MICAH 7 COMMETARYEDITED BY GLE PEASE

Israel’s Misery

1 What misery is mine!I am like one who gathers summer fruit at the gleaning of the vineyard;there is no cluster of grapes to eat, none of the early figs that I crave.

BARES. "Woe - o is me! for I am, as when they have gathered the summer fruits , as the grape-gleanings of the vintage “The vineyard of the Lord of hosts,” Isaiah said at the same time, “is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah His pleasant plants” Isa_5:7. Isaiah said, brought forth wild grapes; Micah, that there are but gleanings, few and poor.

It is as though Satan pressed the vineyard of the Lord, and made the most his prey, and few were left to those who glean for Christ; “the foxes have eaten the grapes” Son_2:15. Some few remain too high out of their reach, or hidden behind the leaves, or, it may be , falling in the time of gathering, fouled, sullied, marred and stained, yet left.” So in the gleaning there may be three sorts of souls; “two or three in the top of the uppermost bough” Isa_17:6, which were not touched; or those unripe, which are but imperfect and poor; or those who had fallen, yet were not wholly carried away. These too are all sought with difficulty; they had escaped the gatherer’s eye, they are few and rare; it might seem at first sight, us though there were none. There is no cluster to eat; for the vintage is past, the best is but as a sour grape which sets the teeth on edge.

My soul desired the first-ripe fig. These are they which, having survived the sharpness of winter, ripen early, about the end of June; they are the sweetest ; but he longed for them in vain. He addressed a carnal people, who could understand only carnal things, on the side which they could understand. Our longings, though we pervert them, are God’s gift. As they desired those things which refresh or recruit the thirsty body, as their whole self was gathered into the craving for that which was to restore them, so was it with him. Such is the longing of God for man’s conversion and salvation; such is the thirst of His ministers; such their pains in seeking, their sorrow in not finding. Dionysius: “There were none, through whose goodness the soul of the prophet might spiritually be refreshed, in joy at his growth in grace, as Paul saith to Philemon, “refresh my bowels in

the Lord” Phm_1:20. So our Lord saith in Isaiah, “I said, I have labored in vain, I hate spent my strength for nought and in vain” Isa_49:4. “Jesus was grieved at the hardness of their hearts” Mar_3:5.

Rib.: “The first-ripe fig may be the image of the righteous of old, as the Patriarchs or the Fathers, such as in the later days we fain would see.”

CLARKE, "Wo is me! - This is a continuation of the preceding discourse. And here the prophet points out the small number of the upright to be found in the land. He himself seemed to be the only person who was on God’s side; and he considers himself

as a solitary grape, which had escaped the general gathering. The word קץ kayits, which is sometimes used for summer, and summer fruits in general, is here translated late figs; and may here, says Bishop Newcome, be opposed to the early ripe fig of superior quality. See on Hos_9:10 (note), and Amo_8:1 (note), Amo_8:2 (note). He desired to see the first-ripe fruit - distinguished and eminent piety; but he found nothing but a very imperfect or spurious kind of godliness.

GILL, "Woe is me!.... Alas for me unhappy man that I am, to live in such an age, and among such a people, as I do! this the prophet says in his own name, or in the name of the church and people of God in his time; so Isaiah, who was contemporary with him, Isa_6:5; see also Psa_120:5;

for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grape gleanings of the vintage; when there are only an apple or a pear or two, or such sort of fruit, and such a quantity of it left on the top of the tree, or on the outermost branches of it, after the rest are gathered in; or a few single grapes here and there, after the vintage is over; signifying either that he was like Elijah left alone, or however that the number of good men were very few; or that there were very few gathered in by his ministry, converted, taught, and instructed by it; or those that had the name of good men were but very indifferent, and not like those who were in times past; but were as refuse fruit left on trees, and dropped from thence when rotten, and when gathered up were good for little, and like single grapes, small and withered, and of no value; see Isa_17:6;

there is no cluster to eat; no large number or society of good men to converse with, only here and there a single person; and none that have an abundance of grace and goodness in them, and a large experience of spiritual and divine things; few that attend the ministry of the word; they do not come in clusters, in crowds; and fewer still that receive any advantage by it;

my soul desired the first ripe fruit; the company and conversation of such good men as lived in former times; who had the firstfruits of the Spirit, and arrived to a maturity of grace, and a lively exercise of it; and who were, in the age of the prophet, as scarce and rare as first ripe fruits, and as desirable as such were to a thirsty traveller; see Hos_9:10. The Targum is,

"the prophet said, woe unto me, because I am as when good men fail, in a time in which merciful men perish from the earth; behold, as the summer fruits, as the gleanings after the vintage, there is no man in whom there are good works; my soul desires good men.''

HERY 1-6, "This is such a description of bad times as, some think, could scarcely agree to the times of Hezekiah, when this prophet prophesied; and therefore they rather take it as a prediction of what should be in the reign of Manasseh. But we may rather suppose it to be in the reign of Ahaz (and in that reign he prophesied, ch. 1:1) or in the beginning of Hezekiah's time, before the reformation he was instrumental in; nay, in the best of his days, and when he had done his best to purge out corruptions, still there was much amiss. The prophet cries out, Woe is me! He bemoans himself that his lot was cast in such a degenerate age, and thinks it his great unhappiness that he lived among a people that were ripening apace for a ruin which many a good man would unavoidably be involved in. Thus David cries out, Woe is me that I sojourn in Mesech! He laments, 1. That there were so few good people to be found, even among those that were God's people; and this was their reproach: The good man has perished out of the earth, or out of the land, the land of Canaan; it was a good land, and a land of uprightness (Isa_26:10), but there were few good men in it, none upright among them, Mic_7:2. The good man is a godly man and a merciful man; the word signifies both. Those are completely good men that are devout towards God and compassionate and beneficent towards men, that love mercy and walk with God. “These have perished; those few honest men that some time ago enriched and adorned our country are now dead and gone, and there are none risen up in their stead that tread in their steps; honesty is banished, and there is no such thing as a good man to be met with. Those that were of religious education have degenerated, and become as bad as the worst; the godly man ceases,” Psa_12:1. This is illustrated by a comparison (Mic_7:1): they were as when they have gathered the summer fruits; it was as hard a thing to find a good man as to find any of the summer-fruits (which were the choicest and best, and therefore must carefully be gathered in) when the harvest is over. The prophet is ready to say, as Elijah in his time (1Ki_19:10), I, even I only, am left. Good men, who used to hang in clusters, are now as the grape-gleanings of the vintage, here and there a berry, Isa_17:6. You can find no societies of them as bunches of grapes, but those that are are single persons: There is no cluster to eat; and the best and fullest grapes are those that grow in large clusters. Some think that this intimates not only that good people were few, but that those few who remained, who went for good people, were good for little, like the small withered grapes, the refuse that were left behind, not only by the gatherer, but by the gleaner. When the prophet observed this universal degeneracy it made him desire the first-ripe fruit; he wished to see such worthy good men as were in the former ages, were the ornaments of the primitive times, and as far excelled the best of all the present age as the first and full-ripe fruits do those of the latter growth, that never come to maturity. When we read and hear of the wisdom and zeal, the strictness and conscientiousness, the devotion and charity, of the professors of religion in former ages, and see the reverse of this in those of the present age, we cannot but sit down, and wish, with a sigh, O for primitive Christianity again! Where are the plainness and integrity of those that went before us? Where are the Israelites indeed, without guile? Our souls desire them, but in vain. The golden age is gone, and past recall; we must make the best of what is, for we are not likely to see such times as have been. 2. That there were so many wicked mischievous people among them, not only none that did any good, but multitudes that did all the hurt they could: “They all lie in wait for blood, and hunt every man his brother. To get wealth to themselves, they care not what wrong, what hurt, they do to their neighbours and nearest relations. They act as if mankind were in a state of war, and force were the only right. They are as beasts of prey to their neighbours, for they all lie in wait for blood as lions for their prey; they thirst after it, make nothing of taking away any man's life or livelihood to serve a turn for themselves, and lie in wait for an opportunity to do it. Their neighbours are as

beasts of prey to them, for they hunt every man his brother with a net; they persecute them as noxious creatures, fit to be taken and destroyed, though they are innocent excellent ones.” We say of him that is outlawed, Caput gerit lupinum -He is to be hunted as a wolf. “Or they hunt them as men do the game, to feast upon it; they have a thousand cursed arts of ensnaring men to their ruin, so that they may but get by it. Thus they do mischief with both hands earnestly; their hearts desire it, their heads contrive it, and then both hands are ready to put it in execution.” Note, The more eager and intent men are upon any sinful pursuit, and the more pains they take in it, the more provoking it is. 3. That the magistrates, who by their office ought to have been the patrons and protectors of right, were the practicers and promoters of wrong: That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, to excite and animate themselves in it, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh, for a reward, for a bribe, with which they well be hired to exert all their power for the supporting and carrying on of any wicked design with both hands. They do evil with both hands well (so some read it); they do evil with a great deal of art and dexterity; they praise themselves for doing it so well. Others read it thus: To do evil they have both hands (they catch at an opportunity of doing mischief), but to do good the prince and the judge ask for a reward; if they do any good offices they are mercenary in them, and must be paid for them. The great man, who has wealth and power to do good, is not ashamed to utter his mischievous desire in conjunction with the prince and the judge, who are ready to support him and stand by him in it. So they wrap it up; they perplex the matter, involve it, and make it intricate (so some understand it), that they may lose equity in a mist, and so make the cause turn which way they please. It is ill with a people when their princes, and judges, and great men are in a confederacy to pervert justice. And it is a sad character that is given of them (Mic_7:4), that the best of them is as a brier, and the most upright is sharper than a thorn-hedge; it is a dangerous thing to have any thing to do with them; he that touches them must be fenced with iron (2Sa_23:6, 2Sa_23:7), he shall be sure to be scratched, to have his clothes torn, and his eyes almost pulled out. And, if this be the character of the best and most upright, what are the worst? And, when things have come to this pass, the day of thy watchmen comes, that is, as it follows, the day of thy visitation, when God will reckon with thee for all this wickedness, which is called the day of the watchmen, because their prophets, whom God set as watchmen over them, had often warned them of that day. When all flesh have corrupted their way, even the best and the most upright, what can be expected but a day of visitation, a deluge of judgments, as that which drowned the old world when the earth was filled with violence? 4. That there was no faith in man; people had grown so universally treacherous that one knew not whom to repose any confidence in, Mic_7:5. “Those that have any sense of honour, or spark of virtue, remaining in them, have a firm regard to the laws of friendship; they would not discover what passed in private conversation, nor divulge secrets, to the prejudice of a friend. But those things are now made a jest of; you will not meet with a friend that you dare trust, whose word you dare take, or who will have any tenderness or concern for you; so that wise men shall give it and take it for a rule, trust you not in a friend, for you will find him false, you can trust him no further than you can see him; and even him that passes for an honest man you will find to be so only with good looking to. Nay, as for him that undertakes to be your guide, to lead you into any business which he professes to understand better than you, you cannot put a confidence in him, for he will be sure to mislead you if he can get any thing by it.” Some by a guide understand a husband, who is called the guide of thy youth; and that agrees well enough with what follows, “Keep the doors of thy lips from her that lieth in thy bosom, from thy own wife; take heed what thou sayest before her, lest she betray thee, as Delilah did Samson, lest she be the bird of the air that carries the voice of that which thou sayest in thy bed-chamber,” Ecc_10:20. It is an evil time indeed

when the prudent are obliged even thus far to keep silence. 5. That children were abusive to their parents, and men had no comfort, no satisfaction, in their own families and their nearest relations, Mic_7:6. The times are bad indeed when the son dishonours his father, gives him bad language, exposes him, threatens him, and studies to do him a mischief, when the daughter rises up in rebellion against her own mother, having no sense of duty, or natural affection; and no marvel that then the daughter-in-law quarrels with her mother-in-law, and is vexatious to her. Either they cannot agree about their property and interest, or their humours and passions clash, or from a spirit of bigotry and persecution, the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child,Mat_10:4; Luk_21:16. It is sad when a man's betrayers and worst enemies are the men of his own house, his own children and servants, that should be his guard and his best friends. Note, The contempt and violation of the laws of domestic duties are a sad symptom of a universal corruption of manners. Those are never likely to come to good that are undutiful to their parents, and study to be provoking to them and cross them.

JAMISO, "Mic_7:1-20. The universality of the corruption; The chosen remnant, driven from every human confidence, turns to God; Triumphs by faith over her enemies; Is comforted by God’s promises in answer to prayer, and by the confusion of her enemies, and so breaks forth into praises of God’s character.

I am as when, etc.— It is the same with me as with one seeking fruits after the harvest, grapes after the vintage. “There is not a cluster” to be found: no “first-ripe fruit” (or “early fig”; see on Isa_28:4) which “my soul desireth” [Maurer]. So I look in vain for any good men left (Mic_7:2).

K&D, "That the prophet is speaking in Mic_7:1 ff. not in his own name, but in the name of the church, which confesses and bemoans its rebellion against the Lord, is indisputably evident from Mic_7:7 ff., where, as all the expositors admit, the church speaks of itself in the first person, and that not “the existing corrupt Israelitish church,” as Caspari supposes, but the penitential, believing church of the future, which discerns in the judgment the chastising hand of its God, and expresses the hope that the Lord will conduct its conflict with its foe, etc. The contents of Mic_7:1-6, also, do not point to the prophet in distinction from the congregation, but may be understood throughout as the confession of sin on the part of the latter. Mic_7:1. “Woe to me! for I have become like a gathering of fruit, like a gleaning of the vintage: Not a grape to eat! an early fig, which

my soul desired.” ללי , which only occurs again in Job_10:15, differs from הוי, and is “vox

dolentis, gementis, et ululantis magis quam minantis” (March); and �י is not “that,” but

“for,” giving the reason for אללי. The meaning of הייתי�כאס is not, “it has happened to me

as it generally happens to those who still seek for early figs at the fruit gathering, or for

bunches of grapes at the gleaning of the vintage” (Caspari and others); for ��ספי�קיץ does not mean as at the fruit-gathering, but like the fruit-gathering. The nation or the church resembles the fruit-gathering and gleaning of the vineyard, namely, in this fact, that the fruit-gathering yields not more early figs, and the gleaning of the vintage yields no more grapes to eat; that is to say, its condition resembles that of an orchard in the time of the fruit-gathering, when you may find fruit enough indeed, but not a single early fig, since the early figs ripen as early as June, whereas the fruit-gathering does not take place till

August (see at Isa_28:4). The second simile is a still simpler one, and is very easily

explained. ספי� is not a participle, but a noun - the gathering (Isa_32:10); and the אסף

plural is probably used simply because of עוללת, the gleaning, and not with any allusion to the fact that the gleaning lasts several days, as Hitzig supposes, but because what is

stated applies to all gatherings of fruit. קיץ, fruit; see at Amo_8:1. אותה is to be taken in a

relative sense, and the force of אין still extends to ורה�" (compare Gen_30:33). The figure

is explained in Mic_7:2 ff.

CALVI, "The meaning of the first verse is somewhat doubtful: some refer what the Prophet says to punishment; and others to the wickedness of the people. The first think that the calamity, with which the Lord had visited the sins of the people, is bewailed; as though the Prophet looked on the disordered state of the whole land. But it may be easily gathered from the second verse, that the Prophet speaks here of the wickedness of the people, rather than of the punishment already inflicted. I have therefore put the two verses together, that the full meaning may be more evident to us.

Woe then to me! Why? I am become as gatherings Too free, or rather too licentious is this version, — “I am become as one who seeks to gather summer-fruits, and finds none;” so that being disappointed of his hope, he burns with desire. This cannot possibly be considered as the rendering of the Prophet’s words. There is indeed some difficulty in the expressions: their import, however, seems to be this, — that the land, which the Prophet undertakes here to represent and personify, was like to a field, or a garden, or a vineyard, that was empty. He therefore says, that the land was stripped of all its fruit, as it is after harvest and the vintage. So by gatherings we must understand the collected fruit. Some understand the gleanings which remain, as when one leaves carelessly a few clusters on the vines: and thus, they say, a few just men remained alive on the land. But the former comparison harmonizes better with the rest of the passage, and that is, that the land was now stripped of all its fruit, as it is after the harvest and the vintage. I am become then as the gatherings of summer, that is, as in the summer, when the fruit has been already gathered; and as the clusters of the vintage, that is when the vintage is over. (181)

There is no cluster, he says to eat. The Prophet refers here to the scarcity of good men; yea, he says that there were no longer any righteous men living. For though God had ever preserved some hidden seed, yet it might have been justly declared with regard to the whole people, that they were like a field after gathering the corn, or a vineyard after the vintage. Some residue, indeed, remains in the field after harvest, but there are no ears of corn; and in the vineyard some bunches remain, but they are empty; nothing remains but leaves. ow this personification is very forcible when the Prophet comes forth as though he represented the land itself; for he speaks in his own name and person, Woe is to me, he says, for I am like summer-gatherings! It was then the same thing, as though he deplored his own nakedness and want, inasmuch as there were not remaining any upright and righteous men.

“Woe is me! For I am become As the gatherers of late figs,As the gleaners of the vintage: There isno cluster to eat; My soul desireth the first ripe fig.”

Substantially the same is the version of Dathius and of Henderson. “Late figs” is not strictly the meaning of קיף, which is properly summer or summer-fruit; yet, as the early or first ripe fig is mentioned in the last line, which forms a contrast with this, what is meant, no doubt, is the late figs. Then the word for “gleaners,” עללת, is properly, gleanings; but here it is evidently to be taken as a concrete, gleaners, to correspond with gatherers, though ewcome considers the women-gleaners to be intended. The four last lines form a parallelism, in which the first and the early fig, — the vintage and the cluster. — Ed.

COFFMA, "Verse 1The chapter falls into two divisions, the first being a representation in the mouth of the prophet upon behalf of Zion-Jerusalem, "bewailing the absence of any righteous ones within her borders."[1] It is not necessary to suppose that the general population of the city engaged in any such lament; it is rather an outline of the dreadful social conditions uttered by Micah in the form of a lament. The conditions revealed show "a complete social rebellion against constituted authority and natural relations."[2] The first paragraph (Micah 7:1-6). reads very much like the front pages of newspapers in the United States at the present time.

Micah 7:7-17 are spoken upon behalf of the spiritual remnant, in whose mouths Micah places a confession of sins and a plea for Jehovah to receive them. A final prophecy of what God will do (Micah 7:18-20) brings the prophecy of Micah to a close.

Micah 7:1

"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 desireth the first-ripe fig."

Beginning here and through Micah 7:6, we have "one of the most poignant criticisms of a commercial community ever to appear."[3] othing "to eat" is a metaphor of the lack of honesty and integrity in Jerusalem, as appears in succeeding verses. Just as in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah, "There were not `ten righteous persons' for whose sake the city might have been spared!"[4]

"Like Jeremiah, a century later (Jeremiah 5:1), he is unable to find a single godly person. He compares himself to a man wandering in the fields in search of something to eat."[5]

COKE, "Micah 7:1. For I am as when they have gathered— For I am like to those

who are about to gather the summer fruits, and to him who is about to pluck the vintage: there are no grapes which I can eat, nor first-fruits which my soul desireth. Houbigant; who supposes, that the prophet here introduces our Saviour speaking; and certainly the discourse of the prophet, and the conduct of our Lord, Mark 11:13 have a great conformity to each other.

ELLICOTT, "(1) Woe is me!—Micah gives here a fearful picture of the demoralised state of society in Judah which had called down the vengeance of God. As the early fig gathered in June is eagerly sought for by the traveller, so the prophet sought anxiously for a good man; but his experience was that of the Psalmist: “The godly man ceaseth; the faithful fail from among the children of men.”

TRAPP, "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.

Ver. 1. Woe is me, for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits] Allai li, Alas for me. This last sermon of his the prophet begins with a pathetic queritation, bewailing his own unhappiness in the little good success of his ministry. Mirifice autem nostris temporibus hic sermo convenit, saith Gualther. This discourse suits well with these times; wherein we may justly cry out with the prophet Isaiah, "Who hath believed our report?" And again, "O my leanness, my leanness! woe is me, for there is only as the shaking of an olive tree, and as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done," Isaiah 24:13; Isaiah 24:16. Hei mihi quam pingui macer est mihi taurus in arvo. Though he had worn himself to a very skeleton in the Lord’s work; yet had he laboured in vain, Israel was not gathered, Isaiah 49:4-5, and hence his woeful complaint. The like we read of Elias, 1 Kings 19:10, where he bitterly bewails his aloneness; so did Athanasius in his age; and Basil in his Fasciculus temporum, A. D. 884, cries out, for the paucity of good people, Heu, heu, Domine Deus, Alas, Lord, how few appear to be on thy side.

“ Apparent rari nantes in gurgite vasto. ”

And Gualther complains, that the Anabaptists in Germany urged this as a chief argument to draw people from communion with our Churches, that there was so little good done by preaching, and so few souls converted. Hence some ministers despond, and are ready to kick up all. Latimer tells of one who gave this answer why he left off preaching, because he saw he did no good. This, saith Latimer, is a naughty, a very naughty answer. A grief it will be, and fit it should be; piety to God and pity to men calls for it. Christ wept over Jerusalem; Paul had great heaviness and continual sorrow in his heart (not inferior to that of a woman in travail ’ Oδυνη, Romans 9:2) for his contumacious countrymen; neither could he speak of those lewd lowlies at Philippi with dry eyes, Philippians 3:18. But an utter discouragement it should not be, since our reward is with God however, Isaiah 49:5, and perhaps a larger, because we have wrought with so little encouragement: we have ploughed when others have only trod out the grain: they trod and fed together, when as those that plough have no refreshing till the work be done, Hosea 10:13.

Certain it is that God will reward his faithful servants, secundum laborem, non secundum proventum, according to their pains taken in the ministry, and not according to their people’s profiting, Kατα κοπον ου κατα καρπον..

There is no cluster to eat] one to speak of: hedge fruit there is great store; wild grapes not a few; grapes of Sodom, clusters of Gomorrah; but for good grapes, pleasant fruit, godly people, there is a wondrous scarcity of such. Diogenes lighted a candle at noonday to look for a man; the host of ola went to the graves to call for the good men of the town. Cicero saith, that if there be one good poet in an age it is well. Christ wondered at one good athaniel, and tells us in the same chapter, that they are but few that receive him, and with him the adoption of sons, John 1:12. Clusters we must not look for; but if there be found two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches, it is well, Isaiah 17:6. Sufficit mihi auditor unus, sufficit nullus. Paul when he came first to Philippi had a poor audience, only a few women, Acts 16:13, and one convert: neither had he much better success at Athens, and no Church could be planted there, Acts 17:33-34.

My soul desired the firstripe fruits] Praecocem fructum, the early ripening fruit, as a great dainty, a precious rarity. We highly prize nettlebuds when they first bud; so doth God our young services. Jeremiah 1:11, he made choice of the almond tree because it blossometh first; so of Jeremiah from his infancy. He called for firstfruits of trees, and of the earth, in the sheaf, in the threshingfioor, in the dough, in the loaves. He would have ears of corn dried by the fire; and wheat beaten out of the green ears, Leviticus 2:14. He would have the primrose of our childhood. There were three sorts of firstfruits. 1. Of ears of grain offered about the passover. 2. Of the loaves, offered about Pentecost. 3. About the end of the year, in autumn. ow of the two first God had a part, not of the last. He likes not of those arbores autumnales, autumn trees, 1:12 ( φθινοπωρινα), that bud at latter end of harvest. Conversion (as divines observe) usually occures between eighteen years of age and twenty-eight: besides Abraham in the Old Testament, and icodemus in the ew, we have not many instances of men converted in old age. When people grow crooked and rooted in evil practices they are hardly ever set straight again. "Remember therefore thy Creator in the days of thy youth"; his soul delighteth in the first ripe fruits. Remember that Jesus Christ shed his blood for thee when he was but eight days old when he was circumised; and took thee into his family by baptism when thou didst hang on thy mother’s breast.

BESO, "Verse 1-2Micah 7:1-2. Wo is me, &c. — Judea, or rather the prophet himself, is here introduced as complaining, that though good men once abounded in the land, there were now few or none to be found. I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, &c. — I am like one who gathers up the ears of corn after the harvest, or grapes after the vintage: who meets with very few. There is no cluster, &c. — Good men, that used to be found in clusters, are now as the grape-gleanings of the vintage,

here and there a berry. o societies of pious men are to be found, assembling together for the purposes of devotion and mutual edification: those that are such, are individuals, unconnected with, and standing aloof from each other. And these are but very imperfectly pious, like the small withered grapes, the refuse, left behind, not only by the gatherer, but by the gleaner. My soul desired the first ripe fruit — I wish to see such worthy good men as lived in the former ages, were the ornaments of the primitive times, and as far excelled the best of the present age, as the first and full ripe fruits do those of the later growth, that never come to maturity. To meet with such as these would be a refreshment, to me like that which a thirsty traveller receives when he finds the early fruits in the summer season. The good man — Hebrew, חסיד, the pious, kind, merciful, and beneficent; is perished out of the earth — Rather, out of the land, namely, Judea. There are few or none that are so truly and consistently pious as to delight in doing good to others, or making them as happy as lies in their power. And there is none upright — “As the early fig, of excellent flavour, cannot be found in the advanced season of summer, or the choice cluster of grapes after vintage, so neither can the good and upright man be discovered by diligent searching in Israel.” — ewcome. They hunt every man his brother, &c. — They make a prey, each one of his neighbour, or those they have to do with, and use all arts to deceive and injure them.

PARKER, "A Standard of Morality

Micah 7

This is Micah when he has lost his mantle. This is not the Micah we have been accustomed to hear. A man is not always his best self. Do not find a man in a period of gloom, and represent his depression as being the real character and quality of his soul. Micah has been working hard; he is undergoing the misery of reaction. Micah came forth from the village thinking he would convert the whole kingdom, north and south; that men had only to hear his ringing and dominant voice, and they would instantaneously begin to weep and pray and repent. It is the old routine. Bless God for young enthusiasm. It dashes forth into the fray, saying, I have only got to show this banner, and that battlefield will become a church. We could not do without such high rapture and chivalrous passion. We know the end of it all. But he would be a cruel man who would discourage young devotion. Micah the villager begins to feel that he has been toiling all day, and has taken nothing. This is personal disappointment. The moment we cut our relation with the Infinite we are shorn Samsons. Micah hand-in-hand with God makes the kingdom reel again under the volley of his thundering; but when Micah withdraws his hands, and becomes a simple unit, he wraps his head with the mantle of midnight, and groans and complains, and says he has wasted his strength for nought. But that could not be. o man ever wastes his strength who gives it to God. "In all labour there is profit." The young scribe is nearer being a good writer for the last attempt he made, though his friends smile at the rude caligraphy; the musician is nearer being master of his vocation through the last song he sung as the result of industry, though he was wrong in every note. "In all labour there is profit,"—not always palpable, and estimable in figures; but there is some increase in the quality of the mind, some

cunning added to the craft and skill of the fingers. So Micah should not have complained with so utter a depression. He has added something to the store of the world"s best riches. Every life well lived makes its addition to the sum-total. The world would not have been so rich had you, poorest mother of the race, never lived. You exclaim, What have I done? You cannot tell what you have done; it is no business of yours to make up the account. There is a registrar; running night and day through the ages, there is a recording pen: you will have the issue in the future. We are so impatient that we want to see results now. When did you sow the seed? Yesterday. When did you look for the harvest? This morning. This is impatience; this is ignorance; this is want of that restfulness which comes of deep practical learning in the school of experience.

Let us hear Micah , and, listening, we shall discover a tone that has come down to the present moment,—

"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" ( Micah 7:2).

When we ourselves are down it is hard to believe that anybody else is up; when our prayer is choked in our throat it is easy to believe that God hears no prayer at all, nor cares for petitioning and supplicating man. We interpret all things by ourselves. There is a curious self-projection of the soul upon the disc of history, and we read according to the shadow which we throw upon that disc. This is what we call pessimism. We are always inventing strange words, and imagining that thereby we are making some kind of progress. Man has a fatal gift of giving names to things, and once give a name, and it will be almost impossible to obliterate it. We call this pessimism,—that Isaiah , seeing all the wickedness and none of the goodness; seeing all the darkness and none of the light; seeing the utter desolation of all things, and not seeing in all the wilderness one green blade, one tiny flower, or hearing in the grim silence one trill of lark or soft note of thrush or nightingale. There are persons gifted with the genius of darkness. It may do us good to visit them occasionally; but on the whole it is better to live in the sunshine, and to hear the music, and to come under the influence of intelligent vivacity and cheerfulness. If people will shut themselves up in their own little houses—for the biggest house is little, the palace is a mere hut—and never keep any company but their own, they will go down. It is so ecclesiastically. There are persons who never see the universe except through their own church window, and as no window is as big as the horizon, there steals insidiously upon the mind a disposition to deny the existence of the horizon itself. It is so with reading. There are those who read only a certain set of books. They go down; there is no mental range, no scope, no variety, no mystery of colour, no hopefulness, no imagination. The very earth needs to have its crops changed. If you will go on growing the same crops you will cease to have any crop to grow that is worth gathering. There Isaiah , on the other hand, what is termed optimism. That is the exact contrary of pessimism. Optimism sees the best of everything. There is a danger along that line also; the danger is that we may not be stern enough, real enough, penetrating enough, going into the heart and inmost fibre of things to find

out reality and truth, how bad or good soever the case may be. A most mischievous talent is this of giving names. You cannot now introduce an idea but some pedant will say, That is Buddhism. Well, suppose it is Buddhism, where is the crime? If you introduce another proposition there will be those who will tell you that it is a Greek thought Well, suppose it is a Greek thought, may it not have modern applications, new meanings, fresh aspects? May it not be utilised in the civilisation of to-day? Propound some doctrine that is apparently novel, and there will be those who will fasten upon it a term—as if the term were an argument. Do not be afraid of such men. Polysyllables never broke any bones. Have you the truth? Then utter it. Do you believe you have it? Make it known, submit it for discussion; and be sure that if you see no blue sky above you, your eye is wrong, not the sky. The good man is not perished out of the earth. This is reaction. Elijah thought the same thing, and the Lord told him there were seven thousand men in the world better than ever he was perhaps; at all events they were faithful, loyal, constant hearts. But do not believe that the prophet is literally signifying the absolute non-existence of good men. You must read the Bible imaginatively as well as grammatically; and you must hear all your friends through the medium of your imagination as well as through the medium of the dictionary and the grammar, or your friendship will soon come to nothing. There are those who can be measured by dictionary and grammar, because they never say anything with any colour in it, any vitality, any possibility of expansion; by all means give them the largest lexicographical hospitality you can, and let them be interpreted through the medium of the alphabet. But there are other men who, when they say, "The good man is perished out of the earth," do not mean it in the literal definite sense which the literalist would attach to the term. They simply feel that a process of decay has set in, that things are not so far on as they ought to be, and that the old mystery and glow of prayer are not so predominant and visible as in the former days. Thus read the prophets, and you will find that in them there is that central average truth which looks all ways, and takes in all passing time, and all days and ages to come.

Then we err so much in having a false standard of the good Prayer of Manasseh , and the progress of society, and the results of earnest work. Thus the Lord sends upon us the punishment of perplexity, because he is growing plants we do not know the names or the uses of, and he is continually rebuking our faithlessness by new miracles of production. The Lord will not let us hold the reins. Sometimes he permits us to sit on the front seat as if we were actually taking part in the administration of the chariot. There is but one Lord, one Captain, one Sovereign, one Ruler,—great, gracious, wise, tender, sympathetic, pitiful, and redeeming; and thou, poor Prayer of Manasseh , seated on the box-seat, and imagining thyself of consequence to the chariot, take care that thou do not fall oft", and be crushed under the wheels thou didst falsely imagine to be under thine own direction. We are sailing in God"s ship, we are being driven in God"s chariot, we are part and parcel of a great system of economics we cannot understand, and wise is he up to the point of rest who says, Let the Lord have his own way: the darkness and the light are both alike to him; he made every road he drives upon; he made every sea he sails over, he first created the tempest, and he holds the whirlwinds in his fist. Fretful, meddlesome, selfish, vain, eccentric man would like to sit upon the throne, if only

for one moment, but in that one moment God knows he would wreck eternity.

Micah says, that in his day they were doing evil "with both hands earnestly." A better word is "well," and a better word is perhaps "skilful"; but we see the paradox more clearly by putting in the word "well," then we read, "That they may do evil with both hands well." There is no contradiction of terms. There are men who make a study of doing things that are wrong, skilfully, cunningly, well. There are thieves who are discovered, and there are thieves who are not discovered, because they thieve so well, so skilfully; they shake hands with the man they have robbed, and say Good-night to the soul they have plundered. Men may become experts in the devil"s academy. The cleverness does not excuse the iniquity; the ability does not restore the character. If that ability had been devoted otherwise, what fortunes lay within its grasp, what influence belonged of right to its mastery! But men love to work in the dark, they seem to be more at home there than in the sunlight; they have a gift of sight which enables them to see all their spectral comrades in the black darkness of night. How was it in the time of Micah? Once more he falls back on the prince and the judge and the great man. ot a word does he say about the poor, the oppressed, and the despised; he says, The wickedness of my age I trace to the prince and the judge and the great men—to the men who have been to school and to college and university; certificated men, gold-medalists—men who have had every advantage that society and civilisation can give them. We are so busy in looking after the small fry. Here we have seized upon a little boy who has stolen a pocket-handkerchief, and we say, We have got him now! And the man who took him up—what may we say of him? And the judge who sentenced him, the grey-haired Judges , the judge with the ploughed cheeks, the wrinkled forehead, the judge with solemn voice, the voice of doom? Open your hand, judge! What is there in it?

Micah said they did things so well in his day, so cleverly, that "they wrap it up." They made an intricacy of it. The man who was not in the ring did not understand what was going on; they had a system that they called a quid pro quo—(men do many things under dog Latin they would not do in plain English)—they understood one another. othing was said; the reporter looked up for the purpose of catching the incriminating sentence, and the men said nothing; the prince nodded to the Judges , and the judge made a sign to the great Prayer of Manasseh , and so they wrap it up. But there it Isaiah , and it will be opened out, and it will be read, and every signature will be attested, and every writer will be called for to say whether he wrote it, how much he wrote, why he wrote it: they shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ. This is a terror; but on the other hand this is a joy, for righteousness then shall shine forth as the morning and judgment as the noonday, and misrepresented and misunderstood men will have all the advantage of morning light.

Micah continues his threnody,—

"The best of them is as a briar: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge" ( Micah 7:4).

This is pessimism in all the completeness of its depression. The best is bad; the most upright, the picked men of society, are all thorns. Take care how you try to get through a thorn hedge; the scratches may identify you, the wounds may be witnesses against you in the day of visitation. This is what society comes to without God. Lose the religious element, and society falls to pieces. Society thinks not; for a time society thinks it can keep itself very well together, but experience shows that when the morale of society goes down, its money securities are waste paper. The reputation of a country is in its morality, and morality properly interpreted is the active or practical side of true spiritual religion. Morality may be derived from a word which signifies mere manner, attitude, posture, and the like; but not from this contemptible mos is morality truly derived, but from the very Spirit of God, and the very genius of the Cross. o morality can be trusted in the dark that is not metaphysical, spiritual, divine.

The Lord would send upon the people who acted criminally what is called "perplexity." The word "perplexity" has a singular meaning. Herod was "perplexed." He saw things in crosslights; all the roads came together, and he could not tell which one to take; it was not a question of two roads, but a question of five roads, bisecting and intersecting, and leaving the mind in a state of whirl and puzzle. That is perplexity. The Lord will send upon people who disbelieve him and disobey him the spirit of perplexity; they shall not know one another. Perplexity shall enter into the very use of words; terms shall lose their natural application. Man shall say to Prayer of Manasseh , What sayest thou? And man shall reply to Prayer of Manasseh , Fool, hearest thou not what I say in thy mother tongue? And thus the fray shall increase until it become fury and craziness and disintegration of social bond and trust. The Lord hath many ways of judgment; in heaven there are many bolts of fire; we cannot tell when one will fall, or how it will come. In such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh: what I say unto one I say unto all, Watch. The Lord goeth forth at all hours—at midnight, at the crowing of the cock, at the early dawn, in the midday sun, and in the evening twilight; none can tell when he will open the door and step forth in majesty and rigour, and in the spirit of judgment. Thus we are trained, thus we are kept on the alert; we have no notice; our breath is in our nostrils, and we may die now: there is but a step between thee and death. The broadest, most herculean man always walks by the side of his own tomb—a false step, and he is in. Be sober, be vigilant; walk as children of the light.

What is to guarantee society against this apostasy and this infamous declension in all high and sacred energies? There is only one guarantee, and that is the indwelling and perfect sovereignty of God the Holy Ghost. Do not try to evade the term, or to make a mystery of it; there is mystery enough in it, but there is more in it than mystery—a simple, solemn, profound fact. We cannot keep ourselves; our lamps are only of a certain little size, and our oft is but a spoonful, and there is no independence in man; we live and move, and have our being in God. o man can go to the fountain once for all and take out water enough to keep his life going evermore. He may take his vessel full of water, and may quench his thirst for the moment, but he must keep the way to the fountain always open; never shut up the

road: you are full and you abound for the present, but the time of necessity and of pain will inevitably recur. Here is the glory of Christianity: it provides for all time and for all need; it is the salt of the earth, it is the light of the world, it is the disinfector of all pestilential atmosphere. Do not make an argument of it, but submit it to practical test. Why should you make an argument of the ship when you want to go across the ocean, and the ship is ready to receive you into its hospitality? If you make an argument of it you will never risk the deep, and cross the ocean and touch the farther shore. There are questions which Christianity invites you to ask; there are inquiries which it is eager to consider and discuss with you, and so long as you keep within the lines of intelligence and reason and fair inquiry, you are entitled to push your interrogations; but when you begin to wriggle, and confuse yourselves, and use words that have more meanings in them than you have ever grasped, you are allowing the time to escape, and presently the ship will weigh anchor and be off, and you will be left behind. If society with a Christian element in it has come down to a state that may be described as unrighteous and unworthy, it is not because of the Christianity that was in it, but because the Christianity was misunderstood, or ignored, or misapplied. Do not blame Christianity because Christian countries are among the worst in the world. They are only amongst the worst because they are amongst the best That is not paradoxical; it is practical, simple, and literal. This colour that you hold in your hand may appear to be very white, but if you take in the other hand a real white, as pure as it can be obtained under our conditions, and bring the two together, you will then see that what you thought was white falls far short of the standard. And so there are many countries that are thought to be very good, very excellent—really countries that might be lived in; but try them by comparison with Christian countries, even Christian countries of an inferior grade, and there will come a time when you will say, After all there is something in Christianity that is not to be found out of it; there is a standard of morality peculiar to itself; in it there is a unique righteousness. There may be a world of hypocrisy, but the hypocrisy would have been impossible but for the very glory of the thing that is simulated. Go forth into society, and take its best aspect. Do not believe yourselves when you are all moaning and complaining and reproaching. You are not yourselves; for the moment you are beside yourselves, and know not the real reason and progress of things. The progress of society is guaranteed by the existence of God. It is not guaranteed by the existence of your pulpit and your institutions and your literature and your fretful impetuosity: the progress of society is guaranteed by the Spirit of God, and heaven is guaranteed not because of your worth, but because of God"s purpose. God cannot be turned aside, his word cannot fail; the word of the Lord abideth for ever, and though it be oftentimes night and storm and cloud and strenuous battle, yet through it all there goes the soul of eternity, the spirit of the Cross, the purpose of God, and in the wilderness we shall find garden, and in stony places we shall find habitations of comfort. This is not the voice of human poetry. The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

ote

"In the last section (6 , 7) Jehovah, by a bold poetical figure, is represented as holding a controversy with his people, pleading with them in justification of his

conduct towards them and the reasonableness of his requirements. The dialogue form in which chap6 is cast renders the picture very dramatic and striking. In Micah 6:3-5 Jehovah speaks; the inquiry of the people follows in Micah 6:6, indicating their entire ignorance of what was required of them; their inquiry is met by the almost impatient rejoinder, "Will Jehovah be pleased with thousands of rams, with myriads of torrents of oil?" The still greater sacrifice suggested by the people, "Shall I give my firstborn for my transgressions?" calls forth the definition of their true duty, "to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with their God." How far they had fallen short of this requirement is shown in what follows (9-12), and judgment is pronounced upon them (13-16). The prophet acknowledges and bewails the justice of the sentence ( Micah 7:1-6); the people in repentance patiently look to God, confident that their prayer will be heard (7-10), and are reassured by the promise of deliverance announced as following their punishment (11-13) by the prophet, who in his turn presents his petition to Jehovah for the restoration of his people (14 , 15). The whole concludes with a triumphal song of joy at the great deliverance, like that from Egypt, which Jehovah will achieve, and a full acknowledgment of his mercy and faithfulness to his promises (16-20). The last verse is reproduced in the song of Zacharias ( Luke 1:72-73)."—Smith"s Dictionary of the Bible.

PETT, "Verses 1-6Micah (Or The Righteous Of Israel) Bewails The Condition Of The People (Micah 7:1-6).

Micah (or the righteous of Israel whom he represents) now describe(s) the dreadful moral condition of his own people. From rich and powerful to the lowest level of society all are untrustworthy and undependable. Even close members of families cannot trust each other.

This passage bore heavily on the heart of Jesus when He considered the conditions of the people of His own day, and what was to come. The idea behind Micah 7:1 may well be the motivation which led to Jesus’ dealings with the fig tree in Mark 11:11-25; compare Matthew 21:18-22, while Micah 7:6 was cited by Him in Matthew 10:21; Matthew 10:35-36.

Micah 7:1

‘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 desires the first–ripe fig.

Micah is on the search for righteous people. He likens himself to a man going out into the orchards after the summer fruits have been gathered in, when according to

the Law there should have been some left-overs, the gleanings, for the poor. But there were none. The rich had stripped every branch bare for greatest profit. Thus all that was left to him was to long for the firstripe fig which would begin the next season (which men could pluck if they were hungry). That was either an early green fig from a particular type of fig tree which could be gathered before the usual fig crop, or simply ‘the firstripe fig before the summer, which when he who looks on it sees, he eats it up while it is in his hand’ mentioned in Isaiah 28:4. There are two points to the illustration. Firstly that Micah went looking for fruit and found none, and could only wait in hope for the first ripe fig of the following season, (a disastrous situation for the poor who depended on the gleanings) an illustration of the barrenness of the nation. And secondly that the growers were failing to observe God’s commandments. Thus accentuating the barrenness. Jesus did not even find the first ripe figs, so bad were the spiritual and moral conditions in Jerusalem in His day.

PULPIT, "Woe is me! (Job 10:15). Micah threatens no more; he represents repentant Israel confessing its corruption and lamenting the necessity of punishment. I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits; literally, I am as the gatherings of the fruit harvest. The point of comparison is only to be inferred from the context. At the fruit. harvest no early figs are to be found, and (in the next clause) after the vintage no more grapes; so in Israel there is none righteous left. The Septuagint gives a plainer exposition, ἐγενήθην ὡς συνάγων καλάµην ἐν ἀµητῷ, "I became as one that gathereth straw in harvest;" so the Vulgate, Factus sum sicut qui collegit in autumno racemos vindimiae, joining the two clauses together. My soul desired the first ripe fruit; better, nor early fig which my soul desired. The holiness and grace of more primitive times are wholly absent from this later period (see Hosea 9:10, where a similar figure is used; compare also Christ's dealing with the barren fig tree, Matthew 21:18, etc.). The first ripe figs were proverbially sweet and good (see Isaiah 28:4; Jeremiah 24:2; and Hosea, loc cit.).

BI, "There is no cluster to eat

The unrevived church

The picture before the eye of the prophet is that of famine in the midst of plenty, want in time of harvest, sterility amid summer fruits, soul fasting and wretchedness in a season of external prosperity and fulness. The time of ingathering is at hand. And yet Israel knew not the day of Divine visitation; she had no appreciation of the golden fruit, no heart or no capacity to pluck and eat the ripe clusters. This is a truthful representation of the experience of very many Christians and churches. There is no heartfelt appreciation of God’s outward mercies, or of His gracious, spiritual manifestations.” He comes to them in the “summer fruits,” and in the autumn “vintage”; but so dull are their spiritual perceptions, so vitiated are their tastes, so surfeited are they with the “apples of Sodom” and the wild grapes of sinful indulgence, that they know it not, and feel no hungering after righteousness; “there is no cluster” in all God’s vintage which they can eat. So have we seen souls in times of glorious revival, when sinners were pressing into the kingdom, and many souls were refreshed and full of rejoicing, unrevived, unblest, crying, “Woe is me!” “There is no cluster to eat.” So have we seen whole churches and communities left to darkness and desolation and death, while the mighty God had bared His arm for

salvation, and was deluging the land with a wave of regenerating and sanctifying power. (Homiletic Monthly.)

My soul desired the first ripe fruit—

The joy of the harvest inaugural

The nation of Israel had fallen into so sad and backsliding a condition that it was not like a vine covered with fruit, but like a vineyard after the whole vintage has been gathered, so that there was not to be found a single cluster. The prophet, speaking in the name of Israel, desired the first fruit., but there was none to be had. The lesson of the text, as it stands, would be that good men are the best fruit of a nation; they make it worth while that the nation should exist; they are the salt which preserves it; they are the fruit which adorns it, and blesses it. But I take the text out of its connection, and use it as the heading of a discourse upon “ripeness in grace.” We can all say, “My soul desired the first ripe fruit.” We would go on to maturity, and bring forth fruit unto perfection, to the honour and praise of Jesus Christ.

I. The marks of ripeness in grace.

1. Beauty. There is no more lovely object in all nature than the apple blossom. Much loveliness adorns youthful piety. Can anything be more delightful than our first graces? Autumn has a more sober aspect, but still it rivals the glory of spring. Ripe fruit has its own peculiar beauty. What a delicacy of bloom there is upon the grape, the peach, the plum, when they have attained perfection! Nature far excels art. The perfumed bloom yields in value to the golden apple, even as promise is surpassed by fulfilment. The blossom is painted by the pencil of hope, but the fruit is dyed in the hue of enjoyment. There is in ripe Christians the beauty of realised sanctification which the Word of God knows by the name of the “beauty of holiness.” This consecration to God, this setting apart for His service, this avoidance of evil, this careful walking in integrity, this dwelling near God, this being made like unto Christ,—in a word, this beauty of holiness, is one of the surest emblems of maturity in grace.

2. Tenderness. The young green fruit is hard and stone-like; but the ripe fruit is soft, yields to pressure, can almost be moulded, retains the mark of the finger. The mature Christian is noted for tenderness of spirit. I think I would give up many of the graces if I might possess very much tenderness of spirit. An extreme delicacy concerning sin should be cultivated by us all.

3. Sweetness. The unripe fruit is sour, and perhaps it ought to be, or else we should eat all the fruits while they were yet green. As we grow in grace we are sure to grow in charity, sympathy, and love. We shall have greater sweetness towards our fellow Christians.

4. A loose hold of the earth. Ripe fruit soon parts from the bough. You shake the tree and the ripest apples fall. You should measure your state of heart by your adhesiveness, or your resignation, in reference to the things of this world. The master will not let his ripe fruit hang long on the tree.

II. The causes of this ripeness. So gracious a result must have a gracious cause.

1. The inward working of the sap. The fruit could never be ripe in its raw state were it taken away from the bough. Outward agencies alone may produce rottenness, but

not ripeness; sun, shower, what not, all would fail,—it is the vital sap within the tree that perfects the fruit. It is especially so in grace. Everything between hell and heaven which denotes salvation is the work of the Spirit of God, and the work of the grace of Jesus. That blessed Spirit, flowing to us from Christ, as He is the former of the first blossom, so He is the producer of the fruit, and He is the ripener of it until it is gathered into the heavenly garner.

2. The teaching of experience. Some fruit, like the sycamore fig, never will ripen except it be bruised. Many of us seem as if we never would be sweet till first we have been dipped in bitterness; never would be perfected till we have been smitten. We may trace many of our sharp trials, our bereavements, and our bodily pains, to the fact that we are such sour fruit; nothing will ripen us but heavy blows. Ripeness in grace is not the necessary result of age. Little children have been ripe for glory. Many an aged Christian is not an experienced Christian. Time may be wasted as well as improved; we may be petrified rather than perfected by the flow of years.

III. The desirability of ripeness in grace. Many Christians appear to think that if they are just believers it is enough. To be just alive as a Christian is horrid work. The fruit which under proper circumstances does not ripen is not a good fruit,; it must be an unwholesome production. Your soul can surely not be as it should be if it does not ripen under the influence of God’s love and the work of His grace. It is the ripe fruit that proves the excellence of the tree. The Church wants mature Christians very greatly, and especially when there are many fresh converts added to it. The Church wants, in these days of flimsiness and time-serving, more decided, thorough going, well-instructed and confirmed believers. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

2 The faithful have been swept from the land; not one upright person remains.Everyone lies in wait to shed blood; they hunt each other with nets.

BARES. "The, good - or godly, or merciful, the English margin

Man - The Hebrew word contains all. It is “he who loveth tenderly and piously” God, for His own sake, and man, for the sake of God. Mercy was probably chiefly intended, since it wits to this that the prophet had exhorted, and the sins which he proceeds to speak of, are against this. But imaginary love of God without love of man, or love of man without the love of God, is mere self-deceit. “Is perished out of the earth,” that is, by an

untimely death. The good had either been withdrawn by God from the evil to come Isa_57:1, or had Leon cut off by those who laid wait for blood; in which case their death brought a double evil, through the guilt which such sin contracted, and then, through the loss of those who might be an example to others, and whose prayers God would hear. The loving and upright, all, who were men of mercy and truth, had ceased. They who were left, “all lie in wait for blood,” literally, bloods , that is, bloodshedding; all, as far as man can see; as Elijah complains that he was left alone.

Amid the vast number of the wicked, the righteous were as though they were not. Isaiah, at the same time, complains of the like sins, and that it was as though there were none righteous; “Your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips hate spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth” Isa_59:2-3. Indirectly, or directly, they destroyed life . To violence they add treachery. The good and loving had perished, and all is now violence; the upright had ceased, and all now is deceit. “They hunt every man his brother with a net.” Every man is the brother of every man, because he is man, born of the same first parent, children of the same Father: yet they lay wait for one another, as hunters for wild beasts (Compare Psa_35:7; Psa_57:7; Psa_140:6; Jer_5:26).

CLARKE, "The good man is perished out of the earth - A similar sentiment may be found, Psa_12:1; Isa_57:1. As the early fig of excellent flavor cannot be found in the advanced season of summer, or a choice cluster of grapes after vintage, so neither can the good and upright man be discovered by searching in Israel. This comparison, says Bp. Newcome, is beautifully implied.

They hunt every man his brother with a net - This appears to be an allusion to the ancient mode of duel between the retiarius and secutor. The former had a casting net, which he endeavoured to throw over the head of his antagonist, that he might then despatch him with his short sword. The other parried the cast; and when the retiarius missed, he was obliged to run about the field to get time to set his net in right order for another throw. While he ran, the other followed, that he might despatch him before he should be able to recover the proper position of his net; and hence the latter was called secutor, the pursuer, as the other was called retiarius, or the net man. I have explained this before on Job, and other places; but because it is rarely noticed by commentators, I explain the allusion here once more. Abp. Newcome by not attending to this, has

translated איש�את�אחיהו�יצודו�חרם ish�eth�achihu�yatsudu�cherem, “They hunt every man his

brother for his destruction;” though he put net in the margin.

GILL, "The good man is perished out of the earth,.... Here the prophet expresses in plain words what he had before delivered in figurative terms. The "good" or "godly" man, as in Psa_12:1; is one that has received the grace of God, and blessings of grace from him, and lives a godly life and conversation; who has the good work of grace begun in him and is found in the performance of good works, and does his duty both to God and man from godly principles; and particularly is kind and merciful to the poor and needy, and those in distress. The complaint is, that there were few, or scarce any, of this character in the earth, in the land of Israel, where there used to be great numbers of them, but now they were all dead and gone; for this is to be understood, not of the perishing of their graces or comforts, much less of their perishing in their sins, or perishing eternally, but of their corporeal death:

and there is none upright among men; that are upright in heart and life; that have right spirits renewed in them, are Israelites indeed, in whom there is no guile; and walk uprightly, according to the rule of the divine word, truly honest, faithful men; very few such were to be found, scarce any; see Psa_12:1;

they all lie in wait for blood; for the substance, wealth, and riches of men, which is as their blood and life; is their livelihood, that on which they live; this they wait for an opportunity to get from them, and, when it offers, greedily seize it; and stick not even to shed blood, and take away life, for the sake of gain:

they hunt every man his brother with a net; as men lay nets for fish, and fowl, and beasts, and hunt them till they have got them into them; so these men laid snares, not for strangers only, but for their own brethren, to entangle them in, and cheat and defraud them of their substance; and this they would do, even to the destruction of them, as some (s) render it; for the word also signifies "anathema", destruction, as well as a "net". So the Targum.

"betray or deliver his brother to destruction.''

JAMISO, "The Hebrew expresses “one merciful and good in relation to man,” rather than to God.

is perished out of the earth— (Psa_12:1).

K&D 2-3, "“The godly man has disappeared from the earth, and there is no more a righteous man among men. All lie in wait for blood, they hunt every man his brother with the net.Mic_7:3. Their hands are after evil, to make it good. The prince asks, and the judge is for reward; and the great man, he speaks the evil of his soul: and they twist

it together.” The grape and the early fig signify the good and the righteous man. חסיד is not the God-fearing man, but, according to the context, the man who cherishes love and

fidelity. בד�, not “to have perished,” but to be lost, to have disappeared. מן�ה�רץ, not “out

of the land,” but, as the parallel דם�" shows, from the earth, out of the world. For the fact

itself, compare Psa_12:2 and Isa_57:1. They all lie in wait for blood, i.e., not that they all go about committing murder, but simply that they set their minds upon quarrels, cheating, and treachery, that they may rob their neighbour of his means of existence, so that he must perish (cf. Mic_3:2-3; Mic_2:1-2); at the same time, even murderous

thoughts are not excluded. The same thing is implied in the hunting with the net. ח�, the brother, is the fellow-countryman (for this figure, compare Psa_10:9; Psa_35:7-8, etc.).

In Mic_7:3 the words from על�הרע to להיטיב are not to be joined to what follows so as to form one sentence. Such a combination is not only opposed to the accents, but is at variance with the structure of the whole verse, which consists of several short clauses, and it does not even yield a natural thought; consequently Ewald proposes to alter the

text (שואל). הרע is hardly the inf. hiph. “to do evil,” but most likely a noun with the article,

“the evil;” and the thought is therefore either “both hands are (sc., busy) with evil,” or “both hands are stretched out to evil,” to make it good, i.e., to carry out the evil well

.or to give evil such a form that it shall appear to be good, or right ,(as in Jer_2:33 היטיב)

This thought is then made special: the prince, the judge, and the great man, i.e., the rich

man and mighty man (Lev_19:15; 1Sa_25:2), weave a thing to make evil good. ע"ת, to

weave, to twist together, after עבות, twist or string. The subject to ויע"תוה� is to be found in the three classes already named, and not merely in the judge and the great man. There is just as little reason for this limitation as for the assumption that the great man and the prince are one person. The way in which the three twist the thing or the evil plan together is indicated in the statements of the three previous clauses. The prince asks, sc. for the condemnation of a righteous or innocent man; and the judge grants this for

recompense against compensation; and the rich man co-operates by speaking havvath�

napshō. Havvâh in most passages is universally allowed to signify hurt, mischief,

destruction; and the only question is, whether this meaning is to be traced to אוה = הוה, to

breathe (Hupfeld on Psa_5:10), or to הוה, to occur, an occurrence, then specially an evil occurrence (Hengstenberg, Diss. on the Pentateuch, vol. i. p. 252). Only in Pro_10:3 and

the passage before us is havvâh said to signify desire in a bad sense, or evil lust. But, as Caspari has shown, the meaning is neither necessary nor established in either of these two passages. In Pro_10:3 the meaning aerumna activa aliisque inferenda is quite sufficient; and C. B. Michaelis has adopted it for the present passage: “The great man speaks the mischief of his soul,” i.e., the injury or destruction of another, for which he

cherishes a desire. Nephesh, the soul as the seat of desire. הוא is not introduced to

strengthen the suffix attached to נפשו, “of his, yea of his soul” (Ewald, Hitzig, Umbreit);

for not only are the accents against this, but also the thought, which requires no such

strengthening. It is an emphatic repetition of the subject haggâdōl. The great man weaves

evil with the king and judge, by desiring it, and expressing the desire in the most open manner, and thereby giving to the thing an appearance of right.

CALVI, "In the second verse he expresses more clearly his mind, Perished, he says, has the righteous (182) from the land, and there is none upright (183) among men. Here now he does not personify the land. It was indeed a forcible and an emphatic language, when he complained at the beginning, that he groaned as though the land was ashamed of its dearth: but the Prophet now performs the office of a teacher, Perished, he says, has the righteous from the land; there is no one upright among men; all lay in wait for blood; every one hunts his brother as with a net In this verse the Prophet briefly shows, that all were full both of cruelty and perfidy, that there was no care for justice; as though he said, In vain are good men sought among this people; for they are all bloody, they are all fraudulent. When he says, that they all did lay in wait for blood, he no doubt intended to set forth their cruelty, as though he had said, that they were thirsting for blood. But when he adds, that each did lay in wait for their brethren, he alludes to their frauds or to their perfidy.

We now then perceive the meaning of the Prophet: and the manner he adopts is

more emphatical than if God, in his own name, had pronounced the words: for, as men were fixed, and as though drowned, in their own carelessness, the Prophet introduces here the land as speaking, which accuses its own children, and confesses its own guilt; yea, it anticipates God’s judgment, and acknowledges itself to be contaminated by its own inhabitants, so that nothing pure remained in it.

COFFMA, ""The godly 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."

The description of deplorable conditions continues. "Brutal egotism everywhere prevails; justice is perverted; bribery is rampant; the best are like briars, rough and ugly to deal with."[6] This verse explains the metaphor of Micah 7:1. "The grape and the early fig represent the righteous man."[7] The prophet was "like Diogenes who went about Athens with a lantern, trying to find an honest man."[8]

COSTABLE, "The prophet, using hyperbole, said he could find no faithful godly (Heb. hasid, from hesed; cf. Hosea 4:1-2) or morally and ethically upright people (evidently rulers, cf. Micah 7:3) in the land. Obviously there were some righteous, including Isaiah , but by overstating his case he made his point: there were very few. All of them seemed to wait for the opportunity to advance their own interests, even resorting to violence and bloodshed to do so (cf. Micah 3:10; Micah 6:12). They behaved like hunters waiting to snare unsuspecting birds in their nets.

TRAPP, "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.

Ver. 2. The good man is perished out of the earth] Heb. The saint, or, gracious man, that out of mercy obtained from God, can extend mercy to men. Rari quippe boni. Of such it may be said, as one doth of faithful friends in this age, that they are all (for the most part) gone on pilgrimage; and their return is uncertain.

And there is none upright among men] one (to speak of) that maketh straight paths for his feet, Hebrews 12:13, that foots it aright ( ορθοπαδει), according to the truth of the gospel, Galatians 2:14, that walketh evenly, Genesis 17:1, and accurately ( ακριβως), as it were by line and by rule, Ephesians 5:15, and that halts not between two opinions, as those Israelites; but is right in his judgment, and undefiled in his way, Psalms 119:1, rather desiring to be good than to seem to be so: few such to be found surely; black swans you may count and call them.

“ Sed nec Brutus erit, Bruti nec avunculus usquam ”( Juven.).

They all lie in wait for blood] A company of sanguinaries, blood suckers, hunting for the precious lives of men; but especially of such as reprove them in the gate. If

you touch them in their lusts, they will seek to touch you in your life, as Joash did Zechariah, and as the priests and people said of Jeremiah, This man worthy to die. All malice is bloody, and wisheth him out of the world whom it spiteth.

They hunt every man his brother with a net] They add fraud to their force and craft to their cruelty; these seldom go sundered: as some write of the asp, he never wanders alone without his companion with him; and as the Scripture speaks of those birds of prey and desolation, none of them shall want their mate, Isaiah 34:16. The matter is made the worse, because it is a brother whom they hunt: whether he be so by race, place, or grace, a brother should be better dealt with.

PETT, "Micah 7:2

The godly 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.

In the same way as there was no fruit on the fruit trees, so were there no godly people in the land. As Micah looked around he bewailed the fact that ‘the godly man is perished out of the earth, and there is none upright among men.’ That was how it seemed to him. Christians in places where there is little fellowship often feel that way. But things are never quite as bad as they seem, as is evidenced by the fact that righteousness wins in the end, because of the activity of God.

Indeed rather than being upright men are steeped in sin. Like a hunter out to get his victim every man is out to entrap his brother. Violence abounds, and there is internecine rivalry. Brotherly love is totally lacking.

PULPIT, "Micah 7:2

This verse explains the preceding comparison; the grape and the early fig represent the righteous man. The good man; LXX; εὐσεβής, the godly, pious man. The Hebrew word (khasidh) implies one who exercises love to others, who is merciful, loving, and righteous. Is perished out of the earth; has disappeared from the world (comp. Psalms 14:2, Psalms 14:3; and especially Isaiah 57:1). They all lie in wait for blood. They all practise violence and rapine, and meditate how they may pursue their evil designs, even to the shedding of blood. LXX; πάντες εἰς αἶµατα δικάζονται, which narrows the charge to one special kind of iniquity, vie. committing judicial murders. They hunt every man his brother with a net. They ought to love their brethren, their fellow countrymen, partakers of the same hope and privileges (Le 19:18). Instead of this, they pursue them as the fowler traps birds, or the hunter beasts. The word rendered "net" (cherem) is in most versions translated

"destruction." Thus, Septuagint, ἐκθλίβουσιν ἐκθλιβῇ: Vulgate, ad mortem venatur; so the Syriac and Chaldee. In the present connection it is best taken as "net" (Habakkuk 1:15).

BI 2-6, "The good man is perished out of the earth

The wail of a true patriot over the moral corruption of his country

He bemoans—

I.The departure of excellence from his country. “The good man is perished out of the earth.” Probably they had emigrated to distant lands, perhaps they had gone into eternity. Goodmen are the “lights of the world.” Their influence penetrates the mass as salt, counteracts its tendency to corruption, removes its moral insipidity, gives it a new spirit—a spirit pungent and savoury.

II. The rampancy of avarice in this country.

1. The working amongst the general community. To get wealth for themselves was with them such a furious passion that the rights and lives of others were disregarded.

2. Its working amongst the higher classes. “That they may do evil with broth 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.” The idea seems to be this: that the “great man,” the “prince,” for some corrupt motive, seeks the condemnation of some innocent person; and the “judge,” for a bribe, gratifies his wish. A judge from avarice will pronounce an innocent man guilty. All this is done very industriously, “with two hands.” Possible, lest some event should start up to thwart them; and when it is done “they wrap it up.” “So they wrap it up.” Avarice, like all sinful passions, seeks to wrap up its crimes.

III. The mischievousness of the best in his country. “The best of them is as a briar; the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge.” There is a gradation of wickedness of the men in the country, but the best of them is like a prickly thorn, and worse than a thorn hedge. The prophet is so struck with this, that the thought of retribution takes hold of him, and he says, “The day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh: now shall be their visitation.” Another thing which the patriot here bemoans is—

IV. The lack of truthfulness in the country. “Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide,” etc. “Place no faith in a companion; trust not a familiar friend; from her that lieth in thy bosom guard the doors of thy mouth. For the son despiseth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, a man’s enemies are the members of his own family.”—Henderson. All social faith was gone; a man had lost all confidence in his brother. Social scepticism and suspicion prevailed in all circles. No faith was to be put in a friend. (Homilist.)

The lack of good men

These words are the cause of the prophet’s sorrow. So deep a concern it was, that the words of Mic_7:1 may signify not only mourning but howling. It arises from the scarcity of men truly good. Such a passion as this for the want of good men became the prophet in all capacities, as a man, as a subject, and as a prophet. As a man, he could not but be concerned to see a nation of men so changed and degenerated by vice and luxury. As a

subject, he could but consider what misery would suddenly betide the nation, for want of goodness and religion. As a prophet, he could but note how they slighted his errand, and were sturdy and resolute in their vices.

I. Wherein the goodness of this good man, the prophet mentions, did express itself. The Christian Church, as well as the prophet, may justly bewail her barren Christians, and the scarcity of men truly good. We call ourselves saints and elect, but where is the patience, the temper, and the spirit of them? Let our religion be never so primitive and apostolical, except it makes us really good it is but wrangling hypocrisy and noise.

1. True goodness doth express itself in plainness and sincerity in all our respective dealings with men.

2. Goodness expresses itself in the exercise of good nature, and charitable allowances for the errors of others.

3. The good man is of a spirit truly public, whose care and attention looks abroad.

4. The good man takes up religion only to serve a spiritual purpose. Religion without this good purpose is only fashion or faction, hypocrisy and formality, superstition or interest.

II. What grew up and prevailed in the prophet’s time in the place of true religion or goodness.

1. Superstition and false religion, which naturally produce trouble and disquiet in all governments.

2. Wicked lives in the professors of the true religion, which will surely cause misery and ruin in a nation.

3. Atheistical persuasions prevailed, or there was no religion at all.

III. What particular reasons may move us to bewail the want of real goodness.

1. The want of it is the principal cause of our distractions about religion.

2. Real goodness is the best way to unite us among ourselves. Real goodness purges our judgment, removes our prejudices. (Gregory Hascard, D. D.)

Ancient and modern pessimism

When we ourselves are down it is hard to believe that anybody else is up; when our prayer is choked in our throat it is easy to believe that God hears no prayer at all, nor cares for petitioning and supplicating men. We interpret all things by ourselves. There is a curious self-projection of the soul upon the disc of history, and we read according to the shadow which we throw upon that disc. This is what we call pessimism. We are always inventing strange words, and imagining that thereby we are making some kind of progress. Man has a fatal gift of giving names to things, and once give a name and it will be almost impossible to obliterate it. We call this pessimism,—that is, seeing all the wickedness, and none of the goodness; seeing all the darkness, and none of the light; seeing the utter desolation of all things, and not seeing in all the wilderness one green blade, one tiny flower, or hearing in the grim silence one trill of lark or soft note of thrush or nightingale. There are persons gifted with the genius of darkness. It may do us good to visit them occasionally; but on the whole it is better to live in the sunshine, and to hear the music, and to come under the influence of intelligent vivacity and

cheerfulness. If people will shut themselves up in their own little houses—for the biggest house is little, the palace is a mere hut—and never keep any company but their own, they will go down. It is so ecclesiastically. There are persons who never see the universe except through their own church window, and as no window is as big as the horizon, there steals insidiously upon the mind a disposition to deny the existence of the horizon itself. It is so with reading. There are those who read only a certain set of books. They go down; there is no mental range, no scope, no variety, no mystery of colour, no hopefulness, no imagination. The very earth needs to have its crops changed. If you will go on growing the same crops you will cease to have any crop that is worth gathering. There is, on the other hand, what is termed optimism. That is the exact contrary of pessimism. Optimism sees the best of everything. There is a danger along that line also; the danger is that we may not be stern enough, real enough, penetrating enough, going into the heart and inmost fibre of things to find out reality and truth, how bad or good soever the case may be. (Joseph Parker, D. D.)

3 Both hands are skilled in doing evil; the ruler demands gifts,the judge accepts bribes, the powerful dictate what they desire— they all conspire together.

BARES. "That they may do evil with both hands earnestly - (Literally, upon evil both hands to do well,) that is, “both their hands are upon evil to do it well,” or “earnestly” , as our translation gives the meaning; only the Hebrew expresses more, that evil is their good, and their good or excellence is in evil. Bad men gain a dreadful skill and wisdom in evil, as Satan has; and cleverness in evil is their delight. Jerome: “They call the evil of their hands good.” “The prince asketh, and the judge asketh (or, it may more readily be supplied, judgeth, doth that which is his office,) against right “for a reward”, (which was strictly forbidden,) “and the great man he uttereth his mischievos desire” (Deu_16:19. See above Mic_3:11), (or the “desire of his soul”.) Even the shew of good is laid aside; whatever the heart conceives and covets, it utters; - mischief to others and in the end to itself.

The mischief comes forth from the soul, and returns upon it. “The elders and nobles in the city” 1Ki_21:8, 1Ki_21:11, as well as Ahab, took part, (as one instance,) in the murder of Naboth. The great man, however, here, is rather the source of the evil, which he induces others to effect; so that as many as there were great, so many sources were there of oppression. All, prince, judges, the great, unite in the ill, and this not once only, but

they are ever doing it and “so they wrap it up”, (literally, twist, intertwine it.) Things are twisted, either to strengthen, or to pervert or intricate them. It might mean, they “strengthen” it, that which their soul covets against; the poor, or they “pervert” it, the cause of the poor.

CLARKE, "That they may do evil with both hands - That is, earnestly, greedily, to the uttermost of their power. The Vulgate translates: Malum manuum suarum dicunt bonum; “The evil of their hands they call good.”

The prince asketh - A bribe, to forward claims in his court.

The judge asketh for a reward - That he may decide the cause in favor of him who gives most money, whether the cause be good or evil. This was notoriously the case in our own country before the giving of Magna Charta; and hence that provision, Nulli vendemus justitiam aut rectum: “We will not sell justice to any man.” And this was not the only country in which justice and judgment were put to sale.

The great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire - Such consider themselves above law, and they make no secret of their unjust determinations. And so they wrap it up - they all conjoin in doing evil in their several offices, and oppressing the poor; so our

translators have interpreted the original ויעבתוה vayeabtuha, which the versions translate variously. Newcome has, “And they do abominably.”

GILL, "That they may do evil with both hands earnestly,.... Or "well" (t), strenuously, diligently, to the utmost of their power, labouring at it with all their might and main; as wicked men generally are more industrious, and exert themselves more to do evil than good men do to do good; and even weary themselves to commit iniquity: or, "instead of doing good", as Marinus in Aben Ezra, take a great deal of pains to do evil; work with both hands at it, instead of doing good. The Septuagint and Arabic versions render it, "they prepare their hands for evil"; the Syriac version is, "their hands are read? to evil, and they do not do good"; with which agrees the Targum,

"they do evil with their hands, and do not do good.''

Some make the sense to depend on what goes before and follows; "to do evil, both hands" are open and ready, and they hurt with them; "but to do, good the prince asketh, and the judge for a reward" (u); forward enough to do evil, but very backward to do any good office;

the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and, if they do it, must be bribed, and have a reward for it, even persons of such high character; but this sense is not favoured by, the accents; besides, by what follows, it seems as if the "prince", by whom may be meant the king upon the throne, and the "judge" he that sits upon the bench under him, sought for bribes to do an ill thing; to give a cause wrong against a poor man, and in favour of a rich man that will bribe high:

and the great man he uttereth his mischievous desire; the depravity, corruption, and perverseness of his soul; who is either some great man at court, that, being encouraged by the example of the prince and judge, openly and publicly requires a

bribe also to do an ill thing; and without any shame or blushing promises to do it on that consideration; or a counsellor at the bar, who openly declares that he will speak in such a cause, though a bad one, and defend it, and not doubt of carrying it; or else this is some rich wicked man, that seeks to oppress his poor neighbour, and, being favoured by the prince and judge he has bribed, does without fear or shame speak out the wickedness of his heart, and what an ill design he has against his neighbour, whose mischief, hurt, and ruin, he seeks:

so they wrap it up together; or, "twist it together" (w); as cords are, which thereby become strong; slid so these three work up this mischievous business, and strengthen and establish it; and such a threefold cord of wickedness is not easily broken or unravelled: or, "they perplex it" (x); as thick branches of trees are implicated and wrapped together; so these agree to puzzle and perplex a cause, that they may have some show of carrying it with justice and truth. So the Vulgate Latin version renders it, "they trouble it"; confound the matter, and make it dark, dubious, and difficult. The Targum is, "they corrupt it"; or deprave it; put an ill sense on things, and make a wrong construction of them.

JAMISO, "That they may do evil with both hands earnestly— literally, “Their hands are for evil that they may do it well” (that is, cleverly and successfully).

the great man, he— emphatic repetition. As for the great man, he no sooner has expressed his bad desire (literally, the “mischief” or “lust of his soul”), than the venal judges are ready to wrest the decision of the case according to his wish.

so they wrap it up— The Hebrew is used of intertwining cords together. The “threefold cord is not quickly broken” (Ecc_4:12); here the “prince,” the “judge,” and the “great man” are the three in guilty complicity. “They wrap it up,” namely, they conspire to carry out the great man’s desire at the sacrifice of justice.

CALVI, "This verse is properly addressed to the judges and governors of the people, and also to the rich, who oppressed the miserable common people, because they could not redeem themselves by rewards. The Prophet therefore complains, that corruptions so much prevailed in judgments, that the judges readily absolved the most wicked, provided they brought bribes. The sum of what is said then is, that any thing might be done with impunity, for the judges were venal. This is the Prophet’s meaning.

But as interpreters differ, something shall be said as to the import of the words. על ol ero caphim, For the evil of their hands to do good. Some give this ,הרע כפיםexplanation, “Though they are openly wicked, yet they make pretenses, by which they cover their wickedness:” and the sense would be this, — that though they had cast aside every care for what was right, they yet had become so hardened in iniquity, that they wished to be deemed good and holy men; for in a disordered state of things the wicked always show an iron front, and would have silence to be observed respecting their shameful deeds. Some interpreters therefore think that the Prophet here complains, that there was now no difference between what was honorable and base, right and wrong; for wicked men dared so to disguise their iniquities, that they did not appear, or, that no one ventured to say any thing against

them. Do you, however, examine and consider, whether what the Prophet says may be more fitly connected together in this way, That they may do good for the wickedness of their hands, that is, to excuse themselves for the wickedness of their hands, they agree together; for the prince asks, the judge is ready to receive a bribe. Thus, the rich saw that exemption might have been got by them, for they had the price of redemption in their hands: they indeed knew that the judges and princes could be pacified, when they brought the price of corruption. And this is the meaning which I approve, for it harmonizes best with the words of the Prophet. At the same time, some give a different explanation of the verb להיטיב, laeithib, that is that they acted vigorously in their wickedness: but this exposition is frigid. I therefore embrace the one I have just stated, which is, — that corruptions so prevailed in the administration of justice, that coverings were ready for all crimes; for the governors and judges were lovers of money, and were always ready to absolve the most guilty, but not without a reward. For the wickedness then of their works, that they may do good, that is, that they may obtain acquittance, the prince only asks; he examines not the case, but only regards the hand; and the judge, he says, judges for reward: the judges also were mercenary. They did not sit to determine what was right and just; but as soon as they were satisfied by bribes, they easily forgave all crimes; and thus they turned vices into virtues; for they made no difference between white and black, but according to the bribe received. (184)

This view is consistent with what the Prophet immediately subjoins, The great, he says, speaks of the wickedness of his soul, even he By the great, he does not mean the chief men, as some incorrectly think, but he means the rich, who had money enough to conciliate the judges. They then who could bring the price of redemption, dared to boast openly of their wickedness: for so I render the word הות, eut, as it cannot be suitable to translate it here, corruption. Speak then of the wickedness of his soul does the great; there was then nothing, neither fear nor shame, to restrain the rich from doing wrong. — How so? For they knew that they had to do with mercenary judges and could easily corrupt them. They hence dared to speak of the wickedness of their soul: they did not cloak their crimes, as it is the case when some fear of the Law prevails, when justice is exercised: but as no difference was made between good and evil, the most guilty boasted openly of his wickedness. And the pronoun הוא, eva, he himself, is also emphatical; and this has not been observed by interpreters. He then himself speaks of the wickedness of his soul; he did not wait until others accuse him of doing wrong, but he shamelessly dared to glory in his crimes; for impunity was certain, as he could close the mouth of the judges by bringing a bribe. Speak then of the wickedness of his soul does he himself. (185)

And further, they fold up wickedness; which means, that raging cruelty prevailed, because the governors, and those who wished to purchase liberty to sin, conspired together; as though they made ropes, and thus rendered firm their wickedness. For the great man, that is, the rich and the monied, agreed with the judge, and the judge with him; and so there was a collusion between them. It hence happened, that wickedness possessed, as it were, a tyrannical power; for there was no remedy. We now apprehend the real design of the Prophet, at least as far as I am able to discover. It now follows —

el hre kpyM lhyjyb

The most satisfactory rendering is that which is offered by Marckius, which is this, —

Propter malefaciendum volae pro benefaciendum , —For doing evil [ aretheir] hands instead of doing good.

Rabbi Jonathan, as quoted by Marckius, gives substantially the same rendering, though not literally, —

Malum faciunt manibus suis, et non bonum faciunt , —Evil they do with their hands, and they do no good.

Our version is that of Junius andTremelius, and is substantially followed by ewcome; and Henderson’s version is, —

For evil their hands are well prepared;

which is nearly that of the Septuagint,—

Epi to kakon tav ceirav autwn etoimazousi

But the following would be as literal a translation as that of Marckius, —

For doing evil aretheir hands, to do itthoroughly.

The last verb means not only to do good, but also to make a thing good or complete, fully to execute it. — Ed.

For doing evil aretheir hands, to execute it fully: The prince asks, and the judge also,for reward; When the great man speaks of oppression, That it ishis desire, then they contrive it together, or, literally, entwine it.

To render הות נפשו הוא, “the wickedness of the soul,” as ewcome does, is to leave out wholly the last word; and Henderson does the same. Piscator gives the form of the words, “aerumnam, quam expetit — the mischief, which he desires.” The two last words literally are, “his desire it is. ” — Ed.

COFFMA, "Verse 3"Their hands are upon that which is evil to do it diligently; the prince asketh, and the judge is ready for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth the evil desire of his soul: thus they weave it together."

Corruption had permeated the highest levels of their society. The very men upon whom rested the responsibility for justice and order in their society were themselves guilty of the most abominable crimes and injustices. Things were so decadent that the community's "great men" openly spoke of their willingness to be bribed. "They had no shame in letting the whole town know that they could be bought."[9] Allen's paraphrase of Isaiah's words regarding conditions in his day are appropriate here:

"Your court officials are rebels,Accomplices of thieves.

Everyone of them loves a bribe

And chases after presents.

They do not defend the orphan

And never hear the widow's case" (Isaiah 1:23).[10]SIZE>

"To do it diligently ..." The original language also carries the idea of "skillfully." "Bad men gain a dreadful skill and wisdom in evil, as Satan has; and cleverness in evil is their delight."[11]

COSTABLE, "They were so skillful at doing evil that it seemed they could do it equally well with either hand; they were ambidextrous when it came to sinning. Another view is that ""both hands" refer to "the great man" and the officials next to him.... The king and his depraved minions flagrantly pervert the covenant ..." [ote: Waltke, in Obadiah , . . ., p200.] The leaders always had their hands out to receive a bribe (cf. Micah 3:11). The powerful could expect to get the evil things they wanted because they pulled the necessary strings. These leaders formed networks of conspiracy, like a basket, to entrap the weak.

COKE, "Micah 7:3. That they may do evil with both hands earnestly— Their hands are prepared for evil, not for good: the prince asketh, and the judge demandeth for him. He who is great openly avows the wickedness of his soul, and they detest him. Houbigant.

ELLICOTT, "(3) That they may do evil with both hands earnestly.—Literally, well. Dr. Benisch, in his Old Testament newly translated under the supervision of the Rev. the Chief Rabbi of the United Congregations of the British Empire (1852), avoids the oxymoron of doing “evil” “well” by translating the passage, “concerning the evil which their hands should amend,” which satisfactorily harmonises with the rest of the passage.

So they wrap it up.—Literally, twist it, and pervert the course of justice.

TRAPP, "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.

Ver. 3. That they may do evil with both hands earnestly] Heb. for good and all, or, for ado; that they may speak and do evil as they can, Jeremiah 3:5, and seek to outsin one another; like unhappy boys that strive who shall go farthest in the dirt. olunt solita peccare, saith Seneca: Et pudet non esse impudentes, saith Austin. Luther testifieth of the monks in Germany, that they were so desperately wicked, ut nihil cogitent quod non idem patrare ausint, that they could not devise that wickedness which they dared not do.

The prince asketh] A beggarly practice for a prince, but so base they were grown, and so greedy of filthy lucre. "The prince asketh," and, by asking only, compelleth; for who dare deny him? If some aboth do, he shall die for it. There is a memorable story of a poor man in Spain, to whom, when the lord’s inquisitors sent for some of his pears, which they had cast their eye upon, he, for fear of offending, brought them his pears, tree and all by the roots.

And the judge asketh for a reward] Heb. The judge for a reward, sc. will gratify that sordidum poscinummium, the prince (Plaut.); who, when he giveth him his commissions, hinteth to him haply, as ero did to his public officers, Scis quid nobis opus est (Dio.), Thou knowest what I want, and must have; see then that thou help me to it. Such trading there was likewise between our Richard II and judge Belknap with his fellows. To this purpose the Chaldee paraphrast here. The prince, saith he, requireth supplies of the judge, and this bespeaketh him, Fac pro me, et retribuam tibi; egotiate for me, and I will be thy paymaster; favour me, help me at my need, and I will requite thy courtesy, whensoever thou wilt. Thus muli mutuo scabunt, one hand scratches another; and between the oppressive prince and unconscionable judge "the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth," Habakkuk 1:4.

And the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire] Heb. he speaketh out the corruption of his soul. "He" doth it. Emphaticum est pronomen Ipse, saith Calvin. This same "he" hath a special emphasis in it, q.d. This impudent man, being now past all grace (for Illum ego periisse dico, cui perit pudor), boasteth of his villany; and thinks to bear it out bravely, because it is facinus maiores abollae, the fact of a great one. But who is this "he," this great man in the text, that dares thus obtrude, and justify to the world his most malapert misdemeanour? The rich client, saith Calvin, that hath his money to plead for him; for in suits both of love and of law, money mostly maketh mastery ( Ibi fas ubi maxima merces); and angels trouble the

current of justice (saith one) at certain seasons. Others understand it of counsellors, pleaders, advocates, solicitors, and other officers of justice; who, when as they ought to reprove the iniquity of the judges, do rather help it forward, by justifying the wicked for a reward, and taking away the righteousness of the righteous from him, Isaiah 5:20, by making the law a nose of wax, and by quirks and devices varnishing falsehood and wrongdealing.

So they wrap it up] Contorcuplicant: they wreath their wrong dealings together, as a rope twisted of many threads, till their iniquity be found to be hateful; till there wanteth but a hurdle, a horse, and a halter (as Belknap said of himself) to do the right. They make a league together, they join and strengthen their evil counsels and frauds, so Mr Diodati. These men agree among themselves, and conspire with one consent to do evil; so the Genevists.

BESO, "Verse 3-4Micah 7:3-4. That they may do evil with both hands, &c. — With all diligence; earnestly — Hebrew, להישיב, to good it; that is, to do it thoroughly and effectually. “Their hands are bent on iniquity, to execute it fully.” So Dr. Wheeler. The prince asketh — amely, a gift; to do any one a favour, or good. And the judge asketh for a reward — And the judge will not pass a decision till he has had a bribe to engage him to do it. And the great man uttereth his mischievous desire — The great man at court, who can do what he will there, is bold to declare plainly his unjust, oppressive design; or, the mischief of his soul, as הות נפשו properly signifies. So they wrap it up — The prince, the judge, and the great man, agreeing in their ill designs, make a threefold cord of iniquity: or, they twist one sin upon another, the latter to maintain or cover the former, and all jointly promote injustice, violence, and cruelty. The best of them is a brier — Or, like a brier. They catch fast hold on, and retain, whatever they can lay their hands on. The most upright is sharper than a thorn — Even the best among them would wound and injure on every side all that come near them. The day of thy watchmen — The day in which they shall sound the alarm; and thy visitation cometh — amely, surely and speedily. The time of vengeance is coming, which hath been foretold by the prophets of former times, as well as the present, called here watchmen, as they are by Ezekiel 3:7, and by Hosea 9:8; then God will visit for all the sins thou hast committed against him. Watchmen may signify magistrates as well as prophets, (see note on Isaiah 56:10,) and then the words import the time when God will call both princes and prophets to account for their unfaithfulness in the discharge of their several offices. ow — When that day is come; shall be their perplexity — They shall be so entangled and insnared, as not to know what way to take.

PETT, "Micah 7:3

Their hands are on that which is evil,

To do it diligently,

The prince asks, and the judge is ready for a reward,

And the great man, he utters the evil desire of his soul,

Thus they weave it together.

Everyone is diligent in putting their hands to what is evil. Even the prince wants rewarding for his favours, and the judges are waiting for a bribe. The great man thus gets his own way by saying what he wants and then paying the appropriate bribe. They all in their own ways are weaving the same pattern of sin together. Of course such things happen in many societies. But here it had become blatant.

PULPIT, "Micah 7:3

That they may do evil, etc. rather, both hands are upon (equivalent to "busy with") evil to do it thoroughly. This clause and the rest of the verse are very obscure Cheyne supposes the text to be corrupt. Henderson renders, "For evil their hands are well prepared;" so virtually Hitzig, Pusey, and the Septuagint. Caspari agrees rather with the Vulgate (Malum manuum suarum dicunt bonum)," Hands are (busy) upon evil to make (it seem) good," which looks to that extremity of iniquity when men "call evil good, and good evil" (Isaiah 5:20). The general meaning is that they are ready enough to do evil, and, as the next clause says, can be bribed to do anything. The prince asketh; makes some nefarious demand of the judge, some perversion of justice at his hands, as in the case of aboth (1 Kings 21:1-29.). The judge asketh (is ready) for a reward. The judge is willing to do what the prince wishes, if he is bribed for it. LXX; ὁ κριτής εἰρηνικοὺς λόγους ἐλάλησε, "The judge speaks words of peace" (comp. Micah 3:11; Isaiah 1:23; Zephaniah 3:8). He uttereth his mischievous desire; or, the mischief of his soul. The rich man speaks out unblushingly the evil that he has conceived in his heart, the wicked design which he meditates. So they wrap it up; better, and they weave it together. The prince, the judge, and the rich man weave their evil plan together, to make it strong and right in others' eyes. The passage is altered in meaning by a different grouping of the Hebrew letters, thus: "The prince demandeth (a reward) to do good; and the judge, for the recompense of a great man, uttereth what he himself desireth. And they entangle the good more than briars, and the righteous more than a thorn hedge." The LXX. carries on the sense to the next verse, καὶ ἐξελοῦµαι τὰ ἀγαθὰ αὐτῶν ὠς σὴς ἐκτρώγων, "And I will destroy their goods as a consuming moth."

4 The best of them is like a brier, the most upright worse than a thorn hedge.

The day God visits you has come, the day your watchmen sound the alarm. ow is the time of your confusion.

BARES. "The best of them is as a brier - The gentlest of them is a thorn , strong, hard, piercing, which letteth nothing unresisting pass by but it taketh from it, “robbing the fleece, and wounding the sheep.” “The most upright”, those who, in comparison of others still worse, seem so, “is sharper than a thorn hedge”, (literally, the upright, them a thorn hedge.) They are not like it only, but worse, and that in all ways; none is specified, and so none excepted; they were more crooked, more tangled, sharper. Both, as hedges, were set for protection; both, turned to injury. Jerome: “So that, where you would look for help, thence comes suffering.” And if such be the best, what the rest?

The day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh -When all, even the good, are thus corrupted, the iniquity is full. Nothing now hinders the “visitation”, which “the watchmen”, or prophets, had so long foreseen and forewarned of. “Now shall be their perplexity” ; “now”, without delay; for the day of destruction ever breakcth suddenly upon the sinner. “When they say, peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them” 1Th_5:3. : “whose destruction cometh suddenly at an instant”. They had perplexed the cause of the oppressed; they themselves were tangled together, intertwined in mischief, as a thorn-hedge. They should be caught in their own snare; they had perplexed their paths and should find no outlet.

CLARKE, "The best of them is as a brier - They are useless in themselves, and cannot be touched without wounding him that comes in contact with them. He alludes to the thick thorn hedges, still frequent in Palestine.

The day of thy watchmen - The day of vengeance, which the prophets have foreseen and proclaimed, is at hand. Now shall be their perplexity; no more wrapping up, all shall be unfolded. In that day every man will wish that he were different from what he is found to be; but he shall be judged for what he is, and for the deeds he has done.

GILL, "The best of them is as a brier,.... Good for nothing but for burning, very hurtful and mischievous, pricking and scratching those that have to do with them:

the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge; which, if a man lays hold on to get over, or attempts to pass through, his hands will be pricked, his face scratched, and his clothes tore off his back; so the best of these princes, judges, and great inch, who put on a show of goodness, and pretended to do justice, yet fetched blood, and got money out of everyone they were concerned with, and did them injury in one respect or another; or the best and most upright of the people of the land in general, that made the

greatest pretensions to religion and virtue, yet in their dealings were sharp, and biting, and tricking; and took every fraudulent method to cheat, and overreach, and hurt men in their property:

the day of thy watchmen; either which the true prophets of the Lord, sometimes called watchmen, foretold should come, but were discredited and despised, will now most assuredly come; and it will be found to be true what they said should come to pass: or the day of the false prophets, as Kimchi and Ben Melech; either which they predicted as a good day, and now it should be seen whether it would be so or not; or the day of their punishment, for their false prophecies and deception of the people:

and thy visitation cometh; the time that God would punish the people in general for their iniquities, as! well as their false prophets, princes, judges, and great men; who also may be designed by watchmen:

now shall be their perplexity: the prince, the judge, and the great man, in just retaliation for their perplexing the cause of the poor; or of all the people, who would be surrounded and entangled with calamities and distresses, and not know which way to turn themselves, or how to get out of them.

JAMISO, "as a brier— or thorn; pricking with injury all who come in contact with them (2Sa_23:6, 2Sa_23:7; Isa_55:13; Eze_2:6).

the day of thy watchmen— the day foretold by thy (true) prophets, as the time of “thy visitation” in wrath [Grotius]. Or, “the day of thy false prophets being punished”; they are specially threatened as being not only blind themselves, but leading others blindfold [Calvin].

now— at the time foretold, “at that time”; the prophet transporting himself into it.

perplexity— (Isa_22:5). They shall not know whither to turn.

K&D 4-6, "And even the best men form no exception to the rule. Mic_7:4. “Their best man is like a briar; the upright man more than a hedge: the day of thy spies, thy visitation cometh, then will their confusion follow.Mic_7:5. Trust not in the neighbour, rely not upon the intimate one; keep the doors of thy mouth before her that is thy bosom friend.Mic_7:6. For the son despiseth the father, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man's enemies are the

people of his own house.” טובם, the good man among them, i.e., the best man, resembles

the thorn-bush, which only pricks, hurts, and injures. In ישר the force of the suffix still

continues: the most righteous man among them; and מן before מ?סוכה is used in a comparative sense: “is more, i.e., worse, than a thorn-hedge.” The corruption of the nation has reached such a terrible height, that the judgment must burst in upon them. This thought comes before the prophet's mind, so that he interrupts the description of the corrupt condition of things by pointing to the day of judgment. The “day of thy watch-men,” i.e., of thy prophets (Jer_6:17; Eze_3:17; Eze_33:7), is explained in the

apposition peqŭddâthekhâ (thy visitation). The perfect ה�" is prophetic of the future,

which is as certain as if it were already there. הBע, now, i.e., when this day has come

(really therefore = “then”), will their confusion be, i.e., then will the wildest confusion come upon them, as the evil, which now envelopes itself in the appearance of good, will

then burst forth without shame and without restraint, and everything will be turned upside down. In the same sense as this Isaiah also calls the day of divine judgment a day of confusion (Isa_22:5). In the allusion to the day of judgment the speaker addresses the people, whereas in the description of the corruption he speaks of them. This distinction thus made between the person speaking and the people is not at variance with the assumption that the prophet speaks in the name of the congregation, any more than the words “thy watchmen, thy visitation,” furnish an objection to the assumption that the prophet was one of the watchmen himself. This distinction simply proves that the penitential community is not identical with the mass of the people, but to be distinguished from them. In Mic_7:5 the description of the moral corruption is continued, and that in the form of a warning not to trust one another any more, neither

companion (רע�) with whom one has intercourse in life, nor the confidential friend

('allūph), nor the most intimate friend of all, viz., the wife lying on the husband's bosom.

Even before her the husband was to beware of letting the secrets of his heart cross his lips, because she would betray them. The reason for this is assigned in Mic_7:6, in the fact that even the holiest relations of the moral order of the world, the deepest ties of blood-relationship, are trodden under foot, and all the bonds of reverence, love, and

chastity are loosened. The son treats his father as a fool (nibbēl, as in Deu_32:15). “The men of his house” (the subject of the last clause) are servants dwelling in the house, not relations (cf. Gen_17:23, Gen_17:27; Gen_39:14; 2Sa_12:17-18). This verse is applied by

Christ to the period of the κρίσις which will attend His coming, in His instruction to the

apostles in Mat_10:35-36 (cf. Luk_12:53). It follows from this, that we have not to regard Mic_7:5 and Mic_7:6 as a simple continuation of the description in Mic_7:2-4,

but that these verses contain the explanation of ה�תהיה�מבוכתםBע, in this sense, that at the outbreak of the judgment and of the visitation the faithlessness will reach the height of treachery to the nearest friends, yea, even of the dissolution of every family tie (cf. Mat_24:10, Mat_24:12).

CALVI, "The Prophet confirms what he had previously said, — that the land was so full of every kind of wickedness, that they who were deemed the best were yet thorns and briers, full of bitterness, or very sharp to prick; as though he said, “The best among them is a thief; the most upright among them is a robber.” We hence see, that in these words he alludes to their accumulated sins, as though he said, “The condition of the people cannot be worse; for iniquity has advanced to its extreme point: when any one seeks for a good or an upright man, he only finds thorns and briers; that is, he is instantly pricked.” But if the best were then like thorns, what must have been the remainder? We have already seen that the judges were so corrupt that they abandoned themselves without feeling any shame to any thing that was base. What then could have been said of them, when the Prophet compares here the upright and the just to thorns; yea, when he says, that they were rougher than briers? Though it is an improper language to say, that the good and the upright (186) among them were like briers; for words are used contrary to their meaning, as it is certain, that those who inhumanely pricked others were neither good nor just: yet the meaning of the Prophet is in no way obscure, — that there was then such license taken in wickedness, that even those who retained in some measure the credit

of being upright were yet nothing better than briers and thorns. There is then in the words what may be deemed a concession.

He then adds, The day of thy watchmen, thy visitation comes He here denounces the near judgment of God, generally on the people, and especially on the rulers. But he begins with the first ranks and says The day of thy watchmen; as though he said, “Ruin now hangs over thy governors, though they by no means expect it.” Watchmen he calls the Prophets, who, by their flatteries, deceived the people, as well as their rulers: and he sets the Prophets in the front, because they were the cause of the common ruin. He does not yet exempt the body of the people from punishment; nay, he joins together these two things, — the visitation of the whole people, and the day of the watchmen.

And justly does he direct his discourse to these watchmen, who, being blind, blinded all the rest; and who, being perverted, led astray the whole people. This is the reason why the Prophet now, in an especial manner, threatens them; but, as I have already said, the people were not on this account to be excused. There may seem indeed to have been here a fair pretense for extenuating their guilt: the common people might have said that they had not been warned as they ought to have been; nay, that they had been destroyed through delusive falsehoods. And we see at this day that many make such a pretense as this. But a defense of this kind is of no avail before God; for though the common people are blinded, yet they go astray off their own accord, since they lend a willing ear to impostors. And even the reason why God gave loose reins to Satan as well as to his ministers, and why he gives, as Paul says, (2 Thessalonians 2:11,) power to delusion, is this, — because the greater part of the world ever seeks to be deceived. The denunciation of the Prophet then is this, — that as the judges and the Prophets had badly exercised their office, they would be led to the punishment which they deserved, for they had been, as it has been elsewhere observed, the cause of ruin to others: in the meantime, the common people were not excusable. The vengeance of God then would overtake them and from the least to the greatest, without any exemption. Thy visitation then comes.

He afterwards speaks in the third person, Then shall be their confusion, or perplexity, or they shall be ashamed. The Prophet here alludes indirectly to the hardness of the people; for though the Prophets daily threatened them, they yet remained all of them secure; nay, we know that all God’s judgments were held in derision by them. As then the faithful teachers could not have moved wicked men either with fear or with shame, the Prophet says, Then confusion shall come to them; as though he said, “Be hardened now as much as ye wish to be, as I see that you are stupid, yea, senseless, and attend not to the word of the Lord; but the time of visitation will come, and then the Lord will constrain you to be ashamed, for he will really show you to be such as ye are; and he will not then contend with you in words as he does now; but the announced punishment will divest you of all your false pretenses; and he will also remove that waywardness which now hardens you against wholesome doctrine and all admonitions.”

Their good manis like a brier,

The upright worse than a thorny hedge.

The preposition מ is often rendered “rather than;” but it may, in many places, be rendered “better than,” or “worse than,” according to the import of the passage. —Ed.

COFFMA, "Verse 4"The best of them is as a brier; the most upright is worse than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen, even thy visitation is come; now shall be their perplexity."

"The day of thy watchmen ..." This was the day of judgment upon Israel for their apostasy from God, long foretold by the prophets (thy watchmen), that is, "the day of their perplexity." This change of persons (from "thy" to "their") is characteristic of Micah's style.

COKE, "Micah 7:4. The most upright is sharper than a thorn-hedge— Rauwolff tells us, that about Tripoli there are abundance of vineyards and fine gardens, inclosed for the most part with hedges; between which gardens, run several roads and pleasant shady walks. The hedges, he says, chiefly consist of the rhamnus, paliurus, and other thorny plants. The prophet alludes to these. See the Observations, p. 217.

ELLICOTT, "(4) The day of thy watchmen—i.e., the time which thy prophets have foreseen, about which they have continually warned thee. “Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken” (Jeremiah 6:17).

TRAPP, "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.

Ver. 4. The best of them is as a brier] Which a man cannot handle without harm. See 2 Samuel 23:6, Psalms 55:21; Psalms 58:10, Ezekiel 2:6, Matthew 7:16; Matthew 13:7; Matthew 13:22; so, you cannot deal with them without danger; guilt, or grief you shall be sure of. Lot felt it so at Sodom, 2 Peter 2:7-8, and so did those that set up that bramble Abimelech for their king, 9:15-16.

The most upright is sharper than a thornhedge] Ut ibi inveniatur dolor, ubi sperabatur auxilium, saith Jerome here; so that a man shall have grief where he hoped for help and succour; as a man that, taking hold of a thorn hedge to get over, hath his fingers pricked by it, and is glad to let go; or, as a sheep that, fleeing to the bush for defence in weather, loses part of her fleece. ow if the best and most upright among them were no better, what can be imagined of the many ( οι πολλοι)? and what better can be hoped for by us (for one egg is not more like another than these times are those here described; it is but the same fable acted over again, only everything is now worse than ever) than a day of visitation, a time of perplexity, as it

followeth here? For while they be folded together as thorns, and while they be drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry, ahum 1:10, as sear thorns under the pot, Ecclesiastes 7:6. I will go through these briers, saith God, I will burn them together, Isaiah 27:4, they shall be utterly burnt with fire in the same place, 2 Samuel 23:7, that is, in hell, as some interpret it.

The day of thy watchmen, and thy visitation cometh] Where sin is in the saddle punishment will be upon the crupper. (a) God will have a visitation day; and that for his watchmen, prophets, and governors, as well as for the common sort. "Thy visitation cometh," thou shalt share in punishment with them, as thou hast done in sin; neither shall it help thee to say, Our watchmen were in fault; for God will visit you all; and his visitation articles will be very strict and critical.

ow shall be their perplexity] They shall be so intricated and entangled; so ensnared and ensnarled, as that they shall not know which way to turn them. They shall be in as great a distress as Israel was at the Red Sea, Exodus 14:3, or as the Jews at Shushan were, when the decree was gone out for their utter destruction, Esther 3:15, or as Manasseh was, when taken by the Assyrians among the thorns, he was bound with fetters, and carried to Babylon, 2 Chronicles 33:11.

PETT, "Micah 7:4

The best of them is as a briar,

The most upright is worse than a thorn hedge,

The day of your watchmen, even your visitation, is come,

ow will be their perplexity.

Indeed the best of them is like a briar which tears at the hands, and the most upright is worse than a thorn bush. Those who tangle with them soon wish they had not, because they find the equivalent of vicious thorns left in their hands.

But these people should beware. For the day of their watchmen, the day of their visitation is come. This may be referring to the prophets as their watchmen (Isaiah 21:6; Jeremiah 6:17; Ezekiel 3:17; Ezekiel 33:7; Habakkuk 2:1) and thus be speaking of the day of visitation against which they warned. Or it may have in mind the city’s watchmen. In times of peace the watchmen had a weary task for which none were grateful. Day after day they watched in vain, and achieved nothing. But their day came when the enemy were seen on the horizon and they were able to give the warning. All the waiting had then been worthwhile. All then recognised their worth. And this was the day that was now coming, the day when the enemy approached, the day when the people would be visited with God’s judgment. ow indeed they would find themselves in a state of perplexity.

PULPIT, "Micah 7:4

The best of them is as a briar; hard and piercing, catching and holding all that passes by. The plant intended by the word chedek is a thorny one used for hedges (Proverbs 15:19). Under another aspect thorns are a symbol of what is noxious and worthless (2 Samuel 23:6), or of sin and temptation. The most upright is sharper (worse) than a thorn hedge. Those who seem comparatively upright are more injurious, tangled, and inaccessible than a hedge of thorns. In punishment of all this corruption, the prophet points to the day of judgment. The day of thy watchmen. The day of retribution foretold by the prophets (Isaiah 21:6; Jeremiah 6:17; Ezekiel 3:17). And (even) thy visitation; in apposition with the day, the time, and explanatory of punishment. Cometh; is come—the perfect tense denoting the certainty of the future event. Septuagint, οὐαὶ αἱ ἐκδικήσεις σου ἥκασι, "Woe! thy vengeance is come." ow shall be their perplexity. When this day of the Lord comes, there shall be confusion (Isaiah 22:5); it shall bring chastise ment before deliverance. The prophet here, as elsewhere, changes from the second to the third person, speaking of the people gene rally. Septuagint, νῦν ἔσονται κλαυθµοὶ αὐτῶν "ow shall be their weeping;" so the Syriac. Pusey notes the paronomasia here. They were as bad as a thorn hedge (merucah); they shall fall into perplexity (mebucah).

5 Do not trust a neighbor; put no confidence in a friend.Even with the woman who lies in your embrace guard the words of your lips.

BARES 5-6, "Trust ye not in a friend - It is part of the perplexity of crooked ways, that all relationships are put out of joint. Selfishness rends each from the other, and disjoints the whole frame of society. Passions and sin break every band of friendship, kindred, gratitude, nature. “Everyone ‘seeketh his own’.” Times of trial and of outward harass increase this; so that God’s visitations are seasons of the most frightful recklessness as to everything but sell: So had God foretold Deu_28:53; so it was in the siege of Samaria 2Ki_6:28, and in that of Jerusalem both by the Chaldeans Lam_4:3-16and by the Romans . When the soul has lost the love of God, all other is but sceming

love, since “natural affection” is from Him, and it too dies out, as God gives the soul over to itself Rom_1:28. The words describe partly the inward corruption, partly the outward causes which shall call it forth.

There is no real trust in any, where all are eorrupt. The outward straitness and perplexity, in which they shall be, makes that to crumble and fall to pieces, which was inwardly decayed and severed before. The words deepen, as they go on. First, “the friend”, or neighbor, the common band of man and man; then “the guide”, (or, as the word also means, one “familiar”, united by intimacy, to whom, by continual intercourse, the soul was “used”;) then the wife who lay in the bosom, nearest to the secrets of the heart; then those to whom all reverence is due, “father” and “mother”. Our Lord said that this should be fulfilled in the hatred of His Gospel. He begins His warning as to it, with a caution like that of the prophet; “Be ye wise as serpents” Mat_10:16-17, and “beware of men”. Then He says, how these words should still be true Mat_10:21, Mat_10:35-36. There never were wanting pleas of earthly interest against the truth.

He Himself was “cut off” lest “the Romans should take away their place and nation” Joh_11:48. The Apostles were accused, that they meant to “bring this Man’s Blood upon” the chief priests Act_5:28; or as “ringleaders of the sect of the Nazarenes, pestilant fallows and movers of sedition, turning the world upside down, setters up of another king; troublers of the city; comanding things unlawful for Romans to practice; setters forth of strange gods; turning away much people” Act_24:5; Act_16:20-21; Act_17:6-7, Act_17:18; 1Pe_2:12; endangering not men’s craft only, but the honor of their gods; “evil doers”. Truth is against the world’s ways, so the world is against it. Holy zeal hates sin, so sinners hate it. It troubles them, so they count it, “one which troubleth Israel” 1Ki_18:17. Tertullian, in a public defense of Christians in the second century, writes, , “Truth set out with being herself hated; as soon as she appeared, she is an enemy. As many as are strangers to it, so many are its foes; and the Jews indeed appropriately from their rivalry, the soldiers from their violence, even they of our own household from nature. Each flay are we beset, each day betrayed; in our very meetings and assemblies are we mostly surprised.”

There was no lack of pleas. : “A Christian thou deemest a man guilty of every crime, an encmy of the goals, of the Emperors, of law, of morals, of all nature;” “factious,” “authors of all public calamities through the anger of the pagan gods,” “impious,” “atheists,” “disloyal,” “public enemies.” The Jews, in the largest sense of the word “they of their own household”, were ever the deadliest enemies of Christians, the inventors of calumnies, the authors of persecutions. “What other race,” says , Tertullian, “is the seed-plot of our calumnies?”

Then the Acts of the Martyrs tell, how Christians were betrayed by near kinsfolk for private interest, or for revenge, because they would not join in things unlawful. Jerome: “So many are the instances in daily life, (of the daughter rising against the mother) that we should rather mourn that they are so many, than seek them out.” - “I seek no examples, (of those of a man’s own househould being his foes) they are too many, that we should have any need of witness.” Dionysius: “Yet ought we not, on account of these and like words of Holy Scripture, to be mistrustful or suspicious, or always to presume the worst, but to be cautious and prudent. For Holy Scripture speaketh with reference to times, causes, persons, places.” So John saith, “Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God” 1Jo_4:1.

CLARKE, "Trust ye not in a friend - These times will be so evil, and the people so

wicked, that all bonds will be dissolved; and even the most intimate will betray each other, when they can hope to serve themselves by it.

On this passage, in the year 1798, I find I have written as follows: -

“Trust ye not in a friend. - Several of those whom I have delighted to call by that name have deceived me.

“Put ye not confidence in a guide. - Had I followed some of these I should have gone to perdition.

“Keep the door of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom. - My wife alone never deceived me.”

It is now twenty-seven years since, and I find no cause to alter what I then wrote.

GILL, "Trust ye not in a friend,.... This is not said to lessen the value of friendship; or to discourage the cultivation of it with agreeable persons; or to dissuade from a confidence in a real friend; or in the least to weaken it, and damp the pleasure of true friendship, which is one of the great blessings of life; but to set forth the sad degeneracy of the then present age, that men, who pretended to be friends, were so universally false and faithless, that there was no dependence to be had on them:

put ye not confidence in a guide; in political matters, in civil affairs, as civil magistrates, judges, counsellors; or in domestic matters. The Targum renders it, in one near akin. Kimchi interprets it of an elder brother; and Aben Ezra of a husband, who is to his wife the guide of her youth; and in religious matters as prophets, priests who were false and deceitful. It may design a very intimate friend, a familiar acquaintance, who might of all men be thought to be confided in; of whom the word is used, Psa_55:13;

keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom; from a wife, and much more from a concubine or harlot. The Targum is,

"from the wife of thy covenant keep the words of thy mouth;''

divulge not the thoughts of thine heart, or disclose the secrets of it, to one so near; take care of speaking treason against the prince, or ill of a neighbour; it may be got out of such an one, and who may be so base as to betray it: or utter not anything whatever that is secret, the divulging of which may be detrimental; for, in such an age as this was, one in so near a relation might be wicked enough to discover it; see Ecc_10:20.

JAMISO, "Trust ye not in a friend— Faith is kept nowhere: all to a man are treacherous (Jer_9:2-6). When justice is perverted by the great, faith nowhere is safe. So, in gospel times of persecution, “a man’s foes are they of his own household” (Mat_10:35, Mat_10:36; Luk_12:53).

guide— a counselor [Calvin] able to help and advise (compare Psa_118:8, Psa_118:9; Psa_146:3). The head of your family, to whom all the members of the family would naturally repair in emergencies. Similarly the Hebrew is translated in Jos_22:14 and “chief friends” in Pro_16:28 [Grotius].

her that lieth in thy bosom— thy wife (Deu_13:6).

CALVI, "The Prophet pursues the subject we discussed yesterday, — that liberty, in iniquity, bad arrived to its highest point, for no faithfulness remained among men; nay, there was no more any humanity; for the son performed not his duty towards his father, nor the daughter-in-law towards her mother-in-law; in short, there was then no mutual love and concord. He does not here speak of that false confidence, by which many deceive themselves, who rely on mortals, and transfer to them the glory which belongs to God. Those therefore without any reason, philosophize here, who say, that we ought not to trust in men; for this was not the design of the Prophet. But our Prophet complains of his times according to the tenor of Ovid’s description of the iron age, who says -

“ —A guest is not safe from his host; or a brother-in-law from a son-in-law; and brotherly love is rare: A husband seeks the death of his wife, and she, of her husband; Cruel stepmothers mingle the lurid poison; The son, before the day, inquires into the years of his father.” (187)

So also our Prophet says, that there was no regard to humanity among men; for the wife was ready to betray her husband, the son treated his father with reproach; in short, they had all forgotten humanity or natural affection. We now then understand what the Prophet means by saying, Trust not a friend; (188) that is, if any one hopes for any thing from a friend, he will be deceived; for nothing can be found among men but perfidy.

Put no faith in a counselor So I render the word אלוף, aluph; some translate it, an elder brother; but there is no necessity to constrain us to depart from the proper and true meaning of the word. As then the Prophet had spoken of an associate or a friend, so he now adds a counselor. And it proves what he had in view, when he says in the next clause, that no enemies are worse than domestics. We hence see that the Prophet simply means, that the men of his age were not only avaricious and cruel to one another, but that without any regard to human feelings the son rebelled against his father, and thus subverted the whole order of nature; So that they had none of those affections, which seem at the same time to be incapable of being extinguished in men. Let us now proceed —

COFFMA, "Verse 5"Trust ye not in a neighbor; put ye not confidence in a friend; keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom. 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."

"Passion and sin break every band of friendship, kindred, gratitude, and nature."[12] So it was in the times of the gospel persecutions. "A man's foes are they of his own household" (Matthew 10:35-36; Luke 12:53). McKeating observed that

these words would be applicable to "any seriously troubled times."[13] Certainly, it was the great crisis brought about by the total defeat of Israel that lay at the heart of the conditions indicated here. "This is the condition that developed in the midst of the punishment and confusion."[14] "It was an unnatural breakdown of cohesion in the home, the microcosm of society."[15] Before leaving these verses, a comment like that by Wolfe should be noted:

When any person gets the idea that he is the only good person remaining alive, he drifts into a detachment from his fellows and thereby forfeits all possibility of rendering further usefulness.[16]

Such a view should be rejected, because Micah was not merely venting his prejudice in these lines, but conveying to men the words of God. The indictment, therefore, was not of Micah, but of the Lord. Moreover, it would be impossible to apply such a comment to Christ who used these very words. Furthermore, Paul himself declared that "There is none righteous, no not one" (Romans 3:10ff).

COSTABLE, "Micah warned the Judeans against trusting in their neighbors, friends, or even wives who reassured them that everything would be all right. They could trust no one because everyone was telling lies to gain their own advantage. They could not trust the members of their own families because everyone was after his or her own interests and would stoop to betrayal to obtain them (cf. Matthew 10:35-36; Mark 13:12; Luke 12:53).

"Man is so made that he finds security in a small group among whom he is accepted and receives support. At the heart of the concentric circles of people known to him there must ever be a stable core of friends, and usually family, if his psychological equilibrium is to be maintained. The prophet gradually penetrates to the center of these inner circles of familiarity: friend-best friend-wife. A man is now forced to go against his nature, retiring within himself and keeping his own counsel, if he is not to face betrayal." [ote: Allen, p388.]

TRAPP, "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.

Ver. 5. Trust ye not in a friend] Friends (said Socrates), there is no friend: and a friend is a changeable creature, saith another ( ζωον ευµεταβλητον); all in changeable colours as the peacock, as often changed as moved. Besides, many friends are not more fickle than false, like deep ponds, clear at the top, and all muddy at the bottom. Fide ergo: sed cui vide. Try before you trust; and when you have tried your utmost, trust not overly far, lest you cry out at length, as Queen Elizabeth did, In trust I have found treason; or as Julius Caesar, when stabbed by Brutus among others, What thou, my son Brutus? He was slain in the senate house, with 23 wounds, given, in the most part, by those whose lives he had preserved.

Put ye not confidence in a guide] Potenti et pollenti consilio et auxilio. Be he never so potent or politic, beyond thousand others, as the word importeth: and as the people said to David, "But now thou art worth ten thousand of us," 2 Samuel 18:3, thou art the light of Israel, thou art the breath of our nostrils; so that if thou miscarry, we shall all breathe out our last. All which notwithstanding, princes are not to be trusted, Psalms 62:7; Psalms 118:8-9; Psalms 146:3, for either they may die, or their affections may die; all their golden thoughts may perish. Great men’s words, saith one, are like dead men’s shoes; he may go barefoot that waiteth for them.

Keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom] From thy wife, thine ακοιτις, called the wife of thy bosom, because she should be as dear unto thee as the heart in thy bosom. Be not too open hearted to her, lest she tell all, as Samson’s wife; or as Fulvia, in Sallust, who declared all the secrets of Cneius, a noble Roman, her foolish lover. A fool telleth all, saith Solomon, Proverbs 29:11, he is as little able to keep as to give counsel. He is full of chinks, and leaks every way; the doors of his mouth are seldom kept shut; you may know him by his gaping: fools are called by Aristophanes and Lucian, κεχηνοτες; gapers. "But a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards," Proverbs 29:11; Tacitus he holds to be the best historian; and keeps his mouth with a bridle, as David did, Psalms 39:1, and as the poets feign of Pegasus, that he had a golden bridle put upon him by Minerva, their goddess of wisdom. God and nature have taught us by the site of the tongue in a man’s mouth, to take heed to it, and to keep the doors of it; and when all is done, to pray God to keep that door, Psalms 141:3. The tongue is ever in udo, in a moisture; but yet tied by the roots, that it may not stir out of place; it is also guarded with a percullis of teeth and a two-leaved gate of lips, which we must carefully keep, and hold that for an oracle,

“ Si sapis, arcano vina reconde cado. ”

“If you have sense, hide your personal wine in a jar”

BESO, "Verses 5-7Micah 7:5-7. Trust ye not in a friend — This and the next verse are descriptive of a general corruption of manners; so that all ties and duties of consanguinity were trampled upon, or paid no regard to. The friend proved treacherous to his friend, the wife to her husband: children set at naught their parents, and a man’s own family, or domestics, plotted his injury, or destruction, or acted as enemies toward him. Therefore will I look unto the Lord — The church here expresses her confidence in God alone, since no trust could be placed in man. Or, they may be considered as the words of the prophet, and of those who feared God in Israel.

PETT, "Micah 7:5-6

Do not trust in a neighbour,

Do not put confidence in a friend,

Keep the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your bosom.

For the son dishonours the father,

The daughter rises up against her mother,

The daughter–in–law against her mother–in–law,

A man’s enemies are the men of his own house.

But the worst thing of all about the society in which Micah lived as he saw it was the total lack of confidence that it was possible for people to put in each other. eighbour could not trust neighbour, friend could not trust friend, and even that bastion of loyalty the family, had become a haven of distrust and malice. It was a picture of society at its very lowest.

How far this reflected the actual circumstances under which he lived in Jerusalem, or how far it was simply the direction in which he saw things going, we are left to decide for ourselves. But the warning is clear. This is what eventually happens to society when it turns against God.

Jesus cited Micah 7:6 as an illustration of what Christians must expect from many of their unbelieving families. The thought is tragic. A son dishonouring his father. A daughter rivalling and going against her mother, a daughter-in-law being active against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies being those of his own household. It was almost inconceivable, but such was the depths of human sinfulness that it would happen.

PULPIT, "Micah 7:5

Such is the moral corruption that the nearest relations cannot be trusted: selfishness reigns everywhere The prophet emphasizes this universal evil by warning the better portion of the people. Friend … guide. There is a gradation here, beginning with "neighbour," or "common acquaintance," and ending with "wife." The word rendered "guide" means "closest, most familiar friend, as in Psalms 55:13 (14, Hebrew). Our version is sanctioned by the Septuagint, ἡγουµένοις, "leaders;" and the Vulgate, duce; but the context confirms the other translation (comp. Proverbs 16:28; Proverbs 17:9). Our Lord has used some of the expressions in the next verso in describing the miseries of the latter day (Matthew 10:21, Matthew 10:35, Matthew 10:36; Matthew 24:12; comp. Luke 12:53; Luke 21:16; 2 Timothy 3:2). Keep the doors of thy mouth. Guard thy secrets. (For the phrase, comp. Psalms 141:3.) Her that lieth in thy bosom. Thy wife (Deuteronomy 13:6; Deuteronomy 28:54).

6 For a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises up against her mother,a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— a man’s enemies are the members of his own household.

CLARKE, "For the son dishonoreth the father - See the use our Lord has made of these words, where he quotes them, Mat_10:21 (note), Mat_10:25 (note), Mat_10:36(note), and the notes there.

GILL, "For the son dishonoureth the father,.... Speaks contemptibly of him; behaves rudely towards him; shows him no respect and reverence; exposes his failings, and makes him the object of his banter and ridicule; who ought to have honoured, reverenced, and obeyed him, being the instrument of his being, by whom he was brought up, fed, clothed, and provided for; base ingratitude!

the daughter riseth up against her mother; by whom she has been used in the most tender and affectionate manner; this being still more unnatural, if possible, as being done by the female sex, usually more soft and pliable; but here, losing her natural affection, and forgetting both her relation and sex, replies to her mother, giving ill language; opposes and disobeys her, chides, wrangles, and scolds, and strives and litigates with her, as the Targum: or rises up as a witness against her, to her detriment, if not to the taking away of her life:

the daughter in law against her mother in law; this is not so much to be wondered at as, the former instances, which serve to encourage and embolden those that are in such a relation to speak pertly and saucily; to reproach and make, light of mothers in law, as the Targum; or slight and abuse them:

a man's enemies are the men of his own house; his sons and his servants, who should honour his person, defend his property, and promote his interest; but, instead of that, do everything that is injurious to him. These words are referred to by Christ, and used by him to describe the times in which he lived, Mat_10:35; and the prophet may be thought to have an eye to the same, while he is settling forth the badness of his own times; and the Jews seem to think be had a regard to them, since they say (y), that, when the Messiah comes, "the son shall dishonour his father", &c. plainly having this passage

in view; and the; whole agrees with the times of Christ, in which there were few good men; it was a wicked age, an adulterous generation of men, he lived among; great corruption there was in princes, priests, and people; in the civil and ecclesiastical rulers, and in all ranks and degrees of men; and he that ate bread with Christ, even Judas, lifted up his heel against him. The times in which Micah the prophet here speaks of seem to he the times of Ahaz, who was a wicked prince; and the former part of Hezekiah's reign, before a reformation was started, or at least brought about, in whose reigns he prophesied; though some have thought he here predicts the sad times in the reign of Manasseh, which is not so probable.

JAMISO, "son dishonoureth the father— The state of unnatural lawlessness in all relations of life is here described which is to characterize the last times, before Messiah comes to punish the ungodly and save Israel (compare Luk_21:16; 2Ti_3:1-3).

TRAPP, "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.

Ver. 6. For the son dishonoureth the father] Or, revileth the father (Menabbel), be-abals him, beknaves him (of abal comes ebulo), turpitudine afficit, bepastles him, vilifleth him. This is monstrous wickedness, Malachi 1:6, and a sure sign the devil hath set his limbs in a man that is thus unnatural, fierce, traitorous, heady, high-minded; which yet is foretold of these dregs of time, these last and worst days, both by our Saviour, Matthew 10:21; Matthew 10:35-36, and likewise by St Paul, 2 Timothy 3:3-4. Such a son was he who, when his father complained that never father had so undutiful a child as he had: Yes, said his son (with less grace than wit), my grandfather had. Such a son was Ham, and Absalom, and Amida, son of Muleasses, King of Tunis, who cast his father out of his kingdom, and put out his eyes; and Henry, eldest son to our Henry II, who rebelled against his father, and died before him of a fever and a flux, with excoriation of the bowels; and, lastly, Adolphus Egmondanus, who imprisoned his own father six years for no other cause but for living so long, and keeping him from the dukedom of Guelderland.

The daughter riseth up against her mother] As Mr Fox mentioneth some that witnessed against their own parents here in Queen Mary’s days, and were a means of their martyrdom.

A man’s enemies are the men of his own house] See Matthew 10:36. {See Trapp on "Matthew 10:36"} Take our Saviour’s counsel there; "Be ye wise as serpents, innocent as doves"; but beware of men, yea, of the men of your own house.

“ Fide Deo soli: mortali fidito nulli:

Fallunt mortales: fullere Iova nequit. ”

PULPIT, "Micah 7:6

For the son dishonoureth; Septuagint, ἀτιµάζει: Vulgate, contumeliam facit; literally, treats as a fool, despises (Deuteronomy 32:6, Deuteronomy 32:15). (For the rest of the verse, see Matthew 10:21, Matthew 10:35, etc.) Men of his own house. His domestic servants (Genesis 17:27). Henderson, referring to this dissolution of every natural tie, compares Ovid, 'Metamorph.,' 1:144, etc.—

"Vivitur ex rapto; non hospes ab hespite tutus,

on socer a genero; fratrum quoque gratia rara est;

Imminet exitio vir conjugis, illa mariti;

Lurida terribiles miscent aconita novercae;

Filius ante diem patrios iuquirit in annos;

Victa jacet pietas."

7 But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.

BARES. "Therefore - (And,) when all these things come to pass and all human help fails, “I”, for my part, “will look unto”, (literally, “on”) “the Lord” God, the Unchangeable. The prophet sets himself, I, with emphasis, against the multitude of the ungodly. When all forsake, betray, fail, when “love is waxed cold” Mat_24:12, and men, in the last days, shall be “lovers of their ownselves” 2Ti_3:2, 2Ti_3:4, “not lovers of God”, I, - he does not say, “will trust,” but - , “will” (Jerome), “with the eye of the heart contemplating, loving, venerating God most High, and weighing His mercy and justice,” “gaze intently” with the devotion of faith toward Him, though I see Him not: yet so too I will rest “in” Him (compare Psa_25:15; Psa_123:1; Psa_141:8) and “on” Him, as the eyes are accustomed to rest in trust and love and dependence, and as, on the other hand, the eyes of God “espy into” Psa_66:7 man and dwell on him, never leaving him unbeheld.

I will “espy” Him, although from afar, with the eyes of the soul, as a watchman, (the word is the same,) looking for His coming and announcing it to others; and until He comes, “I will wait (I would wait”) with trust unbroken by any troubles or delay, as Job saith, “Though He slay me, yet will I put my trust in Him” Job_13:15. The word is almost

appropriated to a longing waiting for God. “For the God of my salvation”. This too became a customary title of God , a title, speaking of past deliverances, as well as of confidence and of hope. Deliverance and salvation are bound up with God, and that, in man’s personal experience. It is not only, “Saviour God,” but “God, my Saviour,” Thou who hast been, art, and wilt be, my God, my saving God. It is a prelude to the name of Jesus, our Redeeming God. “The Lord will hear me”.

His purpose of waiting on God he had expressed wistfully. “I would wait;” for man’s longing trust must be upheld by God. Of God’s mercy he speaks confidently, “the Lord will hear me”, He, who is ever “more ready to hear than we to pray.” He has no doubts, but, as Abraham said, “the Lord will provide” Gen_22:8, Gen_22:14, so he, “The Lord will hear me”. So, when Jehoshaphat prayed, “We have no might against this great company that cometh, against us, neither know we what to do, but our eyes are upon Thee” 2Ch_20:12, 2Ch_20:15; God answered by the prophet, “Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s”. Micah unites with himself all the faithful as one, “in the unity of the spirit,” where in all are one band, looking, waiting, praying for His Coming in His kingdom. Lap.: “God is our only refuge and asylum in things desperate, and rejoices to help in them, in order to shew His supreme Power and Goodness especially to those who believe, hope, and ask it. Therefore all mistrust and despondency is then to be supremely avoided, and a certain hope and confidence in God is to be elicited. This will call forth the help of God assuredly, yea though it were by miracle, as to Lot in Sodom, to Moses and the people from Pharaoh, to David from Saul, to Hezekiah from Sennacherib, to the Maccabees from Antiochus. This our proverbs express , how God aids, when there is least sign of it.”

CLARKE, "Therefore I will look unto the Lord - Because things are so, I will trust in the Lord more firmly, wait for him more patiently, and more confidently expect to be supported, defended, and saved.

GILL, "Therefore I will look unto the Lord,.... Here the prophet, in the name of the church and people of God, declares what he would do in such circumstances, since there was no dependence on men of any rank, in any relation or connection with each other; he resolved to look alone to the Lord, and put his trust in him; look up to the Lord in prayer, use an humble freedom with him, place a holy confidence in him, expect all good things from him, and wait for them; look to Christ in the exercise of faith, which is, in New Testament language, a looking to Jesus; and the Targum interprets this clause of the Word of the Lord, the essential Word, who is to be looked unto, and believed in, as the Son of God, who is the true God, and eternal life; as the Lamb of God, that takes away the sin of the world; as the Mediator between God and men: as in all his offices of Prophet, Priest, and King; as the Lord our righteousness, and as the only Saviour and Redeemer of men; and that for all things; when in darkness, for light; when weak, for strength; when sick, for healing; when hungry, for food; when disconsolate, for comfort; in short, for all supplies of grace here, and for eternal glory and happiness hereafter; and though he is in heaven, and not to be seen with our bodily eyes, yet he is held forth in the word of the Gospel, and the ordinances of it; and is to be seen there with an eye of faith:

I will wait for the God of my salvation; who is the author both of temporal, and of spiritual, and eternal salvation; for the light of his countenance, when he hides himself;

for the performance of promises he has made; for answers of prayer put up to him; for discoveries of pardoning grace, having sinned against him; for help and assistance in all times of need; for the salvation of the Lord, for an application of it, for the joys and comforts of it; and for Christ the Saviour, his coming in the flesh, which all the prophets and Old Testament saints were looking and waiting for: and who, doubtless, was upon the mind and in the view of the prophet when he uttered these words,

my God will hear me; this is the language of faith, both to say that God was his God, and that he would hear and answer him; the former is the ground of the latter; God has an ear to hear when his people cry; and sooner or later it appears that he does hear, by giving an answer of peace unto them, which issues in their salvation they have been praying, looking, and waiting for. The Targum is,

"my God will receive my prayer.''

HERY, "The prophet, having sadly complained of the wickedness of the times he lived in, here fastens upon some considerations for the comfort of himself and his friends, in reference thereunto. The case is bad, but it is not desperate. Yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing.

I. “Though God be now displeased he shall be reconciled to us, and then all will be well, Mic_7:7, Mic_7:9. We are now under the indignation of the Lord; God is angry with us, and justly, because we have sinned against him.” Note, It is our sin against God that provokes his indignation against us; and we must see it, and own it, whenever we are under divine rebukes, that we may justify God, and may study to answer his end in afflicting us, by repenting of sin and breaking off from it. Now, at such a time, 1. We must have recourse to God under our troubles (Mic_7:7): Therefore I will look unto the Lord. When a child of God has ever so much occasion to cry, Woe is me (as the prophet here, Mic_7:1), yet it may be a comfort to him that he has a God to look to, a God to come to, to fly to, in whom he may rejoice and have satisfaction. All may look bright above him when all looks black and dark about him. The prophet had been complaining that there was no comfort to be had, no confidence to be put, in friends and relations on earth, and this drives him to his God: Therefore I will look unto the Lord. The less reason we have to delight in any creature the more reason we have to delight in God. If princes are not to be trusted, we may say, Happy is the man that has the God of Jacob for his help, and happy am I, even in the midst of my present woes, if he be my help. If men be false, this is our comfort, that God is faithful; if relations be unkind, he is and will be gracious. Let us therefore look above and beyond them, and overlook our disappointment in them, and look unto the Lord. 2. We must submit to the will of God in our troubles: “I will bear the indignation of the Lord, will bear it patiently, without murmuring and repining, because I have sinned against him.” Note, Those that are truly penitent for sin will see a great deal of reason to be patient under affliction. Wherefore should a man complain for the punishment of his sin? When we complain to God of the badness of the times we ought to complain against ourselves for the badness of our own hearts. 3. We must depend upon God to work deliverance for us, and put a good issue to our troubles in due time; we must not only look to him, but look for him: “I will wait for the God of my salvation, and for his gracious returns to me.” In our greatest distresses we shall see no reason to despair of salvation if by faith we eye God as the God of our salvation, who is able to save the weakest upon their humble petition, and willing to save the worst upon their true repentance. And, if we depend on God as the God of our salvation, we must wait for him, and for his salvation, in his own way and his own time. Let us now see what the church is here taught to expect and promise herself from God,

even when things are brought to the last extremity. (1.) My God will hear me; if the Lord be our God, he will hear our prayers, and grant an answer of peace to them. (2.) “When I fall, and am in danger of being dashed in pieces by the fall, yet I shall arise, and recover myself again. I fall, but am not utterly cast down,” Psa_37:24. (3.) “When I sit in darkness, desolate and disconsolate, melancholy and perplexed, and not knowing what to do, nor which way to look for relief, yet then the Lord shall be a light to me, to comfort and revive me, to instruct and teach me, to direct and guide me, as a light to my eyes, a light to my feet, a light in a dark place.” (4.) He will plead my cause, and execute judgment for me,Mic_7:9. If we heartily espouse the cause of God, the just but injured cause of religion and virtue, and make it our cause, we may hope he will own our cause, and plead it. The church's cause, though it seem for a time to go against her, will at length be pleaded with jealousy, and judgment not only given against, but executed upon, the enemies of it. (5.) “He will bring me forth to the light, make me shine eminently out of obscurity, and become conspicuous, will make my righteousness shine evidently from under the dark cloud of calumny, Psa_37:6; Isa_58:10. The morning of comfort shall shine forth out of the long and dark night of trouble.” (6.) “I shall behold his righteousness; I shall see the equity of his proceedings concerning me and the performance of his promises to me.”

JAMISO, "Therefore I will look unto the Lord— as if no one else were before mine eyes. We must not only “look unto the Lord,” but also “wait for Him.” Having no hope from man (Mic_7:5, Mic_7:6), Micah speaks in the name of Israel, who herein, taught by chastisement (Mic_7:4) to feel her sin (Mic_7:9), casts herself on the Lord as her only hope,” in patient waiting (Lam_3:26). She did so under the Babylonian captivity; she shall do so again hereafter when the spirit of grace shall be poured on her (Zec_12:10-13).

K&D 7-8, "“This confession of sin is followed by a confession of faith on the part of the humiliated people of God” (Shlier.) Mic_7:7. “But I, for Jehovah will I look out; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.Mic_7:8. Rejoice not over me, O mine enemy! for am I fallen, I rise again; for do I sit in darkness, Jehovah is light

to me.” By ואני what follows is attached adversatively to the preceding words. Even though all love and faithfulness should have vanished from among men, and the day of visitation should have come, the church of the faithful would not be driven from her confidence in the Lord, but would look to Him and His help, and console itself with the assurance that its God would hear it, i.e., rescue it from destruction. As the looking out

(tsâphâh) for the Lord, whether He would not come, i.e., interpose to judge and aid,

involves in itself a prayer for help, though it is not exhausted by it, but also embraces patient waiting, or the manifestation of faith in the life; so the hearing of God is a practical hearing, in other words, a coming to help and to save. The God of my salvation, i.e., from whom all my salvation comes (cf. Psa_27:9; Isa_17:10). Her enemy, i.e., the heathen power of the world, represented in Micah's time by Asshur, and personified in

thought as daughter Asshur, is not to rejoice over Zion. �י, for, not “if:” the verb nâphaltıM

is rather to be taken conditionally, “for have I fallen;” nâphal being used, as in Amo_5:2,

to denote the destruction of the power and of the kingdom. The church is here supposed to be praying out of the midst of the period when the judgment has fallen upon it for its sins, and the power of the world is triumphing over it. The prophet could let her speak

thus, because he had already predicted the destruction of the kingdom and the carrying away of the people into exile as a judgment that was inevitable (Mic_3:12; Mic_6:16). Sitting in darkness, i.e., being in distress and poverty (cf. Isa_9:1; Isa_42:7; Psa_107:10). In this darkness the Lord is light to the faithful, i.e., He is their salvation, as He who does indeed chasten His own people, but who even in wrath does not violate His grace, or break the promises which He has given to His people.

CALVI, "The Prophet points out here the only remedy, to preserve the faithful from being led away by bad examples and that is, to fix their eyes on God, and to believe that he will be their deliverer. othing is more difficult than to refrain from doing wrong, when the ungodly provoke us; for they seem to afford us a good reason for retaliation. And when no one injures us, yet custom is deemed almost a law: thus it happens that we think that to be lawful which is sanctioned by the manners and customs of the age; and when success attends the wicked, this becomes a very strong incentive. Thus it happens, that the faithful can hardly, and with no small difficulty, keep themselves within proper bounds: when they see that wickedness reigns everywhere, and that with impunity; and still more, when they see the abettors of wickedness increasing in esteem and wealth, immediately the corrupt lust of emulation creeps in. But when the faithful themselves are provoked by injuries, there seems then to be a just reason for doing wrong; for they say that they willfully do harm to no one, but only resist an injury done to them, or retaliate fraud with fraud: this they think is lawful. The Prophet, in order to prevent this temptation, bids the faithful to look to God. The same sentiment we often meet with in Psalms 119:0 : its import is, that the faithful are not to suffer themselves to be led away by bad examples, but to continue ever obedient to God’s word, however great and violent the provocations they may receive. Let us now consider the words of the Prophet.

To Jehovah, he says, will I look The verb צפה, tsaphe, properly means to look on, to behold; (speculari;) it is sometimes taken in the sense of expecting; but I am inclined to retain its proper meaning, I will look, he says, on God; that is, I will do the same as though the only true God were before my eyes. How indeed does it happen that even the good indulge themselves while living among the wicked and ungodly, except that they are too much occupied with things around them? If then we desire to maintain integrity, while the world presents to us nothing but examples of sin, let us learn to pass by these temptations as with closed eyes. This may be done, if we direct our eyes to God alone. I will look, he says, to Jehovah

He then adds, I will wait for the God of my salvation The Prophet says nothing new here, but only explains more clearly the last clause, defining the manner of the looking of which he had spoken; as though he said, — “Patiently will I bear, while God helps me:” for when the wicked harass us on every side, we shall no doubt soon turn away our eyes from Gods except we be armed with patience. And how comes patience, unless we be fully persuaded that God will be our deliverer, when the suitable time shall come? We now perceive the intention of the Prophet. He shows that the godly cannot otherwise continue constant in their integrity, except they turn

their eyes to the only true God. Then he adds, that they cannot be preserved in this contemplation, unless they wait patiently for God, that is, for his help.

And he calls him the God of his salvation; by which he intimates that, relying on his word, he thus perseveres in enduring injuries: for it cannot be but that every one will submit himself to God, and surrender himself to be protected by him, if this truth be first fixed in his mind — that God will never forsake his own people. This then is the reason why he calls him the God of his salvation. But this title must be referred to his present circumstances, as though he said, — “Though God’s hand does not now appear to help or to bring me aid, I yet feel assured of his favor, and I know that my salvation is secured by it.”

He then adds, Hear me will my God He here confirms what we have already said, —that, being supported by the promises of God, he thus composes his mind to patience; for patience would often vanish or would be shaken off by temptations, unless we were surely persuaded that God provides for our salvation, and that we shall not hope in him in vain. or is it to no purpose that he says, that God was his God. He was one of his people; and this seems to have been the common privilege of all the Jews: yet the Prophet no doubt connects God with himself here in a peculiar manner; for men in general had fallen away into ungodliness. They all indeed gloried in the name of God, but absurdly and falsely. Hence the Prophet intimates, that he was under his protection in a manner different from the rest: for when any one allows himself the liberty of doing evil, he, at the same time, renounces God and his protection. Therefore, the Prophet no doubt alludes indirectly to the irreligion of the people. For though the vain boasting, that they had been adopted by God, that they were the holy race of Abraham, was everywhere in the mouth of all, yet hardly one in a hundred had any regard for God. But it is also of importance to notice, that the Prophet, by saying, Hear me will God, gives a testimony, at the same time, respecting his own faith, — that he would always apply to God for help, and exercise himself in prayer whenever necessity urged him; for God hears not except when he is called upon. The Prophet then recommends here, by his example, an attention to prayer.

ow this verse shows to us in general that there is no excuse for us if we suffer ourselves to be led away, as it is daily the case, by bad examples. And then to look to God is especially needful, when all excesses of wickedness prevail in the world: when the lusts of men become the rule and the law, we ought then to renounce in a manner the society of men, that they may not implicate us in their wickedness. They, therefore, who allege for themselves the examples of others, employ a frivolous excuse, as many do in the present day, who set up the shield of custom: though they are clearly condemned by the word of God, yet they think it a sufficient defense, that they follow others. But we see how frivolous is this confidence; for the Prophet no doubt prescribes here a law for all the children of God as to what they ought to do, when the devil tempts them to sin by the bad examples and shameful deeds of the majority. Let us go on —

COFFMA, "Verse 7

"But as for me, I will look unto Jehovah; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me."

Whereas, Micah had been speaking for the grossly wicked city, in these lines he spoke for the righteous remnant, as indicated by the inclusion of himself and the switch to the first person. There are magnificent Messianic overtones in the balance of this concluding chapter.

The one great consideration so often overlooked by scholars intent only upon a literary examination of the text is that from the very beginning of the promise to Abraham and his posterity, the pledge on the part of God assuring the posterity of Abraham of blessing and prosperity always pertained exclusively to the "spiritual seed" of the great patriarch, and not at all merely to his fleshly descendants. These were emphatically distinguished from each other by the holy Christ himself (John 8), and by the apostle Paul whose epistle to the Romans cannot be understood at all apart from the discernment of the two Israels.

In the pre-Christian era, God's message through the prophets always had that quality of being addressed to both Israels, now to the righteous remnant, and then to the secular and unspiritual majority. One may therefore: not rely upon what may be supposed to have been the prophet's understanding of what he wrote; for it may be accepted as certain that the prophets themselves did not in every instance understand the revelation which they received (1 Peter 1:10-12). This also accounts for the fact that certain passages, in the minds of scholars, "do not seem to fit." Significantly, all of their tampering with the text and scissoring and pasting it into a hodgepodge of their own creation - all that never results in any improvement.

In this light, we confidently reject the opinions which view these words (Micah 7:7) as a part of a Psalm later incorporated into the text by some "editor," or the notion that this promise of blessing "does not fit" the preceding paragraph. "The confidence of the remnant and their submission to the will of God are beautifully delineated in Micah 7:7-10."[17]

COSTABLE, "In contrast to the Israelites of his day, the prophet determined to watch expectantly and wait patiently for the Lord to act as He had promised (cf. 1 Samuel 4:13; Titus 2:13). He would bring salvation to His people ultimately (cf. Isaiah 59:20). This commitment gave Him confidence that the Lord would hear his prayers.

The reason Micah did not succumb to utter pessimism in view of the terrible conditions in his day is that he determined to trust God. The same faith is much needed in our dark day (cf. Philippians 2:15-16).

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

Ver. 7. Therefore will I look unto the Lord] "Therefore," inasmuch as there is no

faith nor fair dealing among men, "I will look unto the Lord"; look wishly and intently, as a watchman in his watch tower doth look as far as ever he can see on every side. I also will lift up mine eyes unto those hills of heaven, from whence cometh my help, Psalms 121:1; I will pray and look up, Psalms 5:3; I will keep close communion with the Lord, and by faith commit the keeping of my soul to him in welldoing, as unto a faithful Creator, 1 Peter 4:19. This I will do; and yet more than this.

I will wait for the God of my salvation] If he tarry, I will wait for him; because he will surely come, he will not tarry, Habakkuk 2:3. This is the voice of faith; and here is the faith and patience of the saints, Revelation 13:10; Revelation 14:12. God sometimes lies off and stays long; even till our eyes even fail with looking for his salvation, Psalms 119:82; and all to try what we will do; as Samuel tried Saul, who, because he stayed not out his just time, lost his kingdom. David waited for the kingdom; and had it not till he had learned to quiet and behave himself as a child weaned of his mother, Psalms 131:2. Those in Esther waited for deliverance; and had it not till almost forsaken of their hopes. "I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord," saith dying Jacob, Genesis 49:18; and "I will wait for the God of my salvation," saith our prophet here, for a precedent to all the good souls of his time. Let us but consider our distance from God in worth and degree, together with our dependence upon him, our undone condition without him, how long he waited for us, how he hath hitherto helped us, as 1 Samuel 7:12, and now seems to say unto us, as he did once to Peter, "What I do, thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter," John 13:7, and we shall be content to wait, as here, and to say,

My God will hear me] According to my faith, and his own faithfulness. The whole force of faith consisteth in this, saith Luther, Ut quis bene applicet pronomina, that a man will apply pronouns; that he can fiducially say, My God; and, will hear me. Were it not for this word of possession, mine, the devil might say the creed to as good purpose as we. He believeth there is a God, and a Christ, and such a Christ as is there described; but that which torments him is, he can say my to never an article of the faith. At the time in which Christ heard the devil begging that he might enter into the swine; but he could not say, My God hath heard me. Let us secure our interest in God; let us individuate Christ ( ιδιοποιεισθαι), and appropriate him to ourselves by a particular faith, and then all shall be well with us.

EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE COMMETARY, "Verses 7-20OUR MOTHER OF SORROWS

Micah 7:7-20

AFTER so stern a charge, so condign a sentence, confession is natural, and, with prayer for forgiveness and praise to the mercy of God, it fitly closes the whole book. As we have seen, the passage is a cento of several fragments, from periods far apart in the history of Israel. One historical allusion suits best the age of the Syrian wars;

another can only refer to the day of Jerusalem’s ruin. In spirit and language the Confessions resemble the prayers of the Exile. The Doxology has echoes of several Scriptures.

But from these fragments, it may be of many centuries, there rises clear the One Essential Figure: Israel, all her secular woes upon her; our Mother of Sorrows, at whose knees we learned our first prayers of confession and penitence. Other nations have been our teachers in art and wisdom and government. But she is our mistress in pain and in patience, teaching men with what conscience they should bear the chastening of the Almighty, with what hope and humility they should wait for their God. Surely not less lovable, but only more human, that her pale cheeks flush for a moment with the hate of the enemy and the assurance of revenge. Her passion is soon gone, for she feels her guilt to be greater; and, seeking forgiveness, her last word is what man’s must ever be, praise to the grace and mercy of God.

Israel speaks:-

"But I will look for the Lord, I will wait for the God of my salvation: My God will hear me! Rejoice not, O mine enemy, at me: If I be fallen, I rise; If I sit in the darkness, the Lord is a light to me."

"The anger of the Lord will I bear-For I have sinned against Him-Until that He take up my quarrel, And execute my right. He will carry me forth to the light";

"I will look on His righteousness: So shall mine enemy see, and shame cover her, She that saith unto me, Where is Jehovah thy God?-Mine eyes shall see her, ow is she for trampling, like mire in the streets!"

The prophet responds:-

"A day for the building of thy walls shall that day be! Broad shall thy border be on that day! and shall come to thee From Assyria unto Egypt, and from Egypt to the River, And to Sea from Sea, and Mountain from Mountain; Though the land be waste on account of her inhabitants. Because of the fruit of their doings."

An Ancient Prayer:-

"Shepherd Thy people with Thy staff, The sheep of Thy heritage dwelling solitarily May they pasture in Bashan and Gilead as in days of old! As in the days when Thou wentest forth from the land of Misraim, give us wonders to see! ations shall see and despair of all their might; Their hands to their mouths shall they put, Their ears shall be deafened. They shall lick the dust like serpents; Like worms of the ground from their fastnesses, To Jehovah our God they shall come trembling, And in fear before Thee!"

A Doxology:-

"Who is a God like to Thee? Forgiving iniquity, And passing by transgression, to the remnant of His heritage; He keepeth not hold of His anger forever, But One who delighteth in mercy is He; He will Come back, He will pity us, He will tread under foot our iniquities-Yea, Thou wilt cast to the depths of the sea every one of our sins. Thou wilt show faithfulness to Jacob, real love to Abraham, As Thou hast sworn to our fathers from the days of yore."

PETT, "Verses 7-10The Righteous of Israel Are However Confident That In All This YHWH Will Be With Them And Will Sustain Them While Their Enemy Will Be Confounded (Micah 7:7-10).

The words that follow clearly refer to more than just Micah. He is speaking as the representative of the truly righteous, the ‘seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal’ (righteous Israel or the righteous remnant of Jerusalem). While they are not wholly sinless and may have to bear the indignation of YHWH, they know that He will act on their behalf. They know that in the end He will vindicate them, and that their enemies will be confounded.

Micah 7:7-8

‘But as for me, I will look to YHWH,

I will wait for the God of my salvation,

My God will hear me.’

Rejoice not against me, O my enemy,

When I fall, I will arise;

When I sit in darkness,

YHWH will be a light to me.

The hearts of the righteous (thinking from the point of view of each one of them, or from the point of view of the righteous remnant in Jerusalem) look to their God. They are ready to wait patiently for their Saviour to act on their behalf and deliver them. They do not doubt that He will hear them.

And so they challenge their enemies not to rejoice when they think that they have fallen. For when they fall they will, with the help of YHWH, arise. When they sit in darkness they know that YHWH will be a light to them.

How often this turns out to be true for the Christian. Everyone must pass through times of darkness, and they may not at first be aware that the light of YHWH is there to help them, but gradually that light will find its way through, and they will

discover that God has been with them all the time, leading the way.

PULPIT, "Micah 7:7-13

§ 6. Israel expresses her faith in God, though she suffers grievous tribulation, and is confident in the fulfilment of the promised restoration.

Micah 7:7

Therefore I rather, but as for me, I, etc. The prophet speaks in the name of the ideal Israel. Though love and confidence have disappeared, and the day of visitation has come, and human help fails, yet Israel loses not her trust in the Lord. Will look; gaze intently, as if posted on a watch tower to look out for help. Will wait with longing trust, unbroken by delay. The God of my salvation. The God from whom my salvation comes (Psalms 18:46; Psalms 25:5; Psalms 27:9; Habakkuk 3:18) My God will hear me. My prayer is sure to be answered (Isaiah 30:19).

BI, "I will look unto the Lord (taken with Isa_66:2)

The two looks

Man is a creature requiring help.Where is he to look?

I. Man’s look.

1. Personal—“I.” Whatever it may cost, whoever else will not, I will.

2. Reliance—“unto.” In weakness, confusion, difficulty I will look unto the Lord.

3. Object—“the Lord.” Jehovah. He is able, willing, has promised to help.

II. God’s look.

1. God has promised to look to, i.e., after. “I will.” It is look is one of power, and it means help and protection.

2. Object—poor—needy. “Him that hath no helper” applies both to temporal and spiritual concerns of God’s people.

3. Contrite—repentant. Applies to spiritual condition: one humbled on account of sin; sorrowful, returning one.

4. Trembles at My Word. Not as Felix, but one who has reverence for it, tries to keep it, fears to break it. To Him will I look. Others may despise and disregard Him, but I will look to (after) Him. Let us look to God, and God will look to us (John R. Taft, M. A.)

The Church looking and waiting for the Lord

If you survey the human race you will find among them numberless differences. They differ in their condition, in their complexion, their stature, speech, apparel, manners. Yet there is a great resemblance among them too. The things in which they agree are far more important than those in which they differ. The resemblance regards what is

essential in human nature; the variety is what is accidental only. This is an image of the Church of God. Differences in opinions, speculations, discipline, religious usages, forms and ceremonies, only concern the dress of religion; the body is essentially the same. In every ago of the world, under every dispensation of society, God’s people have been the same, their wants the same, their dependence the same, their tastes the same, their principles the same. Resolution rashly formed in our own strength not only fails, but often proves a snare to the soul. Resolution made in reliance on the power of Divine grace will be found serviceable to remind us, to humble us, to stimulate us, and to bind us. Thus resolution will resemble a hedge round a meadow, to keep the cattle from straying; and the hemming of a garment, to keep the threads from ravelling out.

I. To whom does the resolution of this text refer? The Lord. This term, Lord, is characterised by the Church in two ways. The one regards God’s work for them; the other, His relation to them. The Church calls Him “the God of their salvation.” And so He is, in every sense of the word. Every kind of deliverance is from Him. He is the preserver of men. But there is a deliverance that is emphatically called “salvation”; a deliverance from the wrath to come, from the powers of darkness, from the tyranny of the world, from the slavery of sin,—from all its remains and its consequences. Of this salvation, the purpose, the plan, the execution, the application, and the consummation are of God and of grace. The Church also calls Him her God. “My God will hear me.” “This is not too much for any Christian to utter. Every Christian has a much greater propriety in God than he has in anything else; indeed, there is nothing else that is his own. As He is really, so God is to us eternally and unchangeably. The relation between God and us, so as to authorise us to call Him ours, results from two things: donation on our side, and dedication on ours.

II. By what is this resolution excited? “Therefore.” Read the preceding verses. The prophet turned away from creatures, knowing that they were broken cisterns, cisterns that could hold no water. A designed experience this is, and not a casual one (so to speak) on God’s side. God is concerned for our welfare, infinitely more than we are ourselves, and therefore He does not wait for our application, but He excites it. It is a necessary experience on our part. We have a strong propensity to make flesh our arm and earth our home. It is the privilege of the real Christian, that he knows to whom he can go in the hour of distress; that though all be rough under foot, all, when he looks up, is clear overhead.

III. What does the resolution include? Two things—prayer and patience. Looking to Him is seeking Him in prayer. You should look to Him—

1. For explanation under your affliction.

2. For support in your trouble.

3. For sanctification.

4. For deliverance.

And you are to “wait.” Waiting supposes some delay in God’s appearance on the behalf of His people. These delays have always been common.

IV. What is it that sustains this relation? It is confidence in God as the hearer and answerer of prayer. According to some, the success of prayer is confined entirely to its exercise and influence. But we can recognise actual interpositions and benedictions. If a man prays aright, he will believe that God does something in answer to his prayer. (William Jay.)

Faith and hope in God

The Lord Jehovah is a never-failing source of consolation to His believing people. In Him, therefore, they put their trust, and receive ample supplies of mercy and grace in every time of need. In the preceding verses Micah addresses the few who were pious among them by way of caution, against treacherous friendships and creature confidence, and by way of encouragement, to trust solely in the Saviour of Israel for preservation and deliverance. The words of the text announce—

I. The prophet’s resolution. “I will look unto the Lord,” etc. This pious determination was evidently the result of eminent wisdom and prompt decision of character; it discovers a devout and gracious state of mind, and regards both the—

1. Active character of faith. Looking is a vigorous act of the mind. This vital principle includes a full renunciation of self-dependence; an implicit confidence in the Divine perfections and promises; and an entire devotion of the heart and life to His service.

2. The patient exercise of hope. “I will wait for the God of my salvation.” Genuine faith is invariably productive of practical piety. If we believe in God we shall delight in waiting upon Him in fervent devotion, and waiting for Him in earnest expectation. Waiting for the Lord is not a suspension of mental activity, nor a cessation of personal exertion; it is a lively exercise of the mind, ardently desiring and diligently seeking the blessings of salvation in all the duties and ordinances of the Gospel. We must wait for God humbly, believingly, faithfully, patiently, and perseveringly, in all the means of His appointment.

II. The prophet’s confidence. “My God, the God of my salvation.” This is the language of humble assurance. Genuine religion is its own evidence. It is attended with an internal witness of its personal enjoyment.

1. The inestimable portion claimed—“My God.” It is the distinguishing promise of the new covenant, “I will be your God, and ye shall be My people.” This is happily realised in the experience of all the saints. God is not only theirs in the natural relations of creation and preservation; but He is also theirs by the special engagements of His covenant and the benefits of salvation.

2. The unspeakable privilege enjoyed. “The God of my salvation.” The prophet had obtained mercy of the Lord, and was a partaker of His saving influence. But he still believingly waited for the progressive and perfect accomplishment of the work which He had already begun. Thus all the righteous are subjects of present salvation, and heirs of eternal life.

III. The prophet’s encouragement. “My God will hear me.” This persuasion afforded him inexpressible consolation. The rebellious Jews rejected his message; but he rejoiced to know that his God would propitiously hear and answer his pious devotions. He was encouraged by—

1. His communion with God. Fellowship with the Father, and with His Son, Jesus Christ, is the exalted privilege of all His people. They not only deem it their bounden duty, but they also esteem it their highest honour, to address the God of all grace.

2. His expectation from God. “My God will hear me.” He was not presumptuous in his confidence, nor enthusiastic in his anticipation. He relied on Scripture promises. He had the evidence of experience. The promises and goodness of God should excite our confidence, and promote gratitude and praise. Let us, then, consider the folly of

trusting in the world for happiness, and the necessity of looking to God for salvation. (Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.)

Looking unto God, and waiting for Him

Here is a general ground of encouragement.

1. The Lord makes use of troublesome and declining times to drive His people the more to their duty and thrift.

2. There is in God sufficient matter of encouragement to counterbalance any difficulty or discouragement that His people meet with in the world. Looking unto the Lord is an all-sufficient remedy to keep them from being carried away in a declining time, and from discouragement in a sad time.

3. In declining and sad times the people of God ought to be most earnest in dealing with Him, defending on Him, and expecting His help. Lukewarm dealing with God, however it may please fools in a calm day, yet will not bear out in a time of public defection.

4. In the reeling and turning upside down of things here below the people of God are not so much to look to these uncertainties as unto the immutability of God in what He is to His people.

5. With our faith and ardency in expecting God’s help, patient waiting is also to be conjoined, by keeping His way, notwithstanding difficulties or delays of deliverance, and resolving to have faith exercised before it get the victory.

6. In all the waiting of the people of God upon Him there is still hope and confidence, though it be not always seen to the waiter; for the same word in the original signifies both waiting and hoping. (George Hutcheson.)

Pious’ resolves

1. These are the words of one who was saddened, and chafed, and perplexed. The depravities of society, its treacheries, its selfishness, and its furious lust overpowered all faith but faith in God, and compelled, through a terrible discipline, and yet a gracious one, to that Christlike attitude of perfect resignation and perfect devotion and perfect hope depicted by the text. The feeling expressed is one of personal devotion and social separation.

2. When the oppressions of sin beat down the soul, and the burden on the conscience is heavy; when convictions lacerate and fears overwhelm, and the heart is agonised with the apprehension of the wrath of an angry God; when man is wearied and distracted with the world and sin, wondrous is the change to purity, freedom, and peace, when the vow of the prophet can formulate the soul’s aspirations as in the text.

3. When man is converted and saved, the spiritual occupation of his new life is a looking, a waiting, and a praying; that occupation is permeated with hope and perpetuated by faith, and the certainties of a glorious issue illumine the path and lighten the soul.

4. No one can say “My God” who cannot also say “My God will hear me.” Every saved

soul prays. There is a necessary connection, in virtue of an essential law of the spiritual life, between the “receiving of the atonement” and the offering up of our desires unto God.

5. Those who are saved were, in the language of Scripture, “lost.” Their salvation is the work of the Lord. Their Redeemer is the Deity.

6. The words, God of my salvation, My God,” indicate the exercise of that appropriating faith by which we “lay hold on the hope set before us” in the everlasting Gospel. (T. Easton.)

My God will hear me—

Our assuring confidence

Faith is “the victory that overcometh the world.” God is the object of that faith; His Word is the ground upon which it rests, and confidence and peace and assurance forever are its invariable fruits. When confiding in God, the soul intrenches itself in God; it is unassailable from within or from without; it can triumph over the most adverse circumstances, and cling to the everlasting rock amidst the swellings of the angriest sea. Nothing ought at any time to shake our confidence in God. No ground for distrust in God can possibly exist. It is well, when faith’s trial comes, to be prepared with some great standard truth to which we may hold fast under all circumstances. The whole teaching of Scripture assures us that confidence in God cannot be misplaced—cannot be disappointed.

I. The soul’s confidence grounded upon Deity—upon what God is. This is the highest of all grounds for confidence,—what God is in Himself, irrespective of all other considerations whatsoever. There is no deficiency of resources in Him; God is all-sufficiency. No want of inclination in Him; He is all goodness. All His attributes attest Him to be altogether qualified for the supply of our need, and His promises absolutely pledge Him to supply the need of all those who seek unto Him.

II. The soul’s confidence is here grounded on relationship to God. “My God will hear me.” It is the province of faith to appropriate God, as much as it is the province of faith to believe in His existence. The only revelation God gives us of Himself in His Word has reference to the offices He sustains for His people, and the relation He bears to poor sinners.

III. The soul’s confidence is founded also on the promise, “My God will hear me.” It is not a question, Will God hear me? “My God will hear me.” The same word in the Hebrew that signifies God hears, signifies also God answers. Whensoever we call, God will hear. Howsoever we call, God will hear. A look is a prayer; a desire is a prayer. And there is the personal element in the assurance—“the Lord will hear me.” (Marcus Rainsford.)

A sweet silver bell ringing in each believer’s heart

“My God shall hear me.” What a charming sentence! There is more eloquence in that sentence than in all the orations of Demosthenes. It is a choice song for a lone harp.

I. The title. “My God.” It is not God alone, but God in covenant with me, to whom I look for help. To call Him “My God” means election and selection. “My God” supposes an appropriation of faith. “My God” signifies knowledge and acquaintance. “My God”

implies an embrace of love. “My God” implies that the obedience of your life is rendered to Him most cheerfully. A man cannot call God his God in truth unless he desires to obey Him. And the phrase “My God” hints at a joy and delight in Him.

II. The argument. The title contains within itself a secret logical force. As surely as He is my God He will hear me. Why?—

1. Because He is God, the living and true God: The oracles of the heathen are but liars. Those who sought unto the false gods did but dote upon falsehoods. You see in what a tone of confidence this prophet speaks; and why should not every child of God speak with the same confidence? There let it stand like a column of brass,—though all things else should fail, God must hear prayer. He may do this, and He may do that, but He must hear prayer.

2. Because He has made Himself my God He will hear me. He has given Himself to be my God.

3. Because my God has heard me so many times. Therefore, be it far from me to doubt His present and future favour.

4. Because in the covenant His hearing prayer is included.

5. Because if He did not hear prayer, He would Himself be a great loser.

III. The favour. “My God will hear me.” It is better for us to have a promise that God will hear us, than a promise that God will always answer us. If it were a matter of absolute fact that God would always answer the prayers of His people as they present them, it would be an awful truth. The text means that He will hear me—

1. As a listener.

2. As a friend, full of sympathy.

3. As a judge patiently hears a case.

4. As a helper.

IV. The person. “My God will hear me.” Will He hear you? Are you cast down under a sense of sin; persecuted; or disappointed? Be sure that God will hear you. If any mall wills to have God to be his God, grace is given him so that He will. If you desire Christ, you may have Him. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Keep on the outlook

A beautiful little book, entitled “Expectation Corners,” tells of a king who prepared a city for some of his poor subjects. Not far from them were large storehouses where everything they could need was supplied, if they but sent in their requests. But on one condition—they should be on the lookout for the answer, so that when the king’s messengers came with the answer to their petitions they should always be found waiting and ready to receive them. The sad story is told of one desponding one who never expected to get what he asked, because he was too unworthy. One day he was taken to the king’s storehouses, and there, to his amazement, he saw, with his address on them, all the packages that had been made up for him, and sent. There was the garment of praise and the oil of joy and the eye salve, and so much more; they had been to his door, but found it closed; he was not on the outlook. From that time on he learnt the lesson Micah would teach us: “I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my

God will hear me.” (Andrew Murray.)

Israel Will Rise

8 Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise.Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light.

BARES. "Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy - The prophet still more makes himself one with the people, not only as looking for God, but in penitence, as Daniel bewails “his own sins and the sins of his people” Dan_9:10. The “enemy” is Babylon and “Edom” Oba_1:10, Oba_1:12; Psa_137:7; and then, in all times, (since this was written for all times, and the relations of the people of God and of its enemies are the same,) whosoever, whether devils or evil men, rejoice over the falls of God’s people. “Rejoice not”; for thou hast no real cause; “the triumphing of the ungodly”, and the fall of the godly, “is but for a moment. When I fall, I shall arise” Psa_30:5; (literally, “when I have fallen, I have arisen”;) expressing both the certainty and speed of the recovery. To fall and to arise is one. : “The fall of infirmity is not grave, if free from the desire of the will. Have the will to rise, He is at hand who will cause thee to rise.” (Ibid. 5:47): “Though I have sinned, Thou forgivest the sin; though I have fallen, thou raisest up; lest they, who rejoice in the sins of others, should have occasion to exult. For we who have sinned more, have gained more; for Thy grace maketh more blessed than our own innocence.”

When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me -Montanus: “He does not say ‘lie,’ but sit; she was not as one dead, without hope of life, but she sat solitary as a widow, helpless, unable to restore herself, yet waiting for God’s time. The darkness of the captivity was lightened by the light of the prophetic grace which shone through Daniel and Ezekiel, and by the faithfulness of the three children, and the brightness of divine glory shed abroad through them, when Nebuchadnezzar proclaimed to all people that their God was “God of gods and Lord of kings” Dan_2:47, and that none should “speak anything amiss against Him” Dan_3:29. Still more when, at the close of the captivity, they were delivered from sorrow, trouble, bondage, death, to joy, rest, freedom, life. Yet how much more in Christ, (for whom this deliverance prepared,) when “the people that walked in darkness have seern a great light: they that dwell in the

land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined” Isa_9:2. “God is not only our light”, as (Lap.) “restoring us” outwardly “to gladness, freedom, happiness, whereof light is a symbol, as darkness is of sorrow, captivity, adversity, death.” Scripture speaks of God, in a directer way, as being Himself our light. “The Lord is my light” Psa_27:1. “The Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light” Isa_60:19. He calls Himself, “The light of Israel” Isa_10:17. He is our light, by infusing knowledge, joy, heavenly brightness, in any outward lot. He does not say, “after darkness, comes light,” but “when I shall sit in darkness”, then, “the Lord is light unto me”. The “sitting in darkness” is the occasion of the light, in that the soul or the people in sorrow turns to Him who is their light. in their sin, which was so punished, they were turned away from the light.

CLARKE, "Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy - The captive Israelites are introduced as speaking here and in the preceding verse. The enemy are the Assyrians and Chaldeans; the fall is their idolatry and consequent captivity; the darkness, the calamities they suffered in that captivity; their rise and light, their restoration and consequent blessedness.

To rejoice over the fall or miseries of any man, betrays a malignant spirit. I have known several instances where people professing to hold a very pure and Christian creed, having become unfaithful and fallen into sin, their opponents, who held a very impure and unchristian creed, have exulted with “Ha, ha! so would we have it!” and have shown their malignity more fully, by giving all possible publicity and circulation to such accounts. Perhaps in the sight of God this was worse than the poor wretch’s fall, in which they exulted as having taken place in one who held a creed different from their own. But these arose again from their fall, while those jesters at holiness continued in the gall of bitterness and bonds of inward corruption.

GILL, "Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy,.... These are the words of the prophet in the name of the church, continued in an apostrophe or address to his and their enemy; by whom may be meant, literally, the Chaldeans or Edomites, or both, who rejoiced at the destruction of Jerusalem, and the calamities the people of the Jews were brought into at it; see Psa_137:7; spiritually, Satan the great enemy of mankind, and especially of the church and people of God, to whom it is a pleasure to draw them into any sin or snare, and to do them any hurt and mischief; and also the Inert of the world, who hate and persecute the saints; and watch for their haltings, and rejoice at their falls into sin, and at any calamity and affliction that may attend them, though there is no just reason for it; since this will not always be the case of the saints, they will be in a better situation, and in more comfortable circumstances; and it will be the turn of their enemies to be afflicted, punished, and tormented:

when I fall, I shall arise; or, "though I fall" (z), or "have fallen"; into outward afflictions and distresses, which come not by chance, but by divine appointment; or into the temptations of Satan, and by them, which sometimes is suffered for wise and purposes; or into sin, which even a good man, a truly righteous man, is frequently left unto; but then he does not fall from real goodness, from true grace, nor from his justifying righteousness, which is everlasting, and connected with eternal life: he may fall from a lively exercise of grace, from steadfastness in the faith, and a profession of it; but not from the principle of grace, nor a state of grace; or from the love and favour of

God: he may fall, but not totally or finally, or so as to perish everlastingly; nor is he utterly cast down, the Lord upholds him, and raises him up again; he rises, as the church here believes she should, out of his present state and condition, into a more comfortable one; not in his own strength, but in the strength of the Lord, under a sense of sin, by the exercise of true repentance for it, and by faith in Christ, and in a view of pardoning grace and mercy; see Psa_37:24;

when I sit in darkness; or "though" (a). The Targum is,

"as it were in darkness;''

not in a state of unregeneracy, which is a state of total darkness, but in affliction and distress; for, as light often signifies prosperity, so darkness adversity, any afflictive dispensation of Providence; and especially when this attended with desertion, or the hidings of God's face; it is to be, not without any light of grace in the heart, or without the light of the word, or means of grace; but to be without the light of God's countenance; which is very uncomfortable, and makes dark providences darker still; see Isa_50:10; yet, notwithstanding all this,

the Lord shall be a light unto me; by delivering out of affliction; by lifting up the light of his countenance; by causing Christ the sun of righteousness to arise; by sending his Spirit to illuminate, refresh, and comfort; by his word, which is a lamp to the feet, a light to the path, a light shining in a dark place; see Psa_27:1. This passage is applied by the Jews (b) to the days of the Messiah.

HERY, "Though enemies triumph and insult, they shall be silenced and put to shame, Mic_7:8, Mic_7:10. Observe here,

1. How proudly the enemies of God's people trample upon them in their distress. They said, Where is the Lord their God? As if because they were afflicted God had forsaken them, and they knew not where to find him with their prayers, and he knew not how to help them with his favours. This David's enemies said to him, and it was a sword in his bones, Psa_42:10, and see Psa_115:2. Thus, in reproaching Israel as an abandoned people, they reflected on the God of Israel as an unkind unfaithful God.

2. How comfortably the people of God by faith bear up themselves under these insults (Mic_7:8): “Rejoice not against me, O my enemy! I am now down, but shall not be always so, and when my God appears for me then she that is my enemy shall see it, and be ashamed” (not only being disappointed in her expectations of the church's utter ruin, but having the same cup of trembling put into her hand), “then my eyes shall behold herin the same deplorable condition that I am now in; now shall she be trodden down.” Note, The deliverance of the church will be the confusion of her enemies; and their shame shall be double, when, as they have trampled upon God's people, so they shall themselves be trampled upon.

JAMISO, "Rejoice not— at my fall.

when I fall, I shall arise— (Psa_37:24; Pro_24:16).

when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light— Israel reasons as her divine representative, Messiah, reasoned by faith in His hour of darkness and desertion (Isa_50:7, Isa_50:8, Isa_50:10). Israel addresses Babylon, her triumphant foe (or Edom), as

a female; the type of her last and worst foes (Psa_137:7, Psa_137:8). “Mine enemy,” in Hebrew, is feminine.

CALVI, "Here the Prophet assumes the character of the Church and repels a temptation, which proves very severe to us in adversities; for there is not so much bitterness in the evil itself, as in the mockery of the wicked, when they petulantly insult us and deride our faith. And to noble minds reproach is ever sharper than death itself: and yet the devil almost always employs this artifice; for when he sees that we stand firm in temptations, he suborns the wicked and sharpens their tongues to speak evil of use and to wound us with slanders. This is the reason why the Prophet directs his discourse now to the enemies of the Church. But as God calls the Church his spouse, and as she is described to us under the character of a woman, so also he compares here the enemies of the holy people to a petulant woman. As, therefore, when there is emulation between two women, she, who sees her enemy pressed down by evils and adverse events, immediately raises up herself and triumphs; so also the Prophet says respecting the enemies of the Church; they sharpened their tongues, and vomited forth their bitterness, as soon as they saw the children of God in trouble or nearly overwhelmed with adversities. We now then understand the design of the Prophet, — that he wished to arm us, as I have said, against the taunts of the ungodly, lest they should prevail against us when God presses us down with adversities, but that we may stand courageously, and with composed and tranquil minds, swallow down the indignity.

Rejoice not over me, he says, O my enemy Why not? He adds a consolation; for it would not be enough for one to repel with disdain the taunts of his enemy; but the Prophet says here, Rejoice not, for should I fall, I shall rise; or though I fall, I shall rise: and the passage seems to harmonize better when there is a pause after Rejoice not over me; and then to add, Though I fall, I shall rise, though I sit in darkness, Jehovah shall be a light to me (189) The Prophet means, that the state of the Church was not past hope. There would be ample room for our enemies to taunt us, were it not that this promise cannot fail us, — seven times in the day the just falls, and rises again, (Proverbs 24:16.) — How so? For God puts under him his own hand. We now perceive the meaning of this passage. For if God deprived us of all hope, enemies might justly deride us, and we must be silent: but since we are surely persuaded that God is ready at hand to restore us again, we can boldly answer our enemies when they annoy with their derisions; though I fall, I shall rise: “There is now no reason for thee to triumph over me when I fall; for it is God’s will that I should fall, but it is for this end — that I may soon rise again; and though I now lie in darkness, yet the Lord will be my light.”

We hence see that our hope triumphs against all temptations: and this passage shows in a striking manner, how true is that saying of John, — that our faith gains the victory over the world, (1 John 5:4.) For when sorrow and trouble take possession of our hearts, we shall not fail if this comes to our mind — that God will be our aid in the time of need. And when men vomit forth their poison against us, we ought to be furnished with the same weapons: then our minds shall never succumb, but boldly repel all the taunts of Satan and of wicked men. This we learn

from this passage.

ow, from what the Prophet says, Though I fall, I shall rise again, we see what God would have us to expect, even a happy and joyful exit at all times from our miseries; but on this subject I shall have to speak more copiously a little farther on. As to the latter clause, When I sit in darkness, God will be my light, it seems to be a confirmation of the preceding sentence, where the Prophet declares, that the fall of the Church would not be fatal. But yet some think that more is expressed, namely, that in the very darkness some spark of light would still shine. They then distinguish between this clause and the former one, which speaks of the fall and the rise of the faithful, in this manner, — that while they lie, as it were, sunk in darkness, they shall not even then be without consolation, for God’s favor would ever shine on them. And this seems to be a correct view: for it cannot be that any one will expect the deliverance of which the Prophet speaks, except he sees some light even in the thickest darkness, and sustains himself by partaking, in some measure, of God’s goodness: and a taste of God’s favor in distresses is suitably compared to light; as when one is cast into a deep pit, by raising upward his eyes, he sees at a distance the light of the sun; so also the obscure and thick darkness of tribulations may not so far prevail as to shut out from us every spark of light, and to prevent faith from raising our eyes upwards, that we may have some taste of God’s goodness. Let us proceed —

Rejoice not, my enemy, on my account; Though I have fallen, I have risen; Though I shall sit in darkness, Jehovah will be a light to me.

There are no copies which give a different reading as to the verb “I have risen.” ewcome follows the Septuagint, and thinks that a conversive ו is left out. It ought rather perhaps to be considered as the language of faith, realizing the event before it arrived. The fall and “the darkness” refer no doubt to the outward calamities of the Church, its troubles and afflictions. — Ed.

COFFMA, "Verse 8"Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, Jehovah will be a light unto me."

"Israel addresses Babylon, her triumphant foe."[18] Blindly rejecting any such thing as predictive prophecy, some would delete these verses, or attribute them to some "post-exilic editor." However, the words are a vital and significant portion of the prophet's word of encouragement for a people shortly doomed to captivity; and it was precisely such encouraging words as these that enabled the humbled and enslaved remnant of the people to endure and triumph over that captivity. They took his pledge of God's blessing with them when they went into bondage in Babylon. How otherwise, it may be asked, did these words become an established part of the divine prophecy of Micah?

COSTABLE, "Verse 8When Micah"s enemies saw him experience some discouraging situation, they rejoiced. He told them not to rejoice, because though he fell, God would raise him up. Though he appeared to be groping in the darkness (cf. Lamentations 3:6), the Lord would be a light to him and illuminate the right path for him to take.

Verses 8-131. Advice to the ungodly7:8-13

Verses 8-20E. Micah"s confidence in the Lord7:8-20

This final section of the book is also in the form of a lament (cf. Micah 7:1-7). While Micah spoke as an individual, he spoke for the faithful remnant of Israelites in his day. His sentiments would have been theirs. Thus the lament is communal, but it gives way to glorious praise. Daniel ,, Ezra ,, ehemiah , and many of the psalmists likewise prayed as spokesmen for the faithful as well as for themselves (cf. Daniel 9; Ezra 9; ehemiah 9; Lamentations 1:10-16; Lamentations 1:18-22).

"Micah concludes his book with a liturgical hymn, consisting of expressions of confidence, petition, and praise." [ote: Waltke, in The Minor . . ., p754. See Chisholm, Handbook on . . ., p426 , for a structural analysis of this section.]

ELLICOTT, "(8) O mine enemy.—The Hebrew word is strictly a female enemy (see Micah 7:10), and is used of enemies collectively. The cities of Babylon and Edom are probably intended. They are mentioned together in Psalms 137 : “Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom.” . . . “O Babylon, that art to be destroyed.” The fall of those cities should be final, but Jerusalem would rise again.

TRAPP, "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.

Ver. 8. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy] Here is the triumph of faith, in the fail of outward comforts, in the midst of the world’s insultations and irrisions. e laeteris de me. O daughter of Babylon, that art to be destroyed, thou that art victrix gentium, captiva vitiorum (as Austin said of Rome in her pride), thou that for present carriest the ball upon the foot, and none can come near thee: Rejoice not against me, as forlorn and hopeless; say not, "This is Zion, the outcast, whom no man seeketh after," Jeremiah 30:17. For assure thyself, The right hand of the Lord will change all this, and

“ Flebile principium melior fortuna sequetur. ”

When I fall, I shall arise] Because fall I never so low, I cannot fall below the supporting hand of God, which will help me up again, Psalms 37:24. The wicked fall

and never rise, Amos 8:14, they shall drink of the cup of God’s wrath, "and be drunken, and spew, and fall, and rise no more," Jeremiah 25:27; their carcases shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman, and none shall gather them, Jeremiah 9:22. This is fearful. If Haman fall before Mordecai the Jew, he shall not easily stop, or step back, Esther 6:13. A Jew may fall before a Persian and get up and prevail. But if a Persian or other persecutor begin to fall before a Jew, he can neither stay nor rise. There is an invisible hand of omnipotence that strikes in for his own, and confounds their opposites.

When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me] He can lighten the greatest darkness, as be did the dungeons to the martyrs. From the delectable orchard of the Leonine dungeon, so Algerius, an Italian martyr, dated his heavenly epistle. I am now in the Bishop of London’s coal house (saith Mr Philpot), a dark and ugly brison as any is about London; but my dark body of sin hath well deserved the same; and the Lord now hath brought me into outer darkness, that I might be the more lightened by him; as he is most present with his children in the midst of darkness. And in his letter to the Lady Vane, I thank the Lord, saith he, I am not alone, but have six other faithful companions, who in our darkness do cheerfully sing hymns and praises to God for his great goodness. We are so joyful that I wish you part of my joy. The posy of the city of Geneva stamped round about their money was formerly out of Job, Post tenebras spero lucern, After darkness I look for light; but the Reformation once settled among them, they changed it into Post tenebras lux (Scultet. Annul.), Light after darkness. Like as the Saxon princes, before they became Christians, gave for their arms a black horse; but being once baptized, a white.

BESO, "Verse 8-9Micah 7:8-9. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy — Here begins a new subject; the Jewish nation in general being here introduced speaking in their captivity, and addressing themselves to the Chaldeans. When I fall I shall rise — Or, because I am fallen; for I shall rise. When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me —either rejoice nor triumph over me, because I at present sit in darkness, or misery, for Jehovah will again make me prosperous. I will bear the indignation of the Lord — I will patiently, or without repining, bear the affliction, or punishment, Jehovah has inflicted upon me. Because I have sinned against him — Because I am sensible I have highly offended him by my idolatry, injustice, and unmercifulness. Until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me — Until he shall be pleased to acknowledge my cause, in consequence of my repentance and perseverance in the worship of him, and avenge my injuries on my enemies. It may well be supposed that the Chaldeans made a mock of the Jews for persevering in the worship of Jehovah, or that God who (as they supposed) had not been able to deliver them, his worshippers, out of their hands, the worshippers of Bel and ebo; whom therefore they esteemed more powerful. He will bring me forth to the light — He will again bring me into a prosperous condition. And I shall behold his righteousness — Or rather, his goodness. What we render righteousness, often signifies, according to the Hebrew, beneficence, or goodness.

EXPOSITOR'S DICTIOARY, "Chastisement and Mercy

Micah 7:8-9

When Christians have gone wrong in any way, whether in belief or in practice, scandalously or secretly, it seems that pardon is not explicitly and definitely promised them in Scripture as a matter of course; and the mere fact that they afterwards become better men, and are restored to God"s favour, does not decide the question whether they are in every sense pardoned; for David was restored and yet was afterwards punished. It is still a question whether a debt is not standing against them for their past sins, and is not now operating or to operate to their disadvantage. What its payment consists in, and how it will be exacted, is quite another question, and a hidden one. It may be such, if they die under it, as to diminish their blessedness in heaven; or it may be a sort of obstacle here to their rising to certain high points of Christian character; or it may be a hindrance to their ever attaining one or other particular Christian grace in perfection—faith, purity, or humility; or it may prevent religion taking deep root within them, and imbuing their minds; or it may make them more liable to fall away; or it may hold them back from that point of attainment which is the fulfilment of their trial; or it may forfeit for them the full assurance of hope; or it may lessen their peace and comfort in the intermediate state, or even delay their knowledge there of their own salvation; or it may involve the necessity of certain temporal punishments, grievous bodily disease, or sharp pain, or worldly affliction, or an unhappy death. Such things are "secrets of the Lord our God," not to be pried into, but to be acted upon. We are all more or less sinners against His grace, many of us grievous sinners; and St. Paul and the other Apostles give us very scanty information what the consequences of such sin are. God may spare us, He may punish. In either case, however, our duty is to surrender ourselves into His hands, that He may do what He will.

—J. H. ewman.

ISBET, "LIGHT I THE DARKESS‘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. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against Him.’Micah 7:8-9I. Men commonly think a sin to be cancelled when it is done and over; or, in other words, that amendment is an expiation.—They do not take the trouble to repent. Regret, vexation, sorrow—such feelings seem to this busy, practical, unspiritual generation as idle; as something despicable and unmanly, just as tears may be. They are unbelieving, they are irrational, if they are nothing more than remorse, gloom, and despondency. Such is ‘the sorrow of the world,’ which ‘worketh death.’ Yet there is a ‘godly sorrow’ also; a positive sorrowing for sin, and a deprecation of its consequences, and that quite distinct from faith or amendment; and this, so far from being a barren sorrow, worketh, as the Apostle assures us, ‘repentance to salvation not to be repented of.’

II. When Christians have gone wrong in any way, whether in belief or in practice, scandalously or secretly, it seems that pardon is not explicitly, definitely, promised them in Scripture as a matter of course; and the mere fact that they afterwards become better men, and are restored to God’s favour, does not decide the question whether they are in every sense pardoned; for David was restored, and yet was afterwards punished. It is still a question whether a debt is not standing against them for their past sins, and is not now operating, or to operate, to their disadvantage. What the payment consists in and how it will be exacted is quite another question, and a hidden one. God may spare us, He may punish. In either case, however, our duty is to surrender ourselves into His hands, that He may do what He will.

Illustration

‘It has been said recently that cases of answered prayer are the exception, and not the rule. Would it not be better to say that our prayers are always answered, though the petitions are not granted just in the way we had hoped. God is so wise, good, and faithful that, however urgently we pressed our case, it would not be for our best interests if He were to do as we ask. When we reach the other world we shall have abundant reason, in the pure light of eternity, to thank God that He did not grant all our petitions, though he always answered our real prayers. We asked for stones, but He gave us bread; for scorpions, but He gave us fish. He could not for love’s sake give us the poison we clamoured for. We ask amiss, and know not what we ask. But He, reading right our wrong request, gives what we would ask did we know. We are also hot-blooded. It is so hard for us to wait for God. The hand moves so slowly round the dial-plate, it seems as though the hour will never strike. In the meanwhile the enemy speaks strongly in our ears of God having forsaken us; but it is not so. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy; when I fall, I shall arise! My soul, wait thou only upon God.’

PULPIT, "Micah 7:8

Israel in her sorrow and captivity asserts her undiminished confidence in the Lord. O mine enemy. The oppressor of the Church, the worldly power, is represented at one time by Asshur, at another by Babylon. God uses these heathen kingdoms as agents of his vengeance. When I fall; have I fallen; if I have fallen; i.e. suppose I have suffered calamity and loss (Amos 5:2). Sit in darkness. Darkness is another metaphor for distress (Psalms 23:4; Isaiah 9:2; Lamentations 3:6; Amos 5:18). The Lord shall be a light unto me, giving me gladness and true discernment (comp. Psalms 27:1; Psalms 97:11). The distinction between darkness and the full light of day is more marked in Eastern countries than in our orthern climes.

9 Because I have sinned against him, I will bear the Lord’s wrath,until he pleads my case and upholds my cause.He will bring me out into the light; I will see his righteousness.

BARES. "I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against Him - This is the temper of all penitents, when stricken by God, or under chastisement from Him. “It is the Lord, let Him, do what seemeth Him good” 1Sa_3:18. “So let him curse, because the Lord hath said unto him, curse David. Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so?” 2Sa_16:10. “He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope” Lam_3:29. The penitent owns the just sentence of God, and, knowing that he deserves far more than God inflicts, is thankful to endure it, “until He remove it, until He plead my cause rend execute judgment for me”, that is, until God Himself think the punishments inflicted, enough, and judge between me and those through whose hands they come. The judgments which God righteously sends, and which man suffers righteously from Him, are unrighteously inflicted by those whose malice He overrules, whether it be that of evil men (as the Assyrian or the Chaldaean or the Edomite) or of Satan. The close of the chastisements of His people is the beginning of the visible punishment of their misdecds, who used amiss the power which God gave them over it.

Whence it is said, “Daughter of Babylon, the wasted! blessed he that rewardth thee as thou hast served us” Psa_137:8. But all is of the mercy of God. So He saith, “He shall bring me forth to the light” of His Countenance and His favor and His truth. Micah speaks in the name of those who were penitent, and so were forgiven, and yet, in that they were under punishment, seemed to lie under the wrath of God. For, although God remits at once the eternal penalty of sin, yet we see daily, how punishment pursues the for given sinner, even to the end of life. The light of God’s love may not, on grounds which He knoweth, shine unchequered upon him. We should not know the blackness of the offence of sin, and should never know the depth of God’s mercy, but for our punishment. The indignation of God toward the penitcnt is an austere form of His love. So then penitents may well say, in every grief or sickness or visitation or disappointment, I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against Him. He says, “I shall behold His righteousness”, because they had a righteous cause against man, although not toward God, and God in His just judgment on their enemies shewed Himself as the righteous Judge of the world.

CLARKE, "I will bear the indignation of the Lord - The words of the penitent captives,

acknowledging their sins and praying for mercy.

Until he plead my cause - And wo to the slanderers, when God undertakes to plead for the fallen who have returned to him with deep compunction of heart, seeking redemption in the blood of the cross.

GILL, "I will bear the indignation of the Lord,.... The Targum prefaces these words with

"Jerusalem saith;''

and they are the words of the prophet, in the name of Jerusalem or the church, resolving in the strength of divine grace to bear the present affliction, which had at least some appearance of divine indignation in it; not against the persons of God's people, who are always the objects of his love, and towards whom there is no fury in him; but against their sins, which are displeasing and abominable to him; and this is not in a vindictive way, for such indignation they could never bear; nor can any creature stand before it, or bear up under it; and, besides, Christ has bore the wrath and indignation of God in this sense for them but it here means the displicency and indignation of God in fatherly chastisements, consistent with the strongest love and affection for them; and to bear this is to be humble under the mighty hand of God, quietly to submit to it, and patiently to endure the affliction, without murmuring and repining, till the Lord pleases to remove it. The reason follows,

because I have sinned against him; the best of men sin; sin is the cause and reason of all affliction and distress, whether temporal or spiritual. The consideration of this tends to make and keep good men humble, and quietly submit to the chastising rod of their heavenly father, which they see it is right and proper should be used; and as knowing that they are chastised and afflicted less than their iniquities deserve; and that it is all for their good; a sense of sin stops their mouths, that they have nothing to say

against God. The word חטא here used sometimes signifies the offering an expiatory

sacrifice for sin to God; and Gussetius (c) thinks this is the meaning of it here; and observes, that with the oblation of a contrite heart, and works of charity, the satisfaction of Christ is to be pleaded, and in our way to be offered up to God the Judge, through faith flying to it; whereby the mind is disposed to bear correction patiently, in hope that favour will quickly shine forth in help and deliverance:

until he plead cause, and execute judgment for me; Christ the mighty Redeemer, and powerful and prevalent Mediator, not only pleads the cause of his people with God his Father, and obtains all blessings of grace for them; but he also pleads their cause against their enemies, an ungodly people that strive with them, persecute and distress them; and will in his own time do them justice, and execute vengeance, his righteous judgments, on those that hate them, and rise up against them, as he will on all the antichristian party:

he will bring me forth to the light; like a person taken out of prison, or out of a dungeon, to behold and enjoy the light of the sun and day. The sense is, that he will openly espouse the cause of his church, and give her honour and glory publicly before men; bring forth her righteousness as the light, and her judgment as the noon day; and make her innocence appear as clear as the day, and bring her at last to the light of glory; see Psa_37:6;

and I shall behold his righteousness: the equity of his proceedings with his people, in chastising and afflicting them, that they are all right and good; his justice in punishing their enemies, and executing judgment on them; his goodness and beneficence to the saints, all his ways being mercy and truth; his faithfulness in the fulfilment of his promises; and the righteousness of Christ, which justifies them before God, renders them acceptable to him, will answer for them in a time to come, and introduce them into his everlasting kingdom and glory.

JAMISO, "bear— patiently.

the indignation of the Lord— His punishment inflicted on me (Lam_3:39). The true penitent “accepts the punishment of his iniquity” (Lev_26:41, Lev_26:43); they who murmur against God, do not yet know their guilt (Job_40:4, Job_40:5).

execute judgment for me— against my foe. God’s people plead guilty before God; but, in respect to their human foes, they are innocent and undeserving of their foes’ injuries.

bring me forth to the light— to the temporal and spiritual redemption.

I shall behold his righteousness— His gracious faithfulness to His promises (Psa_103:17).

K&D 9-10, "“The wrath of Jehovah shall I bear, for I have sinned against Him, till He shall fight my fight, and secure my right. He will bring me forth to the light; I shall behold His righteousness.Mic_7:10. And may my enemy see it, and shame cover her, who hath said to me, Where is Jehovah thy God? Mine eyes will see it; now will she be for a treading down, like mire of the streets.” Confidence in the help of the Lord flows from the consciousness, that the wretchedness and sufferings are a merited punishment for the sins. This consciousness and feeling generate patience and hope: patience to bear the wrath of God manifesting itself in the sufferings; hope that the sufferings, as inflicted

by the righteous God, will cease as soon as the divine justice has been satisfied. Za‛aph: lit., the foaming up of wrath (Isa_30:30); hence strong wrath. This the church will bear,

till the Lord conducts its conflict and secures its rights. ריבי is the judicial conflict between Israel and the heathen power of the world. Although, for example, God had given up His nation to the power of its enemies, the nations of the world, on account of its sins, so that they accomplished the will of God, by destroying the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and carrying away the people into exile; yet they grew proud of their own might in so doing, and did not recognise themselves as instruments of punishment in the hand of the Lord, but attributed their victories to the power of their own arm, and even aimed at the destruction of Israel, with scornful defiance of the living God (cf. Isa_10:5-15; Hab_1:11). Thus they violated the rights of Israel, so that the Lord was obliged to conduct the contest of His people with the heathen, and secure the rights of Israel by the

overthrow of the heathen power of the world. For ריב�ריבי, see Psa_43:1; for טPעשה�מש,

Psa_9:4-5; and for the fact itself, Isa_49:25; Isa_51:22. Mishpât is Israel's right, in

opposition to the powers of the world, who would destroy it. The following word יוציאני is

not governed by עד�אשר, as the absence of the copula Vav shows. With these words the

hope takes the form of the certain assurance that the Lord will remove the distress, and

let Israel see His righteousness. Tsedâqâh is the righteousness of God revealing itself in

the forgiveness and restoration of Israel to favour; like tsedâqōth in Mic_6:5 : in actual

fact, the salvation of Israel about to be secured, regarded as an emanation of the

righteousness of the covenant God; hence parallel to ר�ה .אור with ב�, to look at, so that one penetrates, as it were, into an object, seeing with feasting of the eyes (so also in Mic_

7:10). This exaltation of Israel to new salvation it is hoped that the enemy will see (ותרא, opt.), and be covered with shame; for the power of the world is overthrown, in order that Israel may be redeemed out of its power. This desire is a just one, because the enemy has despised the Lord God. For the expression, “Where is Jehovah thy God?” compare Joe_

2:17. And Israel will see its fulfilment (הTראיB with Nun doubled after a sharpened é; see

Ewald, §198, a). ‛Attâh, now (seeing the future in spirit, as having already come), the

enemy will be trodden down like mire of the streets (for this figure, see Isa_10:6).

CALVI, "Verse 9Here the Church of God animates and encourages herself to exercise patience, and does so especially by two arguments. She first sets before herself her sins, and thus humbles herself before God, whom she acknowledges to be a just Judge; and, in the second place, she embraces the hope of the forgiveness of her sins, and from this arises confidence as to her deliverance. By these two supports the Church sustains herself, that she fails not in her troubles, and gathers strength, as I have already said, to endure patiently.

First then he says, The wrath (190) of Jehovah will I bear, for sinned have I against him This passage shows, that when any one is seriously touched with the conviction of God’s judgment, he is at the same time prepared to exercise patience; for it cannot be, but that a sinner, conscious of evil, and knowing that he suffers justly will humbly and thankfully submit to the will of God. Hence when men perversely glamour against God, or murmur, it is certain that they have not as yet been made sensible of their sins. I allow indeed that many feel guilty who yet struggle against God, and fiercely resist his hand as much as they can, and also blaspheme his name when he chastises them: but they are not touched hitherto with the true feeling of penitence, so as to abhor themselves. Judas owned indeed that he had sinned, and freely made such confession, (Matthew 27:3.) Cain tried to cover his sin, but the Lord drew from him an unwilling confession, (Genesis 4:13.) They did not yet repent; nay, they ceased not to contend with God; for Cain complained that his punishment was too heavy to be borne; Judas despaired. And the same thing happens to all the reprobate. They seemed then to have been sufficiently convinced

to acknowledge their guilt, and, as it were, to assent to the justice of God’s judgment; but they did not really know their sins, so as to abhor themselves, as I have said, on account of their sins. For true penitence is ever connected with the submission of which the Prophet now speaks. Whosoever then is really conscious of his sins, renders himself at the same time obedient to God, and submits himself altogether to his will. Thus repentance does ever of itself lead to the bearing of the cross; so that he who sets himself before God’s tribunal allows himself to be at the same time chastised, and bears punishment with a submissive mind: as the ox, that is tamed, always takes the yoke without any resistance, so also is he prepared who is really touched with the sense of his sins, to bear any punishment which God may be pleased to inflict on him. This then is the first thing which we ought to learn from these words of the Prophet, The wrath of Jehovah will I bear, for sinned have I against him.

We also learn from this passage, that all who do not patiently bear his scourges contend with God; for though they do not openly accuse God, and say that they are just, they do not yet ascribe to him his legitimate glory, by confessing that he is a righteous judge. — How so? Because these two things are united together and joined by an indissoluble knot — to be sensible of sin — and to submit patiently to the will of the Judge when he inflicts punishment.

ow follows the other argument, Until he decides my cause, and vindicates my right; he will bring me forth into the light, I shall see his righteousness Here the Church leans on another support; for though the Lord should most heavily afflict her, she would not yet cast aside the hope of deliverance; for she knew, as we have already seen, that she was chastised for her good: and indeed no one could even for a moment continue patient in a state of misery, except he entertained the hope of being delivered, and promised to himself a happy escape. These two things then ought not to be separated, and cannot be, — the acknowledgment of our sins, which will humble us before God, — and the knowledge of his goodness, and a firm assurance as to our salvation; for God has testified that he will be ever propitious to us, how much soever he may punish us for our sins, and that he will remember mercy, as Habakkuk says, in the midst of his wrath, (Habakkuk 3:2.) It would not then be sufficient for us to feel our evils, except the consolation, which proceeds from the promises of grace, be added.

The Prophet shows further, that the Church was innocent, with regard to its enemies, though justly suffering punishment. And this ought to be carefully observed; for whenever we have to do with the wicked, we think that there is no blame belonging to us. But these two things ought to be considered, — that the wicked trouble us without reason, and thus our cause as to them is just, — and yet that we are justly afflicted by God; for we shall ever find many reasons why the Lord should chastise us. These two things, then, ought to be both considered by us, as the Prophet seems to intimate here: for at the beginning of the verse he says, The wrath of God will I bear, for sinned have I against him; and now he adds, The Lord will yet vindicate my right, literally, “will debate my dispute,” that is, plead my cause. Since the Church is guilty before God, nay, waits not for the sentence of the

judge, but anticipates it, and freely confesses herself to be worthy of such punishment, what does this mean, — that the Lord will decide her quarrel, that he will undertake her cause? These two things seem to militate the one against the other: but they agree well together when viewed in their different bearings. The Church had confessed that she had sinned against God; she now turns her eyes to another quarter; for she knew that she was unjustly oppressed by enemies; she knew that they were led to do wrong by cruelty alone. This then is the reason why the Church entertained hope, and expected that God would become the defender of her innocence, that is, against the wicked: and yet she humbly acknowledged that she had sinned against God. Whenever, then, our enemies do us harm, let us lay hold on this truth, — that God will become our defender; for he is ever the patron of justice and equity: it cannot then be, that God will abandon us to the violence of the wicked. He will then at length plead our pleading, or undertake our cause, and be its advocate. But, in the meantime, let our sins be remembered by us, that, being truly humbled before God, we may not hope for the salvation which he promises to us, except through gratuitous pardon. Why then are the faithful bidden to be of good comfort in their afflictions? Because God has promised to be their Father; he has received them under his protection, he has testified that his help shall never be wanting to them. But whence is this confidence? Is it because they are worthy? Is it because they have deserved something of this kind? By no means: but they acknowledge themselves to be guilty, when they humbly prostrate themselves before God, and when they willingly condemn themselves before his tribunal, that they may anticipate his judgment. We now see how well the Prophet connects together these two things, which might otherwise seem contradictory.

ow follow the words, He will bring me to the light, I shall see his righteousness! (191) The Church still confirms herself in the hope of deliverance: art it is hence also manifest how God is light to the faithful in obscure darkness, because they see that there is prepared for them an escape from their evils; but they see it at a distance, for they extend their hope beyond the boundaries of this life. As then the truth of God diffuses itself through heaven and earth, so the faithful extend their hope far and wide. Thus it is, that they can see light afar off, which seems to be very remote from them. And having this confidence, the Prophet says, The Lord will bring me into the light. They have, in the meantime, as I have already said, some light; they enjoy a taste of God’s goodness in the midst of their evils: but the Prophet now refers to that coming forth which we ought to look for even in the worst circumstances.

He then adds, I shall see his righteousness By God’s righteousness is to be understood, as it has been elsewhere stated, his favor towards the faithful; not that God returns for their works the salvation which he bestows, as ungodly men foolishly imagine; for they lay hold on the word righteousness, and think that whatever favors God freely grants us are due to our merits. — How so? For God in this way shows his own righteousness. But far different is the reason for this mode of speaking. God, in order to show how dear and precious to him is our salvation, does indeed say, that he designs to give an evidence of his justice in delivering us: but there is a reference in this word righteousness to something else; for God has

promised that our salvation shall be the object of his care, hence he appears just whenever he delivers us from our troubles. Then the righteousness of God is not to be referred to the merits of works, but, on the contrary, to the promise by which he has bound himself to us; and so also in the same dense God is often said to be faithful. In a word, the righteousness and faithfulness of God mean the same thing. When the Prophet says now in the person of the Church, I shall see his righteousness, he means, that though God concealed his favor for a time, and withdrew his hand, so that no hope of aid remained, it could not yet be, as he is just, but that he would succor us: I shall see then his righteousness, that is, God will at length really show that he is righteous. It now follows —

COFFMA, "Verse 9"I will bear the indignation of Jehovah, 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."

The true penitent accepts the punishment of his iniquity (Leviticus 26:41,43); they who murmur against God do not yet know their guilt (Job 40:4-5).[19]

This verse is the language of the repentant remnant of the people, accepting the justice of their punishment, and yet still trusting in the covenant with God which they were determined to keep.

This believing remnant receives Jehovah's faithfulness and consistency in fulfilling all his promises of punishment for apostasy, so they can trust him to deal with their foes and oppressors in His own time and way.[20]

COSTABLE, "Micah identified with his people by confessing his guilt (cf. Daniel 9:5; Daniel 9:8; Daniel 9:11; Daniel 9:15). Though he had not personally committed the sins that he criticized his fellow Israelites of practicing, as a part of His nation he was with them in their guilt. He would have to bear the consequences of divine discipline as they did. evertheless the divine advocate, whom we have seen indicting the Israelites in this book, would come to the prophet"s defense. Micah would not suffer the same amount of punishment as the guilty in the nation. He would eventually come out of his dark circumstances into the light of God"s presence, and he would behold God"s righteousness. That Isaiah , he would see God demonstrate his justice and faithfulness to His promises. God will vindicate the faithful.

ELLICOTT, "(9) I will bear.—Micah places himself and his people with confidence in the hands of God. So, too, id David speak when his sin was brought home to him by God: “I am in a great strait; let us fall now into the hand of the Lord: for His mercies are great; and let me not fall into the hand of man” (2 Samuel 24:14). “This is the temper of all penitents when stricken by God, or under chastisement from Him.”

TRAPP, "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.

Ver. 9. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him] The Church had sinned, and God was angry with her. So Zechariah 1:12, Isaiah 57:17. What mean, then, the Antinomians to tell us that God is never angry with his people for their foul and flagitious practices; no, not with a fatherly anger? nor chastiseth them for the same; no, not so much as with a fatherly chastisement? Is not this contra Solem mingere? Godliness is no target against affliction. Blind ature saw this.

“ nec te tua plurima, Pantheu,

Labentem texit pietas ” -

Only it helps to patient the heart under affliction by considering, 1. That it is the Lord. 2. That, a man suffers for his sin; as the penitent thief also confessed, Luke 23:41 3. That the rod of the wicked shall not lie long upon the lot of the righteous, το πικρον µικρον. Say we then, every one, with David, I know that thy judgments are right, and thou hast afflicted me justly, Psalms 119:75; yea, in very faithfulness hast thou done it, that thou mightest be true to my soul: and with that noble Du-plessy, who when he had lost his only son, a gentleman of great hopes (which was the breaking of his mother’s heart), quieted himself with these words of David, "I was silent and said no word, because thou, Lord, didst it," Psalms 39:9. See my Love Tokens. It shall be our wisdom in affliction to look to God, and to reflect upon our sins, taking his part against ourselves; as a physician observes which way nature works, and helps it.

Until he plead my cause] As a faithful patron and powerful avenger; for though it be just in God that I suffer, yet it is unjust in mine enemies, who shall shortly be soundly paid for their insolence and cruelty.

He will bring me forth to the light] He will uncloud these gloomy days, and in his light I shall see light.

I shall behold his righteousness] That is, his faithfulness in fulfilling his promise of deliverance in due time. Meanwhile I will live upon reversions, live by faith, and think to make a good living of it too. All the ways of God to his people are "mercy and truth," Psalms 25:10 : this is a soul satisfying place of Scripture indeed. All the passages of his providence to them are not only mercy, but truth and righteousness; they come to them in a way of a promise, and by virtue of the covenant, wherein God hath made himself a voluntary debtor to them, 1 John 1:9.

PETT, "Micah 7:9

‘I will bear the indignation of YHWH,

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 will behold his righteousness.’

The righteous recognise that they might have to bear the indignation of YHWH along with others. They know that they are not without sin, and that they must expect chastening. But they know also that eventually He will plead their cause. He will not leave them under chastening. He will act on their behalf. He will execute justice for them. He will bring them forth into the light. And then they will behold His righteousness and His saving power (which is a part of His righteousness). Then they will see the King in His beauty and will be satisfied.

PULPIT, "Micah 7:9

I will bear the indignation of the Lord. However long may be the delay before relief comes, Israel will patiently bear the chastisements inflicted upon her, because she knows that they are deserved. This is the language of the penitent people, owning the justice of the sentence, yet trusting to the covenant God, who in wrath remembers mercy. Until he plead my cause. Until God considers that the punishment has done its work, and takes my cause in hand, and judges between me and the instruments of his vengeance. Execute judgment for me. Secure my rights, violated by the heathen, who misuse the power given them by God. The light (see note on Micah 7:8). His righteousness (Micah 6:5); his faithfulness to his premises exhibited in the destruction of the enemies and the restoration of his people. For this conception of the Divine righteousness, Cheyne compares 1 John 1:9, "He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins."

BI, "I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against Him

The believer, conscious of God’s displeasure, confessing his sin

This is the language of the Church of the living God.It is a sincere and upright acknowledgment of her own fault. She saw God in the dealing and conduct of her enemies. This led her to confession. This led her to holy determination; and also to patient waiting; and a believing confidence.

I. The solemn purpose of the soul. “I will bear the indignation of the Lord.” She saw the Lord’s hand in her afflictions. It is no small wisdom, when we are enabled to see clearly

the mind and the dealings of God with us in our afflictions. What was the “indignation” that the Church had to bear? Not that which God shows to those who despise Him and rebel against Him; but the eternal display of God’s wrath against sin, a holy indignation against iniquity; the indignation of a Father’s displeasure. It is not the less painful for that. It is the very love of the father that makes his displeasure so keen to the heart of the child.

II. The reason that she gives for it. “Because I have sinned against Him.” Sin should be regarded in three different points of view. There is a course of sin. There are sins into which a child of God may be surprised. There is the missing of the aim of the child of God. There are two features in her confession. She acknowledged the sin to have been against God. And she threw the blame upon herself. Excuse mars confession. She did not throw the blame on inward corruption. Some confess sin, but they only confess it in the general. If a man truly confesses, he searches sin to the root. Nothing more humbles the spirit than such thorough and sincere confession. (J. H. Evans, M. A.)

The child of God under chastisement

The consequences of national backsliding could only be national judgments. This the prophet foresees; and in the name of the pious remnant, he turns to God for that hope and consolation which nothing on earth can yield. As for the chastisement which the Jewish Church was about to suffer, she is taught, in our text, to use the language of submission and of hope. Learn from the text, what are the feelings, what is the behaviour of a child of God under affliction.

I. He submits himself to God. Various are the trials which the people of God are called to endure. There is no promise that they shall be exempt from distressing circumstances. Each one shares the common sorrows of humanity. Each one has also sorrows peculiar to himself, arising from his disposition and circumstances. Yet, in all, the real child of God beholds God’s hand. He knows that, whatever he may have to suffer, it is from the Lord. Knowing, then, whence his troubles come, the child of God bows beneath the chastisement, it may be with a keen feeling of their loss, or woe, but with a patient submission to God’s will.

II. He justifies God. Pride may sometimes enable a man resolutely to bear evils which cannot be avoided. A naturally cheerful temper, also, will not feel the burden of sorrow so heavy as it is felt by a mind naturally anxious and desponding. But Christian submission is accompanied by a feeling which mere cheerfulness cannot produce, and which pride steadily opposes—a feeling of conscious guilt. Every grief is the offspring of sin. The Lord afflicts us, either that we may not forget our original deserts, as children of wrath; or, because we have committed some new transgression; or, as a means of correcting and renewing our naturally corrupt hearts. The child of God, therefore, while he smarts beneath the stroke of chastisement, acknowledges the propriety of it. He submits, for he knows that he has deserved it. This is the state of mind which God desires to behold in every sinner. This is the very end for which earthly trials are sent.

III. Hopes in God. “Until He plead my cause.” Trust in the mercy of God is no less the duty of a true Christian, than submission to the will of God and an acknowledgment of His justice in afflicting us. The child of God puts his trust in that very hand which smiteth him. Faith enables him to see, that chastisement, when patiently endured, is a sign of his adoption. Being assured of this, he can trust his Father’s kind affection for removing the trial in due time. Thus doth the afflicted child of God “lean only upon the

hope of His heavenly grace.” Worldly sorrows thus become light and tolerable even when they are manifestly the consequences of sin. As I have cautioned you against a merely proud submission to God, and against an impenitent confession of your sinfulness, let me also warn you against a presumptuous hope of God’s mercy. God is a “jealous” God. There is a hope which will prove at last no better than a vain presumption: and the Bible does not leave us in doubt as to what that hope is. It is the hope of the hypocrite. It is the hope of the careless, thoughtless sinner, who talks loudly about God’s mercy. There is but one way in which you are authorised to hope in God. Approach Him with deep and heartfelt penitence; abhor and forsake every sin; and then your confidence in Him will stand on a secure foundation. (J. Jowett, M. A.)

Culture under trial

Transfer this language from the lips of the Church to the lips of the individual Christian, and consider it as an indication of a spirit which needs to be more largely cultivated.

I. Determination to be cultured under trial. “I will bear, etc . . . against Him.” Two kinds of indignation spoken of in Scripture. Of one it is said, “Who can stand before His indignation?” Of the other the Church says, “I will bear it.” The one, fiery wrath of an offended King; the other, chastening displeasure of a loving Father. The one, hot anger, which utterly consumes; the other, loving correction, which melts, refines, and purifies. While before one none can stand, before the other, that we may be partakers of His holiness, God yearns that we may bow. When the Christian sees chastening displeasure issuing from a Father’s wounded love, he says, “I will bear the indignation of the Lord.” But something more. “Because I have sinned.” I will bear it, because it is less than I deserve; because I know who sends it, and the object He has in view. Illustrate Shimei’s conduct, and David’s treatment of him (2Sa_16:5-14). Recollect that God’s indignation may fall on us through others, or may come direct from Him.

II. Limit of endurance to be proposed. “Until He plead my cause, and execute judgment for me.” In the trials which the Church had schooled herself to bear, there had been much of harshness, injustice, and wrong. God permits others to afflict us, whose purpose may be different to His own. Though the wrath of man is hateful, God makes it subservient to His wise purposes, and restrains its exercise. In every case of this kind, we should distinguish between man’s purpose and God’s purpose, or patience is beyond our reach. Illustrate Joseph in Egypt; and Israel in Egypt. If then, besides looking at man’s purpose, we will train ourselves to look at God’s purpose, and also for God’s limit, we shall be able to appropriate the language of the text, and so follow the example of Christ, who, under trial, committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously.

III. Expression of confidence to be maintained. He will bring me forth . . . light . . . righteousness.” Observe the meaning of the language. Obviously figurative: sorrow, trouble, desolation (whether the temporal or spiritual) continually spoken of as “darkness,” and the reverse as “light.” But, when the proper season comes, God fulfils His promise to make darkness light before His servants, by turning doubt into confidence, affliction into prosperity, sorrow into joy; and He brings them forth into the light by removing their burdens, making clear their way, vindicating them from false charges, and revealing, at least in some measure, the reason and benefit of their grief. (W. D. J. Straton, M. A.)

10 Then my enemy will see it and will be covered with shame,she who said to me, “Where is the Lord your God?”My eyes will see her downfall; even now she will be trampled underfoot like mire in the streets.

BARES. "Then - (And) she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is He, He of whom thou boastest, the Lord thy God? The cause of her gladness then is, that the blasphemies of the enemy of God were to cease. This was the bitterest portion of her cup, that they said daily, “Where is now thy God? let Him come and save thee;” as though He could not, or as though He loved her not, and she vainly presumed on His help. Even when fallen, it was for His sake that she was hated, who seemed to be overcome in her: as He was hated in His Martyrs, and they asked, , “Where is the God of the Christians?” Now the taunt was closed, and turned back on those who used it. The wheel, which they had turned against her, rolled round on themselves. They who had said, Let our eye look on Zion, now were ashamed that their hope had failed. They had longed to feed their sight on her miseries; Zion had her reverent gladness in gazing on the righteous hess of God. Babylon was trodden down by the Medes and Persians, and they whom she had let captive beheld it. Daniel was in the palace, when Belshazzar was slain.

The soul of one, who has known the chastening of God, cannot but read its own history here. The sinful soul is at once the object of the love of God and hath that about it which God hates. God hates the evil in us, even while lie loves us, being, or having been, evil. He forgives, but chastens. His displeasure is the channel of His goodpleasure. Nathan said to David, “The Lord hath put away thy sin” 2Sa_12:10, 2Sa_12:13, but also, “the sword shall never depart from thy house”. It is part of His forgiveness to cleanse the soul with a “spirit of burning” Isa_4:4. “It seemeth to me,” says Jerome, “that Jerusalem is every soul, which had been the temple of the Lord, and had had the vision of peace and the knowledge of Scripture, and which afterward, overcome by sins, hath fallen captive by its own consent, parting from that which is right in the sight of God, and allowing itself’ to sink among the pleasures of the world.”

So then “captive, and tortured, she saith to Babylon, that is, the confusion of this world and the power of the enemy which ruleth over the world, and sin who lordeth it over her, Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy; when I fall, I shall arise;” Dionysius: “from sin by repentance, and from tribulation by the consolation of the Holy Spirit, who, after weeping, poureth in joy. “For the Lord helpeth them that are fallen” Psa_146:8, and saith by the prophet, “Shall they fall and not arise”? Jer_8:4. and, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live. If I walk in darkness, the Lord is my light”! Eze_33:11. For although “the rulers of the darkness of this world” Eph_6:12 have deceived me, and I “sit in darkness and in the shadow of death” Psa_107:10, and “my feet stumble upon the dark mountains” Jer_13:16, yet “to them who sit in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up” Isa_9:2, and “light shineth in darkness” Joh_1:5, and “the Lord is my light, and my salvation; whom then shall I fear”? Psa_27:1. and I will speak to Him and will say, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” Psa_119:105 “He draweth me from the darkness of ignorance and from the black night of sin, and giveth a clear view of future bliss, and brighteneth the very inmost soul within.”

Dionysius: “Even if a mist have come upon me and I have been in darkness, I too shall find the light, that is, Christ; and the Sun of Righteousness arising on my mind shall make it white.” I will betty patiently, yet gladly, the indignation of the Lord, (Dionysius): “all adversity, trial, tribulation, persecution, which can happen in this life;” because I have sinned against Him, “and such is the enormity of sin, offered to the Majesty and dishonoring the Holiness of God, and such punishment doth it deserve in the world to come, that if we weigh it well, we shall bear with joy whatever adversity can befall us.” Cyril: “For although for a short time I be out of His Presence, and be; “given to an undistinguishing mind” Rom_1:28, yet, seeing I suffer this rejection justly, I will bear the judgment, for I am not chastened in vain.” “All chastening for the present seemeth not to be joyous but grievous, nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousncss unto them who are exercised thereby” Heb_12:11.

Jerome: “The soul, feeling that it hath sinned, and hath the wounds of sins and is living in dead flesh and needs the cautery, says firmly to the Physician, ‘Burn my flesh, cut open my wounds, all my imposthumes. It was my fault, that I was wounded; be it my pain, to endure such sufferings and to regain health.’ And the true Physician shews to her, when whole, the cause of His treatment, and that He did rightly what He did. Then after these sufferings, the soul, being brought out of outer darkness, saith, I shall behold His Righteousness, and say, “Thou, O Lord, art upright; Rightous are Thy judgments, O God” Psa_119:137. But if Christ is “made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption” 1Co_1:30, he who, after the indignation of God, saith that He shall see His Righteousness, promiseth to himself the sight of Christ.” Cyril: “Then, having considered in her mind the grace of the righteousness in Christ and the overthrow of sin, the soul, in full possession of herself, crieth out, Mine enemy shall see it, etc. For, after that Christ came unto us, justifying sinners through faith, the mouth of the ungodly One is stopped, and the Author of sin is put to shame. He hath lost his rule over us, and sin is trodden down, “like mire in the streets”, being subjected to the feet of the saints. But the blotting-out of sin is the Day of Christ.” Jerome: “And, because the end of all punishment is the beginning of good,” God saith to the poor, penitent, tossed, soul, “the walls of virtues shall be built up in thee, and thou shalt be guarded on all sides, and the rule of thine oppressors shall be far removed, and thy King and God shall come unto thee, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God.” Dionysius: “All this shall be most fully seen in the Day of Judgment.”

CLARKE, "Then she that is mine enemy - This may refer particularly to the city of Babylon.

Shall she be trodden down - Literally fulfilled in the package of that city by the Persians, and its consequent total ruin. It became as mire; its walls, formed of brick kneaded with straw and baked in the sun, becoming exposed to the wet, dissolved, so that a vestige of the city remains not, except a few bricks digged from under the rubbish, several pieces of which now lie before me, and show the perishing materials of which the head of this proud empire was composed.

GILL, "Then she that is mine enemy shall see it,.... The Chaldeans and Edomites shall see people of the Jews rising out of their calamities, brought out of the darkness of their captivity in Babylon, and enjoying the light of peace and prosperity in their own land. Some editions of the Targum, and Jarchi and Kimchi, have, in their glosses on this verse and Mic_7:9, Rome, of whom they interpret this enemy, as Mr. Pocock observes; and so R. Elias (d) says the Targum is, "then shall Rome see"; by which they mean the Christians, in opposition to the Jews; otherwise it would not be amiss to interpret it of Rome Papal, or antichrist, in opposition to the church of God; seeing the antichristian party will see witnesses of Christ, slain for his sake, rise again, and ascend to heaven, or be brought into a glorious and comfortable state; see Rev_11:12; and may be applied to any age of the church, and to any particular saints raised out of a state of darkness and affliction into a prosperous one, in the sight of their enemies, and in spite of them, to their great mortification; see Psa_23:4;

and shame shall cover her which said unto me, where is the Lord thy God? as the Heathens; the Chaldeans, did to the Jews, Psa_115:2; and which must be very cutting to them, as it was to David, Psa_42:10; when they flouting and jeering said, where is thy God thou boastedst of, and didst put thy trust and confidence in, that he would deliver and save thee? what is become of him, and of thy confidence in him? The Targum is,

"where art thou that art redeemed by the Word of the Lord thy God?"

but when they shall see that the Lord God has returned unto them, and wrought salvation for them, they will be ashamed of their flouts and jeers; and by reason of their sad disappointment, add the change of things for the worse to them, who now will be brought into calamity and distress themselves:

mine eyes shall behold her; the enemy: their fall, as the Targum; being in a most despicable and ruinous condition, under the vengeance of the Almighty; and that with pleasure and satisfaction, not from a private spirit of revenge, but because of the glory of divine justice, which will be displayed in their righteous destruction; see Psa_58:10;

now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets; that is, entirely conquered, and utterly destroyed; reduced to, the utmost meanness, and had in the greatest contempt: this was fulfilled when Babylon was taken by the Medea and Persians; and when the Edomites were conquered and brought into subjection to the Jews by the Maccabees; and will be the case of all the enemies of Christ and his church, of all the antichristian states, one day.

JAMISO, "shame shall cover her— in seeing how utterly mistaken she was in supposing that I was utterly ruined.

Where is ... thy God— (Psa_42:3, Psa_42:10). If He be “thy God,” as thou sayest, let Him come now and deliver thee. So as to Israel’s representative, Messiah (Mat_27:43).

mine eyes shall behold her— a just retribution in kind upon the foe who had said, “Let our eye look upon Zion.” Zion shall behold her foe prostrate, not with the carnal joy of revenge, but with spiritual joy in God’s vindicating His own righteousness (Isa_66:24; Rev_16:5-7).

shall she be trodden down— herself, who had trodden down me.

CALVI, "In the last lecture I repeated the tenth verse of the last chapter, in which the prophet adds, as a cause of the greatest joy, that the enemies of the Church shall see granted, to their great mortification, the wonderful favor of which the Prophet had been speaking. But he describes these enemies, under the character of an envious woman, as the Church of God is also compared to a woman: and this mode of speaking is common in Scripture. He then calls Jerusalem his rival, or Babylon, or some city of his enemies.

And he says, Covered shall she be with shame We know that the ungodly grow insolent when fortune smiles on them: hence in prosperity they keep within no bounds, for they think that God is under their feet. If prosperity most commonly has the effect of making the godly to forget God and even themselves, it is no wonder that the unbelieving become more and more hardened, when God is indulgent to them. With regard then to such a pride, the Prophet now says, When my enemy shall see, shame shall cover her; that is, she will not continue in her usual manner, to elate herself with her own boastings: nay, she will be compelled for shame to hide herself; for she will see that she had been greatly deceived, in thinking that I should be wholly ruined.

He afterwards adds, Who said to me, Where is Jehovah thy God? The Church of God in her turn triumphs here over the unbelieving, having been delivered by divine power; nor does she do this for her own sake, but because the ungodly expose the holy name of God to reproach, which is very common: for whenever God afflicts his people, the unbelieving immediately raise their crests, and pour forth their blasphemies against God, when yet they ought, on the contrary, to humble themselves under his hand. But since God executes his judgments on the faithful, what can be expected by his ungodly despisers? If God’s vengeance be manifested in a dreadful manner with regard to the green tree, what will become of the dry wood? And the ungodly are like the dry wood. But as they are blind as to God’s judgments, they petulantly deride his name, whenever they see the Church afflicted, as though adversities were not the evidences of God’s displeasure: for he chastises his own children, to show that he is the judge of the world. But, as I have already said, the ungodly so harden themselves in their stupor, that they are wholly thoughtless. The faithful, therefore, after having found God to be their deliverer, do here undertake

his cause; they do not regard themselves nor their own character, but defend the righteousness of God. Such is this triumphant language, Who said, Where is now Jehovah thy God? “I can really show that I worship the true God, who deserts not his people in extreme necessity: after he has assisted me, my enemy, who dared to rise up against God, now seeks hiding-places.”

She shall now, he says, be trodden under foot as the mire of the streets; and my eyes shall see her. What the Prophet declares in the name of the Church, that the unbelieving shall be like mire, is connected with the promise, which we already noticed; for God so appears as the deliverer of his Church, as not to leave its enemies unpunished. God then, while he aids his own people, leads the ungodly to punishment. Hence the Church, while embracing the deliverance offered to her, at the same time sees the near ruin, which impends on all the despisers of God. But what is stated, See shall my eyes, ought not to be so taken, as though the faithful exult with carnal joy, when they see the ungodly suffering the punishment which they have deserved; for the word to see is to be taken metaphorically, as signifying a pleasant and joyful sight, according to what it means in many other places; and as it is a phrase which often occurs, its meaning must be well known. See then shall my eyes, that is, “I shall enjoy to look on that calamity, which now impends over all the ungodly.” But, as I have already said, carnal joy is not what is here intended, which intemperately exults, but that pure joy which the faithful experience on seeing the grace of God displayed and also his judgment. But this joy cannot enter into our hearts until they be cleansed from unruly passions; for we are ever excessive in fear and sorrow, as well as in hope and joy, except the Lord holds us in, as it were, with a bridle. We shall therefore be only then capable of this spiritual joy, of which the Prophet speaks, when we shall put off all disordered feelings, and God shall subdue us by his Spirit: then only shall we be able to retain moderation in our joy. The Prophet proceeds —

COFFMA, "Verse 10"Then mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her who said unto me, Where is Jehovah thy God? Mine eyes shall see my desire upon her; now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets."

"Where is Jehovah thy God ...?" The true Israel, even Jesus Christ the holy One, suffered exactly this same taunt upon the cross itself (Matthew 27:43).

"Shame shall cover her ..." "This describes the anticipated astonishment of Babylon (my enemy) in the day of God's redeeming his people from exile."[21]

COSTABLE, "Then Micah"s enemies would see God"s rightness and feel ashamed for accusing Yahweh of abandoning His watchman. Micah would also see these enemies humiliated and brought low, trodden down like mud in the street (cf. Joshua 10:24; Psalm 110:1).

TRAPP, "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.

Ver. 10. Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, &c.] ot only shall I behold his righteousness (as before), but mine enemy shall see it, and feel it too, to her small comfort. They shall see it when it is too late to remedy it; as they say the mole never opens her eyes till pangs of death are upon her.

And shame shall cover her] When she shall see that thou hast showed me a token for good; that thou hast helped me, and comforted me, Psalms 86:17.

Which said unto me, Where is the Lord thy God?] So laying her religion in her dish, whereby God became interested in her cause, and concerned in point of honour to appear for her. The Church is no less beholden to her enemies’ insolence for help than to her own devotions; for God will right himself and her together. See Joel 2:17. {See Trapp on "Joel 2:17"}

Mine eyes shall behold her] And feed upon her misery, not as mine enemy, but as God’s; nor out of private revenge, but out of zeal for his glory.

ow shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets] Exit infra omnes infimos: she shall be as mean as may be. ineveh, that great city, is now a little town of small trade; Babylon is nothing else but a sepulture of herself. Those four monarchies that so heavily oppressed the Church are now laid in the dust, and live by fame only; so shall the Romish hierarchy and Turkish empire. All Christ’s enemies shall shortly be in that place that is fittest for them; sc. under his feet, as was before noted; he will dung his Church with the carcases of all those wild boars and bulls of Bashan that have trod it down.

BESO, "Verses 10-13Micah 7:10-13. Then she that is mine enemy — amely, the Chaldean nation. Which said unto me, (namely, when she held me captive,) Where is the Lord thy God? — Where is now Jehovah, whom thou worshippest, and sayest is the only God? Why does he not now deliver thee? Why does he not free thee from my hands, who am not his worshipper? Mine eyes shall behold her: now shall she be trodden down, &c. — As the heathen beheld the desolations of God’s church and temple with delight, (see Micah 4:11,) so it shall come to my turn to see God’s judgments executed upon the Babylonish empire, which shall be brought down to as low a condition as ever they had reduced God’s people. In the day that thy walls shall be built, &c. — When God shall visit his people, and repair their decayed estate, (compare Amos 9:11,) then the tyrannical edicts of their persecutors shall be utterly

abolished. This may partly relate to the recalling those edicts, which put a stop to the rebuilding of the city and temple of Jerusalem: see Ezra 4:23-24; Ezra 6:14; ehemiah 2:8; ehemiah 2:17. In that day — At that time also; he shall come even to thee from Assyria, &c. — This may be rendered, They shall come, &c.; that is, thy restored inhabitants; and from the fortress — Or rather, from Egypt, even unto the river — That is, the Euphrates; for the word מצור, which we translate fortress, likewise means Egypt. All this signifies the return of the Jews from the various parts to which they had been scattered. otwithstanding, the land shall be desolate, &c. — evertheless the land shall, before this, be reduced to a state of desolation, on account of the heinous wickedness of those who at present inhabit it.

PETT, "Micah 7:10

‘Then my enemy will see it,And shame shall cover her who said unto me,

Where is YHWH your God?

My eyes will see my desire on her,

ow will she be trodden down as the mire of the streets.’

And all their enemies round about, who had enjoyed her discomforture (this suggests especially the righteous of Jerusalem) will be ashamed. The rival neighbour who had sneeringly said, ‘Where is YHWH your God?’ will be filled with embarrassment. For they will find themselves trodden down like the mire of the unmade muddy streets.

Micah Gives A Declaration Of Confidence In What YHWH Will Do In The Future For His True People.

In this remarkable prophecy Micah declares that in the future the nations will come to Jerusalem from their own mountains, to seek the mountain of YHWH, and yet it will be to a desolate land to which they come because of the fruit of the people’s doing. This is an accurate reflection of the situation in Jerusalem when there was the new nation of Israel, the messengers of YHWH (and of the Messiah) to which many from around the world would come to find life in Christ, while there was also the old nation of Israel which was barren and fruitless.

PULPIT, "Micah 7:10

She that is mine enemy. The worldly power is here personified, as so often "the daughter of Jerusalem." Shall see it. She shall see that Israel was not conquered because God was powerless to save. Where is the Lord thy God? The Assyrians always attributed their success in arms to the assistance, of their gods and the superiority of their deities to those of the conquered nations (comp. Isaiah 10:9-11; Isaiah 37:10-13). Thus the inscription of the palace of Khorsabad begins, "The gods

Assur, ebo, and Merodach have conferred on me the royalty of the nations.... By the grace and power of the great gods, my masters, I have flung my arms, by my force I have defeated my enemies" ('Records of the Past,' vol. 9.). (For taunts like that in the text, see Psalms 42:3; Psalms 79:10; Psalms 115:2; Joel 2:17.) Mine eyes shall behold her. Israel shall behold the destruction of the enemy. As the mire of the streets (Isaiah 10:6; Zechariah 10:5).

11 The day for building your walls will come, the day for extending your boundaries.

BARES 11-12, "On this confession of unworthiness and trust the message of joy bursts in, with the abruptness and conciseness of Hosea or Nahum:

A day to build thy fences; (that is, cometh;)That day, far shall be the degree;That day, and he shall come quite to thee;

And there follows, in a longer but still remarkably measured and interrupted cadence,

the statement of the length and breadth from which the people shall come to her;

Up to and from Assyria and the cities of strong-land (Egypt;)Up to and from strong-land and even to river (the Euphrates;)And sea from sea, and mountain to mountain.

It is not human might or strength which God promises to restore. He had before predicted, that the kingdom of the Messiah should stand, not through earthly strength Mic_5:9-13. He promises the restoration, not of city walls, but of the fence of the vineyard of God, which God foretold by Isaiah that He would “break down” Isa_5:5. It is a peaceful renewal of her estate under God’s protection, like that, with the promise whereof Amos closed his prophecy; “In that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof” Amo_9:11. This decree, which he says shall be far away, might in itself be the decree either of God or of the enemy. The sense is the same, since the enemy was but the instrument of God. Yet it seems more in accordance with the language of the prophets, that it should be the decree of man. For the decree of God for the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of His people was accomplished, held its course, was fulfilled.

The destruction, captivity, restoration, were parts of one and the same decree of God, of which the restoration was the last accomplished in time. The restoration was not the

removal, but the complete fulfillment, of the decree. He means then probably, that the decree of the enemy, whereby he held her captive, was to remove and be far off, not by any agency of her’s . The people were to stream to her of themselves. One by one, shall all thy banished, captive, scattered, children be brought quite home unto thee from all parts of the earth, whither they have been driven, “from Assyria, and from strong-land”. The name Matsor, which he gives to Egypt, modifying its ordinary dual name Mitsraim, is meant, at once to signify “Egypt” , and to mark the strength of the country; as, in fact, , “Egypt was on all sides by nature strongly guarded.”

A country, which was still strong relatively to Judah, would not, of itself, yield up its prey, but held it straitly; yet it should have to disgorge it. Isaiah and Hosea prophesied, in like way, the return of Israel and Judah from Assyria and from Egypt. “And from strong-land even to the river” Isa_11:11; Isa_27:13; Hos_11:11 (Euphrates); the ancient, widest, boundary of the promised land; “and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain” Gen_15:18; Exo_23:31; Deu_1:7; Deu_11:24, Jos_1:4; 1Ki_4:21, 1Ki_4:24. These last are too large to be the real boundaries of the land. If understood geographically, it would by narrowig those which had just been spoken of, from Egypt to the Euphratcs. Joel likens the destruction of the Northern army to the perishing of locusts in the two opposite seas, the Dead sea and the Mediterranean Joe_2:20; but the Dead sea was not the entire Eastern boundary of all Israel. Nor are there any mountains on the South, answering to Mount Libanus on the North. Not the mountains of Edom which lay to the South-East, but the desert Exo_23:31; Num_34:3; Deu_11:24 was the Southern boundary of Judah. In the times too of their greatest prosperity, Edom, Moab, Ammon, Syria, had been subject to them.

The rule of the Messiah “from sea to sea” had already been predicted by Solomon , enlarging the boundaries of the promised land to the whole compass of the world, from the sea, their bound westward, to the further encircling sea beyond all habitable land, in which, in fact, our continents are large islands . To this, Micah adds a new description, “from mountain to mountain”, including, probably, all subdivisions in our habitable earth, as the words, “sea to sea”, had embraced it as a whole. For, physically and to sight, mountains are the great natural divisions of our earth. Rivers are but a means of transit. The Euphrates and the Nile were the centers of the kingdoms which lay upon them. Each range of mountains, as it rises on the horizon, seems to present an insuperable barrier. No barrier should avail to hinder the inflow to the Gospel. As Isaiah foretold that all obstacles should be removed, “every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low” Isa_40:4, so Micah prophesies, “from mountain to mountain they shall come”.

The words are addressed as a promise and consolation to the Jews, and so, doubtless, the restoration of the Jews to their own land after the captivity is foretold here, as Micah had already foretold it Mic_4:10. But is the whole limited to this? He says, with remarkable indefiniteness, there shall come . He does not say, who “shall come.” But he twice sets two opposite boundaries, from which men should come; and, since these boundaries, not being coincident, cannot be predicted of one and the same subject, there must be two distinct incomings. The Jews were to come from those two countries, whither its people were then to be carried captive or would flee. From the boundaries of the world, the world was to come.

Thus, Micah embraces in one the prophecies, which are distinct in Isaiah, that not only God’s former people should come from Egypt and A ssyria, but that Egypt and Assyria themselves should be counted as one with Israel Isa_19:23-25; and while, in the first place, the restoration of Israel itself is foretold, there follows that conversion of the world, which Micah had before promised Mic_4:1-3, and which was the object of the

restoration of Israel. This was fulfilled to Jews and pagan together, when the dispersed of the Jews were gathered into one in Christ, the Son of David according to the flesh, and the Gospel, beginning at Jerusalem, was spread abroad among all nations. The promise is thrice repeated, It is the day, assuring the truth thereof, as it were, in the Name of the All-Holy Trinity.

CLARKE, "In the day that thy walls are to be built - This refers to Jerusalem; the decree, to the purpose of God to deliver the people into captivity. “This shall be far removed.” God having purposed their return, I cannot think, with some commentators, that this verse contains threatenings against Jerusalem, and not promises. See Hag_1:1-15 (note), where the subject is similar; and the restoration of Jerusalem is certainly what the prophet describes.

GILL, "In the day that thy walls are to be built,.... These words are not spoken to the enemy, as some think; either the Chaldeans, the walls of whose city, Babylon, being demolished by the Persians, it would be a long day or time before they were rebuilt and when their power of sending their decrees abroad among the nations would be far off: or to the enemy that should think to build up their walls with the spoils of Israel, in the time of Gog and Magog, and when their decree determined over the nations and Israel would also be far off; but they are the words of the prophet to the church and people of God, comforting them with observing, that there would be a day when the walls of Jerusalem, and the temple, which would lie in ruins during their captivity, would be rebuilt; and which was fulfilled in the times of Zerubbabel and Nehemiah; and so the Targum,

"that time the congregation of Israel shall be built;''

and which had a further accomplishment, in a spiritual sense, in the first times of the Gospel, when the church of Christ was built up, and established in the world and will still have a greater completion in the latter day, when the tabernacle of David, or church of Christ, shall be raised that is fallen, and its breaches closed, and ruins repaired, Amo_9:11;

in that day shall the decree be far removed; which, as it literally respects Jerusalem, and the rebuilding of that after seventy years captivity, may signify either the decree of God concerning that captivity, which would then cease, according to the time fixed by it; or the cruel laws and edicts of the Babylonians, which should no more bind and press the Jews, and be as a heavy yoke upon them; those statutes, which were not good, that were given them. So the Targum,

"at that time the decrees of the nations shall cease;''

or the decree of Artaxerxes, forbidding and hindering the rebuilding of the city: but if the phrase "far removed" signifies its being divulged and spread far abroad, as it is interpreted by some; then it may refer to the decree of Cyrus for rebuilding the city and temple; and which was revived and confirmed by Darius Hystaspis, and by Darius Longimanus, and which was published everywhere; and by means of which the Jews from all parts were encouraged to come up to their own land, and proselytes with them;

and which sense suits well with what follows: and as this, in a spiritual sense, may have regard to the church of Christ in Gospel times, it may signify the removal of human laws, traditions, rites, and ceremonies, respecting religious things, among the Gentiles, and their giving way to those of God and Christ; or the promulgation of the Gospel in all parts, called a decree, Psa_2:6; because a revelation of the decrees of God, respecting the salvation of men, and to which it owes its efficacy; by means of which many would be brought to the church, and the kingdom of Christ be enlarged, and spread everywhere, as follows:

JAMISO, "thy walls ... be built— under Cyrus, after the seventy years’ captivity; and again, hereafter, when the Jews shall be restored (Amo_9:11; Zec_12:6).

shall the decree be far removed— namely, thy tyrannical decree or rule of Babylon shall be put away from thee, “the statutes that were not good” (Eze_20:25) [Calvin]. Psa_102:13-16; Isa_9:4. The Hebrew is against Maurer’s translation, “the boundary of the city shall be far extended,” so as to contain the people flocking into it from all nations (Mic_7:12; Isa_49:20; Isa_54:2).

K&D 11-13, "The confident expectation rises in Mic_7:11 ff. into an assurance of the promise; the words of the prophet in the name of the church rising into an address to Zion, confirm its hope by the promise of the restoration of Zion, and the entrance of crowds of people into the city of God. Mic_7:11. “A day to build thy walls (cometh); in that day will the ordinance be far away.Mic_7:12. In that day will they come to thee from Asshur and the cities of Egypt, and from Egypt to the river, and (to) sea from sea, and (from) mountain to mountain.Mic_7:13. And the earth will become a desert because of its inhabitants, for the fruit of their doings.” Mic_7:11 consists of two clauses;

for we may easily supply to yōm “is” or “will be” = come. The daughter Zion is addressed

(cf. Mic_4:8) not as a church, but as a city, as the centre and representative of the kingdom of God. As such, she is compared to a vineyard, as in Isa_5:1-7; Isa_27:2-4;

Psa_80:9-10. The word gâdēr, which is generally used for the hedge or wall around a

vineyard, points to this (see Isa_5:5; Num_22:24; Ecc_10:8). יון�ההוא is an adverbial

accusative; in that day will חק be far away. The meaning of this word is very difficult to

find, and can hardly be settled with any certainty. The explanation of chōq, as signifying the law imposed upon Israel by the heathen oppressors (Chald., Hengstenberg, etc.), cannot be sustained, as this meaning cannot be established from Psa_104:20, and is not suggested by the context. So, again, the explanation, “On that day will the goal set (for Israel), or the boundary fixed (for it), be a far distant one (i.e., then will the boundaries of the land of Israel lie in the far distance, or be advanced to the remotest distance:” Hitzig, Caspari, and others), introduces a meaning into the words which they do not

possess. Even if chōq does denote a fixed point or a limit of either space or time, it never

signifies the boundary of a nation; and râchaq, to be far off, is not equivalent to being

advanced to a great distance. Chōq is apparently used here for the ordinance or limit

which God has appointed to separate Israel from the nations; not a land-boundary, but the law of Israel's separation from the nations.

This law will be far away, i.e., will be removed or set aside (yirach is only chosen for the

sake of the assonance with chōq), inasmuch as numerous crowds, as is added in Mic_

7:12 by way of explanation, will then stream to Zion, or come to the people of God, out of all lands (cf. Mic_4:1-2). For this is what Mic_7:12 refers to, and not the return to Zion

of the Israelites who have been scattered in the heathen lands. יבוא (impersonal), one

comes, they come: not “return,” ישוב, which must have been the expression used if the

return of the Israelites out of their captivity had been meant. The heathen who cherish a desire for the God of Zion and His law (Mic_4:2) will come to Israel; not to Israel as still living in their midst (Caspari), but to the Israel that has already returned, and whose walls have been rebuilt (Mic_7:11). The building of the walls of Zion involves the gathering together of the dispersed nation, or rather presupposes it. Heathen will come “from Asshur and the cities of Egypt,” i.e., from the two mightiest empires in the time of

the prophet. Mâtsōr, the poetical name of Egypt, as in Isa_19:6; Isa_37:25; and “cities of

Egypt,” because that land or kingdom was especially rich in cities. The further definitions individualize the idea of the totality of the lands and provinces, the correlative members being transposed and incomplete in the last two sentences, so that

the preposition עד must be supplied to וים, and the preposition מן to ההר. From Egypt to

the river (Euphrates) includes the lands lying between these two terminal points; and in the expressions, “sea from sea, and mountain to mountain,” seas and mountains are mentioned in the most general manner, as the boundaries of lands and nations; so that we have not to think of any particular seas and mountains, say the Western (or Mediterranean) Sea, and the Eastern (the Dead or the Galilean) Sea, as being the western and eastern boundaries of Palestine, and of Lebanon and Sinai as the northern and southern boundaries, but must adhere firmly to the general character of the expression: “from one sea and one mountain to another sea and mountain,” i.e., from every land situated between seas and mountains, that is to say, from all the lands and provinces of the earth. The coming out of all lands is not to be understood as denoting simply passing visits to Canaan or Zion, but as coming to connect themselves with the people of God, to be received into fellowship with them. There is a parallel to this promise in the promise contained in Isa_19:18-25, that in the Messianic times Egypt and Asshur will turn to Jehovah. This takes place because the earth will become a desert, on account of the evil deeds of its inhabitants. Whilst Zion is rebuilt, and the people of God are multiplied, by the addition of the godly Gentiles out of all the countries of the earth, the judgment falls upon the sinful world. This statement of Mic_7:13 is simply attached

to what precedes it by והיתה, in order to complete the promise of the restoration of Zion,

by adding the fate which will befal the earth (i.e., the earth outside Canaan); but it

actually contains the motive for the coming of the crowds to Zion. ה�רץ cannot be the land of Israel (Canaan) here, in support of which appeal has been made to Lev_26:33

and Isa_1:7; for the context neither leads to any such limitation as that ה�רץ could be

taken in the sense of רצכן (in Leviticus and Isaiah), nor allows of our thinking of the devastation of Canaan. When the day shall have come for the building of the walls of Zion, the land of Israel will not become a desert then; but, on the contrary, the devastation will cease. If the devastation of Canaan were intended here, we should have

either to take והיתה as a pluperfect, in violation of the rules of the language, or arbitrarily

to interpolate “previously,” as Hitzig proposes. על�ישביה� is defined more precisely by רי�Pמ

.The doings are of course evil ones, and the deeds themselves are the fruit (cf .מעלליהם

Isa_3:10).

CALVI, "Micah pursues the subject on which he had previously spoken, — that though the Church thought itself for a time to be wholly lost, yet God would become its deliverer. He says first, that the day was near, in which they were to build the wall. The word גדר, gidar, means either a mound or a wall; so it ought to be distinguished from a wall, that is, a strong fortress. He then intimates that the time would come, when God would gather his Church, and preserve it, as though it were defended on every side by walls. For we know that the scattering of the Church is compared to the pulling down of walls or fences: as when a person pulls down the fence of a field or a vineyard, or breaks down all enclosures; so when the Church is exposed as a prey to all, she is said to be like an open field or a vineyard, which is without any fence. ow, on the other hand, the Prophet says here, that the time would come, when the faithful shall again build walls, by which they may be protected from the assaults and plunder of enemies, A day then to build thy walls

Then he adds, This day shall drive afar off the edict; some render it tribute; but the word properly means an edict, and this best suits the passage; for the Prophet’s meaning is, that the people would not, as before, be subject to the tyranny of Babylon. For after the subversion of Jerusalem, the Babylonians, no doubt, triumphed very unfeelingly over the miserable people, and uttered dreadful threatening. The Prophet, therefore, under the name of edict, includes that cruel and tyrannical dominion which the Babylonians for a time exercised. We know what God denounces on the Jews by Ezekiel,

‘Ye would not keep my good laws; I will therefore give you laws which are not good, which ye shall be constrained to keep; and yet ye shall not live in them,’ (Ezekiel 20:25.)

Those laws which were not good were the edicts of which the Prophet now speaks. That day then shall drive far away the edict, that the Jews might not dread the laws of their enemies. For the Babylonians no doubt forbade, under the severest punishment, any one from building even a single house in the place where Jerusalem formerly was; for they wished that place to remain desolate, that the people might know that they had no hope of restoration. That day then shall put afar off; or drive to a distance, the edict; for liberty shall be given to the Jews to build their city; and then they shall not tremblingly expect every hour, until new edicts come forth, denouncing grievous punishments on whomsoever that would dare to encourage his brethren to build the temple of God.

Some draw the Prophet’s words to another meaning: they first think that he speaks only of the spiritual kingdom of Christ, and then they take רחק, rechek, in the sense of extending or propagating, and consider this to be the Gospel which Christ, by the command of the Father, promulgated through the whole world. It is indeed true that

David uses the word decree in Psalms 2:0, while speaking of the preaching of the Gospel; and it is also true, that the promulgation of that decree is promised in Psalms 110:0, ‘The rod of his power will Jehovah send forth from Zion.’ But this passage ought not to be thus violently perverted; for the Prophet no doubt means, that the Jews would be freed from all dread of tyranny when God restored them to liberty; and רחק, rechek, does not mean to extend or propagate, but to drive far away. That day then shall drive away the decree, so that the faithful shall be no more subject to tyrannical commands. We now perceive the true meaning of the Prophet.

The faithful doubtless prayed in their adversities, and depended on such prophecies as we find in Psalms 102:0,

‘The day is now come to show mercy to Zion, and to build its walls; for thy servants pity her stones.’

or did the faithful pray thus presumptuously, but taking confidence, as though God had dictated a form of prayer by his own mouth, they dealt with God according to his promise, “O Lord, thou hast promised the rebuilding of the city, and the time has been prefixed by Jeremiah and by other Prophets: since then the time is now completed, grant that the temple and the holy city may again be built.”

Some render the words, “In the day in which thou shalt build (or God shall build) thy walls — in that day shall be removed afar off the decree.” But I doubt not but that the Prophet promises here distinctly to the faithful both the restoration of the city and a civil freedom; for the sentence is in two parts: the Prophet intimates first, that the time was now near when the faithful would build their own walls, that they might not be exposed to the will of their enemies, — and then he adds, that they would be freed from the dread of tyranny; for God, as it is said by Isaiah, would break the yoke of the burden, and the scepter of the oppressor, (Isaiah 9:4;) and it is altogether the same kind of sentence.

COFFMA, "Verse 11"A day for building thy walls! in that day shall the decree be far removed."

"Prophesying the rebuilding of the walls also follows very naturally ... Israel also looked for a day when their frontiers would be extended, when her dominion would run from Assyria to Egypt."[22]

It is a great mistake, however, to overlook the spiritual import of these great prophecies. True, Israel's captivity was concluded in the triumphant return of the people to Jerusalem, a very necessary event prerequisite to the cohesion of the chosen people and the eventual delivery, through them, of the Messiah; but only in that Messiah, Jesus Christ, were the borders of a new Israel to be inclusive of the whole world. Today, even as of old, there are many who are so blinded by the vision of a worldly kingdom that the great spiritual empire of the Son of God seems never to enter their minds.

COSTABLE, "That day, when the Israelite critics of Micah and his prophecies would see they were wrong, would be when the walls around vineyards would be rebuilt and the boundaries of Judah extended (cf. Ezekiel 47:13-23; Obadiah 1:19-20). The word used here to describe walls, gader, elsewhere refers to the walls around vineyards (cf. umbers 22:24; Isaiah 5:5), not walls around a city. In the Millennium, Jerusalem will have no walls ( Zechariah 2:4-5). This refers to the distant future when God will Revelation -gather and reestablish Israel in her land, in the Millennium, not following the Babylonian captivity. This is clear from what follows.

COKE, "Micah 7:11. In the day, &c.— In the day that thy walls shall be rebuilt, that day shall remove from thee the decree or judgment; that is to say, thine established laws; the laws of thy kingdom and temple. That threats, not promises, are contained in this passage, will appear probable to the reader who attends to what follows; particularly the words, The land shall be desolate. The Jews then lost their rites, and the laws of their kingdom, when they had but just repaired their walls under the reign of Herod, who rebuilt and enlarged the temple, and fortified the city. See Houbigant.

ELLICOTT, "(11) In that day shall the decree be far removed.—The “decree” was something “definite,” as an appointed law or statute, and this should be far removed. Some interpret this prophecy to mean the removal of the law of separation between Jews and Gentiles; others explain it as predicting that the decree of God concerned not the Jews only, but distant nations who should press into the kingdom of God. And this explanation coincides with the effect of the decree, which was to bring to Jerusalem people from “the ends of the world.”

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

Ver. 11. In the day that thy walls are to be built] In the type, by ehemiah, ehemiah 3:1-32, who did the work with all his might; and having a ready heart, made riddance and good dispatch of it. In the truth, and spiritually, when the gospel was to be "preached to every creature," Mark 16:15, and a Church collected of Jews and Gentiles. The Church is in the Canticles said to he a garden enclosed; such as hath a wall about it and a well within it, Song of Solomon 4:12. {See Trapp on "Song of Solomon 4:12"} God will be favourable in his good pleasure unto Zion, and build the walls of Jerusalem, Psalms 51:18. His spirit also will set up a standard in his saints, against strong corruptions and temptations; and make them more than conquerors, even triumphers, Isaiah 59:19, Romans 8:37, 2 Corinthians 2:14.

In that day shall the decree be far removed] That decree of the Babylonians, forbidding the building of the temple and city, shall be reversed; and those statutes that were not good (given them by Gods permission, because they had despised his statutes, Ezekiel 20:24-25), shall be annulled, and removed far away. Some read it,

In that day shall the decree go far abroad; and interpret it, by Psalms 2:7-8, of the doctrine of the gospel.

PETT, "Micah 7:11

‘A day for building your walls!

That will be a day when the decree will be far removed (or ‘when the boundary will be extended’).’

Micah expects a day of rebuilding. This prophecy was probably made as Assyria closed in on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah were one by one destroyed. But Micah is confident that the walls of those cities would be rebuilt when Israel was free again. The prophecy gained in meaning once Jerusalem itself had been destroyed, but there is no mention of it in the narrative.

The removal of the decree probably refers to YHWH’s decree to bring judgment on His people, but it may refer to the king of Assyria’s decree to destroy Judah. Either way the decree will be reversed and be far removed because of YHWH’s will. The alternative possible translation indicates that once again Judah would expand outwards once the invasion was over.

Of course the prophecy found an expanded fulfilment when ehemiah returned to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, but that was not necessarily what the prophet (or the Holy Spirit speaking through the prophet) had in mind.

What is, however, central in the words is the promise of the reversal of judgment and the guarantee of future prosperity..

PULPIT, "Micah 7:11

The prophet here addresses Zion, and announces her restoration. In the day that thy walls are to be built; rather, a day for building thy walls (gader) cometh. Zion is represented as a vineyard whose fence has been destroyed (Isaiah 5:5, Isaiah 5:7). The announcement is given abruptly and concisely in three short sentences. In that day shall the decree be far removed. The decree (Zephaniah 2:2) is explained by Hengstenberg and many commentators, ancient and modern, to he that of the enemy by which they held Israel captive. Keil and others suppose the law to be meant which separated Israel from all other nations, the ancient ordinance which confined God's people and the blessings of the theocracy to narrow limits. This is now to be set aside (comp. Ephesians 2:11-16), when heathen nations flock to the city of God. Oaspari, Hitzig, Cheyne, and others translate, "shall the bound be afar off," i.e. the boundaries of the land of Israel shall be widely extended (comp. Isaiah 33:17, which Cheyne explains, "Thine eyes shall behold a widely extended territory"). Wordsworth obtains much the same meaning by taking the verb in the sense of "promulgated," and referring the "decree," as in Psalms 2:7, Psalms 2:8, to God's purpose of giving to Messiah the utmost parts of the earth for a possession.

The building, of the walls does not indicate the narowing of the limits of the theocratic kingdom. Whether chok be taken to signify "decree" (lex, Vulgate) or "boundary," the effect of its removal afar is seen by the next verse to be the entrance of foreign nations into the kingdom of God. The LXX. favours the first interpretation, ἀποτρίψεται [ ἀπώσεται, Alex.] νόµιµά σου [ σου omit, Alex.] ἡ ἡµέρα ἐκείνη, "That day shall utterly abolish thy ordinances."

BI 11-12, "In the day that thy walls are to be built

The good time coming

I.It will be a time for rebuilding the ruined. “In the day that thy walls are to be built.” The walls of Jerusalem are referred to—the walls of fortification, protection, these are to be rebuilt. There is, however, a more important rebuilding than this—a rebuilding that is going on, and will go on, until the great moral city shall be complete.

1. The human soul is a building; it is a temple, a “spiritual house” reared as a residence for the Eternal. It is “a city whose builder and maker is God.”

2. The human soul is a building in ruins. The walls are broken down; its columns, arches, roof, rooms, all in ruins.

3. The human soul is a building to be rebuilt. Christ is to be the foundation stone, etc. This rebuilding is going on according to a plan of the Great Moral Architect; is being worked out by agents that know nothing of the plan.

II. It will be a time for regathering the scattered. “In that day also He shall come even to thee from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, and from the fortresses even to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.” The human family, which heaven intended to live as one grand brotherhood, has been riven into moral sections, antagonistic to each other, and scattered all over the world. The time will come when they shall be gathered together, not, of course, in a local sense, but in a spiritual—in unity of sentiment, sympathy, aim, soul. All shall be one in Christ. They will be gathered in spirit together from the four winds of heaven. (Homilist.)

12 In that day people will come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,even from Egypt to the Euphrates and from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain.

CLARKE, "In that day also he shall come - Bp. Newcome translates: -

“And in that day they shall come unto theeFrom Assyria and the fenced cities;And from Egypt even unto the river.”

Calmet translates: -

“They shall come to thee from Assyria even unto Egypt;And from Egypt even to the river; (Euphrates);And from one sea to another, and from one mountain to another.”

This, says he, gives an easy sense; whereas we cannot tell where to find those fortified cities spoken of by other translators. The Israelites were to return from their captivity, and re-occupy their ancient country from Assyria to Egypt; that is, from the river Euphrates to the river Nile; and from the Mediterranean Sea to the Ocean, and from Mount Libanus to the mountains of Arabia Petraea, or Mount Seir. See Amo_8:12. This prediction was literally fulfilled under the Asmoneans. The Jewish nation was greatly extended and very powerful under Herod, at the time that our Lord was born. See Calmet.

GILL, "In that day also he shall come even to thee,.... Which words also are not directed to the enemy, as some interpret them; as to Chaldea or Babylon; and the sense be, that Cyrus should come thither, and take it; or any more remote enemy of the Jews in the latter day, to whom the day of the Lord should come, or his decree of vengeance or judgment upon them, or any enemy to waste and destroy them; but they are a continued address to Jerusalem or the church, signifying that "he", the people of the Jews, the body of them, with the proselyted Gentiles, should come from all parts to Jerusalem to rebuild it upon the decree of Cyrus; and that multitudes of all, or at least many nations, should flock to the church of Christ, upon the publication of the Gospel:

from Assyria: where many of the Jews, and even of the ten tribes, were, whither they were carried captive:

and from the fortified cities; in Assyria, and other countries, where the Jews might be placed, either as prisoners, or to do servile work, as repairing the fortifications; or for the defence of the country, from which they were to be and were released upon Cyrus taking of Babylon; and was a type of the redemption by Christ from greater bondage. It may be rendered the cities of Egypt, as Kimchi observes, here and in 2Ki_19:24; and so Ben Melech: it is interpreted by some Matzor, being the same with Mitzraim, which is the name for Egypt; and the sense would be more easy, as well as the words run more smoothly, thus, "shall come from Assyria even to the cities of Egypt": and then it follows,

and from the fortress even to the river; or from Egypt, to the river Euphrates, which was one of the boundaries of the land of Israel:

and from sea to sea; from the Persian sea to the Mediterranean sea, or from the Red

sea thither, and from the several maritime parts where they inhabited:

and from mountain to mountain; from Mount Taurus to Carmel, or Lebanon, or Hor; or from the several mountains to which they had fled to, safety, and where they had dwelt. It may respect the extent of the church and kingdom of Christ in the latter day, enlarged by the numerous conversions of Jews and Gentiles in all parts of the world. The Jews shall be gathered from all places where they are, and join themselves to the church of Christ; and these several places, particularly Assyria, Egypt and the islands of the sea from whence they shall be brought, are mentioned in other prophecies; see Isa_11:11; though this may respect, not barely the conversion and gathering of them to Christ and his church, but of the Gentiles also in those several countries, thus; they "shall come from Assyria, and the fortified cities"; that is, from the Turkish empire; the land of Assyria, and its fortified cities, being in the possession of the Turks, and in whose dominions many Jews at this day reside; and not only they, but multitudes in the Ottoman empire, shall be converted in the latter day, and become members of Christian churches; signified by the flocks of Kedar, and the rams of Nebaioth, that shall be gathered to the church, and minister there, Isa_60:7; and they shall come "from the fortress even to the river"; from everyone of the fortified cities before mentioned to the river Euphrates, which will be dried up to make way for the kings or kingdoms of the east, for their conversion to Christ, and embracing his Gospel; even the large kingdoms of Persia, Tartary, China, &c. Rev_16:12; or "from Egypt to the river Euphrates"; and so signifies the same as before, Egypt being part of the Turkish dominions; or else the Roman jurisdiction, spiritually called Egypt, may be meant, Rev_11:8; and in several Popish countries are many Jews, who will be called from thence; as well as many of the Papists themselves shall be called out of mystical Babylon, and embrace the true religion of Christ: "and from sea to sea"; this is a well known description of the amplitude of Christ's church and kingdom in Gospel times, especially in the latter day; see Psa_72:8; or, as it may be rendered, "the sea from the sea" (e); that is, the inhabitants of the sea, or of the islands of it, shall come from thence to the church, see Isa_11:11; these are the same with the abundance of the sea, that shall be converted to Christ, and join his people in the latter day, as in our isle and others, Isa_40:5; "and from mountain to mountain"; or rather, "and mountain shall come to the mountain" (f); that is, the inhabitants of the mountain, or of Rome, that is situated on seven mountains, of mystical Babylon, the great mountain; these shall be called from hence to Mount Zion, the church of the living God, where Christ with the 144,000 will be; and which shall then be established on the top of the mountains, and all nations shall flow unto it, Rev_14:1. The Targum is,

"at that time the captives shall be gathered from Assyria, and the strong cities, and from Churmini (or Armenia), the great and the fortified cities, even unto Euphrates, and the western sea, and the mountains of the mountain.''

JAMISO, "In that day also— rather, an answer to the supposed question of Zion, When shall my walls be built? “The day (of thy walls being built) is the day when he (that is, many) shall come to thee from Assyria,” etc. [Ludovicus De Dieu]. The Assyrians (including the Babylonians) who spoiled thee shall come.

and from the fortified cities— rather, to suit the parallelism, “from Assyria even

to Egypt.” (Matzor may be so translated). So Assyria and Egypt are contrasted in Isa_

19:23 [Maurer]. Calvin agrees with English Version, “from all fortified cities.”

from the fortress even to the river— “from Egypt even to the river” Euphrates

(answering in parallelism to “Assyria”) [Maurer]. Compare Isa_11:15, Isa_11:16; Isa_19:23-25; Isa_27:13; Hos_11:11; Zec_10:10.

CALVI, "He afterwards adds, In that day also to thee shall they come from Asshur. There is some obscurity in the words; hence interpreters have regarded different words as being understood: but to me the meaning of the Prophet appears not doubtful. In that day, he says,to thee shall they come from Asshur, and cities of the fortress and from the fortress even to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain; but some think הר, er, to be a proper name, and render the last clause, “And from mount Hor:” and we know that Aaron was buried on this mount. But the Prophet, no doubt, alludes here to some other place; and to render it mount Hor is a strained version. I doubt not, therefore, but that the Prophet repeats a common name, as though he said, “From mountains to mountains.”

Let us now see what the Prophet means. With regard to the passage, as I have said, there is no ambiguity, provided we bear in mind the main subject. ow the Prophet had this in view, — That Jerusalem, when restored by God, would be in such honor along all nations that there would be flowing to her from all parts. He then says, that the state of the city would be very splendid, so that people from all quarters would come to it: and therefore the copulative vau is to be taken twice for even for the sake of emphasis, In that day, even to thee, and then, even to the river; for it was not believed that Jerusalem would have any dignity, after it had been entirely destroyed, together with the temple. It is no wonder then that the Prophet so distinctly confirms here what was by no means probable, at least according to the common sentiments of men, — that Jerusalem would attract to itself all nations, even those far away. Come, then, shall they, (for the verb יבוא, ibua, in the singular number must be taken indefinitely as having a plural meaning,) Come, then, shall they from Asshur even to thee. But the Assyrians had previously destroyed every land, overturned the kingdom of Israel, and almost blotted out its name; and they had also laid waste the kingdom of Judah; a small portion only remained. They came afterwards, we know, with the Chaldeans, after the seat of empire was translated to Babylon, and destroyed ineveh. Therefore, by naming the Assyrians, he no doubt, taking a part for the whole, included the Babylonians. Come, then, shall they from Asshur, and then, from the cities of the fortress, that is, from every fortress. For they who take צור, tsur, for Tyre are mistaken; for מצור, metsur (192) is mentioned twice, and it means citadels and strongholds. And then, even to the river, that is, to utmost borders of Euphrates; for many take Euphrates, by way of excellence, to be meant by the word river; as it is often the case in Scripture; though it might be not less fitly interpreted of any or every river, as though the Prophet had said, that there would be no obstacle to stop their course who would hasten to Jerusalem. Even to the river then, and from sea to sea, that is, they shall come in troops from remote countries, being led by the celebrity of the holy city; for when it shall be rebuilt by God’s command, it shall acquire new and unusual honor, so that all people from every part shall assemble there. And then, from mountain to mountain, that is, from regions far asunder. This is the sum of the whole.

The Prophet then promises what all men deemed as fabulous, — that the dignity of

the city Jerusalem should be so great after the return of the Jews from exile, that it would become, as it were, the metropolis of the world. One thing must be added: They who confine this passage to Christ seem not indeed to be without a plausible reason; for there follows immediately a threatening as to the desolation of the land; and there seems to be some inconsistency, except we consider the Prophet here as comparing the Church collected from all nations with the ancient people. But these things will harmonize well together if we consider, that the Prophet denounces vengeance on the unbelieving who then lived, and that he yet declares that God will be merciful to his chosen people. But the restriction which they maintain is too rigid; for we know that it was usual with the Prophets to extend the favor of God from the return of the ancient people to the coming of Christ. Whenever, then, the Prophets make known God’s favor in the deliverance of his people, they make a transition to Christ, but included also the whole intermediate time. And this mode the Prophet now pursues, and it ought to be borne in mind by us. Let us go on —

11. The day for building thy walls! That day! Removed far shall be the decree:

>12. That day! Even to thee shall they come, From Assyria and cities of fortress, And from the fortress even to the river, And fromsea to sea, and frommountain to mountain, or, word for word, From the sea and the mountain of the mountain.

The last expression seems to mean, “every mountain.” — Ed.

COFFMA, "Verse 12"In that day shall they come unto thee from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, and from Egypt even to the River, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain."

This verse continues the prophecy of the extensive acceptance of Christianity all over the world. Those who would restrict it to some literal fulfillment in the resurgence of the old Hebrew Empire miss the point altogether. The language here includes much more than the area between the Mediterranean Sea and Euphrates River. Such expressions as "sea to sea" and "mountain to mountain" encompass the whole world. The background of this prophecy was laid in Micah 7:10, where by the means of a taunt echoed at Calvary itself, the true Israel, CHRIST, is surely in view. It is in Christ, the true Israel, that Israel receives tribute from every land on earth.

COSTABLE, "Israel"s former enemies from all over the world, represented by Assyria and the Euphrates River on the northwest and Egypt on the southeast, would come to the Israelites in their land (cf. Isaiah 19:23-25; Amos 9:11-15). They would come from everywhere between the seas and the mountains, a synecdoche for everywhere on earth (cf. Psalm 72:8; Zechariah 9:10).

ELLICOTT, "(12) In that day also he shall come.—Rather translate, In that day shall they (impersonal) come even to thee from Assyria and (from) the cities of Matzor (i.e., Egypt), and from Matzor even to the river (Euphrates), and from sea to sea, and (from) mountain to mountain. The prophet beholds people coming from all parts of the earth to Jerusalem. Isaiah foresaw the like future, and spoke of Assyria, Egypt, and Israel being assembled together, “whom the Lord of Hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt, my people, and Assyria, the work of my hands, and Israel, mine inheritance” (Isaiah 19:25). The Christian reader can hardly refrain from discerning on the horizon of Micah’s vision that marvellous assembly of the representatives of the nations in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost.

TRAPP, "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.

Ver. 12. In that day also he shall come even to thee from Assyria] To thee, Jerusalem, in the type, shall recourse be had from all parts, as if thou wert the chief city of the world (Pliny saith, that in his time she was the most famous of all the cities of the East; and Titus himself is said to have wept at the last destruction of it by his soldiers, whom he could not restrain from firing the temple). To the new Jerusalem, the Church of the ew Testament, in the antitype: from whence the gospel was sent out to "every creature which is under heaven," Colossians 1:23, and whereunto people of all sorts flowed, and many nations came, Micah 4:1-2, with highest acclamations, most vigorous affections, and utmost endeavours bestowing themselves upon the Lord Christ, Acts 2:9. Jerusalem in the Hebrew tongue is of the dual number; in regard of the two parts of the city, the upper and the nether town. Or (as the Cabalists give the reason), in regard of a two-fold Jerusalem, the heavenly and the earthly; and the taking away of the earthly, they say, was signified by the taking away of the letter jod out of Jerushalajim, 2 Samuel 5:13. "But Jerusalem which is above is free," firm and full; "the desolate" (once so) "having many more children than she that hath a husband," Galatians 4:26-27, "Whom the Lord of hosts also doth bless, saying" (as a father to them all), "Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance," Isaiah 19:25.

And from the fortress even to the river] i.e. from all bounds and borders of the land, yea, of the world, {Psalms 89:12, Tabor and Hermon are put for the east and west parts of the world} shall people come to the new Jerusalem, which hath "twelve gates: On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates," Revelation 21:12-13. {See Trapp on "Revelation 21:12"} {See Trapp on "Revelation 21:13"}

PETT, "Micah 7:12

‘In that day will they come to you from Assyria,

And from the cities of Egypt,

And from Egypt even to the River,

And from sea to sea,

And from mountain to mountain.

But Micah also has in mind his prophecy in Micah 4:2, and so he assures them that one day (‘in that day’ is a prophetic term for a long time ahead) the nations will come to God’s people and to Jerusalem from all round the world. They will come from Assyria, and Egypt (compare Isaiah 19:18-25), and from the land between Egypt and the Euphrates, and from east and west (the Great Sea to the Persian Gulf), and from mountain to mountain. This last phrase ties in with the hills above which the mountain of YHWH will be exalted (Micah 4:1). They will leave behind their own various mountains of the gods as they seek YHWH.

Alternately the reference may be to the return of Exiles from those countries. But the first seems more likely in view of Micah 4:2

PULPIT, "Micah 7:12

He shall come; they shall come. Men shall flock to Zion as the metropolis of the new kingdom (Micah 4:2). The countries named are those in which the Jews were dispersed (see Isaiah 11:11). Micah embraces in one view the restoration of Israel and the conversion of the heathen (comp. Isaiah 19:24; Isaiah 27:12, Isaiah 27:13). Assyria. The type of the greatest enemy of God. The fortified cities; rather, the cities of Mazor, the strong land, i.e. Egypt. The usual term for Egypt is Mizraim; but Mazor is found in 2 Kings 19:24; Isaiah 19:6; Isaiah 37:25. Cheyne compares the Assyrian name for this country, Mucar. From the fortress; from Mazor; Septuagint, ἀπὸ τύρου, "from Tyre" or Tsor. Even to the river. From Egypt to the Euphrates, which was the river par excellence. (Genesis 15:18). From sea to sea. ot necessarily from the Mediterranean to the Dead Sea or to the Persian Gulf (as Joel 2:20), but generally, from one sea to another, from the earth as bounded by the seas; so, from mountain to mountain; i.e. not from Lebanon to Sinai, or from Hor (umbers 20:22) to Hor (umbers 34:7), which is too limited, but from all lands situated between mountain barriers, which are the bounds of the world (comp. Isaiah 60:3, etc.).

13 The earth will become desolate because of its

inhabitants, as the result of their deeds.

BARES. "Notwithstanding - (And) the land (that is that spoken of, the land of Judah) shall be desolate not through any arbitrary law or the might of her enemies, but through the sins of the people, because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings Truly “the fruit of their doings,” what they did to please themselves, of their own minds against God. As they sow, so shall they reap. This sounds almost as a riddle and contradiction beforehand; “the walls built up,” “the people gathered in,” and “the land desolate.” Yet it was all fulfilled in the letter as well as in spirit. Jerusalem was restored; the people was gathered, first from the captivity, then to Christ; and yet the land was again desolate through the fruit of their doings who rejected Christ, and is so until this day.

The prophet now closes with one earnest prayer Mic_7:14; to which he receives a brief answer, that God would shew forth His power anew, as when He first made them His people Mic_7:15. On this, he describes vividly the awed submission of the world to their God Mic_7:16-17, and closes with a thanksgiving of marveling amazement at the greatness and completeness of the forgiving mercy of God Mic_7:18-19, ascribing all to His free goodness Mic_7:5 :20.

CLARKE, "Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate - This should be translated in the preter tense, “Though the land Had been desolate;” that is, the land of Israel had been desolate during the captivity, which captivity was the “fruit of the evil doings of them that had dwelt therein.”

GILL, "Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate,.... Not the land of Chaldea, as some; or the land of the nations, as Jarchi and Kimchi; but the land of Israel. That part of it, which was possessed by the ten tribes, was made desolate by Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and that which was inhabited by the two tribes, by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and this desolation was to be, "notwithstanding" the above prophecies, and prior to the fulfilment of them. So some render the words, as in the margin of our Bibles "after the land hath been desolate" (g); and it is observed, partly to prevent wicked men promising themselves impunity from the above prophecies; and partly to prevent despair in good men, when such a desolation should be made. And then again it was made desolate by the Romans, previous to the spread and establishment of the church of Christ, by the success of the Gospel in the Gentile world, in the first times of it; and by the conversion of the Jews, and bringing in the fulness of the Gentiles, in, he last times of it;

because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings: because of the sins of the inhabitants of the land of Israel: the desolation made by the kings of Assyria

and Babylon was for the idolatry of Israel and Judah, and other sins; and the desolation made by the Romans for the Jews rejection of the Messiah.

HERY, " Though the land continue a great while desolate, yet it shall at length be replenished again, when the time, even the set time, of its deliverance comes. 1. Its salvation shall not come till after it has been desolate; so the margin reads it, Mic_7:13. God has a controversy with the land, and it must lie long under his rebukes, because of those that dwell therein; it is their iniquity that makes their land desolate (Psa_107:34); it is for the fruit of their doings, their evil doings which they have been themselves guilty of, and the evil fruit of them, the sins of others, which they have been accessory to by their bad influence and example. For this they must expect to smart a great while; for the world shall know that God hates sin even in his own people. 2. When it does come it shall be a complete salvation; and it seems to refer to their deliverance out of Babylon by Cyrus, which Isaiah about this time prophesied of, as a type of our redemption by Christ. (1.) The decree shall be far removed. God's decree concerning their captivity, and Nebuchadnezzar's decree concerning the perpetuity of it, his resolution never to release them, “these shall be set aside and revoked, and you shall hear no more of them; they shall no more lie as a yoke upon thy neck.” (2.) Jerusalem and the cities of Judah shall be again reared: Then thy walls shall be built, walls for habitation, walls for defence, house-walls, town-walls, temple-walls; it is in order to these that the decree is repealed, Isa_44:28. Though Zion's walls may lie long in ruins, there will come a day when they shall be repaired. (3.) All that belong to the land of Israel, whithersoever dispersed, and howsoever distressed, far and wide over the face of the whole earth, shall come flocking to it again (Mic_7:12): He shall come even to thee, having liberty to return and a heart to return, from Assyria, whither the ten tribes were carried away, though it lay remote, and from the fortified cities, and from the fortress, those strongholds in which they thought they had them fast; for when God's time comes, though Pharaoh will not let the people go, God will fetch them out with a high hand. They shall come from all the remote parts, from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain, not turning back for fear of your discouragements, but they shall go from strength to strength till they come to Zion. Thus in the great day of redemption God will gather his elect from the four winds.

JAMISO, "However glorious the prospect of restoration, the Jews are not to forget the visitation on their “land” which is to intervene for the “fruit of (evil caused by) their doings” (compare Pro_1:31; Isa_3:10, Isa_3:11; Jer_21:14).

CALVI, "The Prophet, as I have already said, seems to be inconsistent with himself: for after having spoken of the restoration of the land, he now abruptly says, that it would be deserted, because God had been extremely provoked by the wickedness of the people. But, as I have stated before, it was almost an ordinary practice with the Prophets, to denounce at one time God’s vengeance on all the Jews, and then immediately to turn to the faithful, who were small in number, and to raise up their minds with the hope of deliverance. We indeed know that

the Prophets had to do with the profane despisers of God; it was therefore necessary for them to fulminate, when they addressed the whole body of the people: the contagion had pervaded all orders, so that they were all become apostates, from the highest to the lowest, with very few exceptions, and those hidden amidst the great mass, like a few grains in a vast heap of chaff. Then the Prophets did not without reason mingle consolations with threatening; and their threatening they addressed to the whole body of the people; and then they whispered, as it were, in the ear, some consolation to the elect of God, the few remnants, — “Yet the Lord will show mercy to you; though he has resolved to destroy his people, ye shall yet remain safe, but this will be through some hidden means.” Our Prophet then does, on the one hand, as here, denounce God’s vengeance on a people past remedy; and, on the others he speaks of the redemption of the Church, that by this support the faithful might be sustained in their adversities.

He now says, The land shall be for desolation (193) But why does he speak in so abrupt a manner? That he might drive hypocrites from that false confidence, with which they were swollen though God addressed not a word to them: but when God pronounced any thing, as they covered themselves with the name of Church, they then especially laid hold of any thing that was said to the faithful, as though it belonged to them: “Has not God promised that he will be the deliverer of his people?” as though indeed he was to be their deliverer, who had alienated themselves by their perfidy from him; and yet this was a very common thing among them. Hence the Prophet, seeing that hypocrites would greedily lay hold on what he had said, and by taking this handle would become more audacious, says now, The land shall be for desolation, that is, “Be ye gone; for when God testifies that he will be the deliverer of his Church, he does not address you; for ye are the rotten members; and the land shall be reduced to a waste before God’s favor, of which I now speak, shall appear.” We now then perceive the reason for this passage, why the Prophet so suddenly joined threatenings to promises: it was, to terrify hypocrites.

He says, On account of its inhabitants, from the fruit, or, on account of the fruit of their works Here the Prophet closes the door against the despisers of God, lest they should break forth, according to their custom, and maintain that God was, as it were, bound to them: “See,” he says, “what ye are; for ye have polluted the land with your vices; it

must therefore be reduced to desolation.” And when the land, which is in itself innocent, is visited with judgment, what will become of those despisers whose wickedness it sustains? We hence see how emphatical was this mode of speaking. For the Prophet summons here all the unbelieving to examine their life, and then he sets before them the land, which was to suffer punishment, though it had committed no sin; and why was it to suffer? because it was polluted as I have said by their wickedness. Since this was the case, we see, that hypocrites were very justly driven away from the false confidence with which they were inflated, while they yet proudly despised God and his Word. It now follows —

COFFMA, "Verse 13"Yet shall the land be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings."

This verse looks back to the literal land of Israel, the earthly Jerusalem, literally to be downtrodden and desolated for millenniums of time "for the fruit of their doings." This is a bold contrast with the prosperity and excellence of the kingdom of Christ. We deny that this could be a reference to Babylon in any exclusive sense. or can we accept the view that the passage refers to "the tribulation and the last days."[23] Deane pointed out that "very many commentators refer this passage to the land of Canaan."[24] and we agree that, as the words stand, they could hardly mean anything else. Although, due to the very nature of prophecy, there could be many things foreshadowed here, it appears to this student that the destruction of Jerusalem and subjugation of Palestine for long centuries concurrent with the rise of the kingdom of Christ must be accepted as the primary meaning of the place. Barnes' discerning comment is:

"This sounds almost like a riddle and contradiction: `the walls built up,' `the people gathered in,' `the land desolate.' Yet it was all fulfilled to the letter. Jerusalem was restored, the people were gathered in, first from captivity, then to Christ; and yet the land was again desolate through the "fruit of their doings" who rejected Christ."[25]

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

Ver. 13. otwithstanding the land shall be desolate] Understand it, not of the land of Chaldea, as A Lapide doth; but of Judea, which must be desolated before the coming of Christ in the flesh. And this is here foretold. 1. Lest the impenitent, by misapplying the former promises, should dream of impunity, saeculi laetitia est impunita nequitia (Aug.); and, 2. Lest the godly, because of this desolation shortly to ensue, should despair of the former promises.

Because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their delays] What their doings were, and what the fruit thereof, see Jeremiah 9:3-5; Jeremiah 9:12-16. This prophet could not but tell them of both, though he had small thanks for his love and labour; even as little as Moses had of that perverse people in the wilderness. His service among the Jews was in some sense like that of Manlius Torquatus among the Romans; who gave it over, saying, either can I bear their manners, nor they my government. Jeremiah once thought to have done so, Jeremiah 20:9, but might not. He lived to see this prophecy of Micah fulfilled; and was afterwards carried down to Egypt by his ungrateful countrymen; where also (for a reward of his 41 years’ incessant pains in the ministry as a prophet) they stoned him to death, who had been a brazen wall to his country, eiusque commodis adaugendis natus, and a common blessing.

PETT, "Micah 7:13

Yet will the land be desolate because of those who dwell in it,

For the fruit of their doings.

And yet they will come to a desolate land because those who dwell in it have not looked after it and have not behaved well in it. It is not the land and the people to whom they are coming, but to YHWH and His messengers (Micah 4:2).

PULPIT, "Micah 7:13

otwithstanding the land shall be desolate. Very many commentators consider the land of Canaan to be here intended, the prophet recurring to threatenings of judgment before the great restoration comes to pass; but it is best to regard the clause as referring to all the world, exclusive of Canaan. While the Messianic kingdom is set up, judgment shall fail upon the sinful world. "For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted" (Isaiah 60:12; comp. Revelation 12:12). And the material world shall suffer with its inhabitants (Genesis 3:15, Genesis 3:18; Genesis 6:13; Genesis 19:25; Isaiah 34:4, etc.). Their doings. Their evil deeds, especially the rejection of Messiah.

BI, "For the fruit of their doings

Man’s ruin the fruit of his own conduct

Assuming it to be a fact that man’s ruin is evermore the fruit of his own conduct, three things must follow—

I.That his misery will be identified with remorse. Morally it is impossible for a man to ascribe his ruin to his organisation, to circumstances, or to any force over which he has no control. He must feel that he has brought it on himself.

II. That in his sufferings he must vindicate the Divine character. “Just and right art

Thou,” etc. As fruit answers to seed, as echoes to sound, their calamities answer to their conduct.

III. That his salvation from ruin requires a change of life.

IV. That christianity is the only system that can meet his case. The mission of Christianity is to change the heart, to renew the life, and effect a spiritual reformation. This it is designed to do, this it is fitted to do; and no other system on earth is capable of accomplishing this work. (Homilist.)

Prayer and Praise

14 Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance,which lives by itself in a forest, in fertile pasturelands.[a]Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in days long ago.

BARES. "Feed Thy people with Thy rod - The day of final deliverance was still a great way off. There was a weary interval before them of chastisement, suffering, captivity. So Micah lays down his pastoral office by committing his people to Him who was their true and abiding Shepherd. who that has had the pastoral office, has not thought, as the night drew near in which no man can work, “what will be after him?” Micah knew and foretold the outline. It was for his people a passing through the valley of the shadow of death. Micah then commits them to Him, who had Himself committed them to him, who alone could guide them through it. It is a touching parting with his people; a last guidance of those whom he had taught, reproved, rebuked, in vain, to Him the Good Shepherd who led Israel like a flock. The rod is at times the shepherd’s staff Lev_27:32; Psa_23:4, although more frequently the symbol of chastisement. God’s chastisement of His people is an austere form of His love. So He says, “If his children forsake My law, I will visit their offences with a rod and their sin with scourges: nevertheless My loving-kindness will I not utterly take from them” Psa_89:31, Psa_89:33.

The flock of Thine inheritance - So Moses had appealed to God, “Destroy not Thy people and Thine inheritance which Thou hast redeemed through Thy greatness - They

are Thy people and Thine inheritance” Deu_9:26, Deu_9:29; and Solomon, in his dedication-prayer, that, on their repentance in their captivity, God would forgive His people, “for they be Thy people and Thine inheritance which Thou broughtest forth out of Egypt” 1Ki_8:51; and Asaph, “O Lord, the pagan are come into Thine inheritance” Psa_79:1; and again, “Why doth Thine anger smoke against the sheep of Thy pasture? Remember the tribe of Thine inheritance which Thou hast redeemed” Psa_74:1-2; and Joel, “Spare Thy people and give not Thine heritage to reproach” Joe_2:17; and a Psalmist, “They break in pieces Thy people, O Lord, and afflict Thine heritage” Psa_94:5; and Isaiah, “Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of Thine inheritance” Isa_63:17.

The appeal excludes all merits. Not for any deserts of their’s, (for these were but evil,) did the prophets teach them to pray; but because they were God’s property. It was His Name, which would be dishonored in them; it was His work, which would seemingly come to nothing; it was He, who would be thought powerless to save. Again, it is not God’s way, to leave half-done what He has begun. “Jesus, having loved His own which were in the world, loved them unto the end” Joh_13:1. God’s love in creating us and making us His, is the earnest, if we will, of His everlasting love. We have been the objects of His everlasting thought, of His everlasting love. Though we have forfeited all claim to Ills love, He has not forfeited the work of His Hands; Jesus has nor forfeited the price of His Blood. So holy men have prayed; , “I believe that Thou hast redeemed me by Thy Blood: permit not the price of the Ransom to perish.” “O Jesus Christ, my only Saviour, let not Thy most bitter Passion and Death be lost or wasted in me, miserable sinner!” .

Which dwell solitarily, or alone -Micah uses the words of Balaam, when he had been constrained by God to bless Israel. “The people shall dwell alone and shall not be reckoned among the nations” Num_23:9. Moses had repeated them, “Israel shall dwell in safety alone” Deu_33:28. This aloneness among other nations, then, was a blessing, springing from God’s being in the midst of them Exo_33:16, Deu_4:7, the deeds which He did for them Exo_34:10; Deu_4:3, the law which He gave Deu_4:8, Deu_4:33. So Moses prayed, “Wherein shall it be known here, that I and Thy people have found grace in Thy sight?” Exo_33:16, is it “not in that Thou goest with us? So shall we be separated, I and Thy people, from all the people that are on the face of the earth”. It was, then, a separate appeal to God by all His former loving-kindness, whereby He had severed and elected His people for Himself.

In the wood, in the midst of Carmel - God “turneth a fruitful land into barrenness for the wickedness of them that dwell therein. He turneth the wilderness into a standing water and dry ground into watersprings” Psa_107:34, Psa_107:5. Isaiah at the same time used the like image, that “Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field (Carmel), and the fruitful field (Carmel) shall be esteemed as a forest” Isa_29:17. The wild forest was to be like the rich domestic exuberance of Carmel (see the note at Amo_1:2). He would say, “Feed Thy people in Babylon, which is to them a wild homeless tract, that it may be to them as their own peaceful Carmel.” Without God, all the world is a wilderness; with God, the wilderness is Paradise.

Let them feed in Basha and Gilead - The former words were a prayer for their restoration. Gilead and Bashan were the great pasture-countries of Palestine (see the note at Amo_1:3, vol. i. p. 234; iv. L p 280), , “a wide tableland, with undulating downs clothed with rich grass throughout,” where the cattle ranged freely.

They were the first possessions, which God had bestowed upon Israel; the first, which they forfeited. Micah prays that God, who protected them in their desolation, would restore and protect them in the green pasture where He placed them. They are a prayer still to the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for His sheep Joh_10:11, Joh_10:15,

our Lord Jesus Christ, that He would feed His flock whom He has redeemed, who have been given to Him as an inheritance Psa_2:8, the little flock Luk_12:32, to which it is the Fathers good pleasure to give the kingdom, which cleaveth to Him and shall be heirs with Him Rom_8:17. Cyril: “Christ feedeth His own with a rod, guiding them gently, and repressing by gentle fears the tendency of believers to listlessness. He bruiseth as with a rod of Iron, not them, but the rebellious disobedient and proud, who receive not the faith; believers He instructs and forms tenderly, feeds them among the lilies Son_6:3, and leads them into good pastures and rich places, namely the divinely-inspired Scriptures, making the hidden things thereof clear through the Spirit to those of understanding, that they “may grow up unto Him in all things which is the Head, even Christ” Eph_4:15, with minds well-fed and nourished and gladdened with all spiritual delights.

But the chosen and elect dwell solitarily, being apart from the rest who think only of the things of earth, and give themselves to the pleasures of sense. So then these, having the mind at rest, freed from the vain and abominable tumults, are placed apart as in a wood and in a mountain. By the wood you may understand, the rich and varied and solid instruction (as it were trees and flowers) both in doctrine and life; by the mountain, what is high and lofty. For none of the wisdom, accounted of in the Church, is low. They are “fed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old”, rich pastures; for the mind of the holy is beautified, delighting itself in the contemplation of the inspired Scriptures, and filled, as it were, with a certain richness, and shares without stint all excellence in though or in deed; and that, not for a brief and narrow season, but forever. For what gladdeneth the flesh falleth therewith and fadeth and hasteth away like a shadow; but the participation of the good things from above and of the Spirit, stretcheth out along endless ages.”

CLARKE, "Feed thy people with thy rod - ”.beshibtecha, “with thy crook בשבטךThe shepherd’s crook is most certainly designed, as the word flock immediately following shows. No rod of correction or affliction is here intended; nor does the word mean such.

Solitarily - They have been long without a shepherd or spiritual governor.

In the midst of Carmel - Very fruitful in vines.

Bashan and Gilead - Proverbially fruitful in pasturages.

GILL, "Feed thy people with thy rod,.... These are either the words of God the Father to Christ, the great Shepherd of the sheep, calling upon him to do his office as such; to feed the people he had given him, the sheep of his hand, the flock of his pasture, by his Spirit, and with his word and ordinances; see Zec_11:5; or of Christ to his ministers, his undershepherds, to feed his sheep and his lambs, the people committed to their care and charge, with wholesome words, with sound and good doctrine, by faithfully preaching the Gospel, and administering the ordinances to them: or rather the words of the prophet, a prayer of his to God or Christ, to take care of the people of God in their desolate state, in captivity; to guide and lead them, protect and defend them, by his power and providence, as a shepherd directs, leads, governs, and preserves his flock with his pastoral crook or rod; or, as before, to feed the church of God as a shepherd does his flock, lead them into good pastures, and secure them from all their enemies:

and this, being a prayer of faith, may be considered as a prophecy or prediction of what would be; and so some render the words, "thou shalt feed thy people", &c. (h). The Targum is,

"feed thy people with thy word, the people of thine inheritance, in the age which is to be renewed;''

in the new world, the world to come; plainly referring to the times of the Messiah;

the flock of thine heritage; who are like to sheep for their harmlessness and innocence, and to a flock of them, being associated together, and folded in the church; and though but a little flock, yet the lot, the portion, the inheritance of Christ; all which is a strong reason for his feeding, keeping, and preserving them, being committed to his care and charge for that purpose:

which dwell solitary in the wood; dwell alone in the world, which is like a wood and a wilderness; separated from the men of the world; distinguished by the grace of God, chosen and called out from among them, and different from them both in principle and practice: this may have respect to the Jews, in their dispersion, living separate from and unmixed with the nations of the world; or rather to their dwelling in safety and security under the protection of the great Shepherd, the Messiah, David their Prince, when they shall be returned to their own land in the latter day:

in the midst of Carmel; or of a fruitful field, as Carmel was; enjoying all happiness and prosperity, temporal and spiritual:

let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old; places in the land of Israel famous for rich and fat pastures; and so express the great plenty of good things wished for, and which will be enjoyed by the Jews when converted to Christ, and replaced in their own land; and are an emblem of those spiritual good things, and of those rich and green pastures of the word and ordinances, which the great Shepherd is desired to lead, and does lead, his people into; see Psa_23:1; these places are now in the hand of the Turks, and so the words may be a petition for their conversion, as well as for the Jews, that this country may no more be inhabited by Heathens, but by the Israel of God, as Gulichius (i) very well observes.

HERY, "Here is, I. The prophet's prayer to God to take care of his own people, and of their cause and interest, Mic_7:14. When God is about to deliver his people he stirs up their friends to pray for them, and pours out a spirit of grace and supplication, Zec_12:10. And when we see God coming towards us in ways of mercy, we must go forth to meet him by prayer. It is a prophetic prayer, which amounts to a promise of the good prayed for; what God directed his prophet to ask no doubt he designed to give. Now, 1. The people of Israel are here called the flock of God's heritage, for they are the sheep of his hand, the sheep of his pasture, his little flock in the world; and they are his heritage, his portion in the world. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. 2. This flock dwells solitarily in the wood, or forest, in the midst of Carmel, a high mountain. Israel was a peculiar people, that dwelt alone, and was not reckoned among the nations, like a flock of sheep in a wood. They were now a desolate people (Mic_7:13), were in the land of their captivity as sheep in a forest, in danger of being lost and made a prey of to the beasts of the forest. They are scattered upon the mountains as sheep having no shepherd. 3. He prays that God would feed them there with his rod, that is, that he would take care of

them in their captivity, would protect them, and provide for them, and do the part of a good shepherd to them: “Let thy rod and staff comfort them, even in that darksome valley; and even there let them want nothing that is good for them. Let them be governed by thy rod, not the rod of their enemies, for they are thy people.” 4. He prays that God would in due time bring them back to feed in the plains of Bashan and Gilead, and no longer to be fed in the woods and mountains. Let them feed in their own country again, as in the days of old. Some apply this spiritually, and make it either the prophet's prayer to Christ or his Father's charge to him, to take care of his church, as the great Shepherd of the sheep, and to go in and out before them while they are here in this world as in a wood, that they may find pasture as in Carmel, as in Bashan and Gilead.

JAMISO, "Feed thy people— Prayer of the prophet, in the name of his people to God, which, as God fulfils believing prayer, is prophetical of what God would do. When God is about to deliver His people, He stirs up their friends to pray for them.

Feed— including the idea of both pastoral rule and care over His people (Mic_5:4, Margin), regarded as a flock (Psa_80:1; Psa_100:3). Our calamity must be fatal to the nation, unless Thou of Thy unmerited grace, remembering Thy covenant with “Thine heritage” (Deu_4:20; Deu_7:6; Deu_32:9), shalt restore us.

thy rod— the shepherd’s rod, wherewith He directs the flock (Psa_23:4). No longer the rod of punishment (Mic_6:9).

which dwell solitarily in the wood, in ... Carmel— Let Thy people who have been dwelling as it were in a solitude of woods (in the world, but not of it), scattered among various nations, dwell in Carmel, that is, where there are fruit-bearing lands and vineyards [Calvin]. Rather, “which are about to dwell (that is, that they may dwell) separate in the wood, in ... Carmel” [Maurer], which are to be no longer mingled with the heathen, but are to dwell as a distinct people in their own land. Micah has here Balaam’s prophecy in view (compare Mic_6:5, where also Balaam is referred to). “Lo, the people shall dwell alone” (Num_23:9; compare Deu_33:28). To “feed in the wood in Carmel,” is to feed in the rich pastures among its woods. To “sleep in the woods,” is the image of most perfect security (Eze_34:25). So that the Jews’ “security,” as well as their distinct nationality, is here foretold. Also Jer_49:31.

Bashan— famed for its cattle (Psa_22:12; Amo_4:1). Parallel to this passage is Jer_50:19. Bashan and Gilead, east of Jordan, were chosen by Reuben, Gad, and half Manasseh, as abounding in pastures suited for their many cattle (Num_32:1-42; Deu_3:12-17).

K&D 14-17, "The promise of salvation impels the congregation to pray that it may be granted (Mic_7:14); whereupon the Lord assures it that His covenant mercies shall be renewed, and promises the thorough humiliation of the hostile nations of the world (Mic_7:15-17). Mic_7:14. “Feed thy people with thy staff, the sheep of thine inheritance, dwelling apart, in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of the olden time.” The question in dispute among commentators, whether this prayer is addressed to the Lord by the prophet on behalf of the nation, or whether the prophet is still speaking in the name of the believing church, is decided in favour of the latter by the answer addressed to the church in Mic_7:15. The Lord is addressed as the shepherd of Israel, the title by which Jacob addressed Him in Gen_49:24 (cf. Psa_80:2; Psa_23:1 ff.). The prayer is related to the promise in Mic_5:3 ff., viz., that the ruler coming forth out of Bethlehem will feed in the strength of Jehovah, and involves the prayer for the sending of this ruler. “With this staff,” i.e., the shepherd's

staff (cf. Lev_27:32; Psa_23:4), is added pictorially; and as a support to the prayer, it

designates the people as the sheep of Jehovah's inheritance. צאן�נחלה, instead of עם�נחלה, which occurs more frequently, is occasioned by the figure of the shepherd. As the sheep need the protection of the shepherd, lest they should perish, so Israel needs the guidance

of its God, that it may not be destroyed by its foes. The following apposition שכני�לבדדdetermines the manner of the feeding more precisely; so that we may resolve it into the clause, “so that thy people may dwell apart.” The words contain an allusion to Num_23:9, where Balaam describes Israel as a people separated from the rest of the nations; and to Deu_33:28, where Moses congratulates it, because it dwells in safety and alone

(bâdâd, separate), under the protection of its God, in a land full of corn, new wine, etc. The church asks for the fulfilment of this blessing from Jehovah its shepherd, that it may dwell separate from the nations of the world, so that they may not be able to do it any harm; and that “in the wood in the midst of Carmel,” that promontory abounding in wood and pasture land (laetis pascuis abundat: Jerome on Amo_1:2). The wood is thought of here as shutting off the flock from the world without, withdrawing it from its sight, and affording it security; and the fact that dangerous wild beasts have their home in the forest (Jer_5:6; Psa_80:14) is overlooked here, because Israel is protected from

them by its own shepherd. ירעו, which follows, is not future, but optative, corresponding

to the imperative רעה. Gilead and Bashan are also named as portions of the land that

were rich in pasture (cf. Num_32:1 ff.), namely, of the land to the east of the Jordan, Carmel belonging to the western portion of Canaan. These three portions individualize the whole of the territory which Israel received for its inheritance, and not merely the territory of the kingdom of the ten tribes. The simple reason why no districts in the kingdom of Judah are mentioned, is that Judah possessed no woody districts abounding in grass and pasture resembling those named. Moreover, the prayer refers to the whole of Israel, or rather to the remnant of the whole nation that has been rescued from the judgment, and which will form an undivided flock under the Messiah (cf. Mic_5:2; Isa_

11:13; Eze_37:15 ff.). ימי�עולם, “the days of old,” are the times of Moses and Joshua, when

the Lord brought Israel with His mighty arm into the possession of the promised land. The Lord answers this prayer, by promising, according to His abundant goodness, more than the church has asked. Mic_7:15. “As in the days of thy going out of the land of Egypt will I cause it to see wonders.Mic_7:16. Nations will see it, and be ashamed of all their strength: they will lay the hand upon the mouth, their ears will become deaf.Mic_7:17. They will lick dust like the snake, like the reptiles of the earth they come trembling out of their castles: they will go trembling to Jehovah our God, and before

thee will they fear.” The wonders (niphlâ'ōth; cf. Exo_3:20; Exo_15:11; Psa_78:11) with which the Lord formerly smote Egypt, to redeem His people out of the bondage of that

kingdom of the world, will the Lord renew for His people. In צאתך� the nation is

addressed, whilst the suffix of the third pers. attached to וTרא points back to ע?ך� in Mic_

7:14. The miraculous deeds will make such an impression, that the heathen nations who see them will stand ashamed, dumb and deaf with alarm and horror. Ashamed of all their strength, i.e., because all their strength becomes impotence before the mighty acts of the Almighty God. Laying the hand upon the mouth is a gesture expressive of reverential silence from astonishment and admiration (cf. Jdg_18:19; Job_21:5, etc.).

Their ears shall become deaf “from the thunder of His mighty acts, Job_26:14, the qōl�

hâmōn of Isa_33:8” (Hitzig). With this description of the impression made by the

wonderful works of God, the words of God pass imperceptibly into words of the prophet, who carries out the divine answer still further in an explanatory form, as we may see from Isa_33:17. The heathen will submit themselves to Jehovah in the humblest fear. This is stated in Mic_7:17. Licking the dust like the serpent contains an allusion to Gen_

3:14 (cf. Psa_72:9 and Isa_49:23). זחלי�ארץ, earth-creepers, i.e., snakes, recals the זחלי�עפרof Deu_32:24. Like snakes, when they are driven out of their hiding-place, or when charmers make them come out of their holes, so will the nations come trembling out of

their castles (misgerōth as in Psa_18:46), and tremble to Jehovah, i.e., flee to Him with

trembling, as alone able to grant help (see Hos_3:5), and fear before thee. With �[?מ the prayer passes into an address to Jehovah, to attach to this the praise of God with which he closes his book.

CALVI, "Here the Prophet turns to supplications and prayers; by which he manifests more vehemence, than if he had repeated again what he had previously said of the restoration of the Church; for he shows how dreadful that judgment would be, when God would reduce the land into solitude. This prayer no doubt contains what was at the same time prophetic. The Prophet does not indeed simply promise deliverance to the faithful, but at the same time he doubly increases that terror; by which he designed to frighten hypocrites; as though he said, “Most surely except God will miraculously preserve his own people, it is all over with the Church: there is then no remedy, except through the ineffable power of God.” In short, the Prophet shows, that he trembled at that vengeance, which he had previously foretold, and which he did foretell, lest hypocrites, in their usual manner, should deride him. We now see why the Prophet had recourse to this kind of comfort, why he so regulates his discourse as not to afford immediate hope to the faithful, but addresses God himself. Feed then thy people; as though he said, — “Surely that calamity will be fatal, except thou, Lord, wilt be mindful of thy covenant, and gather again some remnant from the people whom thou hast been pleased to choose: Feed thy people.”

The reason why he called them the people of God was, because they must all have perished, unless it had been that it was necessary that what God promised to Abraham should be fulfilled, —

‘In thy seed shall all nations be blessed,’ (Genesis 12:3.)

It was then the adoption of God alone which prevented the total destruction of the Jews. Hence he says emphatically, — O Lord, these are yet thy people; as though he said, — “By whom wilt thou now form a Church for thyself?” God might indeed have collected it from the Gentiles, and have made aliens his family; but it was necessary that the root of adoption should remain in the race of Abraham, until Christ came forth. or was there then any dispute about God’s power, as there is now among fanatics, who ask, Can God do this? But there was reliance on the promise, and from this they learnt with certainty what God had once decreed, and

what he would do. Since then this promise, ‘By thy seed shall all nations be blessed,’ was sacred and inviolable, the grace of God must have ever continued in the remnant. It is indeed certain, that hypocrites, as it has been already stated, without any discrimination, abused the promises of God; but this truth must be ever borne in mind, that God punished the ungodly, though relying on their great number, they thought that they would be always preserved. God then destroyed them, as they deserved; and yet it was his purpose, that some remnant should be among that people. But it must be observed, that this distinction ought not to be extended to all the children of Abraham, who derived their origin from him according to the flesh, but to be applied to the faithful, that is, to the remnant, who were preserved according to the gratuitous adoption of God.

Feed then thy people by thy crook (194) He compares God to a shepherd, and this metaphor often occurs. Though שבט, shebeth, indeed signifies a scepter when kings are mentioned, it is yet taken also for a pastoral staff, as in Psalms 23:0 and in many other places. As then he represents God here as a Shepherd, so he assigns a crook to him; as though he said, O Lord, thou performest the office of a Shepherd in ruling this people. How so? He immediately confirms what I have lately said, that there was no hope of a remedy except through the mercy of God, by adding, the flock (195) of thine heritage; for by calling them the flock of his heritage, he does not consider what the people deserved, but fixes his eyes on their gratuitous adoption. Since, then, it had pleased God to choose that people, the Prophet on this account dares to go forth to God’s presence, and to plead their gratuitous election, — “O Lord, I will not bring before thee the nobility of our race, or any sort of dignity, or our piety, or any merits.” What then? “We are thy people, for thou best declared that we are a royal priesthood. We are then thine heritage.” How so? “Because it has been thy pleasure to have one peculiar people sacred to thee.” We now more clearly see that the Prophet relied on God’s favor alone, and opposed the recollection of the covenant to the trials which might have otherwise made every hope to fail.

He afterwards adds, Who dwell apart, or alone. He no doubt refers here to the dispersion of the people, when he says, that they dwelt alone. For though the Jews had been scattered in countries delightful, fertile and populous, yet they were everywhere as in a desert and in solitude, for they were a mutilated body. The whole of Chaldea and of Assyria was then really a desert to the faithful; for there they dwelt not as one people, but as members torn asunder. This is the dispersion intended by the words of the Prophet. He also adds, that dwell in the forest For they had no secure habitation except in their own country; for they lived there under the protection of God; and all other countries, as I have already said, were to them like the desert.

He adds, In the midst of Carmel The preposition כ, caph, is to be understood here, As in the midst of Carmel, they shall be fed in Bashan and Gilead, as in ancient days; (196) that is, though they are now thy solitary sheep, yet thou wilt gather them again that they may feed as on Carmel, (which we know was very fruitful,) and then, as in Bashan and Gilead. We know that there are in those places the richest

pastures. Since then the Prophet compares the faithful to sheep, he mentions Bashan, he mentions Carmel and Gilead; as though he said, “Restore, O Lord, thy people, that they may dwell in the heritage once granted them by thee.” Why he says that they were solitary, I have already explained; and there is a similar passage in Psalms 102:17; though there is there a different word, ערער, oror; but the meaning is the same. The faithful are there said to be solitary, because they were not collected into one body; for this was the true happiness of the people, — that they worshipped God together, that they were under one head, and also that they had one altar as a sacred bond to cherish unity of faith. When therefore the faithful were scattered here and there they were justly said to be solitary, wherever they were.

He afterwards adds, according to ancient days Here he places before God the favors which he formerly showed to his people, and prays that he would, like himself, go on to the end, that is that he would continue to the end his favors to his chosen people. And it availed not a little to confirm their faith, when the faithful called to mind how liberally had God dealt from the beginning with the posterity of Abraham: they were thus made to feel assured, that God would be no less kind to his elect, though there might be, so to speak, a sad separation: for when God had banished the Jews into exile, it was a kind of divorce, as though they were given to utter destruction. Yet now when they recollect that they had descended from the holy fathers, and that a Redeemer had been promised them, they justly entertain a hope of favor in future from the past benefits of God, because he had formerly kindly treated his people.

In the midst of Carmel let them feed, In Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.

It is also better to render “feed” as a prayer than in the future tense, to correspond in tenor with the beginning of the verse. Henderson connects “Carmel” with the former line, and thinks that “dwelling alone in the wood” refers to the condition of the Jews when restored, and quotes the prophecy of Balaam in umbers 23:9. But this seems to be a far-fetched exposition; and the word “wood,” which means generally a dreary place, renders it wholly inadmissible. A state of destitution and misery is evidently intended. “They were now,” says Henry, “a desolate people; they were in the land of their captivity as sheep in a forest, in danger of being lost and made a prey to the beasts of the forest.” — Ed.

COFFMA, "Verse 14"Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thy heritage, which dwell solitarily, in the forest in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old."

Micah came to the near-end of his prophecy in these words. Before those days of deliverance and glory just mentioned, a long and terrible pathway of persecution, privation and death lay before God's people, even the righteous remnant; and, in these final verses, "Micah laid down his pastoral office to Him who was their true and abiding Shepherd."[26] Micah knew that the people would walk "through the

valley of the shadow of death"; and, as he was nearing the end of his labors, he felt many of these emotions of faithful preachers of the gospel who draw near to "that hour that cometh in which no man can work." Appropriately, therefore, he commended the faithful remnant to the keeping of the "Chief Shepherd and bishop of their souls."

"Carmel...Goshen...Gilead ..." These Were names associated with the former excellence and glory of the chosen people; and by the use of this terminology, Micah solicited for his people the most wonderful of all God's wonderful blessings.

COSTABLE, "Micah prayed that the Lord would again take an active role as the shepherd of His people Israel. Shepherding with His rod (Heb. shebet) implies kingly leadership. This is a request for the promised descendant of David to appear and lead Israel. Presently the Israelites, the flock that Yahweh possessed uniquely (cf. Deuteronomy 4:20), were isolated even though they inhabited the land that God had given them. Micah prayed that they might enjoy God"s blessings, as when their flocks fed on the lush, grassy hills of Bashan and Gilead earlier in their history.

COKE, "Micah 7:14. Feed thy people— These are the words of the prophet to the same divine Person who had said that he should arise after he had fallen, Micah 7:8 considering whom as a shepherd, he prays him to feed his flock in fertile pastures; for this is meant by Bashan, Gilead, and Carmel. The prophet, therefore, prays for those sheep of whom Christ himself hath said, My sheep hear my voice. The Messiah answers the prophet in the 15th verse, where, instead of Thy coming out, we should read, His coming out.

ELLICOTT, "(14) Feed thy people with thy rod.—Or, with thy shepherd’s crook. The prophet lifts up his prayer for the people, either dwelling “alone” among the idolaters of Babylon—among them, but not of them—or living a nation, mysteriously apart from other nations, returned from Babylon, and settled on the fruitful mountain range of Carmel, or in the rich pasture land on the east of Jordan. The extraordinary fertility of this “Land of Promise” has been recently brought into prominence, and its future prosperity predicted in glowing colours by Mr. Oliphant, in The Land of Gilead.

TRAPP, "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.

Ver. 14. Feed thy people with thy rod] Rule them with thy sceptre, or feed them with thy pedum pastorale, thy shepherd’s rod, or staff, Psalms 23:4. This, say some, is the speech of God the Father to God the Son, or (as others), of God to the ministers and pastors, charging them to take heed to his flock, and to feed his Church; but it seems rather to be a prayer of the Christian Church (seeing the ruin of the Jewish synagogue) that Christ (the chief shepherd) would do all good offices for his poor people, feeding them with his rod, that is, with his word and Spirit, guiding them with his eye, Psalms 32:8, leading them in the way everlasting, Psalms 139:24, lest,

seduced by their own lusts, or other men’s evil lives, they should any way miscarry.

The flock of thine heritage] Those poor of the flock, Zechariah 11:7, that hear his voice and follow him, John 10:3-5; John 10:27, being holy, harmless, tractable, sociable, patient, profitable as sheep; which have wool for raiment, skin for parchment, flesh for meat, guts for music. Such shall go in and out, and find pasture, John 10:9, pasture that will breed life, and life in more abundance; see Psalms 23:1-6, David’s pastoral, where he assureth himself, as a sheep of Christ’s heritage, that he shall have all things needful for life and godliness; and so may every poor Christian, grounding his faith upon the covenant, Ezekiel 34:25; Ezekiel 34:28.

Which dwell solitarily in the wood] Sleepeth in the woods, Ezekiel 34:25, where they meet with many a brush; yea, many a bruise, Ezekiel 34:28; where they walk in dark and dangerous paths, even in the valley of the shadow of death, Psalms 23:4, of the darkest side of death, of death in its most horrid and hideous representations. Feed them, therefore; fence them with thine omnipotent arm, bear them in thy bosom, see to their safety.

Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead] ot bite upon the bare ground, but feed pleasantly, plentifully; feed among the lilies, frequent also the foddering places, turn to the under-shepherds, the ministers, and so return to the Arch-shepherd and Bishop of their souls, following the Lamb wheresoever he goeth; who will teach them many things, and that out of deepest compassion, Mark 6:34, who will also show them great and mighty things, that they knew not, Jeremiah 33:3.

As in the days of old] As thou wast with the Church of the Old Testament, so be not wanting to that of the ew; but feed them according to the integrity of thine heart, and guide them by the skilfulness of thine hands, Psalms 78:72. Pull them out of the lion’s mouth, seek them up when lost, tend them, handle them, heal them, wash them, drive them as they can go, bearing the lambs in thy bosom, Isaiah 40:11. Do for them as thou hast ever done for thy people in former ages. "So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will show forth thy praise to all generations," Psalms 79:13.

BESO, "Verse 14Micah 7:14. Feed thy people with thy rod, &c. — This seems to be a prayer which the prophet broke out into on this occasion, beseeching God to take his people again under his peculiar protection and care; which is the meaning of feeding them with his rod, or pastoral crook: the flock of thy heritage, which dwell solitarily — That is, that peculiar people, which thou hast separated from the rest of the world, or caused to live apart by themselves, that they might maintain among them, and preserve uncorrupted, thy pure worship. In the wood, in the midst of Carmel — Called the

forest of Carmel, Isaiah 37:24, and spoken of as a place remarkable for its fruitfulness. Therefore, to feed in the midst of Carmel, implied giving them great plenty. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, &c. — These parts of Canaan were noted for their rich pastures, and therefore this implies the same as the foregoing sentence, namely, Bless them with plenty of every thing, as was the case formerly.

PETT, "Verse 14The Prophet ow Pleads with YHWH To Feed His People Like A Shepherd (Micah 7:14).

In Micah 5:4 the coming King was to ‘stand and feed in the strength of YHWH’. Here Micah looks forward to that day. He calls on YHWH to feed His people with His rod. The rod indicates the shepherd’s rod with which He will act as their protector while the sheep are feeding so that they can feed securely (compare Psalms 23:4). Alternately it may have in mind ‘the rod who will arise out of Israel’ (see umbers 24:17), the coming Messiah who is to feed His people (Micah 5:2-4). Either way the future time of blessing is in mind.

The flock, who are YHWH’s heritage, are pictured as gathered in the forest on Mount Carmel and dwelling alone. This may have in mind a known remnant of the northern kingdom who had taken refuge there and as a tiny remnant were a picture of the pressed in people of God, or may simply be a way of emphasising the solitariness in the world of God’s people (compare umbers 23:9; Deuteronomy 33:28). Either way the prayer is for the extension of their pasturage into a land of fruitfulness.

Micah 7:14

‘Feed your people with your rod,

The flock of your heritage, who dwell solitarily,

In the forest in the midst of Carmel.

Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead,

As in the days of old.’

The cry is that God would feed His people with His rod, by leading them into good pastures under His protection, and that His hemmed in people might be granted widespread pastures in places of great fruitfulness. The idea may be that they might be restored to the boundaries of old, with Carmel on the west and Bashan and Gilead on the east, as in the days of old. Bashan and Gilead were famous for having good pasturage for flocks and being places of fruitfulness.

‘The flock of your heritage, who dwell solitarily, in the forest in the midst of Carmel.’ This may suggest that it was here that refugees from the destruction of

Israel and Samaria had found safety, and that he was now pleading that they might be able to expand throughout the land as in the days of old. But certainly the general idea is that YHWH will once again be the Shepherd of His people and lead them forth so that they might spread throughout the whole country that had once been theirs. In other words, it is a prayer for fulfilment of the promises for the good times to come.

PULPIT, "Micah 7:14-17

§ 7. The prophet in the name of the people prays for this promised salvation, and the Lord assures him that his mercies shall not fail, and that the hostile nations shall be humbled.

Micah 7:14

Feed thy people with thy rod. The prophet prays to the Shepherd of Israel (Genesis 49:24; Psalms 80:1), beseeching him to rule and lead his people, and to find them pasture. The "rod" is the shepherd's staff (Le 27:32; Psalms 23:4). The flock of thine heritage. So Israel is called (Psalms 28:9; Psalms 95:7; comp. Zephaniah 3:13). Which dwell solitarily; or, so that they dwell; separate from all other nations, religiously and physically, by institution and geo graphical position. Compare Balaam's words (umbers 23:9; also Deuteronomy 33:28). It was Israel's special characteristic to be holy, i.e. set apart, and it was only when she observed her duty in this respect that she prospered (see Exodus 33:16). In the wood (forest) in the midst of Carmel. The forest would isolate the flock, and secure it from interference. The chief pasture lands west and east of Jordan are named, and the whole country is included in the description. (For Carmel, see note on Amos 1:2.) Bashan and Gilead were also celebrated for their rich pasture. "Bulls of Bashan" were a proverb for well fed animals, and a metaphor for bloated, proud aristocrats (Deuteronomy 32:14; Psalms 22:12; Ezekiel 39:18; Amos 4:1). Gilead was so excellently adapted for cattle that Reuben and Gad were irresistibly drawn to settle there (umbers 32:1, umbers 32:5; 1 Chronicles 5:9; see the parallel to this passage in Isaiah 65:9, Isaiah 65:10, and Ezekiel 34:13, Ezekiel 34:14). As in the days of old; usually taken to refer to the time of Moses and Joshua, but also and more probably, to that of David and Solomon, which realized the ideal of peace and prosperity (comp. Micah 4:4).

BI, "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

Christ’s pastoral care

The prophet gives an account of the state of the professing, visible Church, which he looks upon to be like unto a field or vineyard after the harvest is past and the vintage over.God never leaves a professing Church to be a wilderness, unless upon the utmost apostasy; but He many times leaves them to be as a field after harvest, or a vineyard after the vintage. He takes down the hedge, He suffers the wild beasts to come in, lets persons

spoil at their pleasure; but there will come a time of culture again, when He will have fruit brought forth to His praise. The prophet says that those who were good were very few; and that those who were evil were very bad. When this is the condition, inevitable destruction lies at the door of that place or nation. If either of these be otherwise, there is yet hope. This being the state and condition of the people of the land, the prophet makes in the name of the Church a threefold application of himself—

1. To God. “I will look unto the Lord.”

2. To her enemies. Who is this enemy? Wherein did she show her enmity?

3. To himself. “I will bear the indignation,” etc.

Here is a very becoming frame under the present state of affliction. In this state and condition, the prophet puts up this request, “Feed Thy people with Thy rod.” In these words we have—

I. What is prayed for. The rod is the sign of the shepherd. Three things in the feeding of God’s people—

1. That God would supply their spiritual and temporal wants.

2. That God, in that state which is coming upon them, would give them pledges, singular pledges of His own tenderness and love.

3. By “feeding” is intended rule, protection, deliverance. The shepherd has to preserve his flock from all evil.

II. The arguments of faith to be pleaded in this case.

1. They were the people of God—

(1) Upon election.

(2) By purchase and acquisition.

(3) By covenant.

2. They were “the flock of Thine heritage.” They are a “flock.” And as such they are helpless, harmless, useful—useful, because a secret blessing goes with them; by reason of their good example; and by reason of their industry. They are “the flock of God’s heritage.” As such, if God take not care of it, no one else will. It is the heritage of Him whom the whole world looks upon as their greatest enemy.

3. The third argument is taken from their state and condition. The first argument pleads God’s glory, His love and faithfulness. The second pleads God’s interest. The third pleads God’s pity and compassion. They dwell “solitarily,” that is disconsolately. “In a wood,” that is, ins dark and entangled condition. (J. Owen, D. D.)

A prayer

This prayer recognises three things.

I. An interesting relation between God and His people. Flock and Shepherd.

1. He is the absolute Owner of the flock. “All souls are Mine.”

2. He has a perfect knowledge of the flock.

3. He has an infinite love for the flock.

4. He has abundant supplies for the flock.

II. The trying condition in which God’s people are sometimes found. “Which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel.” The primary reference is to their captivity in Babylon.

1. It is caused by self. Souls have not been driven away into moral captivity. “All we like sheep have gone astray.”

2. It is undeliverable by self. No soul ever found its way back to God by its own unaided efforts; hence Christ came to “seek and to save the lost.”

III. The importance of restoration to former enjoyments. “Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.” The regions of Bashan and Gilead, on the east of the Jordan, were celebrated for their rich pasturage, and on this account were chosen by the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh (Num_12:1-16; Deu_3:17). Morally, the great need of man is the restoration of normal rights, normal virtues, normal enjoyments. (Homilist.)

15 “As in the days when you came out of Egypt, I will show them my wonders.”

BARES. "According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt -God answers the prayer, beginning with its closing words . Micah had prayed, “Turn Thy people like the days of old; “God answers, “like the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt.” Micah had said, in the name of his people, “I shall behold His Righteousness; God answers, I will make him to behold marvelous things” . The word marvelous things was used of God’s great marvels in the physical world Job_5:9; Job_37:5, Job_37:14, or the marvelous mercies of His Providence toward individuals or nations (Psa_9:2; Psa_26:7; Psa_71:17; Psa_72:18, etc.), and especially of those great miracles, which were accumulated at the deliverance from Egypt Exo_3:20; Jdg_6:13; Neh_9:17; Psa_78:4, Psa_78:11, Psa_78:32; Psa_105:2, Psa_105:5; Psa_106:7, Psa_106:22, and the entrance of the promised land which was its completion.

The reference to the Exodus must have led them to think of actual miracles; since, in regard to the Exodus, it is used of nothing else. But there were no miracles at the return from the captivity. “When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion” Psa_126:1, Psa_126:3, said a Psalmist of the returned people, we were like them that dream. The Lord

hath done great things for us; we are glad. Great things, but not miraculous. The promise then kept the people looking onward, until He came, “a prophet mighty in word and deed” Luk_24:19, as to whom Peter appealed to the people, that He was “approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by Him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know” Act_2:22; who gave also to them who believed on Him power to do “greater works than He did” Joh_14:12, through His own power, because He went to His Father; and when they believed, He shewed to him, namely, to the whole people gathered into the One Church, Jew and Gentile, yet more marvelous things, things, every way more marvelous and beyond nature than those of old, “the unsearchable riches of Christ, the mystery which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God” Eph_3:8-9.

CLARKE, "According to the days - This is the answer to the prophet’s prayer; and God says he will protect, save, defend, and work miracles for them in their restoration, such as he wrought for their fathers in their return from Egypt to the promised land.

GILL, "According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt,.... This is an answer of the Lord to the prayer of the prophet, assuring him, and the church he represents, and on whose account he applies, that there would be as great a deliverance wrought for them, and as wonderful things done, as when Israel was brought out of the land of Egypt, which was effected with a mighty hand, and an outstretched arm, and was attended with amazing events; as the plagues in Egypt; the passage of the Israelites through the Red see, and the destruction of the Egyptians in it:

will I show unto him marvellous things; that is, unto the people of the Lord, the flock of his heritage, the solitary and peculiar people, fed and preserved by him: as the deliverance out of Egypt; was the Lord's work, so the deliverance from Babylon; as the one was the work of his power upon the heart of Pharaoh to let the people go, so the other as great an act of his power working upon the mind of Cyrus, stirring him up to let the captives go free, without price or reward; yea, to furnish them with necessaries by the way, and to rebuild their city and temple: and as Pharaoh and his host were drowned in the Red sea, so the kingdom of Babylon was swallowed up by the Medes and Persians; yea, in some respects the latter deliverance exceeded the former, and erased the remembrance of it; see Jer_16:14; and that redemption by Christ, which both these were typical of, was greater and more marvellous than either, being a deliverance from, and an abolition and destruction of sin, Satan, the law, hell, and death, and attended with things the most wonderful and surprising; as the birth of Christ of a virgin; the miracles done by him in life, and at death; the doctrines of the Gospel preached by him and his apostles, and the amazing success of them, especially in the Gentile world, being testified and confirmed by signs, wonders, miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost. This passage, both by ancient and modern Jews (k), is applied to the times of the Messiah. So in an ancient (l) book of theirs, speaking of the times of the Messiah, they say,

"from that day all the signs and wonders, and mighty works, which the Lord did in Egypt, he will do for Israel, as it is said, "according to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt", &c.''

It is also said, by a modern writer (m) of theirs,

"because of the miracles and wonders which shall be in the days of the Messiah, such as the gathering of the captives, the resurrection of the dead, and the destruction of Gog and Magog, besides other miracles and wonders, the end of the redemption is called the end of wonders in Dan_12:6; and this is that which God has promised by his prophets, particularly Micah, Mic_7:15; "according to the days", &c. and from what follows, with the rest of the verses to the end of the book, it is manifest that these promises are not yet fulfilled, but will be fulfilled in the days of the Messiah.''

From whence it appears, that it was the sense of the ancient Jews, as well as some modern ones, that miracles would be wrought in the days of the Messiah; though some of them reject them, and look not for them; particularly Maimonides (n) says,

"let it not enter into thine heart that the King Messiah hath need to do signs and wonders; as that he shall renew things in the world, or raise the dead, and the like; these are things which fools speak of; the thing is not so.''

But however, certain it is, the ancient Jews expected miracles to be done by the Messiah; hence some, in the times of Jesus, said, "when Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these which this man hath done?" Joh_7:31; and accordingly the miracles Jesus did were full proofs of his being the Messiah, and were wrought for that purpose, and owned as such; wherefore the above Jew, though he is right in the application of this passage to the times of the Messiah, yet is wrong in saying these promises are not yet fulfilled, since they have had a full accomplishment in the Messiah Jesus; nor is another to be looked for, or such miracles to be hereafter wrought.

HERY 15-17, " God's promise, in answer to this prayer; and we may well take God's promises as real answers to the prayers of faith, and embrace them accordingly, for with him saying and doing are not two things. The prophet prayed that God would feed them, and do kind things for them; but God answers that he will show them marvellous things(Mic_7:15), will do for them more than they are able to ask or think, will out-do their hopes and expectations; he will show them his marvellous lovingkindness, Psa_17:7. 1. He will do that for them which shall be the repetition of the wonders and miracles of former ages - according to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt. Their deliverance out of Babylon shall be a work of wonder and grace not inferior to their deliverance out of Egypt, nay, it shall eclipse the lustre of that (Jer_16:14, Jer_16:15), much more shall the work of redemption by Christ. Note, God's former favours to his church are patterns of future favours, and shall again be copied out as there is occasion. 2. He will do that for them which shall be matter of wonder and amazement to the present age, Mic_7:16, Mic_7:17. The nations about shall take notice of it, and it shall be said among the heathen, The Lord has done great things for them, Psa_126:2. The impression which the deliverance of the Jews out of Babylon shall make upon the neighbouring nations shall be very much for the honour both of God and his church. (1.) Those that had insulted over the people of God in their distress, and gloried that when they had them down they would keep them down, shall be confounded, when they see them thus surprisingly rising up; they shall be confounded at all the might with which the captives shall now exert themselves, whom they thought for ever disabled. They shall now lay their hands upon their mouths, as being ashamed of what they have said, and not able to say more, by way of triumph over Israel. Nay, their ears shall be deaf too, so much shall they be ashamed at the wonderful deliverance; they shall stop their ears, as being not willing to hear any more of God's wonders wrought for that people, whom they

had so despised and insulted over. (2.) Those that had impudently confronted God himself shall now be struck with a fear of him, and thereby brought, in profession at least, to submit to him (v. 17): They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall be so mortified, as if they were sentenced to the same curse the serpent was laid under (Gen_3:14), Upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat. They shall be brought to the lowest abasements imaginable, and shall be so dispirited that they shall tamely submit to them. His enemies shall lick the dust, Psa_72:9. Nay, they shall lick the dust of the church's feet, Isa_49:23. Proud oppressors shall now be made sensible how mean, how little, they are, before the great God, and they shall with trembling and the lowest submission move out of the holes into which they had crept (Isa_2:21), like worms of the earth as they are, being ashamed and afraid to show their heads; so low shall they be brought, and such abjects shall they be, when they are abased. When God did wonders for his church many of the people of the land became Jews, because the fear of the Jews,and of their God, fell upon them, Est_8:17. So it is promised here: They shall be afraid of the Lord our God, and shall fear because of thee, O Israel! Forced submissions are often but feigned submissions; yet they redound to the glory of God and the church, though not to the benefit of the dissemblers themselves.

JAMISO, "thy ... him— both referring to Israel. So in Mic_7:19 the person is changed from the first to the third, “us ... our ... their.” Jehovah here answers Micah’s prayer in Mic_7:14, assuring him, that as He delivered His people from Egypt by miraculous power, so He would again “show” it in their behalf (Jer_16:14, Jer_16:15).

CALVI, "The Prophet here introduces God as the speaker; and he so speaks as to give an answer to his prayer. God then promises that he will be wonderful in his works, and give such evidences of his power, as he exhibited when he brought up his people from the land of Egypt. We now see that there is more force in this passage, than if the Prophet had at first said, that God would become the deliverer of his people: for he interposed entreaty and prayer and God now shows that he will be merciful to his people; and at the same time the faithful are reminded, that they must be instant in prayer, if they desire to be preserved by God.

ow God says that he will show wonderful things, as when the people formerly came out of Egypt. (197) That redemption, we know, was a perpetual monument of God’s power in the preservation of his Church; so that whenever he designs to give some hope of deliverances he reminds the faithful of those miracles that they may feel assured that there will be no obstacles to prevent them from continuing in a state of safety, provided God will be pleased to help them, for his power is not diminished.

And this deserves to be noticed; for though we all allow the omnipotence of God, yet when we struggle with trials, we tremble, as though all the avenues to our preservation had been closed up against God. As soon then as any impediment is thrown in our way, we think that there is no hope. Whence is this? It is because we make no account of God’s power, which yet we confess to be greater than that of the whole world.

This is the reason why God now refers to the miracles which he wrought at the

coming forth of the people. They ought to have known, that God ever continues like himself, and that his power remains as perfect as it was formerly; and there is in him sufficient support to encourage the hope of assistance. We now perceive the object of the Prophet. He indeed changes the persons; for in the beginning he addresses the people, according to the days of thy going forth, and then he adds, ,aranu, ‘I will make him to see;’ but this change does not obscure the meaning ,אראניfor God only means, that his power was sufficiently known formerly to his people, and that there was a memorable proof of it in their redemption, so that the people could not have doubted respecting their safety, without being ungrateful to God, and without burying in oblivion that so memorable a benefit, which God once conferred on their fathers. It follows —

COFFMA, "Verse 15"As in the days of thy coming forth out of the land of Egypt will I show unto them marvelous things."

One more prophecy of that "Glorious Era" yet to come under the reign of Christ appears in this:

"I will show unto them marvelous things ... as in the days of their coming up out of Egypt ..." That was the occasion of those great and astounding miracles of God through Moses, including the ten devastating plagues that effected the delivery from Egypt. The promise here is that "God will do it again!" That Prophet, like unto Moses, and who like Moses would astound the whole world with his miracles - that Prophet would arise and "show them marvelous things." Amazingly, Wolfe read the prophecy correctly, but missed its application! "With the restoration of Israel, miracles would again abound as they did centuries earlier at the Red Sea!"[27]

COSTABLE, "Verse 15The Lord replied to Micah"s prayer. He promised that He would show Israel miracles again, as when He sent the plagues on Egypt just before the Exodus (cf. Exodus 3:20; Exodus 15:11). The Jews" liberation from Gentile domination and return to their own land at the beginning of the Millennium will be another miraculous Exodus (cf. Hosea 9:3; Hosea 11:5; Hosea 11:11; Hosea 12:9).

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

Ver. 15. According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt] Here is a present and full answer to the Church’s prayer; so ready is the Lord to fulfil the desires of the righteous. It is but ask and have; and they are worthily miserable that will not make themselves happy by asking. The sum of Christ’s answer is this: As I led Joseph like a flock out of Egypt through the wilderness, and fed them there daily and daintily, with angels’ food (never was prince so served in his greatest pomp), so will I show thee marvellous things at Babylon, and bring thee thence with a mighty hand, Ezekiel 20:34, to make me a glorious name, Isaiah 63:14, and both these

deliverances shall be a most certain type of thy spiritual redemption by Christ. Lo, thus will I do for thee as in the days of old, Micah 7:14, and so fit mine answer, ad cardinem desiderii, give thee not only the desire of thine heart, but the request of thy lips, Psalms 21:2, let it be to thee even as thou wilt, Matthew 15:28.

BESO, "Verse 15-16Micah 7:15-16. According to the days of thy coming — These words are an answer to the prophet’s prayer in the foregoing verse; wherein God tells him that the wonders he will perform in bringing back his people into their own country shall be as conspicuous as those which he showed in their deliverance out of Egypt, and giving them the first possession of it. The sense is equivalent to that of Psalms 68:22, The Lord hath said, I will bring my people again, as I did from Bashan, &c. The nations shall see, and be confounded at all their might — The heathen shall feel the same confusion as men do under a great disappointment. Or, the meaning may be, They shall be ashamed of their might; namely, to see all the might of the Chaldean empire so soon laid low. This seems to be spoken of the nations in alliance with, or who were friends to, the Chaldeans. Others, by their might, understand the might and power of God’s people, whom no force will be able to withstand: see Micah 5:8. They shall lay their hand upon their mouth — The evident tokens of God’s presence with his people shall strike their adversaries with astonishment. Their ears shall be deaf — They shall be so struck with surprise, as not to hear what is said to them: or, they shall hardly believe their own ears, when they hear of those wonderful works which God will work for his servants.

PETT, "Verse 15YHWH Makes His Reply (Micah 7:15).

Micah 7:15

‘As in the days of your coming forth out of the land of Egypt,

Will I show to them marvellous things.

YHWH’s response is to promise that just as He had when He had delivered them from Egypt, so would He once again so marvellous things for them. He will reach out with His powerful hand and His mighty arm, so as to deliver His people.

And certainly the future restoration of His people from many places of exile to Palestine, and the later establishment of a powerful and widespread Jewish nation, was evidence that He kept His word. And even more marvellous things were done when the Messiah came among them and healed all who came to Him, preparing them for their inheritance to come. In Hebrews this picture of inheriting the land is finally seen in terms of the new Heaven and earth, when Abraham will receive the fulfilment of God’s promises in a city which had foundations, whose builder and maker was God (Hebrews 11:10), and where his descendants will receive a better country, that is a heavenly (Hebrews 11:16).

PULPIT, "Micah 7:15

According to (as in) the days. The Lord answers the prophet's prayer, taking up his last word, and promising even more than he asks, engaging to equal the wonders which marked the exodus from Egypt. That great deliverance was a type and foreshadowing of Messianic salvation (comp. Isaiah 43:15, etc.; Isaiah 51:10; 1 Corinthians 10:1, etc.). Unto him; unto the people of Israel (Micah 7:14). Marvellous things; Septuagint, οψεσθε θαυµαστά, "Ye shall see marvellous things." Supernatural occurrences are meant, as Exodus 3:20; Exodus 15:11; Psalms 77:14. We do not read of any special miracles at the return from captivity, so the people were led to look onward to the advent of Messiah for these wonders.

16 ations will see and be ashamed, deprived of all their power.They will put their hands over their mouths and their ears will become deaf.

BARES. "The nations shall see - God had answered, what He would give to His own people, to see. Micah takes up the word, and says, what effect this sight should have upon the enemies of God and of His people. The world should still continue to be divided between the people of God and their adversaries. Those who are converted pass from the one to the other; but the contrast remains. Assyria, Babylon, Egypt, pass away or become subject to other powers; but the antagonism continues. The nations are they, who, at each time, waste, oppress, are arrayed against, the people of God. When the Gospel came into the world, the whole world was arrayed against it. These then, he says, “shall see”, that is, the marvelous works of God, which God should shew His people, and be ashamed at, that is, “because of all their might”, their own might. They put forth their whole might, and it failed them against the marvelous might of God. They should array might against might, and be ashamed at the failure of “all their might”.

The word all is very emphatic; it implies that they had put forth all, and that all had failed them, and proved to be weakness. So the pagan might was often put to shame and gnashed its teeth, when it could avail nothing against the strength to endure which God gave to His martyrs. Its strength to inflict and to crush was baffled before the hidden might of God’s Spirit. “They shall lay their hand upon their mouth”, in token that they were reduced to silence, having no more to say ; for He promised, “I will give you a

mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist” (Luk_21:15, compare Act_5:29); and they had to own, “indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them, and we cannot deny it. Their ears shall be deaf” Act_4:16; they shall be silent, as though they had heard nothing, as if they were both dumb and deaf .

Yet it seems too that they are willfully deaf, shutting their ears out of envy and hatred, that they might not hear what great things God had done for His people, nor hear the voice of truth and be converted and healed. Rup.: “The nations and the Emperors of the nations saw, Jews and Gentiles saw, and were ashamed at all their might, because their might, great as it was accounted, upheld by laws and arms, could not overcome the mighty works, which the Good Shepherd did among His people or flock by His rod, that is, by His power, through weak and despised persons, the aged, or oftentimes even by boys and girls. They were then ashamed at all their might which could only touch the “earthen vessels” 2Co_4:7, but could not take away the treasure which was in them. What shall I say of the wisdom of those same nations? Of this too they were ashamed, as he adds, “They shall put their hands upon their mouths”. For, in comparison with the heavenly wisdom, which spake by them and made their tongues eloquent, dumb was all secular eloquence, owning by its silence that it was convicted and confounded.”

CLARKE, "The nations shall see and be confounded -Whether the words in these verses (Mic_7:15-17) be applied to the return from the Babylonish captivity, or to the prosperity of the Jews under the Maccabees, they may be understood as ultimately applicable to the final restoration of this people, and their lasting prosperity under the Gospel.

GILL, "The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might,.... The Chaldeans or Babylonians, when they shall see the wonderful things done by the Lord in the deliverance of his people out of their hands, shall be ashamed of their own power and might, in which they trusted, and of which they boasted; but now shall be baffled and defeated, and not able to stop the progress of the arms of Cyrus, or detain the Jews any longer their captives; or they shall be confounded at the power and strength the Jews will have to repossess their land, rebuild their city and temple, under the encouragement and protection of the king of Persia; and as this may refer to a further accomplishment in Gospel times, it may respect the confusion the Gentile world would be in at the mighty power and spread of the Gospel, in the conversion of such multitudes by it, and in the abolition of the Pagan religion. Kimchi interprets this of the nations that shall be gathered together with Gog and Magog against Jerusalem in the latter day; see Eze_38:15;

they shall lay their hand upon their mouth: be silent, and boast no more of themselves; nor blaspheme God and his word; nor insult his people; nor oppose his Gospel, or open their mouths any more against his truths and his ordinances:

their ears shall be deaf; hearing so much of the praises of God, of the success of his interest, and of the happiness of his peopled dinned in their ears, they will be stunned with it, and scarce know what they hear; become deaf with the continual noise of it, which will be disagreeable to them; and will choose to hear no more, and therefore through envy and grief will stop their ears at what is told them.

JAMISO, "shall see— the “marvelous things” (Mic_7:15; Isa_26:11).

confounded at all their might— having so suddenly proved unavailing: that might wherewith they had thought that there is nothing which they could not effect against God’s people.

lay ... hand upon ... mouth— the gesture of silence (Job_21:5; Job_40:4; Psa_107:42; Isa_52:15). They shall be struck dumb at Israel’s marvelous deliverance, and no longer boast that God’s people is destroyed.

ears ... deaf— They shall stand astounded so as not to hear what shall be said [Grotius]. Once they had eagerly drunk in all rumors as so many messages of victories; but then they shall be afraid of hearing them, because they continually fear new disasters, when they see the God of Israel to be so powerful [Calvin]. They shall close their ears so as not to be compelled to hear of Israel’s successes.

CALVI, "Here again the Prophet shows, that though the Church should be assailed on every side and surrounded by innumerable enemies, no doubt ought yet to be entertained respecting the promised aid of God; for it is in his power to make all nations ashamed, that is, to cast down all the pride of the world, so as to make the unbelieving to acknowledge at length that they were elated by an empty confidence. Hence he says, that the nations shall see; as though he said, “I know what makes you anxious, for many enemies are intent on your ruin; and when any help appears, they are immediately prepared fiercely to resist; but their attempts and efforts will not prevent God from delivering you.”

They shall then see and be ashamed of all their strength (198) By these words the Prophet means, that however strongly armed the unbelieving may think themselves to be to destroy the Church, and that how many obstacles soever they may have in their power to restrain the power of God in its behalf, yet the whole will be in vain, for God will, in fact, prove that the strength of men is mere nothing.

He adds, They shall lay their hand on their mouth; that is, they shall not dare to boast hereafter, as they have hitherto done; for this phrase in Hebrew means to be silent. Since then the enemies of the Church made great boastings and exulted with open mouth, as though the people of God were destroyed, the Prophet says, that when God would appear as the Redeemer of his people, they should become, as it were, mute. He subjoins, their ears shall become deaf; (199) that is, they shall stand astounded; nay, they shall hardly dare to open their ears, lest the rumor, brought to them, should occasion to them new trembling. Proud men, we know, when matters succeed according to their wishes, not only boast of their good fortune with open mouths, but also greedily catch at all rumors; for as they think they are all so many messages of victories, — “What is from this place? or what is from that place?” They even expect that the whole world will come under their power. The Prophet, on the other hand, says, “They shall lay the hand on the mouth, and their ears shall become deaf; that is they shall tremblingly shun all rumors, for they shall continually dread new calamities, when they shall see that the God of Israel, against who they have hitherto fought, is armed with so much power.

Some apply this to the preaching of the Gospel; which I readily allow, provided the deliverance be made always to begin with the ancient people: for if any one would have this to be understood exclusively of Christ, such a strained and remote exposition would not be suitable. But if any one will consider the favor of God, as continued from the return of the people to the restoration effected by Christ, he will rightly comprehend the real design of the Prophet. Really fulfilled, then, is what the Prophet says here, when God spreads the doctrine of his Gospel through the whole world: for those who before boasted of their own inventions, begin then to close their mouth, that, being thus silent, they may become his disciples; and they also close their ears, for now they give not up themselves, as before, to foolish and puerile fables, but consecrate their whole hearing to the only true God, that they may attend only to his truth, and no more vacillate between contrary opinions. All this, I allow, is fulfilled under the preaching of the Gospel; but the Prophet, no doubt, connected together the whole time, from the return of the people from the Babylonian exile, to the manifestation of Christ.

COFFMA, "Verse 16"The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth; their ears shall be deaf. They shall lick the dust like a serpent; like crawling things of the earth they shall come trembling out of their close places; they shall come with fear unto Jehovah our God, and shall be afraid because of thee."

Most of the commentators attempting an explanation of these verses apply them to "the abject surrender" of the Gentile nations to Israel in the days of Israel's coming glory, or to "their prostration before Jehovah with fear and trembling, and their recognition that `in none other name under heaven is there salvation.'"[28] That latter view is preferable to the other; but we incline to view this passage as eschatological, referring to the final humiliation of all the unbelieving world in those days immediately before the Second Coming of Christ. The low estate of mankind (crawling ... licking dust ... deaf ... the great fear) does not appear to represent the triumph of Christianity, but a final rejection of it that is prophesied to occur shortly before the end of the age. The entire 18th chapter of Revelation gives a more elaborate picture of the same conditions in view here.

COSTABLE, "The Gentile nations will observe this miracle and feel ashamed because they will realize that all their might is inferior to God"s power demonstrated in bringing Israel home (cf. Micah 7:7; Micah 3:7). They will not want to speak out against Yahweh or Israel because of reverence and awe or hear any more about what God is doing for His people, apparently because His power will be so overwhelming.

TRAPP, "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.

Ver. 16. The nations shall see and be confounded] Considering how I have defeated

and befooled them, how I have made all their might to melt and moulder, they shall stand amazed, and be made a common table talk; as Belshazzar and the Babylonians were, when Cyrus (God’s servant) suddenly brake in upon them and surprised their city, which they held insuperable: and as the heathen emperors of Rome were, when the Christians, under the conduct of Constantine, carried it against them.

They shall lay their hand upon their mouth] Be struck dumb, as if they had seen Medusa’s head; they shall not be able to contradict the gospel, or to hinder the progress of it. Valens, the Arian Emperor, coming upon Basil while he was in holy duties, with an intent to do him harm, was not only silenced, but so terrified, that he reeled, and had fallen had he not been upheld by those that were with him.

Their ears shall be deaf] With the sudden bursting forth of God’s wonderful and terrible works, saith Mr Diodati.

PETT, "Verse 16-17Micah Then Outlines What The Effect Will Be On The ations As A Result Of What YHWH Will Do (Micah 7:16-17)

What YHWH will do will amaze the nations and will also make them ashamed of their belligerence. Thus they will come to Him with no vaunted claims of their own, and will submit to Him, and know the fear of YHWH.

Micah 7:16-17

The nations will see,

And they will be ashamed of all their might,

They will lay their hand upon their mouth,

Their ears will be deaf.

‘They will lick the dust like a serpent,

Like crawling things of the earth they shall come trembling out of their close places,

They will come with fear to YHWH our God,

And will be afraid because of you.’

Before the glorious revelation of YHWH, especially as revealed in the coming of His Messiah as healer, wonder worker and Saviour, the nations will be ashamed of their weapons and their armed might, they will lay their hands on their mouths so as to

express their awe (‘God is in Heaven and we are on the earth, therefore let your words be few’ - Ecclesiastes 5:2), not daring to speak, they will close their ears to the externalities of the world, they will humble themselves as the serpent was humbled in Eden (Genesis 3:14), they will recognise their lowliness before Him as they creep out of their ‘hiding places’ into His light, and they will come with fear to YHWH, and will fear the people of God. The picture is of the Gentiles responding to the message of Christ, and submitting at His feet

PULPIT, "Micah 7:16

Shall see. The heathen shall see these marvellous things. Be confounded at (ashamed of) all their might. Hostile nations shall be ashamed when they find the impotence of their boasted power. Compare the effect of the Exodus on contiguous nations (Exodus 15:14, etc.; Joshua 2:9, Joshua 2:10). They shall lay their hand upon their mouth. They shall be silent from awe and astonishment ( 18:19; Job 21:5; Isaiah 52:15). Their ears shall be deaf. Their senses shall be stupefied by the wonders which they see—that which Job (Job 26:14) calls "the thunder of his mighty deeds." There may also be an allusion to their wilful obstinacy, and unbelief.

17 They will lick dust like a snake, like creatures that crawl on the ground.They will come trembling out of their dens; they will turn in fear to the Lord our God and will be afraid of you.

BARES. "They shall lick the dust like a (the) serpent - To lick the dust, by itself, pictures the extreme humility of persons who east themselves down to the very earth (as in Psa_72:9; Isa_49:23). To lick it “like the serpent” seems rather to represent the condition of those who share the serpent’s doom Gen_3:14; Isa_65:25, whose lot, viz. earth and things of earth, they had chosen (Rup.): “They shall move out of their holes”, or, better, shall tremble, (that is, “come tremblingly,”) out of their close places , whether these be strong places or prisons, as the word, varied in one vowel means. If it be strong places, it means, that “the enemies of God’s people should, in confusion and

tumltuously with fear, leave their strongholds, wherein they thought to be secure, not able to lift themselves up against God and those by Him sent against them.” “Like worms of the earth”, literally, creeping things, or, as we say, reptiles, contemptuously. “They shall be afraid of”, or rather come trembling to, the Lord our God; it is uot said their, but our God, who hath done so great things for us. And shall fear because of (literally, from) Thee, O Lord, of whom they had before said, Where is the Lord thy God?

It is doubtful, whether these last words express a “servile tear,” whereby a man turns away and flees from the person or thing which he fears, or whether they simply describe fear of God, the first step toward repentance. In Hosea’s words, “they shall fear toward the Lord and His goodness” Hos_3:5, the addition, and His goodness, determines the character of the fear. In Micah, it is not said that the fear brings them into any relation to God. lie is not spoken of; as becoming, any how, their God, and Micah closes by a thanksgiving, for God’s pardoning mercy, not to them but to His people.

And so the prophet ends, as he began, with the judgments of God; to those who would repent, chastisement, to the impenitent, punishment: “sentencing Samaria, guilty and not repenting” (Rup.), to perpetual captivity; to Jerusalem, guilty but repenting, promising restoration. So from the beginning of the world did God; so doth He; so shall He unto the end. So did He show Himself to Cain and Abel, who both, as we all, sinned in Adam. Cain, being impenitent, lie wholly cast away; Abel, being penitent,” and through faith offering a better sacrifice than Cain, and “bringing forth fruits worthy of repentance, He accepted.” So He hath foreshown as to the end Matt. 25. Rup.: “And that we may know how uniformly our Judge so distinguisheth, at the very moment of His own death while hanging between the two thieves, the one, impenitent and blaspheming, He left; to the other, penitent and confessing, He opened the gate of paradise; and, soon after, leaving the Jewish people unrepentant, He received the repentance of the Gentiles.” Thus the prophet parts with both out of sight; the people of God, feeding on the rich. bounty and abundance of God, and His marvelous gifts of grace above and beyond nature, multiplied to them above all the wonders of old time; the enemies of God’s people looking on, not to, admire, but to be ashamed, not to be healthfully ashamed, but to be willfully deaf to the voice of God. For, however to lay the hand on the mouth might be a token of reverent silence, the deafness of the ears can hardly be other than the emblem of hardened obstinacy.

What follows, then, seems more like the unwilling creeping-forth into the Presence of God, when they cannot keep away, than conversion. It seems to picture the reprobate, who would not “hear the Voice of the Son of God and live” Joh_5:25, but who, in the end, shall be forced to hear it out of their close places or prisons, that is, the grave, and come forth in fear, when they shall “say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us” Luk_23:30; Rev_6:16. Thus the prophet brings us to the close of all things, the gladness and joy of God’s people, the terror of His enemies, and adds only the song of thanksgiving of all the redeemed.

GILL, "They shall lick the dust like a serpent,.... Whose food is the dust of the earth, according to the curse pronounced on it, Gen_3:14; and which is either its, natural food it chooses to live on, as some serpents however are said (o) to do; or, going upon its belly, it cannot but take in a good deal of the dust of the earth along with its food; and hereby is signified the low, mean, abject, and cursed estate and condition of the seed of the serpent, wicked and ungodly men, the enemies of Christ and his people; who wilt be forced to yield subjection to him and his church, and will pretend the most profound respect for them, and the highest veneration of them. The allusion seems to be

to the manner of the eastern nations, who, in complimenting their kings and great men, bowed so low to the ground with their faces, as to take up with their mouths the very dust of it. Particularly it is said of the Persians, that they first kiss the pavement on which the king treads, before they speak unto him, as Quistorpius on the place relates; and Valerius Maximus (p) says, that when Darius Hystaspis was declared king by the neighing of his horse, the rest of the six candidates alighted from their horses, and prostrated their bodies to the ground, as is the manner of the Persians, and saluted him king; and Herodotus (q) observes the same, custom among the Persians; and to this custom the poet Martial (r) refers; and Drusius says it is a custom in Asia to this day, that, when any go into the presence of a king, they kiss the ground, which is a token of the great veneration they have for him. The phrase is used of the enemies of the, Messiah, and of the converted Jews and Gentiles at the latter day, and is expressive of their great submission to them; see Psa_72:9;

they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth; who put out their heads and draw them in again upon the least notice or approach of danger; or like serpents, as Jarchi and Kimchi, which lurk in holes, and creep out of them oft their bellies, or any other creeping things. The word (s) here used signifies a tremulous and tumultuous motion, like the wriggling of a worm out of the earth; or the hurry of ants, when their nests are kicked or thrown up: this is expressive of the confusion and perturbation of the enemies of the Lord and his people; of the Babylonians, who were obliged in a hurry to leave their palaces, as the Targum and Aben Ezra interpret their holes, and their fortresses and towers, and deliver them to the Medes and Persians; and of Gog and Magog, and the antichristian states, who will be obliged to abandon their places of abode, and creep out of sight, and be reduced to the lowest and meanest condition;

they shall be afraid of the Lord our God: because of the glory of his majesty, the greatness of his power, and for fear of his judgments:

and shall fear because of thee; O God, or Israel, as Kimchi; the church of God, whom they despised and reproached before; but now shall be seized with a panic, and live in the utmost dread of, because of the power and glory of God in the midst of them, and lest they should fall a sacrifice to them.

JAMISO, "lick the dust— in abject prostration as suppliants (Psa_72:9; compare Isa_49:23; Isa_65:25).

move out of their holes— As reptiles from their holes, they shall come forth from their hiding-places, or fortresses (Psa_18:45), to give themselves up to the conquerors. More literally, “they shall tremble from,” that is, tremblingly come forth from their coverts.

like worms— reptiles or crawlers (Deu_32:24).

they shall be afraid of the Lord— or, they shall in fear turn with haste to the Lord. Thus the antithesis is brought out. They shall tremble forth from their holes: they shall in trepidation turn to the Lord for salvation (compare Note, see on Hos_3:5, and Jer_33:9).

fear because of thee— shall fear Thee, Jehovah (and so fear Israel as under Thy guardianship). There is a change here from speaking of God to speaking to God [Maurer]. Or rather, “shall fear thee, Israel” [Henderson].

CALVI, "He afterwards adds, They shall lick the dust as a serpent He intimates, that however the enemies of the Church may have proudly exalted themselves before, they shall then be cast down, and lie, as it were, on the ground; for to lick the dust is nothing else but to lie prostrate on the earth. They shall then be low and creeping like serpents; and then, They shall move themselves as worms and reptiles of the ground The verb רגז, regez, as it has been stated elsewhere, means to raise an uproar, to tumultuate, and it means also to move one’s self; and this latter meaning is the most suitable here, namely, that they shall go forth or move themselves from their enclosures; for the word סגר, sager, signifies to close up: and by enclosures he means hiding-places, though in the song of David, in Psalms 18:0 :, the word is applied to citadels and other fortified places, —

‘Men,’ he says, ‘trembled from their fortresses;’

though they occupied well-fortified citadels, they yet were afraid, because the very fame of David had broken down their boldness. But as the Prophet speaks here of worms, I prefer this rendering, — ‘from their lurkingplaces;’ as though he said, “Though they have hitherto thought themselves safe in their enclosures, they shall yet move and flee away like worms and reptiles; for when the ground is dug, the worms immediately leap out, for they think that they are going to be taken; so also, when any one moves the ground, the reptiles come forth, and tremblingly run away in all directions.” And the Prophet says that, in like manner, the enemies of the Church, when the Lord shall arise for its help, shall be smitten with so much fear, that they shall in every direction run away. And this comparison ought to be carefully noticed, that is, when the Prophet compares powerful nations well exercised in wars, who before were audaciously raging, and were swollen with great pride — when he compares them to worms and reptiles of the ground, and also to serpents: he did this to show, that there will be nothing to hinder God from laying prostrate every exalted thing in the world, as soon as it shall please him to aid his Church.

And hence the Prophet adds, On account of Jehovah our God they shall treed, and they shall fear because of thee Here the Prophet shows, that the faithful ought not to distrust on account of their own weakness, but, on the contrary, to remember the infinite power of God. It is indeed right that the children of God should begin with diffidence, — sensible that they are nothing, and that all their strength is nothing; but they ought not to stop at their own weakness, but, on the contrary, to rise up to the contemplation of God’s power, that they may not doubt but that, when his power shall appear, their enemies shall be soon scattered. This is the reason why the Prophet here mentions the name of God, and then turns to address God himself. Tremble thenshall they at Jehovah our God, that is, on account of Jehovah our God; and then Fear shall they because of thee. (200) It now follows —

(lang. cy) Oherwydd Jehova ein Duw ur arswydant, —Ac ovnant rhagddot

To fear because of thee, and to fear thee, are two distinct things. You will have the first form in Joshua 10:8; and the second in Deuteronomy 31:12. The first refers to the fear of the Canaanites, the dread of their power; the second, to the fear of Jehovah. — Ed.

ELLICOTT, "(17) They shall lick the dust like a serpent.—The doom of the determined enemies of the Lord and His people recalls that of Satan, the great enemy, as personified by the serpent. “Dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life” (Genesis 3:14).

TRAPP, "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.

Ver. 17. They shall lick the dust like a serpent] That is, be reduced not only to extreme hunger and penury, but to utmost vility and baseness of condition, so as to lick the very dust. And whereas it is added, like a serpent, he puts them in mind of that old malediction, Gen. iii., and gives them to know, that as, like that old serpent, they have lifted themselves up against God, so will God cast them down again to the condition of serpents, and abase them to the very dust. See Psalms 22:29; Psalms 72:9, Isaiah 49:23.

They shall move out of their holes like worms (or creeping things) of the earth] They shall tumultuate, and be all on a huddle, like ants when their molehill is thrown up with a spade. The Hebrew word imports great commotion and bustle.

They shall be afraid of the Lord our God, and shall fear because of thee] O God, or, O Church, terrible as an army with banners. Impiety triumpheth in prosperity, trembleth in adversity: and contrarily, saith holy Greenham, since the fall, we tremble before God, angels, and good men. What have I to do with thee, thou man of God (said she), art thou come to call to mind my sin and to kill my son? At the siege of Mountabove, in France, the people of God within the walls ever before a sally sang a psalm: with which holy practice of theirs, the enemy becoming acquainted, when they heard them singing would so quake and tremble, crying, They come, they come, as though the wrath of God had been breaking out upon them.

BESO, "Verse 17Micah 7:17. They shall lick the dust like a serpent — They shall fall to the earth through fear, and carry themselves very humbly and submissively toward God’s people. They shall move out of their holes like worms — They shall be afraid to stir out of their lurking-holes; and if they creep out like worms, they shall presently hide their heads again. They shall be afraid of the Lord our God — Overthrowing the Babylonish empire by Cyrus. This is expressed Isaiah 45:1, by loosing the loins of

kings. And fear because of thee — When they shall see Almighty God appear so conspicuously in thy favour. The text is parallel to that of Jeremiah 33:9, They shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and the prosperity that I procure unto it; that is, unto Jerusalem. Or, if the prophet be considered as addressing God, the meaning is, When they understand that it was long before denounced by the prophets that destruction should come upon them, and thy people be delivered, and they see all things tending to bring this to pass, then shall they begin to be afraid of thy power.

PULPIT, "Micah 7:17

They shall lick the dust like a serpent (Genesis 3:14; Isaiah 65:25). The enemies of God's people "shall lick the dust" (Psalms 72:9), shall be reduced to the utmost degradation (Isaiah 49:23). They shall move out of their holes, etc.; rather, they come trembling out of their close places (or, fastnesses, Psalms 18:46), like crawling things of the earth. They who prided themselves on their security shall come forth from their strongholds in utter fear, driven out like snakes from their lairs (comp. Psalms 2:11; Hosea 11:10, etc.). They shall be afraid of (whine with fear unto) the Lord our God. They shall be driven by terror to acknowledge the God of Israel. The expression is ambiguous, and may mean servile fear, which makes a man shrink from God. or that fear. which is one step towards repentance; the latter seems intended here, as in Hosea 3:5, where, as Pusey says, the words, "and his goodness," determine the character of the fear. Because of (or, before) thee. It is the heathen who are still the subject, not the Israelites (Jeremiah 10:7). The sudden change of persons is quite in the prophet's style.

18 Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance?You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.

BARES. "Who is a God - (and, as the word means, A Mighty God,) like unto Thee? He saith not, “Who hast made heaven and earth, the sea and all that therein is”

Exo_20:11; nor, “Who telleth the number of the stars; and calleth them all by their names” Psa_147:4; nor, “Who by His strength setteth fast the mountains and is girded about with power” Psa_65:6; but who forgivest! For greater is the work of Redemption than the work of Creation. “That pardoneth”, and beareth and taketh away also, “and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage”, that is, His heritage, which is a remnant still when “the rest are blinded” Rom_11:7; and this, not of its merits but of His mercy; since it is not His nature to “retain His anger forever”; not for anything in them, but “because He delighteth in mercy”, as He saith, “I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger forever” Jer_3:12. “I am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for Mine oum sake, and will not remember thy sins” Isa_43:25. : “For although God for a time is angry with His elect, chastening them mercifully in this life, yet in the end He hath compassion on them, giving them everlasting consolations.”

Moses, after the completion of his people’s deliverance at the Red Sea, used the like appeal to God, in unmingled joy. Then the thanksgiving ran, “glorious in holiness, awful in praises, doing wonders” Exo_15:11. Now, it ran in a more subdued, yet even deeper, tone, taken from God’s revelation of Himself after that great transgression on Mount Sinai “forgiving iniquity and trasgression and sin”. With this, Micah identified his own name . This was the one message which he loved above all to proclaim; of this, his own name was the herald to his people in his day. who is like the Lord, the Pardoner of sin, the Redeemer from its guilt, the Subduer of its power? For no false god was ever such a claim made. The pagan gods were symbols of God’s workings in nature; they were, at best, representatives of His government and of His displeasure at sin. But, being the creatures of man’s mind, they could hot freely pardon, for man dared not ascribe to them the attribute of a freely-pardoning mercy, for which be dared not hope. Who is a God like to Thee, mighty, not only to destroy but to pardon? is the wondering thanksgiving of time, the yet greater amazement of eternity, as eternity shall unveil the deep blackness of sin over-against the light of God, and we, seeing God, as He Is, shall see what that Holiness is, against Which we sinners sinned, The soul, which is truly penitent, never wearies of the wondering love, who is a God like unto Thee?

CLARKE, "Who is a God like unto thee, etc - Here is a challenge to all idol worshippers, and to all those who take false views of the true God, to show his like. See his characters; they are immediately subjoined.

1. He pardoneth iniquity. This is the prerogative of God alone; of that Being who alone has power to save or to destroy.

2. He passeth by transgression. He can heal backsliding, and restore them that are fallen.

3. He retaineth not his anger forever. Though, justly displeased because of sin, he pours out his judgments upon the wicked; yet when they return to him, he shows “that he retaineth not his anger forever,” but is indescribably ready to save them.

4. He delighteth in mercy. Judgment is his strange work: he is ever more ready to save than to destroy. Nothing can please him better than having the opportunity, from the return and repentance of the sinner, to show him that mercy without which he must perish everlastingly.

5. Because he is such a God -

1. “He will turn again.” His face has been long turned from us, because of our sins.

2. “He will have compassion upon us” pity our state, and feel for our sorrows.

3. “He will subdue our iniquities.” Though they have been mighty, he will bring

them down, and bruise them under our feet.

4. “He will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” Will fully pardon them,

and never more remember them against us. Instead of חטאתם chattotham, Their

sins, five MSS. of Kennicott’s and De Rossi’s, with the Septuagint, Syriac,

Vulgate, and Arabic read חטאתינו chattotheynu, Our sins. He will plunge them into

eternal oblivion, never more to come into sight or remembrance; like a stone dropped into the “depths of the sea.”

GILL, "Who is a God like unto thee,.... There is no God besides him, none so great, so mighty, as he; none like him for the perfections of his nature; for the works of his hands; for the blessings of his goodness, both of providence and grace; and particularly for his pardoning grace and mercy, as follows:

that pardoneth iniquity: that "lifts" it up, and "takes" it away, as the word (t)signifies; thus the Lord has taken the sins of his people off of them, and laid them on Christ, and he has bore them, and carried them away, as the antitype of the scapegoat, never to be seen and remembered any more; and whereas the guilt of sin lies sometimes as a heavy burden upon their consciences, he lifts it up, and takes it away, by sprinkling the blood of Christ upon them, and by applying his pardoning grace and mercy to them: pardon of sin is peculiar to God; none can forgive it but he against whom it is committed; forgiveness of sin is with him, promised by him in covenant, proclaimed in Christ, by him obtained and published in the Gospel:

and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? the people of God are his portion, his lot, and his inheritance; they are a remnant according to the election of grace, chosen of God, taken into his covenant, redeemed by Christ, and called by grace, and brought to repent and believe; these God forgives, even all their transgressions, sins, and iniquities of every kind; which is here expressed by another word, "passing them by", or "passing over them": sin is a transgression or passing over the law, and pardon is a passing over sin; God taking no notice of it, as if he saw it not; not imputing it to his people, or calling them to an account for it; or condemning and punishing them according to the desert of it; but hiding his face from it, and covering it:

he retaineth not his anger for ever; that which he seemed to have against his people, and appeared in some of the dispensations of his providence, is not continued and lengthened out, and especially for ever, but it disappears; he changes the course of his providence, and his conduct and behaviour to his people, and, hews them his face and favour, and manifests his forgiving love; which is a turning himself from his anger; see Psa_85:2;

because he delighteth in mercy; which is natural to him, abundant with him, and exercised according to his sovereign will and pleasure, very delightful to him; he takes pleasure in showing mercy to miserable creatures, and in those that hope in it, Psa_147:11; this is the spring of pardon, which streams through the blood of Christ.

HERY, " The prophet's thankful acknowledgment of God's mercy, in the name of the church, with a believing dependence upon his promise, Mic_7:18-20. We are here taught,

1. To give to God the glory of his pardoning mercy, Mic_7:18. God having promised to bring back the captivity of his people, the prophet, on that occasion, admires pardoning mercy, as that which was at the bottom of it. As it was their sin that brought them into bondage, so it was God's pardoning their sin that brought them our of it; Psa_85:1, Psa_85:2, and Isa_33:24; Isa_38:17; Isa_60:1, Isa_60:2. The pardon of sin is the foundation of all other covenant-mercies, Heb_8:12. This the prophet stands amazed at, while the surrounding nations stood amazed only at those deliverances which were but the fruits of this. Note, (1.) God's people, who are the remnant of his heritage, stand charged with many transgressions; being but a remnant, a very few, one would hope they should all be very good, but they are not so; God's children have their spots, and often offend their Father. (2.) The gracious God is ready to pass by and pardon the iniquity and transgression of his people, upon their repentance and return to him. God's people are a pardoned people, and to this they owe their all. When God pardons sin, he passes it by, does not punish it as justly he might, nor deal with the sinner according to the desert of it. (3.) Though God may for a time lay his own people under the tokens of his displeasure, yet he will not retain his anger for ever, but though he cause grief he will have compassion; he is not implacable; yet against those that are not of the remnant of his heritage, that are unpardoned, he will keep his anger for ever. (4.) The reasons why God pardons sin, and keeps not his anger for ever, are all taken from within himself; it is because he delights in mercy, and the salvation of sinners is what he has pleasure in, not their death and damnation. (5.) The glory of God in forgiving sin is, as in other things, matchless, and without compare. There is no God like unto him for this; no magistrate, no common person, forgives as God does. In this his thoughts and ways are infinitely above ours; in this he is God, and not man. (6.) All those that have experienced pardoning mercy cannot but admire that mercy; it is what we have reason to stand amazed at, if we know what it is. Has God forgiven us our transgressions? We may well say, Who is a God like unto thee? Our holy wonder at pardoning mercy will be a good evidence of our interest in it.

JAMISO, "Grateful at such unlooked-for grace being promised to Israel, Micah breaks forth into praises of Jehovah.

passeth by the transgression— not conniving at it, but forgiving it; leaving it unpunished, as a traveler passes by what he chooses not to look into (Pro_19:11). Contrast Amo_7:8, and “mark iniquities,” Psa_130:3.

the remnant— who shall be permitted to survive the previous judgment: the elect remnant of grace (Mic_4:7; Mic_5:3, Mic_5:7, Mic_5:8).

retaineth not ... anger— (Psa_103:9).

delighteth in mercy— God’s forgiving is founded on His nature, which delights in loving-kindness, and is averse from wrath.

K&D 18-20, "“Who is a God like Thee? removing guilt and passing over iniquity to the remnant of His inheritance. He retaineth not His anger for ever, for He delighteth in mercy.Mic_7:19. He will have compassion upon us again, tread down our transgressions; and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.Mic_7:20. Mayest Thou show truth to Jacob, mercy to Abraham, which Thou hast sworn to our

fathers from the days of old.” מי�אל��מוך� looks back to Exo_15:11; but whether Micah also

plays upon his own name is doubtful. Like the first redemption of Israel out of Egypt, the

second or still more glorious redemption of the people of God furnishes an occasion for praising the incomparable nature of the Lord. But whereas in the former Jehovah merely revealed Himself in His incomparable exaltation above all gods, in the restoration of the nation which had been cast out among the heathen because of its sins, and its exaltation among the nations, He now reveals His incomparable nature in grace and compassion.

The words נשא�עון�וגו are formed after Exo_34:6-7, where the Lord, after the falling away

of Israel from Him by the worship of the golden calf, reveals Himself to Moses as a gracious and merciful God, who forgives guilt and sin. But this grace and compassion are only fully revealed in the restoration and blessing of the remnant of His nation by Jesus Christ. (For Mic_7:18, see Psa_103:9.) As One who delighteth in mercy, He will have

compassion upon Israel again (yâshūbh used adverbially, as in Hos_14:8, etc.), will tread

down its sins, i.e., conquer their power and tyranny by His compassion, and cast them into the depths of the sea, as He once conquered the tyrant Pharaoh and drowned him in the depths of the sea (Exo_15:5, Exo_15:10). This believing assurance then closes with

the prayer (tittēn is optative) that the Lord will give His rescued nation truth and mercy

('ĕmeth and chesed, after Eze_34:6), i.e., give them to enjoy, or bestow upon them, what

He had sworn to the patriarchs (Gen_22:16). Abraham and Jacob are mentioned instead of their family (cf. Isa_41:8).

With this lofty praise of the Lord, Micah closes not only the last words, but his whole book. The New Testament parallel, as Hengstenberg has correctly observed, is Rom_

11:33-36; and the µυστήριον made known by the apostle in Rom_11:25. gives us a view of

the object and end of the ways of the Lord with His people.

CALVI, "The Prophet here exclaims that God ought to be glorified especially for this — that he is merciful to his people. When he says, Who is God as thou art? he does not mean that there are other gods; for this, strictly speaking, is an improper comparison. But he shows that the true and only God may be distinguished from all idols by this circumstance — that he graciously forgives the sins of his people and bears with their infirmities. It is indeed certain, that all nations entertained the opinion, that their gods were ready to pardon; hence their sacrifices and hence also their various kinds of expiations. or has there been any nation so barbarous as not to own themselves guilty in some measure before God; hence all the Gentiles were wont to apply to the mercy of their gods; while yet they had no firm conviction: for though they laid hold on this first principle, — that the gods would be propitious to sinners, if they humbly sought pardon; yet they prayed, we know, with no sure confidence, for they had no certain promise. We hence see that what the Prophet means is this, — that the God of Israel could be proved to be the true God from this circumstance — that having once received into favor the children of Abraham, he continued to show the same favor, and kept his covenant inviolably, though their sins had been a thousand times a hindrance in the way. That God then in his goodness surmounted all the wickedness of the people, and stood firm in his covenant, which had been so often violated by vices of the people — this fact may be brought as an evidence, that he is the true God: for what can be found of this kind among idols? Let us suppose that there is in them something divine, that they were gods, and endued with some power; yet with regard to the gods of the Gentiles, it

could not be known that any one of them was propitious to his own people. Since then this can apply only to the God of Israel, it follows that in this instance his divinity shines conspicuously, and that his sovereignty is hence sufficiently proved. We also learn, that all the gods of heathens are vain; yea, that in the religion of heathens there is nothing but delusions: for no nation can with confidence flee to its god to obtain pardon, when it has sinned. This is the sum of the whole. I shall now come to the words of the Prophet.

Who is a God like thee, taking away iniquity, and passing by wickedness? By these two forms of expression, he sets forth the singular favor of God in freely reconciling himself to sinners. To take away sins is to blot them out; though the verb נשא, nusha, often means to raise on high; yet it means also to take, or, to take away. To pass by wickedness, is to connive at it, as though he said, “God overlooks the wickedness of his people, as if it escaped his view:” for when God requires an account of our life, our sins immediately appear, and appear before his eyes; but when God does not call our sins before his judgment, but overlooks them, he is then said to pass by them.

This passage teaches us, as I have already reminded you, that the glory of God principally shines in this, — that he is reconcilable, and that he forgives our sins. God indeed manifests his glory both by his power and his wisdom, and by all the judgments which he daily executes; his glory, at the same time, shines forth chiefly in this, — that he is propitious to sinners, and suffers himself to be pacified; yea, that he not only allows miserable sinners to be reconciled to him, but that he also of his own will invites and anticipates them. Hence then it is evident, that he is the true God. That religion then may have firm roots in our hearts, this must be the first thing in our faith, — that God will ever be reconciled to us; for except we be fully persuaded as to his mercy, no true religion will ever flourish in us, whatever pretensions we may make; for what is said in Psalms 130:0 is ever true, ‘With thee is propitiation, that thou mayest be feared.’ Hence the fear of God, and the true worship of him, depend on a perception of his goodness and favor; for we cannot from the heart worship God, and there will be, as I have already said, no genuine religion in us, except this persuasion be really and deeply seated in our hearts, —that he is ever ready to forgive, whenever we flee to him.

It hence also appears what sort of religion is that of the Papacy: for under the Papacy, being perplexed and doubtful, they ever hesitate, and never dare to believe that God will be propitious to them. Though they have some ideas, I know not what, of his grace; yet it is a vain presumption and rashness, as they think, when any one is fully persuaded of God’s mercy. They therefore keep consciences in suspense; nay, they leave them doubtful and trembling, when there is no certainty respecting God’s favor. It hence follows, that their whole worship is fictitious; in a word, the whole of religion is entirely subverted, when a firm and unhesitating confidence, as to his goodness, is taken away, yea, that confidence by which men are enabled to come to him without doubting, and to receive, whenever they sin and confess their guilt and transgressions, the mercy that is offered to them.

But this confidence is not what rises spontaneously in us; nay, even when we entertain a notion that God is merciful, it is only a mere delusion: for we cannot be fully convinced respecting God’s favor, except he anticipates us by his word, and testifies that he will be propitious to us whenever we flee to him. Hence I said at the beginning, that the Prophet here exhibits the difference between the God of Israel and all the idols of the Gentiles, and that is, because he had promised to be propitious to his people. It was not in vain that sacrifices were offered by the chosen people, for there was a promise added, which could not disappoint them: but the Gentiles ever remained doubtful with regard to their sacrifices; though they performed all their expiations, there was yet no certainty; but the case was different with the chosen people. What then the Prophet says here respecting the remission of sins, depends on the testimony which God himself has given.

We must now notice the clause which immediately follows, as to the remnant of his heritage Here again he drives away the hypocrites from their vain confidence: for he says that God will be merciful only to a remnant of his people; and, at the same time, he takes away an offense, which might have grievously disquieted the weak, on seeing the wrath of God raging among the whole people, — that God would spare neither the common nor the chief men. When therefore the fire of God’s vengeance flamed terribly, above and below, this objection might have greatly disturbed weak minds, — “How is this? God does indeed declare that he is propitious to sinners, and yet his severity prevails among us. — How can this be?” The Prophet meets this objection and says, God is propitious to the remnant of his heritage; which means, that though God would execute terrible vengeance on the greater part, there would yet ever remain some seed, on whom his mercy would shine; and he calls them the remnant of his heritage, because there was no reason, as it was stated yesterday, why God forgave the few, except that he had chosen the posterity of Abraham.

He also adds, He will not retain his wrath perpetually. By this second consolation he wished to relieve the faithful: for though God chastises them for a time, he yet forgets not his mercy. We may say, that the Prophet mentions here two exceptions. He had spoken of God’s mercy; but as this mercy is not indiscriminate or common to all, he restricts what he teaches to the remnant. ow follows another exception, —that how much soever apparently the wrath of God would rage against his elect people themselves, there would yet be some moderation, so that they would remain safe, and that their calamities would not be to them fatal. Hence he says, God retains not wrath; for though, for a moment, he may be angry with his people, he will yet soon, as it were, repent, and show himself gracious to them, and testify that he is already reconciled to them; — not that God changes, but that the faithful are made for a short time to feel his wrath; afterwards a taste of his mercy exhilarates them, and thus they feel in their souls that God has in a manner changed. For when dread possesses their minds, they imagine God to be terrible, but when they embrace the promises of his grace, they call on him, and begin to entertain hope of pardon; then God appears to them kind, gentle, and reconcilable; yea, and altogether ready to show mercy. This is the reason why the Prophet says, that God retains not his wrath

Then follows the cause, for he loveth mercy Here the Prophet more clearly shows,

that the remission of sins is gratuitous, and that it has no foundation but in the nature of God himself. There is then no reason, since Scripture declares God to be reconcilable, why any one should seek the cause in himself, or even the means by which God reconciles himself to us: for He himself is the cause. As God then by nature loves mercy, hence it is, that he is so ready to forgive sinners. Whosoever then imagines that God is to be propitiated by expiations or any satisfactions, subverts the doctrine of the Prophet; and it is the same thing as to build without a foundation: for the only prop or support that can raise us up to God, when we desire to be reconciled to him, is this, — that he loves mercy. And this is the reason why God so much commends his mercy, why he says that he is merciful to thousand generations, slow to wrath, and ready to pardon. For though the unbelieving harden themselves against God, yet when they feel his wrath, there is nothing so difficult for them as to believe that God can be pacified. Hence this reason, which is not in vain added by the Prophet, ought to be especially noticed.

Let us now see to whom God is merciful. For as Satan could not have obliterated from the hearts of men a conviction of God’s mercy, he has yet confined mercy to the unbelieving, as though God should forgive sinners only once, when they are admitted into the Church. Thus the Pelagians formerly thought, that God grants reconciliation to none but to aliens; for whosoever has been once received into the Church cannot, as they imagined, stand otherwise before God than by being perfect. And this figment led ovatus and his disciples to create disturbances in the Church. And there are at this day not only deluded men, but devils, who, by the same figment, or rather delirious notions, fascinate themselves and others, and hold, that the highest perfection ought to exist in the faithful; and they also slander our doctrine, as though we were still continuing in the Alphabet or in the first rudiments, because we daily preach free remission of sins. But the Prophet declares expressly that God not only forgives the unbelieving when they sin, but also his heritage and his elect. Let us then know, that as long as we are in the world, pardon is prepared for us, as we could not otherwise but fall every moment from the hope of salvation, were not this remedy provided for us: for those men must be more than mad who arrogate to themselves perfection, or who think that they have arrived at that high degree of attainment, that they can satisfy God by their works. It now follows —

COFFMA, "Verse 18"Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in living kindness."

"Pardoneth iniquity ... passeth over the transgression ..." The great hallmark of the ew Covenant lies in the promise of God to forgive the sins of his people, a promise that simply did not pertain to the old covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-35); and, therefore, in this we have a certain indication that the passage is Messianic. ote that the promise of forgiveness here is not to the whole of apostate Israel, but to the "righteous remnant," the true Israel to be revealed in Christ and from which no

person, either Jew or Gentile is excluded. This identification of which Israel would be the recipient of the glorious promises appearing again and again in Micah is the key to understanding the whole prophecy.

COSTABLE, "Verse 18The prophet praised Yahweh as a God who is unique in that He pardons the rebellious sins of the surviving remnant of His people. "Who is a God like You?" is another rhetorical question (cf. Exodus 15:11; Psalm 35:10; Psalm 71:19; Psalm 77:13; Psalm 89:6; Psalm 113:5), and it may be a play on Micah"s name, which means, "Who is like Yahweh?" o one is just like Him! Pardoning such grave sins is contrary to human behavior, but Yahweh would not retain His anger against the Israelites forever (cf. Psalm 103:9). He will pardon them (cf. Micah 1:5; Micah 3:8; Micah 6:7; Exodus 34:6-7) because He delights to be faithful to His love (Heb. hesed) for them (cf. Micah 7:20).

Verses 18-203. Praise for forgiveness7:18-20

Micah had prayed, he received the Lord"s answer, and this answer moved him to worship (cf. Exodus 34:6-7). Modern orthodox Jews read Micah 7:18-20 in their synagogues on the day of Atonement following the reading of Jonah.

"Few passages in Scripture contain so much "distilled theology" as Micah 7:18-20." [ote: Wiersbe, p402.]

ELLICOTT, "(18) Who is a God like unto thee?—Micah, with an allusion to the significance of his own name, concludes his book with a burst of enthusiastic homage to the God of gods. The gracious character here ascribed to Jehovah is unparalleled in the Bible in human utterances; it is the response of the prophet to the glorious words spoken by Jehovah of Himself (Exodus 34:6-7). The promise there made to Moses is here extended by the inspiration of the prophet to the Gentiles. The “remnant” refers to the returned from the captivity.

TRAPP, "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.

Ver. 18. Who is a God like unto thee?] o God surely (whether so reputed or deputed; whether heathen deities, heavenly angels, or earthly rulers) can compare with our God, or come near him, for pardoning of sin. Indeed, none can do it at all but he; as the blind Pharisees saw and could say. Men may pardon the trespass, but God alone the transgression. But say they could do something that way; yet nothing like our God, who maketh his power appear to be great, umbers 14:17, in pardoning such offences as no God or man besides would pardon. See Jeremiah 3:1, ehemiah 9:31. He forgiveth iniquity, transgression and sin, Exodus 34:6-7, that is, all sorts of sins, to all sorts of sinners, without exception, Matthew 12:31. This is the express letter of God’s covenant, which we ought not either to obliterate or to

interline; but to believe it in the full latitude and extent. We are apt to cast God’s pardoning grace into a mould of our own; and to measure it by our model. But against this we are cautioned, Isaiah 55:8. God must be magnified in our thoughts, his quarters there enlarged, high and honourable conceptions are to be had of him; or else we wrong him no less than we should do a king by respecting and receiving him no otherwise than we would do another ordinary man. He is set forth here as a God imparallel, and that not without an interrogation of admiration, O! who is a God like unto thee? Thy mercy is matchless, thy grace aboundeth even to an overflow, 1 Timothy 1:14, it is more than exceeding, it hath a superpleonasm, υπερεπλεονασε, saith the apostle here. Surely as the sea swallows up huge rocks, and as the sun scattereth greatest mists; so doth he pardon enormities as well as infirmities, and blotteth out the thick cloud as well as the cloud,. Isaiah 44:22. His mercy rejoiceth against, or glorifieth over, judgment, James 2:13, and is ready to say of a great sinner indeed

- “ Iam dignus vindice nodus: ”

The more desperate the disease is, the greater glory redoundeth to him that cureth it. Our Saviour received a glorious name by curing incurable diseases; and gained greatest love by frankly forgiving Mary Magdalen’s and others’ sins, Luke 7:42; Luke 7:47, which were many and mighty, or bony, as the prophet’s word signifies, Amos 5:12. Adam’s apostasy, oah’s drunkenness, Lot’s incest, David’s blood guiltiness, Manasseh’s idolatry and witch craft, Peter’s thrice denying and abjuring his Master, Paul’s blasphemy and persecution, - all these sins and blasphemies, have been forgiven, to the sons of men neither can they commit more than he both can and will remit to the penitent. ote this against ovatus, that proud heretic; and strive against that natural ovatianism that is in the timorous conscience of convinced sinners, to doubt and question pardon for sins of apostasy, and falling after repentance, and to say as those unbelievers of old, Can the Lord prepare a table for us in the wilderness? so, can he forgive such and such iniquities so often reiterated? This is a question, no question; what cannot our God do in this kind, who pardoneth sin naturally, Exodus 34:6 (and therefore freely as the sun shineth, or as the fountain casteth out waters); who doth it also abundantly, Isaiah 55:7, multiplying pardons as fast as we multiply sins; and lastly, constantly, Psalms 130:4, John 1:29, Zechariah 13:1. It is his perpetual act; and it should be as a perpetual picture in our hearts. We should go on our way toward heaven, as Samson did toward his parents, feeding on this honeycomb.

That pardoneth iniquity] Heb. that taketh away, sheer away, non ne sit, sed ne obsit, not sin itself, but the guilt of it; the damning and domineering power of it: this David calleth the iniquity of his sin; and saith that this God forgave him, Psalms 32:5, pronouncing himself and all such happy as are so dealt with, Micah 7:1-2.

And passeth by the transgression] Heb. passeth over it, taketh no notice of it, as a man in a deep muse, or as one that hath haste of business, seeth not things before

him; his mind being upon another matter, he neglects all else besides that. As David, when he saw in Mephibosheth the features of his friend Jonathan, took no notice of his lameness, or any other defect or deformity; so God, beholding in his people the image of his Son: winks at all faults, that he might soon find in them. That which Cicero said flatteringly of Caesar is truly affirmed of God, ihil oblivisci solet praeter iniurias, He forgetteth nothing but the wrongs that are daily done him by his; and as it is said of our Henry VI, that he was of that happy memory that he never forgot anything but injury: so here.

Of the remnant of his heritage?] ot of all, but of those poor few that confess and forsake their sins, Proverbs 28:13, and "in whose spirit there is no guile," Psalms 32:2; that are mortified persons, Romans 11:26 cf. Isaiah 59:20. It is a privilege proper to the communion of saints.

He retaineth not his anger for ever] Angry he may be, and smite in his anger, Isaiah 57:17; yea, he may take vengeance of the inventions of those whom he hath pardoned, Psalms 99:8, temporal vengeance I mean; but it soon repenteth him concerning his servants; and a little punishment serveth turn for a great offence, Jeremiah 31:19-21. David no sooner said, "I have sinned," but he heard, "The Lord hath taken away thy sin," 2 Samuel 12:13.

Because he delighteth in mercy] And hence he pardoneth iniquity of free grace, ex mero motu, out of his pure and unexcited love, out of his philanthropy and undeserved favour, the sole impulsive cause of pardon. What a man delighteth to do he will do howsoever. If the sun delight to run his race, who shall stop him? If God so delight in mercy that he will save for his name’s sake, and come in with his on obstante, as he doth, Psalms 106:8, who or what shall hinder him?

BESO, "Verse 18-19Micah 7:18-19. Who is a God like unto thee — That is, there is no God like unto thee; that passeth by the transgression of the remnant, &c. — That pardons the offences of the remainder of his people, namely, of those that shall survive the various punishments and destructions brought upon their forefathers for their sins. He retaineth not his anger for ever — Though in his just displeasure he suffered their enemies to destroy their city, and lay their country desolate, and sent them into captivity; yet will he restore them again, and raise them to a state of great prosperity. He will chastise, but not consume his remnant. Because he delighteth in mercy — Because it is his nature to delight in pardoning the penitent, and communicating blessings; whereas to punish, or inflict evil, is contrary to it. He will turn again, he will have compassion — Or, he will again have compassion upon us. He will subdue our iniquities — He will deliver us not only from the guilt, but also from the power of them, so that they shall not have dominion over us. Thou wilt utterly destroy them, as thou didst destroy Pharaoh and his army in the Red sea: a victory this, which can only be obtained by the merits of Christ, and the grace of the

gospel. And therefore the remnant, here spoken of, to which God will show such mercy, seems to be chiefly those Jews which should be reserved to be made partakers of the benefits which should be conferred on that nation, upon their conversion to Christianity. Then especially shall God make manifest his mercy toward them, in pardoning all their former stubbornness and disobedience, and receiving them into his favour as formerly; and that in a degree greater than was ever experienced in the preceding ages of their church.

EXPOSITOR'S DICTIOARY, "Anger Changed to Compassion

Micah 7:18

I. We might have Expected that God would have Retained His Anger for Ever, for consider:—

a. The nature and malignity of sin. Sin includes unbelief, rebellion, ingratitude. Does not unbelief give the lie to God? Is not ingratitude a libel on His goodness?

b. The character of God, absolute perfection; sin has made a demand on His justice; sin must be punished, or moral equity is at an end.

c. The demands of God"s righteous law.

d. The disinclination of man to listen to any terms of reconciliation. Man stands in the way of his own pardon and recovery.

e. The incompetence of man to make any sufficient reparation to God.

f. The awful example of righteous displeasure in the penal condition of the fallen angels. Thus it appears that we might have expected that He would have retained His anger for ever.

II. How is it that the Divine Anger is Reversed?—"He retaineth not His anger for ever."

a. Because of the infinite compassion and clemency of the Divine Redeemer. There is mercy with God.

b. Because of the arrangements of the covenant of grace and the council of peace ( Isaiah 54:10; Ezekiel 37:26; 2 Timothy 1:10).

c. Because of the effects of the undertaking of the Redeemer in assuming our nature and satisfying the demands of justice.

d. Because of the almighty influences of the Holy Spirit by which the dispositions hostile to our recovery are subdued.

Here we see the display of the merciful character of God. How should our love be called out to that Saviour Who hath so loved us?

The Grace of God to Sinners

Micah 7:18-19

I. The Sinner"s Astonishment.—What is the first thing that brings out this astonishment in the Prophet"s heart, and makes it heard in this eloquent way from his lips? His wonder is he has to do with a God who forgives iniquity like his. It is that that gives an everlasting freshness to the pulpit. It is when a man has an everlasting sense of God"s unspeakable grace to his own soul that his message comes straight from his heart and comes hot to the heart of bis people. Let our pulpits be filled with men overwhelmed with a sense of God"s grace to their own souls, and you will not need to advertise singular subjects; you will fill your churches to the doors when the minister"s own heart is filled as Micah"s was with downright amazement at God"s long-suffering and patience with the preaching Prophet himself. He begins with the very ABC of the Gospel, the offer of pardon for sin. The first thing that amazes him even to seventy and eighty years of age is that God is still forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; and it is that that holds together his congregation in Jerusalem, that makes his own heart burn with freshness and power because of the memory and present experience of God"s unspeakable salvation and adorable patience to himself a sinner.

And what makes good preaching makes good hearing. But you must go back into the past and bring a broken heart out of it again to receive afresh the ever new and ever blessed Gospel of the grace of God in Jesus Christ.

II. Remnants.—He passeth by for His own reasons the transgressions of the remnant of His heritage; He retaineth not His anger for ever for He delighteth in mercy. He retaineth it not It does not say He delights in anger; He delights in mercy; therefore if we need a great mercy let us comfort our hearts with this, that He delights in the thing we need. Mercy and misery are made for one another. There would be ho mercy in God if there was no misery in man. God is love, and His love becomes mercy in presence of my misery. He delighteth in mercy, and will cast all your sins in the depths of the sea—that mystical, spiritual, wonderful sea, the sea of the grace of God.

—Alexander Whyte, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxvii1905 , p337.

PETT, "Verses 18-20Micah Closes His Prophecy With The Assurance of What God Will Do For His People. (Micah 7:18-20).

As his prophecy comes to its close Micah continues by exulting in God’s pardoning goodness and in His compassionate mercy. In this message he is very much in parallel with Isaiah. See Isaiah 43:25; Isaiah 44:22. Then he declares His confidence

and certainty that God will fulfil to His true people all the promises He has made to their fathers. He is to be seen both as the great Forgiver, and as the great keeper of His promises.

Micah 7:18

Who is a God like unto you,

Who pardons iniquity,

And passes over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage?

He retains not his anger for ever,

Because he delights in lovingkindness.

Firstly He stresses the pardoning goodness of God, and asks what other god is like YHWH, who pardons men’s inbred sin, and passes over the failings and disobedience of what will remain of His heritage after His judgments. otice that the forgiveness is to the remnant. The unrighteous have been dealt with and removed.

And this is because He does not retain His anger for ever, because He delights in true and genuine covenant love. God’s sovereign purpose of mercy for His people had been revealed at Sinai (Exodus 19:5-6; Exodus 20:1-18) and means that in the end mercy must triumph over judgment, because of what He is. But this can nevertheless only be, once He has purged His people and brought judgment on the wicked. His wrath against sin must first be removed.

PULPIT, "Micah 7:18-20

§ 8. The book ends with a lyric ode in praise of God's mercy and faithfulness.

Micah 7:18

In view of the many provocations and backslidings of the people, Micah is filled with wonder at the goodness and long suffering of God. Who is a God like unto thee? The question seems to recall the prophet's own name, which means, "Who is like Jehovah?" and the clause in Moses' song (Exodus 15:11), "Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods?" Such comparisons are made from the standpoint of the nations who believe in the real existence of their false gods. That pardoneth iniquty (comp. Exodus 34:7; umbers 14:18). Passeth by the transgression; Septuagint, ὑπερβαίνων ἀσεβείας, "passing over iniquities;" Vulgate, transis peccatum. To pass by, or pass over, is to forgive, as Amos 7:8. There is probably an allusion, as Jerome says, to the night of the Exodus. As the destroying angel passed over the Israelites and destroyed them not, so God spares his people, imputing not their iniquities unto them. The remnant (Micah 2:12; Micah 4:6, Micah 4:7). The

true Israel, which is only s remnant (Isaiah 10:21; Romans 9:27). He retaineth not his anger forever (Psalms 103:9). The word rendered "forever" is translated by Jerome ultra, and by the Septuagint εἰς µαρτύριον, i.e. to testify the justice of his punishment. He delighteth in mercy. As the Collect says, "O God, whose nature and property is always to have mercy and to forgive" (comp. Wis. 11:24).

BI, "Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity?

The grace of God to sinners

Micah and Isaiah were contemporaries. They lived in the same land, they lived in the same city; they ministered, we may say, to the same congregation, and they preached the same Gospel. They were very unlike in some respects, so far as we can judge from the remnants of their ministry they have left behind them. Isaiah was, perhaps, the most eloquent man that God ever made, and He made him for the most splendid of service. Long ago, Jerome, the great Latin scholar, in translating into the Vulgate these books, said of Isaiah that he was the evangelical prophet, and ever since that day the Church of Christ in all her branches has subscribed to that striking description of Isaiah. Micah, again, would seem to be a man of different kind, with a full equipment of spiritual experience. His sayings are short and penetrating; not so captivating to the mind, it may be, as Isaiah’s eloquence, but piercing and penetrating to the understanding and conscience and heart of all who heard him. We have an epitome of his ministry in these closing verses, a summary of his lifelong service of God and Jerusalem. “Who is a God,” he says, “like unto Thee?” He begins to speak to the people, but forgets the people in the presence of God and His glorious grace, and he makes his sermon begin with a doxology, a cry of wonder, an astonishment at the grace of God. It is not written, but I can read it—I am as sure of it as if it had been written—that many a time before he exclaimed, “Who is a God like unto Thee?” he said, “Who is a sinner like unto me?” No man ever is amazed at the grace of God till he is confounded with his own sin. There is a thrill of astonishment and amazement at the grace of God that has borne with him for so long and fruitless a ministry and so sinful and unsanctified a life. There may be an allusion, as allusions run up and down all the prophets, comparing the God of Israel with the gods of the nations round about. The form of the exclamation is, no doubt, taken from that which was a continual debate between the prophets of Israel and false prophets and false gods of the nations round about. They had their gods—he admits that in a kind of way for argument’s sake—but he turns and says, “Who is a God like unto Thee?” What priest of Baal or Ashtoreth has a god like unto the prophet Micah? They had their gods of war and their gods of wine; gods of love, gods of the woods, gods of the streams, gods of the seas, gods of the storm clouds; but never did any prophet outside of Israel say, “Our God pardoneth iniquity.” The thing that astonishes him is that God forgives iniquity. “He pardoneth iniquity.” Rabbi Adam Duncan, the great Hebrew professor, a man of genius and a saint, if there has been one in our day in Scotland, one day was tottering along the street to his class. A wag of a fellow came out of the door of one of the clubs in Edinburgh: and thought he would have a joke out of the old Doctor, a story to tell. “Well, Doctor, any news the day?” “Oh, great news,” says the Doctor, with his blazing eyes; “great news, sir.” It staggered the youngster. He said, “What is it, Doctor?” He thought it was some revolution, some tremendous thing that had not come to their ears in the club yet. But, says the Doctor, laying his hand on the youth’s shoulder, “the blood of Christ still cleanseth from all sin.” There is grace in the grammar, he pardoneth iniquity. He does it now. The school boy will tell you this is the present tense. It is not that He pardoned in Micah’s day, but His grace is dried up this day; or will pardon some time

again when there is more prayer and preparation and faith; but He pardons now—He pardons here. This is the joy of the Gospel; this makes it fresh every morning; this makes every minister experimental and autobiographical, because he can say, like Rabbi Duncan, “Come all ye people, and I will tell you what God has done for my soul this very morning; He pardoneth iniquity—things you would rather drown yourself than hear it ever said you had done; He pardoneth it, and you will go home clapping your hands, and saying, ‘Who is a God like unto Thee?’” We need many things, but first pardon. If you went into your prison and some man lay waiting execution, and you said, “What can I do for you, my man? I have influence with the magistrates, the Government, the King—what can I do?” He would reply, “Get the rope off my neck, get that scaffold taken away, and then there may be other things you can do; but get my pardon, and get it quick.” And therefore it is in the forefront of the message to you and me, when we wakened this morning. There is a note of the Passover there. He passeth by, He does not see it, He does not want to see it. “He retaineth not His anger forever.” He is angry, mind you. He is maybe very angry with you here this morning. I am quoting Goodwin, but I am in a good atmosphere. He says: “The conscience is a little window in the soul through which God throws in a coal of hell fire to let a man taste beforehand what it will be to make his bed in hell.” You say, some fine, young gentleman, that there is no fire in hell. Wait and see! Says Goodwin again: “Hell is not culinary fire.” There were sceptics in his day, too, and he said: “Oh, no, not kitchen fire; quite right. You know better than the apostles and prophets and the Master Himself. It is not culinary fire—that could be put out. But I will tell you what cannot be put out, remorse.” But though He is angry for a little season, He delighteth in mercy. It is worth travelling across the country just to say that to a fellow sinner. Our Maker and Judge and Redeemer, He delighteth in mercy. It is never said He delighteth in anger. It is against His nature, but mercy is His very innermost nature. If the devil casts my sins in my teeth, I will say, “Yes, it is all true, and you cannot tell the half of it, but I have to do with One who delighteth in mercy.” “He delighteth in mercy.” He enjoys it, it is His nature, and you can satisfy His mercy as, maybe, no one else can. There may be some sin in your case that makes you a peculiar sinner, and makes you a peculiar ornament to the grace of God to all eternity. “He will turn again.” Has He left you? Have you sinned away the peace of God out of your conscience? But He will turn again. He is, maybe, turning this moment. “He will have compassion.” Samuel Rutherford was once at the Communion season talking to the elders after the people were away, and said, “Now, we have been preaching about justification today; whether do you think you will be more thankful in heaven for justification or sanctification?” None of them spoke; then an old man said, “Mr. Samuel, we’ll thank Him for baith.” So we will thank Him, some of us, “for baith,” for a pardon that passeth all understanding, and for a sanctification of sinful hearts rotten to the core and running over with all manner of sin. (A. Whyte, D. D.)

Peculiarities in God’s pardoning

God regards you, and the Bible describes you as sinners; and so you are. Sinners condemned, and needing pardon; for condemnation follows sin as a matter of course. When a man has sinned he must receive a pardon, or suffer the penalty. One great object of revelation is to tell you that you may be pardoned. Revelation declares the ground, the manner, the conditions of pardon. What is there peculiar and distinguishing in God’s exercise of pardon? There are not many points in which creatures resemble God. The attributes and ways of creatures are for the most part in contrast to those of God. In nothing is God more unlike other beings than in pardoning.

1. No being pardons with such honour to the law broken, and with such security to the government offended, as God.

2. No one pardons at such an expense to Himself as God does.

3. No one pardons with such a good effect on the sinner pardoned.

4. No one pardons so many as God.

5. God also pardons many sins of each sinner. Men’s pardonings are limited and restrained. He abundantly pardons.

6. Notice the peculiar character of the sins which God pardons.

7. He forgets as well as forgives.

8. He makes provision for the pardon of future sins.

9. God does more than pardon; He justifies, adopts, sanctifies, and eventually glorifies us.

10. God pardons on the most reasonable conditions.

11. These very conditions of pardon God fulfils in us. He gives us repentance, and our faith is the gift of God. (W. Nevins, D. D.)

Unparalleled pardon

In the Gospel of our salvation, all God’s moral perfections are developed and glorified. No one of them is sacrificed to another, nor eclipsed by another’s splendour. Each has its own special office, but freely accords their claims to all the rest. But there is one of these perfections on which the sacred writers dwell with peculiar pleasure—mercy, the first need of the fallen, the everlasting song of the redeemed. It is the theme of the Old Testament prophecy, and the charm of the New Testament history. In this text the prophet asserts, not merely that God is merciful, but that “He delighteth in mercy.” Develop the thought of the peculiarity of the Divine mercy in the forgiveness of human guilt.

I. Who pardoneth at so great a cost? Take parable of sending only son to the rebellious husbandman. The affection of a father for an only son, though the best that human relations can furnish, is a poor emblem of God’s ineffable delight in His co-equal and co-eternal Beloved. And from the first He foresaw what His Son must suffer.

II. Who pardoneth on so easy a condition? Offenders are frequently forgiven in consideration only of some valuable service rendered. Many imagine that they can merit Divine mercy by their moral virtues. It is a fatal delusion. Man is a creature. His Creator has the unquestionable right to all he is, and all he has. When the creature has done his utmost, he is still an unprofitable servant. And man is a fallen and guilty creature. As such, he is already in arrears with God. His perfect obedience being always due, he can never make up any deficiencies. There is no possibility of doing anything beyond our bounden duty, to be set down to our credit over against any record of former delinquency. Moreover, the fallen creature cannot keep the Divine law, without the grace of its Divine Author—His prevenient grace to prepare the way—His cooperative grace to assist the effort. Not through any worthiness of our own can we hope for absolution. What is the condition of a sinner’s pardon? Simple faith in Christ. What is the justifying faith? It is accepting the record which God hath given of His Son, and relying upon that

Son’s mediatorial merit with an undoubting trust. It is receiving Christ as the one only suitable and sufficient Saviour, and thus appropriating His purchased and proffered salvation. It is quite conceivable that other and altogether different conditions might have been imposed. But what other could have been so merciful in God, so suitable to sinners, and so easy of performance as this?

III. Who pardoneth with so cordial a liberality? What heathen divinity? What human government? What prince or potentate? Often, in the exercise of human clemency, the rich and the powerful are preferred to offenders of inferior rank; and generally, small offences are more readily forgiven than greater. But God pardoneth without partiality, and without respect of persons. Alike, to His all-forgiving love, is the debt of fifty pence, and the debt of five hundred. Though men may pardon a second or third offence, they are not likely to pardon the same offence in its frequent repetition. But God pardoneth a thousand times, pardoneth the same crime a thousand times committed. Monarchs and governors require to be petitioned and importuned for mercy: often it is necessary that others with their intercessions should enforce the plea of the offender, and even thus pardon is obtained with great difficulty, and after long delay. But God waiteth to be gracious, hasteth to be merciful, more ready to forgive than sinners are to be forgiven. Men pardon one offence out of many, and leave the rest for punishment; or they forgive, but never forget. But God pardons all offences at once, and blots them from His memory forever. You may pardon the offender, without giving him any intimation of the fact. But God absolves when He forgives. Such is the mercy of God in the forgiveness of human guilt—rich beyond all parallel in earth or heaven—admirable beyond all expression of men or angels. Then who can despair? Who can even doubt? (J. Cross, D. D. , LL. D.)

A pardoning God

In this marvellous and mysterious world alone is mercy harmonised with justice, and it is manifested that “there is forgiveness with God that He may be feared.” None pardons like God. This is the sublime import of the text.

I. None pardons so freely as God. He acts self-prompted, self guided. Free must His salvation be, for it was devised before earth began. There is no other fountainhead whence the tide of boundless love gushes forth to a ruined race. Will it be thought any let or bar to the freedom of God’s sovereign love in our salvation, that His love flowed to us through the channel of His own Son crucified for us, bringing to us pardon and forgiveness?

II. None pardons so graciously as God. Freely as He has prepared forgiveness, so freely does He dispense forgiveness. If we think to purchase it with a price, God will say unto us, “Thy money perish with thee.” It costs the poor suppliant sinner nothing but acceptance,—nothing but simple, humble, self-abandoning reception.

III. None pardons so promptly as He. God’s promptness in forgiving is a striking peculiarity which ought not to be passed over. “Before they ask, I will answer.” This is the rule of God’s dealing.

IV. None pardons so perfectly as God does. It is a pardon that He represents as so absolute that it utterly puts away all that is past as if it never had been. The sinner is pardoned completely, accepted completely, in the very righteousness of God—the Divine righteousness wrought out by Immanuel, in our nature, for us, and imputed to us when we believe in Him.

V. None pardons so consistently and majestically as God does. “A God all mercy were a God unjust.” God might cease to be, rather than cease to be just.

VI. None pardons so effectually as God does. Then “shall we sin in order that grace may abound”? Nothing slays the carnal mind in us like sovereign grace. (Hugh Stowell, M. A.)

The Lord’s pardoning mercy

The ground foundation of all our hope and comfort, in our restoration after our distresses, is the Lord’s pardoning mercy. “Who is a God like unto Thee?” This abrupt and passionate admiration of God’s pardoning mercy showeth that all these promises had their rise there. There were great difficulties to be overcome before these promises could take place; but the greatest difficulty and obstruction lay in their sins. And the prophet wondreth more at His grace subduing sin, than at His power overcoming difficulties.

1. Sin is the greatest obstacle. Take that out of the way, and then mercies come freely from God. If there be any restraint of God’s blessing, it is because of man s sin.

2. Sin is the cause of all our evils, as well as it stoppeth and hindereth our mercies. Sin being pardoned, the cause of the misery is removed, and the cause being removed, the effect ceaseth.

3. Outward mercies, were they never so great and full, would never yield any true satisfaction, unless they be joined with reconciliation with God, and pardon of sin. No solid happiness till pardon. Use this to reprove

(1) Them that look not after pardon of sin in their distresses, but temporal blessings in the first place.

(2) Those that hope to remove evil either by sinful means, or be natural means, without being reconciled to God.

(3) Those that, lying under the fruits of sin, have not a heart to seek their recovery from the Lord’s pardoning mercy, Use this—

4. To instruct us, what should most affect our hearts. Not so much God’s acts of power, as His acts of grace. Doctrine—That the chief glory of the true God consisteth in the pardon of sins, wherein there is none like Him. Evidence this by these considerations—

1. We have not a true apprehension of God, till we see Him singular and matchless in excellency, and do give Him a distinct and separate honour, far above all other things which are in the world.

2. Among all His excellences, His pardoning mercy shineth forth most conspicuously in the true religion, and is represented with such advantages as cannot be found elsewhere. The business of a religion is to provide sufficiently for two things; to provide a suitable happiness for mankind, and a sufficient means for the expiation of the guilt of sin. Till there be a due course taken for the pardon of sin, there is no provision made for establishment, either of the creature’s comfort or duty. Natural light giveth some evidence of this truth, that God is placable. The Gentiles were all of this opinion, that their gods were inclined to pardon. Thence came all their sacrifices and expiations. They thought their gods would be propitious to sinners, if they did

come humbly and ask pardon. God’s commanding us to forgive one another is an argument that mercy and forgiveness are pleasing to God. In the Christian religion all things are provided for which are necessary to establish a regular hope of pardon.

1. There is full satisfaction given to Divine justice, and the foundation laid for pardon in the death of Christ.

2. We have privileges offered to us by a sure covenant in Christ’s name.

3. It is dispensed upon rational terms, such as faith and repentance.

4. In the manner of dispensing forgiveness. God doth it in a free, full, and universal remission of our sins. It is a free pardon. It is not given without our desiring, but it is without our deserving. God doth it for His name’s sake, pitying our misery, and for the glory of His own mercy. And there is no renovation of any one sin, but that sin for which men will not ask pardon.

Application—

1. Information. To show us the excellency of the Christian religion above other religions in the world; because it discovereth pardon of sins upon such terms as may be most commodious for the honour of God, and satisfactory to our souls. The heathen were mightily perplexed about the terms, how God might dispense it with honour, and man receive it with comfort. Somewhat they conceived of the goodness of God, but they could not apprehend Him reconciled to the sinner, without debasing His holiness.

2. To put us upon self-reflection. Do we entertain this offered pardon as such a singular thing deserves?

What impressions should it leave upon us?

1. The sense of God’s glorious grace in pardoning, should work in us a great love to God, and commend and endear Him to our hearts.

2. Where it is rightly entertained, it breedeth admiring thoughts. Everything about God is marvellous, but especially His mercy.

3. It breedeth a reverence of God. That sense of pardon which worketh no reverence, but rather a contempt and commonness of spirit in all our transactions with God, is justly to be suspected.

4. It confirmeth us in the true religion. Carnal comforts tickle the senses. False religions leave us in darkness and perplexity. But the grace of Christ truly propounded, soon brings ease and peace.

5. It takes off the heart from other things, and brings us back from the flesh to God.

6. It giveth us strength and encouragement to new obedience.

7. It melteth us into the forgiveness of others. We press you to admire the grace of God in the pardon of sins. It is a necessary mercy: a great mercy. This truth should refresh the weary, and make glad the mournful soul. (T. Manton, D. D.)

The pardoning God

How is God magnified in pardoning sin?

I. In the pardon of sin, we see a manifestation of the Divine sovereignity. It is the prerogative of God to give law. It is equally, and on the same grounds, the prerogative of God to forgive the breach of law. Hence the Jews accused Christ of blasphemy, etc. Human forgiveness does not affect guilt. Divine majesty appears, then, in forgiving.

II. In the pardon of sin, we see a manifestation of marvellous forbearance. Sin denies God’s propriety in us. It disclaims His authority as a Ruler. It denies the perfection of His character as a standard. Hence it sets aside His Godhead and Being. It wars with and injures all that are His.

III. In the pardon of sin, we see a glorious manifestation of mercy.

1. Consider from whence man had fallen, and there was nothing to awaken compassion.

2. Consider him as fallen, and there was seemingly nothing to provoke commiseration. There is—

(1) Hatred of God.

(2) Active hostility.

(3) Contempt of pardon.

IV. In the pardon of sin, there is a bright display of the infinite love of God. In order that sin might be pardoned, God gave His Son to suffer and die. We cannot apply this measure of God’s love. The love, however, like the gift, must be infinite.

V. In the pardon of sin, there is a terrible and striking proclamation of the justice of God. Justice pronounces the pardon of sin. And it is justified in doing so. He who sings of pardon, sings of mercy and judgment.

VI. In the pardon of sin, there is an unequalled display of the unsearchable wisdom of God. Seen in reconciling what seemed necessarily and eternally at variance. Not only is man’s salvation made consistent with God’s glory, but God is glorified thereby. Apply—

(1) Seek for pardon as a sovereign gift.

(2) As a mighty gift.

(3) For God’s name’s sake.

(4) Through the only channel in which it can be attained.

(5) Being pardoned, praise God. (J. Stewart.)

Who is a God like unto Thee

I. The chief particulars of God’s gracious dealings with his people (Mic_7:18). What now calls forth the admiration and praise of the prophet, is the manner in which God deals with His people’s sins. Our God is distinguished from all others as a God that pardoneth iniquity. All iniquity is rebellion against infinite love and goodness, a trampling upon God’s laws, a casting off of His authority, a doubt of His holiness, a contempt for His power. Then it surely is marvellous that the Most High God should pardon iniquity; and go about to pardon iniquity in such a costly way, even by the incarnation and death of His own co-equal Son. But the prophet is not content with merely stating this precious truth, but he amplifies it, and keeps our attention fixed on it, by adding more particularly, “and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage.” God calls

His Church His heritage or possession, His “peculiar treasure.” His heritage is only a remnant. And even this remnant, is not pure and holy. As a person can least brook faults or blemishes in that which he hath especially set apart for his own honour and pleasure, so it was least to be expected that the “transgression of the remnant of God’s heritage” should be spared. It was every way most justly to be feared that they would be cast off as unprofitable, rejected forever. But such are not the ways of our God. He passeth by their transgression. The reason is not in them, but in God Himself. He is thus merciful to them, because He “delighteth in mercy.”

II. The believer’s encouragement in the expectation of yet future mercies. This is the invariable result of a lively sense of God’s goodness, it leads us to desire and look for more. The Lord hath always abundantly more grace in store for His people than they have appetite to enjoy. The prophet adds to his previous account of God’s great mercy to His people, this confiding expectation of future blessing. It is not all God’s desire that sin should be forgiven, He would also have it overcome. He will subdue our iniquities.

III. The believer’s warrant for his hopeful anticipations. The grounds on which these promises rest for their fulfilment. It is because of the covenant which God made with Abraham and his seed for evermore, that we may confidently look for the sure performance of God’s gracious word to them that believe. It is called “mercy to Abraham,” because it was made with him, in the first instance, entirely of God’s free grace. This covenant was “truth to Jacob,” because the faithfulness of God was now engaged to make good to the son of Isaac what He had freely promised to his father. And God confirmed His promise to Abraham by an oath. And “because God could swear by no greater, He sware by Himself.” This covenant was made sure in Christ. Can we then, after this brief review of God’s great mercy to us in Christ, refuse to unite with the prophet in ascribing glory to His name? And must we not, at the same time, be careful to see to it, that we answer to this description of Christ’s covenant members; and that we “do justly, and love mercy, and walk humbly with our God”? (W. E. Light, M. A.)

An end to sin

Micah is so struck with the Divine patience as to break out in the adoring language of the text, “Who is a God like unto Thee?” He sees a day coming when the promises, frustrated so long by man’s unbelief, shall be fulfilled to the letter, and the reproach of prophecy shall be rolled away. God’s matchless way of redeeming man is the subject for wonder presented by the text.

I. God is without his; like in forgiving our sins. Micah has an eye to the notorious sins of the nation. In saying that God retains not His anger forever, he means to say that there was cause for anger. A patience that bears daily with many provocations, when it can deal summarily with its objects, is, indeed, a wonder. It is more agreeable to God to forgive than to punish. He delighteth in mercy, and judgment is His strange work. He forgives to the uttermost, and that is only saying that He forgives like Himself—royally, absolutely, omnipotently. We honour God when we magnify His saving power. And God is a very ready God to pardon. His compassion is ever ready to awake at the call of penitence. Compassion kindles within His merciful bosom without any constraint. He is ever only too ready to turn to us, and it takes far less to turn Him to us, than it takes to turn Him from us. Our sins do hurt the fatherly heart of God. We must not think that God cannot be grieved.

II. God is without his like in subduing our sins. When Micah said, “He will subdue our

iniquities,” he probably had in view the beneficial effect of the captivity on the religious future of the people. Babylon would give the deathblow to their besetting sin. It did so. They never returned to idolatry after the severe lesson of those seventy years by the rivers of Babylon. They were cured of that great defect in their national life; but even Babylon could not cure them of their iniquities. Idolatry vanished, but their iniquities, like the fabled Hydra, were not long in repairing the loss of this one severed head by throwing out the seven new and deadly heads of pharisaism. The words teach us to believe in a power which is death to sin, even as sin at first was death to man. Man’s conqueror is to be in turn conquered by man. If Satan had the brief pleasure of nailing our Saviour to the accursed tree, it was at the expense of being himself crushed to death beneath His subduing heel. We learn from this promise that it is the purpose of God to renew us in His own image, to fill us with that hatred of iniquity and love of holiness that distinguish His own nature. With the Gospel freedom, there comes the call to take on the yoke of Christ, the yoke of obedience, and consequently the yoke of peace and joy. Our faith, being assured of the reality of Christ’s victory over sin, gives us an assurance of our own victory over it, and summons us to the attempt. Ideally, in the mind and purpose of God, we are already complete, already without sin, already with the earnest of eternal life, already without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing. This ideal is not to be thought of as a picture of the imagination. It should be the very best help to the working out of a high practical aim.

III. God is without His like in removing our sins. Micah here warrants us in believing that the forgiveness of our sins by God is irrevocable. When he says, “And their sins Thou wilt cast into the depths of the sea,” he prophesies a complete forgetfulness of them, a total burial as of something sunk in mid-ocean. What is sunk in the depths of the sea never rises up to the surface again. Such will be the merciful dealing of God with us if we ask Him to forgive our sins. He will not even mention them again, as having no desire to raise one thought of shame in the pardoned breast ever after. (David Davies.)

On venial sin, and auricular confession

These words are to be understood as ascribing the power of forgiving sins to God only; as declaring that to do so is His sole prerogative; and that He is jealous of this attribute. Mercy, as an attribute, belongs to God only. We must ascribe to God the whole power of forgiving sin. This doctrine is so consonant with reason, so agreeable to Scripture, and so honourable to God, that it might seem unnecessary to say anything with a view to confirm its truth, or to illustrate its importance. Yet there are many who deny it in substance, and more who, though they admit it in words, do not act as if they believed it. Such a doctrine goes directly to show the infinite evil which sin involves in every ease. It is the disposition of our corrupt minds to think lightly of the evil of sin. In consequence of this habit, multitudes live without feeling any lively concern about forgiveness at all. Some with but an imperfect sense of guilt in their consciences, conceive that they may merit forgiveness by their good works, or by doing penance, or in some other way equally fallacious and unsatisfactory.

1. As all sin is committed against God, and is an offence in which His honour is concerned, we are led to the conclusion that forgiveness is an act, the exercise of which God will reserve to Himself, and which He will not delegate to any other. Sin is a transgression of His law, and implies a disregard of His will, and a contempt of His authority. The kinds of sins that men may be guilty of are various, and some discover a greater degree of impiety and of depravity of character than others. But the very

first departures from the line of duty involve the guilt of despising the command, of contemning the authority, and of contravening the will of God, and are therefore exceedingly sinful. From overlooking this, many seem to be insensible of the danger of first steps in sin, which are usually so decisive of the character and of the future destiny of a man. When you can sin against God without remorse or fear, you have already lost the only principle which can effectually secure your continuance in the paths of righteousness. As every sin is a dishonour done to God, and an offence committed against His government, it seems peculiarly appropriate that God should reserve the exercise of mercy wholly to Himself, and render it necessary for guilty and rebellious creatures to humble themselves before Him, confess their guilt, and seek for mercy. No repentance can be considered genuine which does not originate in a sense of the evil of sin as committed against God.

2. God alone knows what the honour of His government, and the maintenance of His glory, render necessary. There is no act of government which requires greater wisdom and prudence than that of dispensing pardon; for if it be done without care, it is calculated to give rise to the most pernicious results. Injudicious and indiscriminate mercy emboldens offenders to go on in wickedness, induces others to be less careful to avoid transgression than they would be, and leads to a general contempt of the authority of law, and of the obligations of duty. To conceive that God would surrender to a mere creature the power of forgiving sin, is as difficult to be believed as that He would give a creature power to govern the material creation. In what sense then was power to remit or retain sins given to the apostles? They were specially inspired; and were only agents in stating God’s forgiveness.

3. In exercising His power to forgive, God must have regard to His other attributes. The work of mercy must be perfect, as every work of God is perfect. God will exercise mercy only in perfect consistency with the truth, the righteousness, the wisdom, the holiness of His nature. That God might thus exercise mercy in consistency with all the perfections of His nature, He sent His Son into the world, to die in our room and stead. Since God has appointed this way of forgiving sins, who may safely act in opposition to it, either for himself, or by leading others to neglect the great salvation? The way in which forgiveness is exercised, is the way in which God has seen it best for His glory, and most consistent to His perfection, that it should be exercised. He is consulting, in the work of redemption, high and holy ends.

4. As the forgiveness of sins is an inestimable blessing, it is reserved by God to Himself to exercise it, that He may draw forth our love and gratitude, in return for His infinite compassion and kindness. The blessing implied in the forgiveness of sin, is of all others the most precious which men can receive, and the most important which they can seek for. How daring is that individual who would step in between God and His creatures, and lay claim to the power of exercising pardon, and dispensing forgiveness! Four grounds of practical improvement—

(1) The duty of confessing our sins to God, and to God only.

(2) The insufficiency of all human absolution and pardon; and the delusive nature of these rites as practised by the Roman Church.

(3) The danger of calling any sin venial.

(4) The obligation of those who have obtained forgiveness to devote themselves to the service of God, and to walk before Him with attached and dutiful dispositions, as becomes the children of so many mercies. (John Forbes.)

And passeth by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage—The prophet speaks these words in a transport. He is telling us something about God which drew his wonder and amazement. It was God’s pardoning mercy to His sinful creatures.

I. Whom God pardons. “The remnant of His heritage.” The reference is to the Jews, but the expression is equally descriptive, in all ages, of those whom the Lord pardons. They are but a small remnant of a sinful world. All need pardon, but multitudes die without having received pardon. Men like to hear of pardon, but they like not the way in which God offers to bestow it on them. Those whom the Lord pardons are also called “His heritage,” or His inheritance, His portion, His property. The term is frequently applied to Israel, but it is applicable, in a stricter sense, to that company of pardoned sinners who constitute the Church of Christ. They are, peculiarly, eternally, the Lord’s heritage. How many belong to this heritage of God we know not.

II. How does God pardon? Observe the variety of expressions which the prophet uses. Literally it is “who beareth iniquity,” and it refers to the way in which the Lord pardoneth sinners by bearing their iniquities Himself. He hath caused them to rest like a tremendous burden on His own sacred head, and what sinners themselves deserved to suffer, He hath suffered in their room. The prophet also says, “He passeth by the transgression.” Here is the consequence of a man’s coming to the Cross, of his putting faith in what the Saviour has been doing for him. God “passeth by” that man’s “transgression,” just as He passed over the blood-sprinkled houses in Egypt. The prophet says, “He will turn again, He will have compassion upon us.” Here is another representation of the riches of God’s pardoning grace. And what an affecting representation does it give of God’s tender dealing towards the penitent transgressor! The prophet says, “He will subdue our iniquities.” Here our iniquities are considered in the light of formidable enemies rising up against us to destroy us. What will God do on behalf of those who make His Son their Saviour? He will “subdue” both their past and their present iniquities. The last expression the prophet uses is, “Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” Here is indicated the extent of God’s pardon, and the completeness of it. The pardon is final, unchangeable, eternal.

III. Why does God pardon? What moves the Holy and the Just to save a remnant of His guilty creatures from destruction? The text does not answer in a way to flatter man; as if any estimable qualities in him were the moving cause of Divine compassions, The reason is “because He delighteth in mercy.” It is, as it were, His favourite attribute. He hath pleasure in mercy. Gladly do the redeemed of the Lord ascribe every tittle of their blessedness to the mercy of their God. (A. Roberts, M. A.)

He retaineth not His anger forever—

God’s anger and mercy

Can God be angry? The ancient philosopher, and the modern man of science, represent the Infinite Spirit as incapable of any emotion. The old Greek thinkers tell you that the Divine existence is passionless and free from pain. Our modern men of science laugh at us if we attribute feeling to the Almighty. They tell us we are guilty of anthropomorphism, and that is a pitiable weakness in their eyes, if not a sin. Not only is it impossible for God to be angry. He is incapable of any emotion at all. And we must admit there is considerable difficulty in reconciling the idea of anger in the Divine nature

with any large and spiritual conception of it. Note two considerations—

1. Anger, as shown by man to man, always goes along with some measure of surprise. But God cannot be surprised.

2. In anger there is a desire to put some one to pain. The disobedient child, the careless servant, the treacherous friend, shall be made to suffer for what they have done. But you cannot think of God as desiring to put any one to pain. How stand the facts of the case, and what do they teach? They teach that we, with our triple nature of body, mind, and spirit, stand in the midst of an everlasting order, and live in a universe of unvarying law. This constancy of nature, this unfailing order, this universality of law is the great postulate upon which all our action proceeds, and all our thought. The cause being the same, the effect will be the same always and everywhere. Law is everywhere; facts teach that. But they teach something besides. That to disobey the laws, to violate the order, brings punishment and pain. These two truths are of capital importance in answering the question whether psalmists, prophets, and apostles meant anything when they spoke of the anger of God. We say that the fact of universal law is not the ultimate fact. There is somewhat behind it—not somewhat, but some One. Eternal Power, Infinite Life, God. This law and order we call the will of God. Then if the laws under which we live are to us the declaration of the personal will of the Eternal, then it is no figure of speech to say that the pain and punishment that follow on the violation of the laws are the anger of the Eternal. Anger not vindictive, but righteous. “Sin is the transgression of the law.” Of what law? Of the law which unfolds to us the conditions of spiritual life and health for us; the law which stands written in the conscience of every man, which may be spelled out from the sacred writings of all nations, of whose growing clearness and fulness the Bible is a magnificent record—the law which tells us that if we would enter into life, we must keep the commandments. To love God—that is religion. To love man—that is morality. Obedience to this twofold law is the way to the enjoyment and strengthening of the very highest life possible to man. If, knowing this law, you do not obey it, there will come to you a sense of defeat, of unrest, of dissatisfaction, of spiritual weakness and decay, which will be keen and crushing in proportion to your knowledge of your moral and religious duty. This experience is the punishment and pain which always follow upon the violation of God’s law. It is His anger. It is anger with a heart of love as its centre. But God does not retain His anger forever. He delights in mercy, He pardons iniquity, He passes by transgressions. Are these things true? In one sense He does not forgive sin. God is Infinite Love and Infinite Law. Forgiveness of sins, as commonly understood, means one of two things. Either it means that when you ask God to forgive you your sins, you ask Him to forbear to retaliate; or it means that you ask Him to save you from the consequences of them. But the first meaning is inconsistent with God’s nature as the Infinite Love. What does your request signify? This—that you entreat Him not to serve you as you have served Him. But can Infinite Love ever be suspected of such conduct? And the second meaning is inconsistent with God’s nature as the Eternal Law. The law of God—the expression of His will—brings pain and punishment to him who transgresses it. This is the case in all spheres of life, bodily, mental, spiritual. The consequences of transgressions are natural, bound up with the very constitution of things. To pray for the forgiveness of sins is, in many minds, equivalent to a prayer for deliverance from their consequences. But such deliverance would involve a perpetually repeated miracle, the suspension of the action of those very laws which God has placed us under as the conditions of life and good for us. Is He, then, going so to stultify and contradict Himself? In one sense for God to forgive sin is an

impossibility. Yet, in another sense, God does forgive sin. God retains His anger only so long as you are transgressing His law. The moment you repent, that moment His mercy, in which He delights, comes to you, bringing healing and remedial blessing on its soft wing. In those spiritual relations between God and ourselves, with which, in the great question of sin and its forgiveness, we are primarily concerned, the central thought of the soul when awaking to a sense of sin, is not the violation of the impersonal laws, but the grieving of the Father-spirit behind the laws, whose expression they are. We dare not attribute to the Eternal such anger as is vindictive, and desires to put the cause of it to pain, but we may attribute to Him such grief over human sin as found its most pathetic earthly expression in the broken heart of Christ upon the Cross. (Henry Varley, B. A.)

He delighteth in mercy—

God merciful

For the proof of this we are entirely dependent on revelation. The deist is challenged to produce one valid argument in demonstration of the Divine mercifulness. The light of nature discovers nothing beyond mere forbearance, and forbearance does not necessarily imply mercy.

Revelation—

1. Announces to us that God is merciful, and this repeatedly, and in terms the most explicit. The fact is declared that God is merciful; but there is something very peculiar in the manner in which this doctrine is taught. Notice the words that are synonymous, or nearly so, with mercy; such as gracious, long suffering, slow to anger, pitiful. Notice that the inspired writers, not content with the singular, mercy, by a felicitous fault of style, employ the plural form, mercies. They speak of “the multitude of His mercies.” Notice that they speak of God as rich in mercy, plenteous in mercy, and full of compassion. Notice that the mercy of God is compared to certain human exercises. “Like as a father pitieth,” etc. Notice that it is said of God, “He delighteth in mercy.” Some things we do by constraint, some by a sense of duty; others we delight to do. It is not by constraint that God is merciful. See some proofs that God delights in mercy. Infer it from the fact that He has made mercy a part of our moral constitution. He has made it a part of our duty, not merely to show mercy, but to love it: He requires us to delight in it. He expresses the highest displeasure against the unmerciful Infer it from the manner in which God exercises mercy to sinners of the human race.

Illustrate by following particulars—

1. He shows mercy without waiting to be asked to do it.

2. He shows mercy at great expense to Himself.

3. He lets us see how it is that He can consistently exercise mercy towards us; discloses to us the plan of salvation, as well as the fact of its possibility.

4. The first moment that sinners manifest a willingness to comply with the terms on which He exercises mercy, they are met by His mercy.

5. The terms of mercy are brought down as low as they could be.

6. To those very terms His mercy brings us. He even fulfils in us the conditions of

salvation.

7. He waiteth to be gracious; spares us long, and overlooks many provocations.

8. He makes many offers of mercy.

9. He shows mercy to many sinners.

10. He shows mercy to His enemies. Then what shall we make of this doctrine? Shall we infer that God is not just, not holy, not faithful, because He is merciful? Surely sinners, sensible of their sins, have the greatest encouragement to hope in God’s mercy. If God delights in mercy, what can be plainer than that men should? (W. Nevins, D. D.)

God’s delight in mercy

When we speak of mercy in God, we must realise that it differs from the corresponding affection in man. In God it is not a passion, causing any mental disturbance. In Him, infinite goodness, perpetually, without any disquiet, impels to the manifestation of kindness. In the exercise of this attribute Jehovah delights. The ministration of justice is necessary, that of mercy is voluntary.

I. Consider the nature of God. His very essence is love, and mercy is but one of the forms of love.

1. Take a view of the perfections of His nature. Infinite, Eternal, All-wise, Just, Almighty, Faithful. Turn to whatever perfection of God you may, still His mercy comes into view.

2. View His nature in the powers which He exercises. In Scripture we read of His eyes, ears, lips, hands, etc. He is said to think, to will, to remember. He is afflicted, and He rejoiceth. All these powers are set forth as occupied in the exercise of mercy.

II. Listen to the words of God.

1. The words of His law. Here mercy holds a distinguished place. It requires of us that we “be merciful.”

2. His words in the Gospel. Truly these are full of mercy. Viewed as a whole, the Gospel is simply “the grace of God, which hath appeared unto all men, and bringeth salvation.” Doctrines, promises, and invitations are all full of mercy.

III. Survey the doings of God.

1. What God does in the purchase of redemption.

2. In the application of redemption.

IV. Observe the gifts of God.

1. Their value and variety.

2. Their constancy and permanence. Then be merciful, as God is merciful.

(1) Deal kindly with enemies.

(2) Show compassion to the afflicted.

(3) Seek the salvation of sinners. (E. Brown.)

He will have compassion—

He delighteth in mercy

My text is the keynote of the Bible, and reveals the very heart of God. You will see there is in the beginning of the passage a recitation of God’s wonderful works, “pardoning iniquity, passing by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage, and retaining not His anger forever.” And then the Prophet gives the reason for it, and looks joyously out into the future and says, “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.”

I. I want to explain the text, “God delighteth in mercy” What is meant by mercy? Of course, a great many people don t think about God. It never enters into their heads to ask what God is, what His intentions are; and there are those who seem to confound His attributes most painfully. Some confound this beautiful word mercy with others of His attributes. They confound it with love, with pity, with justice. We cannot make an error in this matter without suffering more or less from doubts and fears. Let us try to get a clear idea of the meaning of this blessed word. Now, I will put the question to each of you, what do you understand to be the meaning of this word mercy? Let my illustration help us. Here is a man who is a father and a master. Let us follow him five minutes, and I think we shall have a clear idea of the meaning of the word mercy. The men go to the master for the wages. When you go to the master for the wages do you ask for mercy in that transaction? Your labour is your capital, and you have entrusted your master with your capital for six days, and now you bring in your bill for your master to pay; if the master pays you, you say he is just; if he does not pay, you say he is unjust. There is no idea of mercy in that transaction. We have not found mercy, have we? We have found justice, having to do with right. Let us try again. I said this man was a father. Tomorrow is his child’s birthday. He has had a good week, and is in a generous mood. He makes up his mind on his way home that he will buy a book that will gladden his child’s heart. He reaches the bookseller’s shop, purchases the book, pays the money, and goes on his way. What was that? That was not justice, for he had not promised it to the child. You say at once it was love, having to do with the lovable. Now then, there is nothing of mercy in that. We have found justice having to do with right, and we have found love having to do with the lovable; but we have not found mercy yet. As he goes along he sees on the doorstep a little half-naked, hunger-bitten, shivering child. He hurries by; but he has seen that face, and he cannot get away from it. He compares it with the little sunny faces awaiting his arrival at home. That morning when he was with his companions he said what a wrong thing it was to relieve beggars, it did harm to the recipient and it did harm to society, and it ought to be carefully avoided. That is his theory. But he can see the child s face, and he stops, and his heart runs away with his head. He comes back to the child, puts his hand into his pocket for the third time, and puts something into the little trembling hand. That was not justice. The claims of justice were met in the Poor Law arrangement. It was not love; for when he had relieved the child he shrank from kissing it. What was it? Pity, to be sure, pity having to do with misery; but no mercy in the sense used in my text. Let us try again. A concrete instance. I said this man was a master. He has in his employ a man who is a splendid workman, but he is a drunkard. He knows where some of his master’s property is, and under the shadow of evening he lays his hand upon it, and takes it to the pawn shop, and finds his way to the drink shop again. Just after the master had relieved the little child he meets this man full face. The poor man wishes there was a corner to run into; but there is not one. The master says, “William, you have not been for your wages today.” “No, sir; I have not done anything

this week.” “And you knew that you had work to do that was very important, and you knew that I should suffer by your absence.” “I am very sorry, sir.” “But that is not the worst of it; not only have you not done your duty, but you have taken my property, and you have applied it to your own base, sensual purpose.” Tell me, what will that man say to the master.? Will he say, “Be just”? That would be to imprison him. Will he say, “Love me”? Such a thought never presents itself. Will he say, “Have pity”? He would have pity on the drunkard’s wife and children. He looks at the master and he says, “Do have mercy on me.” When the master says, “Well, William, I will. The past shall be as if it had never happened, and shall never be mentioned. Here’s your full week’s wages. Go, and sin no more,” would not that man know what mercy was? Mercy is kindness shown to the guilty. When you go, then, to God in prayer, let this thought be before you: I am coming not for justice, I am coming for mercy. If I am wronged I can appeal to God’s justice, and He will take my part. If I am in trouble I can appeal to His pity and He will sympathise with me. But if I am guilty, mercy is the only attribute that I can appeal to. There is an attribute which can touch the sinner without damning him.

II. I want to give you a few proofs that this blessed declaration is true. Why should I do that when it is expressly stated in the Book? My answer is this, as soon as a man’s eyes are opened and he sees his sins, then despair takes hold of him. I read the text to him tonight, “God delighteth in mercy,” and he says, “Too good to be true, too good to be true.” The Devil brings out the past sins, and aggravates them and flings them into our heart till the pangs of hell get hold of us and we dare not think of God. Can it be true, He delights in mercy? Let me give one or two proofs.

1. First, I know God delights in mercy because He says so much about it. “Out of the fulness of the heart the mouth speaketh.” That is so with man, and that is so with God. I go to a home where I hear the music of children’s voices, and I always know I shall be happy with such music. I sit down at the tea table, and the mother tells me about the wonderful things the children have said and done, and she goes on and on, and I listen interestedly. I try to say a little about my own, but it does not go, so I listen to her and thank God for a mother’s love. When I get home they ask me, “Well, how did you get on?” “Very well, but how she does delight in her children.” They ask, “How do you know?” “Because she was never tired of talking about them, that is how I know.” I come to you tonight and I say to you with a glad heart, our God delights in mercy, for He is never tired of talking about it. Take the Book. What did I say, mercy was kindness to the guilty? To whom did God give the Bible? Not to saints, but to sinners. Now, I find that this word “mercy” studs the pages of the Bible like the stars stud the heavens. God’s mercy is higher than the heavens, is longer than eternity. God is rich in mercy, “God delighteth in mercy.” Over and over you have it in one of the Psalms. In that one Psalm we are told twenty-six times God delights in mercy, because “His mercy endureth forever.”

2. Again, I know God delights in mercy, because so many people have found mercy. Look at the millions on the earth in all lands, in all climes, in all colours, that could stand before us and bear the same testimony. “I obtained mercy.” If we could write out the names of the people who ha(l found mercy, and were to unroll it, would it not reach from the gate of heaven to hell and back again? And hundreds of you could say, My name is there. Ah, what a lot of trouble God took to get us to yield to Him. How He followed us, how He knocked at the door, how He pleaded with us many long rebellious years. When at last we cried for help He shewed us mercy, and our names were on the roll. Thank God, if your name is not there it may be there tonight. Does God delight in mercy? Yes. How do I know it? You want solid ground to rest upon. How do I know that God delights in mercy! “Behold the Lamb of God.” How can one

speak in His presence, beholding the bleeding Saviour, and hearing Him say, I suffered this for thee.” See Him on the Cross. Is it too easy? Is the mercy bought at such a price too easy? Fling thy doubts to the wind. “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” “It is so easy,” said a young girl; “I wonder I did not believe before.” We have all felt the same, I daresay. It is so blessedly easy that a dying man may find mercy. And now, may I say a word to you? When you go to the Throne of Grace, never forget that you are coming for mercy. The Devil never troubles me so much as in prayer. He brings up the horrible past, and asks me how dare I to stand face to face with that holy God. It is said, in the time of Napoleon one of his officers was accused of disloyalty and was apprehended. His daughter prepared a petition. One day when the Emperor entered Paris she approached with her petition. The Emperor was struck with her looks, and the earnest words she used in presenting the petition, and he read it. He said, I will inquire about it. In a day or two her father was liberated. Two or three years afterwards that same officer was involved in some scheme against the Emperor and was again apprehended. The daughter came again with a petition to the Emperor. The Emperor saw the petition, but did not take it. He said, “Child, you came to me before for your father, and I granted your request; I cannot grant it again.” “Sir,” she said, “my father was innocent then, and I asked for justice; now my father is guilty, and I ask for mercy.” Take the name of Jesus with you; link Him with your prayers, and ask for that mercy which God never denies. (C. Garrett.)

The mercy of God

The deliverances from Egypt and Babylon were types of our deliverance from the captivity and bondage of a natural state by our Lord Jesus Christ.

I. The mercy of God.

1. Mercy is an essential attribute of the Divine nature. Mercy in God differs in two important respects from mercy as it is to be found in any of His rational creatures. Not only is the mercy of God infinite, while in them it is only finite; but mercy is essential to God, while it is not so either to men or angels. In them mercy is only a quality which they either may or may not possess.

2. Guilty and miserable creatures are the proper objects of Divine mercy. Mercy is otherwise named bounty or grace. The bounty of God respects all the creatures as creatures. Grace respects the creatures as unworthy. Sinners are the proper objects of mercy. In what does the mercy of God towards them consist? In His willingness and readiness to pity, help, and relieve them. Sympathy with the distressed, or a fellow feeling of their sorrows and pains, is not essential to mercy.

3. The exercise of mercy in God depends entirely on His sovereign will and pleasure. In this justice differs. It requires that every sin shall be punished. Were God to allow sin to pass with impunity He would cease to be what He is—the infinitely perfect Jehovah; there would be an end to His moral government, which consists in governing His rational creatures according to the law of perfect holiness and righteousness. But this is not the case with the exercise of mercy. It is as natural for God to exercise mercy as justice; for both are essential to His nature. The difference lies here. The existence of sin in His rational creatures is a sufficient reason for the exercise of justice; but the existence of misery in these creatures is no reason why mercy should be dispensed to them; for misery is richly deserved as the just

consequence of sin, and certainly neither sin nor its consequence, misery, can entitle the sinner to mercy. When God exercises mercy, it is of His sovereign, wise, and gracious pleasure.

II. How does it appear that God delighteth in mercy?

1. From the express testimony of Scripture.

2. From the astonishing medium through which mercy flows to sinners, namely, the atonement of Christ. By a single act of His will the scheme of human redemption was devised and fixed.

3. From the names of glory which God takes to Himself from the exercise of mercy, “The Lord God, merciful and gracious,” etc. etc.

4. From the great variety of means which God employs to make sinners partakers of His mercy. Such as the mediation of Christ, a standing ministry, gracious providences, etc.

5. From the sins that mercy pardons.

6. From the kindness which He shows to His own people after they have been made sharers of mercy. They are under a dispensation of mercy.

7. From His merciful conduct towards sinners in this world. There is nothing more wonderful than God’s unwearied patience and mercy towards sinners. (J. Clapperton.)

A God of mercy

I. The mercy of God. See His mercy in pardoning iniquity. It is a full pardon. It is a free pardon. Observe the persons to whom pardon is extended. The promises do not apply to the careless, thoughtless, and indifferent. This full pardon is not promised to any who are ignorant of the scheme of salvation offered to us in Christ. It is those who have known God, who have been called to God, and who have been sanctified through the Spirit, who are pardoned. But mercy and anger, on the part of God, do and must consist together. Chastisements are fatherly mercy.

II. The claims that mercy has on our obedience. It has a claim on our love. We are always to remember that our love does not purchase God’s love, but that God’s love has a claim upon ours. If we would have our love increased towards Him we must avoid all those things that would lead us from Him. We must be jealous of ourselves, lest we dishonour Him by our inconsistency. (Montagu Villiers, M. A.)

The mercy of God

Causes are best discovered in their effects. We judge of men’s principles and dispositions by their pursuits and conduct. God Himself, so to speak, submits to be examined in the same way. To ascertain what He is, we have but to consider what He does. The proofs and illustrations of this text are more wonderful than the assertion itself. “What hath God wrought” to gain the confidence of our guilty, and therefore foreboding and misgiving, minds? In God’s sending His Son, the inspired John saw most clearly that “God is Love.” God’s soul delights in His own Son, yet He would seem to delight more in mercy. He delights not only in the exercise of mercy to us, but by us. He therefore would

not leave mercy to the operation of reason and religion only; but as our Maker, He has rendered it a law of our being. By our very physical constitution pity is an unavoidable emotion. We involuntarily feel an uneasiness, which prompts us to succour a fellow creature in distress, even to relieve ourselves. Though this be originally an instinct only, by cherishing it we render it a virtue; and by exciting and exercising it, from religious motives, we turn it into a Christian grace. See what stress God has laid upon it in His Word. He has told us that no clearness of knowledge, no rectitude of opinion, no fervour of zeal, no constancy of attendance on ordinances, no talking of Divine things, will be a compensation for charity. Let us therefore not only believe and admire, but let us be followers of Him who delighteth in mercy. We cannot love Him unless we are concerned to please Him, and we cannot please Him unless we are like minded with Him. Neither can we enjoy Him. Resemblance is the foundation of our communion with Him. He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. (William Jay.)

The grace of God in pardoning sin

There is scarcely anything in religion more difficult than deeply to feel our sins, and mourn over them, and yet to believe firmly in the readiness of God to forgive them. It is easy to yield to despondency, and to consider the pardon of them as impossible. To oppose such gloomy suggestions is an important as well as pleasing duty.

I. The matchless extent of God’s pardoning mercy. The uniform character of God in His dispensations to His Church in all ages is that of a God who “pardoneth iniquity, transgression, and sin.” Note the several expressions in Mic_7:18. He is ever engaged in remitting the sins of those who plead His mercy. “He pardoneth iniquity.” He voluntarily overlooks offences. “Passeth by the transgressions of the remnant of His heritage.” He does not allow Himself, as He justly might, to be hindered or stopped by our sins, but acts as one who sees them not. When God pardons sin, He passes, as it were, over it, even as a hastening traveller urges on his way, and neglects the impediments in his road. “He retains not His anger forever.” He is provoked with the obstinate and rebellious; but when they truly repent and turn to Him, He lets go His wrath, He views them with infinite compassion, He pardons them, He passes by their sins, and accepts them “to the praise of the glory of His grace.” The spring of all this grace and consideration is, that He “delighteth in mercy.” He does not pardon reluctantly, and pass by our sins with hesitation or backwardness, but with willing promptitude and satisfaction. There is a force in the original phrase which deserves notice. It reads literally: “Because, as for Him, He delighteth in mercy”; or “He delighteth in mercy, even He.” His very nature prompts Him to it. Why, then, should any inquiring and self-condemned penitent despair of pardon? The difficulties in the way of remission may be great, and to us may appear insurmountable, but the glory of God in bestowing it is therefore so much the more illustrious.

II. The consoling application of this mercy to the case of the penitent sinner. In the text this general truth is applied to the particular circumstances of the Jewish Church. It would be of little moment to have some surprising ideas of the clemency of God unless this application of it to the actual circumstances of the Church were added, and unless the faithful were assured for themselves that God would be merciful to them when they call upon Him. And this is indeed the true reasoning of humble piety in every age. The awakened inquirer may be assured that God “will turn again.” Though He may have withdrawn from us on account of our sins, yet He will return and bless us with His salvation. And how will He return? “He will have compassion upon us.” All the misery

and distress which we endure will be observed by Him; all our state will touch His heart, and move His pity. A claim to merit we cannot advance, but an appeal to the compassion of God in Christ will never fail. And what will be the effect of this compassion? “He will subdue our iniquities”; that is, God will bestow the very blessing we need, and which we most ardently desire. He will, by His grace, overcome the power and dominion of iniquity in the heart, and enable the penitent to love and obey Him. To subdue the tyranny of our sins is one blessing which flows from the compassion of God. But what shall become of our past iniquities and present imperfections? To meet this question, it is added, “God will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” His forgiveness shall be signal and complete. It shall be as ii the whole mass of our guilt were buried in the mighty waters. What is cast into the depths of the fathomless ocean sinks never to rise again.

III. The confirmation both of the extent of God’s pardoning mercy, and of the consoling application of it, which is to be derived from the covenant of mercy itself. God had chosen Abraham, and had made a covenant with him and his seed. In this covenant, pardon, grace, strength, consolation were assured to all God’s heritage. A distinction may be observed between the words “mercy” and “truth” as they are applied to this covenant. God is said to “perform His truth to Jacob, and His mercy to Abraham.” Possibly because His covenant, as it was given to Abraham, was an act of mere mercy; but in ratifying it to Jacob, God only made good what He had before promised. Mercy first bestowed, then truth confirmed, the covenant. So still, God first offers Himself freely to us, and then is faithful and true to His promises. Application—

1. Encourage the trembling penitent to act on the views thus unfolded.

2. Ascertain your interest in the Everlasting Covenant.

3. Allow that possibly your sins may be pardoned, and your case relieved.

4. Nay, cherish a fully assured hope of being pardoned and accepted. (D. Wilson, M. A.)

The matchless mercy

The drift and scope of this place is to show God’s infinite and constant mercies to His children. This is propounded in the benefits they receive: justification by the blood of Christ, and sanctification by His Spirit. Justification is thus set forth. He shows what He will take away; even original sin, and our rebellion. What He will pass by; “the transgression of the remnant of His heritage.” Sanctification is amplified in two degrees: in this life, and in the life to come. The reasons moving God are taken from His nature, from His mercy, and from His truth. Strengthened and confirmed from divers other reasons, from antiquity, from the often repetition thereof; and God has even sworn it. Doctrine

1. There is none so merciful as God. Reasons—Mercy is God’s nature. All creatures in heaven and earth have their mercy by derivation from this mercy of God. Mercy in God is free, without any cause of us moving Him to the same. Doctrine

2. That it is the mercy of all mercies to have our sins forgiven, to have them covered, buried, and done quite away, Reasons—Because other mercies reprobate men may have, as an abstinence from some sins, a show of sanctification, some outward gifts of the Spirit, etc.; but this mercy of forgiveness none can have but the elect. Because this benefit is the chiefest fountain which flowed from Christ’s blood. Because it

bringeth unto us the happiest fruits and benefits here and hence. Because it brings us to an everlasting peace in heaven. Doctrine

3. That God in a wonderful and special manner respecteth His heritage. Reasons—Because they are God’s purchase. Because of His providence, in that He keepeth a continual watch over them. Because He dwelleth amongst His Church, and therefore He will have a special care to His own heritage, to do them all manner of kindnesses. Doctrine

4. That the people of God be, but a remnant in regard of the wicked, even like the gleanings of the corn, a small company. We must not be discouraged though we see few go with us in the way to heaven. Doctrine

5. That the afflictions of God’s children shall have a seasonable and a speedy end. Reasons—Because “the Lord doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men.” Because we have such a sure Friend in the court of heaven. Because by afflictions we gain instruction. Because God correcteth only for our profit. Doctrine

6. Those who have once heel any saving comfort shall have it again. Reasons—Because all God’s saving graces be given for everlasting. Because He will turn again and have compassion, for His heart is near unto us. Because of all burdens the absence of God’s favour is so intolerable. Doctrine

7. Where God forgiveth sin, there He also subdueth sin. Reasons—Because the virtue of Christ’s death can never be separated from the merit of the same. Because without this subduing of sin upon forgiveness, neither should we have comfort from Him, nor He glory from us. Doctrine

8. Those who have their sins subdued whilst they live shall have them all drowned when they are dead. Doctrine

9. That wherein God delighteth it is impossible but it must needs come to pass. And He delighteth in mercy. Doctrine

10. God is bound, in regard of His truth, to fulfil all His former mercies to His children. Too often we neglect God’s promises, because we do not receive immediate help. We must labour by all means to remember and apply the promises, and so turn them into prayers. (R. Sibbes.)

The God of the Christians a God delighting in mercy

Heathen religions rest on the principle of terror. This appears in the very aspect of their gods. The enlightened nations even formed their gods on this principle. They put the thunder into the right hand of their Jupiter; they placed the eagle at His feet; they represented Him as ruling the world by terror. It was reserved for revelation to present the Divine character in the full circle of His perfections. To “delight in mercy” was a conception, in connection with the Deity, which the heathen world would never have formed.

I. The God of the christians is Love. “God is Love,” said the Apostle John; and all His various perfections are but so many modifications of love.

II. All His transactions with men have proved how much He delights in mercy. Even the covenant of works was but an introduction to the display of Divine mercy; and if sin had not entered into the world we should not have known the thousandth part of His love.

III. The God of the Christians has written His character in a book. Its histories, prophecies, laws, doctrines, threatenings, promises, all tell of the mercies of the Lord.

IV. All the works of God go to show that the God of the Christians delighteth in mercy. The world was made as a theatre for His mercy. His providence displays His mercy. Every act of mercy is to allure men to the provisions of mercy; every act of judgment is to alarm men that they may avail themselves of His mercy.

V. View the subject in regard to the scheme of our recovery. This, from first to last, is a revelation of the richest mercy. What is the incarnation of the Son of God? What are the miracles? What were His sighs, but the heart’s breath of His mercy? What His death, but the sacrifice of His mercy? What is the Gospel, but the royal proclamation of mercy?

VI. All the perfections of God are employed in illustrating His mercy. His eyes are employed in exercises of mercy, in watching its objects, and ascertaining their wants. His ears are ever open to the cry of the needy. His lips are employed in uttering the thoughts and purposes of mercy. His hands are engaged in works of mercy. His feet are ever hastening to the relief of the objects of His mercy. His wisdom, power, justice, truth, sovereignty, immutability are all occupied in the designs of His mercy.

VII. The innumerable forms in which God’s mercy appears show that He delighteth it mercy. The whole of the water of the world is called the ocean, but this takes various names, according to the shores it washes. As the Atlantic, German, Pacific, Indian, etc. So it seems with the mercy of God. It bears different names, according to the state of those whom it visits. It is either calling, protecting, pardoning, or comforting mercy. How unbounded are the stores and resources of Divine mercy. Then should not we too be merciful; delighting in mercy even as doth our heavenly Father? (A. Waugh, D. D.)

God’s patience

In the Old Testament much is special to its age, and has to us only a secondary value. But while the elements that were local and special to one people and one age no longer have to us the importance which they had to them to whom they were first delivered, yet other portions contain universal truths,—that is, truths that belong to men everywhere, in every age. Joys, sorrows, the literature of those sorrows, universal afflictions, remorse, yearnings after goodness; in short, all the moral sentiments, and all the natural affections, are the same under all governments, under all laws, and in every age. The Scriptures that relate to these things are perennial. If you cast into oblivion the Psalms of David, you throw away the best literature of the feelings that has ever appeared in human language; and where can you replace it? The noblest applications of moral principles to human affairs are to be found in the prophets. Let anyone ask himself where he will find a substitute for that sublime conception of God that rules throughout the Old Testament. There are not, even in the New Testament, any descriptions of God that, for majesty and completeness and symmetry and harmony, go beyond and higher than those contained in the oldest parts of the Old Testament. One of these Divine elements comes before us this morning—God’s great patience with men, and His forgiveness of them.

1. Our sin is not so much a violation of a law that lies outside of the bosom of God, as it is a disregard of the feelings and nature of God Himself. There is a marked distinction between personal feeling infringed upon and law transgressed. In worldly affairs there is a distinction between a disregard of the rules of business and a personal disagreement with you yourself. When a man offends against you, his

wrong is more heinous and provoking than when he offends against your rules and laws. God and His laws are one, in such a sense that when you offend against His moral law you offend against His own personal feeling. In this light it may be seen that every man sins every day of his life. There are innumerable evils and wrongs and injuries, against God’s feelings in the history of every single man Men have been living in a perpetual violation of all the thoughts and feelings of God’s mind. And yet the race has thriven; there have been joys, there have been mercies and blessings, there have been reforming and stimulating influences developed in the world. These things explain what is meant when God is spoken of as being so patient, so long suffering. He suffers and endures; and the reason is, that He delighteth in mercy. He delights to be kind. Kindness harmonises with His nature. Consider the literature of this kindness as it is represented in the Bible. He is the one who, though offended, needs no persuasion to forgive. He is not only merciful, He is magnanimous.

3. Consider what it is to have such a Being as this at the centre of power and administration. The most intensely thoughtful and the most intensely active of any being in the universe is God. In view of this brief opening of the character of God, and of His feelings towards men that are sinning and trespassing against Him, I remark—

(1) This conception of God should quicken every moral sensibility, and make a life of sin painful and distasteful to us.

(2) There is in this presentation of God’s character an argument against a dishonourable reliance on God’s goodness as a means of sinning.

(3) Consider, in the light of this discourse, how we ought to forgive each other when we have been offended one by another. Contrast our ordinary mode of forgiveness with that of our God.

(4) In this view of God there is encouragement to all who are honest, and who are seeking to live a godly life. (Henry Ward Beecher.)

The mercy of God

Consider God’s mercy—

I. In its rise.

II. In its progress.

III. In its consummation. (Skeletons of Sermons.)

The incomparableness of God illustrated in His forgiveness of sin

I. The nature of His forgiveness. The Bible generally sets Divine forgiveness forth under figures corresponding to the aspects in which sin stands before the mind of the writer at the time. For example—

1. When sin appears as a debt, an unfulfilled obligation, then pardon is spoken of as cancelling.

2. When sin appears as an estrangement from God, then forgiveness is represented as reconciliation.

3. When sin appears as an indictment, forgiveness is spoken of as justification.

4. When sin appears as a pollution, forgiveness is represented as a cleansing.

5. When sin appears as a disease, forgiveness is represented as a healing.

6. When sin appears as an obstruction between the soul and God, forgiveness is represented as a clearing. There are three points of contrast between Divine forgiveness and human.

(1) In human governments forgiveness is exercised with most cautious limitations. There is no such limitation to the exercise of this prerogative in God.

(2) In human forgiveness there is no guarantee against future criminality. But the God-pardoned man is a changed man.

(3) Human forgiveness can never put the criminal in such a good position as he had before his transgression. But in Divine forgiveness the criminal is raised to a higher status even than that of innocence.

II. The source of His forgiveness. Anger in God is not passion but principle; not antagonism to existence, but to the evils that curse existence. Here is the source of forgiveness, “He delighteth in mercy.”

1. Forgiveness as a merciful act. It is not an act of equity but of compassion; not of justice, but of love.

2. This act of mercy is the delight of God. Mercy is a modification of benevolence.

(1) If He delights in mercy, then hush forever the pulpits that blasphemously represent Him as malign.

(2) If He delights in mercy, then let no sinner despair on account of the enormity of his sins.

(3) If He delights in mercy, may we not hope that one day there will come an end to all the misery of the moral universe?

III. The completeness of His forgiveness (Mic_7:19).

1. The entire subjugation of all sins. Sin is the enemy of all enemies. Divine forgiveness is the destruction of sin in us.

2. The entire submersion of all sin. Forgiveness is deliverance from sin. Figures employed—“Blotting out of a thick cloud.” “Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back.” Casting sins “into the depths of the sea.” “Remembering sin no more.” All true forgiveness involves forgetfulness. (Homilist.)

19 You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot

and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.

BARES. "He will turn again - who seemed to be turned away from us when we were turned away from Him. “He will subdue, or trample under foot” Joe_2:14, our worst enemy, “our iniquities”, as He saith, “He shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly” Rom_16:20. Hitherto, sinful passions had not rebelled only, but had had the mastery over us. Sin subdued man; it was his lord, a fierce tyrant over him; he could not subdue it. Holy Scripture says emphatically of man under the law, that he was sold under sin Rom_7:14, a slave under a hard master, oppressed, weighed down, and unable to throw off the bondage. “We have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin” Rom_3:9; “the Scripture hath concluded all under sin” Gal_3:22. Under the Gospel, God, he says, would subdue sin “under us,” and make it, as it were, our “footstool .” It is a Gospel before the Gospel. God would pardon; and He, not we, would subdue sin to us. He would bestow, “of sin the double cure, Save us from its guilt and power” . “Not I, but the grace of God, which was with me” 1Co_15:10.

And Thou wilt cast - - Not, some ( “for it is impious to look for a half-pardon from God”) but - “all their sins into the depths of the sea”, so that as in the passage of the Red Sea there was not one Egyptian left of those who pursued His people, so neither shall there be one sin, which, through Baptism and on Repentance, shall not through His free mercy be pardoned. As they, which “sank as lead in the mighty waters” Exo_15:10, never again rose, so shall the sins, unless revived by us, not rise against us to condemnation, but shall in the Day of Judgment be sunk in the abyss of hell, as if they had never been.

GILL, "He will turn again,.... From his anger, and show his face and favour; which is not inconsistent with his everlasting and unchangeable love; for anger is not opposite to love, and is only a displicency at sin, and not at the persons of his people; and, properly speaking, is not in God; is rather in appearance than in reality; when his people sin against him, he shows himself as if he was angry; he turns away from them, and withdraws his gracious presence and sensible communion from them; but when they are brought to a sense of sin, and acknowledgment of it, he returns to them, manifests his love to them again, and applies his pardoning grace, which is the thing believed would be done; it is only another expression of that, as all the rest that follow are: the prophet, or the church, dwells on this article of grace, and heaps up words to express it by, as if they could never say too much or it, or sufficiently explain it. The Targum is,

"his word shall return;''

he will have compassion upon us; the Lord is naturally compassionate; he is full of compassion, he has a heart of compassion; these are tender mercies, and never fail, and which are exercised in a sovereign way; pardon of sin flows from hence; every manifestation or it is a display thereof: sin brings afflictions on the saints, and then the

Lord pities them, and is afflicted with them; sin grieves them, and he is as it were grieved for them; it wounds them, and then, as the good and compassionate Samaritan, he pours in the oil and wine of pardoning grace, and heals them; they are, while in this state, in such circumstances often as need his compassion, and they may be assured of it, Psa_78:38;

he will subdue our iniquities; which maybe understood also as a further explanation of the grace of pardon: sin is an enemy to God and his people; it is too strong and mighty for them; it reigns over them in a state of nature; they are under the power of it, and cannot get rid of it, its influence, guilt, and punishment; Christ has conquered it, made an end of it, and took it away; God tramples upon it, as a conqueror does upon the necks of his enemies; it ii subdued by him, and is under his feet; which he treats with contempt, disdains to look upon, keeps it under, so that it shall never rise again to the condemnation of his people; he overcomes the provocation of it, removes the guilt by pardon, and secures from the punishment of it: or this may be considered as the effect of pardon; as what is done in consequence of it, by the Spirit and grace of God in sanctification; when not only the deeds of the body are mortified through the Spirit, or the outward conversation reformed, but the inward power of sin is weakened; it is laid under the restraints of efficacious grace, and is kept under by it; so that it shall not and cannot have the dominion over the saints again, of which they may be confident, Rom_6:14;

and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea; never to be seen any more; though they are seen with the eye of omniscience, and taken notice of by the eye of providence, yet not beheld with the eye of avenging justice, that being satisfied by Christ; besides, all the sins of God's people have been removed from them to Christ, and by him carried away into the land of oblivion; so that they are no more to be seen on them, who are through his blood and righteousness without fault, spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; and, being out of sight, they are out of mind, never remembered any more, and like things cast into the sea, destroyed and lost: perhaps there may be some allusion to the Egyptians drowned in the Red sea; and what is cast into the sea, especially into the depths of it, is irrecoverable, not to be fetched up again, nor does it rise more; and so it is with the sins of God's people, forgiven for Christ's sake, even "all" of them; for they have all been bore by Christ, and are covered, blotted out, and pardoned, not one remains unforgiven; see Isa_38:17. This is an apostrophe of the prophet unto God. The Targum is,

"and he will cast into the depths of the sea all the sins of Israel;''

and it may denote their being loathsome and abominable to him, and therefore here cast by him. It is very common in Jewish writings to say of anything that is useless, abominable, accursed, and utterly rejected, that it is to be east into the salt sea. For instance

"Aquila the proselyte divided an inheritance with his brother (a Gentile), and he cast the profit of it into the salt sea: three doctors there were; one said, the price of the idol he cast into the salt sea; another said, he cast the price of his part of the idol into the salt sea; and the other said, he cast the idol itself into the salt sea (u).''

Again it is said (w),

"a sin offering, whose owner is dead, goes into the salt sea.''

The Heathens used sea water for the purgation and expiation of sin; hence the poet (x), to aggravate the wickedness of a very wicked man, observes, that the ocean itself could not wash away his sins. And Cicero (y), speaking of the law of the Romans for the punishment of parricides, which ordered that they should be sewed up alive in sacks, and cast into the river, observes the wisdom and propriety of it; they would not, says he, have them cast naked into the river, lest, when they should be carried into the sea, they should pollute that by which other things that are defiled are thought to be expiated. So Iphigenia is made to say (z) that the sea washes away all the sins of men. These are the Jewish and Heathenish notions; whether there is any allusion to them may be considered; however, certain it is, that nothing short of the fountain opened for sin and uncleanness, or the sea of Christ's blood, can wash away sin; that cleanses from all sin; and happy are they whose sins are cast in thither, or are expiated and purged away thereby!

HERY 19-20, "To take to ourselves the comfort of that mercy and all the grace and truth that go along with it. God's people here, as they look back with thankfulness upon God's pardoning their sins, so they look forward with assurance upon what he would yet further do for them. His mercy endures for ever, and therefore as he has shown mercyso he will, Mic_7:19, Mic_7:20. (1.) He will renew his favours to us: He will turn again; he will have compassion; that is, he will again have compassion upon us as formerly he had; his compassions shall be new every morning; he seemed to be departing from us in anger, but he will turn again and pity us. He will turn us to himself, and then will turn to us, and have mercy upon us. (2.) He will renew us, to prepare and qualify us for his favour: He will subdue our iniquities; when he takes away the guilt of sin, that it may not damn us, he will break the power of sin, that it may not have dominion over us, that we may not fear sin, nor be led captive by it. Sin is an enemy that fights against us, a tyrant that oppresses us; nothing less than almighty grace can subdue it, so great is its power in fallen man and so long has it kept possession. But, if God forgive the sin that has been committed by us, he will subdue the sin that dwells in us, and in that there is none like him in forgiving; and all those whose sins are pardoned earnestly desire and hope; to have their corruptions mortified and their iniquities subdued, and please themselves with the hopes of it. If we be left to ourselves, our iniquities will be too hard for us; but God's grace, we trust, shall be sufficient for us to subdue them, so that they shall not rule us, and then they shall not ruin us. (3.) He will confirm this good work, and effectually provide that his act of grace shall never be repealed: Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depth of the sea, as when he brought them out of Egypt (to which he has an eye in the promises here, Mic_7:15) he subdued Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and cast them into the depth of the sea. It intimates that when God forgives sin he remembers it no more, and takes care that it shall never be remembered more against the sinner. Eze_18:22, His transgressions shall not be mentioned unto him; they are blotted out as a cloud which never appears more. He casts them into the sea, not near the shore-side, where they may appear again next low water, but into the depth of the sea, never to rise again. All their sins shall be cast there without exception, for when God forgives sin he forgives all. (4.) He will perfect that which concerns us, and with this good work will do all that for us which our case requires and which he has promised (Mic_7:20): Then wilt thou perform thy truth to Jacob and thy mercy to Abraham. It is in pursuance of the covenant that our sins are pardoned and our lusts mortified; from that spring all these streams flow, and with these he shall freely give us all things. The promise is said to be mercy to Abraham, because, as made to him first, it was mere mercy, preventing mercy,

considering what state it found him in. But it was truth to Jacob, because the faithfulness of God was engaged to make good to him and his seed, as heirs to Abraham, all that was graciously promised to Abraham. See here, [1.] With what solemnity the covenant of grace is ratified to us; it was not only spoken, written, and sealed, but which is the highest confirmation, it was sworn to our fathers; nor is it a modern project, but is confirmed by antiquity too; it was sworn from the days of old; it is an ancient charter. [2.] With what satisfaction it may be applied and relied upon by us; we may say with the highest assurance, Thou wilt perform the truth and mercy; not one iota or tittle of it shall fall to the ground. Faithful is he that has promised, who also will do it.

JAMISO, "turn again— to us, from having been turned away from us.

subdue our iniquities— literally, “tread under foot,” as being hostile and deadly to us. Without subjugation of our bad propensities, even pardon could not give us peace. When God takes away the guilt of sin that it may not condemn us, He takes away also the power of sin that it may not rule us.

cast ... into ... depths of the sea— never to rise again to view, buried out of sight in eternal oblivion: not merely at the shore side, where they may rise again.

our ... their— change of person. Micah in the first case identifying himself and his sins with his people and their sins; in the second, speaking of them and their sins.

CALVI, "The Prophet now prescribes to the faithful a form of glorying, that they may boldly declare that God will be pacified towards them. Since then God loves mercy, he will return, he will have mercy on us The context here ought to be observed by us; for it would avail us but little to understand, I know not what, concerning God’s mercy, and to preach in general the free remission of sins, except we come to the application, that is, except each of the faithful believed that God, for his own sake, is merciful, as soon as he is called upon. This conclusion, then, is to be borne in mind, — “God forgives the remnant of his heritage, because he is by nature inclined to show mercy: he will therefore be merciful to us, for we are of the number of his people.” Except we lay hold on this conclusion, “He will therefore show mercy to us,” whatever we have heard or said respecting God’s goodness will vanish away.

This then is the true logic of religion, that is, when we are persuaded that God is reconcilable and easily pacified, because he is by nature inclined to mercy, and also, when we thus apply this doctrine to ourselves, or to our own peculiar benefit, — As God is by nature merciful, I shall therefore know and find him to be so. Until then we be thus persuaded, let us know that we have made but little progress in the school of God. And hence it appears very clear from this passage, that the Papacy is a horrible abyss; for no one under that system can have a firm footing, so as to be fully persuaded that God will be merciful to him; for all that they have are mere conjectures. But we see that the Prophet reasons very differently, God loves mercy; he will therefore have mercy on us: and then he adds, He will return; (202) and this is said lest the temporary wrath or severity of God should disquiet us. Though God then may not immediately shine on us with his favor, but, on the contrary, treat us sharply and roughly, yet the Prophet teaches us that we are to entertain good hope. — How so? He will return, or, as he said shortly before, He will not retain

perpetually his wrath: for it is for a moment that he is angry with his Church; and he soon remembers mercy.

The Prophet now specifies what sort of mercy God shows to the faithful, For he will tread down our iniquities; he had said before that he passes by the wickedness of his elect people. He will then tread down our iniquities; and he will cast (203) into the depth of the sea all their sins; that is our sins shall not come in remembrance before him. We hence learn what I have said before — that God cannot be worshipped sincerely and from the heart until this conviction be fixed and deeply rooted in our hearts, that God is merciful, not in general, but toward us, because we have been once adopted by him and are his heritage. And then were the greater part to fall away, we should not fail in our faith; for God preserves the remnant in a wonderful manner. And lastly, let us know, that whenever we flee to God for mercy, pardon is ever ready for us, not that we may indulge in sin, or take liberty to commit it, but that we may confess our faults and that our guilt may appear before our eyes: let us know, that the door is open to us; for God of his own good will presents himself to us as one ready to be reconciled.

It is also said, He will cast our sins into the depth of the sea. We hence learn that there is a full remission of sins, not half as the Papists imagine, for God, they say, remits the sin, but retains the punishment. How frivolous this is, the thing itself clearly proves. The language of the Prophet does however import this, that our sins are then remitted when the records of them are blotted out before God. It follows —for I will run over this verse, that I may today finish this Prophet —

18. What God is like thee! Taking away iniquity, and passing over transgression! Against the remnant of his heritage He retains not forever his anger; For a lover of mercy isHe;

19. He will return, he will pity us, He will subdue our iniquities: —Yea, thou wilt cast into the depths of the sea all their sins; Thou wilt show faithfulness to Jacob, mercy to Abraham, Which thou swarest to our fathers in the days of old.

“Pity,” רטחם, is tender compassion; the noun in the plural number is used to designate the bowels. “Subdue,” or trample under foot, is rendered “cover” by ewcome, on the ground of this being the meaning of כבש in Chaldee. This wholly destroys the striking character of the passage. Our sins are here represented as our enemies; God subdues them; and then in the next line the simile is continued, they are to be drowned like Pharaoh and his hosts in the depths of the sea. Henderson’s remarks on this point are very excellent. “There is no ground,” he says, “for rejecting the radical idea of trampling under foot as enemies. Sin must ever be regarded as hostile to man. It is not only contrary to his interests, but it powerfully opposes and combats the moral principles of his nature, and the higher principles

implanted by grace; and but for the counteracting energy of divine influence, must prove victorious. Without the subjugation of evil propensities, pardon would not be a blessing.” — Ed.

COFFMA, "Verse 19"He will again have compassion upon us; he will tread our iniquities under foot; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the sea. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the lovingkindness to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old."

"Compassion upon us ..." This is a promise of forgiveness to the righteous remnant, to all that are "in Christ Jesus." These last two verses are in no sense "a doxology." It is not a prayer for God to do the glorious things mentioned, but a promise that "HE WILL DO THEM." The ASV should be followed here.

"Jacob...Abraham ..." God never cancelled or abrogated the glorious promises made to the patriarchs. The promise that he would "bless all the families of the earth" in Abraham is now being fulfilled in the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. The Messianic age is clearly identified here as the time when those precious promises would indeed be fully and completely realized.

The casting of sins into the sea indicated that they would be put completely out of God's sight, "as far as the east is from the west" (Psalms 103:12), and remembered no more forever (Jeremiah 31:34), and "blotted out" (Acts 3:19).[29] Before concluding this study of Micah, we again call attention to the "remnant" concept which appears on every page of it. McKeating stressed its importance thus:

"The idea of a remnant is an extremely important one, it helps to solve the dilemma of how to reconcile the absolute righteousness and the everlasting love of God. God could judge his people, and destroy them, but nevertheless save enough of them (the remnant), penitent and purified, to serve as the nucleus of a renewed Israel."[30]Therefore, instead of reading the alternate passages of doom and blessing as the blundering result of some "editor's" rearranging of the text of this prophecy, may men read the one as applicable to the disobedient, and the other as glorious encouragement for the "righteous remnant." Unto Jesus Christ our Lord be the glory, and the power, and the dominion forever and ever. Amen!

COSTABLE, "Yahweh would again have compassion (tender, heartfelt concern, Heb. rehem) on the Israelites, as He had done so often in their history (cf. Psalm 102:13; Psalm 103:4; Psalm 103:13; Psalm 116:5; Psalm 119:156; Hosea 14:4; Zechariah 10:6). He would subdue their iniquities as though they were insects that He stepped on and obliterated. He would do away with their sins as surely as someone gets rid of something permanently by throwing it into the sea (cf. Psalm 103:12). The use of three words for sin in Micah 7:18-19 (iniquity, rebellious Acts , and sins) gives added assurance of forgiveness. God will forgive all types of Israel"s sins.

COKE, "Micah 7:19. And thou wilt cast all their sins, &c.— Houbigant very properly joins the preceding clauses in this verse to the 18th, because the words pass into the second person, which continues to be used in the 20th verse. The whole is a beautiful prediction of gospel grace and mercy.

REFLECTIOS.—1st, The prophet here bewails his unhappy fate, compelled to dwell among such an abandoned people; for a gracious heart is pained to behold the overflowings of ungodliness.

1. He was singular and solitary, and scarcely could find a gracious companion amid the thousands of his countrymen; so few good men remained, as the berries which hung on the vine after the gleanings. There is no cluster to eat, no society of upright men to join with; my soul desired the first ripe fruit, longed for the converse of such as had the first fruits of the Spirit, as the holy men of old; but there were none remaining. The good man is perished out of the earth, and there is none upright among men, at least the prophet could not find them; but, like Elijah, thought he was left alone. ote; It is a sad symptom of a nation's ruin, when good men are taken away, and they who rise up in their places appear utterly degenerated from the piety of their ancestors.

2. They stop at nothing to get wealth, lying in wait for blood, that they may seize the spoil of the innocent; and, like wild beasts, hunting their very brethren into their toils, that they may plunder and oppress them. With both hands earnestly they set themselves to the practice of wickedness; and even the magistrates and princes are chief in the transgression, judging for reward; money, not justice, ever carrying the cause before them: and the great man he uttereth his mischievous desire; so they wrap it up, or twist it together; emboldened by the known corruption of the judges, he is not afraid to appear openly in a bad cause; and having the princes on his side, they make the cords of iniquity strong, or they perplex it, rendering the matter so intricate, that the truth cannot be easily unravelled. The best of them, and bad indeed is that best, is as a brier, mischievous and hurtful; and the most upright is sharper than a thorn-hedge; they who have any transactions with them are sure to be scratched and torn; and for such abominations God will visit them; the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh, the day which the true prophets predicted, and the time when judgment should pass on the wicked watchmen in church and state; now shall be their perplexity, unable to extricate themselves from the troubles in which they were involved.

3. All good faith was lost among them; no such thing as a friend was to be met with, and no confidence to be put in any who pretended to be a guide in church or state; nay, the very wife of their bosom was not to be trusted, being in those degenerate days base enough to betray the secrets of her husband.

4. All reverence of parents was banished, the son dishonoureth the father, speaking contemptuously of him, behaving disrespectfully and disobediently; and the daughter riseth up against the mother, with sauciness unbecoming her sex, as well

as her relation; the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's enemies are the men of his own house; his children, his servants, who should he most solicitous to advance his interest, conspiring to ruin him. ote; othing shews an abandoned heart more strongly than contempt of parental authority.

2nd, In these calamitous times the prophet looks upward; thence cometh his hope. I will look unto the Lord, since no dependence was to be placed on man; I will wait for the God of my salvation, for the performance of his promises, the removal of the present distresses, or for Christ's appearing, whose incarnation the good men of old so earnestly desired; my God will hear me, and answer my prayers, of which also all his believing people may be confident, when they patiently wait upon him. Having thus cast his care upon God, the prophet, in the person of his people,

1. Professes his confidence in God. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy; though cast down, God's believing people were not destroyed from the face of the earth; and short would be the triumphing of their enemies; when I fall, I shall arise, strengthened with divine power; when I sit in darkness, disconsolate, dejected, the Lord shall be a light unto me, reviving, comforting, and quickening me, and bringing me out of all my afflictions; and thus at all times ought believers to stay themselves upon him.

2. He humbly bows before the chastening rod, and owns the righteousness of the sufferings brought upon the land. I will bear the indignation of the Lord with patient submission, because I have sinned against him, and therefore should not dare to murmur against God's righteous judgments; for all true penitents lay their mouths in the dust; whatever indignation is upon them, their sins have deserved it, and they will justify God in his judgments; and, so doing, they may hope for God's appearing on their behalf; until he plead my cause, as he assuredly will for all such in due time; and execute judgment for me, pouring down vengeance on all the oppressors of his people; and he will bring me forth to the light, espouse their quarrel; and, rescuing them from their calamities, make his favour towards them openly appear; and I shall behold his righteousness; his justice in punishing their wicked enemies, his grace in succouring his afflicted people, his faithfulness in accomplishing his promises; for they who humbly submit themselves to God, and cast their care upon him, shall ever find that he careth for them.

3. Their enemies, covered with confusion, shall behold this salvation, so unlike what they looked for. They once tauntingly asked, Where is the Lord thy God? and now are they answered, Lo! this is our God, and we have waited for him: mine eye shall behold her; their enemies, reduced to the lowest state of abject wretchedness; now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets: which was fulfilled in the conquest of Babylon by the Persians, and shall be proved true in the destruction of all the foes of God's spiritual faithful Israel. In the day that thy walls are to be built, the walls of Jerusalem, after their return from Babylon; in that day shall the decree be far removed, which obstructed the building for a while. In that day also he shall come even to thee, multitudes of the Jews returning to Jerusalem from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, where they had been captives, and from all places whither

they had been dispersed and fled for shelter. And in a spiritual sense this may be applied to the building of the walls of the spiritual Zion; into which, from all parts, multitudes of converts will flock together. otwithstanding, the land shall be desolate, because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings, these gracious prophesies shall not supersede the divine threatenings going before, so as to embolden the impenitent with hopes of impunity. See the Annotations for another interpretation of this passage.

3rdly, We have,

1. The prophet's prayer on the behalf of his people, Feed thy people with thy rod, directing them in their way, and bringing them into green pastures; the flock of thine heritage, whom he had as a nation called to be a peculiar people; which dwell solitarily in the wood, separated from the rest of mankind, to preserve the worship of Jehovah, the one true and only God; and even in their captivity unmixed with the nations; in the midst of Carmel, scattered in Assyria, as sheep upon a mountain without a shepherd: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old, in the richest pastures, abounding in all blessings spiritual and temporal; as will be the case when they shall be gathered from their dispersion into the gospel-church, and made one fold with the Gentiles under one shepherd.

2. God is pleased graciously to answer the prophet's prayer. According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt, will I shew unto him marvellous things; as wonderful should be their deliverance from Babylon, as from Egypt; and more amazing his work of redemption by Jesus Christ, rescuing his believing people from their spiritual enemies, and eclipsing all the former manifestations of his power and grace exerted on their behalf. Their insulting foes shall then be confounded, silent with shame, and stopping their ears, as unwilling to hear the wonders of God's love towards his faithful ones. Yea, the curse of the serpent shall be upon them, Genesis 3:14 trodden into the dust, and prostrate before those whom once they trampled upon like worms of the earth, scarcely daring to lift their heads from their lurking-places; for fear of the Lord our God, whose judgments are upon them; and because of thee, whom they have abused, but now behold triumphant over them. And so low shall every enemy of Christ's church and people be brought at last.

3. With wonder, love, and praise, the prophet beholds what God is about to do for his church. Who is a god like unto thee? one can be found like him for the perfections of his nature, and the works of his providence and grace; especially that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage; this being God's distinguishing glory, that he is a pardoning God; and this above all things raises the admiration, and engages the affections of the miserable, broken-hearted sinner: he retaineth not his anger for ever; though for a time, by our unfaithfulness, we provoke him to visit our iniquities with the rod, and our sin with scourges, he is not implacable nor inexorable, if we look to him in true contrition; but ready to receive the returning soul, because he delighteth in mercy, and waits to be gracious; more ready to pardon than we to pray, and willing to give exceeding abundantly beyond all that we can ask or think. He will turn again towards the

penitent sinner, though he withdraw for a little moment his loving-kindness in displeasure, and turn away his face from him; he will have compassion upon us, when we mourn his absence, and seek his return; he will then lift up again the light of his countenance, removing our sorrows, and speaking peace to our troubled but longing souls: he will subdue our iniquities, delivering us from the power as well as punishment of them; breaking the yoke of corruption, and putting our inbred enemies under our feet. His grace shall overcome our depravity, and sin shall not have any longer the dominion over us: which a soul that has tasted the bitterness of sin looks upon as the most inestimable blessing: and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea; they shall be not only forgiven, but, as it were, forgotten; totally done away in the blood of a Redeemer. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham; the faithfulness of God is engaged to every faithful soul for the fulfilment of the covenant, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible that God should lie, we might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge, to lay hold of the hope set before us. And for this, for ever and for ever praise the Lord, O my soul!

TRAPP, "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.

Ver. 19. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us] Here is the pith and power of faith, particularly applying promises to a man’s self. Say that sin hath separated between us and our God, Isaiah 59:2, and made him send us far away into captivity; yet he will turn again and yearn toward us, he will turn again our captivity as the streams in the south. His compassions are more than fatherly, Psalms 103:13; motherly, Isaiah 49:15; brotherly, Hebrews 2:12. This the Church knows, and therefore cries after him, "Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart," Song of Solomon 8:14, which when it fleeth looketh behind it, saith the Chaldee paraphrast there. And this that he will do, she is bold to believe. He will, he will, and that to us, saith the prophet here. Lo, this is that work of faith, to wrap itself in the promises as made to us in particular, 1 Timothy 1:15; and unless faith be on this sort actuated, it is, as to comfort, as good as no faith. See Matthew 8:26 cf. Mark 4:30.

He will subdue our iniquities]. By force and violence (as the word signifieth), subiugabit, pessundabit, conculcabit. Sin is sturdy, and will rebel where it cannot reign. It hath a strong heart, and will not easily yield. But yield it shall, for God will subdue it. And this is a further favour (as every former is a pledge of a future). To pardon of sin God will add power against sin; to justification by Christ’s merit, sanctification by his Spirit; he will let out the life blood of sin, and lay it a dying at our feet; he will tread Satan with all his black train under our feet shortly, Romans 16:20. He will not only turn us again, but turn his hand upon us, and purely purge away our dross, and take away all our tin, Isaiah 1:25. In fine at the end he will so mortify the deeds of the body by his Spirit, that sin shall not have dominion over us, Romans 6:14, shall not play Rex King in us; the traveller shall not become the man of the house, as athan’s parable speaketh.

And thou wilt cast all their sins into the bottom of the sea] Wherehence they shall never be buoyed up again. Thus the prophet, by an insinuating apostrophe, turneth himself to God, and speaks with much confidence. Such is the nature of true faith, sc. to grow upon God, and, as I may so say, to encroach; as Moses did, Exodus 33:12-13; Exodus 34:10; and as David did, 1 Chronicles 17:23, &c. See how he improves God’s promise, and works upon it, 1 Chronicles 17:24-25, he goes over it again, and yet still encroacheth; and the effect was good, 1 Chronicles 18:14. We hinder ourselves of much happiness by a sinful shamefacedness. Let us come boldly to the throne of grace, Hebrews 4:16; so shall we see our sins, as Israel did the Egyptians, dead on the shore.

PETT, "Micah 7:19

He will again have compassion on us,

He will tread our iniquities under foot,

And you will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

So He will again have compassion on His people, will tread their inner sins under his foot as so much refuse, and will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. All that stood against them will be removed for ever as they go forward into the everlasting kingdom.

PULPIT, "Micah 7:19

He will turn again, and have compassion upon us. The verb "turn again," joined with another verb, often denotes the repetition of an action, as in Job 7:7; Hosea 14:8, etc.; so here we may translate simply, "He will again have compassion." He will subdue; literally, tread underfoot. Sin is regarded as a personal enemy, which by God's sovereign grace will be entirely subdued. So, according to one interpretation, sin is personified (Genesis 4:7; comp. Psalms 65:8). Cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt blot out and bury completely and forever, as once thou didst overwhelm the Egyptians in the Red Sea (Exodus 15:1, Exodus 15:4, Exodus 15:10, Exodus 15:21). The miraculous deliverance of the Israelites at the Exodus is a type of the greater deliverance of the true Israelites in Christ (Psalms 103:12; 1 John 1:7; comp. Isaiah 43:25).

BI, "And Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea

God putting away the iniquity of His people

The mercies and promises of the Old Testament were but the outline of the glory thereafter to be revealed.The latter portion of this chapter abounds with assurances of Jerusalem’s restoration, involving in it the confusion and degradation of its enemies. The prophet’s apostrophe to

Jehovah in the last verses, both in the clearness of its views and the fulness of its statements, is one well suited to the Christian. It is much to be released from sin’s captivity, to have its iron yoke removed, and the foul garments of its bondage torn away. But it is more to find that He who pardoneth iniquity because He delighteth in mercy will also have compassion on us, and subdue our iniquities; not merely cleanse us from their stain by the blood of Jesus, but also deliver us from their power by His Holy Spirit. The particular turn of the language of the text appears to be taken from the destruction of the hosts of Egypt in the Red Sea. As their ruin was so utter that they were to be seen alive no more forever, it implies that our great spiritual tyrants and foes, our sins, shall, when God by His Spirit arises to subdue them, be as completely cast out, and their final penalty be as thoroughly put away, as though they were buried in the depths of the sea. Sin is closely connected with suffering. If, then, God may be said in a metaphor to cast sin into the sea, may we not literally say the same of the suffering? What the sea is said typically to do for the former, it often actually does for the latter. With so much of injury and destructiveness connected with the sea, there is also bound up much of benefit; benefit especially to suffering humanity, in the multiform maladies which embitter our existence. Then let the sea remind you how noble is the gift of spiritual health; how all-important that the moral disease of evil should be washed away, and your sins through mercy cast into the depths of the sea—that ocean of heavenly grace and love which shall hide them forever from merited condemnation! (Edmund Lilley, M. A.)

What God would do with our sins

“Our iniquities.” “Our sins,”—is it possible for us to be quite rid of these? This great question finds in the text a still greater answer. The words are two clauses of promise, each with its own shade of figurative meaning—a strong shade, and a stronger.

I. The Divine One as effecting the conquest of human sins. “He will subdue our iniquities”; that is, He will tread them down, will trample them in triumph under His feet. The very sound of the words suggests that it is no easy enterprise, this managing of our sins. We are apt to think lightly of sins. We underestimate the terrible capacity of wrong and death which lurks in them, and in each one of them. We yield them quarter, rations, parole, friendship. They swarm round us, and we cannot subdue them. Give your welcome, then, to Him who conquers this haunting throng on your behalf. Here He stands, at your side and mine. With Him beside us the whole matter passes beyond mere hopefulness into utter assurance. “But,” it may be asked, “is it not an arduous and a daring task for any one to undertake for me?” It is so much this, and so much more this than you can think, that only the One need attempt to undertake it. You may safely entrust the great task to Him. See the comprehensive completeness of the conquest. Christ not only conquers all the bad legions that had mustered around us during bygone years, but He tramples down the up-springing legions as they venture to arise,—thinning their ranks and enfeebling their energy, and impoverishing their condition, with the sure prospect for us that soon the hour will have struck when He can look back upon nothing but conquest, and forward upon nothing to conquer.

II. The Divine One as effecting the destruction and oblivion of human sins. The new figure substantially repeats the sense of the other; yet it advances further, and is more vividly full of the gracious truth upon this subject. “Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” “Sins,” not “iniquities” only, but the gravest as well as the lightest violations of Divine law. “Into the sea,” and into the deep places of the sea; far to seaward, where the sounding line descends in miles—buried, without resurrection, for

evermore. Some who have entrusted themselves to God’s grace are still timid and doubtful as to whether it can really be all, and once for all, and irrecoverably, settled about those sins of theirs. Be sure that when God pardons at all He pardons altogether, The sins of a Christ-trusting man are not only lost, but are what may be called securely lost. A thing is most safely gone, not when it is banished we know not whither, but when, knowing where it is, we are sure that it is absolutely irrecoverable. Apply. Never dream of managing your sins yourself. When God has put our sins into forgetfulness we ought ourselves no more to remember them. (J. A. Kerr Bain, M. A.)

How God forgives

The gist of the two verses is in the sentence, “And Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” However unlike to each other we may be, we all have need of pardon. In human pardon there is nothing remarkable save this, that it is often remarkably slow in coming, and as remarkably ungracious when it does come; and that when it is born it is remarkably short lived. Our pardons, like ourselves, are full of imperfections. What a painful operation it is to be forgiven! A man seldom forgives without first humiliating. When God forgives He does it in a style worthy of Himself. There is a dignity about His forgiveness; it is a positive luxury to be forgiven by Him. God only is perfect in the art of pardoning. In the text God’s pardon is described by four words—

I. Pardon. “Pardoneth iniquity.” While in everything God is incomparable, He is most unrivalled in the “matter of forgiving. The glory of God is His ability and willingness to forgive. The word “pardoneth” in the Hebrew means “to lift up and carry away.” Do not run away with the idea that pardoning is only a matter of uttering a word. God cannot forgive at the expense of His own righteousness. He is a God that lifteth up the iniquity. The Soil lifted the sin up on His shoulders, and He walked away with it.

II. Passeth by. “And passeth by the transgression.” Transgression here means “rebellion.” “Passeth by,”—that is, as if He did not see it. God deals with sin as if He did not see it. He has seen it once. He saw it on Christ. He does not see it on me, because He saw it on Him.

III. Subdue. The R.V. has, “He will trample under foot our iniquities.” When God forgives the guilt of a sinner’s sins He breaks their power. Have you ever tried to trample on your own iniquities? When God forgives the guilt He says: “I will do more—I will put My foot down on the neck of your iniquities.”

IV. Cast into sea. God provides that His act of grace shall never be repealed. He will never take back the pardon He has once bestowed. “Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” That is how God puts away the sins of His people. When God pardons a man’s sins He takes the sins, and drops them into the deepest place He can find, and there they lie, forever forgiven, forever forgotten. Micah may have had the drowning of the Egyptian host in his mind when he penned this passage. When God pardons, the tablets of His memory, if I may so put it, are wiped, and there is no remembrance forever made of this sin. When God buries our sin He takes it right out into the mid-ocean of Divine pardon and Divine forgetfulness, and it is forever forgotten. (Archibald G. Brown.)

Divine compassion to sinners

Though the Almighty is absolutely incomprehensible, and cannot be found out to perfection, yet He has explicitly revealed Himself as a God “merciful and gracious, slow to anger and ready to forgive.” And this propitious character of the Deity is peculiarly appropriate and interesting to mankind. Infinite mercy has graciously provided a way of salvation, by faith in Jesus Christ, which is perfectly consistent with Divine justice, and admirably suited to the necessitous circumstances of the “world that lieth in wickedness.”

I. The blessings piously anticipated. “He will subdue our iniquities,” etc. There may be an allusion to the deliverance of the Israelites from the Egyptian bondage. As the Lord then literally subdued Pharaoh and His host, so He will spiritually “subdue the iniquities” of His faithful servants, and by His pardoning mercy “cast all their sins into the depths of the sea” The prophet evidently anticipates—

1. The absolution of the guilt of sin. As “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” we must certainly either be pardoned or punished. When sinners return unto God with penitent and believing hearts, He graciously forgives their transgressions, and heals their backslidings. This inestimable blessing is called in the text, “casting all our sins into the depths of the sea,” which is a mode of expression that intimates both the extent and completeness of pardon.

2. The subjugation of the power of sin. We are not only guilty, but depraved. Sin is frequently personified in. Scripture, and described as a vile usurper and destructive tyrant, reigning in the hearts and lives of the disobedient. Hence it is not only necessary that the guilt of sin be mercifully cancelled, but that its power be effectually subdued. Omnipotence alone is equal to this glorious’ achievement. He principally accomplishes this work of grace by His Son, as the Saviour of sinners, by His Word as the instrument of salvation, and by His Spirit as the agent of personal religion.

II. The source distinctly specified. “He will turn again; He will have compassion upon us.” The prophet attributes the pardon and destruction of sin to the Lord Jehovah. These blessings are Divine in their origin. God only can forgive sin, and save the sinner. It is His sole prerogative to absolve our crimes and purify our souls. And this perfectly harmonises with the perfections of His nature.

2. These blessings are propitious in their medium. We have no natural right or claim to the Divine mercies, and can only receive them by way of sovereign favour, “through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.” For this purpose He assumed our nature, died for our sins, and ever lives to intercede for sinners.

3. These blessings are gracious in their bestowment. We cannot receive them on the ground of personal worthiness or human merit. Nor does the Lord require any previous goodness or moral fitness to render us worthy of the blessings of salvation. He freely and graciously pardons and saves the truly penitent, for the glory of His name, through the merits of the Redeemer.

III. The confidence devoutly expressed. “He will turn,” etc. This is not the language of enthusiastic presumption, but of inspired and rational assurance; it is founded on—

1. The character and covenant of God.

2. The atonement and intercession of Christ.

3. The doctrines and promises of the Gospel.

We may infer from this subject—

1. The necessity of repentance and faith.

2. The possibility of pardon and holiness.

3. The felicity and duty of the saints. (Eta, in “Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons. ”)

Divine forgiveness

Three ideas involved in figures of Divine forgiveness.

I. An antecedent liability to punishment. All the terms imply something wrong, and the wrong is moral. It is crime, and crime must ever expose to punishment. Because of this moral wrong there must be a liability to punishment.

II. The exercise of a merciful prerogative. God is disposed to forgive. Two things connected with this pardoning prerogative which marks it off from its exercise in human governments.

1. In human governments it is exercised with most cautious limitations.

2. In human governments forgiveness is invariably valued by those to whom it is exercised.

III. An actual deliverance from all liability to punitive suffering. The forgiven man is delivered from punishment. (Homilist.)

Sins lost in the depths of the sea

You see the Thames as it goes sluggishly down through the arches, carrying with it endless impurity and corruption. You watch the inky stream as it pours along day and night, and you think it will pollute the world. But you have just been down to the seashore, and you have looked on the great deep, and it has not left a stain on the Atlantic. No, it has been running down a good many years and carried a world of impurity with it, but when you go to the Atlantic there is not a speck on it. As to the ocean, it knows nothing about it. It is full of majestic music. So the smoke of London goes up, and has been going up, for a thousand years. One would have thought that it would have spoiled the scenery by now; but you get a look at it sometimes. There is the great blue sky which has swallowed up the smoke and gloom of a thousand years, and its azure splendour is unspoiled. It is wonderful how the ocean has kept its purity, and how the sky has taken the breath of the millions and the smoke of the furnaces, and yet it is as pure as the day God made it. It is beautiful to think that these are only images of God’s great pity for the race. Our sins, they are like the Thames; but, mind you, they shall be swallowed up—lost in the depths of the sea, to be remembered against us no more. Though our sins have been going up to heaven through the generations, yet though thy sins are as crimson, they shall be as wool, as white as snow. (W. L. Watkinson.)

20 You will be faithful to Jacob, and show love to Abraham,as you pledged on oath to our ancestors in days long ago.

BARES. "Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob and the mercy to Abraham -What was free mercy to Abraham, became, when God had once promised it, His truth. Abraham also stands for all those, who in him and his Seed should be blessed, those who were “aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world” Eph_2:12, in no covenant or relation with God, as well as those who were the children of the faith; pagan, as well as Jews. Jacob represents these who were immediately his children, such of the children of Israel, as were also the true Israel and children of faithful Abraham. In both ways the gift to Abraham was mercy, to Jacob, truth. So also Paul saith, “Jesus Christ was a Minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers, and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy.” Rom_15:8-9 yet mercy and truth Psa_25:10, together, are all the paths of the Lord; they “met together” Psa_85:10 in Christ; yea Christ Himself is full of Mercy as well as “Truth” Joh_1:14 : and woe were it to that soul to whom He were Truth without mercy. Rup.: “For to be saved, we look not so much to the truth of the Judge as to the mercy of the Redeemer.” And mercy, in the counsel of God, reacheth wider than truth; for truth is given to Jacob, the father of one nation, Israel; but mercy to Abraham, “the father of many nations” Gen_17:5; Rom_4:17. Isaac, it may be, is not here mentioned, because all to whom the blessing should come are already spoken of in Jacob and Abraham; in Jacob, all to whom the promise was first made; in Abraham, all nations of the world who should be blessed in his Seed, through the mercy of God overflowing the bounds of that covenant. Isaac is, in his sacrifice, chiefly a type of our Lord Himself.

Which Thou hast sworn unto our fathers - “That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation” Heb_6:18.

From the days of old - Alb.: From eternity, in the counsel of God; in promise, from the foundation of the world, as is said in the hymn of Zacharias, “As He spake by the mouth of His holy prophets, which have been since the world began” Luk_1:70. Pococke: The inspired hymns of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of Zachariah take up the words of the prophet, and shew that they are already fulfilled in Christ, although they shall be more and more fulfilled unto the world’s end, as Jew and Gentile are brought into His fold; “He remembering His mercy, as He spake to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever” Luk_1:54-55. “To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remnember His holy covenant, the oath which He sware to our father Abraham that He would grant unto us” Luk_1:72-74.

“I too,” Jerome subjoins, “sealing the labor of my little work by calling upon the Lord, will say at the close of this tract, O God, who is like unto Thee? Take away the iniquity of Thy servant, pass by the sin of my decayed soul, and send not Thine anger upon me, nor rebuke me in Thy indignation; for Thou art full of pity and great are Thy mercies. Rcturn and have mercy upon me; drown mine iniquities, and cast them into the depth of the sea, that the bitterness of sin may perish in the bitter waters. Grant the truth which Thou didst promise to Thy servant Jacob, and the mercy which Thou didst pledge to Abraham Thy friend, and free my soul, as Thou didst sware to my fathers in the days of old; “As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Then shall mine enemy see and be crowned with confusion, who now saith unto me, where is now thy God?” Eze_33:11. Amen, Amen, O Good Lord Jesus.

CLARKE, "Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob - The promises which he has made to Jacob and his posterity. Not one of them can ever fall to the ground. “And the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn;” viz., that “in his Seed all the families of the earth should be blessed;” that the Messiah should come from Abraham, through his son Isaac, by Jacob and David; be a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of his people Israel. And this promise, and this oath, God has most signally fulfilled by the incarnation of Christ, who was sent to bless us by turning away every one of us from his iniquities; and for this purpose he was delivered for our offenses, and rose again for our justification; and repentance and remission of sins are preached in his name to all nations. The proclamation was first made at Jerusalem; and that the prophet refers to this, is evident from the use made of these words by Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, when, under the full afflatus of the Spirit of God, he quoted this prophecy of Micah, as fulfilled in the incarnation of Christ, Luk_1:72, Luk_1:73. The Chaldee paraphrases this last verse with spirit and propriety: “Thou wilt give the truth to Jacob his son, as thou hast promised by oath to him in Beth-el. And the mercy to Abraham and to his seed after him, as thou didst swear to him amidst the divisions. Thou wilt be mindful of us on account of the binding of Isaac, who was bound upon the altar before thee.

And thou wilt do us that good, which, from the most ancient days, thou hast promised to our fathers by an oath.” Between the divisions, refers to the covenant made between God and Abraham, Gen_15:9-11, Gen_15:17, Gen_15:18. Well might the prophet exult in his challenge to earth and hell. Who Is a God Like unto Thee! Hell is speechless, earth is

dumb. Infidels dare not open their mouths!!! Hallelujah! מי�אל�כמוך mi�El�camocha! Jesus is the mighty God and Savior, pardoning iniquity, transgression, and sin, and saving to the uttermost all that come unto God through him. Blessed be God! Reader, lay this to heart.

GILL, "Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob,.... That is, the promise made to Jacob, the Lord would faithfully perform and make good to his posterity, natural and spiritual, especially to those who are Israelites indeed;

and the mercy to Abraham; the gracious promises made to him, which sprung from mere grace and mercy; all respecting his natural and spiritual seed; and especially the

promise of the coming of the Messiah, that seed of his in which all nations of the earth were to be blessed; and which is the eminent instance of the mercy and grace of God to Jews and Gentiles, that walk in the steps of Abraham; see Luk_1:68;

which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old; or the promises both of multiplying the seed of Abraham, and of giving them the land of Canaan, and of the Messiah springing from them, were confirmed by an oath, Gen_22:16. The Targum is,

"thou wilt give the truth of Jacob to his sons, as thou hast sworn to him in Bethel; the goodness of Abraham to his seed after him, as thou hast sworn to him between the pieces; thou wilt remember to us the binding of Isaac, who was bound upon the altar before thee; thou wilt do with us the good things which thou hast sworn to our fathers, from the days of old;''

JAMISO, "perform the truth— the faithful promise.

to Jacob ... Abraham— Thou shalt make good to their posterity the promise made to the patriarchs. God’s promises are called “mercy,” because they flow slowly from grace; “truth," because they will be surely performed (Luk_1:72, Luk_1:73; 1Th_5:24).

sworn unto our fathers— (Psa_105:9, Psa_105:10). The promise to Abraham is in Gen_12:2; to Isaac, in Gen_26:24; to Jacob, in Gen_28:13. This unchangeable promise implied an engagement that the seed of the patriarchs should never perish, and should be restored to their inheritance as often as they turned wholly to God (Deu_30:1, Deu_30:2).

CALVI, "The faithful confirm here the former truth, that God had deposited his covenant with them, which could not be made void: and hence also shines forth more clearly what I have said before, that the faithful do not learn by their own understanding what sort of Being God is, but embrace the mercy which he offers in his own word. Except God then speaks, we cannot form in our own minds any idea of his grace but what is uncertain and vanishing; but when he declares that he will be merciful to us, then every doubt is removed. This is now the course which the Prophet pursues.

He says, Thou wilt give truth to Jacob, mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn to our fathers; as though he said, “We do not presumptuously invent any thing out of our own minds, but receive what thou hast once testified to us; for thy will has been made known to us in thy word: relying then on thy favor, we are persuaded as to thy gratuitous pardon, though we are in many respects guilty before thee.” We now then understand the design of the Prophet.

As to the words, it is not necessary to dwell on them, for we have elsewhere explained this form of speaking. There are here two expressions by which the Prophet characterizes the covenant of God. Truth is mentioned, and mercy is mentioned. With respect to order, the mercy of God precedes; for he is not induced otherwise to adopt us than through his goodness alone: but as God of his own will has with so great kindness received us, so he is true and faithful in his covenant. If then we desire to know the character of God’s covenant, by which he formerly chose

the Jews, and at this day adopts us as his people, these two things must be understood, that God freely offers himself to us, and that he is constant and true, he repents not, as Paul says, as to his covenant: The gifts and calling of God, he says, are without repentance, (Romans 11:29;) and he refers to the covenant, by which God adopted the children of Abraham.

He says now, Thou wilt give, that is, show in reality; for this, to give, is, as it were, to exhibit in effect or really. Thou will then give, that is, openly show, that thou hast not been in vain so kind to us and ours, in receiving them into favor. How so? Because the effect of thy goodness and truth appears to us.

Thou hast then sworn to our fathers from the days of old. The faithful take for granted that God had promised to the fathers that his covenant would be perpetual; for he did not only say to Abraham, I will be thy God, but he also added, and of thy seed for ever. Since, then, the faithful knew that the covenant of God was to be perpetual and inviolable, and also knew that it was to be continued from the fathers to their children, and that it was once promulgated for this end, that the fathers might deliver it as by the hand to their children; they therefore doubted not but that it would be perpetual. How so? for thou hast sworn to our fathers; that is, they knew that God not only promised, but that having interposed an oath, by which God designed to confirm that covenant, he greatly honored it, that it might be unhesitatingly received by the chosen people. As then the faithful knew that God in a manner bound himself to them, they confidently solicited him, really to show himself to be such as he had declared he would be to his own elect.

COSTABLE, "The basis of Micah"s confidence was that God would be faithful to His promises to Jacob and loyal to His commitment (Heb. hesed) to bless Abraham (cf. Genesis 12:2-3; Genesis 13:15; Genesis 15:18-21; Genesis 17:7-8; Genesis 17:13; Genesis 17:19; Genesis 17:21; Genesis 28:13-14; Genesis 35:10-12; Genesis 48:4; et al.). These were ancient promises that God had sealed with His oath, vowing to fulfill them (e.g, Genesis 22:16-18; cf. Romans 4:13; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Hebrews 4:1-10; Hebrews 8:10; 1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:6; Revelation 5:10; Revelation 21:3; Revelation 21:7).

"Like a day that begins with a dark, foreboding sky but ends in golden sunlight, this chapter begins in an atmosphere of gloom and ends in one of the greatest statements of hope in all the OT." [ote: McComiskey, p440.

ELLICOTT, "(20) Thou wilt perform.—The closing words in the prophecy of Micah are gloriously taken up some centuries later by Zechariah: “As He spake by the mouth of His holy prophets, which have been since the world began: that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us, to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember His holy covenant, the oath which He sware to our father Abraham, that He would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our life” (Luke 1:54-55).

TRAPP, "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.

Ver. 20. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham] Heb. Thou wilt give; for all is of free gift. His love moved God to promise, his truth binds him to perform; 2 Samuel 7:18; 2 Samuel 7:21, "For thy word’s sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all these things." Having made himself a voluntary debtor to his people, he will come off fairly with them; and not be worse than his word, but better. Hence, Revelation 10:1, Christ is said to have a rainbow upon his head; to show that he is faithful and constant in his promises, and that tempests should blow over, the sky be cleared. "For this is as the waters of oah unto me," saith the Lord: "for as I have sworn that the waters of oah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart," &c., Isaiah 54:9-10. God hath hitherto kept promise, with nights and days, Jeremiah 33:20; Jeremiah 33:25, that one shall succeed the other; therefore much more will he keep promise with his people.

Which thou hast sworn unto our fathers] And, in them, to us, by virtue of the covenant. So he spake with us, when he spake with Jacob at Bethel, Hosea 12:4; and that the promises sworn to the fathers of the Old Testament belong also to us of the ew, see Luke 1:55; Luke 1:73-74. ow, that God swore at any time to them, or us, he did it for our sakes doubtless; "that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us," Hebrews 6:17-18. {See Trapp on "Hebrews 6:17"} {See Trapp on "Hebrews 6:18"}

BESO, "Verse 20Micah 7:20. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob — Thou wilt perform to his posterity what thou didst promise to Jacob. And the mercy to Abraham — As the promises given to Abraham were made to him and to his seed after him, so the Scriptures speak of the blessings bestowed upon his children, as if they were actually made good to him their progenitor. Among the promises made to Abraham and the other patriarchs, one important one was, that their seed should possess the land of Canaan. This promise, with those of a spiritual nature, will receive its final accomplishment in the conversion and restoration of the Jewish nation in the latter times. That people are said to be beloved for their fathers’ sakes, Romans 11:28; and therefore we have reason to expect, that the mercies promised to their fathers will be made good to them, in God’s due time; for the gifts and callings of God are without repentance, Romans 11:29.

ISBET, "Verse 20‘WHO IS A PARDOIG GOD LIKE THEE?’‘Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which Thou hast sworn to our fathers from the days of old.’Micah 7:20

Listen! We shall not hear many more Old Testament words before Advent; this is almost the last sound of the Old Testament trumpet before Isaiah takes up the strain to proclaim an Incarnate Saviour. And the words are all the more remarkable because they come from Micah, the prophet of whom what we most readily remember is that he alone foretells Bethlehem as the Saviour’s birthplace. He has been sent from the land of Judah, to which he belonged, to bear a testimony to the kingdom of Israel. And his testimony, for the greater part of it, is one of stern reproof and warning. The nation was far gone in wickedness of every kind; their doom was near at hand. Yet before they fell the Lord gave them this solemn admonition, with here and there glimpses interspersed of a coming and brighter day. For so it has ever been: no nation falls unwarned, though warnings now are not spoken by a prophet’s voice, but are enshrined in the word once written for all men’s learning.

And now, at the very close, there is a complete change of strain, these closing verses contain a rich, full Gospel message, glad tidings of great joy to every stricken and mourning heart. It came too late for Israel as a nation; but doubtless there were souls among that godless people, like the seven thousand in Elijah’s day, to whom it would bring peace and joy. It bears peace and joy still to all who have learned to mourn for sin.

Let us hear what Micah tells us of the God with whom we have to do.

I. He is great, because rich in mercy.—(a) This is the special note of the one true God. Mark it well. Many in the present day, who think they are good Protestants, shrink from this attitude of God. They cannot deny it; it is too clearly revealed. But they put it in the background, and almost try to hide it, while they dwell on the renewing work of grace to train the soul to holy living. Quite true, and precious truth! ever forget it. ever cease to impress it on yourself, and on all whom you can influence, that an accepted and pardoned believer must needs have received from the Holy Spirit, as the seal of his acceptance, the new heart and the right mind, and be trained by the same Holy Spirit to earnest walking and fighting the good fight of faith. But still this is not the truth which lies at the foundation, not that which made the heart of the prophet glow within him as he exclaimed, ‘Who is a God like unto Thee?’ He knew full well, as Apostles knew in after-days, that we must first set forth the free mercy of God; and the more firmly we do so the more clearly do we establish His greatness as far above all so-called gods. (b) Mark the full and unqualified language. Words seem to fail him to bring out his thought. See how it struggles for expression. ‘Pardoneth,’ ‘passeth by,’ ‘retaineth not anger,’ ‘delighteth in mercy,’ ‘will turn again,’ ‘will have compassion,’ ‘will subdue our iniquities,’ ‘will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.’ Could you frame other or stronger language? He who rejects or shrinks from the truth of God’s unbounded mercy to sinners may be ever so wise as the modern world reckons wisdom; but he is not in the way of making men ‘wise unto salvation.’

II. This assurance is based on promise.—(a) To Israelites the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You see, Micah had no doubt of the old story of the call

of Abram and the special dealing with Isaac and Jacob. To him these were no fancies, no vague traditions, passed from mouth to mouth from generation to generation. The story was true if ever history was true. The call was no dream of Moses, or of any one writing in his name: it was a real call, a real separating of one nation to be the Lord’s own; and they, with all their faults, had (almost in spite of themselves) kept alive in the world the knowledge of the one true God. Yes, and is that covenant now dead? Israel herself does not think so. Though dispersed and homeless, she still claims her fathers’ birthright, and looks onward to the day when she shall once more be settled in their Promised Land and sit enthroned on God’s holy hill. How this may be I know not; they have much to learn first of God’s dealings with them. Meanwhile, their existence and the living power of their traditions are a standing witness to the truth of the old record and the reality of the old covenant. (b) Then, secondly, to us it is a type of our spiritual inheritance. When the Holy Spirit, by the pen of Micah, speaks of ‘the truth’ assured to Jacob, ‘the mercy to Abraham,’ we cannot think that His words point to an earthly land of promise or an earthly kingdom as the beginning and ending of it all. ay, surely, He bids us look to the reign of the true King, of Him Whose day Abraham saw afar off, and rejoiced to see. Brethren, cling to that belief. For here also the unbelieving spirit of the day comes in, and would fain persuade you to separate the promise of present happiness or future glory from all reference to the Cross of Jesus, or to the faith by which we are joined to Him. ot so speaks the Scripture. Even the Old Testament prophet can teach us deeper things. For even under the old covenant the Chosen People had ever to look to the undeserved mercy of their God. Far more must we, if we claim to be among His adopted ones now, be ever looking to the death of Jesus, and delighting to think how our Father has sealed to us all His promises by giving His Son to die for us and to rise again.

PETT, "Micah 7:20

‘You will perform the truth to Jacob,

And the lovingkindness to Abraham,

Which you have sworn to our fathers,

From the days of old.

Thus will He fulfil the promises that He made to the fathers in the days of old. He will demonstrate His truthfulness of nature towards Jacob (and his descendants), and He will demonstrate His lovingkindness and compassion (covenant love) towards Abraham, in the way that He swore to them in the days of old. He will prove faithful to all that He has promised. Thus does Micah finish with an indication that God will be fully vindicated.

otice finally the promises of grace and truth. The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:17).

PULPIT, "Micah 7:20

Thou wilt perform (literally, give) the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham. Jacob and Abraham are mentioned as the chiefs and representatives of the chosen family; and "the truth" (i.e. God's faithfulness to his promises) and "mercy" are equally given to both, separately assigned only for the sake of the parallelism. Knabenbaner compares such passages as Psalms 114:1, "When Israel went forth out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language" (Psalm or. 6; Isaiah 41:8; Isaiah 63:16, etc.). The general meaning, therefore, is that God will perform the promises made to the forefathers, as Luke 1:72, etc. Hast sworn, as in Genesis 22:16. etc.; Genesis 28:13, etc.; Deuteronomy 7:12. With the close of the ode Hengstenberg compares Romans 11:33-36. Thus the checkered prophecy ends with the glow of faith and happy hope.