Micah 7
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Wait for the God of Salvation
Wait for the God of Salvation
We have talked about much as we have walked through this book. We have talked about God’s indictments for the sin of the people.
The rich abused their power, they took advantage of the poor and hurt them instead of blessings and helping their brothers and sisters.
The leaders of the land did the same. The made judgments that benefited themselves and their friends.
And as a nation, they turned from God. They chased after false gods and idols. They even carried out the practices of pagan nations, even sacrificing their own children to Moleck as the Moababites, Canaanites and even the people of Israel.
And last week chapter 6, God called forth and told make exactly what was required of them, make no mistake God desires these basic truths.
8 He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
The beauty of it my friends is that God never leaves us wondering, He tells us exactly how to stand in front of him and how to walk with Him through the course of each day
So with knowing that, lets stop right there and lets see what the Lord is saying ot us in Chapter 7
Verse 1
1 Woe is me! For I have become
as when the summer fruit has been gathered,
as when the grapes have been gleaned:
there is no cluster to eat,
no first-ripe fig that my soul desires.
Micah, he sounds sorrowful, and burdened, there is misery in his voice. He is looking for the godly, but it is like looking for fruit the day after the harvest takes place. There is none left… no grapes for the all be taken away, so the early figs which I have read are the most delicious.
Those are the things that are longed for, but there is not. There is no godly left in Judah or Jerusalem.
How sad to see when the godly remnant of His people are gone. Here is a future thought for you. Can you imagine how sad this world will be when the church ( His people ) and His Holy Spirit are removed from this world in the future?
His world will be lost and decaying because the salt is gone.
Friends, time is running out, be salt and light while there is still time.
Verse 2
2 The godly has perished from the earth,
and there is no one upright among mankind;
they all lie in wait for blood,
and each hunts the other with a net.
Micah laments or mourns that the righteous men and women have disappeared. The ungodly are not there.
Do you remember Sodom when there where no righteous people there, God swept it away.
The word “godly” in the Hebrew means “...one who is faithful or the one who practice faithful covenant love.”
So instead of finding the godly, they find those who lie in wait for others, they seek to do them harm for their own profit, shedding blood if necessary. Each one seeking to trap their neighbors. Each person seeking to prey on each other
Listen to David in Psalm 10:8-9
8 He sits in ambush in the villages;
in hiding places he murders the innocent.
His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;
9 he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket;
he lurks that he may seize the poor;
he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.
Now verse 3
3 Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well;
the prince and the judge ask for a bribe,
and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul;
thus they weave it together.
Micah opens this verse with the words “their hands,” Their hands refers to both hands, symbolizing the whole person is involved in this sin and wickedness.
The corrupt people of Israel, with their whole hands, use energies to carry out the evil deeds.
These evil doers are most likely the rulers, the judges and or the powerful. Micah says they execute their judgment or power in a bribe, distorting that is good and right. remember this violates what God told them in Micah 6:8 and as such they dictate the narrative they follow.
Power corrupts my friends, and if that wasn’t bab enough Micah says they “weave” their corruption. The power brokers work together, coordinate their efforts and conspire to take advantage of others. Again they are seeking payoffs to if one hopes to get a favorable judgment.
How sad they no one seeks to do what is good and right before each other and more especially before God.
Verse 4
4 The best of them is like a brier,
the most upright of them a thorn hedge.
The day of your watchmen, of your punishment, has come;
now their confusion is at hand.
Micah says here that even the best of these leaders who practice immoral actions are compared to thorns, briers, they ensnare, wound and entangle people.
Now the Lord declares the day of judgment has come to them, the “your watchman” reveals the false prophets who flattered the kings they served telling them what they wanted to hear. How very sad.
Their confusion is at hand, which really is followed by the false prophets they followed.
Now verses 5-6
5 Put no trust in a neighbor;
have no confidence in a friend;
guard the doors of your mouth
from her who lies in your arms;
6 for the son treats the father with contempt,
the daughter rises up against her mother,
the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.
Society has fell apart ,no one is able to trust others. The home and the family, neighbors and friends are separated and at odds with one another.
Micah says that neighbor and friends can no longer be trusted. They fear betrayal, one must even becareful with the words he speaks to his wife.
When I read that I thought of reading an article about the persecuted church in north Korea, where parents who are Christians keep that a secret, for the of being betrayed by neighbors, friends and even their own children.
In verse 6 we see the extent of the treachery, a son “dishonors’ his father by treating him like a fool. A daughter rises in rebellion against her mother. These violate Exodus 20:12
12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
and Eph 6:1
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
And Micah says even a daughter in law against her mother in law, homes and people at odds with one another.
Micah sums it up by saying… “…a man’s enemies are the men of his own household.” The members of a household and the extended members of their homes are at odds with one another because of sin.
Here is what’s sad, many homes and extended homes in our society are at odds with one another, they are bent on self destruction. Like the old Roman empire, it was decaying from within.
Now verse 7
7 But as for me, I will look to the Lord;
I will wait for the God of my salvation;
my God will hear me.
While people have looked to evil areas, false prophets and their own desires, Micah testifies ( maybe as a collective voice of the faithful) that the best look, the best desire and search is for the Lord.
Listen to what he says
I will look to the Lord - while the watchmen has served false gods, Micah and the faithful will look to the true one, the Lord himself.
I will wait for the God of my salvation - do you hear the confidence in that, the previous one is like a cry but here there is confidence, The Lord is coming, and he will save them.
My God will hear me… again confidence. Have you ever thought about the Lord, he can hear all the prayers of all his people all over this world each day . he knows each one and the intent of each person and then is a work across the millions and millions of believers each day. How awesome!
16 But I call to God,
and the Lord will save me.
17 Evening and morning and at noon
I utter my complaint and moan,
and he hears my voice.
This is one of the Psalms that displays such confidence in the Lord.
Verse 8 begins a new section...
8 Rejoice not over me, O my enemy;
when I fall, I shall rise;
when I sit in darkness,
the Lord will be a light to me.
This is really the voice of Zion or Jerusalem, that faithful remnant speaking, they have a faithful God, and he will be with them.
So the people tell their enemies to not gloat over their downfall, This sounds like David in Ps 30:1
1 I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up
and have not let my foes rejoice over me.
So they tell their enemies not to gloat over their downfall, but by faith they declare they will arise. Man that will make you shout, they city and nation would rise again but my friends the day is coming when we will rise as well. Amen
Even though they sit in the darkness of captivity in the future, the Lord will be their light. Listen to Isa 42:7
7 to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.
when you read of light in the OT is often speaks to and symbolizing well-being, life , freedom and salvation.
verse 9
9 I will bear the indignation of the Lord
because I have sinned against him,
until he pleads my cause
and executes judgment for me.
He will bring me out to the light;
I shall look upon his vindication.
The people of the Lord indicate they are willing to bear the wrath of the Lord. They confess they have sinned before the Lord and that is why they are willing to bear the Lord’s punishment for sin.
They are willing but they know it is only temporary, he will pleade their case and will eventually bring them back into the light… or literally save them from their despair.
Finally, they confidently expect to see the saving acts of God, which will reveal his righteous character.
verse 10
10 Then my enemy will see,
and shame will cover her who said to me,
“Where is the Lord your God?”
My eyes will look upon her;
now she will be trampled down
like the mire of the streets.
The enemy here is a city or a country, we know this because the word there in the Hebrew has a feminine. It might mean Babylon or their enemies Edom maybe both...
They have taunted her in the past, they ridiculed her. as we see in Ps 42:3
3 My tears have been my food
day and night,
while they say to me all the day long,
“Where is your God?”
But one day the taunts will cease as they see Jerusalem restored.
Now verses 11-13
11 A day for the building of your walls!
In that day the boundary shall be far extended.
12 In that day they will come to you,
from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
and from Egypt to the River,
from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain.
13 But the earth will be desolate
because of its inhabitants,
for the fruit of their deeds.
Here we see the promise of restoration.
The phrase a day for rebuilding the walls is a phrase meant to symbolize also the reestablishment of the Jews to the promised land. So to rebuild the walls means to make it ready for a people.
We see this will happen in the day sof Nehemiah, the cup bearer of Arterzerces.
But this seems to even point beyond that when it says “in that day.”
But then we see that phrase again in verse 12, speaking of the people returning from all over the world. Meaning beleivers from all over the world. We might point to this physically as a nation like today when people travel home, it begain in 1948 when they became a nation again.
But it might be a spiritual look to when the people come to the 1000 year kingdom of God.
But verse 13 brings a different tone, as for the unbelievers of the world, the world will be a desolate place becasue of their evil deeds. They will bring devestation upon themselves.
Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (2) A Promise of Restoration (7:11–13)
Jerusalem and the Holy Land will be like an oasis in the desert of the earth
Verses 14-17
Now the final part, verses 14-17
14 Shepherd your people with your staff,
the flock of your inheritance,
who dwell alone in a forest
in the midst of a garden land;
let them graze in Bashan and Gilead
as in the days of old.
15 As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt,
I will show them marvelous things.
16 The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might;
they shall lay their hands on their mouths;
their ears shall be deaf;
17 they shall lick the dust like a serpent,
like the crawling things of the earth;
they shall come trembling out of their strongholds;
they shall turn in dread to the Lord our God,
and they shall be in fear of you.
Speaking for the godly remnant in Jerusalem and Judah, Micah prays for the fulfillment pf the promised salvation and restoration
V 14 Using the imagery of a Royal Shepherd, Micah and the people pray that he will shepherd his people with his staff or rod
The rod symbolized the protection of the people and was eventually become a sceptre.
The Shepherds peole are called the flock of His inheritance, his possession as they belong to him, The flock that once grazed or living in abundance as symbolized by bashan and Gilead. These were the most fertile areas of grazing lands and were on the Kings highway or royal way.
Verse 15, Once again the Lord promises wondrous things to his people, just as they witnessed when they came out of the land of Egypt. He will reveal his redemptive grace and saving acts once again. We understand for them it was a release and future kingdom, but it was also the Messiah. We see it best displayed in the person and work of Jesus.
V 16-17
The nations will see, and literally they will be a afraid is the fullest sense of the truth. Micah speaking for the community of believers, answer with a Spirit filled promise.
God will show them, his people and his world all his wonders. when the nations see his wonders they will be ashamed of their puny efforts to resist him.
Their power and ways fade in comparison. They will lay their hands on their mouths in awe and amazement, and their ears becoming deaf might mean they will turn a deaf ear to all this, they do not want to hear anything more about the Lord’s powerful redemptive works
The phrase like the dust makes us think of Gen 3:14 where the serpent is forced to eat the dust all the days of its life and eating dust or dirt for that matter speaks to defeat, the world and its power is deafeated asa spiritual sense as well.
As the nations cringed before David and his power as King, their will be a holy fear in regard to the Lord
Verses 18-20
18 Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity
and passing over transgression
for the remnant of his inheritance?
He does not retain his anger forever,
because he delights in steadfast love.
19 He will again have compassion on us;
he will tread our iniquities underfoot.
You will cast all our sins
into the depths of the sea.
20 You will show faithfulness to Jacob
and steadfast love to Abraham,
as you have sworn to our fathers
from the days of old.
There is a rhetorical question here , there is no one like our God. It really signals His holy and powerful ways.
But more than just victory, he will pardon sin, forgive iniquity and pass over transgression. There is the real victory, it isn’t always land and borders, it is truly the heart sand lives of His people being able to walk with Him.
These people that he forgives are the remnant of His inheirtance. Instead of staying angry, he has showed mercy to his people , in his covenant love
V 19 says that He will again have compassion on us, that is the love of a parent for a child, Sin is the enemy and God has conquered it
he will cast our sins into the depth of the sea. away from us and he remembes them no more.
V 20 Simply is He is a faithful God, faithful to a 1000 generations for the blessing of his people. To Abraham, Jacob and then also to all those who are his by His grace.
Martin Luther quotes tis prayer with which Jerome ened his wrds on this book
Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (4) A Hymn of Praise to God (7:18–20)
O God, who is a God like unto Thee? Who pardonest iniquity, passest by the transgression of the remnant of Thy people; who retainest not Thine anger forever because Thou delightest in mercy! Thou hast turned to us again and hast had compassion upon us. Thou hast subdued our iniquities and hast cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. Oh, preserve unto us this Thy mercy forever and ever, so that we may walk in the light of Thy Word and escape all dangers threatening us from Satan and the world, through Jesus Christ, Thy Son and our Redeemer. Amen. Amen. Amen. (Luther’s Saemmtl. Schriften, St. Louis, XIV, 1169)
and with that we say amen