Alone in a Forest

Micah saw that God was going to take up the shepherd's rod against those who had placed themselves above the Law. This would be a terrible time of exile and would mean the scattering of the remnant. But he also saw that God would take up the staff to shepherd that scattered flock and that they would become a strong nation.

The Wise Men not only followed a star, but they also followed the prophecy of Micah, to the very birthplace of our Lord, Jesus Christ. You too can follow Micah's prophecy though this tumultuous time and glimpse the redemptive work of God in its final verses.

Praise God for His grace, because truly for a sheep it is a dreadful thing to be "Alone in a Forest".

Week 13 - Micah 7:10-20 - Surely Bless

Reading the New Testament as a kid, I raced through the Gospels (especially Mark) and Acts.  They were filled of adventure.  But when I got to Romans my heart sank.  It was theology, difficult and deep theology.  I remember particularly struggling over this passage:

Romans 3:21-26

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.  It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

I knew I sinned.  I knew my salvation was through the work of Christ.  But I could not grasp how those believers of the Old Testament were saved.  Christ had not yet taken their punishment.

Both Micah and Paul make it clear that the sins of the remnant were not forgiven, but rather passed over.  Their removal was foreshadowed in the promise to Abraham at the thwarted sacrifice of Isaac.

Genesis 22:15-18

And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”

The phrase “surely bless” is same word (bāraḵ) repeated for emphasis first as its noun form then as an ongoing verb.  Paul explains this blessing in what took place in the work of Christ Jesus:

Acts 3:25-26

You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”

Praise the Lord, that we can see that now that work in the past.  But please understand Micah’s joy as foresaw it prophetically in the future!  The word "our" is literally "they" in the Hebrew and accurately identifies the past and present members of the covenant as the recipient of the blessing.

Micah 7:19b-20

You will cast all our sins

    into the depths of the sea.

You will show faithfulness to Jacob

    and steadfast love to Abraham,

as you have sworn to our fathers

    from the days of old.

Week 12 - Micah 7:1-9 - But as for me

Micah 7:7-9

But as for me, I will look to the Lord;

    I will wait for the God of my salvation;

    my God will hear me.

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.

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.

Just as when Lazarus must have squinted at the sun (John 11:38-44) when leaving the tomb, Micah will see God’s righteous justification of his people (ṣᵊḏāqâ).  

Micah does not explain how, but in some way, God will be both “faithful and just to forgive us our sins” (1 John 1:9).  

This will be a glorious sight, something indeed that will make you squint.  So, he welcomed that justice even though he knew he was not without sin.  

This in contrast to the watchman’s day (Micah 7:4).  A watchman stares into the quiet of the night scanning the horizon for any approaching danger.  Micah and Isaiah were watchmen.  That is, prophets.  They looked out and saw the destruction of Israel coming for their actions.

This dichotomy is this essence of God’s steadfast love (ḥeseḏ).

2 Timothy 2:8-13

Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. The saying is trustworthy, for:

If we have died with him, we will also live with him;

if we endure, we will also reign with him;

if we deny him, he also will deny us;

if we are faithless, he remains faithful—

for he cannot deny himself.