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Daily Devotions

Micah

Micah 
Day 
Day 15

"They shall go from you into captivity"

Text: Micah 1:16

THE SPECTRE OF CAPTIVITY

Though Micah presented both hope and sorrow, he knew that both Israel and Judah would reject his ministry and his prophetic words. Thus, he could not but write with deep sadness as he foresaw the future.

“Make yourself bald and cut off your hair,
Because of your precious children;
Enlarge your baldness like an eagle,
For they shall go from you into captivity.”
Micah 1:16

1. “Make yourself bald and cut off your hair”

a) Even in ancient days, a healthy head of hair was something many take delight in.
i) It was natural to give time and attention to appear well-groomed.
ii) Unless there were reasons why the opposite action was to be considered.
b) This expression is better understood when we read what God said to Jeremiah the prophet.

“So you shall say to them,
‘This is a nation that does not obey the voice of the LORD their God
nor receive correction. Truth has perished and has been cut off from their mouth.
Cut off your hair and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on the desolate heights;
for the LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath.'”
Jeremiah 7:28-29

c) This was another way of expressing deep sorrow!
i) This deed was to be done as an expression of lamentation.
ii) In Jeremiah’s time, Israel was no more.
iii) Judah was facing a threat similar to that of Israel.

2. “Because of your precious children”

a) The disaster that would come was not apparent to the generation of Micah.
b) Micah saw beyond his generation to the next one coming up.
c) Children are always precious to their parents.
d) But what if disaster awaits the children?

3. “Enlarge your baldness like an eagle”

a) How does one “enlarge baldness”?
b) Like the bald eagle, baldness would be a permanent feature!

4. “They shall go from you into captivity”

a) The generation of Micah had failed to consider the possibility of becoming captives.
b) This word of warning about the captivity of the children had to be sounded.