Micah
7 reminds me of working for a mason one summer. As a laborer, I only
got paid when I worked. One hot Florida day, the boss told us that
if the material didn’t get there by Noon, he would have to send us
home. My buddy was ready to leave, but I needed the money. I was
looking down that driveway with hopeful optimism, while he was
looking with agitation. In today’s chapter, Micah describes an
impoverished Israel, overrun with corruption and violence. The
vineyard has been picked clean, and he is starving, “there
is no cluster of grapes to eat, none of the early figs that I crave“.
Lawlessness prevails and there is no respect for life, “Everyone
lies in wait to shed blood“.
The leaders have become takers, “the
ruler demands gifts, the judge accepts bribes,
the powerful dictate what they
desire“. He describes it as
“the
time of your confusion“,
when even family conspire against each other, “a
man’s enemies are the members of his own household“.
He is surrounded by despair, but declares, “But
as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior“.
It is hope that keeps us from quitting.
Micah knows what the Lord’s return means,
“Do not gloat over me, my
enemy! Though
I have fallen, I will rise“.
Knowing we are far from perfect, many ignore, or dread what might
happen. Listen to the words of the prophet, “Because
I have sinned against Him, I will bear the Lord’s wrath, until He
pleads my case and upholds my cause… He will bring me out into the
light; I
will see His righteousness“.
There is no greater feeling than experiencing forgiveness. God has
given us many promises, perhaps none more important than this; “For
God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that
whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For
God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to
save the world through Him”
(John 3:16-17). Micah wants us to know, “The
day for building your walls will come“.
These are not walls of isolation, but walls of renewal.
The book ends with a reminder that God is
the same, yesterday, today and forever. “As
in the days when you came out of Egypt, I will show them My wonders“.
Some do not want renewal, “They
will put their hands over their mouths and their ears will become
deaf“. But for those looking
with hope, he asks, “Who is a
God like You, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the
remnant of His inheritance?”
Maybe you worry that God is full of anger and wrath? Micah teaches,
“You do not stay angry forever
but delight to show mercy“.
Our tendency is to remember our failures and the times we messed up,
but listen to the heart of God described here, “You
will again have compassion on us…
and hurl all our iniquities into
the depths of the sea“. If
God is willing to forget, shouldn’t we? The chapter closes with a
final promise to the children of Abraham, “You
will be faithful to Jacob, and show love to Abraham, as You pledged
on oath to our ancestors in days long ago“.
According to Galatians 3:28-29, “There
is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male
and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
If
you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs
according to the promise“.
Friend, it is those of us with the most need that look for Him most
earnestly.