Mic 4:11-12 | KingComments | STEP | Between and lies a great period that Micah does not mention. From the upcoming siege by Nebuchadnezzar the prophet goes to the siege in the last days. Then the last great attack on Jerusalem by the assembled nations will take place. We read about this in Joel 3 and Zechariah 12 and 14. In we have also seen the nations go up, but there with the desire to be taught. Before that, the nations come up with the intention of destroying definitively the city and the people of God. They want to desecrate the city by destroying all holy places, especially the temple. They are annoyed by its holiness, they cannot bear that this city is dedicated to God. The enemies rejoice at the pain they will inflict on the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Their deepest reason for the attack is their hatred of God’s King. Against Him they resist. Just as they rejected Him when He was on earth, so they will want to do it again later. They don’t tolerate Him because He is thwarting their plans.

‏ Micah 4:11-12

Many Nations Assemble Against Zion

Between Mic 4:10 and Mic 4:11 lies a great period that Micah does not mention. From the upcoming siege by Nebuchadnezzar the prophet goes to the siege in the last days. Then the last great attack on Jerusalem by the assembled nations will take place. We read about this in Joel 3 and Zechariah 12 and 14.

In Mic 4:2 we have also seen the nations go up, but there with the desire to be taught. Before that, the nations come up with the intention of destroying definitively the city and the people of God. They want to desecrate the city by destroying all holy places, especially the temple. They are annoyed by its holiness, they cannot bear that this city is dedicated to God.

The enemies rejoice at the pain they will inflict on the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Their deepest reason for the attack is their hatred of God’s King. Against Him they resist. Just as they rejected Him when He was on earth, so they will want to do it again later. They don’t tolerate Him because He is thwarting their plans.

The LORD Gathers the Nations to Judgment

But the heathen nations do not know the love, wisdom, and grace of God toward His people. Nor do they realize that all their planning will bring them exactly where God wants them. When the enemies gather before Zion to deal with them, the LORD decides to deal with them. He gathers them like sheaves to the threshing floor to defeat them completely (Jer 51:33).

The king of Assyria is a rod in God’s hand to chasten his people. God wants to bring them to repentance through that chastening. But that is not the thought the king of Assyria has when he goes up against God’s people (Isa 10:7). God uses the selfish thoughts of people and nations to fulfill His own plans. It is the same here. The nations are gathered against Zion as warriors in the field, but God gathers them like sheaves to the threshing floor (cf. Rev 16:14 ; 16) to be smashed to pieces.

They could not be so easily and completely destroyed if they were not assembled against Zion. In the same way, the plans of the enemies against the church also turn out to be the means to their own destruction. They work their own destruction when their foot is caught in the net they have hidden for others.