Micah
6:1 – 7:20
Sin, Repentance, and Forgiveness
Review
• Micah has three messages for God’s people
– 1st – Judgment now, restoration later
• Their sins (Judah’s and Israel’s) require
punishment
• But God has a plan to save them and all people
– 2nd – Condemnation versus hope
• Sins bring condemnation
• But God’s plan will include a Savior who will be
able to free people from the burden of sin
– 3rd – Sin, Repentance, and Forgiveness
• How can God’s people be forgiven of sins?
An Indictment
• As in Hosea, God sets out His accusation in
the terms of a court case
– Mic 6:1-2
• A call to exchange complaints
– God has a complaint and will explain His
reasoning
– He calls on Israel to bring any complaint they may
have against Him
– Mic 6:3
• God knows their complaint is that He has wearied
them (tired them)
– God demands an explanation of how and why
God’s answer
• Mic 6:4-5
– Didn’t God redeem you from Egypt?
– Didn’t God provide leaders?
– Remember what Balak wanted Balaam to do?
– Remember how God turned the words from a
curse into a blessing for Israel?
– Remember what God did from Shittim to Gilgal?
• That’s when He opened the Jordan River
– Every act of God is a further demonstration of
His righteousness
• Why would anyone find righteousness to be
tiring?
What God requires
• The answer might be, they are tired because
they think God expects too much of them
– Yes, God is righteous, but the people are tired
trying to keep up
• Mic 6:6-7
– How can man come before God?
• He is righteous, but man is not
• Can we bring enough sacrifices to be forgiven?
• Can we bring enough oil? Even rivers of oil?
• Could we offer our firstborn to pay for our sins?
– The answer to each is “No, that won’t pay for
sin”
What God requires
• If we can’t pay for our sins, then how can we
come before God?
– And if we can’t come before God, aren’t we right
to feel tired, worn out?
• Mic 6:8
– God requires only 3 things
• To do justly (Judgment/verdict)
– Do what the law requires
• To love mercy
– Do what love/mercy requires
• To walk humbly with God
– Remembering who is in charge and leading the
way, following His direction
Dealing with sin
• Some people are like Israel
– They think God has too many rules
– They think they can’t possibly keep up
– They look at their sins and say they are already
too far behind
• God says, He never told you that you had to go
at it alone
– He had been there for Israel whenever they
needed Him
– He expects obedience, love, and humility
– That is not an unreasonable burden
Making application in Israel
• God has said that He requires only justice,
love, and humility
– How does Israel stack up?
• Mic 6:9-12
– Dishonest measures (no justice)
– Liars (no love)
– Violence against the poor (no humility)
• Mic 6:13-16
– Therefore, you have brought punishment on
yourselves
• You were able to keep Omri and Ahab’s statutes
(as opposed to God’s) so now they will get what
they deserve
A lament
• For the lack of righteous people
– Mic 7:1-4
• Looking for a good man in Israel is like looking
for first-fruits after the harvest
• Everyone is looking out only for themselves
– Even princes, judges, and great men who should
all be looking out for the poor and downtrodden
• The best he can find is like a thorn bush
– Looks nice from a distance
– But get too close and get hurt
• So they will be punished as their watchmen (the
prophets) had said
Who to trust?
• In this time of moral decay and corruption, who
can be trusted to show the way of escape?
– Mic 7:5-7
• Not friends, companions, or confidantes
• Not relatives
• They may all be corrupted too and looking out
only for themselves
• Only God can be trusted to provide salvation
– He is the only one you can count on to have your
best interest at heart
– And He will take time to listen
Repentance and forgiveness
• Told from the point of view of the nation
coming to a realization of her own sin
– Mic 7:8-9
• I will be punished because of my sins
• But I am not going to be destroyed, I will arise
• The Lord will show me the way out
• The Lord will punish me first
• But He has a plan to justly forgive those sins and
bring me back to the light
– Back to righteousness
The plan of God
• Mic 7:10-13
– In the day of forgiveness
• Those who denied God will be ashamed
– When God builds His kingdom (walls)
• His decrees will be heard everywhere
• People from everywhere will come
• Yet the land (Israel) will remain desolate because
of their sins
• God has a plan to save people from their sins
– The plan would be available for all
– But the plan did not include a restoration of the
land / kingdom of Israel
• Their sins made that impossible
God’s people
• Mic 7:14-17
– Speaking of this new people, new kingdom – the
church
– God will be the Shepherd and guide and guard
His people (1 Pet 5:4)
• As He had done for Israel in the past
– Those who oppose God and His kingdom will
fail and be ashamed and fear (Heb 10:30-31)
“Who is a God like You?”
• Remember “Micah” means “Who is like
Jehovah?”
– Now Micah concludes by asking and answering
the question raised by his own name
• Mic 7:18-20, “Who is a God like You?”
– Forgiving sins
– Not remaining angry
– Delighting in mercy
– Willing to cast sins deep into the ocean, forever
removed
–
Conclusion
• The answer to Micah’s question
– There is no God like our God
• The pagan gods were whimsical and sinful and
harbored grudges
• The eastern gods had no plan of salvation except
for man to somehow figure it out himself
• The Muslim’s god (Allah) is a vengeful god who
delights in terror and violence
• The list could go on
– There is only one God who offers a plan to save
man from man’s own sins
• A plan of forgiveness, love, and mercy