John Calvin Commentary Micah 3

The Prophet in this chapter assails and severely reproves the chief men as well as the teachers, for both were given to avarice and cruelty, to plunder, and, in short, to all other vices. He begins with the magistrates, who exercised authority among the people, and briefly relates the words in which he inveighed against them.

We have said elsewhere that the Prophets did not record all that they had spoken, but only touched briefly on the main points. This was done by Micah so that we might know what he did for forty or more years in which he executed his office. He could have related, no doubt, in half an hour, all that exists of his writings.

But from this small book, however small it is, we may learn what was the Prophet’s manner of teaching and on what things he chiefly dwelt. I will now return to his words.

He says that the chief men of the kingdom had been reproved by him. It is probable that these words were addressed to the Jews; for though at the beginning he includes the Israelites, yet we know that he was given as a teacher to the Jews, and not to the kingdom of Israel. It was, as it were, accidental that he sometimes introduces the ten tribes together with the Jews. This address then was made, as I think, to the king as well as to his counselors and other judges, who then ruled over the people of Judah.

Hear this, I pray, he says. Such a preface indicates carelessness in the judges; for why does he demand a hearing from them, except that they had become so torpid in their vices that they would attend to nothing? Since then so brutal a stupor had seized on them, he says, Hear now, you chiefs, or heads, of Jacob, and you rulers of the house of Israel. But why does he still speak of the house of Israel?

Because that name was especially known and celebrated whenever mention was made of the posterity of Abraham. The other Prophets, even while speaking of the kingdom of Judah, often make use of this title, you who are called by the name of Israel; and they did this on account of the dignity of the holy Patriarch, and the meaning of the word itself was no ordinary testimonial of excellence for his whole race. This is what is frequently done by Isaiah.

But the name of Israel is not put here, as elsewhere, as a title of distinction. On the contrary, the Prophet here amplifies their sin, because they were so corrupt, though they were the chief men among the chosen race, being those whom God had honored with so much dignity as to set them over His Church and elect people. It was then an intolerable ingratitude to abuse that high and sacred authority which had been conferred on them by God.

Does it not belong to you, he says, to know judgment? Here he implies that rectitude ought to exist among the chief men more especially than among the common people, for they ought to excel others in the knowledge of what is just and right.

For though the difference between good and evil is engraved on the hearts of all, yet those who hold supremacy among the people and excel in power are, as it were, the eyes of the community. As the eyes direct the whole body, so also those who are placed in any situation of honor are thus made eminent, so that they may show the right way to others.

Hence by the word to know, the Prophet implies that they wickedly subverted the whole order of nature, for they were blind, while they ought to have been the luminaries of the whole people. Is it not for you, he says, to know judgment? And equity? But why was this said, especially to the chief men?

Because they, though they themselves knew what was right, having the law engraved within, yet as leaders ought to have possessed superior knowledge, so as to outshine others. It is therefore your duty to know judgment. Hence, we learn that it is not enough for princes and magistrates to be well disposed and upright; but it is required of them to know judgment and wisdom so that they may discern matters above the common people.

But if they are not thus endowed with the gift of understanding and wisdom, let them ask of the Lord. We indeed know that without the Spirit of God, the most acute men are wholly unfit to rule. Nor is it in vain that the free Spirit of God is portrayed as holding the supreme power in the world, for we are thus reminded that even those who are endowed with the chief gifts are wholly incapable of governing unless the Spirit of God is with them.

This passage then shows that an upright mind is not a sufficient qualification in princes; they must also excel in wisdom, so that they may be, as we have already said, as the eyes are to the body. It is in this sense that Micah now says that it belonged to the leaders of the people to know judgment and justice.

He afterwards adds, But they hate good, and love evil, and pull off the skin from my people, the flesh from their bones; that is, they leave nothing, he says, sound and safe, their rapacity being so furious. The Prophet conveys first a general reproof—that they not only perverted justice, but were also given to wickedness and hated good.

He means then that they were openly wicked and ungodly, and also that they with a fixed purpose carried on war against everything just and right. Hence, we learn how great and how abominable was the corruption of the people, when they were still the peculiar possession and heritage of God.

Since, then, the state of this ancient people had become so degenerated, let us learn to walk in careful concern and fear, while the Lord governs us through pious magistrates and faithful pastors. For what happened to the Jews might soon happen to us, so that wolves might rule over us, as indeed experience has proved even in this our city.

The Prophet afterwards adds the kinds of cruelty which prevailed, of which he speaks in hyperbolical terms, though no doubt he sets before our eyes the state of things as it was. He compares the judges to wolves or to lions, or to other savage beasts. He says not that they sought the property of the people, or pillaged their houses; but he says that they devoured their flesh even to the very bones; he says that they pulled off their skin, and this he confirms in the next verse.

They devour, he says, the flesh of my people, and their skin they strip off from them, and their bones they break in pieces and make small, as that which into the pot is thrown, and which is in the midst of the caldron. For when anyone throws meat into the pot, he does not take the whole ox, but cuts it into pieces, and having broken it, he then fills his pot or his caldron with these pieces.

The Prophet then enhances the cruelty of the princes: they were not content with one kind of oppression, but exercised every species of barbarous cruelty towards the people, and were in every respect like bears, wolves, lions, or other savage beasts, and they were also like gluttons. We now perceive the Prophet’s meaning.

Now this passage teaches us what God requires primarily from those in power—that they abstain from doing injustice. For as they are armed with power, so they ought to be a law to themselves. They assume authority over others; let them then begin with themselves and restrain themselves from doing evil.

For when a private man is disposed to do harm, he is restrained at least by fear of the laws and dares not to do anything as he pleases. But in princes there is a greater boldness, and they are able to do greater injustice; this is the reason why they ought to observe more forbearance and humanity.

Hence, mildness and paternal kindness especially befit princes and those in power. But the Prophet here condemns the princes of his age for what deserved the highest censure, and their chief crime was cruelty or inhumanity, since they did not spare their own subjects.

We now see that the Prophet in no degree flattered the great, though they took great pride in their own dignity. But when he saw that they wickedly and basely abused the power committed to them, he boldly resisted them and exercised the full boldness of the Spirit.

He therefore not only calls them robbers or plunderers of the people, but he says that they were cruel wild beasts; he says that they devoured the flesh, tore and pulled it in pieces, and made it small. He says all this so that he might convey an idea of the various kinds of cruelty which they practiced. Now follow threats—

Micah now denounces judgment on the chief men, such as they deserved. He says, They shall cry then to Jehovah. The adverb אז, az, is often used indefinitely in Hebrew and has the force of a demonstrative. It may be taken as pointing out a thing (δεικτικως — demonstratively), then, or there, as though the Prophet pointed out by his finger things that could be seen, though they were far away from the sight of men.

But in this place, the Prophet seems rather to pursue the subject to which I have already referred, for he had previously stated that God would take vengeance on that people. This adverb of time then is connected with the other combinations, which have been already explained. If, however, anyone prefers a different meaning, namely that the Prophet meant here to hold them in suspense as to the nearness of God’s vengeance, I do not oppose him, for this sense is not unsuitable.

However this may be, the Prophet here testifies that the crimes of the chief men would not go unpunished, though they did not think themselves to be subject either to laws or to punishment. As then the princes and magistrates regarded themselves as exempt, by some imaginary privilege, from the lot of other people, the Prophet declares here expressly that a distress was near, which would extort a cry from them. For by the word “cry,” he means the miseries that were near. They shall then cry in their distress. I have now explained the purpose of the Prophet.

We indeed see how today those who are in high stations swell with arrogance. For as they abound in wealth, and as honor is, as it were, an elevated degree, so that being propped up by the shoulders of others they seem eminent, and as they are also feared by the rest of the people, they are on these accounts led to think that no adversity can happen to them. But the Prophet says that such would be their distress that it would draw a cry from them.

They shall then cry, but Jehovah will not hear; that is, they shall be miserable and without any remedy. Jehovah will not answer them, but will hide from them his face, as they have done perversely; that is, God will not hear their complaints, for he will return on their own heads all the injuries with which he now sees his own people to be afflicted. And thus God will show that he was not asleep while they were with so much effrontery practicing all kinds of wrong.

It may, however, be asked here how it is that God rejects the prayers and entreaties of those who cry to him. It must first be observed that the reprobate, though they rend the air with their cries, do not yet direct their prayers to God. But if they address God himself, they do this clamorously, for they expostulate with him and contend with him; indeed, they vomit out their blasphemies, or at least they murmur and complain of their troubles.

The ungodly then cry, but not to the Lord; or if they address their cries to God, they are, as has been said, full of clamor. Hence, unless one is guided by the Spirit of God, he cannot pray from the heart. And we know that it is the unique work of the Spirit to raise up our hearts to heaven, for in vain we pray unless we bring faith and repentance. And who is the author of these but the Holy Spirit?

It appears then that the ungodly cry in such a way that they only violently contend with God; but this is not the right way of praying. It is therefore no wonder that God rejects their clamors. The ungodly do indeed at times pour forth a flood of prayers and call on God’s name with the mouth, but at the same time they are, as we have said, full of perverseness, and they never really humble themselves before God. Since then they pour forth their prayers from a bitter and a proud heart, this is the reason why the Prophet says now that the Lord would not then hear, but hide his face from them at that time, inasmuch as they acted perversely.

He shows here that God would not be reconciled to men wholly irreclaimable, who could not be restored by any means to the right way. But when anyone falls [and repents], he will always find God propitious to him as soon as he cries to him. However, when with obstinate minds we pursue our own course and make no room for repentance, we close up the door of mercy against ourselves. And so what the Prophet teaches here necessarily takes place—the Lord hides his face in the day of distress.

And we also hear what the Scripture says: judgment will be without mercy to those who are not merciful (James 2:11). Hence if anyone is inexorable to his brethren (as we see today many tyrants to be, and we also see many in the middle class to be of the same tyrannical and wholly bloodthirsty disposition), he will eventually, whoever he may be, meet with that judgment which Micah here denounces.

The sentence then is not to be taken in a general sense, as though he had said that the Lord would not be reconciled to the wicked. Instead, he points out especially those irreclaimable men who had wholly hardened themselves, so that they had become, as we have already seen, altogether inflexible. The Prophet now comes to his second reproof.

Micah accuses the Prophets here, in the first place, of avarice and of a desire for shameful gain. But he begins by saying that he spoke by God’s command, and as if from His mouth, so that his condemnation might have more weight and power. Thus then says Jehovah against the Prophets: and he calls them the deceivers of the people. But at the same time, he points out the source of the evil—that is, why or by what passion they were instigated to deceive: it was because the desire of gain had completely possessed them, so that they made no distinction between what was true and what was false, but only sought to please for the sake of gain.

And he also shows, on the other hand, that they were so covetous of gain that they declared war, if anyone did not feed them. And God again repeats the name of His people: this had escaped my notice previously when commenting on the words of Micah, that the princes devoured the flesh of God’s people, for the indignity was increased when this wrong was done to the people of God.

Had the Assyrians, or the Ethiopians, or the Egyptians been pillaged by their princes, it would have been more tolerable; but when the very people of God were devoured in this way, it was, as I have said, harder to bear. So when the people of God were deceived, and the truth was turned into a lie, it was an even more hateful sacrilege.

This then was the reason why he said, Who deceive my people. “This people is sacred to Me, for I have chosen them for Myself; since then they are destroyed by frauds and deceptions, is not My majesty in a way dishonored—is not My authority lessened?” We now see then the reason why the Prophet says, They deceive my people. It is indeed certain that the Jews were worthy of such deceptions; and God elsewhere declares that whenever He permitted false prophets to come among them, it was to test them to see what sort of people they were (Deuteronomy 13). It was then their just reward when liberty was given to Satan to obstruct sound doctrine among the people.

And no one is ever deceived, except by his own will. Though their own simplicity seems to draw many to destruction, yet there is always some hypocrisy in them. But it does not extenuate the sin of false teachers that the people deserve such a punishment; and hence the Prophet still continues with his reproof and says that they were the people of God—in what respect?

By adoption. Though the Jews had then rendered themselves unworthy of such an honor, yet God counts them His people, so that He might punish the wickedness of the false teachers, of which the Prophet now accuses them. It now follows that they did bite with their teeth. But I cannot finish today.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that as You would have the image of Your justice to shine in princes, whom You arm with the sword, that they might rule in Your name and be truly Your ministers—O grant that this Your blessing may openly appear among us, and that by this evidence You may testify that You are not only propitious to us, but also have care for our safety, and watch over our welfare and well-being. And do You so shine by Your word, that it may never be obscured or clouded among us through any corrupt desire, but always retain its own clear purity, so that we may proceed in the right path of salvation, which You have revealed and prescribed, until we are at last gathered into Your celestial kingdom, to enjoy that eternal inheritance which has been procured for us by the blood of Your only-begotten Son. Amen.

[Exposition continues from previous day's lecture]

Let us proceed to explain that sentence of the Prophet, in which he shows the cause why the teachers deceived the people and turned the truth of God into a lie; and this was because they were greedy for gains and were completely given to avarice. We hence see, according to the testimony of Paul, that avarice provides a cause for all evils (1 Timothy 6:10); and that wherever this contagion spreads, all things necessarily fall into decay, for when avarice reigns in the hearts of men, the truth of God especially is always adulterated.

But Micah adduces two evidences of avarice—that they cried, Peace, when well fed and filled, and that they proclaimed war when they were hungry. Then as to the first point, he says, הנשכים בשניהם וקראו שלום, that is, who bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace. But the sentence is to be understood in this way: when they did bite well, they announced peace with full confidence. For by the word ‘bite,’ the Prophet means their gluttony, because those who, under the guise of God’s name, sought only their own advantage were not satisfied with moderate support, since they were like hungry dogs.

They therefore devoured and gorged themselves without any limits or moderation. This is the reason why he says that they did bite: for he compares them either to lions or to bears. And we know that wild beasts are not satisfied with a small quantity of food, but that they gnash their teeth, as it were, unless they are always pampered.

So also Micah says that the false teachers of his age were voracious men who demanded a large amount of food. We see the same thing in our day with the monks under the Papacy, especially those who, under the name of mendacity, devour the substance of all people. Unless they are pampered, they always murmur; indeed, they are not content with murmurs, they proclaim war, as the Prophet says here. We indeed see at the same time that they are insatiable; for when they come to well-furnished tables, no one would say that they are men, but beasts, for they devour everything. We now understand then the Prophet’s meaning.

But it is not voracity alone that is reprehended: he says that they sold their blessings when they were well filled and had their stomachs well supplied. In the same manner, the monks also are accustomed to pronounce peace when they are well fed—“O! you do good when you take care of the brethren, for they are careful of you. When you sleep in your beds, they watch, and their prayers make you rich; for how could the world stand, were it not that the brethren make amends for it? Since then you are so kind to our community, all things shall turn out well and prosperously for you, and God also will bless you.” This then is the practice of those who sell their blessings for reward; they cry, “Peace,” that is, they confidently declare that all things shall be well; they make God propitious, provided such liberality towards their order is always continued.

But, on the other hand, he also says, If anyone does not give to their mouth, they instantly sanctify war against you: but I give a different rendering, as the passage requires—that they proclaim war, though the word is literally “to sanctify.” But we have seen in Joel 2 that the word is used to designate any solemn proclamation—Sanctify a fast, that is, “Proclaim a fast.” So also in this place, “They sanctify war” means they proclaim war when anyone does not feed them nor satisfy their gluttony, for they could not bear want. In short, the Prophet shows that these false teachers were so blinded by avarice that they did not discern the difference between right and wrong, but only praised those who fed them. On the other hand, when they found that they and their stomachs were not cared for nor satisfied, they cursed, fulminated, and uttered nothing but anathemas, as we see done today by the monks under the Papacy. The Prophet now says—

God declares here to the false teachers by the mouth of Micah, that He would inflict punishment on them, so that they would be exposed to the reproach of all. Hence the kind of punishment of which the Prophet speaks is—that He would strip the false teachers of all their dignity, so that from now on they would vainly put on an appearance, and claim the honorable name which they had so long abused. We indeed know, when ungodly and profane men clothe themselves with the dignified titles of being the princes, or bishops, or prelates of the Church, how audaciously they pervert everything, and do so with impunity. There is then no other remedy, except God pulls off the mask from them, and openly reveals to all their baseness. Of this punishment Micah now speaks.

There shall be to you a night from vision; this is the literal phrasing, but the particle מ, mem, often means 'for' or 'on account of.' We can easily see that the Prophet represents night as the reward for visions and darkness for divination. “As then My people have been deceived by your fallacies, for your visions and divinations have been nothing but lies and deceits, I will repay you with the reward which you have deserved: for instead of a vision you shall have night, and instead of divination you shall have thick darkness.”

It is indeed certain that the false teachers, even when they were, as they say, in great reputation—that is, when they retained the honor and the title of their office—were blind and wholly destitute of all light. But the Prophet here declares that, as their baseness did not appear to the common people, God would cause it to be eventually fully evident.

For instance, there is nothing today more stupid and senseless than the bishops of the Papacy. For when anyone draws from them any expression about religion, they instantly betray not only their ignorance but also their shameful stupidity. With regard to the monks, though they are the most audacious kind of animals (audacissimum animalium genus), yet we know how unlearned and ignorant they are.

Therefore, at this time the night has not yet passed away, nor the darkness of which Micah speaks here.

So now we understand what the Holy Spirit teaches here: that God would eventually strip those false teachers of that imaginary dignity, on account of which no one dared to speak against them but received as an oracle whatever they uttered. Night, then, shall be to you instead of a vision; that is, “The whole world shall understand that you are not what you boast yourselves to be, for I will show that there is not in you, not even a particle of the prophetic spirit, but that you are men as dark as night, and darkness shall be to you instead of divination. You boast of great acuteness and great perspicuity of mind; but I will reveal your baseness, so that the very children may know that you are not endowed with the spirit.”

To the same purpose is what He adds, Go down shall the sun upon you, and darkened over you shall be the day; that is, such will be that darkness that even at noon they will see nothing. The sun will shine on all, but they shall grope as in the dark, so that God's vengeance would be made so manifest that it might be noticed by all, from the least to the greatest.

He confirms the same thing in the next verse: And ashamed shall be the seers and confounded the diviners, and they shall cover their lip; that is, they will put veils on their mouths. In short, He means that they would become a reproach to all, so that they would be ashamed of themselves and no longer dare to boast with so much confidence of their name and of the prophetic office.

As to this form of expression, ועטו על-שפם, uothu ol shephim, some think that the practice of mourners is referred to; but this interpretation is unconvincing. I therefore have no doubt that Micah intimates that the mouths of the false teachers would be closed.

There is nearly the same denunciation mentioned by Zechariah. For speaking of the restoration of the Church, He says—those who before went about boasting greatly, and gloried in the name of Prophets, shall cast away their mantle, and will no longer dare to show themselves. Indeed, when they shall come abroad, they shall be, as it were, herdsmen or private persons, and shall say, “I am not a prophet, nor the son of a prophet, I am chastised by my father;” that is, they shall profess themselves unworthy of being called prophets, but that they are scholars under discipline (Zechariah 13:5).

So also in this place, “They deceive today My people,” says the Lord; “I will reward them as they deserve; I will fill them with disgrace and contempt.”

They shall not then dare from now on to show themselves as they have been accustomed to do. They shall not presume boastingly to profess themselves to be the pillars of the Church, that the whole world may be made subject to them. They shall not dare with tyrannical force to oppress the common and ignorant portions of society. Veil, then, shall they their mouth; that is, “I will cause their mouth to be closed, so that they shall not dare from now on to utter even a word.”

It follows, For there will be no answer from God. Some explain this sentence as though the Prophet upbraided them with their old deceits, which they boasted were the words of God. Since they were not faithful to God but lied to miserable men when they said that they were sent from above and brought messages from heaven, while they only uttered their own inventions or fables, they should on these accounts be constrained to cover their mouth.

But the Prophet's meaning is different, and it is this: that they were to be deprived of any answer, so that their lack of knowledge might be easily perceived even by the most ignorant. For false teachers, though they possess nothing certain, yet deceive the simple with disguises and make their absurdities plausible, that they may seem to be the interpreters of God; and they further add great confidence. And then the stupidity of the people concedes to them such great power, according to what is said by Jeremiah 5, where He says that the priests received gifts and that for gifts the Prophets divined, and that the people loved such deprivations.

But Micah declares here that such delusions would no longer be allowed, for God would dissipate them. It will then be made evident that you have no answer from God; that is, “All will perceive that you are void and destitute of every celestial truth, and that you were formerly but gross cheats, when you passed yourselves as God’s servants, though you had no ground for doing so.”

We now perceive what the Prophet means. But this punishment might have then contributed to the benefit of the people: for as it is a cause of ruin to the world when there is no difference made between light and darkness, so when the baseness of those is revealed who abuse God’s name and adulterate His pure truth, there is then a door open to repentance. Rightly then is this combination addressed to false prophets.

Here Micah, in a courageous spirit, stands up alone against all the false teachers, even when he saw that they were a large number and that they appealed to their number as their shield, according to their usual practice. Therefore, he says, I am filled with power by the Spirit of Jehovah. This confidence is what all God’s servants should possess, so that they may not succumb to the empty and vain boastings of those who subvert the whole order of the Church.

Whenever, then, God permits His pure truth to be corrupted by false teachers, and they become popular among those high in honor as well as the multitude, let us remember this striking example. This is so that we may not be discouraged, and so that the firmness and invincible power of the Holy Spirit may not be weakened in our hearts. Instead, let us proceed in the course of our calling and learn to oppose the name of God to all the deceptions of men, if indeed we are convinced that our service is approved by Him as being faithful.

Since, then, Micah says that he was filled with power, he no doubt stood, as it were, in the presence of the whole people and alone pitched his camp against the whole multitude. For there were then false teachers going about everywhere, as the devil always sows enough seed whenever God loosens the reins.

Though their number was not small, Micah did not hesitate to go forth among them. “I,” he says—stress is to be laid on the pronoun אנכי, anki,—“You despise me, being one man, and you despise a few men; you may think that I alone serve the Lord. But I am a match for a thousand, yes, for an innumerable multitude, for God is on my side, and He approves of my ministry as it is from Him. Nor do I bring anything to you but what He has commanded. It is I, then.”

He further expresses a fuller confidence by using the word אולם, aulam; Verily, he says, I am filled with power. This “verily” or “truly” is opposed to those lofty boastings by which the false prophets were accustomed to attain a name and honor among the people. But Micah intimates that all that they uttered was only evanescent. “You are,” he says, “wonderful prophets; no, you are superior to the angels, if you are to be believed. But show that you are so in reality; let there be some proof by which your calling can be confirmed.

There is no proof. It then follows that you are only men of wind, and not really spiritual. But there is really in me what you boast of with your mouths.” And he says that he was filled, so that he might not be thought one of the common sort. Micah no doubt shows here, on account of the necessity of the occasion, that he was not supplied with ordinary or usual power.

For as God employs the labors of His servants, so He is present with them and furnishes them with suitable protection. When anyone is not exercised with great difficulties in discharging his office of teaching, only a common measure of the Spirit is necessary for the performance of his duties. But when anyone is drawn into arduous and difficult struggles, he is at the same time especially strengthened by the Lord.

We see daily examples of this, for many simple men, who have never been trained in learning, have yet been so endowed by the celestial Spirit when they came to great trials, that they have closed the mouths of great scholars who seemed to understand all oracles. By such evidences God openly proves today that He is the same now as when He formerly endowed His servant Micah with a power so rare and so extraordinary. This, then, is the reason why he says that he was filled with power.

He afterwards adds, By the Spirit of Jehovah. Here the Prophet casts aside every suspicious token of arrogance; so that he would not seem to claim anything as his own, he says that this power was conferred on him from above. This circumstance should be particularly noticed. Though Micah rightly and justly claimed for himself the name of a teacher, yet before the world he had nothing different from others, for all his opponents discharged the same office and obtained the same honor; the office was common to both parties.

Micah was either alone or connected with Isaiah and a few others. Since, then, he here dares to set himself up, we see that his call alone must be regarded. For we know how great is Satan’s propensity to oppose the kingdom of Christ, and also how proud and fierce false teachers are.

Since, then, the rage of Satan and the presumption of false teachers are well known, there is no reason why the faithful should make much of mere empty titles. And when those who lived at that time declared, as Papists do today, that they had no discrimination or judgment to know which of them should have been deemed impostors or the ministers of God—since Micah was alone and they were many, and also that the others were prophets, or at least they had the name and reputation of being so—what was to be done?

This is the reason I have said that this circumstance was worthy of special notice—that though their vocation was common, yet because they had acted perfidiously, and Micah alone, or with a few others, had faithfully performed what the Lord had commanded, he alone is to be deemed a Prophet and a teacher. In short, there is no reason for false prophets to set up against us a mere coveting when they cannot prove that they are endowed with the Spirit of God.

Whoever, then, desires to be deemed a servant of God and a teacher in His Church must have this seal which Micah here adduces: he must be endowed with the Spirit of God. Then honor will be given to God. But if anyone brings nothing but the name, we see how vain it is before God.

He afterwards adds, With judgment and courage (fortitudine). By judgment, I have no doubt, he understands discernment, as this is also the common meaning of the word. He then adds courage. These two things are especially necessary for all ministers of the Word—that is, to excel in wisdom, to understand what is true and right, and also to be endowed with inflexible firmness, by which they may overcome both Satan and the whole world, and never turn aside from their course, though the devil may assail them in all ways.

Thus we see what these two words import. He had first put כח, kech, power; but now he mentions גבורה, gebure, courage or magnanimity.

By the term “power,” he generally meant all the endowments with which all who take upon themselves the office of teaching should be adorned. This qualification is then first required, and it is a general one. But Micah divides this power of the prophets into two kinds: wisdom or judgment, and courage. He did this so that they might understand what God intended.

Let them excel in doctrine; and then, so that they may be confirmed, let them not yield to any gales that may blow, nor be overcome by threats and terrors. Let them not bend here and there to please the world; in a word, let them not succumb to any corruptions. It is therefore necessary to add courage to judgment.

He then adds, To declare to Jacob his wickedness, and to Israel his sin. We see here that the Prophet did not seek the favor of the people. Had he courted their approval, he would have had to soothe with flatteries those who sought flatteries and were already seized with such hatred and malignant feelings that they had rejected Micah. He would then have had to speak softly to them to please them, but this he did not do.

“On the one hand,” he says, “these men sell to you their blessings and deceive you with the hope of peace; and, on the other, they denounce war, unless their voracity is satisfied. And thus it is that they please you, for so you wish, and you seek such teachers as will promise you wine and strong drink. But I am sent to you for another purpose, for the Lord has not deposited flatteries with me, such as may be pleasant to you; but He has deposited reproofs and threatenings. I shall therefore uncover your crimes and will not hesitate to condemn you before the whole world, for you deserve to be treated thus.” We now perceive why the Prophet says that he was endowed with power to declare his wickedness to Jacob, etc.

But from this we learn how necessary it is for us to be supported by celestial firmness when we have to deal with insincere and wicked men; and this is almost the common and uniform lot of all God’s servants. For all who are sent to teach the Word are sent to carry on a contest. It is therefore not enough to teach faithfully what God commands, unless we also contend. And though the wicked may violently rise up against us, we must still put on a brazen front, as it is said in Ezekiel 3:8-9; nor must we yield to their fury, but preserve invincible firmness. Since, then, we have a contest with the devil, with the world, and with all the wicked, so that we may faithfully execute our office, we must be furnished with this courage of which Micah speaks.

As I have already shown that God’s servants should courageously break through all those obstacles by which Satan may attempt either to delay them or to force them backward, so also the doctrine taught here should be applied to all the godly: they should wisely distinguish between the faithful servants of God and impostors who falsely pretend His name.

Then no one who truly and from the heart desires to obey God will be deceived, for the Lord will always give the spirit of judgment and discrimination. And the reason why today many miserable souls are led to endless ruin is because they either shut their eyes, willfully dissemble, or deliberately involve themselves in such subterfuges as these: “I cannot form any judgment. I see learned and celebrated men on both sides, at least those who are in some repute and esteem. Some call me to the right hand, and others to the left. Where am I to turn?”

“I therefore prefer to close my mouth and my ears.” Thus many, seeking a cloak for their sloth, often reveal their ignorance. For we see that our eyes must be opened when the Lord exercises and tries our faith. And He allows discords and contentions to arise in the Church so that some may choose this and others that. Though God then loosens the reins of Satan, so that contests and turmoils of this kind may be stirred up in the Church, there is still no excuse for us if we do not follow what the Lord prescribes; for He will always guide us by His Spirit, provided we do not foster our own slothfulness. It follows—