Bible ReadingMicah 7:1–20 “Woe is me! For I have become as when the summer fruit has been gathered, as when the grapes have been gleaned: there is no cluster to eat, no first-ripe fig that my soul desires. The godly has perished from the earth, and there is no one upright among mankind; they all lie in wait for blood, and each hunts the other with a net. Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well; the prince and the judge ask for a bribe, and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul; thus they weave it together. The best of them is like a brier, the most upright of them a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen, of your punishment, has come; now their confusion is at hand. Put no trust in a neighbor; have no confidence in a friend; guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms; for the son treats the father with contempt, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man's enemies are the men of his own house.”
[00:11:13] [00:24:03]“But as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light to me. I will bear the indignation of the LORD because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light; I shall look upon his vindication.”
[00:25:40]“Then my enemy will see, and shame will cover her who said to me, ‘Where is the LORD your God?’ My eyes will look upon her; now she will be trampled down like the mire of the streets. A day for the building of your walls! In that day the boundary shall be far extended. In that day they will come to you, from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, and from Egypt to the River, from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain. But the earth will be desolate because of its inhabitants, for the fruit of their deeds.
“Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, who dwell alone in a forest in the midst of a garden land; let them graze in Bashan and Gilead as in the days of old. As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, I will show them marvelous things. The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might; they shall lay their hands on their mouths; their ears shall be deaf; they shall lick the dust like a serpent, like the crawling things of the earth; they shall come trembling out of their strongholds; they shall turn in dread to the LORD our God, and they shall be in fear of you.”
[00:46:04]“Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities under foot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.”
[00:46:04]Lamentations 3:31–32 “For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love;”
[00:35:14]Deuteronomy 3:1–13 “Then we turned and went up the way to Bashan. And Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. But the LORD said to me, ‘Do not fear him, for I have given him and all his people and his land into your hand. And you shall do to him as you did to Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.’ So the LORD our God gave into our hand Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people, and we struck him down until he had no survivor left. And we took all his cities at that time—there was not a city that we did not take from them—sixty cities, the whole region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides very many unwalled villages. But all the livestock and the spoil of the cities we took as our plunder.
“So we took the land at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, from the Valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon (the Sidonians call Hermon Sirion, while the Amorites call it Senir), all the cities of the tableland and all Gilead and all Bashan, as far as Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. (For only Og the king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bed was a bed of iron. Is it not in Rabbah of the Ammonites? Nine cubits was its length, and four cubits its breadth, according to the common cubit.) When we took possession of this land at that time, I gave to the Reubenites and the Gadites the territory beginning at Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and half the hill country of Gilead with its cities. The rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, that is, all the region of Argob, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh. (All that portion of Bashan is called the land of Rephaim.”
[00:41:42]Observation questions- What pictures does Micah use in verses 1–4 to show that the land has become empty of goodness and full of evil? [00:13:25]
- Which people are named as taking part in evil in Micah 7:2–3, and who is harmed by their actions?
- In verses 5–6, which relationships have become places of distrust and conflict? [00:18:20]
- What does Micah say God will do with His people’s sins in verses 18–20, and what reasons does he give for this hope? [00:51:01]
Interpretation questions- Micah says Israel must bear the Lord’s indignation because of sin, yet he also says that God will plead their cause and bring them into the light. How do these words show both God’s justice and His mercy? [00:25:40]
- Why is “I will look to the LORD” such a strong statement after Micah has described a land where even family members cannot be trusted? What does looking to the God of salvation include besides simply wishing circumstances would improve? [00:24:03]
- Bashan and Gilead had once been places occupied by powerful enemies, but God turned them into a place that fed His people. Why would remembering that history strengthen Israel’s hope in Micah 7:14–15? [00:44:20]
- Micah says God does not retain His anger forever because He delights in steadfast love. Why does this not mean that God treats sin as unimportant or harmless? [00:49:13]
Application questions- Sin often promises that a private choice will not hurt anyone else, but it eventually damages trust in homes, friendships, and churches. Where have you seen selfishness, dishonesty, bitterness, or hidden sin weaken trust? Is there a relationship where you need to take a truthful step toward repentance or reconciliation? [00:22:12]
- When life feels dark, it can be tempting to look first to people, circumstances, money, or our own ability to fix things. What does it look like for you this week to say, “I will look to the LORD” in a real situation you are facing? [00:24:34]
- Are there sins in your past or present that make you feel too far gone for mercy? How does Micah’s picture of God pardoning iniquity and casting sins into the depths of the sea speak to that fear? [00:53:43]
- God’s mercy is not a reward for people who have cleaned themselves up. How might believing that change the way you respond to someone who is ashamed, struggling, or far from God? [00:31:33]
- For those who are in Christ, Jesus bore the wrath sinners deserved. When you confess sin, do you tend to approach God as though you must earn your way back to Him? How can Christ’s finished work shape honest confession and renewed obedience? [00:52:36]
- God’s faithfulness does not depend on how unstable the world is or how weak His people may feel. What promise of God do you especially need to hold onto right now, and what would it look like to remember it in the middle of fear or discouragement? [00:54:23]
- Micah ends by praising the God who delights in mercy. What are some specific ways your group can grow in delighting in mercy toward one another while still taking sin seriously?
