The Mystery of Ephraim

Russia didn’t blow up gas pipeline, the Nord Stream boss said. RT January 26, 2023. The culpric seems extremely cunning and elusive!

The Prophecy of Micah, the word of the Lord that came to Prophet Micah during the reigns of kings Jehoram, Ahaziah, Joash, Amaziah and Uzziah, thus a contemporary with Isaiah, Hosea and Amos, which places him in the years 713 to 750 BC.

Micah is thought to have prophesied thirty or forty years; and his message is again primarily to the house of Israel; the name ‘Israel’ being mentioned 12 times in the book of Micah; three times the 4 for ‘Judah.’

“For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel” Micah 1:5;

And God says to the house of Israel through Ezekiel, “Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, the days are prolonged, and every vision faileth? The vision that he seeth is for many days, and he prophesieth of the times far off” Ezekiel 12:22, Ezekiel 12:27; that is, the message is for the endtime, our time.

For more on Ephraim and Manasseh, or the Ox without the Unicorn.

Micah 1

¹ The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. — in the days Hezekiah, Micah is thought to have prophesied about sixteen years during Jotham’s reign, and as many under Ahaz and fourteen under Hezekiah;

— hence it appears that Micah was contemporary with Isaiah, Hosea and Amos though they began to prophesy sooner than he even in the days of Uzziah; very probably he conversed with these prophets especially Isaiah with whom he agrees in many things; his style is like others and sometimes uses the same phrases:

— which Micah saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem; in the vision of prophecy, Samaria was the metropolis of the ten tribes of Israel and is put for them all, as Jerusalem was of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin; and Samaria is mentioned first because it was the head of the greatest body of tribes; and as it was the first in transgression it was the first to face judgement.

² Hear, all ye people! Hearken, O earth, and all that is therein! And let the Lord God be a witness against you, the Lord from His holy temple. — hear, all ye people; or “all the people, all of them” all the nations of the world, not just the nations of Israel or only from several tribes of Judah;

— hearken, O earth, and all that therein is; or “its fullness” the land of Israel and Judah; and all the nations and inhabitants of the whole earth; reinforcing what was said above; and let the Lord God be witness against everyone;

— or “in you” the Word of the Lord as the Targum says; let God, who is the omniscient God who knows all hearts, thoughts, words and actions, let him bear witness in your consciences that what he was about to say; and if you disregard it and repent not let him be a witness against you; and be warned of danger,

— the Lord from his holy Temple in heaven, whose voice should be hearkened to; who from thence sees all the actions of men and from whence his wrath is revealed against their sins and he gives visible tokens of his displeasure.

³ For behold, the Lord cometh forth out of His place, and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth. — for, behold, the Lord cometh out of heaven, where his Throne is situated, where he keeps his court and displays his glory;

— the high places of the earth; which are his footstool; Samaria and Jerusalem, built on mountains and all other high towers and fortified places together with men of high looks and haughty countenances who exalt themselves like mountains and swell with pride.

⁴ And the mountains shall be molten under Him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as waters that are poured down a steep place.

— and the mountains shall be melt under him, dissolving before him, and the valleys shall be cleft, cleaving asunder as wax before the fire and as the waters that are poured down a steep place, tearing down the earth with landslides a general dissolution of the entire surface of the earth.

⁵ For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And what are the high places of Judah? Are they not Jerusalem? — for the transgression of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel; all these evils, all these idolatries and drunkenness;

— they would be inflicted according to the judgement of God, upon the house of Israel and Judah for their manifold sins and transgressions especially their lies and idolatries;

— is it not the wickedness of Samaria, the calf of Samaria? as in Hosea 7:1; is not that idolatry the transgression of Jacob or who is the source or author of it? are they not the kings that have reigned in Samaria with their nobles, princes and great men, who, by their edicts influence have encouraged the worship of the golden calves?

— now the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak, is a Hindu, same as Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, both worshippers of the cows regarding them as sacred.

— Or the altering of the Sacred Calendar? where they shifted the feast days a month later? that is; are these not enough reasons for all this wrath to come upon them: or as the Targum says “where have they of the house of Jacob sinned? is it not in Samaria?” verily it is and from thence, the metropolis of the nation;

— and this sin of changing God’s Calendar has spread all over the nations: for more on the seriousness about the Calendar issue, see Is there a Calendar Omen?

— and what are the high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem? are they not the kings, the princes and priests that dwell at Jerusalem? certainly they are; see II Kings 16:4; or as the Targum says, “where did they of the house of Judah commit sin? is it not in Jerusalem?” truly it was and it is.

⁶ “Therefore I will make Samaria as a heap of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard; and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will uncover the foundations thereof. — therefore God will make Samaria as an heap of the field, as ruins that fall into dust and finally become a part of the soil and as plantings of a vineyard, that is, places where vineyards may be planted;

— and God will pour down the stones thereof, those which King Omri had used in building the city, into the valley, and he will discover, lay bare, the foundations thereof, destroying it to the very ground.

⁷ And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires thereof shall be burned with fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate; for she gathered it from the hire of a harlot, and they shall return to the hire of a harlot.” — and all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces and all those harlotry shall be burned with the fire;

— and all the idols thereof shall be lay desolate; for she gathered an harlot for hire, by her spiritual adultery, and they shall return the rich treasures that were taken away from their enemies and had devoted to their own idols.

⁸ Therefore I will wail and howl; I will go stripped and naked; I will make a wailing like the dragons and mourning as the owls. — therefore, on account of the calamity which would strike Samaria and Judah, I, Micah, will wail and howl, in a most bitter and mournful cry,;

— I, Micah, will rent my garments, will go stripped and naked (cast off his upper garment) as Isaiah did, Isaiah 20:3; he then go about like a madman, one disturbed in his mind, bereft of his senses because of the desolation coming upon Israel; so the Targum says, “for this they shall wail and howl, and go naked among the spoilers;”

— I, Micah, will make a wailing like the dragons or jackals of the desert (jackals make long howling noises) and mourning as the owls or ostriches crying in pain; the cries of both, as heard at night, are very piteous.

⁹ For her wound is incurable; for it has come unto Judah; he has come unto the gate of My people, even to Jerusalem. — for her wound is incurable; or her “stroke is desperate” the ruin of Samaria and the ten tribes are inevitable; the decree being gone forth and they hardened in their sins and continuing in their impenitence (not feeling shame or regret about one’s actions or attitudes);

— and their destructions are irrevocable; till the time comes that all Israel shall be saved; “she is grievously sick of her wounds” just ready to die upon the brink of ruin and no hope of saving her; this is the cause and reason of the above lamentation of Micah, the prophet, and his increased grief and sorrow;

— for it is come unto the calamity of Judah; it stopped not with Israel or the ten tribes but spread itself into Judah and Benjamin; for the Assyrian army, having taken Samaria and carried Israel captive and in a short seven or eight years later, invaded Judea and took the fenced cities of Judah in Hezekiah’s time in which Micah prophesied;

— he is come unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem; king Sennacherib of Assyria, having taken the fenced cities came up to the very gates of Jerusalem and besieged it where the Temple and courts of judicature where the people resorted to, to have justice; and Micah, being of the tribe of Judah calls them his people and was in great distress.

¹⁰ Declare ye it not at Gath, weep ye not at all; in the house of Aphrah roll thyself in the dust. — declare ye it not in Gath, one of the chief cities of the Philistines, weep ye not at all lest the message cause these enemies to rejoice; in the house of Aphrah roll thyself in the dust, literally “in Beth-leaphra I wallow in the dust,” for such scattering of dust was a sign of deep grief.

¹¹ Pass ye away, thou inhabitant of Shaphir, having thy shame naked. The inhabitant of Zaanan came not forth in the mourning of Bethezel; he shall receive from you his standing. — the inhabitant of Saphira, a village probably southwest of Jerusalem amidst the hills of Judah; with shame shalt thou be thus led into captivity, and change all thy beauty into shameful nakedness.

¹² For the inhabitant of Maroth waited anxiously for good, but evil came down from the Lord unto the gate of Jerusalem. — for the inhabitants of Maroth (signifies bitterness); waited carefully for good, being anxiously and bitterly concerned about it, writhing in grief and pain on account of her lost prosperity;

— but evil came from the Lord unto the gate of Jerusalem; while all these towns were in the neighborhood of Jerusalem the prophet shows that judgement would not be confined to the immediate neighborhood of the capital.

¹³ O thou inhabitant of Lachish, bind the chariot to the swift beast (she is the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion), for the transgressions of Israel were found in thee. — O thou inhabitant of Lachish, a fortified city in the plain toward the southwest, bind the chariot to the swift beast, to the fastest horses, namely, to escape the impending punishment;

— she is the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion, for the transgressions of Israel were found in thee; Lachish was the first city of Judah to be introduced of calf or idol-worshipping of Samaria from the northern kingdom.

¹⁴ Therefore shalt thou give presents to Moreshethgath; the houses of Achzib shall be a lie to the kings of Israel. — therefore shalt thou give presents to Moresheth-gath (the betrothed of Gath), the daughter of Zion being obliged to dismiss or release this city to the enemy, like the gift of a marriage portion;

— the houses of Achzib (deception) shall be a lie to the kings of Israel, a deceitful brook which offers no refreshment to the thirsty wanderer; just so the city would slip from the grasp of the kings of Israel (Judah, the southern kingdom) so that it would no longer be in their possession.

¹⁵ Yet I will bring an heir unto thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah: he shall come unto Adullam, the glory of Israel. — yet will God bring an heir unto thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah (town of inheritance in Judah), for Israel had been the heir obtaining it from the Canaanites and the enemy would now be the heir receiving it from the people of Judah;

— he shall come unto Adullam, the glory of Israel, rather “even unto Adullam will the nobility of Israel come,” to hide themselves in the cave in which David once sought refuge from Saul; 1 Samuel 22:1.

¹⁶ Make thyself bald, and shear thy beard because of thy pleasant children; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle, for they are gone into captivity from thee. — make thee bald, Zion as the mother of the nation being addressed, shearing her head, for thy delicate children in deep grief and sorrowful lamentation;

— enlarge thy baldness as the eagle, or the vulture, the entire forepart of whose head is without feathers; for they are gone into captivity from thee. The entire chapter is a vivid description of the overthrow of the land by the armies of the invaders, which would be sent to punish the transgression of both Israel and Judah.

Micah 2

¹ Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! When the morning is light they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand. — woe to them that devise iniquity; which were premeditated and acted deliberately;

— or the sin of uncleanness on which the thoughts too often dwell in the night; or coveting of neighbours’ goods and oppressing the poor, sins which are instanced in Micah 2:2; and every thing that is vain, foolish, wicked and bring trouble and distress;

² They covet fields and take them by violence, and houses, and take them away. So they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage. — and they covet fields and take them by violence; the fields of their poor neighbours; they wish they were theirs and they contrive ways and means to get them into their possession;

— and if they cannot get them by fair means, if they cannot persuade them to sell them or at their price they will either use some crafty method to get them from them or they will take them away by force or through deceits; as Ahab and Jezebel got Naboth’s vineyard from him and his heritage;

³ Therefore thus saith the Lord: “Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks, neither shall ye go haughtily; for this time is evil. — behold, against this family do God devise an evil; because of those evils of covetousness, oppression and injustice, secretly devised and deliberately committed;

— the Lord have devised an evil punishment against the whole nation of Israel, the ten tribes particularly, among whom these sins greatly prevailed; even an invasion of their land by the Assyrians and the carrying of them captive into foreign regions;

⁴ In that day shall one take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation and say, ‘We are utterly despoiled; He hath changed the portion of my people. How hath He removed it from me! Turning away, He hath divided our fields.’”

— in that day your name shall be a byword, a proverb, a taunt and a jeer; mocking at your calamities and miseries: or “concerning you” take up and deliver lament with a doleful lamentation from the mocking song of the enemies would be a mournful dirge in the mouths of the children of Israel;

— and say, “We will be utterly spoiled” losing everything we have; or We be utterly spoiled, completely destroyed! He hath changed the portion of my people, God himself permitting one of the nations, an enemy from the South, to take possession of Israel; (for a more comprehensive Ezekiel 20-21 and a parallel scene is added at the end);

⁵ Therefore thou shalt have none that shall cast a cord by lot in the congregation of the Lord. — thou shalt have none; that is, thou shalt have no part or inheritance in the congregation of the Lord; apparently referring to the ancient division of the land by lot.

⁶ “Prophesy ye not,” say they to them that prophesy: “They shall not prophesy to them, that they shall not suffer shame.” — prophesy not, say to them that prophesy, they should cease from further troubling and terrifying these people, who fear not God’s judgements, and will not by repentance prevent their miserable captivity and shame.

⁷ Oh thou that art named the house of Jacob: Is the Spirit of the Lord straitened? Are these His doings? Do not My words do good to him that walketh uprightly? — O thou that art named the house of Jacob; that is, this message is to “both houses of Israel” as in Isaiah 8:14; namely the 10-tribes “house of Israel” in the North and the 2-tribes “house of Judah” in the South;

— is the spirit of the Lord straitened. Is God’s hand shortened? are his power and wisdom less now than formerly? are these his doings; are these severe proceedings the doings your God delights in? are the judgements he brings upon you the genuine effects of his power and goodness?

⁸ “Even of late My people have risen up as an enemy; ye pull off the robe with the garment from them that pass by trustingly as men returning from war. — even of late, God’s people is risen up as an enemy, taking an open stand against him; and this hostility is openly shown;

— ye pull off the robe with the garment, stripping off the mantle or upper garment violently from them that pass by securely, considering themselves safe from robbery and violence, as men averse from war, that is, from peaceable people, such as seek no quarrel with anyone.

⁹ The women of My people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses; from their children have ye taken away My glory for ever. — the women of my people Israel, the unprotected widows have ye cast out from their pleasant houses, the houses of their delight to which they were attached by the memory of their wedded love;

— from their children have ye taken away my glory, the ornament or gift which he has given them forever, namely, by depriving them of their dress and of their rightful property. Cf Exodus 22:25.

¹⁰ Arise ye and depart, for this is not your rest; because it is polluted it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction. — arise ye and depart! This is not your rest; the Lord, requiting them for their cruelty to the poor and defenceless, declares that their own time of trouble was imminent.

¹¹ If a man walking in the spirit of falsehood lieth, saying, ‘I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink,’ he shall even be the prophet of this people! — if a man walking in the spirit of vanity and falsehood, namely, in preaching his own ideas, do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink, that is, of the enjoyment of this present life,

— he shall be the prophet of this people, possessing “itching ears” that is: tell us what we want to hear, even if there are little lies, sweet little lies, that they will all go to a place of safety, they would meet for a time of final training, and those who desired a cover for their lives of luxury and dissipation (kill the righteous and the wicked – more at the end).

¹² “I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel. I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold; and they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.

— God will assemble Jacob; that is, this message is to both houses of Israel; namely the 10-tribes “house of Israel” and the 2-tribes “house of Judah,”

— God will put them together in one fold, John 10:16, as the sheep of Bozrah, the rich meadowland east of Jordan as the flock in the midst of the fold, secure from the attack of the enemies. They shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men, surging with their great numbers.

¹³ The Breaker has come up before them; they have broken forth and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it; and their king shall pass before them, and the Lord at the head of them.”

— the Breaker, One that breaketh through is gone up before them; through the Eastern Gate? “There will go up before them He that breaketh through,” perhaps, their powerful Messiah; he has broken through the sealed Eastern Gate?

— and have passed through the gate, passing into the gate of the Lord’s Kingdom, and are gone out by it, having free access to the Throne of God; and their King, the Messiah Himself, shall pass before them and the Lord on the head of them, leading them through the promised life of eternity.

~~~

More about an enemy – to kill the righteous and the wicked – from the South to North

Ezekiel 20:45 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

⁴⁶ “Son of man, set thy face toward the south, and drop thy word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the southland.

⁴⁷ And say to the forest of the south: ‘Hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee and every dry tree. The flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.

⁴⁸ And all flesh shall see that I, the Lord, have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.’”

⁴⁹ Then said I, “Ah, Lord God! They say of me, ‘Doth he not speak parables?’”

Ezekiel 21:1 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

² “Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel;

³ and say to the land of Israel, ‘Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth My sword out of his sheath and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked. — TO KILL BOTH THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED AT THE SAME TIME!

⁴ Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall My sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north,

⁵ that all flesh may know that I, the Lord, have drawn forth My sword out of his sheath. It shall not return any more.

Question: how would such a scenario be played out?

For more, see A Sword from the South!

For more about the Calendar, see Is there a Calendar Omen?

~ by Joel Huan on January 31, 2023.

Posted in Minor Prophets