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Micah, the Prophet of Unchanging Love, part 7

Speaking of the future time of peace under Christ’s rule, Micah 4:4, 5 tells us,

⁴ Each of them will sit under his vine and under his fig tree, with no one to make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. ⁵ Though all the peoples walk each in the name of his god, as for us, we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.

This pictures people living in full security with nothing to threaten them with harm or theft. It is the result of the mountain of the Lord being established in the earth. This is a promise of God, and so this is part of the New Covenant. Micah 4:6, 7 says,

⁶ “In that day,” declares the Lord, “I will assemble the lame and gather the outcasts, even those whom I have afflicted. ⁷ I will make the lame a remnant and the outcasts a strong nation, and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion from now on and forever.”

Micah’s imagery appears to be derived from the story of Jacob. When he wrestled with the angel, he became lame (Genesis 32:25). Yet in his weakness, he was given a new name—Israel—as a personal testimony that he now understood the sovereignty of God. Becoming an Israelite by experience made him part of the remnant of grace.

So Micah speaks of assembling the lame, “even those whom I have afflicted.” In the story of Jacob we find that the angel was responsible for Jacob’s disability. The time of Jacob’s distress (working for Laban) ended with this wrestling match. But his experience prophesied of a greater time of distress (tribulation), primarily dating from the capture of Jerusalem in 604 B.C. This began the time of the great tribulation that has lasted to the present day.

The promise of God makes it clear that this tribulation, ruled by various beast empires, was to end at some point. When it ends, God says, “I will make the lame a remnant.” Paul’s comments on the remnant of grace in Romans 11:1-7 indicate that the remnant was only a small minority of the Israelites in the days of Elijah. These are truly God’s “chosen” people (Romans 11:7). Micah tells us that God will build “a strong nation” from this remnant.

Needless to say, this remnant is qualified only by their faith in Jesus Christ and their faithfulness to Him. The “strong nation” is not the modern Israeli state that rejects Christ. It is the nation of the overcomers from every tribe and nation and tongue (Revelation 5:9).

Prophecy to Judah

Micah then turns his attention to Judah itself. Micah 4:9, 10 says,

⁹ “Now, why do you cry out loudly? Is there no King among you? Or has your counselor perished, that agony has gripped you like a woman in childbirth? ¹⁰ Writhe and labor to give birth, Daughter of Zion, like a woman in childbirth; for now you will go out of the city, dwell in the field, and go to Babylon. There you will be rescued; there the Lord will redeem you from the hand of your enemies.”

Just as childbirth is preceded by travail, so also Judah must go into travail (tribulation) in order to bring forth her Son. Micah says that the people of Judah “will go out of the city, dwell in the field, and go to Babylon.” This is remarkable, since the main enemy at that time was Assyria, not Babylon. Recall that God delivered Jerusalem from the Assyrians, but a century later, the city was taken, and the people were deported to Babylon.

In the short-term fulfillment, this captivity was 70 years, after which time God redeemed them through the edict of Cyrus. Yet the actual deliverance from childbirth pointed to the birth of Christ in Bethlehem during the Roman era. Rome was the fourth beast empire in the Babylonian succession of empires. Hence, from a legal perspective, Christ was born in Babylon, and this fulfilled the Dominion Mandate given to Judah in Genesis 49:10.

The northern tribes of Israel, led by the tribes of Joseph, were given the Fruitfulness Mandate—known biblically as the Birthright (Genesis 49:22; 1 Chronicles 5:1, 2). This is the right of birth given to the sons of God. The message of Sonship gives the remnant overcomers the hope of the redemption of the body (Romans 8:23).

As for Judah’s calling to bring forth the Messiah-King, Micah introduces this topic to us here, but he will have more to say about it a few verses later in Micah 5:2.

The Thresher

Micah 4:11, 12 says,

¹¹ “And now many nations have been assembled against you who say, ‘Let her be polluted, and let our eyes gloat over Zion.’ ¹² But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord, and they do not understand His purpose; for He has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.”

When he says, “and now,” the prophet spoke of the present in his day where the Assyrians and their allies had come to conquer Israel. Those nations did not understand that they had been raised up by God Himself to bring judgment upon Israel. Neither did they realize that they had also been gathered for destruction. After deporting the Israelites, the Assyrians surrounded Jerusalem and demanded its surrender. But instead, Hezekiah prayed, and an angel of the Lord destroyed 185,000 Assyrian troops (2 Kings 19:35). The king returned to Assyria in disgrace.

Micah prophesies this in Micah 4:13,

¹³ “Arise and thresh, daughter of Zion, for your horn I will make iron and your hoofs I will make bronze, that you may pulverize many peoples, that you may devote to the Lord their unjust gain and their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.”

The original Zion in Jerusalem pulverized the Assyrian army by the hand of the angel, but this is addressed to the “daughter of Zion.” So it is an end-time prophecy. It is not the original Zion but a prophetic Zion. In my view it speaks of Mount Sion, that is, Mount Hermon (Deuteronomy 4:48), where Jesus was transfigured just north of Caesarea Philippi. This has become the mount that we as believers have gathered to rally around King Jesus (Hebrews 12:22 KJV).

Mount Sion too will “pulverize many peoples,” probably not in a literal sense but by overcoming their power. The purpose for this is to “devote to the Lord their unjust gain.” The Babylonian system today has robbed and plundered the common people and has stolen that which belongs to God Himself. That wealth must be claimed and used to build Christ’s Kingdom.