Micah 7:14-20 – God’s Faithfulness to Israel

Reverend Leo H. McCrary II

When you cry out in repentance, God is faithful to forgive you, regardless of your deeds, but are taking the steps to seek God’s forgiveness?

Introduction

When one cries out in repentance, God is faithful to hear their cry and forgive them of their wickedness.

We ought not to ever think that God is like us!  You see, if the Lord were like us, there would be no such thing as mercy and forgiveness.  Think about how quickly we give up on those who betray our love.  As you think that over, think about how often we betray the love God shows us.  Israel betrayed God’s love, yet, as we will see in our lesson this week, He did not stop up His ears from their cries.  This week’s Sunday School commentary covers Micah 7:14-20. 

What we will focus on learning in this week’s Sunday School commentary:

1. Why God must be faithful to forgive your sins.
2. Two steps you must take to be forgiven of your sins.
3. Why one should never disregard God’s rebuke of their sin.

The First Step to Forgiveness

This week’s lesson opens with the end of a prayer that Micah had begun praying at the start of Micah 7.  The reason why Micah had begun to pray goes back to God’s declarations against Israel in Micah 6:9-16.

In Micah 6:11, the Lord asked, “Shall I count pure those with the wicked scales, and with the bag of deceitful weights?”  The Lord asked that question, speaking of the wickedness that took place in Israel.  Of their wickedness, the Lord rebuked, saying, “Her rich men are full of violence, her inhabitants have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth (Mic. 6:12).”

Because of the wickedness of Israel, the Lord said that He would make Israel desolate because of their sins (Mic. 6:13).  The Lord said that the people would eat but not be satisfied (Mic. 6:14).  The Lord said that they would sow but not reap (Mic. 6:15).  The Lord said that they would bear their reproach (shame and dishonor) for they had chosen to live sinfully (Mic. 6:16).

So, in response to God’s declarations against Israel, Micah cried out, praying, “Woe is me (Mic. 7:1)!”  Micah was undone because the declarations against Israel were so great.  Yet, Micah’s prayer is the very first step that one ought to take when God rebukes and chastens.

Something I have preached about and taught in the past is the steps to forgiveness.  When God rebukes you, you should understand that God doesn’t rebuke from a place of spite.  God rebukes us because He desires for us to make corrections, as His desire and will is for us to dwell with Him for everlasting life.  

IF the Lord did not love you, then He would continue to let you live sinfully.  If the Lord didn’t love us, He would simply let all of us live sinfully and then cast us away from His presence for eternity.  

So when the Lord rebukes us, the first step that we shouldn’t take is to disregard His rebuke.  Israel had disregarded the Lord’s rebuke repeatedly by repeatedly disregarding His prophets.  

In Micah 2:6, the Lord spoke of how the people responded to prophets like Micah, wagging their fingers, telling them not to prophesy.  As shown through the prophet Jeremiah, the people would either be mocked, killed by someone like Jezebel, or imprisoned by someone like King Ahab because God’s prophets prophesied against their wickedness.

Because Israel had disregarded God’s rebuke, He said through Micah that they had risen themselves up as an enemy (Mic. 2:8).  So, the Lord was moved to chasten His people because they were not supposed to set themselves against God.  God chastens out of love, not to destroy, but to lift up from sin.

Because of God’s declared chastening, we’ll see that Micah took what should have been Israel’s first step to forgiveness:  Micah prayed, acknowledging the sins of his people.

In Micah 7:1-7, Micah expressed great sorrow about the way Israel had chosen to go in.  Then, in Micah 7:8-13 acknowledged the sins of his people.  Micah said, “I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against Him (Mic. 7:9).”  This is a confession that you will notice that Micah takes on himself, essentially taking up the role of an intercessor.  

God does not rebuke us so that we act like we didn’t sin!  There is no forgiveness if one cannot or does not acknowledge their sin!  

The Second Step to Forgiveness

When we finally look to the selected scripture for our lesson, we will see in Micah 7:14 that Micah begins to petition the Lord.  

Micah petitioned the Lord, saying, “Shepherd (tend to) your people with Your staff, the flock of Your heritage, who dwell solitarily in a woodland, in the midst of Carmel; Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in days of old.”  Let me be clear about this: Micah prayed not out of religion but out of faith, where we see that he’s dependent on the Lord’s care.  

When we seek God’s forgiveness, we must first acknowledge our sin.  Secondly, we ought to seek God’s instructions so that we can be brought out of sin.  If you acknowledge that you have sinned but do not seek God’s instructions, then you would be one who acknowledges your sin and continues in it.  This would be like one who acknowledges it’s wrong to walk on the wrong side of the road but continues to do so.

Our sin must be acknowledged and then corrected.  The only way that we can correct our sin is by following God’s instructions.  These steps are absolutely required if you truly desire to get out from under the guilt of your sin.  When you acknowledge your sin and seek God’s instructions, that is what we call repentance.  Repentance is turning away from the direction of sin to the direction of what is holy and righteous.

God’s Response to Genuine Repentance

Now, in Micah 7:15, we will see God’s response to Micah’s prayer.  The Lord responded, “As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, I will show them wonders.”

So, what were the wonders the Lord showed the children of Israel when He brought them out of the bondage of Egypt?  God parted the Red Sea when the Egyptians chased them from behind, so that the children of Israel could cross on dry ground and be free from the Egyptians.

Before they made it to Mount Sinai, Exodus 16-17 shows us that the Lord provided Israel with manna, the bread from heaven, and He gave them water which came from a rock.  Then, in Exodus 17:8-16, the Lord once again delivered them when He defeated the Amalekites.  

When the children of Israel reached Mount Sinai, there was thunderings and lightning.  The Lord gave Israel His law, and Israel agreed to enter into a covenant with Him (Ex. 19).  God led the children of Israel faithfully, by day by a pillar of cloud and by night, a pillar of fire.  When God delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt, He did so with great miracles.  

When we take a look at God’s response in Micah 7:15, the Lord speaks of using such power on behalf of Israel again.  To be clear, God was speaking about moving on behalf of Israel, which means that He would strive with rather than against Israel.  So, God’s response to Micah’s prayer is already a response that is showing forgiveness of Israel.

What does this tell us about how God forgives us?  When you cry out to the Lord, God will forgive you of your sins.  God has no reason to hold your sins against you, and for that matter, the Lord does not want to hold your sins against you.  The Lord’s desire is to relieve you of your sins.  God forgives our sins because He must be faithful to His promise.

When the children of Israel worshiped the molded calf of gold, Moses interceded on their behalf, seeking God’s mercy.  When God came before Moses on Mount Sinai, the Lord proclaimed that He is merciful, gracious, patient, and abounds in goodness and truth; He also proclaimed that He keeps mercy for thousands while forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin to those who come to Him (Ex. 34:6-7).  This, again, is why God must forgive – He has proclaimed He is a forgiver and must be faithful.

God Moves With Power, Not Man

Micah 7:16-17 is prophecy of the future.  Again, God said that He would perform wonders for Israel similar to that which was seen in Egypt.  I want to point out to you that the wonders the Lord spoke of in Micah 7:15 have yet to happen for Israel.  Micah 7:16-17 speaks of how God will walk with Israel and Israel will become incredibly powerful, and other nations will be in awe of their strength.

I repeat, this prophecy has yet to be fulfilled.  When Judah returned from their captivity in Babylon, there was no pillar of cloud or fire; there were no plagues and no parting of a sea.  The Lord used a gentile king, Cyrus, to set Judah free.  Moreover, those of the northern kingdom who returned to the lands of the northern kingdom did so with a whimper.

To be even more clear, this prophecy has nothing to do with what we are witnessing today.  Yes, people are standing in awe of what we are seeing, but not in a good way; there is nothing good about senseless war and senseless death.

To be clear, God said that He would show Israel wonders.  For the longest time, man has tried to force these prophecies of Israel to be fulfilled, and that is not how prophecy works.  All of that which we are seeing today is man–made– man trying to throw around his power and might; this will lead to nothing but more hurt and suffering.

God will fulfill His promise of showing Israel wonders because He is faithful to what He promised.  This is a promise that God will keep at the Second Coming of Christ.

Who Is Like God?

In Micah 7:18, the prophet asked, “Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage?” Micah then pointed out what David has said about the Lord, “He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy.”

Thankfully, the Lord is not like us because there is no way that we would forgive each other, given how often we betray the Lord.  When Jesus taught the apostles about forgiveness, Peter was moved to ask how often he should forgive others.  Peter felt he could get away with forgiving others just a few times, when Jesus told him to forgive his brothers seventy times seven (Matt. 18:21-22).

Again, I say, thankfully God is not like us!  As He proclaimed, God is a gracious God – He is love.  

Empowered Through Forgiveness

Have you ever thought about where we would be without the love of God?  Here’s the answer – our soul would be crushed by sin.

Something that many of us don’t recognize about forgiveness is its healing power.  Forgiveness from the Lord frees the soul from the heavy weight of sin.  Without forgiveness, sin crushes, shatters, and destroys the soul.

Along with the soul being free from sin’s heavy burden, when God forgives, He then walks with the forgiven.  When God walks with you, who is it that can stand against you?  When God is with you, who is it that can overcome you?  In Romans 8:31, Paul asked, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”

While the prophesied wonders are for Israel, let us not think for a second that God doesn’t perform wonders for us in our daily lives.  What wonders does the Lord perform for us?  

Consider that in all of the troubles of today, you’re still making it.  Moreover, our great adversary is constantly set against us, yet you’re still here.  We live in a world that preaches we need silver and gold in order to thrive, yet we’re still thriving anyway. 

When God walks with you, there is nobody who can overcome you.  When God walks with you, there is no principality that can overcome you because God is Almighty.  You and I ought to be grateful for the Lord because what have we done to earn such love and grace from the Lord?

To anyone who questions whether the Lord will forgive, keep these words in mind from Micah: “[God] will have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities.  [God] will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea (Mic. 7:19).”  

Why will God forgive you of your sins?  First, the Lord will forgive you of your sins because He has promised to do so, and He must be faithful to what He promises.  God will forgive you of your sins not just because He must be faithful but also because the Lord genuinely loves you.  God loves His children, and as a loving parent, He desires for you to be uplifted.  

Micah was so confident in God’s faithfulness that he spoke, saying what God will do.  Question:  Are you that confident in God’s faithfulness to bless you?