As we close the first
chapter of Micah's prophecy, we should remember that originally the
chapters and verses were not within the books we read in the Bible.
They were placed there to make finding passages of scripture easier
to access, and we are benefitted greatly by them. Micah addressed
several of the cities surrounding Samaria and Jerusalem as he wrote
of the judgment that was to fall upon them. In our previous verse he
mentioned bringing “an
heir unto” the “inhabitant
of Mareshah:”, and he told how
“he shall come unto Adullam the glory of Israel.”. This
“heir” was to
overtake their houses and lands and occupy them as though they were
their own. In chapter one and verse sixteen, we learn how the people
of these conquered cities were to respond with “baldness” and
“polling” where we read:
Make you bald, and poll
yourself for your delicate children; enlarge your baldness as the
eagle;
for they are gone into
captivity from you.
The
verse begins, “Make you bald, and poll yourself for your
delicate children;” Upon first glance this may seem like a
strange thing to say to the people of Samaria and Jerusalem, “Make
you bald, and poll yourself”, however the idea is “make
yourself bald or cut all your hair off”. Making oneself “bald”
was an outward demonstration of great mourning or sorrow, and to
“poll yourself” was to “shave or shear oneself”.
Whenever there was a death it was a normal course of mourning to
shave one's head, allow the hair to grow for thirty days, shave
again, and offer the hair that grew during the thirty days as an
offering unto the Lord. Micah gave the reason for their
shaving and polling - “for your delicate children” which
refers to “infant children and grand-children” which were to be
slain in the judgment pending upon them. No doubt there would be
“sorrow upon sorrow” when those within Samaria and Jerusalem
would see their infant children deceased.
The
verse goes on to say, “ enlarge your baldness as the
eagle; for they are gone into captivity from you.” Micah
adds an example to his charge for them to shave themselves - “enlarge
your baldness” or “make
wider, larger with more room for your being bald” “as
the eagle” which refers to an
“eagle, vulture or griffon-vulture”. The reason given by
Micah is, “for they” which is referring to the “children”,
“are gone into captivity from you” or “taken by the
enemy into exile from you”. We can almost imagine the horror of
watching children and grand-children of the people being either
slaughtered or carried away as captives from the parents and
grand-parents within Jerusalem and Samaria.
Mourning to this measure
should never have occurred for the people of Jerusalem and Samaria.
If only they had not fallen away from the Lord God, none of this
would have happened. However, though they received warning after
warning, they ignored His words. Now rather than rejoicing with their
children and living life together, they were going to make themselves
“bald” and “poll” themselves in their anguish. As we meditate
upon the horror of this prophecy given by Micah, let us allow
ourselves to hear the importance of staying in a relationship with
the Lord God Almighty. Through Jesus Christ we have been given access
to the throne of God, and should we forsake the way that has been
afforded to us and our country, there will not be enough barbers or
scales to weigh the sorrow we demonstrate if His judgment fell upon
us. May the Lord give us all the grace to hear Him when He shares
these examples, and may we humble ourselves before Him when we hear
His Spirit speak.
Next
time Micah begins a new chapter and writes concerning those who work
iniquity and devise evil on their beds,
so read ahead, and we
shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
http://www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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