Micah 7
โWoe is me!โ
- no grapes, no figs,ย no righteous people left
โThe godly has perishedโ
- Society marked by violence and betrayal
- ืึธืกึดืื (chasid) = faithful/loyal one (linked to chesed)
- Perishedย
Leaders and officials work together for evil
โBest of them is like a brierโ
- Even the โgoodโ are harmful
- ย Judgment day:confusion and panic will replace their self confidence
no confidence in neighbor, even family relationships collapse
- Matthew 10:35-36
โBut as for meโฆโ
- โI will look to the LORDโ
- โI will waitโ
- Confidence:โmy God will hear meโ
โWhen I fall, I shall riseโ
- Darkness to light
- Hope in the LORD to bring us up
โI will bear the indignation of the LORDโ
- Accepts discipline for sin
- Yet trusts God will plead his cause and bring justice
Enemies will see vindication and be put to shame
Restored City
- Walls rebuilt
- Boundaries expanded
- Nations come frommAssyria to Egypt
- Yet:j udgment still falls on the earth
โShepherd your peopleโ God cares for His people
โas in the daysโฆ of Egyptโ God will show wondrous things
Other nations respond to Israel:
- silence
- fear
- submission
โWho is a God like youโฆ?โ
- Wordplay: Micah (ืึดืืึธื) = โWho is like YHWH?โ
- Comes from:
- ืึดื (mi) = who?
- ืึธึผื (kah) = like / as
- (often understood with YHWH implied)
- ืึดืึพืึตื ืึธึผืืึนืึธ (mi-el kamokha)
God
- pardons iniquity
- passes over transgression
- does not retain anger forever
- โHe delights in steadfast loveโ (ืึถืกึถื, chesed)
โHe will again have compassionโ
โtread our iniquities underfootโ
โcast all our sins into the depths of the seaโ
Covenant faithfulness:
- Jacobย
- Abrahamย
Nahum 1
Nahum ื ึทืืึผื (Naแธฅรปm) โcomfortโ or โconsolationโ
Preached comfort/encouragement for Judah and destruction for Nineveh
From: โElkoshโ (1:1) Unknown location
Timeframe: somewhere around 663โ612 BC since chapter 3 mentions destruction of Thebes by Assyria
โAn oracle concerning Ninevehโฆโ
- ืึทืฉึธึผืื (massaสพ) = burden/oracle or heavy message of judgment
- Focus: Nineveh, capital of Assyria (same city as Jonah)
- Nineveh is spared in Jonah but in Nahum they are said to be destroyed
โThe LORD is a jealous and avenging Godโฆโ
- ืงึทื ึผืึนื (qannoสพ) = jealous (covenant zeal, not insecurity)
- Triple emphasis: avengingโฆ wrathโฆ keeps wrath โ judicial justice
- โslow to angerโ
- Exodus 34:6-7
โHis way is in whirlwind and stormโฆโ
- Creation submits:
- Sea dries up
- Mountains quake
โWho can stand?โ no one under judgment
โThe LORD is good, a strongholdโฆโ
- ืึธืขืึนื (maสฟoz) = refuge/fortress
- He judges His enemies but protects His peopleย
1:8
โBut with an overflowing floodโฆโ
- The power of God
- โdarknessโ = total destruction (not just defeat)
Assyria is described as arrogant
- However er โtrouble will not rise up a second timeโย
Shift to Judah
- God used Assyria as disciplineย
- โbreak his yokeโ but now He ends it
Total erasure of Assyria: No descendants
- โyou are vileโย โI will dig your graveโ (!!)ย
โBeholdโฆ good newsโฆโ
- Isaiah 52:7
- Peace announced
- Enemy defeated
- โnever again shall the worthless pass through youโ
Nahum 2
โThe scatterer has come upโฆโ Likely Babylonian/Median forces
โThe LORD is restoring the majesty of Jacobโฆโ
- Judgment on Nineveh = restoration for Israel
2:3-5
Vivid battle imagery:
- Red shields (blood or bronze reflection)
- Chariots racing
- Chaosย
- ย urgency
“Its mistress is strippedโฆโ City personified as a queen humiliated
โNineveh is like a poolโฆโ
- Once stable and overflowing with defense, now a worthless drained pool ย
- Told to plunder
โDesolate! Desolation and ruin!โ
- ืึผืึผืงึธื ืึผืึฐืืึผืงึธื ืึผืึฐืึปืึธึผืงึธื (buqah u-mevuqah u-mevullaqah)
- almost poetic sound effect
- melting hearts
- trembling knees
God is against them.
Application
We can walk faithfully even when things feel unfair, knowing God is both just and compassionate. Our role is to trust Him, live uprightly, and wait for Him to restore.ย
Jo Reads The Bible 
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