John Calvin Commentary Micah 1:14

"Therefore shalt thou give a parting gift to Moresheth-gath: the houses of Achzib shall be a deceitful thing unto the kings of Israel." — Micah 1:14 (ASV)

Here the Prophet alludes to another matter—that they would attempt to pacify their enemies with gifts and would try to redeem themselves and their neighbors. But the Prophet expressly mentions this so that the event might teach them that nothing happens without a design. For it ought to produce a greater conviction in blind and obstinate people when they see that they really find to be true what had been predicted long before.

This, then, is the reason why the Prophet enumerates various particulars here; it was so that the hand of God might be more evident and conspicuous when He would begin, in a special manner, to fulfill all the things which He now foretells in words. You, he says, will send a gift for Moreseth-gath; that is, for a neighboring city.

And he calls it Moreseth-gath to distinguish it from another city of the same name. You will then send gifts for Moreseth-gath, to the sons of Achzib for a lie. The word אכזיב (aczib) is derived from a word that means a lie. There is, therefore, a striking alliteration when he says, You will send gifts to the sons of אכזיב (Aczib), for a lie, לאכזב (laaczeb); that is, you will send gifts to the sons of a lie, for a lie.

The city had obtained its name from its deceptions or guile. And he says, for a lie to the kings of Israel; because it profited the children of Israel nothing to pacify them with gifts or to attempt to draw them to their side, as they hired one another's services.

So then he says that they would be for a lie to the kings of Israel, for they would gain nothing by having many auxiliaries. Some take the words actively—that the kings of Israel had first deceived the citizens of Achzib. But this view is less probable, and I am therefore disposed to adopt the other: that though the citizens of Lachish tried to conciliate their neighbors with a large sum of money, especially the people of Achzib, this would still be to no purpose, for it would be a lie to the people of Israel.

Or, it may be that the Prophet’s meaning is this: that the citizens of Achzib had already wished to bring aid to the kings of Israel, but in vain. For Lachish was one of the first cities that the Assyrians conquered, and it was within the kingdom of Judah, or on its borders. It is then probable that the kings of Israel had recourse to the aid of this people but were not assisted.

Now, as the citizens of Lachish also endeavored to extricate themselves from the hand of their enemies by such aid, the Prophet derides such folly, inasmuch as they did not become wise by experience. Having seen with their own eyes that such help had been useless and deceptive to the kings of Israel, they ought then to have tried some other means rather than expose themselves to the same deceptions.

I cannot finish the chapter today.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that being warned by so many examples (the record of which You have designed to continue to the end of the world so that we may learn how dreadful a judge You are to the perverse)—O grant that we may not today be deaf to Your teaching, which is conveyed to us by the mouth of Your Prophet; but that we may strive to be so reconciled to You that, passing by all people, we may present ourselves unreservedly to You; so that, relying on Your mercy alone which You have promised to us in Christ, we may not doubt that You will be propitious to us; and be so touched with the spirit of true penitence that, if we have been a bad example and an offense to others, we may lead them to the right way of salvation; and that each of us may so endeavor to assist our neighbors in a holy life that we may together attain that blessed and celestial life which Your only-begotten Son has procured for us by His own blood. Amen.