Micah 7

An expression which here occurs as, in more than one instance, confounded the enemies of imme religion, and raised it up friends under severe perse- During the troubles of the seventeenth century, in England, when many suffered for conscience sake, a pious nonconformist minister was conducted, with a sort of brutal triumph, from Birmingham to Norwich, his legs being chained under his horse’s belly. As he was about to enter the castle jail, a woman observed him out of her window, who kad probably heard him boast in the name of the Lord his God, and called out to him, ‘‘ Where is the Lord your God now?’ In reply he directed her to verse 10 of the chapter now before us, and she was so struck on reading it, that ahe became a kind friend to him in all his subsequent confinement.

The words are, ““Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is the Lord thy God ?”’ (Palmer’s Noncon. Memor.)

Notes on the verses

Chap. VII. Ver. 1. As when they have gathered, &c.— As the gatherings (Newcome, * gatherers’) of summer fruits;”” Netwocome, “ Late figs;” but he adds, ‘‘ the word is sometimes used for fruits in general.” Ver. 3. So they wrap it up.—Newcome, ‘‘ And they do abominably.’’? So the Syriac and Chaldee.. Ver. ii. The decree be far removed.—Boothroyd, ‘‘ Extended,” referring it to the decree of Cyrus in their favour. Ver. 12. From the fortress.—Some read “from Egypt,’’ which differs one letter only. Seeker, ‘ Unto Egypt, and from Egypt even unto tlie river.” CONCLUDING REMARKS ON THE BOOK OF MICAH. (THE prophecy contained in (Micah 5:1-5), says Dr. Hales, ‘‘ Is perhaps the most important single prophecy in the Old Testament, and the most comprehensive respecting the personal character of the Messiah, and his successive manifestations to the world.

It crowns the whole chain of predictions descriptive of the several limitations of the blessed Seed df the woman to the line of Shem; to the ——-. of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to the tribe of Judah, and to the royal house of David, here Speinetiog in his birth at. Bethlehem, the city of David.’ It carefully distinguishes bis human nativity from his eternal generation; foretels the rejection of the Israelites and Jews fora season; their final restoration; and the universal peace destined to prevail throughout the earth in the Regeneration. It forms, therefore, the basis of the New Testament, which begins with his human birth at Bethlehem, the miraculous circumstances of which are recorded in the introductions of Matthew’s and Luke’s Gospels; his e1ernal generation as the ORACLE, or W1SDomM, in the sublime introduction of John’s Gospel; his prophetic character, and second coming, illustrated in the four Gospels and Epistles, ending with a prediction of the speedy approach of the latter in the Apocalypse.

((Revelation 22:20).)” That the an- \NaHum, the prophet, was a native of Elkosh, a town of Galilee, the ruins of which were still in being, and well known, in the time of JEROME. JOsE- PHUS (Ant. |. ix. ¢. 11. §3.) says, that he flourished in the time of Jotham, king of Judah, and that “all the events which he foretold concerning Nineveh came to pass one hundred and fifteen years afterwards.” But JEROME, with more praenitity: places him in the reign of Hezekiah, king of Judah, and says, that “his name by interpretation is a comforter; for the ten tribes being carried away by the king of Assyria, this vision was to comfort them in their captivity: nor was it less consolation to the other two tribes of Judah and jamin, who remained in the land, and were besieged by the same enemies, to hear that these conquerors would in time be conquered themselves, their city taken, and their empire overthrown.”

This prophecy consists of three chapters, ing one envire poem, the conduct and imagery of which are truly (This verse may be rendered, ‘In that day they (people) shall come to thee from Assyria and the fenced cities; and from the fortress (probably Pelwsium at the entrance of Egypt) even to the river (Euphrates,”) &c. The expresaions employed in this prophecy appear to be too strong for the events which transpired after the Babylonian captivity; and seem to refer to the future restoration of Israel, after their land has lain desolate for ages.|—Bagster. Ver. 14. With thy rod.—Newcome, “ Crook,” or pastoral staff __ Ver. 17. Worms.—‘‘ Reptiles,” or vermin generally. Taylor’s Scrip. Index. cient Jews understood this prophecy of the Messiah is evident, not only from the decision of the chief priests and scribes, ((Matthew 2:6).) but also from many of the Jewish writers which are now extant. JONATHAN in his Targum expressly applies it to the Messiah; rendering it, ‘‘ And thou Bethlehem Ephratah, art thou too little to be numbered among the thousands of the house of Judah? From thee before me shall come forth the Messiah to exercise dominion in Israel, whose name is declared of old, from the days of eternity.”” In the Targum. on the Pentateuch ascribed to the same author, on (Genesis 35:21). the tower of Edar, rendered in Micah, ‘‘ the tower of the flock,” and which JEROME says was near Bethlehem, and the place where the birth of Jesus Christ was declared to the shepherds, is express! med to be *‘ the place from which the king Messiah shall be manifested ir the end of the days.”

In Pirke Eliezer also, the passage in Micah is referred to the Messiah; and “ his goings forth from the beginning,” is interpreted by ‘‘ when the world was not yet created.” See also ‘Talmud Hieros. Berachoth. In fact, nothing can be clearer or more undoubted than the application of this remarkable prophecy;_ which was fully venfied in the birth of our Saviour, by a peculiar act of Providence, at Bethlehem. THE BOOK OF NAHUM. admirable. In the exordium, the prophet sets forth with grandeur the justice and power of God, tempered with lenity and goodness; foretels the ruin of the Assyrian king and his army, and the deliverance of the people of God, with their rejoicing on the occasion; predicts the siege and taking of Nineveh by the Medes and Babylonians, the ruin of the Assyrian empire, the plundering and destruction of the city, and the extinction of the royal family.

for their oppression and cruelty; denounces a heavy wo against Nineveh for her perfidy and violence, and i¢ olatries; shows that the desolation of No-Ammon, in Egypt, may lead her to expect similar destruction; and predicts her utter and final sean, and the inefficacy of all methods to prevent it.” |—Bagster. T. H. Horne recommends Bp. Newton’s 9th Dissertation on the Prophets, as the best commentary on this book; we have therefore carefully consulted it, in connexion with Abp. Newecome’s Version, and Dr. eat 8.