STUDY NOTES FOR MICAH 7

7:1-6.  Recap of why God is bringing punishment

7:1a. 

“What misery is mine!”

-         He was a man of God, He was the one who told the people to turn from their evil ways and yet he is in misery.  Why?

-         Do you suffer when those you love suffer?

7:1b

Who is the vineyard and who are the grapes?

Read Isaiah 5:1-7 to find the answers

-         Do you remember the meaning of the name Bethlehem Ephrathah (as in chapter 5)?

o       Ephrathah means “Land of the Fruitful”and is an ancient name for the land surrounding Bethlehem which means “House of Bread”.^[1]

7:2. 

“the Godly have been swept from the land”

-         What does this mean?

-         Is there none Godly that are left?

7:2-6.

Can you explain from these verses the type of people God is about to judge? 

What kind of things were they doing that was so evil?

Can you make a list in modern language?

7:4

“The day of your watchman has come”

-         Who is the watchman?  What is a watchman?  What does a watchman do?

“the time of their confusion”

-         Why would they be confused?  (hint: Isaiah 22:5)

o       Remember, despite what the prophets said, they continued to believe that God was on their side.

o       Is there a better English word for this?

7.  Who Micah is stands in contrast to those listed in verses 1-6 and especially verses 5-6.

-         What makes him different?

8-13.  Looking to the future.  There is still hope.

-         The rest of the book follows four themes, intertwined with each other.

o       Do you know what they are?

1. (hint: verse 8a)

2.  (hint: verse 8b)

3.  (hint: verse 9a)

4.  (hint: verse 10b)

Verse 9. The simple explanation of the entire book

Why do we not understand this concept of accepting responsibility (punishment) for our sins, taking the punishment, and then moving on with life?  Instead of being mad at God, we need to take what we got coming to us but also realize that if we “live by the rules” God will bless us.  Once he punishes us, that is it.  He does not hang it over our heads forever.

14-20.  Acceptance of what has happened, what will happen, and who God is through all this mess.

In this section, Micah is given a glimpse of what God will do after Israel has “served their time.”

What is God going to do for Israel?

What is God going to do against Israel’s enemies?

Tell me about the character of God from these last few verses.

Why is it important to know the character of God (especially in the midst of God’s discipline)?

What did you get out of this book?

How can you apply what you’ve learned to your own life (after all that is the whole point in reading the Bible)?