MICAH
7
A
Bible Study - Commentary by Jim Melough
Copyright
2002 James Melough
7:1.
“Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the
grapegleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the
firstripe fruit.”
This appears to describe the
frustration and sorrow of the man who was looking for good in Israel: it was
as hard to find as were grapes or figs after the gleaners had gathered what
was usually left for them after the grape and fig harvests had been gathered
in. The clusters of grapes and the firstripe figs speak of what is good. The
equivalent moral characteristics were not to be found in Israel; nor, in fact,
was there to be found even what corresponds to the inferior grapes and figs
usually left for the gleaners. There was no good in Israel. She had become
utterly corrupt and was fit only for the judgment about to break on her guilty
head.
7:2.
“The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among
men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a
net.”
This confirms what has been
discussed above. Their lust for riches had seared their consciences, so that
they would stop at nothing, even murder, to seize what rightfully belonged to
another. They were like hunters, as callously indifferent to the suffering
their evil activity caused others, as were hunters to the suffering their
activity caused their prey.
7:3.
“That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the
judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous
desire: so they wrap it up.”
“... with both hands
earnestly” speaks of the vehement diligence with which they pursued evil. It
was what they lived for. The rulers made laws, and the judges rendered
decisions, in favor of those who gave the largest bribe, while the rich and
powerful didn’t hesitate to talk openly of their evil schemes to seize what
rightfully belonged to others. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown have
commented, “... the great man no sooner has expressed his bad desire ... than
the venal judges are ready to wrest the decision of the case according to his
wish.” The three classes worked hand-in-glove with one another, and so
“wrapped it up,” i.e., accomplished their evil objectives.
7:4.
“The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn
hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their
perplexity.”
There was not an honest man to
be found amongst them, for even the best were like a twisted thorn hedge which
injured anyone who come in contact with it. So was it with the men of Israel:
all who had any contact with them suffered harm.
But God was about to put an
end to their evil doings. If the watchmen were their leaders, then the day
their watchmen had so carefully schemed to keep away, was about to break in
fury on their guilty heads, plunging them into perplexity (confusion:
bewilderment). If, however, as is much more likely, the watchmen were the
true prophets, as many believe them to be, then the message is that the
judgment foretold by the prophets was about to envelop the wicked nation.
7:5.
“Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of
thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.”
No one was to be trusted. The
evil was so pervasive that it was necessary to be wary of confiding in a
neighbor, a friend, or even a wife.
7:6.
“For the son dishonoreth the father, the daughter riseth up against her
mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; a man’s enemies are the
men of his own house.”
Even the members of a family
were ready to betray one another if gain were to accrue from the betrayal.
The picture is of society become utterly corrupt.
All of these things will mark
society in the coming Tribulation, and the fact that they are rampant today
simply declares that that terrible time of judgment is imminent.
7:7.
“Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation:
my God will hear me.”
Because no one was to be
trusted, the prophet’s advice was to follow his example and look only to the
Lord, for only He could be trusted, and only He could save the few believers
from the machinations of the utterly corrupt people, and sustain them through
the coming judgment. The same advice applies to God’s people during these
present evil days.
7:8.
“Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit
in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.”
This indicates that Micah was
aware that the godly would have to share in the judgment that was about to
engulf the wicked nation, but with a difference: God would uphold His own,
enabling them to rest in the peace of knowing that, “all things work together
for good to them that love God,” Ro 8:28. That same assurance is given also
to us. The enemy therefore was not to rejoice should the prophet and his few
believing fellows seem to fall with the rest of the nation: God would
ultimately restore the believing remnant of His people; and should they have
to endure the dark days that were coming, even in the midst of the darkness
they would have the assurance that what was for the destruction of the
disobedient, would be used by God for the blessing of the obedient, see Ro
8:28 quoted above. And ultimately the believing remnant, the new nation that
would emerge from the Tribulation, would be restored and blessed in the
Millennium.
7:9.
“I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him,
until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth
to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.”
This is the evidence of a
truly contrite and repentant heart. Micah wasn’t guilty of the terrible sins
he was called upon to denounce, but he was aware that there is no one who is
without sin, as it is written, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of
God,” Ro 3:23, so he would willingly take his place with the rest of the
guilty nation even though his sins were far less heinous than theirs. Like
every other OT believer he had the faith to look forward to that day when the
promised Seed of the woman would come and expiate sin by dying in man’s guilty
stead, thus enabling God to pardon all the sin of the repentant believer.
It is to be noted that he says
“and execute judgment for me (not against me). The judgment
would be executed against His Divine Substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ,
enabling God on a basis of perfect justice, to pardon all his sin, and bring
him “forth to the light” to behold the Divine righteousness.
7:10.
“Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which
said unto me, Where is the Lord thy God? Mine eyes shall behold her: now
shall she be trodden down in the mire of the streets.”
This looks forward to that
coming day when the redeemed of the Tribulation era will stand with Christ and
see their enemies, and His, banished into hell; and also to that still more
distant day when the great white throne will be set up, and the redeemed of
all the ages will see every enemy banished into the eternal torment of the
lake of fire.
7:11.
“In the day that thy walls are to be built, in that day shall the decree be
far removed.”
Another translation makes this
verse much clearer than the KJ version, “... in that day shall the boundary of
Israel be far extended and the decree [against her] be far removed” - AMP.
The “day” is the Millennium, and in that day Israel’s territory will include
more land than she has formerly possessed, see Ge 15:18 relative to God’s
promise to Abraham, “Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of
Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates.” (The “river of Egypt” is
not the Nile, but the small stream running into the sea between Israel and
Egypt). Her dominion, in fact, will be over the whole earth, and the decree
of judgment against her will be taken away, being exchanged for phenomenal
blessing.
7:12.
“In that day also he shall come even to thee from Assyria, and from the
fortified cities, and from the fortress even to the river, and from sea to
sea, and from mountain to mountain.”
This verse also is made much
clearer by another translation, “Citizens of many lands will come and honor
you - from Assyria to Egypt, and from Egypt to the Euphrates, from sea to sea
and from distant hills and mountains” - Taylor. It continues to emphasize the
honor and glory that will be Israel’s in the Millennium.
7:13.
“Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell
therein, for the fruit of their doings.”
Here the prophet turns from
the contemplation of Israel’s millennial glory, to the declaration of the fact
that that day of blessing will be preceded by one of destructive desolation,
that judgment devastating the land in the great Tribulation, i.e., the final
three and a half years of the seven year Tribulation era. Nor will the
destruction be confined to Israel: it will embrace the whole world, for the
wickedness of the nations is as great as Israel’s, so that they must therefore
experience the same punishment.
7:14.
“Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell
solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and
Gilead, as in the days of old.”
This is Micah’s plea to God on
behalf of Israel. He beseeches the Lord to shepherd them as a literal
shepherd does his flock with his rod or crook, the rod being used here as a
synonym for God’s Word, the Scriptures. “... the flock of thine heritage” is
the description of Israel as the nation which God has appointed to inherit His
richest blessing.
Their dwelling “solitarily in
the wood, in the midst of Carmel fruitful field,” appears to speak of
their being scattered and isolated amongst the nations, where they have been
for the past two thousand years, and where they will remain until the end of
the Tribulation - except for the comparatively small number who have returned
to Palestine since 1948.
“... let them feed in Bashan
and Gilead,” places renowned for their rich pastures. This seems to be the
prophet’s continued plea for God to bring them into the enjoyment of
millennial blessing.
7:15.
“According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew unto
him marvelous things.”
It seems that the speaker here
is God responding with the assurance that as He had once brought them out of
Egypt into Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey, so would He again bring
them out from their long dispersion amongst the Gentiles, back to Canaan, but
a Canaan burgeoning with good things in the Millennium.
7:16.
“The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay
their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf.”
This appears to be God’s
revelation, given through the prophet, of other wonders of Israel’s blessing
in the Millennium: the nations will be ashamed of their own puny power as they
find themselves become subservient to the nation they had so long despised:
Israel blessed and empowered by Divine omnipotence. They will be reduced to
silence, and made deaf to all the former boasting concerning their own power,
when God sets Israel before them as their head, glorified by Him, and endowed
with His might.
7:17.
“They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes
like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the Lord our God, and shall
fear because of thee.”
In that day at the end of the
Tribulation, when they will be arraigned before the Lord Jesus Christ, the
unconverted will grovel in the dust as they will be compelled to come out of
their hiding places, terrified in the presence of the One they had mocked when
He was unseen, but Who will then stand before them as their Judge, the mighty
Lion of Judah, the redeemed remnant of Israel and of the nations, standing
with Him, the objects of His love and blessing, having bowed before Him in
repentant submission when they saw Him only by faith.
7:18.
“Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the
transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for
ever, because he delighteth in mercy.”
The prophet, awed by his
contemplation of God’s pardoning love and grace, is impelled to exclaim, “Who
is a God like unto thee...?” A cause for greater wonder is the means whereby
it was made possible for Him to pardon sin and yet not compromise His Own
moral integrity. The love that led Him to give His only Son to die in man’s
guilty stead will evoke the wondering worship of the redeemed eternally, as
will the equally great love of that Son in being willing to come down to earth
and take man’s guilty place at Calvary, thereby establishing a basis of
perfect justice upon which God’s pardoning grace rests.
“... and passeth by the
transgression of the remnant of his heritage” reminds us, however, that the
pardon is linked to man’s will. “... the remnant of his heritage” is the
believing remnant of Israel and of the nations. Apart from man’s willingness
to repent, and to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, that pardon,
procured at incalculable cost, becomes worthless, reflecting the unrepentant
sinner’s evaluation of Christ Himself!
It was on Christ at Calvary
that God’s righteous anger against sin burned itself out, making it possible
for Him to extend mercy to every repentant sinner.
7:19.
“He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our
iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.”
Micah continues to speak of
God’s compassion, the words “he will subdue our iniquities” meaning simply
that God will tread all the believer’s sins beneath His feet, so that they
will be seen no more.
“... thou wilt cast all their
sins into the depths of the sea” continues to emphasize the completeness of
God’s forgiveness: the believer’s sins are put away, never again to be
recalled. But there may be a deeper significance to this than is at first
apparent. In the Psalms Christ’s sufferings are frequently likened to His
sinking down under overwhelming flood waters, see e.g., Ps 42:7; 69:1,2,14,15;
88:6,7,16,17. Our sins were cast into the depths of the sea when they were
laid upon Christ, and He sank down into the depths of death in our stead under
the weight of our sins.
7:20.
“Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou
hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.”
The book concludes with
Micah’s assurance that just as God’s promises of eternal punishment will be
fulfilled when every unbeliever will be cast from the great white throne into
the eternal torment of the lake of fire, so also will all his promises of
eternal blessing given to the patriarchs, and all other believers, be
fulfilled: first in the Millennium, and eternally in the new heavens and new
earth.