- I am Micah from Moresheth. And this is the message about Samaria and Jerusalem that the LORD gave to me when Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were the kings of Judah.
- Listen, all of you! Earth and everything on it, pay close attention. The LORD God accuses you from his holy temple.
- And he will come down to crush underfoot every pagan altar.
- Mountains will melt beneath his feet like wax beside a fire. Valleys will vanish like water rushing down a ravine.
- This will happen because of the terrible sins of Israel, the descendants of Jacob. Samaria has led Israel to sin, and pagan altars at Jerusalem have made Judah sin.
- So the LORD will leave Samaria in ruins-- merely an empty field where vineyards are planted. He will scatter its stones and destroy its foundations.
- Samaria's idols will be smashed, and the wages of temple prostitutes will be destroyed by fire. Silver and gold from those idols will then be used by foreigners as payment for prostitutes.
- Because of this tragedy, I go barefoot and naked. My crying and weeping sound like howling wolves or ostriches.
- The nation is fatally wounded. Judah is doomed. Jerusalem will fall.
- Don't tell it in Gath! Don't even cry. Instead, roll in the dust at Beth-Leaphrah.
- Depart naked and ashamed, you people of Shaphir. The town of Bethezel mourns because no one from Zaanan went out to help.
- Everyone in Maroth hoped for the best, but the LORD sent disaster down on Jerusalem.
- Get the war chariots ready, you people of Lachish. You led Jerusalem into sin, just as Israel did.
- Now you will have to give a going-away gift to Moresheth. Israel's kings will discover that they cannot trust the town of Achzib.
- People of Mareshah, the LORD will send someone to capture your town. Then Israel's glorious king will be forced to hide in Adullam Cave.
- Judah, shave your head as bald as a buzzard and start mourning. Your precious children will be dragged off to a foreign country.
Both Samaria and Jerusalem had high places where the people worshiped pagan fertility gods. The reference in verse 7 to the wages of a prostitute has a dual connotation. One is of the two nations "prostituting" themselves to other gods as they were unfaithful to God. Their covenant relationship to God was viewed as a marriage and any involvement they had with other gods was seen as unfaithfulness to this marriage relationship. Thus their repeated involvement with pagan gods portrayed them as prostitutes.
The second connotation to a prostitute was to the pagan temple prostitutes who were a part of the fertility rites of the pagan worship. The wages paid these prostitutes were then given back to the temple as "temple gifts." When the Assyrians destroyed Israel, these gifts would be taken and used again in pagan worship in Assyria where the Israelites taken there into exile would be forced to participate. By then, the people may have seen the error of their unfaithful ways, but would have no choice to worship God.
As Micah gives a lament in verses 8-16 over the destruction of Samaria, he calls on several towns of Judah to mourn for Samaria. In each case, what Micah calls on the town to do is related to a characteristic of the town. Reading the passage from The Message helps to see the descriptive terms for each town:
| "Don't gossip about this in Telltown. Don't waste your tears. In Dustville, roll in the dust. In Alarmtown, the alarm is sounded. The citizens of Exitburgh will never get out alive. Lament, Last-Stand City: There's nothing in you left standing. The villagers of Bittertown wait in vain for sweet peace. Harsh judgment has come from GOD and entered Peace City. All you who live in Chariotville, get in your chariots for flight. You led the daughter of Zion into trusting not God but chariots. Similar sins in Israel also got their start in you. Go ahead and give your good-bye gifts to Good-byeville. Miragetown beckoned but disappointed Israel's kings. Inheritance City has lost its inheritance. Glorytown has seen its last of glory." (1:10-15 The Message) |
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