A Tree Bench in Israel

 The Lord Loves Israel

 Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old. According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew unto him marvellous things.

The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf. They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the LORD our God, and shall fear because of thee.

Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.

He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old. (Micah 7:14-20)

The Book of MICAH The name Micah means "who is like Jehovah?" He apparently makes a word play on this eighteen of chapter seven where he asks, "Who is a God like unto thee?" There is none so just as the King of Kings, and yet none so merciful, who pardons "the remnant of his heritage." Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah and both ministered in the Southern Kingdom (Judah). :His ministry, however, began somewhat later than Isaiah's and may have ended earlier.   Their social standings were quite different in that Isaiah was a nobleman who prophesied in the king's court and Micah was of humble origin and spoke to the common people. Nevertheless, the prophecies of both were of great importance.   Although Micah came from the insignificant town of Moresheth, a village bordering on the Philistine territory (also called Moreshethgath 1:14), he foretold the fall of the capital cities of Judah and Israel and saw beyond the current Assyrian crisis to the Babylonian captivity. Furthermore, despite his seeming unimportance in Israel, he was exclusively chosen by God to reveal the birthplace of the Messiah (Mic. 5:2). The kings under whose reigns Micah ministered (Mic. 1:1) ruled from 752 -697 B.C. Like Amos, he spoke out strongly against immorality, social injustices, and the oppression of the poor by the rich (Mic. 2:1, 2, 8, 9; 3:2, 3, 11; 6:10 -12). The key word in Micah is "hear." This indicates that God wanted Judah to be attentive to Micah's message. [Source for Introduction of chapter: Hebrew Greek Key Study Bible KJV edited by Spiros Zodhiates, Th.D. AMG Publishers, Chattanooga, TN 37422]