Micah
7:1-6 NLT How miserable I am! I feel like the fruit picker after the
harvest who can find nothing to eat. Not a cluster of grapes or a
single early fig can be found to satisfy my hunger. 2 The godly
people have all disappeared; not one honest person is left on the
earth. They are all murderers, setting traps even for their own
brothers. 3 Both their hands are equally skilled at doing evil!
Officials and judges alike demand bribes. The people with influence
get what they want, and together they scheme to twist justice. 4 Even
the best of them is like a brier; the most honest is as dangerous as
a hedge of thorns. But your judgment day is coming swiftly now. Your
time of punishment is here, a time of confusion. 5 Don't trust
anyone—not your best
friend or even your wife! 6 For the son despises his father. The
daughter defies her mother. The daughter-in-law defies her
mother-in-law. Your enemies are right in your own household!
The
background
B1 Micah prophesied to Israel
(the northern kingdom) and to Judah (the southern kingdom).
B2 Both are corrupt and evil. So
evil that Samaria, the capital of Israel, is captured and destroyed.
Later, Jerusalem, the capital of Judah will also be captured.
Micah
is concerned with the amount and type of evil.
B1 The religious leaders are
corrupt and evil.
B2 The political leaders are
corrupt and evil.
B3 Just about everyone else is
also corrupt and evil.
God
warns people of their evil to convict people of their sins which will
lead to repentance, and trusting in God for salvation. It is the same
today.
In
our passage above, the prophet laments the evil.
B1 Evil is stressful.
B2 Evil is overwhelming.
B3 Evil brings disorder.
B4 Evil brings panic which leads
to loss of freedom and increasingly stupid decisions.
B5 Evil brings judgment.
The
specific evils that Micah notes are
B1 Dishonesty
B2 Murder
B3 Bribery
B4 Injustice (described as
twisting justice)
B5 Distrust
B6 Truth has all but disappeared
Passage
B1 Verse 1, the prophet
describes his misery at the evil he sees.
C1 He is miserable, depressed,
and experiencing loss of joy.
C2 He describes it as being
hungry but harvest has finished. He cannot find any fruit to eat that
he so enjoys.
C3 Hunger especially for one’s
favorite foods is difficult.
B2 Verse 2, note how godly and
honest are joined.
D1
Referring to God as merciful and gracious.
D2 Referring to those who
believe and trust in God as worshipers sharing
those character traits with God.
D3
Referring to people:
Psalm 12:1 NLT For
the choir director: A psalm of David, to be accompanied by an
eight-stringed instrument. Help, O LORD, for the godly are fast
disappearing! The faithful have vanished from the earth!
D4 Referring to God: Psalm
145:17 NLT The LORD is
righteous in everything he does; he is filled with kindness.
D5
We are to have these character traits, too.
C2 The Hebrew word
for honest is יָשָׁר
yâshâr.
It means something
straight. In this case
straight as on the narrow road that God himself travels. We are to be
in the image of God as converted people. Romans 8:29 NIV For
those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image
of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and
sisters.
C3
Note that all are described as murderers. Pride
leads to jealousy which leads to hate which leads to murder.
B3
Verse 3:
C1 Note
how their evil is described as skilled. They have spent much time
perfecting and practicing evil. God
has a low opinion of these people: Deuteronomy 29:19-20 NLT Those
who hear the warnings of this curse should not congratulate
themselves, thinking, 'I am safe, even though I am following the
desires of my own stubborn heart.' This would lead to utter ruin! 20
The LORD will never pardon such people. Instead his anger and
jealousy will burn against them. All the curses written in this book
will come down on them, and the LORD will erase their names from
under heaven.
C2
These evil people, who
have influence (politics, money, lust for control) make sure they
have control by abuse and
power.
C3 Justice gets twisted.
D1 Truth
becomes whatever those in power claim it to be.
D2 Truth as reality is
discarded.
D3 Truth is suppressed. Lying
is exalted.
E1 2 Peter 3:16 NLT speaking
of these things in all of his letters. Some of his comments are hard
to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted
his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with
other parts of Scripture. And this will result in their destruction.
E2 Colossians 3:9-11 NLT Don't
lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature
and all its wicked deeds. 10 Put on your new nature, and be renewed
as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. 11 In this new
life, it doesn't matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or
uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all
that matters, and he lives in all of us.
B4 Verse 4:
C1 These
people hurt others just like briers and
thorns.
C2
Their actions will be punished. God sees and God revenges.
C3 Compare this prophecy about
the anti-Christ: Daniel 7:25 NLT He
will defy the Most High and oppress the holy people of the Most High.
He will try to change their sacred festivals and laws, and they will
be placed under his control for a time, times, and half a time.
B5 Verse 5-6
C1 Be skeptical of everyone,
even your family.
C2 Be careful. Be wary.
C3 Contrast that with God who is
trustworthy and the Counselor of all counselors.
D1 God hears. God listens. When
He answers is future. We
don’t know when. Psalm 116:1-2 NIV I
love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. 2
Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I
live.
D2
1 Peter 3:12 NIV For
the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive
to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do
evil.
D3 Proverbs 15:29 NIV The
LORD is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the
righteous.
We
learn about character traits
B1 God’s
B2 Devil’s
C3 John
10:10
C4 John
8:44
Questions
B1 Why is society experiencing
so many troubles?
B2 Why does racism exist?
B3 What is the cause/motive for
these issues?
B4 What rules would make a safer
society?
B5 Whose character traits should
we emulate?
B6 Why is society falling apart?
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