The One who fights our battles (Mic 7:18-20)

When people seek God or a god, what is it that they are looking for today? Some search for meaning, others want to feel accepted and loved, yet others long for peace and a relief from anxiety, still others are on a quest for well-being and flourishing whether in spiritual or even material terms. What we seek will affect what aspect of the divine nature will stand out for us. In this respect, it is striking what the prophet singles out about God to conclude the book and the appeal of this particular trait indicates what he thinks the people’s biggest problem is. Who can compare to God who pardons iniquity (Mic 7:18)? If this holds the greatest attraction, then Israel’s most pressing problem is their sin.

In the ancient Near East that Israel was a part of, pagans – much like today – worshipped gods in the hope of bettering their lives (having a good harvest, many children and warding off disaster). Unlike modern Western culture, however, they were concerned about sin in the sense of offending the gods, but beyond paying homage and offering sacrifices (symbolic of feeding the deity) worshippers could not know what was required of them. Disasters, famine, infertility indicated divine disapproval but what the sin was, or even which god was offended could not be discovered with certainty. Pagan deities were like human beings with more power and fewer limitations, who ate, slept, procreated, had their own quarrels and foibles and were generally unpredictable from a human perspective. While non-Israelites also hoped for grace and compassion from their gods, this was understood more generally as favour and there was no guarantee of receiving it.

In contrast, the God of Israel made known His will that included religious, as well as moral-ethical obligations, so His people knew exactly what was required of them and, if they sinned, they had no excuse. Yet, the Lord is extolled here for His willingness to forgive despite known sin and ready rebellion (Mic 7:18). This echoes Israel’s great creed about God’s pardon for sin and rebellion when Israel turned away from God and worshipped the golden calf shortly after receiving the Sinai revelation (Exod 34:7, 9). Evoking the exodus, when God hurled chariots and riders into the sea, our passage describes the Lord’s way of subduing sin and casting it into the sea (Exod 15:12; Mic 7:19). It is sin in fact that is the enemy, not Israel. God acts this way because of His covenant love (ḥesed, NASB ‘unchanging love’ in Mic 7:18, 20), His obligation to Israel that He placed Himself under. Such divine commitment to people is unheard of among the gods of the ancient Near East. Yet, this is the God we serve.

We are challenged to ask then what our greatest need or highest priority is when seeking God. In Western culture, the language of sin has disappeared, and just like Israel did in Micah’s time, God’s grace and benevolence are taken for granted. In such a context, sin can feel weightless even for Christians and we, too, may seek God only for our own ends to nourish our soul, comfort our sorrow, and allay our fears. Going to Him with our needs is not wrong, but without a deeper commitment to the person of God and the demands such a mutual relationship place on us, we have lost our way. Putting our own self in the centre is the very definition of rebellion against God and that sinful instinct runs deep, just as it did in ancient Israel. Like Gollum in The Lord of the Rings whose love for the ring of power consumed him and made him only a shadow of himself, we are prone to seek to gain the world without counting the terrible cost of losing ourselves (Luke 9:25). Yet, those who acknowledge this and turn to God will find a ready Helper who forgives and fights their battles against sin. Indeed, the Lord has given His very own Son to save us from sin’s bondage. May we return His fierce love and loyalty by giving ourselves fully to Him.

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