Facing adversity with hope (Mic 7:7-10)
Mic 7:7-10
When news of Covid started trickling through the media early last year, I remember those first feelings of disquiet, the anxiety of what it will look like when it hit us here in NZ. Will we have to go into lockdown like China? That could never work in a Western democracy, could it? Underneath the worry, I am ashamed to say, there was also a vague sense of resentment. Can this problem just go away, please, so that I can get on with my comfortable life and routines? It made me realise how, even as Christians, we cannot escape the influence of the wider secular culture. I know, of course, that adversity is part of life and despite our efforts in the West to eliminate many forms of it, we cannot entirely escape it. Yet it is hard to shake off the barrage of ads and messages that suggest that we deserve better, that we have a right to self-fulfilment and happiness. So how do we respond to adversity well?
Our reading presents us with two reactions. Although the whole section is in the first person, the context suggests two different speakers. The prophet who has described his people’s sorry state (Mic 7:1-6) now gives his response in v.7. Judah has put up watchers earlier, but all they will see is God’s punishment coming, while Micah is watching expectantly for the Lord (Mic 7:4, 7). He waits in hope and trust because he knows God as the one who saves and listens to those who are His. On the other hand, the rest of the first-person speech indicates someone who has fallen and sinned (Mic 7:8-9). Further, the enemy’s taunt ‘Where is your God’ (Mic 7:10) has ‘your’ in the feminine singular. Thus the speaker is likely Jerusalem (often described as a woman, e.g. Mic 4:10), and by extension, God’s people.
Micah, then, envisages prophetically their future response after an enemy attack, possibly even Jerusalem’s defeat and exile to Babylon that he foretold in Mic 4:10. Despite the shock of what such downfall implies, the collapse of the nation, despair and darkness, there is nevertheless hope because of the Lord (Mic 7:8). Such hope is only possible, however, because the people will come to recognise their sin and God’s punishment that arose as a result (Mic 7:9). It is as they acknowledge and humbly submit to God’s verdict that transformation occurs. In true repentance, as they side with God and concur with His estimate of them, He comes to side with them and becomes their advocate who pleads their case. Justice in this context means that He will restore them and punish their enemies (Mic 7:10). Thus, God’s people will see His righteousness, i.e. the rightness of His way of dealing with them in the covenant both to punish their sins and to come to their aid in salvation.[1]
What is our response to adversity? Illness, the loss of loved ones, financial setbacks, redundancy can happen irrespective of the kind of life we live; it is part of our fallen world. In response, we may feel despair, confusion, even anger and resentment. Yet, God calls us to remember that He is our God who is faithful. He may not deliver from distress, but He carries us through them. Can we trust Him and live in hope? Alternatively, difficulties may be the result of sinful choices or simply because we have drifted away from the Lord, and this is God’s wake-up call for us. The encouragement of this passage is that even when we have sunk deeply into sin, like Israel and Judah did, there is a way out. Today, when sin disappeared from the secular vocabulary and God’s holiness is diminished in the Church, it is hard to feel the kind of anguish over sin that believers centuries ago have experienced. Yet, the mark of true repentance is not depth of feeling but the recognition and admission of sin as ultimately against God. When we concur with God’s verdict, He comes to our side and becomes our advocate and restorer. May we have the courage to acknowledge and turn away from sin and find in God our helper.
[1] We tend to think of God’s righteousness as His holy character, but in OT understanding, righteousness refers primarily to fulfilling one’s obligations within a relationship. Since God entered into a covenant with Israel, this carries obligations. Thus, God shows Himself righteous when He comes to Israel’s rescue, as well as when He disciplines them for their sin.
If you enjoyed this post, please share it with others.