The Harvest of Thorns Text: Micah 7:1-6
Introduction: When the Orchard is Bare
We come now to the judgment section of the final cycle in Micah's prophecy. And as is fitting for a final word of judgment, the language is stark, the picture is bleak, and the diagnosis is terminal. Micah is not simply pointing out a few bad apples in the barrel. He is declaring that the entire orchard has failed. The harvest is over, the barns are empty, and the land is filled with predators.
This is a difficult passage. It is a lament, a woe pronounced by the prophet, not with vindictive glee, but with a broken heart. This is what sin does. This is the end result of covenant unfaithfulness. When a people abandons God, He abandons them to the consequences of their own choices. And the consequences are not merely spiritual; they are societal. The rot starts in the heart, but it works its way out into the marketplace, the courthouse, and the family dinner table. When men forget God, they forget how to be men. When a nation turns its back on the ultimate standard of righteousness, it loses all the lesser standards as well.
We live in a time that desperately needs to hear this word. Our culture is drunk on the wine of expressive individualism. We are told that the path to flourishing is to look within, to trust our hearts, to define our own truth. Micah shows us the end of that road. It is a barren field. It is a social landscape where every man is a hunter, and his brother is the prey. It is a world where the most basic human relationships, the most fundamental bonds of trust, have completely dissolved. When you unplug a lamp from the wall, it does not become a "free" lamp; it becomes a dark and useless lamp. When a society unplugs itself from God, it does not become a "free" society; it becomes a corrupt, chaotic, and cannibalistic society.
Micah's lament is not just an ancient artifact. It is a mirror. As we look into this text, we will see a startlingly accurate reflection of our own times. But we must not despair. Micah's woe is not the final word. The prophet hits rock bottom here precisely so that he can look up. This description of total societal collapse is the necessary prelude to the declaration of total trust in God that follows. But first, we must have the courage to look unflinchingly at the ruin that sin produces.
The Text
Woe is me! For I am Like the fruit pickers, like the grape gatherers. There is not a cluster of grapes to eat, Or a first-ripe fig which my soul desires. The holy one has perished from the land, And there is no upright person among men. All of them lie in wait for bloodshed; Each of them hunts the other with a net. Concerning evil, both hands do it well. The prince asks, also the judge, for a payment, And a great man speaks the craving of his soul; So they weave it together. The best of them is like a briar, The most upright like a thorn hedge. The day when you post your watchmen, Your punishment will come. At that time their panic will happen. Do not believe in a neighbor; Do not have confidence in a close companion. From her who lies in your bosom Guard the openings of your mouth. For son treats father as a wicked fool; Daughter rises up against her mother, Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; A man’s enemies are the men of his own household.
(Micah 7:1-6 LSB)
A Spiritual Famine (v. 1-2)
The prophet begins with a personal cry of anguish, speaking for the nation.
"Woe is me! For I am Like the fruit pickers, like the grape gatherers. There is not a cluster of grapes to eat, Or a first-ripe fig which my soul desires. The holy one has perished from the land, And there is no upright person among men. All of them lie in wait for bloodshed; Each of them hunts the other with a net." (Micah 7:1-2 LSB)
Micah's "Woe is me!" is the cry of a man surveying a spiritual wasteland. The land has been harvested, but it was a harvest of judgment. He walks through the vineyard of Israel, looking for a single cluster of grapes, a single ripe fig, a single righteous man, and finds nothing. The devastation is total. God has gleaned the land, and nothing of spiritual value remains. This is not just a bad season; it is a catastrophic crop failure.
He states the problem directly in verse 2: "The holy one has perished from the land." The Hebrew word here is hasid, the godly, the faithful, the covenant-keeper. They are gone. "There is no upright person among men." The righteous man, the one you could do business with on a handshake, has become extinct. This is a picture of what theologians call total depravity. This does not mean that every man is as wicked as he could possibly be, but rather that sin has corrupted every part of human nature and every corner of society. There is no part of the culture that remains untouched by the rot.
And what fills the vacuum when righteousness disappears? Predation. "All of them lie in wait for bloodshed; Each of them hunts the other with a net." Society has reverted to a state of nature, red in tooth and claw. Human beings are no longer seen as image-bearers of God to be loved and served, but as resources to be exploited or obstacles to be eliminated. The net is a picture of treachery and deceit. Business deals, political alliances, friendships, all become traps. Everyone is hunting everyone else. It is a society of universal suspicion, because it is a society of universal corruption.
Systemic Corruption (v. 3-4)
The rot is not just at the individual level; it has become systemic. It has captured the institutions.
"Concerning evil, both hands do it well. The prince asks, also the judge, for a payment, And a great man speaks the craving of his soul; So they weave it together. The best of them is like a briar, The most upright like a thorn hedge. The day when you post your watchmen, Your punishment will come. At that time their panic will happen." (Micah 7:3-4 LSB)
The phrase "both hands do it well" is a striking image of practiced, skilled wickedness. They are not clumsy amateurs in their sin; they are diligent, energetic, and efficient. They pursue evil with the same kind of focused industry that a craftsman brings to his trade. And this corruption runs from the top down. The prince, the ruler, demands a bribe. The judge sells his verdicts to the highest bidder. The "great man," the wealthy and influential, simply has to state his desire, and the corrupt system makes it happen. "So they weave it together." This is a conspiracy of wickedness, a web of corruption where the political, judicial, and economic powers collude to exploit the common man. Justice is for sale, and only the rich and powerful can afford it.
The result is that even the "best" people are dangerous. "The best of them is like a briar, The most upright like a thorn hedge." If you try to get close to them, if you try to deal with them, you will get hurt. They are prickly, defensive, and sharp. There is no trust, no softness, no grace. Even the most seemingly "upright" man will tear you to pieces if you get in his way. This is what happens when a culture loses its fear of God. Men become fearsome to one another.
But this state of affairs will not last. "The day when you post your watchmen, Your punishment will come." The day of accountability is coming. The watchmen are the prophets God sends, and their warnings have been ignored. Therefore, the visitation, the punishment, is now inevitable. And when it comes, it will bring panic and perplexity. All their carefully woven nets of corruption will unravel at once. Their briar patches and thorn hedges will be set on fire. The wicked think they are clever, but their cleverness is foolishness before God.
The Collapse of the Family (v. 5-6)
The final stage of this societal disintegration is the most intimate and tragic. The poison of sin seeps into the most basic unit of society: the family.
"Do not believe in a neighbor; Do not have confidence in a close companion. From her who lies in your bosom Guard the openings of your mouth. For son treats father as a wicked fool; Daughter rises up against her mother, Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; A man’s enemies are the men of his own household." (Micah 7:5-6 LSB)
When a culture is this far gone, you cannot trust anyone. Not your neighbor. Not your best friend. Not even your own wife. The circle of trust shrinks to one person: yourself. And even that is a fool's hope. Micah's warning to "guard the openings of your mouth" from the wife of your bosom is a devastating picture of the breakdown of the most intimate covenant relationship on earth. The one person who should be your closest ally is now a potential informant, a possible enemy.
And the generational lines of authority and affection are severed. "Son treats father as a wicked fool." The fifth commandment is not just broken; it is inverted. The son despises his father's authority and wisdom. The daughter rebels against her mother. The home, which is meant to be a haven of peace, becomes a hotbed of insurrection. The conflict between daughter-in-law and mother-in-law, a common enough point of friction, becomes open warfare. The conclusion is terrifying in its simplicity: "A man’s enemies are the men of his own household." The battle lines are drawn right through the living room.
It is no accident that the Lord Jesus quotes this very passage from Micah when He describes the effects of His own coming. "For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother... And a person's enemies will be those of his own household" (Matthew 10:35-36). Jesus is the great divider. He brings a sword. Loyalty to Him must supersede all other loyalties, even family. In a corrupt and dying culture, the gospel forces a choice. When Christ enters a family, some will bow the knee and others will rebel. The gospel brings the latent enmity of the ungodly to the surface. Jesus knew that in a world like Micah's, and a world like ours, the introduction of true righteousness would cause the briars and thorns to lash out.
Conclusion: The Only Hope in the Rubble
This is a grim picture. It is a portrait of a civilization that has come completely unglued. There is no fruit of righteousness, only a harvest of thorns. The leadership is corrupt, the people are predators, and the families are at war with themselves. So what is the answer? Political reform? A new economic system? Better education?
No. The problem is sin, and the only answer is God. Micah paints this picture of utter desolation for a reason. When you have looked through the entire vineyard and found not one good grape, when you have realized that you cannot trust your leaders, your neighbors, your friends, or even your own family, you are finally driven to the only place where trust can be safely placed. You are driven outside of the whole corrupt system, outside of yourself, and you are forced to look up.
That is precisely what Micah does in the very next verse. "But as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; My God will hear me" (Micah 7:7). This is the great turning point. When human society has become a barren field of briars, the only sane response is to fix your eyes on the God who is a consuming fire. He is the one who can burn away the thorns and make the vineyard fruitful again.
The societal collapse described by Micah is the natural and inevitable fruit of idolatry. But for the remnant, for those who have eyes to see, this collapse is a severe mercy. It strips away all false hopes and earthly confidences, leaving us with nothing and no one to trust but God alone. And when we are brought to that point, we are at the very beginning of true reformation. The world may be a barren wasteland, but for the one who waits for the God of his salvation, there is always a fig tree of hope, and its fruit is Christ Himself.