Micah 5

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Micah 5:1

DISTRESS AND REDEMPTION. Micah 4:9 to Micah 5:1

RV. Now why doest thou cry out aloud? Is there no king in thee, is thy counsellor perished, that pangs have taken hold of thee as of a woman in travail? Be in pain, and labor to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail; for now shalt thou go forth out of the city; and shalt dwell in the field, and shalt come even unto Babylon: there shalt thou be rescued; there will Jehovah redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies. And now many nations are assembled against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye see our desire upon Zion. But they know not the thoughts of Jehovah, neither understand they his counsel for he hath gathered them as the sheaves to the threshing-floor. Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion; for I will make thy horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass; and thou shalt beat in pieces many peoples: and I will devote their gain unto Jehovah, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth. Now shalt thou gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us; they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek. LXX. And now, why hast thou known calamities? was there not a king to thee? or has thy counsel perished that pangs as of a woman in travail have seized upon thee? Be in pain, and strengthen thyself, and draw near, O daughter of Zion, as a woman in travail: for now thou shalt go forth out of the city, and shalt lodge in the plain, and shalt reach even to Babylon: thence shall the Lord thy God deliver thee, and thence shall he redeem thee out of the hand of thine enemies. And now have many nations gathered against thee, saying, We will rejoice, and our eyes shall look upon Zion. But they know not the thought of the Lord, and have not understood his counsel: for he has gathered them as sheaves of the floor. Arise, and thresh them, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horns iron, and I will make thine hoofs brass: and thou shalt utterly destroy many nations, and shalt consecrate their abundance to the Lord, and their strength to the Lord of all the earth. Now shall the daughter of Zion be completely hedged in: he has laid siege against us: they shall smite the tribes of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.

COMMENTS

WHY DOST THOU CRY ALOUD?. Micah 4:9-10

The term tower of the flock (Micah 4:8) appears also in Genesis 35:16 -ff. There is the record of Rachel, beloved of Jacob, dying in childbirth as they journeyed from Bethel to Bethlehem.

Just as Rachel died in childbirth, so the nation of Israel would die at the hands of Titus (70 A.D.) and Hadrian (135 A.D.) in the height of her Messianic expectancy. First century Israel looked for a king, but could find none. Micah’s question is pertinent, Is there no king in thee? The king would indeed be in her, but she would die in travail without seeing (recognizing) Him just as Rachel died. The nation, even in Micah’s time, in pain would go away into Babylon. there to be rescued. To all outward appearances the Hebrew nation was dead when they were led away into Babylon. In truth, however, it was there they were molded into a people who never again forgot God. True, their national ambition blinded them to the Christ. He was recognized only by the remnant, not the nation. Nevertheless, there is a real sense in which Micah can truly use the plural, both the remnant and the nation (Micah 5:7) shall be ruled over by Jehovah.

In all this, Micah is looking beyond the Assyrian Dynasty to the supremacy of Babylon, and through Babylon to the Persians, and beyond Persia to the Messianic Age.

(Micah 5:11) It is the prophet’s purpose in these verses to return to the warnings of Mic 3:12, Before there can be a national restoration and a deliverance of the remnant there must be the captivity.

Having projected hope which lay nearly two centuries in the future in its first instance* i.e.* the deliverance from Babylon, and some eight centuries in the future in its Messianic fulfillment, Micah returns in Micah 5:11 to the situation immediately before him. Between the present and the blessed future was an array of enemies bent on Israel’s destruction.

In Micah’s own time the Assyrians dominated the international scene, They would wipe out the northern kingdom and in their turn be replaced by Babylon. Babylon would enslave the southern kingdom, only to be destroyed by the Persians. The Medo-Persians would themselves yield to Alexander and the Greeks. Against the oppression of the Greeks would rises a blood bath known to history as The Maccabean Period, including a Jewish civil war, to be ended only by Roman occupation.

(Micah 4:12 to Micah 5:1.) This array of foreign powers who, from the beginning of recorded history, have used the land of Israel as a military pawn and buffer state have reckoned without God’s thought and counsel. He has gathered them, i.e. the nations arrayed against Israel, as sheves to the threshing floor. Jerusalem, daughter of Zion, is called to arise and thresh. Jehovah will make her horn iron and her hoofs brass.

Thus, against the figure of oxen treading out grain, God promises power which will beat many people in pieces. Nothing in history to date, fully accords with the prediction. The only period of history since Micah in which Israel has had any military power was the Maccabean period of victory over Antiochus Epiphanes and that victory was on nothing like the scale indicated here in the threshing of many nations.

To find the fulfillment of this prophecy, we must look to more recent history. We have previously referred to Romans 11 in reference to the first group here presented by Micah i.e., the true Israel, the covenant people called the remnant. But what of the cast off ones who are to become a strong nation to whom the former dominion shall come?

It is concerning them that Paul writes as touching the Gospel, they are enemies for your (Christians) sake, but as touching the election, they are beloved for the father’s sake. For the gifts and calling of God are not repented of. For as ye in time past were disobedient to God, but now have obtained mercy by their disobedience, even so have these also now been disobedient, that by the mercy shown you they also may now obtain mercy. (Romans 11:24 -ff) (See Don DeWelt, Romans Realized, p. 174-f)

The Jews are precious to Jehovah because of His past relations with them. There is little doubt that the Bible predicts another period of national life and prosperity. To recognize this ought, not, however, to engender in us such earthly, material and sordid hopes as proved their undoing in the rejection of Christ two thousand years ago. Whatever is in store for the Jewish nation in terms of earthly identity, it can in no way preclude the longing of God and His church to win them to Christ.

It is my opinion that in our day, which is called the latter days, the time of the Messiah (Cp. Micah 4:1; Micah 4:6), we are seeing the fulfillment of Micah 4:9 to Micah 5:1 in the present history of the Israeli nation. As we have previously indicated, no time in the interval between Micah and the present has met the fullness of this passage. From Assyria to now many nations have been assembled against the Jews (Micah 5:11). In all this historic desire to see these people defiled, the nations have not considered God’s will nor known His counsel (Micah 5:12). The present Arab-Russian-Chinese coalition against modern Israel certainly takes none of this into account.

Yet, in a strength unbelievable, reported by every news media of our time, this little postage stamp country has not once but four times in turn defied the strength of Britain and all the Arab world could hurl against her and has each time threshed them soundly (Micah 5:12). In six days in June, 1967, Israel literally beat in pieces many people.

Micah promised this would come to pass during the Christian era. It ought be no great source of amazement that we are seeing it happen!

(Micah 5:1) But before the remnant shall be gathered by Messiah, before those cast off can become a strong nation, the inevitable must happen. The kingdoms will gather their armies together and attempt in vain to hold off the armies of Assyria and of Babylon. But it will be to no avail. The price of their apostacy must be paid.

Chapter IXQuestions

Future Exaltation and Messianic Hope

Demonstrate that Micah’s prophecy in Micah 4-5 has to do with the day of the Messiah, our own Messianic time.

What does John tell us about this end time? (1 John 2:18 -f)

What is the meaning of the mountain of Jehovah’s house?

Comment on all peoples walk everyone in the name of his god, but we will walk in the name of Jehovah our God for ever and ever. (Micah 4:5)

Discuss many nations. (Micah 4:2)

Discuss … out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. (Micah 4:2 cp. Luke 24:44 -f)

Men are at war with men because ________________________.

God must become ruler of our ____________ as well as our church doctrine. (Micah 4:4)

In that day (Micah 4:6-7) refers us back to ___________________.

That which is lame is the image of ____________.

Discuss her that halted is become a remnant. (Micah 4:7)

Distinguish between that which was lame and that which was driven away.

Discuss I will make. that which was cast far off a strong nation in Micah 4:7 in light of Romans 11:1.

What is meant by tower of the flock? (Micah 4:8)

Discuss Micah 4:11 in connection with Micah 3:12.

In Micah’s own time the nation of ____________ dominated the international scene.

____________ would wipe out the northern kingdom.

____________ would enslave the southern kingdom.

____________ would conquer the Medo-Persian empire.

The Maccabean revolt was against the rule of ____________.

All these powers, and others since have used the land of ____________ as a political pawn and a ____________ state.

Discuss Romans 11, Micah 4:11-13 in light of current events in the Middle East.

The Jews are precious to Jehovah because ____________.

This does not imply ____________.

What New Testament reference is made to Micah 5:2 -ff?

What is the meaning of Ephratah? (Micah 5:2)

Bethlehem nestles on the ____________ slopes of a ridge some ____________ miles ____________ of Jerusalem.

Discuss, the conditions of Jesus birth in contrast to what might have been expected for the birth of a king.

The sheep tended on the slopes of Bethlehem were traditionally intended for _________.

Why did the Roman emperor Harian forbid Jews to live in or near Bethlehem?

Perhaps no other term in the Old Testament has been more grossly misunderstood than _____________.

Humanly speaking, it was the Jews-’ ambitious vision of ____________ that was responsible for the death of Jesus.

It is the failure of many to recognize the kingly office and authority of Jesus that has brought about the ____________ in the modern church.

Discuss the temptation of Jesus (Luke 4:1-12) in relation to the Jewish dream of world power in the Messianic age.

The real issue in Micah 2:6 is the assurance that ____________.

Why do the Jews object that Jesus cannot be the Messiah?

Discuss the pre-existence of Christ in light of Micah 5:2.

God would not, Micah promised, fully vindicate His people and exalt them until ____________,

The Messiah is to be a glorious prince, but His relationship to His people is that of a ____________.

What is the significance of His greatness shall be to the ends of the earth?

Discuss and this man shall be our peace.

Discuss seven shepherds. eight principal men. (Micah 5:5-6)

What is meant by the remnant shall be as dew in a summer morning?

Messiah’s people are to be as bold as _____________.

Micah 5:15 must be almost unbelievable to ____________.

46.

The prophet sees in the age of

____________ God executing vengeance in anger and wrath upon the nations which hearken not

Micah 5:2-6

FOCUS ON THE MESSIAH. Micah 5:2-6

RV. But thou, Bethlehem Ephrathah, which art little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall one come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting. Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she who travaileth hath brought forth; then the residue of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. And he shall stand, and shall feed his flock in the strength of Jehovah, in the majesty of the name of Jehovah his God: and they shall abide; for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth. And this man shall be our peace. When the Assyrian shall come into our land, and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men. And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: and he shall deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our border. LXX. And thou, Bethlehem, house of Ephratha, art few in number to be reckoned among the thousands of Juda; yet out of thee shall one come forth to me, to be a ruler of Israel; and his goings forth were from the beginning, even from eternity. Therefore shall he appoint them to wait till the time of her that travails: she shall bring forth, and then the remnant of their brethren shall return to the children of Israel. And the Lord shall stand, and see, and feed his flock with power, and they shall dwell in the glory of the name of the Lord their God: for now shall they be magnified to the ends of the earth. And she shall have peace when Assur shall come into your land, and when he shall come up upon your country; and there shall be raised up against him seven shepherds, and eight attacks of men. And they shall tend the Assyrian with a sword, and the land of Nebrod with her trench: and he shall deliver you from the Assyrian, when he shall come upon your land, and when he shall invade your coasts.

COMMENTS

(Micah 5:2) In the Hebrew text this verse is the first verse in chapter five. In the Septuagint it appears, as in all subsequent texts as verse two of this chapter. Actually, Micah 5:1 belongs with the last paragraph, beginning with verse nine, of chapter four.

When the bloodied-handed Herod sent to the rabbis to ask the place of Messiah’s birth, he was pointed to Bethlehem. (Matthew 2:4-6) It was on the strength of this passage (Micah 5:2* -ff*) of Micah’s prophecy. No prophecy concerning His coming is more clear. No predictive Scripture is more universally agreed upon as to its meaning.

Having described the nature of the Messianic age (Micah 4:1-13) and having inserted a reminder of the punishment which must come first (Micah 5:1), Micah now focuses our attention on the birth and work of the Messiah Himself.

Bethlehem! Birthplace of David. Ancient Ephratah of the Gentiles. (Genesis 35:16) The entire race of men have an acute interest in what will happen there. To the Jew first but also to the Greek, there will be born in the city of David a Saviour who is Christ the Lord.

As villages go, Bethlehem is no more nor less than average. Nestling on the eastern slopes of a ridge some five miles southwest of Jerusalem, this was, among other things, the traditional home of many whose trade was carpentry. Compared to many districts in Judea, the prophet calls Bethlehem little. We might have expected the Son of God to be born in Jerusalem, or the King of Kings to be born in Rome, or some other center of power and influence. Instead, He came to a peaceful little Judean town, so insignificant in worldly eyes that Josephus doesn-’t bother to mention it. Nor for that matter, is it included in the catalogue of Joshua in late Hebrew manuscripts. Jerome suggested Bethlehem was stricken from the later Hebrew texts to obscure the evidence of Jesus-’ Messiahship. In light of the fact that the Septuagint does include Bethlehem in the text of Joshua, Jerome may have been right.

In any event, the selection of this humble village of shepherds and carpenters as the birthplace of God’s Messiah speaks volumes concerning the value of human status symbols and pride of ancestry. (Luke 1:52)

It is also not without significance that the sheep tended on the slopes of Bethlehem’s hills were traditionally those intended for temple sacrifice. He who was born there was the lamb of God! The shadow of a cross fell across the manger bed. So firmly fixed was Bethlehem as the birthplace of the Messiah in the minds of the Jews that Hadrian would allow none of them to live in or near the town.

ONE. THAT IS TO BE RULER IN ISRAEL.

Perhaps no other single term in the Old Testament has been more grossly misunderstood or the subject of more theological controversy. To the post-exilic Jewish mind it conjured up dreams of one who would establish the Jewish nation as the final world power. Upon this dream was based most of the nationalistic pride, the religious narrowness and the racial bigotry which marked the Jewish contemporaries of Jesus. It was this ambitious vision of world conquest and Gentile enslavement that brought about the death of Jesus (humanly speaking) for He would have no part of such an earthly kingdom. It was this same racio-nationalistic ambition that brought about the death of the first Christian martyr, and which hounded Paul across three continents. It is this same materialistic concept of Messiah’s kingdom which today preoccupies many Christians with eschatological charts and prooftexts whose time might more profitably be spent preaching the Gospel. On the other hand, it is the failure of many to recognize the kingly office and authority of Jesus that has brought about the spiritual uncertainty of the modern church. It was a king who, was to be born in Bethlehem, not merely a Galilean carpenter or a pale religious philosopher.

So aware was Jesus of His royal office that even He was tempted by Satan to fulfill the Jewish dream of power by setting up a worldly kingdom. This is the meaning of Jesus-’ temptations at the opening of His public ministry (Luke 4:1-12), His awareness of His kingship was so intense that His preaching is termed the gospel of the kind-dom. (Mark 1:14-15) (cp. Luke 4:43) It requires more than a little carnal imagination to force Jesus-’ Gospel of the kingdom into the rabbinical doctrine of an earthly kingdom. Regrettably, since the advent of the Plymouth Brethren (1830), the teaching of John Nelson Darby (1800-1882) and the publication of the Scofield Reference Bible, many preachers (particularly of the faith only persuasion) have spent a great deal of time and energy doing just that.

The real issue here is the assurance that, just as the return of the remnant will insure the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham to bless all the nations of the earth, so the one who shall rise out of Bethlehem shall assure the fulfillment of His promise to David. (Cf. 2 Samuel 7:16) Peter saw the fulfillment of this promise in the resurrection of Jesus. (Acts 2:30-31; Acts 2:34-36)

He was to be ruler in Israel. He was to rule over the house of Jacob forever. (Luke 1:1-2)

The Jews object that Jesus could not be Messiah because He was so far from being ruler in Israel that Israel ruled over Him. put Him to death. But He Himself answered this objection, and in doing so put the lie to all who would claim for Him a materialistic kingdom. He said, My kingdom is not of this world. (John 18:36)

It is a spiritual Israel He reigns over, the children of the promise. all the followers of believing Abraham. (Galatians 3:7)

Concerning the One to be born in Bethlehem, Micah says His goings forth are from of old, from everlasting. Literally the term means from the days of ages.

There could scarcely be a more forceful statement of the pre-existence of Christ. It denotes His existence in the form of God. (Cp. Philippians 2:5 -ff) It is fitting such a term should be used in connection with a prediction of His birth. We will see the same words in Habakkuk 1:12.

Jesus laid claim to the truth of this designation when He claimed to have been before Abraham (John 8:58).

THEREFORE WILL HE GIVE THEM UP UNTIL THE TIME THAT SHE WHO TRAVAILETH HATH BROUGHT FORTH

… Micah 5:3

God will not fully vindicate His people and exalt them until, through suffering, Israel brings forth His Son.

Then the remnant (residue) shall return unto the children of Israel. The covenant people, within the race and nation and without. the genuine children of Israel in covenant with God. all believers shall all be incorporated into the Israel over which Messiah shall rule. And He shall not be ashamed to call them brethren. (Cp. Hebrews 2:11)

AND HE SHALL STAND AND SHALL FEED. Micah 5:4

He shall be a glorious prince, but His relationship to His people is that of shepherd. (Cp. John 10:11 -ff) It is no coincidence that the Twenty-third Psalm is the most dearly beloved Old Testament passage among Christians.

He shall do this, not as other men, but in the strength and majesty of Jehovah. It would be said concerning Him that He taught as one having authority, and not as the scribes. The prophets prefaced their message with thus saith the Lord, Messiah would say, verily, verily I say unto you! And they shall abide. The nation of Israel was perishing. Soon the northern tribes would be disbursed so completely as to make them, in subsequent history, unidentifiable. The southern kingdom would endure longer. even be in a measure re-established following the captivity, but any hope of national honor related to God’s covenant promise had gone up with the smoke of their sacrifices to Baal. But Messiah’s flock would abide. Jesus-’ own words re-affirm this, and this is the will of Him that sent me, that of all that which He hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. It is most regrettable that those who teach the Calvinistic nonsense of eternal security should be allowed to so pervert this doctrine of assurance as to deprive God’s people of its blessing. … He shall be great unto the ends of the earth. He alone is great. (Cp. Joe 2:21 - and Luke 1:32) And His greatness shall be to the ends of the earth. Here is another of the myriad evidences in the Old Testament of God’s universal concern for all men. The Messianic intent of God has ever been that all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.

AND THIS MAN SHALL BE OUR PEACE. Micah 5:5-6

In the original here there is no word for man. It is simply and emphatically this one. He alone. who is our peace. The words our peace are reminiscent of Ephesians 2:14, It is only the Messiah who can bring peace. who can bring an end to the warfare between God’s people and those who, before He came were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. (Cf.* Ephesians 2:11-15*)

Assyria, being Israel’s most powerful enemy at the time of Micah’s ministry is made here to represent all the enemies of God’s people. When Messiah appears, He will destroy them. (Cf. Ezekiel, chapter 38)

Seven shepherds. eight principal men. A strange array, it would seem, to send against the Assyrians. Micah is obviously using well understood figures to convey the truth of Messiah’s conquest over the enemies of God’s people.

Seven expresses perfection. We shall raise against (or depend upon) the Messiah. the perfect shepherd.

Eight is seven plus one. The Messiah plus those principal men or anointed men, such as the twelve, (Cp. Isaiah 32:1) shall lay waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrance thereof. The Lord’s strength is more than enough.

Lange points out that the terms palace, seven, and eight connect themselves with the threatening formula employed by Amos (Amos, Chapter s 1-2) to announce the approach of the destruction which was about to break. God’s grace will be greater than the sin; hence, instead of three and four sins which make the judgement necessary (Amos 2:4) seven and eight heroes are named who shall drive away the enemies when Messiah has come.

Just as the Roman empire, during Pax Romana, in which period Jesus was born, enforced peace with the Roman sword, so Messiah and those who stand with Him will enforce His peace by subduing His enemies with the sward of the Spirit. (Cp. Hebrews 4:12, Ephesians 6:17) Those who stand against the Gospel of Christ, and continue in league with idolatries and witchcrafts, as did Assyria and Babylon of old, shall be consumed by it.

In our day, when tolerance of any and all false teaching has become a sacred cow and when unbelief is regarded as a normal reaction to God, it is difficult to think in these terms. There is, however, a hard side to the Gospel. The sword has a cutting edge. There is destruction for those who resist it. (Cp. 1 Peter 2:8)