Join us on ‘Thru the Bible’ as we uncover the timeless truths embedded in Micah’s final chapter. Steve Schwetz and Dr. McGee discuss the challenges faced by Israel and the enduring hope found in God’s promise of salvation. As we navigate the complexities of human nature and divine pardon, we are reminded to hold steadfast in faith amidst life’s trials.
The foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith.
SPEAKER 03 :
Welcome to Thru the Bible. I’m your host, Steve Schwetz, and we’re nearing the end of our study of the Old Testament book of Micah. Our teacher is Dr. J. Vernon McGee, of course, and if this is your first time with us, don’t worry, you’re not behind, because Dr. McGee designed this study so that at any point you can jump on or off what he affectionately called the Bible bus. And if you stay with us for five years, you’ll have traveled through all 66 books of the Bible. It’s really an exciting journey. It’s one that never ends, and you learn new things in every study. If you want to find out more about this ministry, download our app, visit ttb.org, or call 1-865-BIBLE. Let’s get started. To give us some context about what we’re studying in Micah chapter 7, Dr. McGee recorded a special introduction. Let’s listen now.
SPEAKER 01 :
Now, before we finish this exquisite and profound prophecy, I’d like for you to see the overview of chapter 7. And that’s the last chapter, and that’s where we are right now. Now, there’s a contrast here between God and man that needs a special emphasis. This contrast makes possible the wedding of God and man in redemption and salvation. Now, Micah does not have a very high and flattering and lofty view of mankind. Mankind does not stand very high on his ratings, I can assure you. In fact, the matter is, it’s just too bad that Micah could not have had the benefit of the new wisdom of the new breed of preacher psychologists. we must think well of ourselves that’s the great motto today onward and upward forever we’re lots better than we thought we were and may i say to you that of course is the philosophy of the world today but it’s not the philosophy of the word of god at all and so this new psychology and i should make this statement here this new psychology that is getting old and boring now has stifled any spiritual movement in our day. If man is so wonderful, he does not need redeeming and saving from sin. In other words, if all he needs to do is to just straighten out his marriage and straighten out his life a little, where he becomes a very popular individual, then that’s all that man really needed after all. We don’t need to save his soul from sin and save him from going to hell. By the way, that word hell is not very popular today. And by the way, it shouldn’t be popular, but it shouldn’t be omitted totally. I want for us to see, first of all, man as he looks at man. And I want you to listen to Mike again. He opens this seventh chapter, as we’ve already seen, woe is me. Well, what in the world would tee him off to adopt that sort of an attitude when he should have a very bright view of man and the future? Well, he makes it clear in the next verse. He says, the good man is perished out of the earth. And do you know today it’s difficult really to find men, I know in Christian work, that will work. And they talk about today they’re dedicated and committed. There’s so many of them committed, but They don’t seem to be committed to the right thing. He says, the good man is perished out of the earth. And he goes on in verse 3, that they may do evil with both hands earnestly. Not just do evil occasionally, but to do it earnestly. And it’s not a question of the right hand not knowing what the left is doing. The right hand knows the left hand’s doing evil also. Both hands. And they’d get in with both hands and both feet to do evil today. And then he even goes a little bit farther, and we think he’s gone far enough, but in verse 4 he says, “…the best of them is as a briar.” And you just can’t think of that little old desert plant that’ll stick you if you even touch the thing. That’s mankind, and that’s the best of them, he says. And then he makes this tremendous statement. Listen to this, “…trust ye not in a friend.” Put ye not confidence in a God. Keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom. The very person that you think you can trust may not even be your wife. He’s warning against this sort of thing. Well, what a picture this is. Now, I found out in Christian work as a pastor, I’ve been greatly deceived by workers. Now, that doesn’t mean all of them by any means. One would be too many, but there’ve been more than one. And you just can’t even trust even the very best of them, he said. Now, this is a bleak picture of mankind, by the way. And now he says man’s utterly bad. He’s hopeless and helpless. Now he brings God on the scene. And what a glorious, wonderful picture we get here of God now. And this is one of the great definitions of God. And we’ll be dealing with that today. But I want now for you to see it. Verse 18. Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity? and delighteth in mercy. God has no competitor. He has no competition, because he pardons iniquity, and he delighteth in mercy. No heathen god or idol ever pardoned iniquity, ever showed mercy.
SPEAKER 03 :
Let’s pray as we open God’s word. Merciful Father, we’re thankful that you have provided for our sin through the blood of Jesus. It’s in his name that we pray. Amen. Here’s our study of Micah chapter 7 on Through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.
SPEAKER 01 :
Now, friends, this last chapter of Micah, as we have indicated in our notes here, that in the first nine verses, the prophet confesses that God is accurate in his complaint against Israel. And because of the charge and the accuracy of it, Why, it touches the heart of this man. He’s not unfeeling. He’s moved and motivated by the judgment that is coming upon his people. And it opened, as we saw, and I drop back to verse 1 to tie up our strings here. Woe is me. Well, many a time, I’m sure many of us under similar circumstances have said the same thing, woe is me. And you have here in this first section, therefore a soliloquy of sorrow, a saga of suffering, a wail of woe, an elegy of eloquent grief. That’s what we have here. He’s telling it just as it is. He’s getting right down where the rubber meets the road. And that is something that’s very important to see. By the way, I had a word from a friend who shared with me the real meaning of when the rubber meets the road. Actually, it did not originate in this country. It comes from out yonder in the Far East where the rubber trees are and the natives that work with the rubber trees getting the rubber out. And there is such a demand for it that when they get the rubber out, then they begin moving it to the coast towns where it’s to be shipped, some of it to this country or some of it there, where it’s processed and made into tires so that they are the ones who originated it. And they said when the rubber from the trees gets out on the road and starts down to where it’s going. And that is the origination of it. And very candidly, I use it in an altogether different way. That is, when the rubber tire meets the road right down where we live today, where we live and move and have our being. Well, this man, Micah, regardless of whether it’s going to get the rubber out to the road, down to the factory, or whether it’s the rubber tire running over the freeway, and that’s right where you and I are living today. Well, may I say to you that he is now telling out the difficulty these people were having, the sin, this lovely statement that was made back in the sixth chapter to do justly and love mercy and to walk only with thy God. They just weren’t doing it. And they found out they couldn’t do it as we saw. Peter says, we were under the yoke of the law. Our forefathers, they didn’t keep it. We can’t keep it today. And yet there are a great many people go to church thinking they’re saved by their own good works, that they’re acceptable to God on what they do. And there is no hypocrisy like that kind of hypocrisy. Those people back yonder under the law might be excused, but You and I today with an open Bible are not excused at all, but we are only saved by the grace of God. And now he begins to outline these awful sins that these people did. He mentions, as we saw last time, they do evil with both hands. That means, believe me, they were busy actually doing evil. It really kept them busy. And they were doing evil, for a reward. They were not only willing to stoop to do the thing that was wrong, but it was because of greed and covetousness on their part. Even the best people were like a briar. You had to be careful. You get stuck, you know, with a briar if you’re not very careful with it. And that was the condition even of the best people of that day. You couldn’t depend on them. And then coming to verse 5, where we begin today, Trust not in a friend, put not confidence in a guide. Keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom. Now, this reveals something of the awful condition that existed in that day. And that’s been true, I think, pretty much of the so-called civilizations of this world, that this is a big, mean world outside. And that you and I need to recognize that, especially if we take a stand for God, why the Lord Jesus made it very clear that the day would come. He said, and I’m going to turn to this passage, the 10th of Matthew, verse 34. Think not that I’m come to send peace on earth. I came not to send peace, but a sword. And friends, as long as there’s evil in the world, there will be a conflict And there will be a war between that which is of the flesh and that which is of the spirit, between light and darkness, between good and evil. Every morning, I generally get up rather early. I do my studying at home early. And I get up while it is still dark and my studies where I can look toward the east and it’s interesting to see how the darkness wrestles with the light till finally the sun comes bursting over the horizon and the darkness then vanishes. But there is a period there. of dawn and it is a period where it would seem that the darkness is wrestling with the light and the same thing takes place in the evening at the dusk when again darkness wants to take over. Now there’s that kind of a spiritual struggle going on in the world and the Lord Jesus made that very clear and he says, for I’m come to set a man at variance against his father. and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. He won’t be able to trust them. And he says here, trust not in a friend. Put not your confidence in a guide. Keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom. From the very wife. And there’s come to my attention. Over a period of years, it works both ways, of course, that a wife has not been able to trust her husband, and a husband has not been able to trust his wife. We live in a day when the word of man seems to carry less value than it did before. You can’t believe today what you read. You can’t believe today what you hear. on radio or on television. It all should be tested by the child of God. I say to you, and I say it very candidly, test every program you listen to. Test this one, by the way. Test them all. You’ll be wise if you do, because human nature, it’s not to be trusted. And human nature will always try to fool Mother Nature and everything else, too. Now, will you notice he goes on and says this in verse 6, for the son dishonoreth the father. The daughter riseth up against her mother. The daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies are the men of his own house. Now, you see, that’s exactly what the Lord Jesus said would come. And it had come in this day also. And when that sort of a situation arises, it’s a day of decadence, a day of deterioration, a day of decay. And it’s a day that’s very dark, by the way. We live in a day like that. It’s got so today that government is having to watch everything. And who in the world is going to watch government? Because they need watching. So that who can you trust? Who can you believe in today? We’re living at a very sad time, actually, in the history of the world. And this reveals that it was that way in the day that Michael was grieving his heart out. Now, this is not something to boast of. Something to rejoice in. It is something to deplore. And it’s something that should grieve the heart. Now, he goes on in verse 7 here. Therefore, I will look unto the Lord. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. Now, here is the confidence and here is the assurance and the faith of this man. Now, he knows that God is going to hear him and he knows that God will work this thing out. Now, it doesn’t make any difference how dark it is today and how high the waves are roaring. And we saw that also last time when we called attention to the fact the Lord Jesus said there’d be distress of nations. seeing waves roar. That’s the nations of the world in great turmoil. And that these things ought not to disturb the child of God. They ought not to detour us because of the fact that men’s hearts today are failing them for fear. They’re looking after those things that are coming on the earth. And actually the powers of heaven today seem to be shaken. And he told us when all these things just begin to come to pass, and certainly we’ve seen the beginning, then look up and lift up your heads for your redemption draweth nigh. And Micah says, therefore, I look unto the Lord. I’ll wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. And these are days when God’s children need to stay very close to God. We need to stay close to the Word of God. Now, let me come to verse 8 here. He says, Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy. When I fall, I shall arise. When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me. Now, this here is a great principle that you find running through the Scripture also. And it is this, that though God’s man may fall, God will raise him up. And then, when we sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light for us. And today, God’s people, again, may I repeat it, we must stay close to the Word of God in difficult and dark days. Now, here in verse 9, on the behalf of his people, He makes a confession to God. And actually, as the New Schofield Bible has it, a submission to the Lord. And there is that sweet submission here also. We have to note that. And then, in spite of the darkness, there is on his lips a praise, as you can see, to God. He says to the enemy, don’t you rejoice against me. God is going to lift me up. And then I will be able to rejoice. And though I sit in darkness, the Lord is going to be light unto me. And God will deliver him and deliver his people. Verse 9, I’ll bear the indignation of the Lord because I’ve sinned against him. Now, you see that he’s making a public confession of the sin, actually of the people, until he plead my cause and execute judgment for me. He will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness. Now, what confidence this man has. He submits himself to the will of God. And I’m not sure but what that is the position or should be the position today of the children of God in this dark hour in the history of the world. What is it that we should do? Well, there’s one thing for sure. God has permitted all these things to happen, and he’s still in control. What should we do? We should submit ourselves to God. We should confess. Our sin, keep our accounts very close with God. Keep right paid up, right to date. Make sure that we’ve settled every account with him. And this is the thing that is all important here. You notice that he says, I will bear the indignation of the Lord. Why? Because I’ve sinned against him. We as a nation have sinned. You have sinned. I have sinned. Today, we’ve gone along with this affluent society and have accepted its comforts, and we have rather smiled at the lack of integrity today that there is in public life, and we’d have shut our eyes to the gross immorality that’s around us. It’s time maybe some of us are confessing Because I’ve sinned against him until he plead my cause and execute judgment for me. He will bring me forth to the light. How lovely this is. And I shall behold his righteousness. Then she, verse 10, she that is mine enemy. And that word she that’s been put in there is an insertion. I’d love to be able to ask the translators why they’d call the enemy a she here. I think it has in mind whoever the enemy might be in at this time. As we’ll find out down here in verse 12, it’s Assyria and there were other nations aligned with him so that it would be the enemies of God’s people. Then let me read verse 10 with that in mind. “‘Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her who said unto me, Where is the Lord thy God? Mine eyes shall behold her. Now shall she be trampled down like the mire of the streets. In other words, God will ultimately triumph. But the thing that is tragic is that because of the sins of the people, why they have to be judged. And the enemy asks the question, you’ve boasted of the fact that you serve God, where is he? Why doesn’t he help you? Why doesn’t he deliver you? You’ve said that he would. Well, the enemy doesn’t see the righteousness of God. The enemy doesn’t see that God is dealing with them in a righteous way. He must judge them. And now will you notice verse 11, “…in the day that thy walls are to be built, in that day shall the decree be far removed.” In other words, there was a period in the history of Israel when he put them out before the public, scattered them. They were sent down to Egypt to become a nation. Then God hedged them into that land, gave them the law, made them a peculiar people and kept them from mingling with other folks. Then because of their sin, they’re sent into Babylonian captivity. Now, they had a ministry to the world, both at the time of their containment And then again, when they were scattered throughout the world, they have been that kind of a witness. Now, will you notice he goes on to say in verse 12, In that day also he shall come even to thee from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, from the fortress even to the river, from the sea to sea, from mountain to mountain. Assyria leading the attack against the people. And of course, Assyria took the northern kingdom into captive. Now, verse 13, notwithstanding, the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell in it for the fruit of their doings. You see, the land and the people are pretty well tied together. Now, that land was not always desolate as it is today. You see, when the blessing of God comes upon them, it will also come upon that land. And it has not come upon them. Now, he speaks in a very wonderful way. Verse 14, feed thy people with thy rod. Now, back over in the sixth chapter in verse 9, the rod there was a rod of judgment. Now, here it’s a rod of comfort. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. And I think it simply means the staff of the shepherd. You see, the staff of the shepherd could be used in two ways. It could be used to protect and help the sheep. It could also be used to discipline the sheep. And it was used in that way. Therefore, feed thy flock with thy rod. God disciplines us, and he instructs us that way. “‘The flock of thine heritage, who dwell solitarily in the forest in the midst of Carmel, let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in the days of old.'” These are great grazing lands up in the north and across the Jordan River. Now he goes on to say, according to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt, will I show unto him marvelous things. Now, this is a little prophecy here from 15 to 17 that prepares the way for this marvelous verse 18 that we’ll look at next time in our last study of Micah. Until then, may God richly bless you, my beloved.
SPEAKER 03 :
What amazing truths we’re discovering in Micah. Make sure to join us as Dr. McGee concludes our powerful study next time. If you haven’t downloaded your free notes and outlines for 2 John or our Bible Companion, look them up in our app or at ttb.org or call 1-865-BIBLE. Again, that’s ttb.org or 1-865-BIBLE. Okay, I got a riddle for you. What’s something that God doesn’t see, but that you see every day? What’s the answer? Well, find out in our next study on Through the Bible. Today’s study is always available, free to stream or download, thanks to the generous and faithful investments from your fellow Bible bus travelers. Just go to ttb.org or download our app to listen again anytime. As always, we’d love to know what’s God teaching you.
