Exploring the Meaning of Micah 7
Napsal(a) New Christian Bible Study Staff
In this last chapter of his book, in Micah 7:1-4, the prophet is discouraged about the evil that he sees in the land. The cluster (of grapes ) that he doesn’t see means that there is no love of the neighbor there. 1 The firstfruits that his soul longs for mean the upright kind of ordinary life 2 , which he can’t find: “the faithful man has perished from the earth”.
The net in verse 2 is the twisting of truth into falsity and the other way round, to deceive. Those who should be faithful leaders are diving into evil, and take bribes. All this hellish behavior will in the end lead to punishment.
In Micah 7:5, 6, these two verses are really not talking about other people; friends, companions, wives or husbands, or in-laws. When Micah refers to a “man’s household” he is talking about the evil loves that live in our own will. That’s where the evil is that we must fear and stamp out. 3
Micah 7:7-9 shows the path away from evil. God will hear us. But we must see that we have sinned and admit it to the Lord 4 , and ask for His help in stopping. He will be a light in our “darkness”. Micah admits his own weakness and admits that only the Lord’s power can "bring him forth to the light".
In Micah 7:10, "She" represents the affection for doing some kind of evil. Everyone has some sort of affections that way. 5 Those affections will try to persuade us that Jehovah can’t help, but if we persist in calling on Him for help, those affections can be shamed and eventually be trampled into the mud.
Micah 7:11, 12 says that when the Lord comes to found a new church, it will spread. Assyria here means reasoning, and Egypt means natural science. Cities mean doctrine from truth, and mountains mean goods, so the picture is of the spreading of both truth and good from one boundary to the other, all the way from natural truths to reasoning about spiritual things -- our whole mind. 6
But the old church will be desolate, according to Micah 7:13.
In Micah 7:14,15, to pasture means to feed the flock as a shepherd 7 , or to teach the truths that the Lord provides. The forest means the church as to truth, and Carmel means the church as to good. 8 Bashan and Gilead mean the same ideas from the stories of the Word, the literal sense.
Nations, in Micah 7:16, 17, mean people outside who don’t know, and don’t want to hear. They will stay focused on physical and sensory things, and will be in dread about knowledge of God.
Then, in Micah 7:18-20, Micah ends on a positive note: God will continue to have compassion on everyone and try to bring them to walk in His ways. Although we are all in freedom to be evil, He will never stop trying to lead us out of it if we will listen.
Poznámky pod čarou:
1. See Arcana Coelestia 5117.
2. See Arcana Coelestia 1071.
3. See Arcana Coelestia 4563.
4. See Arcana Coelestia 3539.
5. See Arcana Coelestia 4563.
6. See Apocalypse Explained 510, Arcana Coelestia 4967, Apocalypse Revealed 455.
7. See John 21:15-17
8. See Arcana Coelestia 9011, 1971
Micah 7:18-20
18
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.
