Micah 6:14
You will eat but not be satisfied, and your hunger will remain with you. What you acquire, you will not preserve; and what you save, I will give to the sword.
You will eat but not be satisfied
This phrase speaks to the futility and emptiness that comes from disobedience to God. The Hebrew word for "satisfied" is "שָׂבַע" (saba), which means to be full or to have enough. In the context of ancient Israel, eating and being satisfied was a sign of God's blessing and provision. The lack of satisfaction here indicates a spiritual and physical barrenness, a direct consequence of turning away from God's commandments. Historically, this reflects the times when Israel faced famine and hardship due to their idolatry and injustice.

and your hunger will remain within you
The word "hunger" in Hebrew is "רָעָב" (ra'av), which not only refers to physical hunger but also a deeper, spiritual longing. This phrase suggests an insatiable desire that cannot be quenched, symbolizing the spiritual void that occurs when one is separated from God. Theologically, it underscores the idea that only God can truly satisfy the deepest needs of the human heart. This is a powerful reminder of the consequences of sin and the importance of seeking fulfillment in God alone.

What you acquire, you will not preserve
The Hebrew root for "acquire" is "יָשַׂג" (yasag), meaning to reach or obtain. This phrase indicates the futility of human efforts without divine blessing. In the historical context of Israel, this could refer to the loss of crops, wealth, or even national security. The inability to preserve what is acquired serves as a metaphor for the transient nature of earthly possessions and achievements when they are not grounded in obedience to God.

and what you save, I will give to the sword
The word "save" comes from the Hebrew "פָּלַט" (palat), meaning to escape or deliver. This phrase is a stark warning of impending judgment. The "sword" symbolizes war, destruction, and divine retribution. In the context of Micah's prophecy, it foretells the coming invasions and the loss of what the people of Israel thought they had secured. This serves as a sobering reminder of the consequences of straying from God's path and the ultimate sovereignty of God over all nations and their destinies.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Micah
A prophet in the 8th century BC, Micah delivered messages of judgment and hope to the people of Judah and Israel. His prophecies often addressed social injustices and the people's unfaithfulness to God.

2. Judah and Israel
The divided kingdoms of God's chosen people. During Micah's time, both kingdoms faced threats from surrounding nations due to their disobedience to God.

3. Assyrian Threat
The Assyrian Empire was a dominant power during Micah's time, often used by God as an instrument of judgment against Israel and Judah for their sins.
Teaching Points
Consequences of Disobedience
Micah 6:14 highlights the futility and dissatisfaction that result from turning away from God. It serves as a reminder that true fulfillment comes from obedience to God's commands.

The Illusion of Security
The verse warns against placing trust in material wealth or achievements, as they can be easily lost. True security is found in a relationship with God.

Spiritual Hunger
The persistent hunger mentioned in the verse can be seen as a metaphor for spiritual emptiness. Only God can truly satisfy the deepest longings of the human heart.

Divine Justice
God's justice is evident in the consequences described. It serves as a call to repentance and a return to righteous living.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does Micah 6:14 reflect the broader theme of judgment found throughout the book of Micah?

2. In what ways do the consequences described in Micah 6:14 relate to the blessings and curses outlined in Deuteronomy 28?

3. How can we apply the warning of "eating but not being satisfied" to our modern lives, particularly in the context of consumerism and materialism?

4. What steps can we take to ensure that our sense of security is rooted in God rather than in our possessions or achievements?

5. How does the concept of spiritual hunger in Micah 6:14 challenge us to evaluate our spiritual health and relationship with God?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Leviticus 26:26
This verse speaks of eating but not being satisfied as a consequence of disobedience, similar to the judgment described in Micah 6:14.

Haggai 1:6
This passage also describes a lack of satisfaction and futility in labor, echoing the themes of Micah 6:14.

Deuteronomy 28:38-40
These verses outline the curses for disobedience, including the inability to enjoy the fruits of one's labor, which parallels the message in Micah 6:14.
Civic SinsD. Thomas Micah 6:10-15
Useless LabourJoseph Parker, D. D.Micah 6:14-15
People
Aaron, Ahab, Balaam, Balak, Beor, Ephah, Micah, Miriam, Omri
Places
Bethlehem, Egypt, Gilgal, Moab, Shittim
Topics
Anything, Bring, Bringest, Casting, Conceive, Deliver, Deliverest, Eat, Eatest, Emptiness, Empty, Forth, Goods, Hold, Humiliation, Hunger, Inward, Midst, Moved, Nothing, Pit, Preserve, Remove, Removest, Safekeeping, Safely, Satisfied, Save, Savest, Shame, Sickness, Stomach, Store, Sword, Try, Vileness, Whomsoever
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Micah 6:14

     5185   stomach
     5839   dissatisfaction
     5939   satisfaction
     5967   thrift

Micah 6:9-16

     4438   eating

Micah 6:10-14

     5614   weights and measures, laws

Micah 6:13-14

     5845   emptiness

Library
God's Requirements and God's Gift
'What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?'--MICAH vi. 8. This is the Prophet's answer to a question which he puts into the mouth of his hearers. They had the superstitious estimate of the worth of sacrifice, which conceives that the external offering is pleasing to God, and can satisfy for sin. Micah, like his great contemporary Isaiah, and the most of the prophets, wages war against that misconception of sacrifice, but does not thereby
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Record of Two Kings
'In the thirty and first year of Asa king of Judah began Omri to reign over Israel, twelve years: six years reigned he in Tirzah. 24. And he bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver, and built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill, Samaria. 25. But Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did worse than all that were before him. 26. For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

August the Ninth God's Requirements
"What doth the Lord require of thee?" --MICAH vi. 1-8. "To do justly." Then I must not be so eager about my rights as to forget my duties. For my duties are just the observance of my neighbour's rights. And to see my neighbour's rights I must cultivate his "point of view." I must look out of his windows! "Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others." "And to love mercy." And mercy is justice plus! And it is the "plus" which makes the Christian. His cup
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

"On Conscience"
"For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience." 2 Cor. 1:12. 1. How few words are there in the world more common than this, Conscience! It is in almost every one's mouth. And one would thence be apt to conclude, that no word can be found which is more generally understood. But it may be doubted whether this is the case or no; although numberless treatises have been written upon it. For it is certain, a great part of those writers have rather puzzled the cause than cleared it; that they
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

Fast-Day Service
BRIEF INVOCATION. O GOD, the God of heaven and of earth, we do this day pay Thee reverence, and meekly bow our heads in adoration before Thine awful throne. We are the creatures of Thine hand; Thou hast made us, and not we ourselves. It is but just and right that we should pay unto Thee our adoration. O God I we are met together in a vast congregation for a purpose which demands all the power of piety, and all the strength of prayer. Send down Thy Spirit upon Thy servant, that he, whilst trembling
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 3: 1857

Micah's Message for To-Day
"Walk humbly with thy God."--Micah 6:8. THIS is the essence of the law, the spiritual side of it; its ten commandments are an enlargement of this verse. The law is spiritual, and touches the thoughts, the intents, the emotions, the words, the actions; but specially God demands the heart. Now it is our great joy that what the law requires the gospel gives. "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." In him we meet the requirements of the law, first, by what he has
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 39: 1893

The Christian's Walk a Walk with God.
"He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God." Micah 6:8. The life of Enoch is descriptive of the Christian's life, and it is said that he "walked with God." Hand in hand with God, heart in heart, and life in life, is the true Christian way. In order to walk thus with God, we must be in agreement with him; for two can not walk together heart in heart unless they be in agreement. To be agreed
C. E. Orr—How to Live a Holy Life

The Social Test of Religion
Religion Must be Socially Efficient The teaching of Jesus dealt with three recalcitrant forces, which easily escape from the control of social duty and become a clog to spiritual progress: ambition for power and leadership, and the love of property, have been considered. How about religion? Is it a help or a hindrance in the progress of humanity? Opinions are very much divided today. No student of society can neglect religion as a social force. What did Jesus think of it? DAILY READINGS First
Walter Rauschenbusch—The Social Principles of Jesus

The Foundations of Good Citizenship.
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.--Ex. 20:1-17. Parallel Readings. Hist. Bible I, 194-198. Prin. of Politics, Chap. II. Lowell, Essay on "Democracy." Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image. Thou shalt not take the name of Jehovah thy God in vain. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Honor thy father and thy mother. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Thou
Charles Foster Kent—The Making of a Nation

A Godly Reformation
'Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. 2. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done. 3. He in the first year of his reign, in the first mouth, opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them. 4. And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street,
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Balak's Inquiries Relative to the Service of God, and Balaam's Answer, Briefly Considered.
"Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with, thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my first born for my transgression; the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?--He hath shewed thee, 0 man, what is good: And what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" As mankind are
Andrew Lee et al—Sermons on Various Important Subjects

An Ox in the Congregation
Friday, July 10.--I rode to London and preached at Short's Gardens on "the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth" [Acts 3:6]. Sunday, 12. While I was showing, at Charles' Square, what it is "to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God" [see Micah 6:8], a great shout began. Many of the rabble had brought an ox, which they were vehemently laboring to drive among the people. But their labor was in vain; for in spite of them all, he ran round and round, one way and the other, and at length
John Wesley—The Journal of John Wesley

The Pioneer's Influence Upon a Nation's Ideals.
ABRAHAM, THE TRADITIONAL FATHER OF HIS RACE.--Gen. 12:1-8; 13:1-13; 16; 18, 19; 21:7; 22:1-19. Parallel Readings. Hist. Bible I, 73-94. Prin of Pol., 160-175. Jehovah said to Abraham, Go forth from thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, to the land that I will show thee, that I may make of thee a great nation; and I will surely bless thee, and make thy name great, so that thou shalt be a blessing, I will also bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will
Charles Foster Kent—The Making of a Nation

Second Sunday after Trinity Exhortation to Brotherly Love.
Text: 1 John 3, 13-18. 13 Marvel not, brethren, if the world hateth you. 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not abideth in death. 15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. 16 Hereby know we love, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But whoso hath the world's goods, and beholdeth his brother in need, and shutteth
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III

The Life of Mr. Hugh Binning.
There being a great demand for the several books that are printed under Mr. Binning's name, it was judged proper to undertake a new and correct impression of them in one volume. This being done, the publishers were much concerned to have the life of such an useful and eminent minister of Christ written, in justice to his memory, and his great services in the work of the gospel, that it might go along with this impression. We living now at so great distance from the time wherein he made a figure in
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

"All Our Righteousnesses are as Filthy Rags, and we all do Fade as a Leaf, and Our Iniquities, Like the Wind, have Taken us Away. "
Isaiah lxiv. 6, 7.--"All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, and we all do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." Not only are the direct breaches of the command uncleanness, and men originally and actually unclean, but even our holy actions, our commanded duties. Take a man's civility, religion, and all his universal inherent righteousness,--all are filthy rags. And here the church confesseth nothing but what God accuseth her of, Isa. lxvi. 8, and chap. i. ver.
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

"To what Purpose is the Multitude of Your Sacrifices unto Me? Saith the Lord,"
Isaiah i. 11.--"To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord," &c. This is the word he calls them to hear and a strange word. Isaiah asks, What mean your sacrifices? God will not have them. I think the people would say in their own hearts, What means the prophet? What would the Lord be at? Do we anything but what he commanded us? Is he angry at us for obeying him? What means this word? Is he not repealing the statute and ordinance he had made in Israel? If he had reproved
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Greater Prophets.
1. We have already seen (Chap. 15, Nos. 11 and 12) that from Moses to Samuel the appearances of prophets were infrequent; that with Samuel and the prophetical school established by him there began a new era, in which the prophets were recognized as a distinct order of men in the Theocracy; and that the age of written prophecy did not begin till about the reign of Uzziah, some three centuries after Samuel. The Jewish division of the latter prophets--prophets in the more restricted sense of the
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible

Mothers, Daughters, and Wives in Israel
In order accurately to understand the position of woman in Israel, it is only necessary carefully to peruse the New Testament. The picture of social life there presented gives a full view of the place which she held in private and in public life. Here we do not find that separation, so common among Orientals at all times, but a woman mingles freely with others both at home and abroad. So far from suffering under social inferiority, she takes influential and often leading part in all movements, specially
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

The Soul.
Man as we behold him is not all there is of man. He is a wonderful being. He stands in the highest order of God's creation. He Is A Compound. Man was created a physical and spiritual organism. He possesses an animal and a spiritual life. Thus he is connected with two worlds. The physical creation is termed the "outward man," and the spiritual, the "inward man." "For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day." 2 Cor. 4:16. "For we know
Charles Ebert Orr—The Gospel Day

Meditations against Despair, or Doubting of God's Mercy.
It is found by continual experience, that near the time of death, when the children of God are weakest, then Satan makes the greatest nourish of his strength, and assails them with his strongest temptations. For he knows that either he must now or never prevail; for if their souls once go to heaven, he shall never vex nor trouble them any more. And therefore he will now bestir himself as much as he can, and labour to set before their eyes all the gross sins which ever they committed, and the judgments
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Effectual Calling
'Them he also called.' Rom 8:80. Q-xxxi: WHAT IS EFFECTUAL CALLING? A: It is a gracious work of the Spirit, whereby he causes us to embrace Christ freely, as he is offered to us in the gospel. In this verse is the golden chain of salvation, made up of four links, of which one is vocation. Them he also called.' Calling is nova creatio, a new creation,' the first resurrection. There is a two-fold call: (1.) An outward call: (2.) An inward call. (1.) An outward call, which is God's offer of grace to
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

The Books of the Old Testament as a Whole. 1 the Province of Particular Introduction is to Consider the Books of the Bible Separately...
CHAPTER XVIII. THE BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT AS A WHOLE. 1. The province of Particular Introduction is to consider the books of the Bible separately, in respect to their authorship, date, contents, and the place which each of them holds in the system of divine truth. Here it is above all things important that we begin with the idea of the unity of divine revelation--that all the parts of the Bible constitute a gloriously perfect whole, of which God and not man is the author. No amount of study devoted
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible

"He is the Rock, his Work is Perfect. For all his Ways are Judgment. A God of Truth, and Without Iniquity, Just and Right is He.
Deut. xxxii. 4, 5.--"He is the rock, his work is perfect. For all his ways are judgment. A God of truth, and without iniquity, just and right is he. They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children. They are a perverse and crooked generation." "All his ways are judgment," both the ways of his commandments and the ways of his providence, both his word which he hath given as a lantern to men's paths, and his works among men. And this were the blessedness of men, to be found
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

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