Who is a God like You? (Mic 7:18 NAS95)

 “Who is a God like You?” (Mic 7:18 NAS95)

This is the second “critical question” that I have chosen from the prophet Micah. As it stands in the title, it is an important question, but when one considers the context, it is even more dramatic.

One could hardly find a more devastating critique of a culture. I have to be honest: there are things here that remind me of what is going on in our world today, and I know there are many places where these things are constant and happen on a daily basis. I invite readers to turn to Micah 7 and read it for yourselves.

It is not just that Micah is pointing fingers at others around him who are the problem. He identifies himself as part of the problem. In v. 9 he says “I will bear the indignation of the Lord Because I have sinned against Him.” But that is not where his statement ends. Confession of sin is but a step in the process toward restoration. Micah continues, “Until He pleads my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me out to the light, And I will see His righteousness.”

But with all the terrible sin and perversity of which the people are guilty, who could expect God to forgive? It depends upon what kind of God He is. That is our critical question. And we find that He is a God who pardons iniquity: 18 “Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession?”

We shouldn’t think this is an easy thing, because God is a God of justice. Sins do not simply get swept under the rug. It required an atonement which could only be provided by the death of His Son.

The reason, though, that God is willing to do this is found in the answer to, “Who is a God like You?” Here is the answer in the text: “He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in unchanging love.” He is not like us, who continue to nurse grudges against people long beyond their expiration date.

And then the text gives us some wonderful word pictures of how He handles our offenses: “He will tread our iniquities under foot.” Yes, He will smash our sins in the sidewalk to be swept aside and seen or considered no more. And here is another: “Yes, You will cast all their sins Into the depths of the sea.” For Jewish landlubbers, this is akin to throwing them into the bottomless pit. They are gone.

Who is a God like You? who is marked by such faithful reliability and unchanging love, traditionally known as “full of grace and truth.”