Complete notes on Micah

Complete notes on Micah are now available on Dundee Believer.

Micah 7:19,20 - You will show faithfulness

7:19

Too often we think of forgiveness as letting us “get away” with our sins, or as a mere overlooking of sin. In reality it is something much stronger than that. Here it says He will have compassion on us and will “subdue our iniquities” (NKJV) or “tread our iniquities underfoot” (ESV). He will cast our sins into the depths of the sea. This is a complete defeat of sin and sinfulness within us. In the New Testament this is presented as our being justified by Christ’s sacrifice and our being sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Sin in us is utterly defeated.

7:20

All this is part of the fulfilment of the promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (though Isaac is not mentioned in this verse). God’s covenant with His people are important, and all His workings need to be understood in the light of the covenant. In Hag 2:5 God talks in terms of acting in accord with the covenant He made when He took them out of Egypt. In the New Testament Paul explains the gospel in terms of God fulfilling the Abrahamic covenant.

Micah 7:17,18 - Who is a God like you?

7:17

Micah paints a very vivid picture of the state that the nations will come to. They will be utterly debased and will have to acknowledge the supremacy of the Lord, and will even be afraid of His people. With our Western mindsets we find this very difficult to comprehend or even accept, but this is because of a lack of understanding on our part, a lack of appreciation of who God is, and a lack of appreciation of the nature and awfulness of sin.

7:18

“Who is a God like you ...” Taken together with the previous verse we see here a vital element of God’s forgiveness. It is the sins of His people, of His inheritance who He forgives. He does pardon sin and forgive transgression, but this is not something that is just doled out willy nilly. It is forgiveness towards His chosen people. We should also note that it is not a simple matter. His own people suffered punishment from the Lord.

Micah 7:14-16 - I will show them marvellous things

7:14

Again we have the shepherd analogy. The fundamental point of all the references to shepherds is that it is the Lord Himself who shepherds the flock. We need to be looked after by the Lord, and we are meant to be looked after by the Lord. Israel made a fundamental mistake when she insisted on a king, rejecting the Lord’s kingship. Mankind as a whole made a fundamental mistake when he rejected the Lord. We were designed to live under His care and guidance, and we should seek to develop a relationship with the Lord. Bashan and Gilead were among the first lands to be taken by Israel when she entered the promised land, and among the first lands to be lost.

7:15,16

Once again God would show His wonders. There are sometimes great arguments over whether or not there are miracles today, or whether there should be miracles. The consistent of testimony of Scripture is that miracles are part of God’s “armoury”, part of His way of working. Miracles are in the hand of the Lord, we go wrong if we think we have control over them. And part of the purpose of miracles is to confound the wise, in this case it is the nations that will be put to shame. If we look at the ministry of Jesus we see that He shamed the religious leaders on several occasions with His miracles. As we live in an arrogant society that thinks it knows so much better than the Lord we should not be surprised if the Lord starts doing miracles to confound the “wise”.

Micah 7:10-13 - The earth will be desolate

7:10

Israel was mocked, and even today there are many who denigrate Israel. The church is mocked in the West, and just as Israel in many ways deserved her mocking, so the church deserves much of the mockery she receives. But this is not how things will remain, for the strength of Israel does not lie in Israel herself, and the strength of the church does not lie within the church. Indeed, Israel went wrong when she thought her strength was her own, just as the church goes wrong in the same way. But Israel is God’s nation, and the church is Christ’s, so the final outcome will be Israel turns to her God, to Christ, and that the church, even in the West, will recognise that Christ alone is Lord, and then things will change. “She will be trampled down in the mud”. The streets in those days were the dumping ground for all sorts of rubbish, including human waste.

7:11-13

The walls in this verse are not fortification walls, but boundary walls. There shall be proper boundary walls established again, rather than the rich and powerful taking whatever took their fancy. In that day people from many places will come to Israel. Verse 13 could possibly be seen as a result of human pollution, but it will be as a result of God’s judgement on man’s sin.

Micah 7:8,9 - Rejoice not over me

7:8

Micah now addresses his enemies. These enemies could be people who were mocking and taunting him, or unseen spiritual forces that were mocking him. Yes, it was true that at present he was sitting in darkness, he had fallen, but he would rise, the Lord would be his light. In fact, it seems as if Micah is uttering these words on behalf of the nation of Israel. It is a common feature of the Bible that one person stands before God on behalf of others. The whole priesthood did this, Moses did this on behalf of Israel on several occasions. Abraham prayed for Sodom and Gomorrah. Supremely, Jesus prays to the Father on our behalf.

7:9

Israel did not seem to realiser her sinfulness, but Micah did, so he prays for her. This does not mean that Israel does not need to come to the point of acknowledging her own sin and her own need of Christ, she must certainly does need to do this. Nor if we pray for someone, that does not mean that they do not need to meet God for themselves. They do!  But there is a place for us praying on behalf of others. We can also see a picture here of Christ bearing the wrath of God, then afterwards He would be brought into the light through the resurrection. We should pray for others.

Micah 7:4-7 My God will hear me

7:4,5

In all governments and organisations there are gradations of qualities of people, but even the best of the Israelites were not very good! So judgement was coming, and people would be thrown into confusion. No one would be trustworthy, anyone could betray you. This is the sort of thing that happened in Nazi Germany and in Communist Russia, and continues to happen in authoritarian regimes. There is a complete breakdown of trust.

7:6

Remember that Jesus spoke of father and son, mother and daughter being opposed to each other (Luke 12:53). The family should be the place where we are most secure, but when trust breaks down this becomes a most insecure place. This is what happens when we abandon God and His ways. And we see this in the massive breakdown of families in the West. It breeds massive insecurity, with enormous economic, social and psychological costs.

7:7

So what is one to do in such circumstances? What are we to do in our day when society is increasingly rejecting Christ and Christian values, even making it a crime to hold and expound Christian values? We are to look to the Lord. We are to wait for the God of our salvation, confident that He will hear our prayer. Now this waiting need not be passive, rather it means we look to God and we continue to act and live according to His ways. Salvation will come.

Micah 7:1-3 - Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well

7:1

Micah now starts feeling sorry for himself. Sometimes we think that we must never feel down or depressed, never let God know how we really feel. Yet the Bible is full of examples of people who let God know how they really felt. The Psalms are full of this, Job is a textbook on complaining to God. Elijah just wanted to die, Jeremiah thought it was all too much. Jonah thought God had got it really wrong with Nineveh. We could go on. However, there is a key difference between the examples we find in the Bible and the current mania of self-centeredness that is so prevalent in the world today. The world says this is how I am feeling and you must respond to my feelings, my feelings must rule. In the Bible people were honest about their feelings, but they knew it was they who needed to change, not God. For instance, Job eventually gets to meet God, but it is then Job who must repent, and who is made aware of the realities of life.

7:2,3

It seems as if there is no fruit, no harvest to be had. There are no faithful ones left in the land. Remember that Elijah felt much the same, complaining that he was the only faithful one left (he wasn't). However, unfaithfulness was indeed rife. People were out to get each other. This could be said to be a pretty accurate picture of the social media world today. The state does not administer justice, but rulers were in it for themselves, demanding bribes from the people. They did not administer God’s law, but their own desires.

Micah 6:14-16 - You shall sow but not reap

6:14

“You will eat but not be satisfied ...” The rich and comfortable people take for granted having food to eat, and this is the situation of most of us in the West. At the same time there many, many people in the world who regularly go hungry. The rich would soon experience a time of hunger. We should beware of becoming complacent or arrogant in our wealth. Wealth comes from the Lord, so we must have the right attitude towards it, never seek to gain it by dishonest means or by exploiting others, and use it generously.

6:15,16

They would plant but not harvest. We are meant to work, we are meant to use our intellectual, physical and social skills to do stuff, but the fruitfulness of anything we do is in the hands of the Lord. We are fruitful and successful when we work together with the Lord, and in obedience to the Lord. If we become proud then we may well find our work becomes futile. Omri was one of the false gods worshipped by Ahab’s house among others. Because Israel had abandoned God and worshipped idols, so God would abandon her. There is much of the church today that has abandoned God and His word, this will not be without consequence. These churches may think they will make themselves popular with the world, but the only result will be that they will endure the scorn of the nations.

Micah 6:10-12 - Your rich men are full of violence

6:10

We then get the specific acts that demanded judgement. The wicked had accumulated things by wicked means, and had used “scant measures” in trade, so defrauding their clients. The Bible says in several places, especially in Proverbs, that the Lord abhors false trading. All traders and dealers, even if they are wearing suits and think highly of themselves, who deal falsely will be subject to severe judgement.

6:11

Archaeological evidence has shown that the use of scales and weights had increased significantly in Micah’s time. So we see that value that the Lord places on honest business practices.

6:12,13

This does not paint a pretty picture of society in Micah’s day. No doubt a similar picture could be painted of aspects of our own society, and of various societies throughout the ages. Now this does not mean every single person was totally dishonest, just that it was the predominant attitude. The rich and powerful may have thought that they could get away with it, but they would now suffer the judgement of God. “I have begun to destroy you, to ruin you because of your sins”. This is no arbitrary action on God’s part, but God’s righteous judgement on man’s sin.

Micah 6:8,9 - He has shown you, O man, what is good

6:8

We then get to the heart of the matter. What God requires is a change of heart, matched with actions in accordance with a godly heart. We will always try and change everything except ourselves. Change the government, change the system, but never ourselves. Churches can do this as well. We will think changing a structure is the key. Now it might be helpful, but it is never the heart of the matter.

Now look at this verse. Do justly and love mercy. We will so often go to one of these, and if we do that we are not being godly. A harsh justice without mercy is not biblical. Equally, mercy without any justice is equally unbiblical. True righteousness has the two in the right balance. “And to walk humbly with your God”. Even if we seek to balance justice and mercy in the right way there will be times when we do not know, perhaps even cannot know, how best to deal with a situation. The truth is that we are not capable of all things, we do not know all things, we are not all wise. So we have to walk humbly with our God, aware of our own limitations, and aware of God’s faithfulness. And we need to live in the light of our own weakness and God’s faithfulness.

6:9

In prophets we repeatedly find the interplay of judgement and salvation, for the two are inextricably linked. Too often today we speak of salvation in terms that ignore judgement. This is deeply unbiblical. If we read the gospels we find that Jesus speaks again and again of judgement, if we read Acts we find that the granting of repentance was central to the spread of the gospel, and the gospel message. “It is sound wisdom to fear your name”, and then “hear of the rod and of him who appointed it”. It is a wise man who knows that God is a God of judgement, and that it is God who executes judgement. This is also crucial to understanding the cross. It is God who subjected Jesus to judgement in our place, this is central to a true understanding of the cross.

Micah 6:5-7 - With what shall I come before the Lord?

6:5

Micah then refers back to the Balaam incident (Num 22-24). Balak paid Balaam with the intention of Balaam invoking a curse on Israel so that Israel would be defeated. Balaam, however, was unable to do so, and instead declared blessings over Israel. Israel was in the hands of God. Men still had their plans, but it is the Lord’s will that prevails. We too need to know that are in the hands of the Lord, especially as the world become increasingly anti-Christian.

6:6,7

Micah now asks a series of questions about what should he do in order to come before the Lord. This will lead up to verse 8, which is one of the best known verses from Micah. Micah lists a whole series of sacrifices, using the mandated sacrifices from the Law, but with an element of exaggeration. He finishes the list with ones which were never required in the Law, the firstborn (if we take it to be a human firstborn, rather than firstborn of the flock) and his own children. Micah is deeply aware that there is actually nothing he can offer. The sacrificial system of the Law is important, but two most important elements are: (i) it was pointing towards the one and only sacrifice of Christ; (ii) its inherent futility. As the writer of Hebrews stresses, the sacrifices could never truly take away sin, never make us truly acceptable to God. Micah realises this.

Micah 6:1-4 - He will contend with Israel

6:1,2

We have the picture of a courtroom used to describe the dispute between God and Israel. There was a fundamental disagreement them. The mountains are presented as hearing the case from the two parties, though we will actually just get God’s side. Why does Micah use mountains and “strong foundations” as hearing the case? Probably because of the certainty of these aspects of geography. The mountains do not move, they are steady. So the “case” will be decided against eternal standards. The Lord has a complaint against His people. In religious debates it is usually presented as atheists or other sceptics have a case against God. Even believers sometimes think they have a case against God. Who of us has never thought that God has treated us unfairly? The reality is that God has a case against us!

6:3,4

God invites Israel to say what He has done wrong. How had He “wearied” them? God had brought them up out of Egypt, He had rescued them from slavery. God had sent Moses, Aaron and Miriam to lead them. It is rare for Aaron and Miriam to be mentioned outside of the first five books. Notice also that Miriam is mentioned along with Moses and Aaron. She is seen as being in important part of the leadership.

Micah 5:8-15 - All your enemies shall be cut off

5:8,9

We get a repeat of the prophecy that the “remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles” (peoples in v7). The Jews were dispersed as a result of conquest of the nation, as a results of God’s judgement upon the nation.  But here we read of her being like a lion among the beasts. How can this happen? It will happen when God’s people turn back to Him. The analogy here is in terms of violence and conquest, but in terms of the gospel it is violence against the kingdom of darkness, not against people. Two points of application. First, there is enormous emphasis placed by some on the land of Israel. Now the land of Israel is important, but the most important point is the people turning to Christ, and verses like these would seem to imply that it is not all about the Jews who have returned to Israel. Secondly, we can apply the principle to all Christians. We are dispersed all around the world, and sometimes (often for non-western Christians) in a hostile environment. This is even becoming true of western Christians. It can seem that we are the underdogs, but the end result will be that we are the head and not the tail. We need to remain faithful to the Lord. To go along with the world’s wisdom is the most unbelievably stupid thing a Christian can do.

5:10-15

The coming of this day will not be an easy matter, for it will involve a purification of the people of God. All reliance on non-Godly means will be stripped away. Horses and chariots were the prime means of war, but they would be destroyed. All dependence on idol worship would be removed. All false religion would be gone. Judgement would also extend to the nations that have not listened to the word of God.

Micah 5:5-7 - He shall deliver us

5:5,6

“And he shall be their peace”. Jesus is our peace. In the near future Assyria was going to invade and conquer Israel, the northern kingdom. She would invade much  of Judah, but would be stopped at the gates of Jerusalem. It seems that Micah here is looking far ahead. The formula seven and eight, is similar to the “three even four”, found several times in Amos.  Assyria would be powerful, but even greater power would be raised against him. As noted, this did happen with Assyria failing to take Jerusalem, but an even greater event is looked forward to. We should note that the analogy implies that the enemy will seem to be very successful, and almost on the brink of absolute success (as was Assyria), but she will in fact not succeed. The enemy will be shepherded with the sword. Violence will be used against her. So even though the enemy “treads within our border”, he will not win.

5:7

We then get a picture of the remnant, which shall be among many peoples. Jews have been dispersed throughout the world, and if we take this as referring specifically to the Jews, then we can expect Jews in many parts of the world to turn to Christ. Alternatively, it could refer to the Gentiles who get saved, who are indeed from all peoples. Whatever the case, the key point is that all this is in God’s hands, under His control. It seemed at the time as if Assyria, and later Babylon, were in control. Today we see many forces that seem to be in control, but all this is an illusion, for it is God alone who is in control.

Micah 5:3,4 - He shall stand and shepherd His flock

5:3

So Israel would be abandoned until the king comes “and the rest of the brothers return”. When Jesus was born He was rejected by Israel, and since then Israel had been an abandoned nation until 1948. She is still a despised nation and will only reach her true destiny when she puts her faith in Jesus as Messiah.

5:4

When will this happen? When the Lord Himself shepherds the flock. As I have mentioned before, this is why Jesus’ calling Himself the good shepherd and all the shepherd analogies are so significant. Years ago Israel had demanded a king, rejecting God as their king. It is God’s will that will come to pass in the end. And note that the Messiah will shepherd the flock “in the strength of the Lord, and in the majesty of the name of the Lord”. We need to appreciate the strength and majesty of Jesus the good shepherd.

And when we are under the care of the Lord we shall dwell secure, indeed it is the only way to be truly secure. Why are we secure? Because He will be great to the ends of the earth! Our shepherd is all powerful in all of the world. We sh

Micah 5:1,2 - But you, O Bethlehem

5:1

There is a contrast between the current situation and leadership and the future king of Israel. For now they needed to prepare for war. Israel and much of Judah would be overrun by Assyria, and Jerusalem would be under siege.

5:2

Despite this judgement and defeat, a future king would come, and the Messiah would come from Bethlehem. This verse is quoted in Matthew 2:6. Bethlehem was a small place, of little account, but of her would come one who would rule over all of Israel. So we see that while the Jews on the whole reject Jesus, one day He will rule over all of Israel. Only then will true peace come to Israel. “Whose origins are of old, from ancient times”. This alludes to the eternality of Jesus, as he said in John 8:58, “Before Abraham was, I am”.

Micah 4:11-13 - They do not know the thoughts of the Lord

4:11,12

There are similarities here to the vision of Armageddon in Revelation 16:16.  In Micah’s day, and in the time of Babylon, various nations gathered with Assyria and later Babylon. Even today, most of the nations around Israel want to see her destruction, and even beyond that there is a distinct anti-Israel bias, especially in the UN. They want to see Israel defiled, and they think they are superior to her, and that events are going in their favour. “But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord”.  They do not understand His plans, they do not know that the nations have actually been gathered for judgement. We need to be very careful when we try to interpret international events. The purely worldly analysis will not tell us everything. Equally some of the so-called Biblical interpretations contain a high level of nonsense.

4:13

Israel would become a strong and powerful nation. The terms “horns of iron” and “hooves of bronze” refer to the strength that she will have. Israel will break many nations. This has happened to a limited extent, with various local nations failing in wars against Israel. However, more is to come. The most important missing ingredient is that for complete fulfilment Israel needs to turn to Christ, to acknowledge her sin and put her trust in Christ as Lord. Then the wealth of the nations will be devoted to the Lord.

Micah 4:8-10 - There you shall be rescued

4:8

At the end of chapter 3 we read of the destruction of Jerusalem. Here we read of the complete restoration. One should never assume that destruction is the end of the matter. This applies to the nation of Israel, we can also apply it to our own lives, or the lives of those we love and pray for. At times it can seem as of there is no hope, as if things have gone to far down hill, but with God this is never the case. The destiny of Jerusalem is to have dominion and kingship.

4:9

We then get a sudden change in tone again, we are back to the current judgement. Zion would have to go through much suffering. “Have you no king?” Israel and Judah did have kings, though not very good ones. The truth was that their true king was the Lord. This had always been the case, but they had sought to deny this truth. So human kings failed them. Eventually their true king did come, but they rejected Him. All this rejection of the Lord as king led to much suffering, both in Micah’s day and the years after that, and in the years after they crucified Christ.

4:10

Micah then foretells of the exile in Babylon. At the time Babylon was not the major power, that place belonged to Assyria. Though Babylon was on the radar, as we see in Isaiah 39. So Micah foretells the Babylonian captivity, and many of the people did indeed go off to Babylon as exiles. But this exile would not be the final destination, for they would be rescued from that place.

Micah 4:6,7 - I will make the lame a remnant

4:6

“In that day ..” So in the midst of the present confusion and disobedience, and when over the next period of time much judgement was going to come upon Israel and Judah, God outlines His long term plans. God always keeps the long term goal in view, and so should we. God’s plans have not changed, and the destination is certain to be reached. God would gather the lame and the exiles. Remember that at this time there weren’t many exiles. “and those I have brought to grief”. The Bible has no qualms at all about saying that God has caused some of the suffering, for it was judgement upon Israel and Judah for their sins. At the same time we should realise that that is not the whole story, it does not explain all suffering, but there are times when the judgement of God comes in this age.

4:7

The lame and the exiles would become a strong nation, and the Lord will rule over them. So again we have the ruling of the Lord as the fundamental feature of the “successful” nation. We also see God calling into being things that are not, and God reversing situations. The remnant came from those driven away as a result of God’s judgement. We should also note that Israel has not yet become that nation. She is now a nation again, but is not under God’s rule, indeed is very atheistic in many ways.