In this episode of ADDBIBLE, we delve into the final chapter of the book of Micah. Speaker Allen J. Huth shares his personal reflections drawn from over three decades of Bible journaling. Listeners will explore Micah’s profound messages of judgment and forgiveness while learning how they relate to today’s world. From warnings about human behavior to the reassurance of God’s steadfast love, this episode provides spiritual insights and practical applications for believers.
00:04:08 Reflections from Personal Journals on Micah
00:06:58 Lessons on Human Behavior and God’s Promise
SPEAKER 01 :
Welcome to ADDBIBLE, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. We join Allen J. Huth as he shares Bible passages and comments from over 30 years of his personal Bible reading journals.
SPEAKER 02 :
Today brings us to the last chapter of the book of Micah. It’s 20 verses, and we’ll listen to Faith Comes by Hearing’s reading of Micah chapter 7. Micah 7
SPEAKER 03 :
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 godliest perish 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 briar, the most upright of them a thorn hedge. The day of your watchman 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. 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. 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 boundaries 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. 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 underfoot. 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.
SPEAKER 02 :
Today this will be the last look at my journal entries on the book of Micah. Let’s go back to 1991 when I read Micah 6 and 7 on the same day. And I wrote this about Micah 7, 2, 3, 5 through 6. Caution with people. And then I went on to verses 7 through 8. I have waited on the Lord. He does hear me. Though I have fallen, I am rising again. Praise God. And then finally verses 18 and 19. He delights in unchanging love. In 2006, again, I read Micah 6 and 7 on the same day. And related to chapter 7, I wrote, Praise God, He forgives us if we repent and come back to Him. And I quoted verse 8, Though I fall, I will rise. Though I dwell in darkness, the Lord is light for me. And in 2015, I read Micah 6 and 7 again together on that day. And regarding chapter 7, I wrote quoting verses 2 and 3. The godly has perished from the earth, and there is no one upright among mankind. They all lie and wait for blood. Their hands are on what is evil to do it well. And then I went on to write, we have this in our world today, don’t we? I continued, Don’t trust neighbors or friends or family, according to verses 5 through 6. Look to the Lord, verse 7. In such darkness, God is light, verses 8 and 9. He keeps his covenant promise, according to verse 15, and he overcomes opposing nations because his anger is short and his love is long. That ends my journal entry of 2015. In that journal entry in 1991, I said we have to be cautious with people because I’ve read these verses 2, 3, 5, and 6. So let’s read those verses. 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 desires of his soul. Thus they weave it together. The best of them is like a briar, the most upright of them a thorn hedge. The day of your watchman 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. Friends, that’s what happens when the godly perish from the earth. and there is no one upright among mankind. This is a very sad list of behaviors that we see all around us. Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well. Yes, we have many evil people who do it well today. The great man utters the evil desire of his soul. We have the rich and famous falling all around us because of the desires of their soul that are not godly. very sad here when it says put no trust in a neighbor have no confidence in a friend have you been betrayed by a very close friend and then there are family issues 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 Yeah, we have a lot of wrecked families in our world today, don’t we? And you may have come from one. All these strained relationships come when the godly have perished from the earth and there is no one upright among mankind. But as Christians, we need to be different, right? We need to be the godly that people see. Verse 7 tells us, But as for me, I will look to the Lord. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. So we are to be different. We are to be salt. We are to be light in this world today. And Micah closes this chapter and his book with a beautiful glimpse of Almighty God. Verse 18 and 19 say, Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression? 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 underfoot you will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea hallelujah praise god thank you for forgiveness in our introduction of the book of Micah the theme of Micah is judgment and forgiveness We see it clearly as the book ends here in Micah 7. God is judge. He will scatter his people for their transgressions and sins, but he also is the shepherd king who gathers, protects, and forgives us. Through the book of Micah, we’ve seen clearly that God is a God of judgment, but he is also a holy, mighty, forgiving God. May our application be today to maybe bend the knee before Almighty God and thank Him for pardoning our iniquity, passing over our transgression, and casting our sins into the depths of the sea. Lord, we thank you for the prophet Micah. We thank you, Holy Spirit, for guiding him to write the chapters of this book. From your word, we understand you are a God of judgment, but you are a God of forgiveness. May our hearts fall before you in worship and thanks, because those of us who have accepted your forgiveness for our sins can have eternal life with you. What a gift. What a promise. We shout the hallelujah. Amen. Thanks for listening to ADDBIBLE today. Across our listening audience, more and more of you are supporting ADDBIBLE by visiting our website at EzraProject.net and purchasing resources like Club 365 subscriptions, Bible reading journals, and one or more of our day-by-day through the Bible devotional books. We thank you so much and encourage more of you to do the same. You will find helpful and inspirational tools to enhance your personal time in God’s Word. Today I want to review the three tools we see most listeners getting. First, Club 365. This is a monthly subscription opening our vault of all ADDBIBLE audio recordings and all printed pages of the entire Day by Day Through the Bible devotional series. By joining Club 365 for only $7 a month, you have access to both audio and written information on all 66 books of the Bible. Club 365 is a goldmine, and it is completely flexible to your personal Bible reading plan. So if you’re reading Matthew or Isaiah or Psalms or Revelation, you have access to audio or written comments, applications, and prayers on any of them at your fingertips. Get Club 365 at EzraProject.net today, like so many others have. Secondly, another hot seller are our Bible reading journals. We offer two. One is a chronological Bible reading journal that contains a daily Bible reading plan chronologically. You don’t have to buy a chronological Bible, just get our chronological Bible reading journal. It has over 200 pages, so you can journal your way through the entire Bible. This book is our number one bestseller over the last two decades. The other journal is called the Trio Bible Reading Journal because it has three annual Bible reading plans in it. a New Testament schedule, an Old Testament schedule. But if you do them both on the same day, a complete Bible reading plan, you’ll finish the Bible in 365 days. We have a limited supply of the TRIO Bible reading journal. The cool thing about our journals is is they start when you start. Day one of the schedule is the day you start, not January 1. Again, completely flexible to your Bible reading habits. Order your journal for just $9 at EzraProject.net and we ship it free. And the third product people are ordering is one of our day-by-day through the Bible devotional books. There are only 11, but they cover all 66 books of the Bible, filled with comments about passages, applications from the passages, and prayers related to the passages. Listeners are understanding Bible passages in a whole new way, thanks to digging deeper with a day-by-day supplement to their daily devotions. You can find all 11 books on our website at EzraProject.net. They are available in print and digitally. Get one today and start understanding your Bible in a whole new way. So that’s all for today. Join me tomorrow for another chapter of ADDBIBLE. I know you’re going to enjoy it.
