Micah 7:1-7 Jerusalem’s social structures break apart

Wait for the God of Salvation

7:1 Woe is me! For I have become
as when the summer fruit has been gathered,
as when the grapes have been gleaned:
there is no cluster to eat,
no first-ripe fig that my soul desires.
2 The godly has perished from the earth,
and there is no one upright among mankind;
they all lie in wait for blood,
and each hunts the other with a net.
3 Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well;
the prince and the judge ask for a bribe,
and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul;
thus they weave it together.
4 The best of them is like a brier,
the most upright of them a thorn hedge.
The day of your watchmen, of your punishment, has come;
now their confusion is at hand.
5 Put no trust in a neighbor;
have no confidence in a friend;
guard the doors of your mouth
from her who lies in your arms; [1]
6 for the son treats the father with contempt,
the daughter rises up against her mother,
the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
a man's enemies are the men of his own house.
7 But as for me, I will look to the Lord;
I will wait for the God of my salvation;
my God will hear me.

1 Micah commences his lament with the tell–tale sign of sorrow, What misery is mine! The reason reads as an accusation: there are no up–right officials (1b-4). In an allegory the prophet, who represents God, enters his vineyard in summer (i.e. June) looking for the first ripe cluster of grapes and the early figs from the trees that grow among the vines, but finds none for vandals have stripped it clean.
2 The vineyard is the house of Israel (cf. Is. 5:1-7; Ps. 80:8-16) and the fruit is godly men (i.e. men who keep the covenant). The allegory (1) and its interpretation (2) are linked by none and not one, both rendering the same Hebrew word. Micah now specifies the crimes of all men (i.e. the decadent judges of v 3 who oppress their innocent victims). He likens them to hunters who lie in wait (use underhand practices) and hunt... with a net (are effectively deadly; cf. 2:1-2; 3:1-3, 9-11).
3 He elaborates the hunting theme. Both hands (the judges and the king) are skilled in doing evil (i.e. in making the deadly net). The ruler and the judge probably mean the magistrates and the powerful (lit. ‘the great one’), the corrupt king over them. They not only fail to turn a blind eye to the bribe (Ex. 23:8; Dt. 10:17), but they all conspire together to wring it out of their brothers. 4a The best of them is like a brier... worse than a thorn hedge. By obstructing justice these stubbornly complacent and indifferent magistrates frustrate and hurt those seeking justice. What irony to call them upright!
    4b The lament now abruptly shifts from accusation to judgment. Your watchmen (i.e. look–outs posted on a city’s wall to warn of approaching danger; Is. 21:6) are Israel’s true prophets who announced a day of judgment (2:6; 3:8; Am. 5:18-20). Because the nation paid no heed to these faithful sentinels (2:6-11; 3:5-6; Is. 30:10; Ho. 9:7-8; Am. 2:12), the day God visits them in judgment has now come (Is. 10:3; Ho. 9:7). The Assyrian invasion will throw the nation into panic and confusion (cf. Is. 22:5). 5-6 Specific illustrations of the confusion, the social anarchy, in the besieged city are now given (cf. Is. 3:4-7). 5 The strongest ties of social solidarity—neighbour and friend (5a), loving wife in your embrace (5b)—will break apart under the strain of the siege. A person must not confide to his most intimate companion how he hopes to cope with the crisis, otherwise the companion will [p. 831]
abuse it for his own survival. 6 Indeed, the closest members of his own household will disdainfully rise up as enemies against one another to save their own skins. The coming of Jesus Christ brought the same divisions (Mt. 10:35-39; Lk. 12:53).
    7 The prophet swings his song from black lament to bright confidence by But as for me... Whereas before he watched for judgment (4), now he will watch in hope for the LORD to save him and the righteous remnant. Basing himself squarely on the covenantal promises to Abraham (20; Gn. 17:7, 19; cf. Dt. 30:1-10), Micah will confidently wait for God his Saviour who will hear him.