Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Micah 7:18-20
Micah Closes His Prophecy With The Assurance of What God Will Do For His People. (Micah 7:18).
As his prophecy comes to its close Micah continues by exulting in God's pardoning goodness and in His compassionate mercy. In this message he is very much in parallel with Isaiah. See Isaiah 43:25; Isaiah 44:22. Then he declares His confidence and certainty that God will fulfil to His true people all the promises He has made to their fathers. He is to be seen both as the great Forgiver, and as the great keeper of His promises.
Who is a God like unto you,
Who pardons iniquity,
And passes over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage?
He retains not his anger for ever,
Because he delights in lovingkindness.
Firstly He stresses the pardoning goodness of God, and asks what other god is like YHWH, who pardons men's inbred sin, and passes over the failings and disobedience of what will remain of His heritage after His judgments. Notice that the forgiveness is to the remnant. The unrighteous have been dealt with and removed.
And this is because He does not retain His anger for ever, because He delights in true and genuine covenant love. God's sovereign purpose of mercy for His people had been revealed at Sinai (Exodus 19:5; Exodus 20:1) and means that in the end mercy must triumph over judgment, because of what He is. But this can nevertheless only be, once He has purged His people and brought judgment on the wicked. His wrath against sin must first be removed.
He will again have compassion on us,
He will tread our iniquities under foot,
And you will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
So He will again have compassion on His people, will tread their inner sins under his foot as so much refuse, and will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. All that stood against them will be removed for ever as they go forward into the everlasting kingdom.
‘You will perform the truth to Jacob,
And the lovingkindness to Abraham,
Which you have sworn to our fathers,
From the days of old.
Thus will He fulfil the promises that He made to the fathers in the days of old. He will demonstrate His truthfulness of nature towards Jacob (and his descendants), and He will demonstrate His lovingkindness and compassion (covenant love) towards Abraham, in the way that He swore to them in the days of old. He will prove faithful to all that He has promised. Thus does Micah finish with an indication that God will be fully vindicated.
Notice finally the promises of grace and truth. The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:17).