Today, I would like to share with you about the unconditional love of God, and I am going to do so from the chapter 7 of the prophet Micah. Micah was a prophet in Judah and a contemporary of Isaiah. Micah ministered from around 750-700 B.C. It was during Micah’s ministry that the Northern Kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians and the Southern Kingdom of Judah almost fell to the Assyrians as well. Judah was preserved because of the miraculous intervention of the Lord. It was a time of upheaval and uncertainty.

Micah rebuked the ungodly behavior of those in Judah. He foretold God’s severe judgment upon those who were unrepentant. The majority of the people were rebellious and idolatrous. They were headed for divine judgment through the Babylonian empire, which would arrive in 605 B.C., almost 100 years after Micah’s ministry. Listen to Micah’s words, “Therefore I strike you with a grievous blow, making you desolate because of your sins. You shall eat, but not be satisfied, and there shall be hunger within you; you shall put away, but not preserve, and what you preserve I will give to the sword. You shall sow, but not reap; you shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil; you shall tread grapes, but not drink wine” (Mic. 6:13–15). This is how serious the Lord takes the sin of his people.

You may be wondering, “What does this have to do with the unconditional love of God?” Micah also prophesied of the coming Messiah (Mic. 5:2-4). He spoke of the future Kingdom age when the Messiah will reign on the earth and there will be peace on earth (Mic. 4:1-5). This brings us to the unconditional love of God toward his people. Micah 7:18-20 reads, “Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.” The Lord established a covenant with Israel to be their God and they will be his people. When the Lord God makes promises, he keeps his promises. So, even though he would bring judgment after Micah’s time that would destroy Jerusalem and take Judah into captivity as prisoners of war in Babylon, the Lord would promise a New Covenant (Jer. 31) that would result in forgiveness of sin and reconciliation to God. In Christ, we are participants in the New Covenant.

The unconditional love of God toward his people is clearly seen in Micah 7. God’s discipline was coming but Micah declares there is no one who forgives like our God! The Lord’s anger doesn’t continue forever against his covenant people. Why not? Because the Lord delights in unconditional love. Even when the Lord disciplines his people it is grace to us. He disciplines us as our Father (Heb. 12:3-17). Yet, he will again have compassion on his covenant people. The Lord has nailed our record of debt to the cross (Col. 2:13-14). The Lord our God is faithful to his covenant promises. As New Covenant believers in Christ, we have been adopted as sons through Christ (Eph. 1:5) and our Lord has promised he will “never leave [us] or forsake [us]” (Heb. 13:5b).