Bible Commentaries

Micah's Prayer and God's Answer

- Micah Seven -

Micah could not find one good man among the Jews that would be merciful and good to their fellow man. At one time David wrote, "Help, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men." (Psalms 12:1) The "prince," the "judge," and the "great man" were all guilty. They did evil with both hands earnestly. They conspired to carry out all kinds of evil. Those that should have been godly leaders of the people were no less than a brier or thorn; pricking with injury those that came in contact with them.

Times were so treacherous that God warned them not to trust friends, counselors or even their own wives. God had warned, "If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him: But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you." (Deuteronomy 13:6-11) The only one that can be trusted and looked up to in all situations is God.

While in Babylon Israel should patiently endure the punishment being meted out because of sin. Even though the people were facing physical punishment God wanted it to be a time of spiritual renewal. The walls were broken down, the city and the land was desolate, but under Cyrus, after seventy years in captivity the Jews were restored to their homeland. God did not forget the Jews in this strange land. Micah prayed for God to bless and deliver His people. God would do marvelous things in restoring His people to their home land. Many, in fear, would turn to the Lord for salvation. Gratefulness for the promised future for Israel caused Micah to offer strong praise to God for His greatness and goodness. Micah knew that the people could count on God to be faithful to His promises.

Israel was very corrupt -- Micah 7:1-7 : The people of Israel were incredibly wicked, but Micah still had strong confidence in God. He was dreadfully sad with the conduct of God's people. He described his feelings with a vivid word picture. He felt like someone coming to glean in a vineyard only to find that the last grape had already been picked. There was nothing left to eat; no grapes or any of the delicious figs. He searched for good and honest people and found none. He only found those that wanted to take advantage of others and even to kill them. The people did evil with both hands. Judges and leaders demand bribes, and rulers cheated people in the court. These people planned to do evil and God especially hates a conspiracy to do wrong.

The best of them was worse than a thorn patch. The day of God's Judgment and their punishment had come. They would now face perplexity and confusion. The prophet warned them not to believe anyone, even a close friend or advisor. They were even warned to be careful what they said to their wife. He warned that sons think that their fathers are fools. Daughters refuse to obey their mothers. "A man's enemies are the people who live in his own house now." Similar things would take place in the gospel age. (Matthew 10:34-36) Micah advised the people not to trust their nearest kin but to trust in God. He said, "But as for me, I will watch for what the Lord will do. I will wait for God, who saves me."

Israel turned back to God -- Micah 7:8-13 : The nation of Israel had fallen exceedingly low. After a time of repentance and spiritual growth God would raise them up again. Things might have been dark but a brighter day was coming. God would continue to punish Israel until proper punishment had been made for sins. After that He would make things right for His people and punish the cruel nation that had been so harsh to His people. God punished Israel for her sins and after a time of repentance on the part of the people He pleaded their cause against their enemies. This would cause them to understand that God always does what is right. The cruel nation that had punished Israel would be ashamed for ever asking, "Where is your God?"

The time would come when the captivity would end and Israel would be restored. At that time the walls of the cities would be rebuilt and the borders of their country would be much wider. The fulfillment of this promise is recorded in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. The remnant would come from Assyria, Egypt and from all over the earth. The heartbreaking thing is that the people would suffer greatly because of their sins before this time of restoration came.

Micah's Prayer and the Lord's Answer -- Micah 7:14-17 : Micah prayed that God would rule and lead His people. He requested that God would "let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old." Years before the Assyrians had taken these places, but at the end of the captivity Israel would be allowed to live there again. God would again take care of His people after they have gone through the terrible time of captivity. The Almighty brought Israel out of Egypt and He would deliver them out of Babylonian confinement. In delivering those from Egypt He did tremendous things and He would do great things for His people again.

When God brought the remnant back they were a comparatively small group of people. However, the heathen nations would see what God did for Israel and they would be ashamed. They would recognize that their armies were helpless against the power of the Almighty. They would be in shock. They would be like deaf and dumb people that can neither speak nor hear. The fear of the Lord God would cause these nations to come trembling before Him, crawling out of their fortresses like a snake out of its hole. These nations would lick the dust or face total humiliation. They would be forced to respect the supremacy of the true and living God.

There is no God like the true God -- Micah 7:18-20 : Micah said that there is no God like the true and living God. God chose Israel to be His people, the people that He would use to bring the Messiah into the world. He forgives iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage! God will not always be angry with His people, because He delights in mercy and loving-kindness. "The most wonderful feature of God's treatment of his unfaithful people is His willingness to forgive them." The expression, "He will subdue our iniquities" has special reference to how their idolatry was cured by captivity. God loved these people. He loved to be kind to them. He trample on their sins and threw them in the sea.

Micah knew that Israel could depend upon God because of the promises that He had previously made. "Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old." (Micah 7:20) God had promised to the patriarchs that He would build a great nation through whom the Messiah would be born. God had specifically made these promises to Abraham and to Jacob or Israel. God would "perform the truth to Jacob." He would keep the promises that He had first made to Abraham and later renewed to Jacob. (Genesis 12-25) Our God is a faithful God; He is full of loving-kindness and mercy.