MICAH LESSON 7


     We will begin this lesson in Micah 7:1 "Woe is me! for I am as
when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grapegleanings of
the vintage: [there is] no cluster to eat: my soul desired the
firstripe fruit."

     Micah is speaking for a penitent people, who know they have
sinned, and, been judged, and set for punishment. Perhaps, the thing
they are most sorry for, is their lack of blessings from God now. Woe
is me!  seems as if they are feeling sorry for themselves. Suddenly,
there are no blessings from God. Their desire for their first
relationship with God to be back, is evident here.

     Micah 7:2 "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."

     This is speaking of a society that has no morals at all. They are
degraded, to where it would be difficult to find even one person
living for God. They will even murder, if it will help their personal
cause.  When they should be trying to help their brother, they are
scheming every way they know how to cheat him.

     Micah 7:3  "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."

     This is speaking of cheating and stealing to the utmost. Their
hands are seeking evil things to do. It appears, the judges are taking
bribes, as well.

     Micah 7:4 "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."

     Even the very best of them are like thorns that stick you every
time you get near them. They will all damage you, if you get too near.
Micah is saying, this should be the day of the watchmen. The watchmen
have warned them of their evil, and now the day of their judgement is
here. This day of perplexity will be a day, when the Lord will
chastize them for the evil they have done. God will send deliverence,
but it will not be until they have been punished for their sins.

     Micah 7:5  "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."

     This is a time when you cannot even confide in a friend. The
guide will lead you to your own destruction. The guide has been an
extremely close friend whom you had taken advice from, but you must
not take that advice anymore. This is saying, that you should even be
careful what you say to your wife, or girlfriend.

     Micah 7:6 "For the son dishonoureth 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."

     We see, in this, a time when you cannot even trust those who
should have natural affection for you. Matthew 10:21 "And the brother
shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and
the children shall rise up against [their] parents, and cause them to
be put to death." II Timothy 3:2 "For men shall be lovers of their own
selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to
parents, unthankful, unholy,"  II Timothy 3:3 "Without natural
affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce,
despisers of those that are good,"

     Micah 7:7 "Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for
the God of my salvation: my God will hear me."

     This is a statement similar to the following. Joshua 24:15 "And
if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom
ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that [were]
on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose
land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
The God of my salvation is, of course, Jesus Christ. They will wait,
and trust, and He will come.

     Micah 7:8  "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."

     Israel is speaking confidence that, even though the circumstances
are dark, God will shine His Light. They will be helped to endure the
hardship, knowing that God will send His Light to guide them.

     Micah 7:9 "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."

     They are accepting the punishment that God has sent upon them,
because they know they sinned, and their punishment is just. They are
earnestly looking to God to forgive them, as He had done so many times
in the past. I John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and
just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness." Hebrews 12:6 "For whom the Lord loveth he
chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth."  Hebrews 12:7
"If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what
son is he whom the father chasteneth not?"

     Micah 7:10 "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."

     This is speaking of the world power. They will see that Israel
was not taken because God was weak, but to teach her a lesson. This
speaks destruction on the world power. Israel will see the destruction
of their enemy.

     Micah 7:11 "[In] the day that thy walls are to be built, [in]
that day shall the decree be far removed."

     This is speaking of the day when Jerusalem will be rebuilt. This
will happen, when Israel's captivity is over. God will lift the
chastisement He had placed on them, and they will be blessed of God.

     Micah 7:12 "[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."

     When the new kingdom is set up, the people will come from all the
nations mentioned here. Jerusalem had been a place, where people from
many nations came to worship. It will be that way again. The Jews will
come home from their captive lands to live. This speaks of an exodus
from all these lands back to Israel.

     Micah 7:13 "Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of
them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings."

     The world will be judged of God, and they will be desolate. The
land will bloom, again, in Israel.

     Micah 7:14  "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."

     God is their provider. The "rod" is the shepherd's staff. The
good Shepherd leads them to green pastures, and where there is pure
water.  They will neither hunger nor thirst, because the good Shepherd
cares for them.

     Micah 7:15 "According to the days of thy coming out of the land
of Egypt will I shew unto him marvellous [things]."

     God rained Manna from heaven, and fed them on their journey. He
opened the Red Sea, and they walked over on dry ground. He fed them
water from the Rock. God took care of all their needs. He will do the
same thing here.

     Micah 7:16  "The nations shall see and be confounded at all their
might: they shall lay [their] hand upon [their] mouth, their ears
shall be deaf."

     It is difficult for the larger nations looking on to see the
special care God takes for His own. It will close the mouths of the
other nations. They will not hear, because they are stunned at the
special care God takes for Israel. How can so small a nation have so
much?

     Micah 7:17 "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."

     This is speaking of the nations that are enemies of God and His
people. Their fear of Israel and Israel's God has been renewed. They
will be able to obviously tell these are God's people. They will crawl
around like a snake in their shame and fear.

     Micah 7:18 "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 for ever, because he delighteth
[in] mercy."

     I, with Micah, am amazed at the many, many times God has forgiven
His people, and restored them to their heritage. When we really stop
and think for a moment, it is just as amazing that He would forgive
you and me, and make us sons of God. We did not deserve to be
forgiven. It is through the grace of God that any of us are saved. He
is merciful to all who will repent and turn to Him. Hebrews 8:10 "For
this [is] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after
those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and
write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they
shall be to me a people:"  Hebrews 8:11 "And they shall not teach
every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the
Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest."  Hebrews
8:12 "For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins
and their iniquities will I remember no more."

     Micah 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."

     Sin is the enemy of all mankind. Jesus took our sin upon His body
on the cross, and we no longer have sin. He clothed us in His
righteousness. The only requirement from us for this to be so, is we
must believe in our hearts, and confess with our mouths, the Lord
Jesus, and know in our hearts that he was resurrected from the grave.
Thank goodness, the sins are gone. The fact they are in the depth of
the sea, means they are too far away for us to go looking for them.

     Micah 7:20 "Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, [and] the mercy
to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of
old."

     The truth means that God cannot, and will not, lie. God keeps His
promise of the covenant with Abraham. Galatians 3:29 "And if ye [be]
Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the
promise." It makes no difference whether you are Jew, or Gentile. We
are saved through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.




                          Micah 7 Questions


1.  Who is speaking in verse 1?
2.  The _______ ______ is perished out of the earth.
3.  What kind of a society is verse 2 speaking of?
4.  What is meant by them "doing evil with both hands"?
5.  What are the judges doing wrong?
6.  How are they like a briar?
7.  When is their day of perplexity?
8.  When will God send deliverance?
9.  Trust ye not in a _________.
10. This is saying, you should even be careful what you say to your
    ______.
11. Quote Matthew chapter 10 verse 21.
12. Quote 2 Timothy chapter 3 verses 2 and 3.
13. What Scripture is verse 7 similar to?
14. The God of my salvation is, of course, _________ _______.
15. When I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a ________ unto me.
16. Why are they willing to bear the indignation of the LORD?
17. Quote 1 John chapter 1 verse 9.
18. Whom the Lord loveth He ___________.
19. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with _______.
20. What is verse 10 speaking of?
21. What day is verse 11 speaking of?
22. Feed thy people with thy ______.
23. What is the "rod"?
24. What were some of the marvellous things God showed them on their
    way from Egypt?
25. Who will lick the dirt like a serpent?
26. What is even more amazing, than the fact that God forgave physical
    Israel?
27. Quote Hebrews chapter 8 verses 10, 11, and 12.
28. Where will He cast our sins?
29. When Jesus took our sins, what did He give us?
30. Quote Galatians chapter 3 verse 29.