Sunday, April 22, 2018

Your Daily Slice


Iyar 7
Heads and Rulers


Hear this, please, you heads of the house of Yaʽaqoḇ and you rulers of the house of Yisra’ĕl …” (Mic 3:9 ISR)


The prophet Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah, of the southern kingdom of Judah, prophesying between 704 and 696 BCE (approximately).  According to the book by his name, Micah spoke his words during the reigns of three of the kings of Judah:  Yotham (Jotham), Aḥaz, and Ḥizqiyah (Hezekiah) (see Mic 1:1). Similar to Isaiah, Micah’s message was one that was strong, stern and harsh, warning of the consequences of neglecting Torah, and of abandoning the One who created them.

In our opening verse, Micah is addressing those who were in authority.  “Heads of the house of Yaʽaqoḇ” refers to those who were the individual leaders of the twelve tribes, the chiefs of the sons of Jacob (see Ex 6).  “Rulers of the house of Yisra’ĕl” appears to imply one who had a governmental position, such as a judge, or a magistrate, those who would “sit in the gate” (see Amos 5:10, 15).  Both groups of people had the ability to make decisions affecting many, regardless of whether these decisions were correct and right, or whether they were completely wrong, and erroneous.

Yes, the prophecies found within the book of Micah were fulfilled by the Babylonian conquest and captivity, somewhere between 598 to 586 BCE.  However, those of us who claim to belong to the Elohim of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob also believe that we have been grafted in to the olive tree that is Israel (see Rom 11), making us a part of the “house of Yisra’ĕl”.  With that thought in mind, would you suppose the words of the prophet Micah may have an important message to those of us living in the world today?



“For I am יהוה, I shall not change …” (Mal 3:6 ISR)

What has been is what shall be, what has been done is what shall be done, and there is no new matter under the sun. (Ecc 1:9 ISR)


©2018




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