Micah 7, Thoughts on Israel from Micah

Micah wrote around the same time as Isaiah, around 100 years before the Babylonian captivity.  For Israel today, we will camp in Micah 7.  But first, here is a “map” of Micah.

·          Ch. 1-3: Judgment is coming.  One aspect of that judgment is that God will cease to speak to Israel (3:5-7).  Other prophets spoke of the same thing (Amos 8:11-12; Ezek. 7:26).  This is more of a judgment than we might imagine, that the message of the prophets would go silent in Israel.  One wonders is this has been the situation in Israel in recent years.  The Zionist movement in the late 1800’s and first have of the 1900’s was laced with religious undertones, even though many of the leaders were secular.  This includes Theodore Herzl, the “spiritual” founder of the Jewish State, and Ben Gurion, the first Prime Minister Only recently have the religious “political parties” had a significant voice, and the rift between these parties and the secularist parties had Israel seriously divided right up until Oct. 7, the day of the Hamas massacre.

·       Ch. 4-5: But Israel has a future beyond the judgment.  Messiah will come (this is Micah 5:2-5 where He will come from Bethlehem) and the remnant will flourish.

·       Ch. 6-7: Thus God pleads with the people to repent (6:1-8).  They do not respond, so He carries out His judgment (6:9-16).  Eventually, there is sorrow for sin (7:1-7).  Then Israel waits in hope (7:8-13) until Messiah appears (7:14-17).  God will do this; it will not be the product of men (7:18-20).

It is the last chapter that caught my attention.  First, sorrow for sin precedes the application of salvation to the individual as well as to the Nation.  It is, in the context, Micah who is expressing sorrow.  But what the prophet is doing is a lesson for the people.  The failure of our own sin must be acknowledged and repented of, with godly sorrow, so that we can arrive at the necessary conclusion, which is that God is the one who will bring restoration and prosperity to the Jewish people.  Godly sorrow brings us to the point where we can, wait for the God of my salvation (7:7).  This godly sorrow is a product of God’s grace, as Zechariah 12:10 tells us:

And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced.  Yes, they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.

In 7:8-13 it appears that Israel is not acknowledging her sin.  That day will come.  Look at v9: I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against Him, until He pleads my case and executes justice for me.  In other words, God’s people recognize that their judgment is not the fault of her army or leaders or scientists.  It is the result of sin.  When Israel comes to this place, she will then have the respect of her enemies, so to speak.  Those who doubted Israel’s God will also have their eyes opened (v10).

It is at this time that the LORD will shepherd His people (7:14-17).  The “LORD” is the Messiah, Jesus the Christ.  We know this simply by making the connection between this passage and 5:2-5.  Both speak of the Shepherd King.  When this happens, then the Name of the LORD will be exalted.  He will deal with the sin, no longer in anger but now in mercy (7:18-20).

Again, I see what must happen today in Israel if there is to be peace.  We have been saying that besides praying for “the peace of Jerusalem” we need to pray for “the glory of God” to be seen in Israel (Ps. 83:18).  God is exalted when sinners confess their sin with godly sorrow.  We need to pray that God will open the eyes of the Jewish people to this. 

I have heard from a couple of sources in Israel that they feel this may be happening to some extent.  One brother in Christ said they were having more good conversations with their Jewish neighbors.  Here is a quote from a recent letter: October 7 is the day when the people of Israel realized that they cannot and should not put their trust in our military force and intelligence agencies (Ps. 20:7–9). We were caught in our shame and disability. Since that awful day, most people are willing to hear and speak about spiritual matters and biblical truth.  Let us pray for these conversations, and that the Lord will bring repentance from sin and faith in Christ, the crucified and risen Messiah of Israel.