John Calvin Commentary Micah 3:9-10

"Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, that abhor justice, and pervert all equity. They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity." — Micah 3:9-10 (ASV)

The Prophet truly begins to prove what he had stated: that he was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. It was, as they say, an actual proof when the Prophet feared no worldly power but boldly addressed the princes and provoked their rage against him. Hear, he says, you heads, you rulers of the house of Jacob, you men who are cruel, bloody, and iniquitous. We then see that the Prophet had not boasted of what he did not really confirm without delay.

But he began by saying that he was filled with the Spirit of God, so that he might address them more freely and check their insolence. We indeed know that the ungodly are so led headlong by Satan that they do not hesitate to resist God Himself. Yet, the name of God is often a kind of hidden chain to them. Then, however much the wicked may rage, they still become less ferocious when the name of God is introduced. This is the reason the Prophet mentioned the Spirit of God: it was so that there might be a freer course for his doctrine.

Now, when he says, You heads of the house of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel, it is by way of concession, as if he had said that these were indeed splendid titles, and that he was not so absurd as not to acknowledge what God had given them: that they were eminent, a chosen race, being the children of Abraham.

The Prophet then concedes to the princes what belonged to them, as if he had said that he was not a seditious man who had no care or consideration for civil order. And this defense was very necessary, for nothing is more common than for the ungodly to charge God’s servants with sedition whenever they use a freedom of speech as is fitting for them.

Therefore, all who govern the state, when they hear their corruptions rebuked, or their avarice, or their cruelty, or any of their other crimes, immediately cry out, “What! If we allow these things, everything will be upset. For when all respect is gone, what will follow but brutal outrage? For every one of the common people will rise up against the magistrates and the judges.”

Thus, the wicked always say that God’s servants are seditious whenever they boldly rebuke them. This is the reason the Prophet concedes their honor to the princes and judges of the people. But a qualifying clause immediately follows: You are indeed the heads, you are rulers, but yet they hate judgment: He does not think them worthy of being addressed any longer.

He had indeed commanded them to hear with authority; but having ordered them to hear, he now uncovers their wickedness. They hate, he says, judgments and pervert all rectitude: each of them builds Zion by blood, and Jerusalem by iniquity; that is, they turn their plunder into buildings.

“This, indeed, is the splendor of my holy city, even Zion! Where I designed the ark of my covenant to be placed, as in my only habitation, even there, buildings are seen constructed by blood and by plunder! See,” he says, “how wickedly these princes conduct themselves under the cover of their dignity!”

We now see that the word of God is not bound, but that it puts forth its power against the highest as well as the lowest, for it is the Spirit’s office to arraign the whole world, and not only a part.

When the Spirit shall come, says Christ, it will convince the world (John 16:8).

He does not speak there of the common people only, but of the whole world, of which princes and magistrates form a prominent part. Let us then know that, although we ought to show respect to judges (as the Lord has honored them with dignified titles, calling them His vicegerents and also gods), yet the mouths of Prophets ought not to be closed.

Rather, they ought, without making any distinction, to correct whatever deserves rebuke, and not to spare even the chief men themselves. This is what ought to be observed in the first place.

Then when he says that Zion was built by blood, and Jerusalem by iniquity, it is the same as if the Prophet had said that whatever the great men expended on their palaces had been procured, and, as it were, scraped together from blood and plunder.

The judges could not possibly have seized spoils on every side without being bloody—that is, without plundering the poor. For the judges were for the most part corrupted by the rich and the great, and then they destroyed the miserable and the innocent.

He then who is corrupted by money will at the same time become a thief; and he will not only extort money but will also shed blood. There is then no wonder that Micah says that Zion was built by blood. He afterwards extends his meaning wider and mentions iniquity, as he wished to cast off every excuse from hypocrites.

The expression is indeed somewhat strong when he says that Zion was built by blood. They might have objected and said that they were not so cruel, though they could not wholly clear themselves from the charge of avarice.

“When I speak of blood,” says the Prophet, “there is no reason for us to contend about a name, for all iniquity is blood before God. If then your houses have been built by plunder, your cruelty is sufficiently proved; it is as if miserable and innocent men had been slain by your own hands.”

The words Zion and Jerusalem enhance their sin, for they polluted the holy city and the mount on which the temple was built by the order and command of God.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that as you would have us to be ruled by the preaching of your word, O grant that those who have to discharge this office may be truly endowed with your celestial power, that they may not attempt anything of themselves but with all devotedness spend all their labors for you and for our benefit, that through them we may be thus edified, so that you may ever dwell among us, and that we through our whole life may become the habitation of your Majesty, and that finally we may come to your heavenly sanctuary, where you daily invite us, as an entrance there has been once for all opened to us by the blood of your only-begotten Son. Amen.