Israel in exile speaks like a child who has finally stopped lying. "Master of the Universe, at first I said 'I have not sinned,' and You brought suffering upon me. Now I say: I have sinned. Have mercy on me" (Micah 7:9). The confession is the turning point. Not the suffering itself — suffering that remains unacknowledged just accumulates. It is the moment the assembly of Israel admits what it already knows that changes everything.
The midrash opens a strange conversation. God sent Israel into exile. Israel asked, "Who gave Jacob to the despoilment?" The answer, from (Isaiah 42:24), is devastating: "Was it not the Lord, against whom we sinned?" Israel wanted someone to blame other than themselves. The exile kept insisting: look at your own hands. This is the covenant's hardest clause — that the people who know God most intimately are held accountable with the most precision.
Noah sits quietly behind this passage as a type. He too endured a kind of exile — sealed in wood while the world was destroyed, bearing the weight of what humanity had done. The promise God made afterward, the rainbow covenant, wasn't just about water. It was about the structure of divine patience: punishment has an end, mercy is the final word. The assembly of Israel in exile knew this. They had the Torah. They knew the flood ended. They knew the door would open again. They waited — not passively, but in the posture of confession, which the rabbis called the beginning of return.
Chapter 11: Prophets [1] "The Lord's wrath I will bear [for I have sinned against Him]" (Micah 7:9). As it says, "I acknowledged my sin to You, and so on" (Psalm 32:5), the assembly of Israel said before the Holy One, blessed be He: "Master of the Universe, at first I said, 'I have not sinned,' and You brought suffering upon me, as it says, 'Now I will bring charges against you [because you say, "I have not sinned"]." (Jeremiah 2:35). But now I say, 'I have sinned, have mercy on me,' as it is written, 'The Lord's wrath I will bear, for I have sinned against Him,' and so on" (Micah 7:9). And when I went into exile, they said to me, "Who gave Jacob to the despoilment [and Israel to the plunderers]?" (Isaiah 42:24), "I said, isn't it God, we have sinned against Him" and so on (Isaiah 42:24). Even now I say, "For I have sinned against Him," and so on (Micah 7:9), for confession is pleasing to me, as it says, "He who conceals his sins will not succeed, but he who confesses and abandons them will find mercy" (Proverbs 28:13). When David committed that act and Nathan the prophet came and rebuked him, and David said to him, "I have sinned greatly in, what I have done" (2 Samuel 12:13), what did Nathan say to him? "The Lord has taken away your sin, you shall not die" (2 Samuel 12:13). And what did [Bathsheba] ask for? She said to him, "Just as you have brought Noah out of the darkness into the light, do the same for me, [bring me out into the light and I will see His righteousness]" (Micah 7:9). He said to her, "And so I will do." And once he heard this, he began to say, "Do not rejoice over me, my enemy," and so on (Micah 7:8). [2] Different interpretation: "God's anger I will raise." There are those who were struck and kicked, and there are those who were struck and asked their father why this belt is hanging on them. And there are those who said to their father, "Why is this belt hanging on me?" There are those who were struck and kicked, and this is Job, for when Satan struck him, he began to cry out, "Remove your rod from me, and let not dread of you terrify me." (Job 9:34). And I speak and am not afraid, as it says (I will speak) [I will speak up] and not be afraid, etc. (Job 9:35). A parable about Isratyotus (Suldaat in Greek) who became a thief. "The Holy One, Blessed be He, said: I have examined this and that, and all of the diseases come from Egypt. Similarly, Job's friends said to him: You have lost your hope (lepīs in Greek), which means expectation and hope", You said (I will speak) and we did not fear; they said, "Is it possible that you are speaking and not afraid?" The first human being, formed in the image and likeness of the Almighty, was unable to withstand hearing His voice, as it is said, "And they heard the voice of the Lord God" (Genesis 3:8).But when my wife wants to say to me, "So bless/curse God and die," (Job 2:9) I said to her, "Speak like one of the foolish women," etc. (Job 2:10). Therefore, (I will speak) [I will speak up] and not be afraid, for I am not like myself, I am not like the man who said",(Job 9:35) "The woman You gave me," etc. (Genesis 3:12). They said to him, "But Abraham heard Your words and could not stand," as it says, "And he fell on his face," etc. (Genesis 17:3), and so did Balaam fall and his eyes were open (Numbers 24:4). Even we hear His words and fall and you speak against Him and are not afraid, we are not like you," he said to them, "My heart is like yours, and I do not fall from you," etc. (Job 12:3). This is a story about King Hezekiah who became sick and turned his face towards the wall, as it says "And Hezekiah turned his face towards the wall" (Isaiah 38:2). It is said "remember now" (Isaiah 38:3), and what does "remember now" mean? When Israel sinned, God sent burning serpents upon them, and when they cried out to Moses, God told him to make a bronze serpent (Numbers 21:8-9). Whoever looked upon it would be healed. Hezekiah saw that Israel was committing sins and said, "Now anyone who needs to be healed will go to this and leave God." So, he destroyed the bronze serpent (2 Kings 18:4). The people asked him, "What are you doing? What Moses established, you are abolishing?" He replied, "Whoever needs to be healed should look up to God and be healed," as it says, "Look to Him and be radiant, so that your faces may never be ashamed" (Psalm 34:6). Likewise, it says, "There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him" (2 Kings 18:5), "This is the one who cried out and asked his father. And who is the one who said to his father, 'Why is this strap hanging from me?' These are the Israelites, who said to God, 'You have dealt harshly with Your people' (Micah 7:14) and also said, 'I will raise up the Lord's anger...I will see His righteousness' (Micah 7:9)."
