Who is a God - (and, as the word means, A Mighty God,) like unto Thee? He saith not, "Who hast made heaven and earth, the sea and all that therein is" Exodus 20:11; nor, "Who telleth the number of the stars; and calleth them all by their names" Psalm 147:4; nor, "Who by His strength setteth fast the mountains and is girded about with power" Psalm 65:6; but who forgivest! For greater is the work of Redemption than the work of Creation. "That pardoneth", and beareth and taketh away also, "and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage", that is, His heritage, which is a remnant still when "the rest are blinded" Romans 11:7; and this, not of its merits but of His mercy; since it is not His nature to "retain His anger forever"; not for anything in them, but "because He delighteth in mercy", as He saith, "I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger forever" Jeremiah 3:12. "I am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for Mine oum sake, and will not remember thy sins" Isaiah 43:25. : "For although God for a time is angry with His elect, chastening them mercifully in this life, yet in the end He hath compassion on them, giving them everlasting consolations."

Moses, after the completion of his people's deliverance at the Red Sea, used the like appeal to God, in unmingled joy. Then the thanksgiving ran, "glorious in holiness, awful in praises, doing wonders" Exodus 15:11. Now, it ran in a more subdued, yet even deeper, tone, taken from God's revelation of Himself after that great transgression on Mount Sinai "forgiving iniquity and trasgression and sin". With this, Micah identified his own name . This was the one message which he loved above all to proclaim; of this, his own name was the herald to his people in his day. who is like the Lord, the Pardoner of sin, the Redeemer from its guilt, the Subduer of its power? For no false god was ever such a claim made. The pagan gods were symbols of God's workings in nature; they were, at best, representatives of His government and of His displeasure at sin. But, being the creatures of man's mind, they could hot freely pardon, for man dared not ascribe to them the attribute of a freely-pardoning mercy, for which be dared not hope. Who is a God like to Thee, mighty, not only to destroy but to pardon? is the wondering thanksgiving of time, the yet greater amazement of eternity, as eternity shall unveil the deep blackness of sin over-against the light of God, and we, seeing God, as He Is, shall see what that Holiness is, against Which we sinners sinned, The soul, which is truly penitent, never wearies of the wondering love, who is a God like unto Thee?

Who is a God like unto thee, etc - Here is a challenge to all idol worshippers, and to all those who take false views of the true God, to show his like. See his characters; they are immediately subjoined.

1. He pardoneth iniquity. This is the prerogative of God alone; of that Being who alone has power to save or to destroy.

2. He passeth by transgression. He can heal backsliding, and restore them that are fallen.

3. He retaineth not his anger forever. Though, justly displeased because of sin, he pours out his judgments upon the wicked; yet when they return to him, he shows "that he retaineth not his anger forever," but is indescribably ready to save them.

4. He delighteth in mercy. Judgment is his strange work: he is ever more ready to save than to destroy. Nothing can please him better than having the opportunity, from the return and repentance of the sinner, to show him that mercy without which he must perish everlastingly.

5. Because he is such a God -

1. "He will turn again." His face has been long turned from us, because of our sins.

2. "He will have compassion upon us" pity our state, and feel for our sorrows.

3. "He will subdue our iniquities." Though they have been mighty, he will bring them down, and bruise them under our feet.

4. "He will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea." Will fully pardon them, and never more remember them against us. Instead of חטאתם chattotham, Their sins, five MSS. of Kennicott's and De Rossi's, with the Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, and Arabic read חטאתינו chattotheynu, Our sins. He will plunge them into eternal oblivion, never more to come into sight or remembrance; like a stone dropped into the "depths of the sea."

Who is a God like unto thee,.... There is no God besides him, none so great, so mighty, as he; none like him for the perfections of his nature; for the works of his hands; for the blessings of his goodness, both of providence and grace; and particularly for his pardoning grace and mercy, as follows:

that pardoneth iniquity: that "lifts" it up, and "takes" it away, as the word (t) signifies; thus the Lord has taken the sins of his people off of them, and laid them on Christ, and he has bore them, and carried them away, as the antitype of the scapegoat, never to be seen and remembered any more; and whereas the guilt of sin lies sometimes as a heavy burden upon their consciences, he lifts it up, and takes it away, by sprinkling the blood of Christ upon them, and by applying his pardoning grace and mercy to them: pardon of sin is peculiar to God; none can forgive it but he against whom it is committed; forgiveness of sin is with him, promised by him in covenant, proclaimed in Christ, by him obtained and published in the Gospel:

and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? the people of God are his portion, his lot, and his inheritance; they are a remnant according to the election of grace, chosen of God, taken into his covenant, redeemed by Christ, and called by grace, and brought to repent and believe; these God forgives, even all their transgressions, sins, and iniquities of every kind; which is here expressed by another word, "passing them by", or "passing over them": sin is a transgression or passing over the law, and pardon is a passing over sin; God taking no notice of it, as if he saw it not; not imputing it to his people, or calling them to an account for it; or condemning and punishing them according to the desert of it; but hiding his face from it, and covering it:

he retaineth not his anger for ever; that which he seemed to have against his people, and appeared in some of the dispensations of his providence, is not continued and lengthened out, and especially for ever, but it disappears; he changes the course of his providence, and his conduct and behaviour to his people, and, hews them his face and favour, and manifests his forgiving love; which is a turning himself from his anger; see Psalm 85:2;

because he delighteth in mercy; which is natural to him, abundant with him, and exercised according to his sovereign will and pleasure, very delightful to him; he takes pleasure in showing mercy to miserable creatures, and in those that hope in it, Psalm 147:11; this is the spring of pardon, which streams through the blood of Christ.

(t) "tollens", Montanus, Tigurine version, Calvin; "aufercus", Drusius; "qui aufers", Grotius.

"Who is a God like Thee? removing guilt and passing over iniquity to the remnant of His inheritance. He retaineth not His anger for ever, for He delighteth in mercy. Micah 7:19. He will have compassion upon us again, tread down our transgressions; and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Micah 7:20. Mayest Thou show truth to Jacob, mercy to Abraham, which Thou hast sworn to our fathers from the days of old." מי אל כּמוך looks back to Exodus 15:11; but whether Micah also plays upon his own name is doubtful. Like the first redemption of Israel out of Egypt, the second or still more glorious redemption of the people of God furnishes an occasion for praising the incomparable nature of the Lord. But whereas in the former Jehovah merely revealed Himself in His incomparable exaltation above all gods, in the restoration of the nation which had been cast out among the heathen because of its sins, and its exaltation among the nations, He now reveals His incomparable nature in grace and compassion. The words נשׂא עון וגו are formed after Exodus 34:6-7, where the Lord, after the falling away of Israel from Him by the worship of the golden calf, reveals Himself to Moses as a gracious and merciful God, who forgives guilt and sin. But this grace and compassion are only fully revealed in the restoration and blessing of the remnant of His nation by Jesus Christ. (For Micah 7:18, see Psalm 103:9.) As One who delighteth in mercy, He will have compassion upon Israel again (yâshūbh used adverbially, as in Hosea 14:8, etc.), will tread down its sins, i.e., conquer their power and tyranny by His compassion, and cast them into the depths of the sea, as He once conquered the tyrant Pharaoh and drowned him in the depths of the sea (Exodus 15:5, Exodus 15:10). This believing assurance then closes with the prayer (tittēn is optative) that the Lord will give His rescued nation truth and mercy ('ĕmeth and chesed, after Ezekiel 34:6), i.e., give them to enjoy, or bestow upon them, what He had sworn to the patriarchs (Genesis 22:16). Abraham and Jacob are mentioned instead of their family (cf. Isaiah 41:8).

With this lofty praise of the Lord, Micah closes not only the last words, but his whole book. The New Testament parallel, as Hengstenberg has correctly observed, is Romans 11:33-36; and the μυστήριον made known by the apostle in Romans 11:25. gives us a view of the object and end of the ways of the Lord with His people.

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

(s) As though he did not see it, ignoring it.

Margin remnant

See Scofield Note: "Jer 15:21"

18. Grateful at such unlooked-for grace being promised to Israel, Micah breaks forth into praises of Jehovah.

passeth by the transgression-not conniving at it, but forgiving it; leaving it unpunished, as a traveller passes by what he chooses not to look into (Pr 19:11). Contrast Am 7:8, and "mark iniquities," Ps 130:3.

the remnant-who shall be permitted to survive the previous judgment: the elect remnant of grace (Mic 4:7; 5:3, 7, 8).

retaineth not . anger-(Ps 103:9).

delighteth in mercy-God's forgiving is founded on His nature, which delights in loving-kindness, and is averse from wrath.

7:14-20 When God is about to deliver his people, he stirs up their friends to pray for them. Apply spiritually the prophet's prayer to Christ, to take care of his church, as the great Shepherd of the sheep, and to go before them, while they are here in this world as in a wood, in this world but not of it. God promises in answer to this prayer, he will do that for them which shall be repeating the miracles of former ages. As their sin brought them into bondage, so God's pardoning their sin brought them out. All who find pardoning mercy, cannot but wonder at that mercy; we have reason to stand amazed, if we know what it is. When the Lord takes away the guilt of sin, that it may not condemn us, he will break the power of sin, that it may not have dominion over us. If left to ourselves, our sins will be too hard for us; but God's grace shall be sufficient to subdue them, so that they shall not rule us, and then they shall not ruin us. When God forgives sin, he takes care that it never shall be remembered any more against the sinner. He casts their sins into the sea; not near the shore-side, where they may appear again, but into the depth of the sea, never to rise again. All their sins shall be cast there, for when God forgives sin, he forgives all. He will perfect that which concerns us, and with this good work will do all for us which our case requires, and which he has promised. These engagements relate to Christ, and the success of the gospel to the end of time, the future restoration of Israel, and the final prevailing of true religion in all lands. The Lord will perform his truth and mercy, not one jot or tittle of it shall fall to the ground: faithful is He that has promised, who also will do it. Let us remember that the Lord has given the security of his covenant, for strong consolation to all who flee for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before them in Christ Jesus.