The Pulpit Commentary — Micah — Section 116

~J purpose. They are men of one idea-how to please themselves. As they have abandoned all thought of seeking their pleasure in doing the will of God, and doing "good unto all men," they concentrate their energies, "both hands," on gratifying every desire whatever the cost may be. 2. Perversion of conscience. We are reminded of this by Jerome's rendering, "'l'hlly call the evil of their hands good." They speak of the evil done as " well done." They could hardly be so earnest in sin unless they had in some way perverted conscience. Some of the forms of iniquity disclosed in vers. 3-6 imply this. And certainly this is one of the most fatal results of sinning. Aots of sin form habits of sinning which react on the judgment and P,8rvert it till the doom is incurred," Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil! ' etc. (Isa. v. 20). 3. .A conspiracy of men of influence. We expect a certain amount of crime and moral obliquity in what bas been called the residuum of society ; but profligacy in high places is a scandal and "a reproach to any people." See J eremiah's experience (v. 1-5). Wherever the infection began, it has spread now to the court and the judgment-hall : "Death is entered into our palaces." There is such a dearth of good men (vers. 1, 2) that the restraint of their protests, or even of the silent testimony of their presence, is awanting. The princes expect bribes, or" black mail," The judges judge for reward. The testimony of contemporaneous and later prophets on this point is very strong (Isa. I. 23; Ezek. xxii. 27; Hos. iv. 18; Amos v. 12). And they veil these crimes under milder names. The prince demands, but calls it "asking." '.l.'he judge's bribe is called a reward for service rendered. The great man hesitates not to "utter his mischievous desire" in the presence of meaner men, who, he knows, will be ready enough to carry it out, if they can thus curry favour wHh him or earn money, though it be the price of blood; "thus they weave it together" (Revised Version). Illustrate by the conspiracy of Ahab, Jezebel, and the elders and nobles in the robbery and murder of Naboth. 4. We see this infection extending to the most sacred scenes of family life. What a terrible picture is suggested by vers. 5, 61 The great men who have conspired in crime carry the contagion home with them. They cannot leave their sin on the threshold, like an infected garment. Their children catch the plague. Even a wife is not above suspicion. Thus curses come home to roost. The sins of the fathers are visited upon the children. Families are demoralized. "The end of those things is death." Learn : 1. Earnestness ia not in itself an excellent thing. The devil is terribly in earnest," going about as a roaring lion," etc. (1 Pet. v. 8). False teachers are sometimes more earnest than the true. "They zealously seek you in no good way" (Gal. iv. 17). Earnestness may be as glowing as a fire, and as destructive. 2. Earnest sinners should be a motive and stimulus to the servants of Ohrist. If they are so eager in the work of dest1uction, what manner of persons ought we to be in the work of salvation? Yet some move neither hand, but stand all the day idle. Others are half-hearted, and therefore ply their work with but one hand, not devoting all their faculties to him whom they own as both Redeemer and Lord. Illustrate from King J oash's interview with Elisha (2 Kings :xiii. 14-19). Loyalty to our Saviour-King demands concentration of energy and enthusiasm of devotion, that we may do good "with both hands earnestly."-E. S. P. Ver. 7.-A soul shut up to God. The word" therefore," or the term in the Revised Version, "but as for me," marks the transition from a terrible necessity to a priceless privilege. It was a time when it was needful to be suspicious of those who ought to have been worthy of unlimited confidence. Neither a companion nor a familiar friend, nor even a child or a wife, could be trusted (vers, 5, 6). Such had been the experienctt of many in tho past. Samson had been betrayed by his tribesmen, his friend, his father-in-law (Judg, xiv. 20), and her that" lay in his bosom." David had found his confidence betrayed by the men of Judah (1 Sam. xxiii. 12, 19), by Joab (2 Sam. iii. 22-89), by Ahithophel, and by Absalom. As it was in the days of Micah, so would it be in the days of Jesus Christ, when many of his disciples would go back and walk no more with him, and when an apostle would betray him. No wonder that some of his servants are called to a similar experience (Matt. x. 24, 34-36). The prospect manward is thus dark and depressing in the extreme. Note what a disintegrating and destructive force sin is. It not only separates between man and God (Isa. lix. 2), but has a tendency to alienate friends, to break up families, to destroy human confidences, and gender a pes11imillm which finds expression in the passionate, though not deliberate, verdict of on. VII, 1-20.] TUE BOOK OF MICAH. 119