Woe is me! For I have become
as when the summer fruit has been gathered,
as when the grapes have been gleaned:
there is no cluster to eat,
no first-ripe fig that my soul desires.
2 The godly has perished from the earth,
and there is no one upright among mankind;
they all lie in wait for blood,
and each hunts the other with a net.
3 Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well;
the prince and the judge ask for a bribe,
and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul;
thus they weave it together.
4 The best of them is like a brier,
the most upright of them a thorn hedge.
The day of your watchmen, of your punishment, has come;
now their confusion is at hand.
5 Put no trust in a neighbor;
have no confidence in a friend;
guard the doors of your mouth
from her who lies in your arms;
6 for the son treats the father with contempt,
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.
7 But as for me, I will look to the Lord;
I will wait for the God of my salvation;
my God will hear me.
8 Rejoice not over me, O my enemy;
when I fall, I shall rise;
when I sit in darkness,
the Lord will be a light to me.
9 I will bear the indignation of the Lord
because I have sinned against him,
until he pleads my cause
and executes judgment for me.
He will bring me out to the light;
I shall look upon his vindication.
10 Then my enemy will see,
and shame will cover her who said to me,
“Where is the Lord your God?”
My eyes will look upon her;
now she will be trampled down
like the mire of the streets.
11 A day for the building of your walls!
In that day the boundary shall be far extended.
12 In that day they will come to you,
from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
and from Egypt to the River,
from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain.
13 But the earth will be desolate
because of its inhabitants,
for the fruit of their deeds.
14 Shepherd your people with your staff,
the flock of your inheritance,
who dwell alone in a forest
in the midst of a garden land;
let them graze in Bashan and Gilead
as in the days of old.
15 As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt,
I will show them marvelous things.
16 The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might;
they shall lay their hands on their mouths;
their ears shall be deaf;
17 they shall lick the dust like a serpent,
like the crawling things of the earth;
they shall come trembling out of their strongholds;
they shall turn in dread to the Lord our God,
and they shall be in fear of you.
God's Steadfast Love and Compassion
18 Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity
and passing over transgression
for the remnant of his inheritance?
He does not retain his anger forever,
because he delights in steadfast love.
19 He will again have compassion on us;
he will tread our iniquities underfoot.
You will cast all our sins
into the depths of the sea.
20 You will show faithfulness to Jacob
and steadfast love to Abraham,
as you have sworn to our fathers
from the days of old. Micah 7 ESV
Micah 7
43No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44For each tree is known by its own fruit. Indeed, figs are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor grapes from brambles. 45The good man brings good things out of the good treasure of his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil treasure of his heart. For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.… Luke 6: 43-45
Woe is me - I recall Isaiah's woe, standing before a Holy God, it was not a high five moment by far, but more along the lines of PTSD, an exposure to divine perfection, purity, Isaiah is led instantly to repentance, "I am a man of unclean lips of a people with unclean lips." Remember Abraham interceding on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah, for the sake of 50 then 40...how about 10, if there were 10 good grapes on this vine, would the vine be worth keeping? These major and minor prophets of the OT were incredible preachers, bound to the message, shaken, but not turned away from pronouncing the truth. The sorrow is overwhelming, these are their people, yet the people hate the message, and can't get at God so they have before them the messengers, and they demand silence or compromise. Micah preaches and would love to come back at the time when fruit would usually appear, but at the time of the harvest he finds vines that look like they have already been picked clean.
Kaiser - Having heard the prophet Micah minister to the public officials and merchants in the public eye, we are now given an intimate picture of his private life. The literary form of this chapter is a lament in which Micah weeps over the sad state of affairs into which his nation has fallen by its sin. Those who heard him preach must have assumed that he possessed a hard interior that held very little compassion or concern for the impact his messages had on his hearers. But, as this chapter reveals, they would have been wrong; here Micah is exposed as a man deeply distressed and greatly moved by the moral condition into which his nation has slipped....In many ways, this section of Micah’s prophecy is very similar to the first chapter of Habakkuk (See Habakkuk 1 Commentary). Habakkuk was so deeply moved by the sin of his people that he too cried out in a lament to God. Both prophets passionately regretted the fact that there were too few righteous people to be found.
10Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me, a man of strife and conflict in all the land. I have neither lent nor borrowed, yet everyone curses me. 11The LORD said: “Surely I will deliver you for a good purpose; surely I will intercede with your enemy in your time of trouble, in your time of distress.… Jeremiah 15: 10-11
There is no one upright among mankind - So you couldn't find even 10, not even 5 in Sodom and one walked out of the city, but her heart turned back to it, and she shared the fate, a pillar of salt.
1For the choirmaster. According to Sheminith. A Psalm of David. Help, O LORD, for the godly are no more; the faithful have vanished from among men. 2They lie to one another; they speak with flattering lips and a double heart.… Psalm 12: 1-2
1For the choirmaster. Of David. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt; their acts are vile. There is no one who does good. 2The LORD looks down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if any understand, if any seek God. 3All have turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.… Psalm 14: 1-3
9What then? Are we any better? Not at all. For we have already made the charge that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin. 10As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one. 11There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.… Romans 3: 9-11
To do it well - They not only practice evil, but they have made it an artform. Have you seen crocodile tears, oh, or maybe you thought they were real? We know they used unjust weights and balances, that the poor did not have enough money to get fair representation. These were good at evil, at harlotry, at theft, idolatry, greed, even murder if it satisfied what they craved.
Have no confidence in a friend - Those of your own house, your acquaintance and close companion will all turn on you in days like this. Everyone is out for them self.
…14A despairing man should have the kindness of his friend, even if he forsakes the fear of the Almighty. 15But my brothers are as faithless as wadis, as seasonal streams that overflow, 16darkened because of the ice and the inflow of melting snow,… Job 6: 14-16
15Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. 16Behold, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. 17But beware of men; for they will hand you over to their councils and flog you in their synagogues.… Matthew 10: 15-17
…11But when they arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand what to say. Instead, speak whatever you are given at that time, for it will not be you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. 12 Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. 13You will be hated by everyone because of My name, but the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.… Mark 13: 11-13
When I fall, I shall rise - His enemies should not be so hasty in their celebration. Even Job's friends believed his condition was due to hidden sin, and they insisted upon this, as though their wealth was due to their being more righteous than him. A beautiful picture of this will be the two witnesses on Revelation 11.
…10And those who dwell on the earth will gloat over them, and will celebrate and send one another gifts, because these two prophets had tormented them. 11But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered the two witnesses, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell upon those who saw them. 12And the witnesses heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Come up here.” And they went up to heaven in a cloud as their enemies watched them.… Revelation 11: 10-12
Where is the Lord your God - "I thought you guys were tight, why does He let you suffer this disgrace? There is no such thing as God, He is for those who need a crutch, who are weak and simple, show me your God."
…2My soul thirsts for God, the living God. When shall I come and appear in God’s presence? 3My tears have been my food both day and night, while men ask me all day long, “Where is your God?” 4These things come to mind as I pour out my soul: how I walked with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God with shouts of joy and praise.… Psalm 42: 2-4
…42“He saved others, but He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel! Let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in Him. 43He trusts in God. Let God deliver Him now if He wants Him. For He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44In the same way, even the robbers who were crucified with Him berated Him.… Matthew 27: 42-44
In that day the boundary shall be far extended - This cannot be fulfilled at the return from Babylonian captivity, the walls built under Nehemiah, for the boundary was not extended nor did they have national sovereignty.
Shepherd Your people with Your staff - This is Messiah.
…9Judah is a young lion—my son, you return from the prey. Like a lion he crouches and lies down; like a lioness, who dares to rouse him? 10The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes and the allegiance of the nations is his. 11He ties his donkey to the vine, his colt to the choicest branch. He washes his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.… Genesis 49: 9-11
…10Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and His arm establishes His rule. His reward is with Him, and His recompense accompanies Him. 11He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. He gently leads the nursing ewes. 12Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on a scale and the hills with a balance?… Isaiah 40: 10-12
…10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness. 11I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 12The hired hand is not the shepherd, and the sheep are not his own. When he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf pounces on them and scatters the flock.… John 10: 10-12
They shall lick the dust like a serpent - This calls back to the garden and the devil, who wanted to destroy the seed from the moment he first heard. The nations have followed in his footsteps but will now be humbled when Christ, the rightful Ruler, intercedes for the nation of Israel at His second coming.
14So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and every beast of the field! On your belly will you go, and dust you will eat, all the days of your life. 15And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Genesis 3: 14-15
He does not retain His anger forever - Though Israel has been an unfaithful wife, yet God still has a plan for, He never goes back upon His promises, and they never depend upon fallen creatures.
24The LORD of Hosts has sworn: “Surely, as I have planned, so will it be; as I have purposed, so will it stand. 25I will break Assyria in My land; I will trample him on My mountain. His yoke will be taken off My people, and his burden removed from their shoulders.”… Isaiah 14: 24-25
18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, y“To your offspring I give3 this land, from zthe river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.” Genesis 15: 18-21
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