Micah 7

Israel's Moral Decline

1 How sad for me! For I am like one who- when the summer fruit has been gathered after the gleaning of the grape harvest- [finds] no grape cluster to eat, no early fig, which I crave.^[a]

2 Godly people have vanished from the land; there is no one upright among the people.^[b] All of them wait in ambush to shed blood; they hunt each other with a net.

3 Both hands are good at accomplishing evil: the official and the judge demand a bribe;^[c] when the powerful man communicates his evil desire, they plot it together.

4 The best of them is like a brier; the most upright is worse than a hedge of thorns. The day of your watchmen, [the day of] your punishment, is coming; at this time their panic is here.

5 Do not rely on a friend; don't trust in a close companion. Seal your mouth from the woman who lies in your arms.

6 For a son considers his father a fool, a daughter opposes her mother, and a daughter-in-law is against her mother-in-law; a person's enemies are the people in his own home.^[d]

7 But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation.^[e] My God will hear me.

Zion's Vindication

8 Do not rejoice over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will stand up; though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light.^[f]

9 Because I have sinned against Him, I must endure the Lord's rage until He argues my case and establishes justice for me.^[g] He will bring me into the light; I will see His salvation.^[h]

10 Then my enemy will see, and she will be covered with shame, the one who said to me, "Where is the Lord your God?"^[i] My eyes will look at her in triumph; at that time she will be trampled like mud in the streets.^[j]

11 A day will come for rebuilding your walls; on that day [your] boundary will be extended.^[k]

12 On that day people will come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,^[l] even from Egypt to the Euphrates River and from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.

13 Then the earth will become a wasteland because of its inhabitants, and as a result of their actions.

Micah's Prayer Answered

14 Shepherd Your people with Your staff, the flock that is Your possession. They live alone^[m] in a scrubland, surrounded by pastures. Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead^[n] as in ancient times.

15 I will show them^[o] wondrous deeds^[p] as in the days of your exodus from the land of Egypt.

16 Nations will see and be ashamed of^[q] all their power. They will put [their] hands over [their] mouths, and their ears will become deaf.

17 They will lick the dust like a snake;^[r] they will come trembling out of their hiding places like reptiles slithering on the ground. They will tremble before the Lord our God; they will stand in awe of You.

18 Who is a God like You,^[s] removing iniquity and passing over rebellion^[t] for the remnant of His inheritance? He does not hold on to His anger forever, because He delights in faithful love.

19 He will again have compassion on us; He will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast all our^[u] sins into the depths of the sea.^[v]

20 You will show loyalty to Jacob and faithful love to Abraham, as You swore to our fathers from days long ago.

Micah 7 Commentary

Chapter 7

The general prevalence of wickedness. (1-7) Reliance on God, and triumph over enemies. (8-13) Promises and encouragements for Israel. (14-20)

Verses 1-7 The prophet bemoans himself that he lived among a people ripening apace for ruin, in which many good persons would suffer. Men had no comfort, no satisfaction in their own families or in their nearest relations. Contempt and violation of domestic duties are a sad symptom of universal corruption. Those are never likely to come to good who are undutiful to their parents. The prophet saw no safety or comfort but in looking to the Lord, and waiting on God his salvation. When under trials, we should look continually to our Divine Redeemer, that we may have strength and grace to trust in him, and to be examples to those around us.

Verses 8-13 Those truly penitent for sin, will see great reason to be patient under affliction. When we complain to the Lord of the badness of the times, we ought to complain against ourselves for the badness of our hearts. We must depend upon God to work deliverance for us in due time. We must not only look to him, but look for him. In our greatest distresses, we shall see no reason to despair of salvation, if by faith we look to the Lord as the God of our salvation. Though enemies triumph and insult, they shall be silenced and put to shame. Though Zion's walls may long be in ruins, there will come a day when they shall be repaired. Israel shall come from all the remote parts, not turning back for discouragements. Though our enemies may seem to prevail against us, and to rejoice over us, we should not despond. Though cast down, we are not destroyed; we may join hope in God's mercy, with submission to his correction. No hinderances can prevent the favours the Lord intends for his church.

Verses 14-20 When God is about to deliver his people, he stirs up their friends to pray for them. Apply spiritually the prophet's prayer to Christ, to take care of his church, as the great Shepherd of the sheep, and to go before them, while they are here in this world as in a wood, in this world but not of it. God promises in answer to this prayer, he will do that for them which shall be repeating the miracles of former ages. As their sin brought them into bondage, so God's pardoning their sin brought them out. All who find pardoning mercy, cannot but wonder at that mercy; we have reason to stand amazed, if we know what it is. When the Lord takes away the guilt of sin, that it may not condemn us, he will break the power of sin, that it may not have dominion over us. If left to ourselves, our sins will be too hard for us; but God's grace shall be sufficient to subdue them, so that they shall not rule us, and then they shall not ruin us. When God forgives sin, he takes care that it never shall be remembered any more against the sinner. He casts their sins into the sea; not near the shore-side, where they may appear again, but into the depth of the sea, never to rise again. All their sins shall be cast there, for when God forgives sin, he forgives all. He will perfect that which concerns us, and with this good work will do all for us which our case requires, and which he has promised. These engagements relate to Christ, and the success of the gospel to the end of time, the future restoration of Israel, and the final prevailing of true religion in all lands. The Lord will perform his truth and mercy, not one jot or tittle of it shall fall to the ground: faithful is He that has promised, who also will do it. Let us remember that the Lord has given the security of his covenant, for strong consolation to all who flee for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before them in Christ Jesus.

Footnotes

• [a]. Isa 28:4
• [b]. 1 Kg 19:10
• [c]. Mc 3:11
• [d]. Mt 10:35-36
• [e]. Isa 25:9
• [f]. Ps 27:1
• [g]. Jb 23:3-7; Lm 3:58
• [h]. Or righteousness
• [i]. Ps 42:3,10; 79:10; 115:2
• [j]. Zch 10:5
• [k]. Zph 2:2
• [l]. Isa 19:23-25
• [m]. Nm 23:9; Dt 33:28
• [n]. Jr 50:19
• [o]. Israel
• [p]. Ex 3:20; Ps 78:11-16
• [q]. Or ashamed in spite of
• [r]. Ps 72:9; Isa 49:23
• [s]. Ex 15:11; Ps 71:19; Isa 40:18
• [t]. Rm 3:25
• [u]. Some Hb mss, LXX, Syr, Vg; other Hb mss read their
• [v]. Ps 103:9-12; Isa 43:25

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO MICAH 7

This chapter begins with a lamentation of the prophet, in the name of the church and people of God, concerning the general depravity and corruption of the times in which he lived, Mic 7:1-6; then declares what he was determined to do for his relief in such circumstances, Mic 7:7; comforts himself and the church with a good hope and firm belief of its being otherwise and better with them, to the shame and confusion of their enemies that now rejoiced, though without just reason for it, Mic 7:8-10; with promises of deliverance, after a desolation of the land for some time, Mic 7:11-13; and with the answer returned to the prayers of the prophet, Mic 7:14,15; which would issue in the astonishment of the world, and their subjection to the church of God, Mic 7:16,17; and the chapter is concluded with admiration at the pardoning grace and mercy of God, and his faithfulness to his promises, Mic 7:18-20.