The Prophet Micah

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- Chapter 7 -

(Matthew 10:34–39; Luke 12:49–53)

I am very miserable! I am like someone who is hungry, who searches for fruit to eat and who finds no grapes or figs to eat because all the fruit has been picked.

Everyone who honored God has disappeared from this land; not one of them is left. The people who are left are all murderers; it is as though everyone is eager to kill his fellow countryman.

They do what is evil with all their might. Government officials and judges all ask for bribes. Important people tell others what they want, and they plot together about how to get it.

Even the best people are as worthless as briers; the people who we thought to be the most honest are worse than thornbushes. But Yahweh will soon judge them. Now is the time that he will punish people, when they will be very confused because of it.

So do not trust anyone! Do not trust even a friend; even be careful what you say to your wife, whom you love.

Boys will despise their fathers, and girls will defy their mothers. Women will defy their mothers-in-law. Your enemies will be those who live in your own house.

Israel’s Confession and Comfort

As for me, I wait for Yahweh to help me. I confidently expect that God, my Savior, will answer me when I pray.

You who are our enemies, do not gloat about what has happened to us, because even if we have experienced disasters, those disasters will end, and we will be prosperous again. Even if it is as though we are sitting in the darkness, Yahweh will be our light.

We must be patient while Yahweh punishes us because we have sinned against him. But later, it will be as though he will go to court and defend us. He will make sure that the judge makes a right decision about us. It will be as though he will bring us out into the light, and we will see him rescue us.

Our enemies will also see it, and they will be disgraced because they ridiculed us, saying “Why is Yahweh, that God of yours, not helping you?” But with our own eyes we will see them be defeated; we will see them trampled like mud in the streets.

You people of Israel, at that time your cities will be rebuilt, and your territory will become larger.

Your people will come back to you from many countries, from Assyria, from near the Euphrates River in the east, and from Egypt in the south, from the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and from many mountains.

But the other countries on the earth will become desolate because of the evil deeds that their people have done.

God’s Compassion on Israel

Yahweh, protect your people as a shepherd protects his sheep with his staff. Lead the people whom you have chosen to belong to you. Even though some of them live by themselves in a forest, give them the fertile pastureland in the regions of Bashan and Gilead, which they possessed long ago.

Yahweh says, “Yes, I will perform miracles for you like the miracles that I performed when I rescued your ancestors from being slaves in Egypt.”

People from many nations will see what Yahweh does for you, and they will be ashamed because they do not have any power. They will put their hands over their mouths and their ears because they will be very amazed at what Yahweh does. They will not be able to say anything or hear anything, because they will be terrified.

Being very humiliated, they will crawl on the ground like snakes. They will come out of their homes trembling and stand to honor Yahweh our God. They will be very afraid of him and will tremble in front of him.

Yahweh, there is no God like you; you forgive the sins that the people who have survived committed, the people who belong to you. You do not remain angry forever; you are very happy to show us that you faithfully love us.

You will again act kindly toward us. You will get rid of the scroll on which you have written the sins that we have committed, as though you were trampling it under your feet or throwing it into the deep ocean.

You will show that you faithfully do what you promised for us and faithfully love us, just as you solemnly promised long ago to our ancestors Abraham and Jacob that you would do.

(Matthew 10:34–39; Luke 12:49–53)

Misery is mine! Indeed, I am like one who gathers the summer fruits, as gleanings of the vineyard. There is no cluster of grapes to eat. My soul desires to eat the early fig.

The godly man has perished out of 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.

Their hands are on that which is evil to do it diligently. The ruler and judge ask for a bribe. The powerful man dictates the evil desire of his soul. Thus they conspire together.

The best of them is like a brier. The most upright is worse than a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen, even your visitation, has come; now is the time of their confusion.

Don’t trust in a neighbor. Don’t put confidence in a friend. With the woman lying in your embrace, be careful of the words of your mouth!

For the son dishonors the father, 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.

Israel’s Confession and Comfort

But as for me, I will look to the LORD. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.

Don’t rejoice against 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 judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light. I will see his righteousness.

Then my enemy will see it, and shame will cover her who said to me, “Where is the LORD your God?” My eyes will see her. Now she will be trodden down like the mire of the streets.

A day to build your walls! In that day, he will extend your boundary.

In that day they will come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, and from Egypt even to the River, and from sea to sea, and mountain to mountain.

Yet the land will be desolate because of those who dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings.

God’s Compassion on Israel

Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your heritage, who dwell by themselves in a forest. Let them feed in the middle of fertile pasture land, in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.

“As in the days of your coming out of the land of Egypt, I will show them marvelous things.”

The nations will see and be ashamed of all their might. They will lay their hand on their mouth. Their ears will be deaf.

They will lick the dust like a serpent. Like crawling things of the earth, they will come trembling out of their dens. They will come with fear to the LORD our God, and will be afraid because of you.

Who is a God like you, who pardons iniquity, and passes over the disobedience of the remnant of his heritage? He doesn’t retain his anger forever, because he delights in loving kindness.

He will again have compassion on us. He will tread our iniquities under foot. You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

You will give truth to Jacob, and mercy to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.