Micah 7:9

The Bible says in Micah 7:9-10, “I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.[10] Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is the LORD thy God? mine eyes shall behold her: now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets.” Micah 7:9 is an important spiritual principle for every Christian to remember. The “indignation of the Lord” in this passage refers to the anger of the Lord against sin. Micah and the other prophets were very much aware of this kind of righteous anger because they lived at a time in the history of Israel was being poured out upon the nation and was promised to be poured out even more with the attacks that would come from the Assyrians and Babylonians and then the captivity. We notice the humility that Micah had. Even though he was a prophet, he placed himself among his people and said truthfully, “I have sinned against him.” Every human to be honest about himself or herself must make the same statement: “I have sinned against Jesus.” Because we have sinned, and judgment or chastisement that God chooses to bring into our lives we can only say that we deserve it. How fortunate we are to live in the age of grace because we know the indignation of the Lord has fallen upon Jesus and will never fall upon us. We are not under law but under grace.

But even if it should be that some chastisement should fall upon us from the Lord, we can only say that even with that chastisement, we have received much less than we deserve. We deserve to be in hell, separated from God forever, but because of Jesus that will never happen. As a matter of fact even Micah knew that anything he might have to suffer would only be temporary. Micah said that he knew that he would only have to suffer the indignation of the Lord “until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.” No matter how bad it gets, those who trust in the Lord Jesus can always count on the fact that He will bring us through somehow. God will provide a way when there seems to be no way. What it is really all about is that God is trying to bring us to more Light. God wants each of us to grow in faith and love and to learn more about the Lord: that is what is really important. God allows troubles and distresses into our lives for spiritual reasons. Micah mentions “light” and “his righteousness” to declare this very thing. When you are going through the suffering, people might say to you just like they said to Job and just like Micah pointed out in Micah 7:10, “Where is the LORD thy God?” But we know that the Light of Christ and the righteousness of God will shine forth in God’s way and at His appointed time.

The Bible says in Micah 7:11-14, “In the day that thy walls are to be built, in that day shall the decree be far removed.[12] In that day also he shall come even to thee from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, and from the fortress even to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.[13] Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings.[14] Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.” Once again the Lord looks to the future, and the promises that He makes about the future, even while He is telling the Israelites about the terrible judgments that will surely come upon them. This reminds us that we always can have hope about the future. Our God is the God of the future. He holds the future in His hands, and God always has plans for a good future for His children even for those who have failed Him. Jesus said in John 14:1-3, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.[2] In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.[3] And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

The Israelites were going to go into captivity. That was the short-term situation. By the way, the short-term in God’s eyes is still going on for Israel. Twenty-five hundred years have passed, and they are still in the captivity. But when God says in Micah 7:11, “In the day that thy walls are to be built,” and when He says in Micah 7:12, “In that day also he shall come even to thee from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, and from the fortress even to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain,” God is talking about the future day when the captivity is over. If you want to think more like God, then you must always have one eye on the future: the great future that God has planned for you and promised to you because of Jesus.

In spite of the forgiveness of sins through Christ and in spite of the great future that is wonderfully planned for us, there are still practical requirements that must be dealt with in this life. One of the realities of life is that we reap what we sow. For every action, there is a reaction. The New Testament puts it this way in Galatians 6:7, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Micah puts it this way in Micah 7:13, “Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings.” If you rob a bank, God will forgive you, but you still must pay your debt to society and before the law of the land. Also, even though Jesus forgives, sometimes man does not. You had better have the best behavior that you can because there will always be consequences to your actions.

The Bible says in Micah 7:15-17, “According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew unto him marvellous things.[16] The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf.[17] They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the LORD our God, and shall fear because of thee.” Of course, here in the book of Micah we are at a time in the history of Israel where the Jewish people had gone away from the Lord and failed Him horribly. But notice that in these verses God does not talk about their current failures. Instead God talks about good things of the past and of the future. The good things of the past are mentioned in verse 15. Approximately a thousand years before the time of Micah, God did something wonderful for the children of Israel: He saved them out of enslavement in Egypt. The deliverance from Egypt is symbolic of the deliverance that every believer receives when He or she is saved by Jesus. God is saying to the Israelites, “Just as when I was gracious and merciful to you back when I saved you, I will yet be gracious and merciful to you and do many more marvelous things for you.” That is exactly how salvation works for every believer. You get born-again when you come to Jesus. Your sins are forgiven and you are made clean and pure. A home in heaven is reserved for you. But as the years go by maybe you do not do a lot for the Lord. Maybe you even fall away from Him. Maybe you fail Him in many ways. But the principle of Biblical eternal security through Christ works like this: God has great plans to show you even more mercy and grace and to do even more blessings for your soul and for your person. The Israelites were in a circumstance where, because of their sins, the nations around them were allowed to come and overrun them and conquer them. But God makes it clear that such a situation is only temporary (thousands of years being “temporary” from God’s vantage point), but that eventually God would turn the tables and give the Israelites victory over all of these nations. And so God said in Micah 7:16-17, “The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf.[17] They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the LORD our God, and shall fear because of thee.”

The Bible says in Micah 7:18-20, “Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.[19] He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.[20] Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.” These last three verses of the book of Micah are wonderful. They talk about the forgiveness of sins. The only reason that anyone can have hope of a future has to o with the forgiveness of sins. God’s great plan for the world centers around Jesus and the forgiveness of sins that is provided through Jesus. Even in these verses there are seven or eight different ways in which the forgiveness of sins is expressed. Verse 18 says, “pardoneth iniquity,” “passeth by the transgression,” “retaineth not his anger,” and “he delighteth in mercy.” I especially like the phrase, “passeth by the transgression.” That gives a picture of God walking past someone who has sinned. We are talking about God who is holy and who hates sin. We are talking about God who is the Judge of the whole earth and who punishes sin. But in this particular case and for this particular person God does nothing. God does not punish and God does not give judgment. Who is the blessed person that finds himself or herself in such a wonderful situation? That is answered in verse 18 that speaks of the “remnant.” The remnant is a scriptural term that refers to the believers. Since there are so few believers and thus so few who have escaped the enslavement of the world, believers are called “the remant,” which means the few who are left over and remain out all those who have perished. Jesus died for the whole world, but only the remnant, those who have been born-again, will benefit from His sacrificial death.

There are four phrases in Micah 7:19 that also refer to the forgiveness of sins. It says, “He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” The last phrase saying that all their sins will be cast into the sea paints a good picture of forgiveness. The ocean is deep and vast. Notice that there is no limit on the number of sins nor the severity of them: all sins are forever gone into the bottom of the sea. God does not despise us when He sees that we are such great sinners. It says, “he will have compassion on us.” Jesus knows that we are in a terrible predicament because of our sins, and He wants to take us out of that predicament. What a wonderful Savior! And then it also says that He will “subdue our iniquities.” The idea is that our iniquities will conquer us. They will rule us and then they will ruin us. We need someone who can conquer our sins for us. That is what forgiveness does.

And then there is one last verse about the forgiveness of sins in Micah 7:20. It says, “Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.” Notice the words “truth” and “mercy.” In order to obtain mercy, you must come to know the truth. Jesus said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” You cannot believe just anything about God and thus find forgiveness. You must believe the truth. And Jesus is the truth. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me.” The truth is that you are a sinner, Jesus is the Savior, and you must receive Him as Savior. If you want to be a Christian, simply bow at His feet and ask Him for forgiveness. That is the truth, and that is how you obtain mercy.

There is one last wonderful thing to say about these 3 verses in Micah about the forgiveness of sins. It says in the last phrase of verse 20 that God “hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.” The key word here is “sworn.” Forgiveness of sins is based upon God’s unconditional promise. He promises to forgive sins, and He always keeps His promise. You cannot do any good works to gain the forgiveness of sins because the forgiveness of sins is based entirely upon God’s promise. It says in First John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

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