Micah 7
v.1
What misery is mine! I am like the one who gathers summer fruit at the gleaning of the vineyard; there is no cluster of grapes to eat, none of the early figs that I crave.
This section begins with a lament as the prophet mourns the lack of goldy fellowship in his time. The metaphor pictures the remnant seeking for grapes and choice figs to satisfy its hunger, but it is as though it were the time of harvest when these have been picked and the hunger must go unsatiated.
v.2
The goldy have been swept from the land; not one upright man remains. All men lie in wait to shed blood; each hunts his brother with a net.
The fruit in v.1 represents godly persons. The feeling of utter disappointment in seeking food and finding none coveys the feelings of the godly at the great lack of individuals who have remained faithful to God. The language describes the excesses that characterized the treatment of the “have nots” by the “haves.”
mccomiskey related to alone
v.7
But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
The godly person will look expectantly for every evidence of God’s working. By waiting for him to act in his own time, Micah finds peace in the knowledge of God’s sovereign activity in the world. But Micah also expresses confidence that God will answer prayer.
v.9
Because I have sinned against him, I will bear the Lord’s wrath, until he pleads my case and establishes my right. He will bring me out into the light; I will see his righteousness.
The remnant affirm their determination to wait till God pleads their cause and decided in their favor. They freely confess their sin in the awareness that the temporal punishment to be endured is just. However, the remnant could be confident of God’s favorable action on their behalf; for they, unlike their guilty compatriots, stand on the ground of the covenant.
v.14
Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, which lives by itself in a forest, in fertile pasturelands. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in days long ago.
The remnant will triumph because of their relationship to God. The text pictures them as dwelling alone, i.e., apart from the nations, in a forest. Bashan and Gilead were agricultural areas of great fertility that became symbols of plenty. The reference to them here is symbolic. This is a request that Israel’s former years of blessing be restored by her Good Shepherd.
v.15
“As in the days when you came out of Egypt, I will show them my wonders.”
The Exodus was the central event in the prophetic theology of history. It could be repeated because to the prophets history was continually being fulfilled. The Exodus would occur again - but in a new and even greater way. To the prophets the Exodus was an event of more than historical interest. Because God is unchanging and his attributes timeless, his people could expect his acts to be repeated again and again in history.
Fred Markert notes that conservatives tend to view history more cyclical in his SAFA lecture about the geopolitics and international relations.
v.18
Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.
The question “Who is a God like you?” points to the uniqueness of the Lord. The name “Micah” means “Who is like the Lord?”.
v.19-20
You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. 20You will be true to Jacob, and show mercy to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our fathers in days long ago.
The promise is a continuum that gurantees an inheritance to all God’s people. As God’s people, our sins have been trodden underfoot. We, too, know the loving care of the Shepherd who feeds his flock in the strength of the Lord. Micah’s concept of the remnant encompasses believers today.