Micah 3:8 “But as for me, I am filled1 with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might to declare to Jacob his transgression, to Israel his sin.
1. Filled: Maylee, to fill, accomplish, finish, complete, maylee yade means ‘to fill the hand’ and is an idiom meaning to consecrate or ordain.
Micah 4:11 “But now many nations are gathered against you. They say, “Let her be defiled, let our eyes gloat over Zion!”
Micah 4:12 “But they do not know3359 the thoughts4742 of the Lord; they do not understand1067 His plan6783, He who gathers7695 them like sheaves to the threshing floor.”
In their pride, the nations are cursing God’s people and their land. They do not know God or His power or His love for His people or THEM. Micah just spoke of God gathering the nations for worship. He uses two different words for nations. One is races (as in lineage) and the other is more a geo-political word. He will call all of them too, and they will know Him.
3359: YADA, to know or perceive. It can be used of a husband and wife getting together and ‘knowing’ each other, it can be used of a musician knowing his instrument or a sense of right and wrong. It is not the same word translated as understand or acknowledge, which leads me to think it’s a gut-level know.
4742: MAHASAYBAYH, to think, devise, plot, plan, intention, imagination. Used to denote an artistic work or an invention.
1067: BIYN, to discern, perceive, observe, pay attention to, understand, heed, or attend to
6783: ESHAYH, consult or advise, advice or counsel, in the NT the word ‘boule’ is this word, and is used to talk about God’s will as it is set forth for people to make decisions and consider, whereas ‘thelema’ is what God does that makes His will happen.
7695: QABAS, to gather, collect, plunder. The focus of this word is not as much as the act of gathering, but the single location that they are all gathered to. It also does not denote a call to gather, as in an announcement, but the act of gathering, like in a harvest.
As they gloat, the are rejecting the approach of God and His will. As they harden in their pride, they resist absorbing God into their lives. We’ve read before that “the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.” (2 Chronicles 16:9) and “Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.” (Amos 3:7)
The world is a proud and gloating place – everyone seeking their own ideas, their own opinions, their own interpretations, and even posting them on blogs like they have any worth 🙂 . Even prophets make up their own messages so that they will be heard and loved. But God tells us that is not the way to know Him or to discern and heed His plans. There is a better way to have gut-knowledge of Him and the beautiful painting He is working on.
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-His good, pleasing, and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2)
“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.” (Colossians 2:8)