Judgment And Restoration

INTRO

Minor prophets have big messages, but they don’t take all day to talk about them. Their books are much shorter than the major prophets, but their messages are still important and big. “Micah” is short for Micaiah or Michaiah. Micah prophesied to the southern tribes (Judah) of Israel. One of the themes of today’s chapters will be the restoration of the united kingdom. While Micah prophesied about the destruction of the northern kingdom, he warned the southern kingdom that they faced God’s judgment too.¹

TEACHING

Micah 6:1-16: Micah’s language resembles a lawyer’s. He wrote that the Lord had a “lawsuit” and a “case” to bring before the people (v. 2). When the Lord has a case against His people, things are not going well. The Lord’s case against His people was so important that the Lord Himself would argue against Judah (v. 2). God challenged the people to bring their case against Him to inform Him of “how have I wearied you?” (v. 3). God reminded His people of how He had redeemed them (v. 4) and how He had not allowed Balaam to curse His people (v. 5).

God then questioned what His people should have done in response to the goodness He had shown them. He listed a variety of offerings that the people may have brought in response to His kindness to them (vv. 6-7). Instead of offerings or the external motions of religion, God wanted His people “to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God” (v. 8).

God was more concerned with the heart condition of His people than with the religious practices they engaged in. Matthew 7:21-23 states, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father in heaven. On that day many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name?’ The I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!’”

God saw the religious and the evil side of the people. J. Vernon McGee noted that God “cannot overlook dishonesty, violence, crookedness, lying, and deceit”² (vv. 9-12). Because of Judah’s sin, God’s judgment was coming (vv. 13-16). God’s people had followed in the path of Omri and Ahab—two kings that were a father and a son—who experienced God’s judgment.

Micah 7:1-4: Micah did not take pleasure in pronouncing judgment on his own people. He declared, “How sad for me!” (v. 1). This lament was common amongst prophets.

Jeremiah wrote, “If my head were a spring of water, my eyes a fountain of tears, I would weep day and night over the slain of my dear people” (Jeremiah 9:1).

Isaiah wrote, “Woe is me for I am ruined because I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips, and because my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts” (Isaiah 6:5).

No matter what nation we live in, we should not primarily be concerned with the state of our nation. Instead, we should be concerned with the state of the men and women of God within our nation.

Micah announced, “Godly people have vanished from the land” (v. 2). Instead, they all were eager to commit violence, accomplish evil, demand bribes, and plot together for evil purposes (vv. 2-3). God’s judgment would come soon because of these things. Wiersbe notes, “People need to be alert at this point.”³

Micah 7:5-7: Micah exhorted the people that they would not be able to trust close friends. Things would get so bad they couldn’t even trust “the woman who lies in your arms.” Families would be no better: “A man’s enemies are the men of his own household” (v. 6). Jesus used this image in Matthew 10: “For I came to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household” (Matthew 10:35-36). Whereas Micah warned that things would get so bad that one’s own family couldn’t be trusted, Jesus warned that as we walk with Him we will experience the same thing.

No matter how bad things got around Micah, he resolved to “look to the Lord” and “wait for the God of my salvation” (v. 7). David expressed a similar attitude: “At daybreak, Lord, You hear my voice; at daybreak I plead my case to You and watch expectantly” (Psalm 5:3). Micah was bothered by what he saw in his culture and among God’s people. All Micah could do was to make sure that his own focus was on the Lord. MacArthur states, “In spite of his dire circumstances, Micah, as a watchman, would intently look for evidence of God working, trusting God to act in His own time and way.”⁴

Micah 7:8-13: Beginning in verse 8, Israel spoke. In verses 8-10, Israel began to confess and repent of its sin. Legal language was picked up again, as Israel admitted that God would bring justice to them, after He brought His case against them (v. 9). A day would come when the remnant of God’s people would return to Israel (vv. 10–13).

Micah 7:14-20: The Lord promised that He would gather the remnant of His people. He promised He would “perform miracles for them as in the days of your exodus from the land of Egypt” (v. 15). The enemies of His people would “tremble in the presence of Yahweh our God; they will stand in awe of You” (v. 17).

In spite of God’s people turning away from Him, He promised to pass over all of their sin and delight in the remnant that remained faithful. His promises remained unconditional. Israel’s sins would not stop God from fulfilling the promises He made to Abraham (v. 20). Psalm 89:33 says, “But I will not withdraw My faithful love from him or betray My faithfulness.” God’s ultimate restoration of Israel, and the ultimate fulfillment of the covenant He made with Abraham, will come in the millennium.

CLOSING

There are 13 places in the major and minor prophets where God promised to restore Israel. The greatest revival of all time is coming to the people of Israel. God promised they would be restored to their land and to their ultimate Shepherd, Jesus.