We see great evidence all around us that God exists. We observe God’s existence in creation. We sense it in our spirit. Our soul testifies to the existence of One greater than us. We also see the evidence of sin and the consequences of sin. Daily, we see evil all around us. The existence of evil in the world brings great anguish and questions from many skeptics and sincere seekers alike. One main question is: What is God like? What is His nature? Micah chapter 7 gives only a part of the answer but it is a terrific partial answer. Micah uses a wordplay on his own name to teach us about the character and nature of God. What a beautiful lesson it is. The name Micah means: “Who is like Jehovah?” Micah uses his own name in verse 18 of chapter 7. Micah 7:18-20 asks a rhetorical question and then answers it, “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. You will be true to Jacob, and show mercy to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our fathers in days long ago.” NIV
Micah begins by hinting at the obvious; there is no God like the God of the Bible; in fact we are told elsewhere that there is no other god at all. Next, Micah points out that only the God of the Bible pardons sin and forgives the transgressions of His people. Note that Micah assumes the reader’s understanding that God’s people are few, a Remnant saved by God’s divine intervention. Micah also assumes that the reader understands that God’s people are His inheritance. That is certainly an idea you will never find in any other religion. No other religion claims its believers as the heritage, the treasure, the inheritance of God. Micah does not stop there; he goes on to say that even though God gets angry with His disobedient children, He does not stay angry forever. Rather, God delights to show mercy, steadfast and faithful love. No other religion claims a god who not only gives mercy but in fact delights to show mercy.
Micah goes on to tell us that God puts our sins under His feet and walks on them. God goes further. He doesn’t simply drop our iniquities into the ocean; He hurls our repeated, gross immoralities not just away from us, but into the depths of the sea. No other religion claims such a god, who takes our failures, shortcomings, sins and puts them where they can never be seen or felt or heard from again. Micah continues with a contrast between God and His people. God’s people have repeatedly been faithless. They have over and over again rebelled against Him and chased after other gods. In sharp contrast, God has remained faithful and true from the first day of His covenant promise even until now. No matter what we have done, God stands ready to forgive. In fact He delights to show mercy, that is what God is like.