Scripture Reading: Micah 2:12-13; 4:1-13; 5:1-15
We have emphasized the fact that all the minor prophets speak the same thing in different ways, from different angles, and in different aspects. Thus, Micah also speaks the same thing as the other minor prophets, but he speaks it in his own particular way.
In the foregoing message we covered the introductory word and Jehovah’s reproof on Israel. Micah 1 reveals that Jehovah is coming forth out of His temple to exercise His judgment upon sinful Israel. Verses 3 and 4 portray the terrible judgment that is coming. “Jehovah comes forth from His place, / And He will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth. / And the mountains will be melted under Him, / And the valleys will be cleft, / Like wax before fire, / Like water poured down a slope.” Because of this judgment, the prophet wailed and howled, and some of the people also wailed (vv. 9-16). The next two chapters, part of Jehovah’s reproof, are a description of the sinfulness of the house of Jacob and the house of Judah.
In this message we will consider Jehovah’s comfort to Israel. This comfort is actually a matter of restoration.
Jehovah’s comfort to Israel is found in 2:12-13 and 4:1—5:15.
Micah 4:1-5 concerns the restoration of Israel (Matt. 19:28) in the millennium (Rev. 20:4, 6; Isa. 2:2-5). At that time the people will no longer learn war (Micah 4:3), but, enjoying life without disturbance, “they will each sit underneath his vine / And underneath his fig tree, / And no one will disturb them” (v. 4). Each one will eat and drink for his enjoyment in peace. This eating and drinking will be a kind of worship to God.
The thousand years of the millennium will be a continual feast. According to the Old Testament, during the yearly feasts the children of Israel were charged not to work (Lev. 23:7, 8, 35). To work during those feasts would have been an insult to God. The people were only to rest, eat, drink, and enjoy their life before God. Their eating and drinking were their worship to God. According to the New Testament, at the Lord’s table on the first day of the week, we put aside our work, we rest in the Lord, and we eat and drink Christ to enjoy Him and to let Him enjoy our satisfaction. This is the top worship to God, and this is the Christian life — a restful life for worship. God is seeking such worshippers (John 4:23-24). We have been called not to work and to labor but to worship. Every day and every night we should worship God by enjoying Him.
In His comfort to Israel Jehovah will gather the remnant of the people (2:12-13; 4:6-8). In 2:12 Jehovah promises to gather all of Jacob and assemble the remnant of Israel. In 4:6 and 7 He says that He will gather her that limps and collect her that has been driven out and her that He has afflicted, and He will make her that limps a remnant and her that has been cast far away, a mighty nation.
Jehovah’s comfort to Israel also includes His deliverance to Israel after Israel is captured (4:9-13; 5:1). This means that God will meet every need and solve every problem.
Micah 5:2 is a prophecy concerning Christ. This verse says that His “goings forth are from ancient times, / From the days of eternity.” His “goings forth” are His coming out. To the angels it is His going forth, but to us it is His coming out.
“His goings forth are...from the days of eternity” means that in eternity, before the creation of the earth, Christ was preparing to come forth. His appearing, His manifestation, began in eternity. From the ancient times, from the days of eternity, the Triune God was preparing to come forth out of eternity into time, to come with His divinity into humanity. His creation of all things was His preparation to come out of eternity into time. This was the purpose of creation. Then while the locusts were operating (Joel 1:4; 2:25), Christ came forth. In eternity Christ was concealed in His divinity, but through incarnation He came forth with His divinity into humanity.
Christ’s going forth, His appearing, is a continuous matter. From the time of His incarnation, He began to come forth, and His coming forth is still taking place today. Christ’s coming forth will be consummated when He throws Antichrist and the false prophet into the lake of fire (Rev. 19:19-20), when Satan is cast into the abyss (Rev. 20:2-3), and when Christ sets up His throne to reign as King (Matt. 25:31, 34, 40). At that time His appearing will be complete. But today He is still on the way.
While Christ is on the way, He is taking care of the scattered Jews. On the one hand, Israel is under God’s chastisement; on the other hand, Israel is also under God’s shepherding care. This shepherding is His preservation of Israel.
In the restoration Christ will be the Ruler, Shepherd, and peace to His elect, Israel (Micah 5:2-5a). Today, in His goings forth, He is our Ruler, Shepherd, and peace. As our Ruler, He keeps us; as our Shepherd, He nourishes and cherishes us; and as our peace, He controls our environment so that we may enjoy Him.
“When Assyria comes into our land / And when he treads in our palaces, / We will raise up against him seven shepherds / And eight princes of men. / And they will waste the land of Assyria with the sword / And the land of Nimrod at its entrances. / And He will save us from Assyria, / When he comes into our land / And when he treads in our border” (vv. 5b-6). These verses reveal that Christ also will save Israel after they are invaded by Assyria. The coming Christ will take the full responsibility to deal with all of human government, represented by Assyria and Nimrod.
The mentioning of Assyria and Nimrod in these verses is a reminder of the beginning of the locusts, a reminder of when and how the locusts were produced. For the Lord to deal with the Assyrians means that He deals with the first group of the locusts, and this indicates that He will go on to deal with all the locusts.
Here we need to consider once again the great human image in Daniel 2, with its head of gold (Babylon), its breast and its arms of silver (Medo-Persia), its abdomen and its thighs of bronze (Greece), its legs of iron (Rome), and its feet partly of iron and partly of clay (vv. 32-33). The smashing of this image by the stone cut out without hands (Christ) begins not with the head but with the feet. According to verse 34, this stone will strike the image at its feet and crush them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold will be crushed all at once, and the stone will become a great mountain and fill the whole earth (v. 35). The point here is that the smashing of the feet, which signify Antichrist, involves the smashing of the entire image, signifying the destruction of human government from Assyria and Babylon to Rome. It is significant that Micah speaks of Assyria and Nimrod, the founder of Nineveh (the capital of Assyria) and Babel (Gen. 10:8-11). Actually, Assyria equals Rome, and Nimrod equals Antichrist.
Eventually, Israel will be invaded by Antichrist and his armies. Having collected his evil world powers, Antichrist will besiege the city of Jerusalem, with the intention of putting it to an end. At this juncture Christ will come to destroy Antichrist and his armies and to save Israel. At that time, the great image will be crushed by the stone cut out without hands; Assyria, Nimrod, the empires of Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome, and Antichrist will be no more; and the entire earth will become the kingdom of God for eternity. Then all of Jehovah’s elect will enjoy Him. This is His comfort to Israel, a comfort that is a matter of restoration.
After Christ deals with all the enemies, the remnant of Jacob will be blessed by Jehovah, and they also will be victorious among the nations. Concerning this, Micah 5:7 and 8 say that the remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples like dew from Jehovah, like abundant showers, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, and like a young lion among the flocks of sheep. Regarding the remnant of Jacob, the prophet goes on to say, “Your hand will be raised up against your adversaries, / And all your enemies will be cut off” (v. 9). Some may find it hard to believe that the small nation of Israel will be victorious among the nations, but this is clearly prophesied in the Bible.
Eventually, Jehovah will clear up the armies, cities, strongholds, witchcraft, idols, and idol worship from Israel, and He will execute vengeance in anger and wrath upon the nations, in the day of restoration (vv. 10-15).
