Chapter commentary
Micah Chapter 3
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What the apostle says of another of the prophets is true of this, who was also his contemporary—"Esaias is very bold," Ro 10:20. So, in this chapter, Micah is very bold in reproving and threatening the great men that were the ringleaders in sin; and he gives the reason (Mic 3:8) why he was so bold, because he had commission and instruction from God to say what he said, and was carried out in it by a higher spirit and power than his own. Magistracy and ministry are two great ordinances of God, for good to his church, but these were both corrupted and the intentions of them perverted; and upon those that abused them, and so abused the church with them, the prophet is very severe, and justly so. I. He gives them their lesson severally, reproving and threatening princes (Mic 3:1-4) and false flattering prophets, Mic 3:5-7. II. He gives them their lesson jointly, putting them together, as acting in conjunction for the ruin of the kingdom, which they should see the ruins of, Mic 3:9-12.
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The Crimes of the Princes and Prophets (726 BC)
繁體中文
首領與先知的罪行 (726 BC)
¹ 我說：雅各的首領，以色列家的官長啊，你們要聽！你們不當知道公平嗎？
² 你們惡善好惡，從人身上剝皮，從人骨頭上剔肉，
³ 吃我民的肉，剝他們的皮，打折他們的骨頭，分成塊子像要下鍋，又像釜中的肉塊。
⁴ 到了遭災的時候，這些人必哀求耶和華，他卻不應允他們。那時他必照他們所行的惡事向他們掩面。
⁵ 論到使我民走入歧途的先知，他們牙齒有所啃嚼的就呼喊說：平安了！凡不供給他們吃的，他們就預備攻擊他。耶和華如此說：
⁶ 你們必遭遇黑夜，以致不見異象；又必遭遇黑暗，以致不能占卜。日頭必向你們沉落，白晝變為黑暗。
⁷ 先見必抱愧，占卜的必蒙羞。他們都必捂著嘴唇，因為神不應允他們。
首領和先知，當他們忠心履行職分的時候，理當比其他人更受高度的尊敬；但當他們背棄所託、行事與職分相違時，也當像別人一樣聽見自己的過犯，並必知道在他們之上有一位神，他們要向他交帳；先知在此就是奉他的名，在他的審判台前指控他們。
I. 讓首領聽見他們的控罪和結局。雅各的首領和以色列家的官長被呼召來聽先知要對他們說的話（Mic 3:1）。神的話對最偉大的人也有責備，傳道人應當在適當的時候予以應用。先知在此回想起來得著安慰——無論結果如何，他已忠心地履行了自己的託付：*我說：首領啊，你們要聽！*他有良心的見證為他作保，證明他沒有因懼怕人的面色而退縮，不盡自己的本分。他告訴他們：
1. 對他們有什麼期望：你們不當知道公平嗎？他的意思是行公平，否則知道公平也毫無益處。「你們的本分豈不是不偏不倚地施行公正，不看人的情面（希伯來文中偏袒和徇情的說法），而要知道公平，明辨每件案件的理非嗎？」或者可以假定，首領和官長比別人更熟悉公正的法則，因為他們擁有認識公平的途徑，也不像那些貧窮愚昧人那樣有無知的藉口（Jer 5:4）；若是如此，他們違背公正之律就更惹神發怒，因為他們是明知故犯。「你們不當知道公平嗎？是的，你們理當知道；所以站住吧，聽聽你們自己的判決，判斷這是否公正，有什麼可以反對的。」
2. 他們雖然知道公正的法則，卻何等可悲地違背了。他們的原則和性情是敗壞的：他們惡善好惡；他們恨惡別人身上的善，也恨惡善對自己有任何影響；他們恨惡行善，恨惡有任何善事做成，也恨惡那些行善的善人；他們喜愛邪惡，以惡為樂。既然這是他們的原則，他們的行為也與之相符——他們對那些在他們權下的人非常殘酷嚴厲，凡在他們掌握之中的，都會發現他們毫無憐憫。他們野蠻地吞吃那些他們本該保護的人，如同不忠心的牧人，剪自己本該餵養的羊群的毛；不但不餵養羊群，反而以之為食（Eze 34:2）。餵養羊群的固然可以吃羊群的奶（1Co 9:7），但這不能滿足他們：他們吃我民的肉。他們固然可以披戴羊毛，但這也不夠：他們從他們身上剝皮（Mic 3:3）。他們以沉重的賦稅加在百姓身上，使他們無力負擔，又以嚴苛的手段徵收；藉著對莫須有罪名的罰款、罰金和肉體刑罰，他們傾覆了臣民的產業和家庭，從一些人奪去性命，從另一些人奪去生計，對待自己的臣民如同猛獸，而非牧人。「他們打折他們的骨頭以取得骨髓，將肉分成塊子像要下鍋。」這表明他們：（1）對自己非常貪婪放縱，沉溺於奢侈和感官之樂。（2）對在權下的人非常野蠻殘酷，只要能使自己富足，不惜使誰傾家蕩產；貪財是萬惡之根，這正是如此的惡。
3. 他們既然如此殘酷地對待神的子民，就可以料想神將怎樣對待他們。法則是確定的：那不憐憫人的，必要受無憐憫的審判（Mic 3:4）：「他們必哀求耶和華，他卻不應允他們——在他們遭難的日子，正如窮人在他們興盛的日子哀求他們，他們卻不應允一樣。」必有一天來到，那時最驕傲輕慢的罪人也要哀求耶和華，乞求那他們曾經既不珍視也不效法的憐憫。但到那時必歸徒然；神甚至要在他們需要他恩惠、自知非他不可的時候向他們掩面。在別的時候他們本可背棄他，但在那時他卻要背棄他們——因他們所行的惡事。注意，人不能期望行惡而得福，倒可以期望像亞多尼比色那樣，自己怎樣待人，也必怎樣被對待；因為那施行報應的是公義的。乖僻的人，你以彎曲待他，他常將殘酷不仁的人交在同樣殘酷不仁的人手中，正如他們從前怎樣待別人。這與Pr 21:13相符：塞耳不聽窮人哀求的，他將來呼籲也不蒙應允；但憐憫人的有理由盼望他們必蒙憐憫。
II. 讓先知也聽見他們的控罪和結局；他們是那些憑虛假說預言的，首領也借他們的手掌權。請注意：
1. 他們的罪是什麼。（1）他們以奉承欺騙百姓為業：他們使我的民走入歧途，引領他們陷入錯謬，無論是關於他們當行的事，還是關於神將怎樣待他們。百姓的領袖使他們走錯路，那些本該引導他們、在他們前頭行的人卻領他們偏離正道，這是百姓的災禍。「他們藉著呼喊平安使他們走錯，告訴他們做得好，一切必平安無事；然而他們卻走在罪惡的路上，離毀滅只有一步之遙。他們呼喊平安，卻牙齒有所啃嚼」——這也許是指他們咬自己的嘴唇，正如我們想要壓抑即將脫口的話時常做的那樣。當他們呼喊平安時，自己的心就定了他們的罪，他們幾乎要收回自己的話、自相矛盾，卻咬緊牙關忍住了。他們不是瞎子領瞎子，因為他們看見前面的坑，卻仍將跟從者領進其中。（2）他們以填飫自己、服事自己的肚腹為唯一目的，正如保羅時代的誘惑人一樣（Ro 16:18），因為他們的神就是自己的肚腹（Php 3:19）。他們牙齒有所啃嚼，就呼喊平安；也就是說，他們奉承恭維那些以美食餵養他們的人；但至於那些不供給他們吃的，就是那些沒有不斷塞滿他們口的人，他們就視之為仇敵；對這些人他們不呼喊平安，不像對那些他們視為恩主的人那樣，反而預備攻擊他；向這些人他們宣告神的審判，正如羅馬教會狡猾的祭司在某些地方根據奉獻者的奉獻，使他們的偶像對奉獻者或笑或怒。因此，不貪圖不義之財被堅持為傳道人的必要資格（1Ti 3:3, Tit 1:7），這是理所當然的。
2. 因這罪而加在他們身上的判決是什麼（Mic 3:6,7）。所警告的是：（1）他們必與那些他們曾呼喊平安的人一同陷入患難痛苦之中：黑夜必臨到他們——一個又黑暗又寒冷的災難之夜，正如他們在奉承中引導百姓希望永不來臨的那樣。黑暗必臨到你們，比你們臨到別人更黑暗；日頭必向先知沉落，在正午沉落；一切安慰都必離他們而去，他們必被剝奪一切盼望。他們指望得著光明的白晝，反要變為黑暗。他們不僅被外在的患難環繞，心思也必充滿混亂，使他們不知所措；他們的頭腦被蒙蔽，自己的思想也要煩擾他們——這就夠煩惱的了。他們使別人留在黑暗中，如今神也要使他們進入黑暗之中。（2）因此他們必被制止，他們一切先知職分的假冒將永遠蒙羞。他們從未有過任何真正的異象；如今事件的發展既然推翻了他們關於平安的預言，就必顯明他們從未有過任何異象，神從未給過他們任何回答，一切都是假冒，他們是騙子和冒名頂替者。他們的名聲既然如此徹底沉淪，他們的自信自然也隨之瓦解。他們的靈既然煩擾混亂，他們的編造也必隨之失效；由於這內外的黑暗，他們不能占卜，甚至不能拿出哪怕一個假冒的異象，他們必抱愧、蒙羞，並捂著嘴唇，如同完全被挫敗、無話可說的人。注意，那些欺騙別人的人，不過是在為自己的臉面預備羞愧。
English original
The Crimes of the Princes and Prophets (726 BC)
¹ And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment?
² Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;
³ Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.
⁴ Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.
⁵ Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.
⁶ Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.
⁷ Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.
Princes and prophets, when they faithfully discharge the duty of their office, are to be highly honoured above other men; but when they betray their trust, and act contrary to it, they should hear of their faults as well as others, and shall be made to know that there is a God above them, to whom they are accountable; at his bar the prophet here, in his name, arraigns them.
I. Let the princes hear their charge and their doom. The heads of Jacob, and the princes of the house of Israel, are called upon to hear what the prophet has to say to them, Mic 3:1. The word of God has reproofs for the greatest of men, which the ministers of that word ought to apply as there is occasion. The prophet here has comfort in the reflection upon it, that, whatever the success was, he had faithfully discharged his trust: And I said, Hear, O princes! He had the testimony of his conscience for him that he had not shrunk from his duty for fear of the face of men. He tells them,
1. What was expected from them: Is it not for you to know judgment? He means to do judgment, for otherwise the knowledge of it is of no avail. "Is it not your business to administer justice impartially, and not to know faces" (as the Hebrew phrase for partiality and respect of persons is), "but to know judgment, and the merits of every cause?" Or it may be taken for granted that the heads and rulers are well acquainted with the rules of justice, whatever others are; for they have those means of knowledge, and have not those excuses for ignorance, which some others have, that are poor and foolish (Jer 5:4); and, if so, their transgression of the laws of justice is the more provoking to God, for they sin against knowledge. "Is it not for you to know judgment? Yes, it is; therefore stand still, and hear your own judgment, and judge if it be not right, whether any thing can be objected against it."
2. How wretchedly they had transgressed the rules of judgment, though they knew what they were. Their principle and disposition are bad: They hate the good and love the evil; they hate good in others, and hate it should have any influence on themselves; they hate to do good, hate to have any good done, and hate those that are good and do good; and they love the evil, delight in mischief. This being their principle, their practice is according to it; they are very cruel and severe towards those that are under their power, and whoever lies at their mercy will find that they have none. They barbarously devour those whom they should protect, and, as unfaithful shepherds, fleece the flock they should feed; nay, instead of feeding it, they feed upon it, Eze 34:2. It is fit indeed that he who feeds a flock should eat of the milk of the flock (1Co 9:7), but that will not content them: They eat the flesh of my people. It is fit that they should be clothed with the wool, but that will not serve: They flay the skin from off them, Mic 3:3. By imposing heavier taxes upon them than they can bear, and exacting them with rigour, by mulcts, and fines, and corporal punishments, for pretended crimes, they ruined the estates and families of their subjects, took away from some their lives, from others their livelihoods, and were to their subjects as beasts of prey, rather than shepherds. "They break their bones to come at the marrow, and chop the flesh in pieces as for the pot." This intimates that they were, (1.) Very ravenous and greedy for themselves, indulging themselves in luxury and sensuality. (2.) Very barbarous and cruel to those that were under them, not caring whom they beggared, so they could but enrich themselves; such evil is the love of money the root of.
3. How they might expect that God should deal with them, since they had been thus cruel to his subjects. The rule is fixed, Those shall have judgment without mercy that have shown no mercy (Mic 3:4): "They shall cry to the Lord, but he will not hear them, in the day of their distress, as the poor cried to them in the day of their prosperity and they would not hear them." There will come a time when the most proud and scornful sinners will cry to the Lord, and sue for that mercy which they once neither valued nor copied out. But it will then be in vain; God will even hide his face from them at that time, that time when they need his favour, and see themselves undone without it. At another time they would have turned their back upon him; but at that time he will turn his back upon them, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings. Note, Men cannot expect to do ill and fare well, but may expect to find, as Adoni-bezek did, that done to them which they did to others; for he is righteous who takes vengeance. With the froward God will show himself froward, and he often gives up cruel and unmerciful men into the hands of those who are cruel and unmerciful to them, as they themselves have formerly been to others. This agrees with Pr 21:13, Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he shall cry himself and shall not be heard; but the merciful have reason to hope that they shall obtain mercy.
II. Let the prophets hear their charge too, and their doom; they were such as prophesied falsely, and the princes bore rule by their means. Observe,
1. What was their sin. (1.) They made it their business to flatter and deceive the people: They make my people err, lead them into mistakes, both concerning what they should do and concerning what God would do with them. It is ill with a people when their leaders cause them to err, and those draw them out of the way that should guide them and go before them in it. "They make them to err by crying peace, by telling them that they do well, and that all shall be well with them; whereas they are in the paths of sin, and within a step of ruin. They cry peace, but they bite with their teeth," which perhaps is meant of their biting their own lips, as we are apt to do when we would suppress something which we are ready to speak. When they cried peace their own hearts gave them the lie, and they were just ready to eat their own words and to contradict themselves, but they bit with their teeth, and kept it in. They were not blind leaders of the blind, for they saw the ditch before them, and yet led their followers into it. (2.) They made it all their aim to glut themselves, and serve their own belly, as the seducers in St. Paul's time (Ro 16:18), for their god is their belly, Php 3:19. They bite with their teeth, and cry peace; that is, they will flatter and compliment those that will feed them with good bits, will give them something to eat; but as for those that put not into their mouths, that are not continually cramming them, they look upon them as their enemies; to them they do not cry peace, as they do to those whom they look upon as their benefactors, but they even prepare war against them; against them they denounce the judgments of God, but as they are to them, as the crafty priests of the church of Rome, in some places, make their image either to smile or frown upon the offerer according as his offering is. Justly is it insisted on as a necessary qualification of a minister (1Ti 3:3, Tit 1:7) that he be not greedy of filthy lucre.
2. What is the sentence passed upon them for this sin, Mic 3:6,7. It is threatened, (1.) That they shall be involved in troubles and miseries with those to whom they had cried peace: Night shall be upon them, a dark cold night of calamity, such as they, in their flattery, led the people to hope would never come. It shall be dark unto you, darker to you than to others; the sun shall go down over the prophets, shall go down at noon; all comfort shall depart from them, and they shall be deprived of all hope of it. The day shall be dark over them, in which they promised themselves light. Nor shall they be surrounded with outward troubles only, but their mind shall be full of confusion, and they shall be brought to their wits' end; their heads shall be clouded, and their own thoughts shall trouble them; and that is trouble enough. They kept others in the dark, and now God will bring them into the dark. (2.) That thereby they shall be silenced, and all their pretensions to prophecy for ever shamed. They never had any true vision; and now, the event disproving their predictions of peace, it shall be made to appear that they never had any, that there never was an answer of God to them, but it was all a sham, and they were cheats and impostors. Their reputation being thus quite sunk, their confidence would of course fail them. And, their spirits being ruffled and confused, their invention would fail them too; and by reason of this darkness, both without and within too, they shall not divine, they shall not have so much as a counterfeit vision to produce, they shall be ashamed, and confounded, and cover their lips, as men that are quite baffled and have nothing to say for themselves. Note, Those who deceive others are but preparing confusion for their own faces.
8-12
The Crimes of the Princes and Prophets (726 BC)
繁體中文
首領與先知的罪行 (726 BC)
⁸ 至於我，我藉耶和華的靈，滿有力量、公平、才能，可以向雅各說明他的過犯，向以色列指出他的罪惡。
⁹ 雅各家的首領、以色列家的官長啊，當聽此言！你們厭惡公平，屈枉正直。
¹⁰ 以人血建立錫安，以罪孽建造耶路撒冷。
¹¹ 首領為賄賂行審判，祭司為雇價施訓誨，先知為金錢行占卜；他們卻倚靠耶和華，說：耶和華不是在我們中間嗎？災禍必不臨到我們。
¹² 所以因你們的緣故，錫安必被耕種像一塊田，耶路撒冷必變為亂堆，這殿的山必像叢林的高處。
此處：I. 先知經歷了神聖的能力隨著他的工作而行，他鄭重地宣認並聲明這一點，以此作為他坦率對待首領和統治者的正當理由。若不是被先知的感動和催促所帶領，他不敢如此大膽面對那些大人物。說話的不是他，而是神藉著他，他不能不說神放在他口中的話。這也與假先知形成對比——假先知活著看見自己被證實為說謊者時便滿面羞愧，他們從來沒有勇氣忠心地對待百姓，只是在他們的罪中奉承他們；他們是屬乎肉體、沒有聖靈的。但彌迦說：我藉耶和華的靈滿有力量（Mic 3:8）。他心中對自己所說的有確信，便以確信的態度說出來。將他與那些假先知相比，你就會說，兩者之間毫無可比。糠秕怎能與麥子比較呢？（Jer 23:28）。畫出來的火怎能與真火相比？請注意此處：1. 這位先知被賦予了怎樣的資格：他滿有力量、公平、才能；他對神和人的靈魂有熱切的愛，深切關切神的榮耀和人的拯救，對罪有火熱的恨惡。他也有勇氣責備罪、為罪作見證，不畏懼大人物或大群眾的憤怒；無論遇到什麼困難或灰心，都不能阻止他或驅使他離開他的工作；這些都不能搖動他。而這一切都受判斷力和謹慎的引導；他是有智慧也有勇氣的人；在他一切的講道中既有光也有熱，既有智慧的靈也有熱心的靈。如此，這位神人便完全裝備好，他所當說的每一句好話、所當做的每一件好事都能成就。聽他講道的人不能不覺察他滿有力量和公平，因為他們發現自己的悟性被打開，心裏火熱——神的話從他而來時帶著如此明顯的證據和論證，帶著如此的能力。2. 他從何得著這些資格——不是出於自己，而是他藉耶和華的靈滿有力量。他既知道在他裏面的、藉他說話的確實是耶和華的靈，他所傳遞的確實是屬神的啟示，便放膽說話，如同有權柄的人，堅定面目如磐石，知道他所說的必被稱義、得以堅立（Isa 50:7,8）。注意，那些誠實行事的人可以放膽行事；那些確知自己有神託付的人不必懼怕人的反對。他不僅有先知的靈——這是他放膽的根基——更有成聖的靈賜予他所需要的放膽和智慧。他不是靠自己的力量剛強，因為這些事誰能擔當呢？而是靠著主，倚賴他的大能大力；因為我們所能承擔的，乃是出於神。我們在任何時候是否為善而滿有能力？那完全是藉著耶和華的靈，因為我們自己軟弱如水；是以色列的神賜力量和權能給他的百姓和他的僕人。3. 他如何運用這些資格——這公平和這能力；他向雅各說明他的過犯，向以色列指出他的罪惡。如果在雅各和以色列中發現了過犯，就必須告訴他們，而神的先知的職責就是告訴他們，大聲呼喊，不可止息（Isa 58:1）。那些來聽神的話的人，必須願意被指出自己的過失，不可只允許他們的傳道人坦率忠心地待他們，更要存感恩的心領受；但既然少有人有足夠的溫柔來領受責備，那些要給予責備的人就需要極大的膽量，並必須祈求智慧和能力的靈。
II. 先知運用這能力來對付雅各家的首領——包括官長和先知——他在本章前半部分已對他們提出了嚴重的控告。他重複了要他們注意聽的召喚（Mic 3:9），與Mic 3:1相同，是指向以色列家的官長的，但他所指的是猶大的官長；因為從Jer 26:18,19（那裏引用了Mic 3:12）可以看出，這話是在希西家的國中說的；但十個支派既已被擄，猶大是如今所剩下的雅各和以色列的全部了。先知恭敬地對他們說話（請你們聽），並給他們首領和官長的稱號。傳道人對大人物的罪必須忠心地責備，但不可對他們粗魯無禮。現在請注意此處：
1. 這些雅各家首領——官長、祭司和先知——所犯的大惡；簡言之，他們貪婪，將自己的職分出賣給對金錢的愛。（1）官長厭惡一切公平；他們不願受任何公正法則的管束，無論是在自己的行事上還是在審理向他們上訴的案件上；他們屈枉一切正直，當公正不能被他們屬世的利益所左右時，便藐視受公正指引或糾正。當他們在行明顯不義之事的同時假裝在行公正時，他們便是屈枉正直，使公正服事一個與政權創立者和權力之源的初衷相反的目的。他們被控告（Mic 3:10）以人血建立錫安。「他們假裝以勒索和欺壓來建立錫安和耶路撒冷；他們為聖城增添新的街道和廣場，裝飾它們；他們建立和推進教會和國家的公共利益，以為這樣就是在事奉神和以色列。但這是以人血和以罪孽而行的，所以不能興盛；他們對神之城的善意也不能為他們違背神的律法辯護。」那些以為對聖教會的火熱熱忱和信仰的推進可以聖化搶奪和謀殺、屠殺和掠奪的人，是錯了；不，錫安的城牆不會感謝那些以血和罪孽建造它的人。人的罪不能成就神的義。「官長的職責是審理向他們上訴的案件，但他們為賄賂行審判（Mic 3:11）；他們在給賄賂的一方作出判決；最正義的案件若沒有費用就不能勝訴，而最不義的案件只要有費用就能勝訴。」當審判官對案件的調查不是「在這案件中當怎樣行？」而是「在這案件中能得什麼？」時，百姓的處境就悲慘了。（2）祭司的職責是教導百姓，為此律法為他們預備了極體面舒適的供養；但這不能滿足他們，他們為雇價施訓誨——在此之外還要索取報酬，而且只要能討好人、為自己贏得利益，他們就願受雇去教導任何事，當作神的諭旨。（3）先知看來有作為酬謝的榮譽費用（1Sa 9:7,8）；但這些先知在說預言時以屬世的利益為主要目標：他們為金錢行占卜。他們的舌頭是唯利是圖的；他們要說預言與否，完全看哪一樣對自己最有利；人若肯付錢，就可以從他們得到任何想要的諭旨。如此他們正是巴蘭的接班人——巴蘭貪愛不義的工價。注意，邪惡的事永不能因對教會的熱忱而被聖化，但聖潔的事卻可能、而且往往被對世界的貪愛所褻瀆。當人行本身是善的事，卻為不義之財而行，它就失去了卓越，成為神和人所憎惡的。
2. 他們雖然如此，卻空有虛妄的假設和屬肉體的自信：他們倚靠耶和華，因為他們在信仰告白上是他的子民，就以為這些惡行既無害也無危險。信心建造在主上面，安息在他裏面，以他為靈魂的根基而倚靠他；妄信只是倚靠主如同一根拐杖，利用他來應一時之需，而世界卻仍是被建造在其上的根基。他們滿有自信地說：（1）關於他們的尊榮：耶和華不是在我們中間嗎？我們豈沒有他與我們同在的記號——他的聖殿、他的約櫃、他活潑的聖言嗎？他們因聖山和其中的尊嚴而狂傲（Zep 3:11），似乎他們教會的特權可以掩飾最惡劣的行為，或者神的同在是為了使祭司和百姓因出售他們的服務而致富。耶和華確實以他的職事在他們中間，這使他們驕傲自大；但如果他們以為他以他的喜悅和慈愛在他們中間，他們就錯了：這是人常常自欺的一個詭計——以為神與他們同在，其實他們因罪已經惹動他離開了他們。（2）他們對自己的安全滿有把握：*災禍必不臨到我們。*許多人被他們的教會特權哄入了致命的安逸之中，似乎那些特權能保護他們在罪中、庇護他們免受刑罰——其實那些特權實實在在將成為他們罪惡和刑罰的最大加重因素。人的有耶和華在他們中間若不能制止他們行惡，就絕不能保護他們免受因行惡而受的苦；罪人以為自己的厚顏就是免刑，這是極其荒謬的。
3. 不管他們虛妄的保護，因他們真實的邪惡而加在他們身上的判決（Mic 3:12）：所以因你們的緣故，錫安必被耕種像一塊田。這段話被引用為彌迦所說的一句大膽之言（Jer 26:18），希西家和他的首領們卻善於聽從——雖然在另一個朝代這幾乎要叫他喪命；不，他們悔改歸正，所以這威脅的執行被阻止了，沒有在那日子來到。（1）此處所預告的是聖地的毀滅——那些曾因神同在的記號和他敬拜的施行而大得尊榮的地方；錫安必被耕種像一塊田——建築被焚為平地，夷為平地。有人觀察到這在羅馬人毀滅耶路撒冷時字面應驗了——當時這城所建在其上的地面被耕犁翻過，作為徹底荒涼的標記，表示若無皇帝許可，不得在這地上建造城市。連耶路撒冷——那聖城——也必變為亂堆，這殿的山——聖殿建造其上的山——必長滿荊棘和蒺藜，如叢林的高處。如果聖地被罪所污穢，它們就必須期望被神的審判所毀壞和傾覆。（2）在其中主持之人的邪惡帶來了這毀滅：「因你們的緣故，錫安必被耕種像一塊田；你們假裝建立錫安，卻以血和罪孽而行，其實是在拆毀它。」注意，祭司和首領的罪往往是國家和教會傾覆的原因。君王昏庸，百姓遭殃。
English original
The Crimes of the Princes and Prophets (726 BC)
⁸ But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.
⁹ Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.
¹⁰ They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
¹¹ The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us.
¹² Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.
Here, I. The prophet experiences a divine power going along with him in his work, and he makes a solemn profession and protestation of it, as that which would justify him, and bear him out, in his plain dealing with the princes and rulers. He would not, he durst not, make thus bold with the great men, but that he was carried out to do it by a prophetical impulse and impression. It was not he that said it, but God by him, and he could not but speak the word that God put into his mouth. It comes in likewise by way of opposition to the false prophets, who were full of shame when they lived to see themselves proved liars, and who never had courage to deal faithfully with the people, but flattered them in their sins; they were sensual, not having the Spirit, but truly (says Micah) I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord, Mic 3:8. Having in himself an assurance of the truth of what he said, he said it with assurance. Compare him with those false prophets, and you will say, There is no comparison between them. What is the chaff to the wheat? Jer 23:28. What is painted fire to real fire? Observe here, 1. What the qualifications were with which this prophet was endured: He was full of power, and of judgment, and of might; he had an ardent love to God and to the souls of men, a deep concern for his glory and their salvation, and a flaming zeal against sin. He had likewise courage to reprove it and witness against it, not fearing the wrath either of great men or of great multitudes; whatever difficulties or discouragements he met with, they did not deter him nor drive him from his work; none of these things moved him. And all this was guided by judgment and discretion; he was a man of wisdom as well as courage; in all his preaching there was light as well as heat, and a spirit of wisdom as well as of zeal. Thus was this man of God thoroughly furnished for every good word he had to say, and every good work he had to do. Those he preached to could not but perceive him to be full both of power and judgment, for they found both their understandings opened and their hearts made to burn within them, with such evidence and demonstration, and with such power, did the word come from him. 2. Whence he had these qualifications, not from and of himself, but he was full of power by the Spirit of the Lord. Knowing that it was indeed the Spirit of the Lord that was in him, and spoke by him, that it was a divine revelation that he delivered, he spoke it boldly, and as one having authority, set his face as a flint, knowing he should be justified and borne out in what he said, Isa 50:7,8. Note, Those who act honestly may act boldly; and those who are sure that they have a commission from God need not be afraid of opposition from men. Nay, he had not only a Spirit of prophecy, which was the ground of his boldness, but the Spirit of sanctification endued him with the boldness and wisdom which were requisite for him. It was not in any strength of his own that he was strong; for who is sufficient for these things? but in the Lord, and in the power of his might; for from him all our sufficiency is. Are we full of power at any time, for that which is good? It is purely by the Spirit of the Lord, for of ourselves we are weak as water; it is the God of Israel that gives strength and power both to his people and to his ministers. 3. What use he made of these qualifications—this judgment and this power; he declared to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin. If transgression be found in Jacob and Israel, they must be told of it, and it is the business of God's prophets to tell them of it, to cry aloud and not to spare, Isa 58:1. Those who come to hear the word of God must be willing to be told of their faults, and must not only give their ministers leave to deal plainly and faithfully with them, but take it kindly, and be thankful; but, since few have meekness enough to receive reproof, those have need of a great deal of boldness who are to give reproofs, and must pray for a spirit both of wisdom and might.
II. The prophet exerts this power in dealing with the heads of the house of Jacob, both the princes and the prophets, whom he had drawn up a high charge against in the former part of the chapter. He repeats the summons of their attendance and attention (Mic 3:9), the same that we had Mic 3:1, directing himself to the princes of the house of Israel, yet he means those of Judah; for it appears (Jer 26:18,19, where Mic 3:12 is quoted) that this was spoken in Hezekiah's kingdom; but, the ten tribes being gone into captivity, Judah is all that is now left of Jacob and Israel. The prophet speaks respectfully to them (hear, I pray you) and gives them their titles of heads and princes. Ministers must be faithful to great men in reproving them for their sins, but they must not be rude and uncivil to them. Now observe here,
1. The great wickedness that these heads of the house of Jacob were guilty of, princes, priest, and prophets; in short, they were covetous and prostituted their offices to their love of money. (1.) The princes abhorred all judgment; they would not be governed by any of its laws, either in their own practice or in passing sentence upon appeals made to them; they perverted all equity, and scorned to be under the direction or correction of justice, when it could not be made pliable to their secular interests. When, under pretence of doing right, they did the most palpable wrongs, then they perverted equity, and made it serve a purpose contrary to the intention of the founder of magistracy and fountain of power. It is laid to their charge (Mic 3:10) that they build up Zion with blood. "They pretend, in justification of their extortion and oppressions, that they build up Zion and Jerusalem; they add new streets and squares to the holy cities, and adorn them; they establish and advance the public interests both in church and state, and think that therein they do God and Israel good service. But it is with blood and with iniquity, and therefore it cannot prosper; nor will their intentions of good to the city of God justify their contradictions to the law of God." Those mistake who think that a burning zeal for holy church, and the propagating of the faith, will serve to consecrate robberies and murders, massacres and depredations; no, Zion's walls owe those no thanks that build them up with blood and iniquity. The sin of man works not the righteousness of God. "The office of the princes is to judge upon appeals made to them; but they judge for reward (Mic 3:11); they give judgment on the side of those that give the bribe; the most righteous cause shall not be carried without a fee, and for a fee the most unrighteous cause shall be carried." Miserable is the people's case when the judge's enquiry upon a cause is not, "What is to be done in it?" but, "What is to be got by it?" (2.) The priests' work was to teach the people, and for that the law had provided them a very honourable comfortable maintenance; but that will not content them, they teach for hire over and above, and will be hired to teach anything, as an oracle of God, which they know will please and gain them an interest. (3.) The prophets, it should seem, had honorary fees given them by way of gratuity (1Sa 9:7,8); but these prophets governed themselves in their prophesying by the prospect of temporal advantage and that was the main thing they had in their eye: They divine for money. Their tongues were mercenary; they would either prophesy or let it alone, according as they found it most for their advantage; and a man might have what oracle he would from them if he would but pay them for it. Thus they were fit successors of Balaam, who loved the wages of unrighteousness. Note, Though that which is wicked can never be consecrated by a zeal for the church, yet that which is sacred may be, and often is, desecrated, by the love of the world. When men do that which in itself is good, but do it for filthy lucre, it loses its excellency, and becomes an abomination both to God and man.
2. Their vain presumption and carnal confidence, notwithstanding: They lean upon the Lord, and because they are, in profession, his people, they think there is neither harm nor danger in these their wicked practices. Faith builds upon the Lord, rests in him, and relies upon him, as the soul's foundation; presumption only leans upon the Lord as a prop, makes use of him to serve a turn, while still the world is the foundation that is built upon. They speak with a great deal of confidence, (1.) Of their honour: "Is not the Lord among us? Have we not the tokens of his presence with us, his temple, his ark, his lively oracles?" They are haughty because of the holy mountain and its dignities (Zep 3:11), as if their church-privileges would palliate the worst of practices, or as if God's presence with them were intended to make the priests and people rich with the sale of their performances. It was true that the Lord was among them by his ordinances, and this puffed them up with pride; but, if they imagined that he was among them by his favour and love, they were mistaken: but it is a cheat the children of men often put upon themselves to think they have God with them, when they have by their sin provoked him to depart from them. (2.) They are confident of their own safety: No evil can come upon us. Many are rocked asleep; in a fatal security by their church-privileges, as if those would protect them in sin, and shelter them from punishment, which are really, and will be, the greatest aggravations both of their sin and of their punishment. If men's having the Lord among them will not restrain them from doing evil, it can never secure them from suffering evil for so doing; and it is very absurd for sinners to think that their impudence will be their impunity.
3. The doom passed upon them for their real wickedness, notwithstanding their imaginary protection (Mic 3:12): Therefore shall Zion for your sake be ploughed as a field. This is that passage which is quoted as a bold word spoken by Micah (Jer 26:18), which yet Hezekiah and his princes took well, though in another reign it might have gone near to cost him his head; nay, they repented and reformed, and so the execution of this threatening was prevented, and did not come in those days. (1.) It is the ruin of holy places that is here foretold, places that had been highly honoured with the tokens of God's presence and the performances of his worship; it is Zion that shall be ploughed as a field, the building burnt to the ground and levelled with it. Some observe that this was literally fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, when the ground on which the city stood was ploughed up in token of its utter desolation, and that no city should be built upon that ground without the emperor's leave. Even Jerusalem, the holy city, shall become heaps of ruins, and the mountain of the house, on which the temple is built, shall be overgrown with briars and thorns, as the high places of the forest. If sacred places be polluted by sin, they must expect to be wasted and ruined by the judgments of God. (2.) It is the wickedness of those who preside in them that brings the ruin: "It is for your sake that Zion shall be ploughed as a field; you pretend to build up Zion, but, doing it by blood and iniquity, you pull it down." Note, The sin of priests and princes is often the ruin of states and churches. Delirant reges, plectuntur Achivi—The kings act foolishly and the people suffer for it.
使徒論到另一位先知所說的話，也適用於與他同時代的這位先知——「以賽亞非常放膽」（Ro 10:20）。照樣，在本章中，彌迦在責備和警告那些帶頭犯罪的權貴時也十分放膽；他說明了自己為何如此放膽的原因（Mic 3:8）——因為他所說的一切，都是出於神的差遣和吩咐，並且是受比他自己更高的靈和能力所感動而發的。政權與聖職是神為教會的好處而設立的兩大制度，但這兩者都已敗壞，原本的設計也被歪曲了；對於那些濫用這兩者、並以此虐待教會的人，先知極其嚴厲地予以斥責，這也是理所當然的。I. 他分別給他們功課，責備並警告君王首領（Mic 3:1-4）和虛偽奉承的假先知（Mic 3:5-7）。II. 他把他們合在一起責備，指出他們如何聯手促使國家敗亡，而他們也必親眼看見這國家的傾覆（Mic 3:9-12）。