This was the last chapter of Micah so tomorrow we’ll move on to…
Micah 7
The Counsel of Despair
1 Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grape gleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the first ripe fruit.
7:1-20 – the speakers in this chapter are Micah (vv. 1-7), Zion (vv. 8-10), Micah (11-13), perhaps Zion (v. 14), God (v. 15), Micah (vv. 16-20). The chapter begins on a note of gloom but ends with a statement of hope.
7:1-2 – looking for the godly is like looking for summer fruit when the harvest has ended.
2 The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.
3 That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up.
“That they may do evil with both hands earnestly” – precisely the reason why God will send “evil” upon them. The punishment fits the crime.
4 The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity.
“Day…thy watchmen” – the day of judgment that the prophets warned about (see Jer 6:17; Eze 3:17-21).
5 Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.
Remains of a Biblical city, located south of the valley of Elah. This was the home village of the wives of Judah, the hiding place of future king David, and a city fortified by King Rehobam.
6 For the son dishonoreth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.
The family unit was disintegrating. Poverty is harmful to any society, but poverty because of oppressive leadership or rich land barons is such that society itself will degenerate into anarchy.
This is to happen to the United States, but there is nothing to fear, trust in the Lord.
7 Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.
8 Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.
“When I fall” – Micah foresees the destruction of Zion in 586 B.C.
“Light” – the age-old metaphor of God that was personified in “the Light of the World” (Jn 8:12).
9 I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.
10 Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is the LORD thy God? mine eyes shall behold her: now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets.
11 In the day that thy walls are to be built, in that day shall the decree be far removed.
12 In that day also he shall come even to thee from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, and from the fortress even to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.
13 Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings.
14 Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.
15 According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew unto him marvelous things.
7:15-17 – it is possible that these verses constitute a prayer that God will show His wonders again as in the exodus, that the nations will see and be ashamed, and that they will turn to the Lord in fear.
16 The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf.
When the nations see God’s power at Jesus’ coming they will be amazed.
17 They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the LORD our God, and shall fear because of thee.
18 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger forever, because he delighteth in mercy.
7:18-20 – the confusion of the whole book, not just chapter 7.
19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
“Cast all their sins into the depths of the sea” – God’s grace is as strong as His justice. God’s justice in Amos 9:3 is matched with His grace in this verse.
20 Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.
“Jacob…Abraham” – God had sworn to Abraham (Gen 22:17) and Jacob (Gen 28:14) that their descendants would be as numerous as the dust of the earth and the sand of the seashore, and He had promised the Abraham that he would be the father of many nations (Gen 17:5; cf. Lk 1:54-55).
All believers are ultimately included in this promise (Rom 4; Gal 3:6-29; Heb 11:12). Believers that Jesus Christ is the Lord and Savior, not just someone that believes He existed.
The transgression of Jacob (1:5) is the reason for the beginning of his book, but the faithfulness of God to his covenant is the answer to the question, “Who is a God like unto thee…?”
Adullam
Adullam was one of the royal cities of the Canaanites (Josh 12:15 and 15:35) referred to in the Bible.
It stood near the highway which later became the Roman road in the Valley of Elah, the scene of David’s victory over Goliath (1 Saml 17:2), and not far from Gath. It was one of the towns which Rehoboam fortified against Egypt.
Located 16 miles south-west of Jerusalem, Adullam was one of several strategic cities in the Shephelah to be the object of grim prophecies from Micah. As Adullam had been a place of refuge during the time of David’s distress, so now the city would host the strong and the wealthy who were fleeing before the Assyrian army.
Adullam is mentioned early in Scripture in connection with Judah and Tamar Gen 38), as well as with Joshua’s conquest (Jos 12:15), but it is most prominent as the place where David sought safety—a “no man’s land” between Israelite and Philistine territory (1 Sam 22).
While he was there, David was joined by family members and other refugees, until he had become the leader of a 400-man force. The superscripts of Psalms 34, 57 and 142 may indicate that David wrote these psalms while residing at the cave of Adullam.
Numerous caves mark the prominent hill of Adullam today, but the site has not yet been excavated. David’s grandson Rehoboam fortified Adullam as part of his strategy of protecting Judah’s western flank (2 Chr 11:7), but the site may have been destroyed in the invasion of Sennacherib that was anticipated by Micah.
Following the Babylonian exile, however, Adullam was re-inhabited.
…the Book of Nahum.