Micah 7:8-13

For godly sorrow to lead to repentance it will be followed by accurate confession of sin, as is seen in 7:8-13.  By accurate confession we mean this is not just someone saying sorry because they are told to “say you’re sorry” as we often tell our children.  True confession is true because it accurately identifies the sin and accepts the consequences as a right and just response from the Lord!  

What has the LORD been saying?  Israel and Judah have turned to idols; they have turned from the Lord who has done nothing to deserve such ingratitude and has done everything to be worshiped and given thanks.  Thus God has promised the Assyrians to judge Israel and the Babylonians to judge Judah.  

The one who utters this confession, from their heart, is getting it right.  They are acknowledging God’s judgment, recognizing that they are being humbled before the nations.  And they are acknowledging that God is righteously involved in this humiliation. 

·        7:9: I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against Him.

·        7:10: The day will come when the enemies who said Where is the LORD your God that Israel will say it was the LORD who was chastening us and who will soon punish you!

·        7:11-13:  This will start with God’s dealings with Assyria.

This is major.  Ezekiel 39:21-29 says that, when the Messiah comes, everyone will see what they refused to acknowledge: that Israel’s afflictions were the result of God’s work.  This is something that seems to be missing even today from the consciousness of people in Israel.  The holocaust is not so much seen as God’s punishment for Israel’s sin (Deut. 28:64-68); rather it is the result of not having a nation, of not being able to defend themselves.  The nation today is not yet that nation that will whole-heartedly exalt the Christ, the Messiah, when He comes.

May I say that there are people today in the Evangelical community that I believe err in this as well?  God’s restoration of Israel begins with the regathering to the land which seems to be happening before our eyes.  It has been going on for several decades and was increased as a result of the holocaust; but it is continuing.  We believe we must see all of this through the lens of what God is doing in Israel.  The nation is not the saved nation of Rom. 11:26-27.  But still we need to see the people of Israel today in light of Scripture, even as we should interpret what was happening to them since 70AD and even earlier, from 587BC.

There is much room for personal application.  We too are called to a confession of sin that recognizes that God is at work in our lives.  He is always at work to produce what is good (Micah 6:8), knowing that the good is our conformity to the image of His Son (Rom. 8:28-29).  Let us grieve over sin with godly sorrow; and let us come with a true confession of sin.