Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. (Micah 7: 18-19)

If I am forgiven, saved, loved as a child of God, why should I hesitate?

With God, I should not hesitate, but be bold in every way.

With my neighbor and even with myself, caution and care are well-placed.

I ought to act justly: loving others.

Love mercy: forgiving others and being kind

Walk humbly: engaging, listening, honoring the other.

Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. Because I have sinned against him, I will bear the Lord’s wrath, until he pleads my case and upholds my cause. He will bring me out into the light; I will see his righteousness. (Micah 7:8-9)

The Hebrew translated above as wrath is za'aph. 

Wrath or indignation, rage or anger are possible meanings.

 Even more common in everyday usage is sad, perplexed, or troubled.

 God has good cause to be "za'aphed" with me, in every meaning of the word.

Yet God engages me,  delights in me, and invites me to turn sadness into joy.

I am like one who gathers summer fruit at the gleaning of the vineyard; there is no cluster of grapes to eat, none of the early figs that I crave. The faithful have been swept from the land; not one upright person remains. (Micah 7:1-2)

Relationships are abused.

Power is misused.

Trust is dishonored.

"Now is the time of your confusion."

The sacred has been replaced by self-assertion.

With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:6-8)

We are to move with God.

As God pulls, we are to pull.

As God descends, we are to ascend.

We dance with God.

Pulling, pushing, in tension and together.

The remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples like dew from the Lord, like showers on the grass, which do not wait for anyone or depend on man. (Micah 5:7)

Their influence is subtle, hard to measure.

Occurring early, beginning the day.

Recurring late, with last light.

The remnant glistens and dampens, seems to soften,

The hot, hard, brilliance of shared struggle.

“I will gather the lame; I will assemble the exiles and those I have brought to grief. I will make the lame my remnant, those driven away a strong nation... Writhe in agony, Daughter Zion, like a woman in labor, for now you must leave the city to camp in the open field. You will go to Babylon there you will be rescued." (Micah 4:6-7,10)

 Have you been to Babylon?

 Have you experienced your own crucifixion?

 In what weakness have you found strength?

 Through what failure have you been redeemed?

 From agony can emerge new life.

They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Everyone will sit under their own vine and under their own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the Lord Almighty has spoken. All the nations may walk in the name of their gods, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever. (Micah 4:3-5)

I inherited a fig tree, but did not know it.  I thought it was dead and nearly killed it.

It has become fabulously fruitful.

I planted two vines.  One was poisoned.  The second has withered before each harvest.

In the season just begun, I still hope to taste some grapes.

Both fig and grape start green and hard. Just ripe their surfaces stay firm, sleek.

Beautiful flirts peaking from their leaves, yet soon shriveling in the summer sun.

With care an essence may be preserved: dark, wet, succulent with flavor.

In winter wine or Christmas tarts we recall the bright warmth of younger times.

Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they look for the Lord’s support and say, “Is not the Lord among us? No disaster will come upon us.” Therefore because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.(Micah 3:11-12)

When we are in right relationship with reality our risks are reduced.

When we choose to challenge reality, we accept a higher risk.

This is true when we play with fire.

This is true when we travel at high speed.

It is equally true when we fail to honor one another.

If a man should go about and utter wind and lies, saying, “I will preach to you of wine and strong drink,” he would be the preacher for this people! (Micah 2: 11)

Even religious leaders have been corrupted. 

They have joined in injustice, oppression, and foolishness.

Religious reasons have condoned violence and thieving.

The powerful have no restraint.

The poor have no protection.

Woe to those who plan iniquity, to those who plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they carry it out because it is in their power to do it. They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them. They defraud people of their homes, they rob them of their inheritance. (Micah 2:1-2)

In Samaria they honor Ba'al with prostitutes.

In Judea they dishonor God with iniquity.

The powerful misuse their power.

The weak are exploited.

 In each case the people have fallen into delusion. In both Samaria and Judea the people have presumed to control that which is not to be controlled.

“Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble, a place for planting vineyards. I will pour her stones into the valley and lay bare her foundations. All her idols will be broken to pieces; all her temple gifts will be burned with fire; I will destroy all her images. Since she gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes, as the wages of prostitutes they will again be used.” (Micah 1:6-7)

The god of Abraham and Moses was cherished in Samaria.

But the people also honored Ba'al, a god of fertility, son of El, creator of the universe.

In some readings, El becomes the biblical Yahweh.

The god of Abraham and Moses could at times seem distant, abstract, uncaring...

Ba'al was earthy, sensual, and responsive.

Where do we look for that which we do not find in our God?

Why do we want it? Do we need it? What will we give to get it?

Look! The Lord is coming from his dwelling place;
he comes down and treads on the heights of the earth.
The mountains melt beneath him
and the valleys split apart,
like wax before the fire,
like water rushing down a slope. (Micah 1:3-4)

Micah or "Who Is Like Yahweh?" wrote during 750-700 BC.

The historical context includes an aggressive Assyrian Empire exerting increasing pressure on the divided kingdoms of Samaria and Judea.

The prophecy consists of three major sections: judgement, restoration, and hope. Many scholars perceive that only the first section, Chapters 1-3, were written by Micah, the remainder having been appended after the Babylonian captivity.