Mic 5:4-8 | KingComments | STEP | Micah continues to speak about the Ruler Who will be born. Here we see Him, the Messiah, after He has come to earth for the second time. He stands in full strength ready to serve. He has stood up for His people and has defeated their enemies. He will shepherd His people and provide for the needs of the flock of Israel. He rules His people, but He does so as a Shepherd. This is God’s ideal King and the greatest benefit for His subjects. The first ruler in the Bible is Nimrod ( ). But he is a hunter. A shepherd is committed to the sheep and gives life ( ), a hunter takes life. The Lord Jesus is the good Shepherd. ‘Shepherd’ is one of His most beautiful names and tasks. His royal care and protection are beautifully expressed in His service as a Shepherd ( ; ). He performs His service as the dependent Man. His strength is that of the LORD. This guarantees absolute safety. No enemy will dare to disturb the peace of the sheep. He also shepherds them “in the majesty of the name of the LORD His God”. From Him radiates the royal glory and sovereignty of God. Also in the realm of peace He is both the dependent Man and the image of the invisible God ( ). While He stands to serve, they may dwell in peace ( ). They will never want to leave His presence again. The protection, rest, and care He offers cannot be approached by others. No one can stand in His shadow. He is great to the ends of the earth. Everything on earth is under His dominion. To whom else can they go? There is no one but Him!

‏ Micah 5:4-8

He Will Shepherd Them and Be Great

Micah continues to speak about the Ruler Who will be born. Here we see Him, the Messiah, after He has come to earth for the second time. He stands in full strength ready to serve. He has stood up for His people and has defeated their enemies. He will shepherd His people and provide for the needs of the flock of Israel. He rules His people, but He does so as a Shepherd. This is God’s ideal King and the greatest benefit for His subjects.

The first ruler in the Bible is Nimrod (Gen 10:8). But he is a hunter. A shepherd is committed to the sheep and gives life (Jn 10:10b), a hunter takes life. The Lord Jesus is the good Shepherd. ‘Shepherd’ is one of His most beautiful names and tasks.

His royal care and protection are beautifully expressed in His service as a Shepherd (2Sam 5:2 ; 2Sam 7:7; Isa 40:11). He performs His service as the dependent Man. His strength is that of the LORD. This guarantees absolute safety. No enemy will dare to disturb the peace of the sheep. He also shepherds them “in the majesty of the name of the LORD His God”. From Him radiates the royal glory and sovereignty of God. Also in the realm of peace He is both the dependent Man and the image of the invisible God (Col 1:15).

While He stands to serve, they may dwell in peace (Lev 26:5-6). They will never want to leave His presence again. The protection, rest, and care He offers cannot be approached by others. No one can stand in His shadow. He is great to the ends of the earth. Everything on earth is under His dominion. To whom else can they go? There is no one but Him!

He Will Be Peace

“This One will be peace” in one word describes what the coming of the Messiah will mean for the world. He has peace in Himself and grants it to His people (Eph 2:14; Isa 9:5-6; Zec 9:10). Peace is not only the absence of war, but includes all the salvation and restoration that God will grant to His people. That salvation is embodied in the Lord Jesus. He will be peace for Israel in three ways:

1. He will protect them from their enemies, represented in Assyria (Mic 5:5-6),

2. He will give them strength to overcome their enemies (Mic 5:7-9) and

3. He will destroy all weapons and idolatry, so that they will rely only on Him and no longer on their own strength (Mic 5:10-15).

Assyria here represents all hostile nations. They will think they have conquered Israel when they have robbed the people of his government by entering their palaces. There is no one left, they think, who can lead Israel in resisting their march.

Then there will be “seven shepherds” and “eight leaders”. In them we see the remnant that in complete power – the number seven speaks of perfection – and new energy – the number eight represents a new beginning – will drive out the enemy (cf. Ecc 11:2). The shepherds and leaders act on authority and in the power of the great Shepherd and Prince of Peace, the Lord Jesus. They are the saviors of whom Obadiah speaks (Oba 1:21).

It says “we will raise”. This means that the people of Israel will set seven shepherds against the power of the enemy. As said, the number seven expresses perfection. These shepherds, under the Chief Shepherd, that is the Lord Jesus, form a perfectly functioning army to push back the upcoming enemy. The shepherds are leaders. Seven is sufficient, but by adding an eighth, the number becomes more than sufficient. The fact that they are called shepherds is in connection to Mic 5:4. The fact that they are leaders “of men” makes it clear that they are not shepherds of cattle, but of people.

He Delivers From the Enemy

The remnant strengthened by the LORD will not only drive the Assyrian out of the land, but drive him back into his own land and rule over him there with the sword. In “Nimrod” we can see Babylon and Assyria united. The beginning of the kingdom of Nimrod is Babylon (Gen 10:10). After that he extended his territory to Assyria (Gen 10:11). That the remnant shepherds the land of the enemy with the sword, means that the authority over that land lies with the remnant, the people of the LORD.

All the work of the remnant and its blessed results can only come about because the LORD gives the strength to accomplish this work. He has promised that He will deliver His people from Assyria if it overpowers the land. Micah and with him the God-fearing remnant affirm with certainty that the LORD will do this and that He will do it in the way just described.

Thus in Mic 5:2-6 we find the Lord Jesus presented as Baby, Ruler, the Eternal, Shepherd, Peace and Deliverer.

The Remnant Like Dew and Showers

When “the remnant of Jacob” in the strength of the Shepherd has driven away the enemy and rules over him, it gets its original function of blessing for the whole earth (Gen 12:3 ; Gen 22:18). The prophet Hosea presents the LORD as this dew for men (Hos 14:5); here the remnant is the “dew” (cf. Psa 110:3). Israel as the dew refers to the abundant, invigorating and fertilizing service that the people will have among the nations, through which new, powerful life will be conceived and promoted. This is the result of living together in peace as brothers (Psa 133:3).

Also the “showers” are a blessing of the LORD (Deu 11:11; Eze 34:26). Without rain, the green herb will not last long (2Kgs 19:26; Isa 37:27; cf. Gen 2:5). The rain guarantees that the herb stays green all the time. The quality of society will be preserved and promoted through the teaching that the remnant will give from the Word of God (Deu 32:2). This will truly be a ‘green society’. The conversion of the people, of which the remnant is the core, will be the riches for the Gentiles (Rom 11:12).

This blessing is not because people ask for it. Also, no one is able to work this through their own effort (Mk 4:26-28). It is a fruit of grace. The people of the LORD will be like something that comes from heaven, like dew from Him Who is the Father of rain and Who gives birth to the drops of dew (Job 38:28). The remnant is born from above, its origin is heaven and not earth. They have the nature of God. They are produced in silence, just as the dew is produced in silence, without us knowing how that happens. Thus is the way of the Spirit (Eze 37:7; Jn 3:8).

The Remnant Is Like a Lion

After the blessing that the remnant will be, a second characteristic comes here, again derived from Whom the LORD is. In the previous verse the remnant is presented as the dew because it is a characteristic also of the LORD. Now the remnant is presented as a lion. By this it shows a characteristic also of the LORD, who is also compared to a lion (Gen 49:9; Rev 5:5). For those who rebel against the authority of the Messiah, the remnant is like a lion. Thus, the remnant is a blessing (dew) or a judgment (lion) in God’s hand.