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Once again, I open the New Year by preaching on our verse of the year. As we meditate upon and memorize Micah 7:7, it is important that we understand this verse in the context of Micah’s prophecy and in the context of the whole of Scripture. Therefore, we will read from Micah 7:1-7 and John 15:1-11 this morning. Let us begin with Micah 7:1-7:
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.
But as for me, I will look to the Lord;
I will wait for the God of my salvation;
my God will hear me.
Now the fulfillment of Micah 7:7:
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
May God bless this the reading of His holy and infallible Word.
Throughout the Old Testament, both Israel and its leaders are compared to either a vineyard, an olive orchard or a fig tree. In the ancient world, these were the most valued cash crops. Fortunes, even empires, literally rose and fell on these three crops. I give you this background information, because God is communicating to His people how valuable they are to Him. If the world is God’s garden, the most valuable crop to God are His elect people!
Our text opens with Micah walking through the vineyards and orchards of Israel in search of a delicious cluster of grapes or a sweet fig to eat, yet as he walks through the fields, not a grape or fig is to be found. Not only have the grapes and figs been harvested, they had been gleaned, not once but twice! This of course is a metaphor; Micah is not looking for grapes or figs, but rather godly, faithful Israelites, especially among the princes and judges of Israel. This is why Micah pronounces a woe upon himself as chapter 7 begins.
We do not talk like that today; I have yet to meet a person who has used the word “woe” in everyday conversation. However, we have all felt this way, especially the last few years. We look at our nation, especially those in authority and we see wickedness, injustice and sin. For those that love God and their neighbors this is a great woe. As painful as it is to look at this woe, we must do it in order to appreciate how good the news is that we find in our verse of the year.
The Woe of Living in a Nation That Has Turned Its Back on God
The Woe of Living in a Nation That Has Turned Its Back on God
Micah turns his attention first to the leadership of the nation. We know verses 2 and 3 go together because both verses end in the metaphor of a net. In verse 2, the ungodly hunt others with a “net”, and in vs. 3 the “prince”, the “judge” and the “great man” together “weave it (that is the net) together”.
Why is Micah singling out the ruling class of his day, was not the whole nation guilty of sin?
While it is true the whole nation of Israel was guilty of sin, and sin is a rebellion against God and makes the perpetrator liable of eternal death, not all sin is equal in its culpability or in its consequence. Jesus gives us this rule, “Everyone to whom much is given, of him much will be required” (Lk 12:48) and teaches us that those in authority are “ministers of God” (Rm 13:4), in other words, they will have to give an account to God someday for how they ruled. Moreover, the ruling class are what we call today, “social influencers”. When the rich, powerful and popular speak, people listen! Because of their influence, the ruling class has the power to do great good and great harm. God will judge them someday on how they use their influence.
Sadly, when Micah surveyed Israel, his verdict was, “the godly have perished from the earth”. Micah characterized the ruling class of his day in three ways:
They are Do Not Respect the Lives of Others: “they all lie in wait for blood” (vs. 2b)
They are Skilled at Doing Evil: “their hands are on what is evil, to do it well” (vs. 3a)
They are Self-absorbed and Greedy: the “ask for a bribe” and they “utter the evil desire of their souls” (vs. 3b)
As was stated earlier, what happens at the top trickles down to the bottom, all of Israel was led astray. We see this in vs. 5-6:
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.
The godly of Israel found themselves at odds, with not only their leaders, but also their neighbors and members of their own family!
Today, we find ourselves in a nation divided and it is for the very same reasons Israel was divided in the days of Micah. Our leaders are in rebellion against God and they are leading the nation astray. In a recent opinion piece in World Magazine, Carl Trueman, argues that what is dividing America today goes much deeper than politics. What is dividing our nation is dueling ideas of reality. On one side are those whose allow God and His Word determine their idea of reality, on the other side, are those who determine reality of themselves. Issues such as abortion, race, gender and LGBTQ+ are not primarily about politics, but rather, about reality. Families are divided not primarily because of political party, but rather because of two different views of reality. God and His Word give one reality to us and our secular ruling class creates the other reality.
This rebellion against God and His Word is not without consequence, neither in Micah’s day or ours. In verse 4, Micah speaks of the “watchmen”. In the Old Covenant, the watchmen were the prophets. In the New Covenant, the watchmen are faithful pastors who preach God’s Word. The watchmen of both covenants have the duty to pronounce God’s judgement upon those who are in rebellion against Christ.
As important as this message of warning is, this is not to be the main message of the Old Covenant prophet or the New Covenant preacher. The main message is to be...
The Good News of God’s Salvation
The Good News of God’s Salvation
Micah saw the evil of his day and pronounced a woe upon himself, but only for a moment:
But as for me, I will look to the Lord;
I will wait for the God of my salvation;
my God will hear me.
I am so glad that this verse was suggested to our Session this year. This past year as we walked through the vineyard of the United States of America looking from clusters of grapes, they were hard to find. There were days we felt like pronouncing a woe upon ourselves just as Micah did, but Michah reminds us to look to God, “But as for me, I will look to the Lord.”
As New Covenant saints, we have even more reason to look to the Lord. Micah and his generation had to “wait for the God of their salvation”. They had the sure and certain promise of a Messiah, but they did not have the Messiah Himself—We Do!
The reason I chose to read from John 15 and well as Micah 7, is to remind us that Christ is the true vine and all those who are in him will bear much fruit!
Our hope for the future is not in the ruling class of our nation, (or of any nation for that matter); rather, our hope is in Jesus Christ Jesus who sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty! In Christ’s hands, our future is bright! We do not have to wait for the next election; the Right Man is upon the Throne, and as we sing in that great hymn, A Mighty Fortress, He “is one our side”!
I want to close this message by focusing upon those words, “But as for me”. In using those words, Micah is telling us that he made a conscience choice as to where we place our hope. “But as for me”. What will it be?
Will you choose to be in the vineyard of the Lord or the vineyard of this world?
I know what choice I will make: “But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.”