DavidGraceBlog: God Listens When You Call

Micah 7:1-7

I almost wonder who really is speaking in verse one. Is it God or Micah? Micah could be speaking from the point of view that the spiritual drought in Israel was beginning to suck the life out of him. We are creatures of fellowship. We were created to fellowship in the presence of God, and when we do not have anyone else to talk to about God we suffer.

God could also be speaking. Could God have been seeking the worship from His children? Was He craving time with His people? Did God want just one soul to love in this dried up land?

In verse 2, the prophecy begins to unfold the results of a land filled with spiritual emptiness. Here we see how judgment begins. First, the godly are “swept” out – as those who were exiled were. When God passed judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah, He ushered Lot and his family out of town.

Why would God take the time to move the godly out? God hears them. As long as someone is in the midst of a city begging God for mercy, God is inclined to listen. God removes the righteous in Israel (though prophets are left behind) so He can carry out His judgment. Noah was moved into an ark before judgment. Abraham’s pleas did not go unnoticed for the souls in Sodom and Gomorrah. The people of Israel were spared judgments during the plagues in Egypt. The future of mankind will end with a great rapture of those deemed righteous (those who have received Jesus as their Lord and Savior) before the final judgment is revealed. God hears the prayers of the righteous and listens. Our nation needs righteous people praying for its very survival.

Next, the removal of the righteous increases the oppression of sin. Without righteous people as barometers to a nation’s spiritual poverty, law and order falter and die off. Verse two said men would begin to lie in wait to kill others. They would turn their own brothers over for gain (guilty or not).

Verse three and four say that in such times people will not practice sin half-heartedly. They become skilled in evil. Politicians would seek gifts for lawmaking while judges lusted after bribery. Those ruling in the majority would hide behind closed doors in order to plot out how to force their desires on the people. Yes some leaders would seem right minded but they were as crafty and as sneaky as a hidden thorn on a rose (always there to prick and cause pain). Other leaders would seem upright but are not any safer than a thorny hedge (and those hurt). Am I describing prophecy or am I describing the current political atmosphere in the United States?

The day of your watchmen has come, the day God visits you. Now is the time of their confusion. Micah 7:4 (NIV)

Verse four also mentions the time of God’s watchmen. Are these similar to the angels who God sent ahead into Sodom and Gomorrah to test the evil deeds of the residents of those cities? Did God send angels ahead to see how bad Israel had become? Did He send them ahead to see if there was anything left to redeem? Lot passed the test and was sent away. Are God’s watchmen approaching our nation? If so, what will they encounter?

Spiritually empty and empathetic people do not understand divine judgments and will turn left and right looking for answers. This confusion only leads to more corruption and destruction.

Verses 5 and 6 show that corruption can go so deep that families are torn apart. Neighbors will seek ways to bring each other down as all trust is now removed. One’s own spouse becomes suspect as trust erodes due to the sinful lusts that rule the heart. Sin makes entire families implode. Families are so fragile.

Even in the midst of the coming tragedies, Micah still had hope. He watched for God, and his example gave hope to others (Read Psalm 34:5, 6). Micah waited on God because those who wait will be renewed in strength. God hears! Are you calling?

But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:31 (NIV)