Micah 7 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Micah 7

Wait for the God of Salvation

7:1   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.
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.
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.
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.
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;¹
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
11   A day for the building of your walls!
    In that day the boundary shall be far extended.
12   In that day they² will come to you,
    from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
  and from Egypt to the River,³
    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.
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;⁴
  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 them⁵ 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.

God’s Steadfast Love and Compassion

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 our⁶ 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.

Footnotes

[1] 7:5 Hebrew bosom
[2] 7:12 Hebrew he
[3] 7:12 That is, the Euphrates
[4] 7:14 Hebrew of Carmel
[5] 7:15 Hebrew him
[6] 7:19 Hebrew their

Commentary

v1-2: The lord comes to His vine, looking for wine to gladden His heart. There is "no cluster of grapes..." meaning that there are no godly and upright left; Ezek 9.4; 22.30. Amos too spoke of summer fruits (Amos 8.1).

v3-4: Sin is both widespread and deliberate; they conspire together to sin, sharing a real commitment to wrong doing.

v5-6: Those closest prove unreliable; quoted Matt 10.35-36.

v7: Only the Lord is faithful, for ultimately the help of man is futile; the godly man finds himself a lonely man. The prophet, sharing the difficult times with his people, sets the example by his trust in God.

v8-10: Micah speaks of his own experience. He had already been told not to preach (2.6). In the face of opposition he trusted in God; God will be a light to him; God will plead his cause. Like Jeremiah, Micah born the pain of rejection; he experienced something Of God's heart towards a rebellious people. It was not easy for Micah to be a prophet; and here he is honest about the trials he faced.

v11-13: Israel's future restoration; today she sits in darkness, having fallen from God's favour. But one day she will rise, enjoy the light of God, and see her enemies fall before her. One day will come bringing new walls, extended territory, and many people will come to her.

v14-15: The flock of God shepherded, enjoying Carmel, Gilead, Bashan; seeing God's marvellous and even miraculous provision.

v16-17: None shall make Israel afraid, and fear will come upon the nations, 4.4. Zion will have authority over the nations, 4.13; Ps 2.8-9.

v18-20: Confidence in the character of God; Micah closes with a final piece of wordplay, his own name, 'Who is like Yahweh?'

there is no god like Him;
their sins will be pardoned;
there is mercy and compassion;
their sins are trampled underfoot;
the promises of long ago will be fulfilled.

The glorious future of Israel; promises which are irrevocable and unconditional.