The Pulpit Commentary — Micah — Section 81

flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, and spiritual wickedaesses in high places." The warfare is spiritual, righteous, indispensable, personal. No one can fight the battle by proxy. II. As PERILOUS IN ITS POSITION. "He ha.th laid siege against us." The dnngeroue condition of Jerusalem, when the Chaldean army surrounded its walls in order to force an entrance, is only a faint shadow of the perilous position of the Chnrch of God. It is besieged by mighty hosts of errors and evil passions, and mighty lusts that "war against the soul." Host.~ of enemies are encamped round every human soul. The siege is planned with strategic skill and with malignant determination. How it becomes every spirit to be on its watch-tower, fully armed for the fight of defence I "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God," etc. (Eph. vi. 13). III. As INSULTED BY ITS ENEMIES. "They shall smite the judge of Israel with 11, rod upon the cheek." Were the enemies of Christianity ever more insolent than in this age? And their insolence, we regret to state, has been encouraged by the brain- less utterances and doings of religious fanatics. The argumentative opponents of conventional evangelicism seem to me more insulting in their spirit and behaviour tha11 ever. IV. As SUMMONED TO AOTION. "Now gather thyself in troops." The men of Jerusalem are here commanded by Heaven to marshal their troops and to prepare for battle, since the enemies are outside their walls. Far more urgent is the dnty of the Church to collect, arrange, and concentrate all its forces against the mighty hosts that encompass it. "Let us not sleep as do others; " "let us quit ourselves like men," etc. "Gather thyself in troops." • Sounds the trumpet from afar 1 Soldiers of the holy war, Rise I for you yom Captain waits: Rise I the foe is at the gates. "'Arm ! the conflict has begun : Fight I the battle must be won: Lift the banner to the sky, Wave its blazing folds on high." D.T. Ver. S.-OArist. "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be Ruler In Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." For the sake of continuity we here transfer thoughts on this passage which have appeared before. Our subject is Christ, and the text leads us to consider- !. His BmTH AS THE SoN OF MAN. Two remarks are suggested here. 1. He was born in obscurity. "But thou, Bethlehem," etc. Bethlehem Ephratah, where Jacob says," Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when yet there was but a little way to come into Ephrath: . . . the same is Bethlehem" (Gen. xlviii. 7), or Bethlehem-Judah, so ea.lied to distinguish it from Bethlehem in Zebulon. It is a few miles south-west of Jerusalem. Bethlehem means "the House of bread;" Ephrath means "Fruitful;" both names referring to the fertility of the region. " Though thou be little among"-though thou be scarcely large enough to be reckoned among, etc. It was insignificant in size and population, so that in Josh. xv. 21 it is not enumerated among the cities of Judah; norin the list in Neh. xi. 25. Under Rehoboam it became a city (2 Chron. xi. 6). "He built even Bethlehem." The scribes' quotation of Micah, in answer to Herod's inquiry prompted by the Wise Men of the East, who asked, "Where is he that ie born King of the Jews?" (Matt. ii. 6), seems to contradict Micah, "thou art not the least," but the contradiction is only seeming. What is meant in Matthew is that though "thou art least in worldly importance, thou art morally greatest, inasmuch as thou art the birthplace of the Messiah." Why was this Illus- trious One thus born in such obscurity? He had what no other man ever had-the power of selecting his own parentago and birthplace. He might have been bom of royalty and nursed in a palace. No doubt there was the highest reason for this. It was a protest to the ages against the popular and influential opinion that human dignity consists in birth and ancestral distinctions. 2. He was born according to Divine plan. lllOAll. a  TilE BOOK OF MICAH. [en. v. 1-15