Micah 7:5

"Trust ye not in a neighbor; put ye not confidence in a friend; keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom. For the son dishonoreth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man's enemies are the men of his own house."

"Passion and sin break every band of friendship, kindred, gratitude, and nature."[12] So it was in the times of the gospel persecutions. "A man's foes are they of his own household" (Matthew 10:35-36; Luke 12:53). McKeating observed that these words would be applicable to "any seriously troubled times."[13] Certainly, it was the great crisis brought about by the total defeat of Israel that lay at the heart of the conditions indicated here. "This is the condition that developed in the midst of the punishment and confusion."[14] "It was an unnatural breakdown of cohesion in the home, the microcosm of society."[15] Before leaving these verses, a comment like that by Wolfe should be noted:

When any person gets the idea that he is the only good person remaining alive, he drifts into a detachment from his fellows and thereby forfeits all possibility of rendering further usefulness.[16]

Such a view should be rejected, because Micah was not merely venting his prejudice in these lines, but conveying to men the words of God. The indictment, therefore, was not of Micah, but of the Lord. Moreover, it would be impossible to apply such a comment to Christ who used these very words. Furthermore, Paul himself declared that "There is none righteous, no not one" (Romans 3:10ff).