Mic 4:11-13 | 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 4:11-13

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.

Zion Pulverizes the Peoples

He will leave the threshing, that is to say the judging, of the wicked nations to the oppressed inhabitants of Jerusalem. He will make them strong to do so. This judgment is not a vengeful expression of insult, but will be made for the honor of God. The spoils of war will be consecrated to the LORD through the ban (Lev 27:28). This can happen, for example, by decorating the temple with it. In any case it will serve for the glory of His kingdom.

“The LORD”, Yahweh, the God of the covenant with His people, will be known in that day as “the Lord”, Adonai, the Commander, “of the all the earth”. Everything belongs to Him. He takes back everything that the people in iniquity have appropriated themselves and with which they have lived in rebellion against Him.

Zion will have the honor of triumphing over the peoples when they are gathered together like sheaves on the threshing floor. Instead of being afraid of them and fleeing from them, she will act forcefully against her enemies. Fear will then reign with her enemies and they will try to flee.

Against her enemies the LORD will make their horn – the horn is a picture of power – of iron. She will repel them with it. He will also give her hoofs of bronze to trample them with it. In this way she will crush many peoples who have trampled her for so long.

When God’s time has come, the daughter of Babylon will be made like a threshing floor (Jer 51:33). And the worm of Jacob will be the threshing sled, with which God will thresh and crush the mountains and treat the hills as if they were chaff (Isa 41:14-15). The situation is then reversed, because at first Jacob was the threshing floor and Babylon the threshing sled (Isa 21:10).

When God gives His people the prospect of victory, He also arms it with strength and skill. The daughter of Zion must make use of that. In herself she has no strength. But she also has to stand up. It is her responsibility to thresh. The honor of victory belongs to God. Zion will bring the threshed corn on God’s altar as a grain offering. The spoils of Zion’s victory will be brought into the sanctuary and devoted to God (cf. Num 31:28; Jos 6:17).

On everything we have, it must be written “HOLY TO THE LORD” (Zec 14:20-21). Extraordinary blessings call for extraordinary gratitude. God has made it possible for us to actually obtain everything we possess. That is why He must be glorified with all that has become our part.