Commentary on Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah and Nahum John Calvin (continued)
MINOR PROPHETS
also hear what the Scripture says, --- that judgment will be without mercy to those who are not merciful, (James 2:11.) Hence if any one be inexorable to his brethren, (as we see at this day many tyrants to be, and we also see many in the middle class to be of the same tyrannical and wholly sanguinary disposition,) he will at length, 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; but 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 3:5
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.
5. sic dicit Jehova super (vel, ad) prophetas, qui decipiunt populum meum, et mordent dentibus suis, et clamant, Paz; et si quis non dederit in os ipsorum, edicunt contra eum proelium: Micah accuses here the Prophets, in the first place, of avarice and of a desire for filthy lucre. But he begins by saying that he spoke by God's command, and as it were from his mouth, in order that his combination might have more weight and power.
Thus then saith 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, and that was, because the desire of gain had wholly possessed them, so that they made no difference between what was true and what was false, but only sought to please for the sake of gain. And he shows also, on the other hand, that they were so covetous of gain, that they declared war, if any one did not feed them. And God repeats again the name of his people: this had escaped my notice lately in observing 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 thus devoured, it was, as I have said, less to be borne. So when the people of God were deceived, and the truth was turned to a lie, it was a sacrilege the more hateful.
This then was the reason why he said, Who deceive my people 174 ``This people is sacred to me, for I have chosen them for myself; as then they are destroyed by frauds and deceptions, is not my majesty in a manner dishonored --- is not my authority lessened?'' We now then see 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 try them to see what sort of people they were, (Deuteronomy 13.) It
174"Who deceive my people," is better than, "Who cause my people to err," according to Newcome and Henderson; for what is referred to is the "peace," promised by the false prophets. Marckius' version is, "Who seduce my people," and he makes this remark, —that the people had three seducers, — the devil, their own deceitful hearts, and the false prophets. — Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
was then their just reward, when liberty was given to Satan to prevent sound doctrine among the people. And no one is ever deceived, except through his own will. Though their own simplicity seems to draw many to destruction, yet there is ever in them some hypocrisy. But it does not extenuate the sin of false teachers, that the people deserve such a punishment: and hence the Prophet still goes on with his reproof and says, that they were the people of God, --- in what respect? By adoption. Though then the Jews had rendered themselves unworthy of such an honor, yet God counts them his people, that he might punish the wickedness of the false teachers, of which he now accuses them. It now follows, that they did bite with their teeth But I cannot finish today.
Prayer.
Grant, Almighty God, that as thou wouldest have the image of thy justice to shine in princes, and whom thou arrest with the sword, that they might rule in thy name, and be really thy ministers, --- O grant, that this thy blessing may openly appear among us, and that by this evidence thou mayest testify that thou art not only propitious to us, but hadst also a care for our safety, and watches over our welfare and well-being: and do thou so shine by thy word, that it may never be obscured or clouded among us through any depraved cupidity, but ever retain its own clear purity, so that we may proceed in the right path of salvation, which thou hast discovered and prescribed, until we be at length gathered into thy celestial kingdom, to enjoy that eternal inheritance, which has been procured for us by the blood of thy only-begotten Son. Amen.
Lecture Eighty-sixth
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 to a lie; and this was, because they were greedy of gains and were wholly given to avarice. We hence see, according to the testimony of Paul, that avarice affords a cause to all evils, (1 Timothy 6:10;) and that wherever this contagion comes, all things necessarily fall into decay: for when avarice reigns in the hearts of men, the truth of God especially is ever 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 points he says, {,}הנשכים{ }בשניהם{ }וקראו{ }שלוםthat is, ``who bite with their teeth, 175 and cry, Peace.'' But the sentence is to be so understood, that when they did bite well, they announced peace with full confidence: for by the 175The expression, "to bite with the teeth," is singular, when understood to signify voraciousness, as evidently it does here; for the corresponding words in the next distich, "who put not into their mouth," seem to require this meaning. Almost all critics, except some of the Greek Fathers, who followed the Septuagint, agree in attaching to this import to the sentence. The paraphrase of Rabbi Jonathan is, "To him who offers to them a feast of meat, they prophesy peace." Jerome's view is the same. Dathias gives this paraphrase, dum illis datur quod edunt — "While is given them something to eat." Henry's comment is much to the purpose, — "They will flatter and compliment those who will feed them with good bits, will give them something to eat; but as for those who put not into their mouths, who are not continually cramming them, they look upon them as their enemies; to them they do not cry, Peace, but even prepare war against them; against them they denounce the judgments of God: they preach either comfort or terror to men, not according as they are to 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 to frown upon the offerer, according as his offering is." — Ed.