CHAPTER 7

(710 B.C.)

ISRAEL DESOLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

¹Woe 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. (The exclamation, Woe is me! presents Micah representing repentant Israel by confessing its corruption and lamenting the necessity of punishment. The phrase, For I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, means that there is no fruit left, even though one searches diligently. Israel has borne no good fruit for the Lord!)

²The 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. (The idea is: the entirety of the fabric of the nation of Judah was so spoiled, with corruption and vileness beginning at the top and filtering down, that there was nothing good that could be said!)

³That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asks, and the judge asks for a reward; and the great man, he utters his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up. (The first phrase proclaims that the people were ready enough to do evil; the next phrase says they can be bribed to do anything. And the great man, he utters his mischievous desire, means that the rich man communicates to the judge the evil he proposes against the poor, and they, i.e., the rich man and the judge, concoct the matter between them, i.e., they wrap it up.)

⁴The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of your watchmen and your visitation comes; now shall be their perplexity. (The first phrase, in referring to their best, lets us know just how vile were their worst. The day of your watchmen and your visitation comes, refers to the Prophets of old who predicted this coming wrath. Now shall be their perplexity, proclaims a problem without a solution, which characterizes all those who disregard the warnings of the Lord.)

⁵Trust ye not in a friend, put you not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your bosom. (Verses 5 and 6 portray the low level to which Israel and Judah had sunk, showing that selfishness reigned everywhere, and not even the closest relations could be trusted.)

⁶For the son dishonours the father, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a mans enemies are the men of his own house. (The Lord [Mat. 10:35-36] quotes this Verse to prove that Gospel Grace, when rejected, arouses the iniquity of the heart; further, the entrance and nearness of Perfect Love, i.e., Christ, exasperate into activity its hatred. The idea is: Light rejected becomes darkness deepened.)

RESTORATION OF ISRAEL; HER REPENTANCE IN THE LAST DAYS

⁷Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my Salvation: my God will hear me. (With most of the Prophets, the Holy Spirit, even after announcing severe judgment, would leap ahead and portray the glorious future which Israel will ultimately see, thereby fulfilling the Promises made to the Patriarchs and Prophets of old! In fact, Verses 7 through 9 portray Israels Repentance in the last days [Zech. 12:10]. Such is evidenced by the phrase, Therefore I will look unto the LORD.)

⁸Rejoice not against me, O my enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a Light unto me. (Rejoice not against me, O my enemy, refers to all those who had written Israel off. When I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a Light unto me, refers to the darkness that has lasted now for nearly 2,000 years, and which will even deepen during the first half of the Great Tribulation, when Israel will think the Antichrist is the Messiah. But during the coming Battle of Armageddon, Israel will call on the Lord; at that time, He shall be a Light unto me.)

⁹I 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. (The Prophet, energized as was Daniel [Dan., Chpt. 9] by the Spirit of Intercession proper to the High Priest of Israels confession [Heb. 3:1], confesses that nations sins as his own; accepts the Wrath of God as just; and confidently awaits a future vindication. This is a most touching feature of the prophetic office. If, said Jeremiah, he be a Prophet, let him make intercession to Jehovah [Jer. 27:18].

And I shall behold His Righteousness, pertains to the Lords Second Coming, with the Antichrist destroyed, and more perfect their acceptance of His Salvation.)

ISRAELS ENEMIES HUMBLED

¹⁰Then she that is my enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is the LORD your God? my eyes shall behold her: now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets. (The question, Where is the LORD your God?, pertains to the boasts of Sennacherib [II Chron. 32:17] and the future Assyrian, who will likewise taunt Israel accordingly. My eyes shall behold her, means that Jerusalem beheld the destruction of the Assyrian host and will likewise behold the destruction of the Antichrist.

Now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets, refers to the Angel who was sent against the Assyrians and the Lord Jesus Christ, Who will come against the Antichrist.)

ISRAEL REGATHERED

¹¹In the day that your walls are to be built, in that day shall the decree be far removed. (The first phrase describes Zion as a vineyard where the fence had been destroyed but which now has been rebuilt. It speaks of the coming restoration at the beginning of the Kingdom Age. In that day shall the decree be far removed, concerns Israels captivity, which was decreed because of her sin and rejection of Christ, but which has now been removed. It has been removed because Israel now accepts Christ, which will take place immediately after the Second Coming.)

¹²In that day also he shall come even to you 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. (The first phrase continues to refer to the restoration, which will begin the Kingdom Age, with Assyria used as a type of the greatest enemy of God. And from the fortified cities, pertains to Egypt, which symbolizes the world. And from the fortress even to the river, actually concerns itself, and symbolically so, from Egypt to the Euphrates. This part of the world presently, and in the past, has been Israels greatest nemesis. The last phrase refers to every nation in the world giving up the dispersed of Israel, who all will return home to Israel proper.)

¹³Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of them who dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings. (The word Notwithstanding actually means but before this shall be desolation! This desolation lasted for nearly 2,000 years before Israel finally became a State again in 1948.

The phrase, For the fruit of their doings, proclaims the reason for Israels past state and their near-future judgment at the hands of the man of sin.)

¹⁴Feed your people with your rod, the flock of your 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. (The prayer of this Verse is addressed to the Messiah, the Great Shepherd of His People. This rod will comfort them and not smite them. His People will dwell solitarily; that is, they shall enjoy distinct nationality [Num. 23:9] in absolute security [the wood] and with abounding prosperity. Once again, this is the Kingdom Age!)

JUDGMENT ON ISRAELS ENEMIES

¹⁵According to the days of your coming out of the land of Egypt will I show unto him marvelous things. (Verses 15 through 17 give the Great Shepherds prompt reply to the prayer of Micah. Will I show unto him marvelous things, records the Lord doing great things for Israel, which will commence with the Second Coming.)

¹⁶The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf. (Without Christ, Israel is nothing! With Christ, Israel, in the Kingdom Age, will be the greatest nation on the face of the Earth. In fact, all prosperity for the entirety of the world will be because Israel now occupies her rightful place and position.)

¹⁷They 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 you. (They shall lick the dust like a serpent, is a figure of complete defeat. This is the Battle of Armageddon and the immediate aftermath. They shall be afraid of the LORD our God, means that the armies of the Antichrist and the nations of the world shall be driven by terror to acknowledge the God of Israel because of the demonstration of the Lords Almighty Power.)

ISRAELS CONFIDENCE IN GOD

¹⁸Who is a God like unto You, Who pardons iniquity, and passes by the transgression of the remnant of His Heritage? He retains not His Anger forever, because He delights in Mercy. (Upon the Revelation of this tremendous coming Restoration, Micah exclaims, Who is a God like unto You? The Lord pardons, He forgives, His righteous Anger quickly cools, and He delights in Mercy. There is no one like Him, as there can be no one like Him!)

¹⁹He will turn again, He will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities; and you will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. (He will turn again, means that as He has had compassion before, and many times, He will do so again. The phrase, He will subdue our iniquities, actually means that He will literally tread under foot our iniquities, consequently totally rescuing us from their grasp.

And you will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea, is the nearest to the oft-quoted statement about casting sins into the sea of forgetfulness to be remembered no more. Thus, the Prophecy, like the Epistle to the Romans, begins with Gods Wrath against sin and closes with Gods Forgiveness of sin.)

²⁰You will perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which You have sworn unto our fathers from the days of old. (The general meaning of this Verse is that God will absolutely perform the Promises made to the forefathers. The two words, have sworn, are the certitude of this coming action. In other words, the fulfillment of these Promises is guaranteed!)