ſtones thereof into the valley t, and 1 wil
diſcover the foundations thereof .