Micah 5:1-8
Micah 5:1
Now 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.
This chapter begins with the prophecy of the invasion of
Judah by the Babylonians. God is
calling the Babylonians to gather in troops or companies.
The term “daughter of troops” is a term which means they are nation of
troops or companies of fighting men.
The judge of Israel which they will smite is going to be Zedekiah who
witnessed his two sons being killed and then his eyes were put out.
The phrase “rod upon the cheek is a phrase which means a condescending
abuse of a person of which Zedekiah received from the Babylonians.
Micah 5:2
But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little
among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that
is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from
everlasting.
This verse is a prophecy of the coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ. This is describing
Bethlehem with the word Ephratah which means “fruitfulness, abundance, or riches
of the land.” The name “Bethlehem”
means “house of bread.” At the time
of Micah, Bethlehem was not yet a major city of over 1,000 people which would
then have a Captain over them. It
did get much bigger by the time of Christ which would have been 750 years later.
Then the prophecy uses a qualifier, “yet,” even though they are small and
the size of the town makes no difference to God, from Bethlehem there will be
born one who will be ruler in Israel.
Now that is not speaking about the physical nation of Israel because that
was only a temporary nation which would cease in 70 A.D. but the eternal Israel
of God which is the body of believers made up of both Jews and Gentiles which
would continue on after Israel was destroyed.
Now this is speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ as it gives his state as
being eternal. The word behind
“everlasting” is the word “ôlām” which means “forever or everlasting.”
The modern versions translate “ôlām” (“from ancient days” – ESV), (“from
ancient times” – CSB), (”from ancient times – NIV).
They take away the eternality of Christ and make it look like he existed
only in time thus removing his pre-existence before his incarnation.
Micah 5:3
Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she
which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall
return unto the children of Israel.
{26} Thus saith
the Lord GOD; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the
same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high.
{27} I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more,
until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.
(Ezekiel 21:26-27) God
has removed the most favored nation status from Israel until the time that the
Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.
Then under the leadership of the Messiah the remnant of the brethren will return
to Israel. Initially this would be
speaking of the return of the Jews to the land after the Babylonian captivity
but in the eternal perspective, the remnant would be all the believers who would
be predestined to be saved would comprise the entire body of believers or the
Israel of God.
Micah 5:4
And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD,
in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now
shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.
But this man,
after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand
of God; (Hebrews 10:12)
After the Lord Jesus Christ ascended into Heaven after becoming the
sacrifice for his people he sat down at the right hand of God because that phase
of God’s salvation plan was complete.
In Acts 7:56, we see the Lord Jesus Christ standing to receive Stephen
after he will be stoned for his bold testimony to the Jews.
And said, Behold, I see the
heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
(Acts 7:56) In Micah
5:4, we read once again that the Lord Jesus shall stand which means his work is
not done yet in the next phase of God’s salvation plan and this is to apply
salvation to those who were named before the foundation of the world and to feed
his flock.
The remnant of Israel shall not do
iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their
mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
(Zephaniah 3:13)
Zephaniah 3:13 speaks about those who have become saved in Christ will be fed.
In the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord
Jesus Christ, (1 Corinthians 5:4)
The eternal church of God shall be given power in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ and that power will continue on into eternity as the verse in Micah
states “they will abide.” He shall
be great unto the ends of the earth which means that the entire church of Christ
will be found in every country on earth.
Micah 5:5
And this man shall be the 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.
The Messiah shall be the peace in Israel.
For unto us a child is born, unto
us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name
shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father,
The Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)
While the ten northern tribes will be taken into permanent bondage, their
hope in the coming Messiah would be their strength and motivation to continue on
each day. He will instill peace
into those he has come to save but at this moment he remains an unfulfilled
prophecy yet he rules from Heaven and those who are his elect will have peace in
their hearts during the roughest times.
For I know the thoughts that I
think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give
you an expected end. (Jeremiah
29:11) The seven shepherds are
a metaphor for the number of completeness.
It is speaking of the fact of one shepherd who will be complete in all
facets.
And David my servant shall be king over
them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my
judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
(Ezekiel 37:24) It
is the same with the description of the Holy Spirit as we read in the book of
Revelation.
And out of the throne proceeded
lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire
burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
(Revelation 4:5) It
speaks about even spirits but this is the Holy Spirit in all his completeness in
dealing with the body of Christ and in Heaven.
Then we read the number eight is the number of new beginnings.
Which sometime were disobedient,
when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was
a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
(1 Peter 3:20) In the
days of Noah only eight souls survived that flood and they were the ones whom
God used to begin the human race all over again.
Micah 5:6
And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword,
and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from
the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our
borders.
These shepherds shall waste the land of Assyria just as
they had wasted the land of Israel.
It is speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ who will execute his attribute of
vengeance for his people. Those who
are the elect of God among the captives in Assyria will be vindicated by the
Great Shepherd himself. The land of
Nimrod is Babylon who is still a future threat to Judah will also suffer the
same consequences as Assyria did.
Since Assyria was beaten at the battle of Carchemish in 606 B.C. and the
Babylonians were beaten by the Medes and Persians in 535 B.C. that would be a 71
years spread meaning that it would not be speaking of seven human shepherds or
eight human principal men but the Lord Jesus Christ who made the prophecy in 750
B.C. and fulfilled both of them would have to be eternal in nature and that
could only be the Lord Jesus Christ.
Micah 5:7
And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many
people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not
for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.
The remnant of Jacob would not speaking of the ten
northern tribes because they were never repatriated to the land but what is in
view here is that under the rulership of the Messiah the remnant of Jacob would
be the messianic line and those who became saved through him.
The eternal church of God would be in the midst of many nations of the
world among each of their populations.
Just as the dew and rain fall from Heaven so the body of believers will
be there to search out and sow the word of God so the elect in other nations
would be brought back into the kingdom of God upon the day appointed for their
salvation. Salvation is the work of
God and will not wait upon man or the sons of man.
Have you ever heard anyone say, “I will get saved when I am old but for
now I will do it my way?” Guess
what, even the person who touts that attitude if they are the elect of God and
God decreed that they were to be saved at the age of 25, they will be saved at
the age of 25 and there will be no waiting until they “decide” to get saved
whenever they please.
Micah 5:8
And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in
the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young
lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both treadeth down, and
teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.