The Rest of the Story
Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in unchanging love. Micah 7:18 NASB
Who – Yesterday I read a very disturbing verse in Micah. “They will lick the dust like a serpent, like reptiles of the earth. They will come trembling out of their fortresses; to the Lord our God they will come in dread and they will be afraid before You” (Micah 7:17). That statement should terrify anyone with spiritual sensitivity. Fortunately, Micah’s thought doesn’t end with licking the dust. In the next verse Micah reveals the power of God’s hesed (translated here as “unchanging love”). “Who is a God like you,” asks the prophet. And rightly so. No gods of the ancient world forgave simply on the basis of deep bond and blessing. No, indeed. In order to receive any kind of forgiveness (and even that tentatively), you must appease the gods, placate their righteous anger and dissuade them from your well-deserved (apparently) punishment. No god of the ancient world loved you. At best they were ignorant of you. At worst they simply toyed with you to see how fearful you could become.
Micah sounds a different bell. Yes, God deals with the unrighteous. Yes, He is a God of justice and the wicked deserve punishment. But this is not the typical god. He cares. He loves. He shows His mercy. He is filled with hesed. Since this word has no cognates in any other ancient language, it is uniquely an attribute of YHVH. And we are grateful! Oh, how we are grateful!
mi-‘el, says that text. “Who God?” We must distinguish mi from ma. Ma-‘el would ask “What kind of god is this?” That is not Micah’s question. Micah knows what kind of God is needed. We need a God of hesed. What he wants to know is who is this god. Tell me His name that I might seek Him. Notice Micah uses the categorical word, ‘el. Of all the gods in Micah’s world, who is the one who demonstrates pardon, restrains anger and exemplifies unchanging love? There is but one and His name is YHVH. Micah’s concern is not a delineation of the character of this god. Micah shouts that there is no other god with these attributes. YHVH is the only One. The question is about identity—tell me who this is that I may find the solace I seek.
In the age of the prophet, many gods came with vengeance in their eyes. Many sought retaliation, judgment and retribution. The names of those gods were well known: Ba’al, Chemosh, Dagon, Moloch, Ishtar, Marduk, Ra, Pazuzu. None helped. Tell me the name of the one who cares, who comforts, whose love does not depend on my ability to appease. That is the God I need to know. It is still the God I need to know.
Today we have a long list of other gods, gods who are never satisfied and whose demands never end. afortunat, onnekas, norocos, heldig, pushtet, snaga, Leistung, novac, geld, raha, soldi—you can translate these and add your own. They all have one thing in common—they don’t satisfy. In biblical thought, they are all open-mouthed toward the pit. M—‘el asks Micah. Perhaps it is a question of discernment as well as identity.
Topical Index: who, mi, ma, name, identity, Micah 7:18
His Story
The “rest of the story” begins after a four hundred year period of silence, and the new(er) covenant words: “This is the genealogy of Yeshua the Messiah, son of David, son of Avraham.”
Luck, power, fun, and money. The emptiest of all idols. All masks for worship of pride and ego. The gods of modern America. And ancient Israel. Micah was as true then as he is now. The Word of God indeed endures forever. Excellent word. And a fun little research project.
Someone on this forum asked why it is so hard to put Torah and its God first – why, if that is where our only comfort and all our life is found? Good question!
I think the false gods are found where we ALREADY ARE. We don’t have to change a thing to worship them. Created out of our paradigms, we don’t have to step out of those paradigms to find them, but two-way relationship is a horse of a different color. The gods of our illusions do not ask that we examine those illusions, but the God of relationship requires that we examine who we are in relationship to – in reference to – Who He is.
To relate to the God of lovingkindness requires that I look at why I NEED that lovingkindness. OUCH!
Was the promise not that He binds our iniquities away and no man can open? Was it not the teachings of Yeshua that where two or more are in His name he be there. Was it not Yeshua that said what is believed and bound on earth is bound in heaven… Very confusing if YHVH stayed unchanged in His dealing with man kind instead of only UNCHANGED in His purpose with mankind. As Skip also pointed out that each generation spoke differently, was influenced differently by their cultures and traditions, so are we today. Who is to blame? Those that teach or those that reprimand or those that comfort…
Is it not the revelation of the spiritual gifts by others that help us overcome?
“Howbeit, we speak wisdom among them that are perfect; yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory.” 1 Cor. 2. 6.
Micah / מִיכָה an awe-inspiring book, first he laments over the transgressions, idolatries of Northern and Southern Israel, their fruitlessness; warns them / us to take heed of their /our ways against conspiracies of wickedness, unrighteousness, and false prophets who oppress; from deceit; not to participate in corrupt religious practices nor their counsels; to examine our attitudes towards social justice and equity, lest He bring us to desolation; exhorts us to remember we were/ are ransomed out of the house of bondage, to serve יהוָה in humility loving chesed (mercies, kindness, righteousness).
WHEN we wake up, turn away from our abominations, shepherd His people with the rod of discipline…..
v 9 I will bear the indignation of the LORD יהוָה , because I have sinned against Him; until He plead my cause, and execute judgment for me; He will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold His righteousness.
HE pardons, forgives the Remnant of His inheritance, will not stay angry forever, has not done according to our transgressions, nor rewarded us according to our wickedness (Ps 103) but, DELIGHTS to show mercy, compassion, hurl our iniquities to the depths of the sea, affirming that He WILL be true to Israel!!
Verses that jump out of the pages-
v 2 The godly man is perished out of the earth, and the upright among men is no more; they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.
V 6 For the son dishonours the father, the daughter rise up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.
Who is a EL God like You- מִי אֵל כָּמוֹךָ- NO other el /god compares with YOU יְהוָה ! Amein!