Are Your Foundations Good? Micah Part 1 (Chapter 1)

The word of the LORD that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord GOD be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.

We make several observations: 1) God dwells in his holy temple. This cannot be the temple in Jerusalem built by human hands, nor the abominable altars set up in Samaria which the Lord forbade. As Solomon inquired, will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded? (1 Kings 8:27). God’s abode is in heaven. 2) God is a witness against the sins of humanity. God needs no co-witnesses, since his counsel is perfect. God also keeps account for every deed done in the body. 3) the word of the Lord received by Micah concerned both Samaria and Jerusalem. No one is excluded. When God speaks, he speaks to the entire world. He doesn’t just speak to the people, but to the earth and everything that is in it. As David exclaims: The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. (Psalm 24:1) God is creator and sovereign, and he will be heard. Creature will hearken to Creator.

Peter writes, For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? (1 Peter 4:17-18). It is a sobering fact that all men stand in judgement. Judgement is for all.

For, behold, the LORD cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth.

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

In the narrow sense, the high places of the earth refer to the altars of pagan worship established on the mountaintops and hills of ancient Israel. In the wider sense, they refer to the exaltation of man and worship of self. We need not look very far to find examples of this man-worship today. What are some of the high places of the earth in our age?

In the image here, God comes forth out of his temple to tread down his enemies. This shows us that God is active in his creation, not a part of the creation, but active in it. He holds man accountable for sin. God cannot leave man unpunished for his idolatry and self-exaltation.

The imagery of God’s treading is one of seismic proportions. The mountains become molten, as a glowing chunk of metal from a furnace (malleable, moldable, and able to be torn and beaten out) or molten in the sense of running lava. Indeed the high places of the earth will melt and dissolve away in burning judgement. Similarly, the valleys will be cleft like wax before the fire. As wax melts and drips down into a pool, so will the valleys between the high places be leveled as a plain. Lastly the image of running water is used to show the ultimate runaway destruction of the evildoers. A torrent of water moves downhill swiftly. So will the destruction of the high places be swift. 

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?

The Lord asks rhetorically: what precisely is the sin you’ve committed? The question is directed to those who are at ease with their sins, who fail to discern the times. Lest anyone should justify themselves away as righteous, God makes the path of escape impossible. The transgressions of the two nations, Israel and Judah, can be said to be embodied in their capital cities. Jerusalem, the mount of God’s legal worship, is here cast down as an abominable high place to Baal or Molech. Notice that God does not mention the temple in Jerusalem because it is of no meaning anymore. It is polluted by the idolatry of man.

Therefore I will make Samaria as an heap of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof.

And here is God’s work of judgement upon the high places further described. Just as the mountains shall be turned to lava and the valleys melted wax, so will Samaria be melted and torn through God’s hand of judgment. It will reside as a heap of garbage in the midst of a field. In ancient times, the foundations of a city were established on a mound, or Tel. Over the centuries, new inhabitants built over top of the older foundations of rubble and stone. In this image, God warns he will tear apart this foundation to discover it. Discover means to lay bear. To show of what manner it is. ויסדיה אגלה not just discover, but to expose, and lay bare for all to see. We will discuss this more in a moment

And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires thereof shall be burned with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate: for she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire of an harlot.

As if to say, the very foundation stones were just as good as the idols which sat on top. Both the foundation and the idols were lumped together as something worthless. Both are said to be bought with the money of harlotry מאתנן זונה. 

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.

For her wound is incurable; for it is come unto Judah; he is come unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.

Declare ye it not at Gath, weep ye not at all: in the house of Aphrah roll thyself in the dust.

Pass ye away, thou inhabitant of Saphir, having thy shame naked: the inhabitant of Zaanan came not forth in the mourning of Beth-ezel; he shall receive of you his standing.

For the inhabitant of Maroth waited carefully for good: but evil came down from the LORD unto the gate of Jerusalem.

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.

The chariot was always the beginning of transgressions for the Israelites. Why? Since they had begun to rely on power and human might instead of the Spirit of God. Is it not God who fights our battles? Some trust in chariots, some trust in horses, but we will remember the name of the LORD our God (Psalm 20). God does not allow his glory to be subverted by man’s prowess. Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. (Zechariah 4:6) Not by the strength nor multitude of men will God prevail, but by his Spirit, even the very word of his mouth.

Therefore shalt thou give presents to Moresheth-gath: the houses of Achzib shall be a lie to the kings of Israel.

Yet will I bring an heir unto thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah: he shall come unto Adullam the glory of Israel.

Make thee bald, and poll thee for thy delicate children; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle; for they are gone into captivity from thee.

What can we glean from these verses? First, we learn that what our relationship to the world and its schemes should be. We are to resist and flee from the exaltation of man. Anything which would prop up man above God in our minds is idolatry and a violation of his first commandment. Anything which would exalt our own hearts above God is likewise worship of self and idolatry. We must avoid and tear down the high places of man in our lives. But lest we ought to think we do God a favor by our efforts, take heed what Paul says: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). Our warfare, insofar as we resist the world, is merely the outward workings of faithful obedience, which God gives to us by grace in Christ.

Second, we are encouraged to look upon our own foundations and see what kind they are. The foundation of our lives is similar to the tree. Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. (Matthew 12:33). He says in Luke, A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. (Luke 6:45) But maintaining the imagery of a foundation, we have much to say. Paul says, For we are laborers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay that that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 3:9-11) Jesus is the chief cornerstone and our rock of help. Upon himself he built And established his church and does sustain it. Either we order our lives upon this sure foundation of Christ, or we build upon the sand. The rock which should be the foundation of all men’s lives will become a stone of stumbling and rock offense (Isaiah 8:14). 

Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him to a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. (Matthew 7:24-27)

The question we should ask ourselves, are our foundations like those of Samaria, which God will lay bare and tear down, or are our foundation good and well-ordered upon the rock of Jesus Christ?