Micah chapter 7. Last Sunday morning we looked at Hebrews 10. We saw there the apostle exhorted the people of God, specifically by telling them that they were to believe the truth as it is in Jesus. And he cites Habakkuk 2.4.
He says, the just shall live by faith. So Sunday night we looked at Habakkuk 3. to give an illustration of one who was indeed just, who lived by faith. I want to carry that theme tonight with Micah the prophet. He is another example of a just one who lived by faith in the midst of some difficult and grievous circumstances.
It's helpful for us to consider these brethren and to see what lessons they have for the church as we face difficult times as well. So, I want to read Micah 7, verses 1 to 20. He says, Woe is me, for I am like those who gather summer fruits, like those who glean vintage grapes. There is no cluster to eat or of the first ripe fruit which my soul desires.
The faithful man has perished from the earth, and there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood. Every man hunts his brother with a net. That they may successfully do evil with both hands, the prince asks for gifts, the judge seeks a bride, and the great man utters his evil desire.
So they scheme together. The best of them is like a briar. The most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen and your punishment comes.
Now shall be their perplexity. Do not trust in a friend. Do not put your confidence in a companion. Guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your bosom.
For son dishonors father. Daughter rises against her mother. Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man's enemies are the men of his own household.
Therefore, I will look to the Lord. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. Do not rejoice over me, my enemy.
When I fall, I will arise. When I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against Him, until He pleads my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me forth to the light.
I will see His righteousness. Then she who is my enemy will see, and shame will cover her who said to me, Where is the Lord your God? My eyes will see her. Now she will be trampled down like mud in the streets.
In the day when your walls are to be built, in that day the decree shall go far and wide. In that day they shall come to you from Assyria and the fortified cities, from the fortress to the river, from sea to sea, and mountain to mountain. Yet the land shall be desolate because of those who dwell in it, and for the fruit of their deeds. Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your heritage, who dwell solitarily in a woodland, in the midst of Carmel.
Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in the days of old. As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, I will show them wonders. The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might. They shall put their hand over their mouth.
Their ears shall be deaf. They shall lick the dust like a serpent. They shall crawl from their holes like snakes of the earth. They shall be afraid of the Lord our God and shall fear because of you.
Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever because He delights in mercy. He will again have compassion on us and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
You will give truth to Jacob and mercy to Abraham, which You have sworn to our fathers from days of old. Amen. Well, let us pray.
Opening Prayer
Father, we thank You for this, Your Word. We pray now for the ministry of Your Spirit. Again, forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And may we see another glimpse of what it is for the just to live by faith.
We thank you for the prophet Habakkuk, as we understood last week, his status, his position in the midst of the suffering and trial that was upon him. And God may tonight be in encouragement with this prophet Micah. These men faced difficulties and hardships, and nevertheless they trusted in their God. They found comfort and stability in their Lord.
May we likewise, may we look unto you, and may we have that confidence that you will indeed vindicate your church, that you will indeed sustain your people, that you will indeed shepherd your people. And we pray these things through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Introduction
Now Micah was from the southern kingdom of Judah, and in his prophecy he targets both kingdoms, the north and the south. They're both Israel and Judah. He was a contemporary. That means he lived at the same time and prophesied at the same time as Isaiah the prophet in the south and Hosea in the north.
In fact, if you compare Isaiah 2, which we just sang, in hymn number 272 with Micah chapter 4, you will see the similarities. The nations will draw nigh, undesire on to learn the law of God. There's a hint of that in our section tonight, we'll see as we move along. As well, his prophecy helped shape the nation's policies.
Also, Micah's prophecy spared, at least for a time, Jeremiah the prophet. About a hundred years later, Jeremiah was being accused of basically treason because he prophesied that the temple was going to be destroyed. And some of the persons said, but didn't Micah of Moresheth say the same thing? And that provided a temporary stay of judgment upon the prophet Jeremiah.
His career, his prophetic career, was probably from around 737 to 690 BC. Now, this means that he lived during the time of the Assyrian captivity. That took place in 722 BC. God had sent judgment via the Assyrians to the northern tribes.
That sister we just read of in Ezekiel chapter 22, Ahola, because of their sin, because of their spiritual harlotry, because of their apostasy and defection. And so what he saw was the collapse of the Northern Kingdom. As well, he lived during the Assyrian attack upon Jerusalem that took place in 701 BC. So both he and Isaiah had this sort of vantage point.
They saw the judgment of God in 722 with the northern tribes. Assyria did not stop then, but Assyria then invaded Jerusalem. Not like it would happen later under the Babylonians, but nevertheless it was an attack. So, chapters 6 and 7 of this book are the third cycle of prophecy in Micah.
So, we pick up in chapter 7, and there are three things we ought to observe in this section.
The Prophet's Lamentation
In the first place, the prophet's lamentation on behalf of the church. And when I use the word church with reference to Old Covenant Israel, I mean the faithful, the remnant, the people of God. And so verses 1 to 6 is his lamentation on behalf of the church. Secondly, the prophet's counsel given to the church in verses 7 to 13.
And then finally, the prophet's prayer to Almighty God on behalf of the church in verses 14 to 20. But let's look at his lamentation. Much like Isaiah, who said, Woe is me, for I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips, and I live amongst a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the glory of Yahweh.
Micah starts off this seventh chapter in the same way. God has promised, or there's a declaration of judgment in chapter 6, verses 9 to 16. And then Micah says, woe is me. And the first thing he points out is
Lack of Godly Fellowship
there's a lack of godly fellowship in Israel. Now, I don't think we're to universalize it. I don't think that Micah would say Isaiah wasn't a godly man or Hosea wasn't a godly man. When he says there is none, it's to be taken as a depiction of just how bad it is in Israel.
But it doesn't mean there's no remnant. It doesn't mean there's no faithful. But he is lamenting the reality that there's this lack of godly fellowship. And oftentimes we can find ourselves in that position.
Perhaps we're awkward, and we have difficulty making friends, and we're not the most outgoing person on a Sunday. And if persons don't come to us, then we can be a lonely people. Well, loneliness and the lack of godly fellowship can create consternation in the heart of God's people. And it certainly does so for Micah.
Woe is me! For I am like those who gather summer fruits, like those who glean vintage grapes, There is no cluster to eat of the first ripe fruit which my soul desires." And then he goes on to explain, "...the faithful man has perished from the earth, and there is no one upright among men." You see what he is saying? It's like this summer season when the fruits are so wonderful. I mean, isn't that one of the best things about summer?
You've got peaches, you've got nectarines, you've got plums, you've got pineapple, you've got all this good stuff. And he says, it's kind of like that. There's all this fruit to be had, but when I go out to pick it, it's gone. There's nothing there.
There's no satisfaction. There's no sweetness. There's no joy. And he likens that to Christian fellowship or godly conference.
And he says, the faithful man has perished from the earth, and there is no one upright among men." And then he explains this specifically. He says, concerning the disposition of men in society, they all lie in wait for blood. Every man hunts his brother with a net. Now, that probably doesn't mean the actual act of murder.
One of the things that's going on in the prophet Micah is corruption. It is oppression. In fact, if you look at Micah chapter 2, verses 1 and 2, At morning light they practice it because it is in the power of their hand. They covet fields and take them by violence, also houses and seize them.
So they oppress a man and his house, a man and his inheritance." He's not talking about Assyrians. He's not talking about Babylonians. He's not talking about the heathen and the pagan. He is talking about the situation extant in Israel at his particular time.
Notice in chapter 2, specifically verses 8 to 11, Lately, my people have risen up as an enemy. You pull off the robe with the garment from those who trust you as they pass by, like men returned from war. The women of my people you cast out from their pleasant houses, from their children. You have taken away my glory forever.
Arise and depart, for this is not your rest, because it is defiled, it shall destroy. Yes, with utter destruction. if a man should walk in a false spirit and speak a lie, saying, I will prophesy to you of wine and drink, even he would be the prattler of this people." He is lamenting the situation facing him. Later on, he is going to say that he himself tells the truth and he's rejected by the mass of society. So there was no godly fellowship in Israel at that time for the prophet Micah, just to kind of give you the situation that the just shall live by faith have to put up with.
Notice as well,
Corruption in Society
he highlights the presence of corruption in society. The leaders, the princes, the rulers, were wicked. Verse 3. That they may successfully do evil with both hands, the prince asks for gifts, the judge seeks a bribe, and the great man utters his evil desires, so they scheme together.
The leadership was guilty. What happens when the leadership is guilty? More often than not, the people follow suit. So there's this general society of corruption facing Micah in this particular time.
The just shall live by faith. It doesn't always mean that circumstances are going to be pleasant. It doesn't always mean that circumstances are going to be beneficial. It doesn't always mean that everything's going to go our way.
We may face the position where there's no godly fellowship. We may face a political situation where the princes are corrupt, where the rulers are unjust, where people are taking bribes and perverting justice. How do we bear up? How do we deal?
That's the thrust of this chapter. The prophet, on behalf of the church, laments for the church. He will provide the remedy as we move along. But notice that
Corruption Penetrating the Family
this decay or corruption in society doesn't stop with the leadership. It even penetrates the family. Now, this is most miserable and most wretched. Notice what he says in verses 5 and 6.
Do not trust in a friend. Do not put your confidence in a companion. Now, that doesn't mean if you have a godly Christian friend you can't trust him. But remember, he's already said he's like that man who goes out to pick the summer fruit and he comes back empty.
He is saying there is no friend that you can trust in this particular situation. I mean, if we didn't have all that Micah says, we have Ezekiel 22. Brethren, do you actually think that as the prophet there describes the Northern Kingdom, things were well in their society? I mean, this is a snapshot of what's happening on the societal level and on the family level.
Do not trust in a friend. Do not put your confidence in a companion. Guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your bosom. I like what he does here, because as he prescribes the remedy on how to deal with these particulars, he describes just how bad it is, which I think should indicate to us the just shall live by faith, again, not just in good times, not just in bad times, but in the worst of times.
If we didn't get that from a back egg, hopefully we'll get that from Micah. These are the worst of times. Dickens' famous story. It was the best of times, and it was the worst of times.
There were seasons in Israel's life as the covenant people where it was indeed the best of times. This wasn't one of them. It was the worst of times, and yet the just shall live by faith. He says, for son dishonors father, daughter rises against her mother, daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, a man's enemies are the men of his own household.
Remember Jesus cites this particular verse talking about the division that existed when he came. Now that's the lamentation on behalf of the church.
The Prophet's Counsel
Now note his counsel given to the church. In other words, how do we deal with this? Now Micah is speaking in the first person to be sure. He is praying or he is lamenting for himself, but he's also on behalf of the church, of the people of God.
Note specifically his counsel given to the church in verses 7 to 13.
Look to Yahweh
In the first place, the godly must look to Yahweh. Should we be surprised by verse 7? Not if we're Bible readers, right? In the best of times, what are we supposed to do?
We're supposed to look to God. In the bad times, what are we supposed to do? We're supposed to look to God. In the worst of times, what are we supposed to do?
Cash in and forget about it? No, we're supposed to look to God. And that is precisely what he says in verse 7. Therefore, I will look to the Lord.
You see how the just shall live by faith? He lives by faith. He looks to the Lord. He doesn't trust in his wife.
He doesn't trust in his companion. He certainly doesn't trust in the princes or the judges who pervert justice for bribes. He doesn't trust or he doesn't look to the lack of godly fellowship. Rather, he looks to Yahweh.
God is his sufficiency. God is his all in all. And I think what Micah says here in verse 7 is absolutely crucial for all of us. It is easy to get our eyes off of the Lord, isn't it?
In the good times, what happens? We look to the good times. When things are happy in our family, we find a great attachment to our family, and that's not necessarily evil. It becomes evil when we substitute the pleasure we receive from family with the pleasure we ought to be receiving from the Lord God.
When the bad times come, what do we do? We fret, we panic, we're full of anxiety. We basically freak out. In the worst of times, we don't even want to get out of bed.
So we need this instruction and admonition. Therefore, I will look to the Lord. He looks to God Most High. Calvin said, the prophet points out here the remedy to preserve the faithful from being led away by bad examples, and that is to fix their eyes on God and to believe that He will be their Deliverer.
I will wait, he says, for the God of my salvation. I trust that the Lord will right the wrongs in society. And if the Lord does not right the wrongs of society in my lifetime, I know based on a study of the confession of faith in chapter 31, I will go and be with Christ. I will behold the face of God in light and glory.
I will be in the presence of the One who saved my wretched soul from hell. There's always better things on the horizon for the people of God. And the prophet Micah says, I will wait for the God of my salvation. I won't freak out, I won't panic, I won't throw in the towel, I won't give up, because my God is the God of salvation, and whether it's good times or bad times or the worst of times, my God can be counted on.
That's what He says here. Therefore, I will look to the Lord. I will wait for the God of my salvation. And notice what else the just who lives by faith understand.
The last clause in verse 7. My God will hear me. Brethren, that is an affirmation of the Christian faith. We don't pray to a God who has ears who cannot hear.
We pray to the living God. He hears His people. The prayer of the upright is His delight, Solomon tells us. The psalmist says, I love the Lord because He heard the voice of my supplication.
Are we that bold and brazen to actually give conditions as to why we love God? I love God because we should just love God, shouldn't we? Absolutely, we should love God because He's altogether lovely and worthy of our adoration. But it's not wrong to tell God why we love Him.
And in that instance, I love the Lord because He heard the voice of my supplications. I love that when everything's falling down around me, I love that when there's chaos in society, I love that when I can't even find companionship among the professed people of God, or when I can't find safe haven in my own home, I know and I love the fact that my God hears the voice of my supplication. It's truly a blessed reality and a glorious thought. The godly must look to Yahweh.
Notice, secondly, by way of His counsel,
Trust Yahweh's Promise of Vindication
the godly must trust Yahweh's promise of vindication. And this is verses 8 to 13. Verses 8 to 13, there's four sub-points here. The remnant will rise.
Remember in this instance, the remnant's not doing well. Remember in this particular instance, the northern tribes have been judged. The southern tribes are going to ultimately be judged. But note what he confesses, or note how he counsels the church to consider these things.
He says in verse 8, Do not rejoice over me, my enemy. When I fall, I will arise. Isn't that faith? Isn't that what the just who live by faith will say?
Though I fall, I will rise. Isn't that a confession of faith? Isn't that ascribing to God power and glory and majesty? When I fall, I will arise.
When I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. John Gill comments. He says, into outward afflictions and distresses, which come not by chance, but by divine appointment, or into the temptations of Satan and by them, which sometimes is suffered for wise purposes, or into sin, which even a good man, a truly righteous man, is frequently left unto. But then he does not fall from real goodness, from true grace, nor from his justifying righteousness, which is everlasting.
Though I fall, I will, Arise. This is the confession. This is how the just shall live by faith. He says, which is everlasting and connected with eternal life.
He may fall from a lively exercise of grace, from steadfastness in the faith and a profession of it, but not from the principle of grace, nor a state of grace, or from the love and favor of God. He may fall, but not totally or finally. In other words, this coincides with what we see in Hebrews 10. We are not of those who draw back to perdition, but to those who believe for the saving of the soul.
This is what the godly understand. He says, nor is he utterly cast down. The Lord upholds him and raises him up again. He rises, as the church here believes she should, out of his present state and condition into a more comfortable one. not in his own strength, but in the strength of the Lord, under a sense of sin, by the exercise of true repentance for it and by faith in Christ, and in a view of pardoning grace and mercy." I love that statement.
He may fall, but not totally or finally. We may fall, but by God's grace, we will arise. This is Micah 7, 8, and this ought to encourage the people of God. Notice, the godly must trust Yahweh's promise of vindication, the remnant will rise.
Secondly, the remnant's going to suffer. The fact is that the remnant did fall. They would be raised by God, but there was consequences for the sins against God. And that's verse 9, I will bear the indignation of the Lord.
You see, the just who lives by faith doesn't pretend that they're sinless, doesn't pretend that they're perfect, doesn't pretend that all is absolutely well with them. Notice, I will bear the indignation of the Lord, Because I have sinned against Him until He pleads my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me forth to the light. I will see His righteousness.
Matthew Henry says, when we complain to God of the badness of the times, we ought to complain against ourselves for the badness of our own hearts. The just shall live by faith, not the perfect. If we were perfect, we wouldn't need faith in Christ. We wouldn't need a perfect mediator.
We wouldn't need a perfect champion. We wouldn't need that one who lived and died and rose again. The just shall live by faith, and that is consistent with the confession of sin. It is consistent with saying, I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against Him.
We haven't been altogether perfect. We, as the remnant, Micah is saying, bear the brunt of some of this. We haven't been what we ought to be in terms of covenant faithfulness to our God, but we will bear the indignation. We have sinned against Him, but we trust that He will plead our case, that He will execute justice for us, that He will bring us forth to the light.
We shall see His righteousness. Notice as well, the remnant will be vindicated, verse 10. Then she who is my enemy will see, and shame will cover her who said to me, Where is the Lord your God? You can almost hear it in the mouths of the Assyrians in 722.
You can almost hear it with the Babylonians in 586. Where is Yahweh? Where is your God? Especially in the Southern Kingdom, they're breaking down the Temple.
Where is the God of your Temple? Where is the Lord of the Covenant? Where is the one that you have said will deliver you from all these sorts of things? It was probably a joke among the Assyrians and probably a joke among the Babylonians.
They probably laughed at the Israelites as they were leading them back to Assyria and back to Babylon. Where is your God, Israel? Notice what the prophet says, my eyes will see her, now she will be trampled down like mud in the streets. In other words, the godly must recognize that the church will be vindicated.
She may see difficult times, she may see hardship, she may experience the worst of times, but she needs to triumph in the understanding that God Most High will never let her go. And then the remnant will be victorious. Verses 11 to 13. In the day when your walls are to be built, in that day the decree shall go far and wide.
In that day they shall come to you from Assyria and the fortified cities, from the fortress to the river, from sea to sea. as the restoration of Zion, the restoration of the people of God. And this idea that in that day they shall come to you from Assyria and the fortified cities, from the fortress to the river, from sea to sea, consistent with what Micah 4 says. In fact, you can go back to Micah 4. As I've already said, this is exactly similar to what we see in Isaiah 2 too.
Micah 4, Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and people shall flow to it. Many nations shall come and say, Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths. For out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between many peoples, and rebuke strong nations afar off. They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spheres into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." So you see what the prophet is envisioning. He's envisioning a time when Israel has preeminence, when Zion has preeminence, and the nations of the earth stream therein to hear the word of the Lord.
Now, that's not going to happen because of some geopolitical power. It's going to happen as a result of the promised Messiah of Micah 5. Notice in Micah 5, 2. But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to me the one to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.
Therefore, he shall give them up until the time that she who is in labor has given birth, then the remnant of his brethren shall return to the children of Israel. And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God, and they shall abide. For now he shall be great to the ends of the earth, and this one shall be peace." You see, all of this, if I can use the word success, concerning Zion, is not tied to Zion. It's tied to Zion's Deliverer.
It's tied to Zion's Messiah. It's tied to the Lord's Christ. It's about Jesus, and it's because of Him the church or the people of God will be vindicated, and it will be such that even the pagan nations will come to hear the law of the Lord, taught, I think, by the church.
The Prophet's Prayer
Notice, finally, in terms of the larger context, the prophet's prayer to Almighty God, verses 14 to 20. I want to break this down quickly into two sections. First, the petitions. Secondly, the doxology.
It's a good way to pray. We ask God, we petition God, and then we doxologically praise God. Jesus teaches us this pattern in the Lord's Prayer. We pray the petitions, that God's name be hallowed, that God's kingdom come, that God's will be done.
We pray specifically for food, for forgiveness, for protection from the evil one, and then what? We doxologically praise God, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory now and forever. We speak well of God, we sing praises to God, and this is precisely the pattern of the prophet's prayer in this instance.
Petition: God's Leadership
He petitions God, in the first place, for God's leadership. Verses 14 and 15, he says, Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your heritage who dwell solitarily in a woodland in the midst of Carmel. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in days of old, as in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt. I will show them wonders, God's leadership is spoken here in terms of faithful shepherding.
It appears in the other cycles of prophecy, in chapter 2 and in chapter 4. And the leadership of Yahweh is going to be like when God led Israel out of Egypt. Notice,
Petition: Victorious Intervention
secondly, in terms of the petition, He prays for God's victorious intervention. In other words, he trusts and he knows that that vindication will come, but we trust and we know that the vindication of the church will come, but we pray, we petition, we ask the Lord. Notice in verses 16 and 17, the nation shall see and be ashamed of all their might. They shall put their hand over their mouth.
Their ears shall be deaf. They shall lick the dust like a serpent. They shall crawl from their holes like snakes of the earth. They shall be afraid of the Lord our God and shall fear because of you.
This is what we desire as your people. The nations will be thwarted. They'll no longer besiege Jerusalem. They'll no longer destroy the church.
The nations will suffer the fate of their leader. Note the allusion here to Genesis 3, 14. the fact that they shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall crawl from their holes like snakes of the earth. Isn't this the curse pronounced upon the serpent in Genesis 3.14, linked, of course, to Genesis 3.15 and the promise that the soul-crushing seed of the woman would defeat the devil? Well, these nations will go down with him, and the nations will be afraid of the Lord our God. 17b.
It's interesting, I have a friend that sometimes calls and struggles a bit with the news. He says, you know, when I watch the news, it's all bad. It seems like Satan's winning. You know, there's nothing about Jesus on the news.
You don't turn on the news and hear, you know, 1,500 people got converted, you know, in whatever, during, you know, an evangelistic preaching series. That just doesn't happen. So I think it kind of discourages him. I watched the news and it just seems all bad.
It seems terrible. It doesn't seem like Jesus is on the throne. It doesn't seem like Jesus is going to win. I don't think he's, you know, an apostate.
He's just struggling and agonizing and, you know, trying to find his way as a just one living by faith. And I typically try and remind him, you know, the news is really not about people that do what they're supposed to do. They don't have a segment at the end that brother so-and-so from whatever church got up and he worked a 19-hour day and he was faithful and he came home and he kissed his wife and he led his family in devotions, he had his own hot dog and a pop and he went to bed and he got up and he did that again. You just don't get that.
If you just look with the physical eye, you can get depressed and get discouraged. But the just who lives by faith lays hold of passages like these and realize there's a day coming where the nation shall fear our God. They won't mock Him. They won't blaspheme Him.
They won't revile Him anymore. They will shudder in fear. And that is precisely what Micah says. They shall be afraid of the Lord our God and shall fear because of you.
Luther said, whenever difficulties come, we ought to sing the 46th Psalm. What does the 46th Psalm tell us? Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations.
I will be exalted among the earth. You see, the just who lives by faith lays hold of that. Whether it's good times, bad times, or the worst of times, the just who lives by faith doesn't let go of Psalm 46.10. He doesn't let go of Micah the prophet, chapter 7.
So he petitions the Lord in the form of a promise as well. When the prophet petitions, he's God's mouthpiece, and the praying of it means the actual securing of it. So the Lord promises that He will thwart His enemies, the nations will indeed suffer the fate of their demonic leader, and the nations will be afraid of our God.
Doxology: Who Is a God Like You
Now notice doxology. This is the crescendo, the high point, the end of his prophecy, and what a crescendo it is. Note there is a question and then he provides the answer. The question is in verse 18a, who is a god like you?
Who is a god like you? It's interesting because Micah's name means who is like Yahweh. So Micah's basically citing Micah here. He's saying, who is a God like you?
This is similar to what we see in the Song of Moses in Exodus 15-11. Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? You see this same sort of scheme employed in Isaiah the prophet in 49-31.
This is what the godly do when tough times come. They focus on God. And Micah's name provides the foil for the answer to come to encourage the people of God, to encourage the just who live by faith. You need to consider your God.
You need to think through who He is. You need to ponder. You need to meditate. You need to contemplate.
So he asks, Who is a God like you? Now notice, he answers in several ways. First, he is the God who pardons iniquity. The God who pardons iniquity.
Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? This is a good place for the just who live by faith to start. He is a God who pardons iniquity. You see, armed with that knowledge, this is why verse 9 is in the chapter.
In other words, verse 9 would not be there if Micah did not believe that God pardons iniquity. The Apostles' Creed tells us two vital important things. I mean, it tells us a whole lot of historically vital important things, but two things that are part of the Church's confession. I believe in the forgiveness of sins.
I believe in the Holy Spirit is the other one, but I believe in the forgiveness of sins. This is what Micah has. He says, who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? This is why in verse 9 he says, because I have sinned against him until he pleads my case and executes justice for me.
I will see his righteousness. Brethren, you need to believe there is forgiveness for sin. You need to understand that Psalm 25, 11 and Psalm 130, 3 and 4 and 1 John 1, 9 aren't in the Bible just as some sort of fodder, but those are passages that the faithful lay hold of. The faithful know they're not perfect, the faithful know they have many shortcomings, but the faithful rejoice in the fact that God is a pardoning God.
He pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage. Notice the second aspect of His answer. Who is a God like you? Secondly, He is the God who shows compassion to His people.
This is what we find. I'm sorry. Yeah, He is the God who shows compassion to His people. He will again have compassion on us.
I'm sorry, I missed something here. Let's go back for just a moment. He pardons iniquity, but then notice, it's explained or amplified in verse 18, He does not retain His anger forever because He delights in mercy. You ever ponder that?
He delights in mercy. I'm a great sinner, Newton said, but I have a great Savior. I think that's consistent Christianity. Not saying go out and sin greatly, but if you do sin greatly, bless God that you have a great Savior.
Bless God that you have one who delights in mercy. Do you delight in mercy? Is that something that makes you actually happy? I'm sure there's a pleasant feeling that we get from doing a good thing for others, but can someone characterize us as people who delight in mercy?
This is our God. He delights in mercy. When we come to Him, confessing our transgression, He doesn't just dole out a few units of forgiveness and say, but don't go do it again. Certainly the Word of God tells us, don't go do it again, but He delights in mercy.
What a vivid expression of this is the father of the prodigal. There's a man who delights in mercy, right? I love the vision of the prodigal, at least as it suggests itself to my mind. I see this old man.
That doesn't mean God's old. God is from everlasting to everlasting. He's not plagued by age. I've noticed in the 40s your eyes go, in the 50s I'm getting some pain in my teeth, and I don't know what's left for me, Don.
You're going to have to tell me what's going to happen in my 60s. God doesn't have those limitations or problems or issues. But in that metaphor, or in that parable, we see this old man sitting on his porch, and he's in the long flowing robes that the people in those ages wore. Probably hot, probably dusty.
And from a long way off, he sees that prodigal. And what does he do? He runs! and he falls on him, not in anger, not in, you know, rebuff, not in punishment, but he falls on him to kiss him, he falls on him to put a ring on his finger, he falls on him to put a robe on his back. Why?
Because my son who was lost is now found. My son who was dead is now alive. It's good that we make merry. It's good that we slay the fatted calf.
Why, Father? Because I delight in mercy. What's the prophet Jonah learn from God? Jonah's that reluctant prophet who goes to preach to a people who he doesn't want to be saved.
If I say Jonah, a brother recently just reminded me of this, if I say Jonah, and then I say, what was the miracle in the book of Jonah? Probably 80% of God's people would say, that big fish that swallowed Jonah and vomited him out on the land. No. You know what the miracle is in the prophet Jonah?
Is that Nineveh turned from her sin! that there was repentance wrought in a pagan people. And much to the chagrin of the prophet, he gets upset, he gets mad, he gets irritated. God uses a lesson concerning a gourd and concerning a worm to teach the prophet how misguided he is. He tells Jonah, you've had pity on this gourd, you've had pity on a plant, and should I not pity Nineveh? in whom there are 120,000 that don't know their right hand from their left, probably a reference to children.
So if we consider that fact and then we think in terms of adults, there's a lot of people there. And God says, should I not pity Nineveh? He delights in mercy. What about Jesus when He's in the synagogue and that woman who's bent over, she is plagued, she's had this issue of blood for, what, 18 years?
And the Pharisees, the leaders in the synagogue, reprove her? Oh, it's just a terrible scene. And Jesus says, think of it, this woman who's been bowed down for 18 years has come to be healed, and you're going to reprove her? It is Christ, it is His character, it is His nature, it is who God is to delight in mercy.
Now, I think there's a quote ascribed to Luther where he says something to the effect of, send boldly. And people go, wow, you can't say that, Luther. And I think I know what he means. I don't think he means, you know, on your way home tonight, knock off a liquor store, you know, carry your gun in and send boldly, and if you're going to do it, do it.
No, I don't think that's what he means. I think that he means when you sin, realize you've got grace, mercy, not so that you'll go sin, that's the thing that Paul condemns in Romans 6, but when we do sin, 1 John 2, 1, we have an advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous, and this God delights in mercy. He is the God who shows compassion to His people. He will again have compassion on us.
He is the God who subdues our iniquity. Notice in verse 19, He will again have compassion on us and will subdue our iniquities. Not only does He pardon our iniquities, we have that in the Gospel. We have that Jesus breaks the power of reigning sin.
But He also gives us the grace to deal with remaining sin, and God subdues our iniquities. And then He uses this metaphor, you will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. Gil comments, never to be seen anymore. Do we forgive people this way?
Well, I remember, you know, 15 years ago, you did this against me, but you forgave me, I know, but I keep a list. Husbands and wives are good at this sometimes, aren't they? You remember when you did this, you know, three years ago? Really?
Is there a statute of limitations on some of this stuff? All right, I'm bad, I'm evil. Let me be. I don't know.
But this is what it says. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. Gil says, never to be seen anymore, though they are seen with the eye of omniscience and taken notice of by the eye of providence, yet not beheld with the eye of avenging justice, that being satisfied by Christ. Besides, all the sins of God's people have been removed from them to Christ and by him carried away into the land of oblivion. so that they are no more to be seen on them, who are through His blood and righteousness without fault, spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.
And being out of sight, they are out of mind, never remembered any more, and like things cast into the sea, destroyed and lost. Perhaps there may be some allusion to the Egyptians drowned in the Red Sea. And what is cast into the sea, especially into the depths of it, is irrecoverable, not to be fetched up again, nor does it rise more. And so it is with the sins of God's people, forgiven for Christ's sake, even all of them.
For they have all been born by Christ and are covered, blotted out, and pardoned, not one remains unforgiven. Isn't that enough to make the just who live by faith rejoice and, you know, kick their legs together and praise God from whom all blessings flow? You see what the prophet's doing. He's telling you, the just shall live by faith by looking to this God.
And then finally, he is the God who is covenantally faithful. Verse 20, you give truth to Jacob and mercy to Abraham, which you have sworn to our fathers from days of old. This is the grand argument of covenant theology. The God who is sworn, the God who is promised, the God who is covenanted is faithful.
He is not going to renege. He is not going to forsake. He is not going to let you go. He is not going to leave you ever.
Application
Well, brethren, in this chapter, I think we survey and at least I think we appreciate the fact that there is nothing new under the sun. We see the depravity of man. the lack of godly fellowship, the presence of corruption in society. We can't say, well, Micah just doesn't know what it's like to live in the 21st century. No, we don't know what it's like to live in the 8th century BC.
We don't know what it's like to live amongst a people of unclean lips. Now, certainly, we live amongst a people of unclean lips, but remember, this was the covenant community. As well, we need to appreciate the confidence of the believer. This is a tough one, because we all want to find a friend or we want a spouse, and I'm not saying distrust your wives or your husbands tonight, you know, roll over and don't talk, you know, they're godly, praise God, be thankful for that.
We need to realize where our confidence, our hope, our trust ultimately is, is in the Lord. Mark Twain said this, He said, if you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man. I think what Twain was saying in his perceptive way is that men are not always the most trustworthy, men are not always loyal, men are not always committed to your well-being.
And certainly Micah saw that, and he understood that. And instead of saying, forget it, I'm going to go live on an island, He says in verse 7, I will look to the Lord. As well, I think that everything we see in this chapter, the prophet was carried by faith. The just lived by faith.
Was he just an optimist? Did he just have a positive outlook? Did he believe in the intrinsic goodness of man? I certainly don't think so.
Davis commenting in another situation, in another place in the Bible, but I think it's appropriate here. The circumstances that Micah faced did not stimulate optimism. This is not optimism, it is faith. He says some people are naturally optimistic, they don't know any better.
But faith can arise even when no reason for optimism exists, and that is precisely what we find in Micah. There was no reason for him to be optimistic, it was faith that spoke, it was faith that understood, it was faith that laid held of God. And in that vein, faith looks to the God of our salvation, verse 7. Faith realizes that though one falls, he shall rise by the grace of God.
Verse 8. Faith recognizes one's own sin and lays hold of God's forgiveness. Verse 9. Faith knows there is vindication for the people of God.
Verses 10 to 13. Faith submits to the rule of God, verses 14 and 15. He doesn't ask that the Lord shepherd His people so that the people will be recalcitrant and incorrigible and hard-hearted and stiff-necked and refuse His leadership. No, it is precisely the opposite.
Faith submits to the rule of God. And faith particularly focuses on the being and attributes of God. That's what we find in verses 18 to 20. Thomas McCombski made this comment.
He said, like a day that begins with a dark foreboding sky but ends in golden sunlight, this chapter begins in an atmosphere of gloom. Doesn't it? Are verses 1 to 6 a happy section of Scripture? Do you go to verses 1 to 6 in your daily reading and say, wow, that's great?
It's one of those passages that hopefully fills out the background so that you can appreciate 7 to 20. McCombsky says, like a day that begins with a dark foreboding sky but ends in golden sunlight, this chapter begins in an atmosphere of gloom and ends in one of the greatest statements of hope in all the Old Testament. Clouds of gloom have rolled in on the horizon of the prophet's life because of the disobedience of the people and the somber fate that awaited his nation. But rays of hope, such as the affirmations in verse 7, shone through the gloom.
It is in the great affirmation of faith that concludes the book, verses 18 to 20, that the darkness is completely dissipated. One may wonder why the prophet did not succumb to utter pessimism in view of the conditions of his day. The answer is in this chapter. It was because of the triumph of faith.
The prophet speaks here as a representative of the godly remnant. It is the triumph of faith. And may I end with this concluding observation, that faith lays hold of that which faith knows. In other words, the just shall live by faith, specifically the items indicated that I just ran through, the God of our salvation, forgiveness of sins, the fact that He is all that is described here.
Faith lays hold of knowledge. It lays hold of information. It lays hold of propositional revelation. The take-home lesson is the just shall live by faith because they have fed their souls with the fodder of God's Word, and they have something to cling to.
If you don't know this God, if you don't understand theology proper, if you don't give any time to the pursuit of knowing Scripture and knowing, say, our confession of faith, you're going to be floundering, you're going to be wavering, you're going to have trials and difficulties. It's the people who know their God that shall stand fast. It is the people who know their God who have their faith fed from those rich and blessed streams that come from Zion. If that material isn't present, there's nothing for faith to lay hold of.
So, if you do not read your Bible consistently, if you do not attend church consistently, if you are not seeking the Lord's faith consistently, it's going to be hard for you, even as a just man, to live by faith, because your faith has nothing to attach itself in. Do you realize that when Paul says that, when Habakkuk says that, when we see it displayed, faith is the power. Wow, he's got faith, so that's great. You know, people treat faith that way.
It doesn't matter what you believe. You know, in AA, for instance, it doesn't matter what God you sort of believe, you can have a higher power. Whatever your faith attaches itself onto, if it's a light bulb, if that gets your boat going and that helps you to not drink, well, then that's great, praise God, from whom all light bulbs flow, I guess, I don't know. But it's not nebulous, it's not undefined, it's not a blind leap.
Faith lays hold of the Word of the Living God. Faith visits Micah 7. Faith visits Habakkuk 3. Faith visits 2 Timothy.
Faith visits Hebrews. Faith, when everything comes crumbling down all around them, doesn't say, well, forget it. No, it goes to the Scripture. It encourages the heart in a study of who God is.
It considers His attributes, His being, His perfections, His excellence. It looks upon His great and glorious works. You see this in the Psalms ascribed to Asaph. Asaph witnessed horrific things going on in Israel.
And he also witnessed the absence of God. There are times when he says, God, When are you going to come? When are you going to vindicate? When are you going to deliver?
Do you know what he does in the meantime? He thinks back to the Exodus. He thinks back to the great deliverance that God wrought. He thinks back to those works that steady him in the present and fortify him for the future.
Brethren, if you are not in Scripture and you are not reading theology, if you want to know what good theology to read, ask. We can point you to some decent helpful books that aren't difficult. It's amazing to me how many people think that this is out of their grasp. I saw Mike Kirkpatrick recently and he was telling me that one of the things he observed in Singapore, where he ministered in the summertime, is that he was dealing with very intelligent people.
I mean, people that, you know, advanced degrees, you know, High-paying jobs? Interestingly enough, high-paying jobs, you can't leave your parents' house because the cost of houses is so expensive. And to purchase a car, you have to buy a $70,000 permit before you can even buy and own a car. So you've got 27-year-old engineers making $9,000 a month who can't move out of their parents' homes.
So, you know, you think you've got problems, just hang out in Singapore. But one of the things he observed was that they know all this stuff in terms of, you know, engineering and whatever it is, but they think somehow theology is out of their grasp. And I wonder if that's the case with some of us. We think that, you know, Jim and Cam like to read books.
They're weird that way. No. I don't think we're weird that way. I think we're pretty normal.
You should want to read books. You should want to fuel your heart. You should want to know this God. You should want to understand the prophets.
You should want to understand the apostles. You should want to, and you can. This is a blessed reality that the Psalter sets forth in at least two instances that I know of. The psalmist says, the law of Yahweh makes wise the simple.
You may be a dim bulb when it comes to a whole host of subjects out there, but if you have the Holy Spirit, the book of God is for you. Birkhoff is for you, except the sections on paedo-baptism. Those are resources that faith lays hold on. Micah couldn't have got this crescendo in 7th if he never knew his God.
And it's unfortunate, brethren, but there are those who are just and they are living by faith, but that faith doesn't have the being and the attributes of God to lay hold of. That faith has not really understood justification. That faith has not really understood the plan of God and the whole scheme of Holy Scripture. That faith hasn't laid hold of Genesis 3.15 and the significance of it for the rest of Scripture.
So brethren, this is my plug. Please study your Bible, study theology. Be where the Word of God is opened and preached and taught, so that you, the just, shall live by faith.
Closing Prayer
Let us pray. God, we thank you for your Word. We thank you for what Micah writes in this chapter. It truly is amazing.
You are a God, as described in verses 18 to 20. We thank you that you do pardon our iniquity. We thank you that you subdue our iniquity, that you cast our sins, all our sins, into the depths of the sea. And I pray that in light of this, we would pursue holiness and righteousness.
This is the logic of the gospel. Paul said, what shall we say? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? May it never be.
May these things encourage us to pursue those things that are pleasing in your sight. But when we fall, may we know that we will arise, not because we're good, but because You are glorious and wondrous. And may we indeed know Your nearness and Your kindness and Your goodness to us, and help us as justified believers to live by faith in the Son of God who loved us and who gave Himself for us. Go with us now, we pray, and we ask in Jesus' name.
Amen.