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.

Notas de rodapé:

2986. 'From the sons of Heth' means that it consisted of gentiles. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'the sons of Heth'. The sons of Heth were not those among whom the Church was established but those by whom that Church is represented, for all things in the Word are representative and do not mean the actual persons whose names are mentioned but things that belong to the Lord's kingdom and Church. It has been stated in various places already that 'the sons of Heth' means a new Church, or what amounts to the same, those who belong to that new Church. But that it was a new Church consisting of or drawn from the gentiles is evident from what Abraham said to the sons of Heth, 'I am a stranger and an inhabitant among you', verse 4, which meant that the Lord was not known to them, yet He was nevertheless able to be with them, 2915. From this it is evident that 'the sons of Heth' means a Church consisting of gentiles. It cannot be said of any others that the Lord is not known to them.

[2] Furthermore it should be recognized that when any Church ceases to be a Church, that is, when charity perishes, and a new one is established by the Lord, rarely if ever is this done among those with whom the old Church existed. Instead it is established among those with whom no Church existed previously, that is, among gentiles. This is what happened when the Most Ancient Church perished. At that time a new one which was called Noah, or the Ancient Church following the Flood, was established among gentiles, that is, among those where no Church existed previously. It was similar when this Church perished. At that time the semblance of a Church was introduced among Abraham's descendants through Jacob, and so again among gentiles; for Abraham at the time of his call was a gentile, see 1356, 1992, 2559. The actual descendants of Jacob in Egypt became more gentile still, so much so that they had no knowledge at all of Jehovah or consequently of any Divine worship. After this semblance of a Church had come to an end, the Primitive Church was established from among the gentiles, the Jews having been rejected. It will be similar with the Church existing at present called the Christian Church.

[3] The reason why it is among gentiles that the Lord establishes a new Church is that they do not possess any false assumptions that are contrary to the truths of faith, for they have no knowledge of the truths of faith. False assumptions absorbed from early childhood and subsequently confirmed must first of all be dispelled before a person can be regenerated and become a member of the Church. ¹ Indeed gentiles are not able to profane holy things by means of evils of life, for no one can profane what is holy if he does not know what it is, 593, 1008, 1010, 1059. As gentiles do not have such knowledge, there are no stumbling-blocks to hinder them. Thus their state is such that they are better able to receive truths than those who belong to the Church; and all those among them who are leading a good life receive truths without difficulty, see 932, 1032, 1059, 1327, 1328, 1366, 2049, 2051, 2589-2604.

Notas de rodapé: