Micah 7 - Introduction

Micah's Prayer and God's Answer

Micah Seven

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

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

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