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Daily Devotions

Micah

Micah 
Day 
Day 91

"The nations shall see and be ashamed"

Text: Micah 7:16

MICAH’S RESPONSE

Micah’s response to God’s reply was one of hope and wonder. He brought his book to an end with a deep sense of awe (Micah 7:16-20). The first part of his contemplation is on how the nations will see and be in the state of astonishment when they note how the LORD will bless His people.

“The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might;
They shall put their hand over their mouth;
Their ears shall be deaf.
They shall lick the dust like a serpent;
They shall crawl from their holes like snakes of the earth.
They shall be afraid of the LORD our God,
And shall fear because of You.”
Micah 7:16-17

1. “The nations”

a) Assyria and then Babylon had attacked and destroyed Israel.
b) They had been particularly cruel and brutal towards God’s people.

They had other allies that made their empires very strong.

2. “Shall see and be ashamed of all their might”

a) These nations had been arrogantly conscious of “their might”.
b) But they would now be ashamed of that same might.

3. A description of how they would respond

a) “They shall put their hand over their mouth”

They would no longer be boasting about their power and their conquests.

b) “Their ears shall be deaf”

They would no longer regale each other with their tales of victory.

4. The fall of the arrogant world empires

a) The Assyrian would be defeated by the Babylonians.
b) The Babylonians would be defeated by the Medes and the Persians.
c) They would in turn be defeated by the Greeks.
d) The last world-empire would be the Romans.

5. They are well-compared

a) To serpents that lick the dust.
b) To snakes that crawl on the earth.

6. “They shall be afraid of the LORD our God, and shall fear because of You”

a) They would recognize the power of the LORD in their defeat.
b) They would then be terribly afraid of the LORD and His truly awesome divine might.