Micah 4
Summary for Mic 4:1-5: 4:1-5 a Micah’s prophecy moves from utter despair to an eruption of hope as he expresses the future exaltation of Mount Zion in Jerusalem. God’s plan to bless all nations (Gen 12:3 b) through Abraham’s descendants will be realized when the nations and the Lord’s people stream to the Lord’s house ... to worship. There (1) they will learn to follow God’s law and teachings; (2) the law and teachings will flow out among the nations as they are carried forth from God’s house; (3) peace and well-being will grow among the nations as they turn their energies to peaceful purposes and abandon war; and (4) the people will live without fear, having security, prosperity, and blessing (Mic 4:4 c). The idols of the nations fail them, but Israel’s faithful God accomplishes all this; the prosperity he brings lasts for endless ages (4:5 d).Summary for Mic 4:1-2: 4:1-2 e In the last days: God promised to act in history to establish his kingdom.
• The mountain of the Lord’s house was Mount Zion in Jerusalem, where Solomon’s Temple was built (see 2 Sam 24:18-25 f). It recalls Mount Sinai, the mountain of God (Exod 3:1 g; Num 10:33 h), where God appeared. The mountain of the Lord has significance as the place where God makes his identity known and his fellowship available.
• teach us his ways ... his paths: The wisdom of God’s laws and the knowledge of his ways will give the nations life (Deut 4:6 i; 32:47 j).
4:3 k The shalom (“well-being, peace”) of the Lord will cover the earth, and instruments of destruction will be used for peaceful pursuits. From its earliest records, ancient history is an account of war, of one people’s subjugation of other peoples and nations. Warfare and violence reached a frenzied peak in the Assyrian and Babylonian kingdoms.
• swords into plowshares: Implements of war will become tools for production. Alternatively, some scholars believe that this phrase means reducing “swords into metal shards,” which would render them useless.
4:4 l Everyone will be free of enemies as in Solomon’s time (1 Kgs 4:25 m; cp. Isa 36:16 n; Zech 3:10 o).
• The prophets frequently described God as the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. This military title expresses his control of the universe and his unlimited power. The warrior kings of the ancient Near East were no match for the Lord.
Summary for Mic 4:6-7: 4:6-7 p Usually the remnants of destroyed cities in the ancient Near East were lost or assimilated. When Israel’s remnant was rescued, it would be the foundation of the Lord’s new people (Deut 4:26-31 q; 30:1-5 r; 2 Kgs 19:31 s; Isa 10:21 t; Jer 29:10-14 u; see Ezra 9:8 v; Neh 1:2 w).
4:8 x As for you, Jerusalem, the citadel of God’s people: Jerusalem was a fortified royal capital city with a watchtower for the defense and security of its people.
• The kingship will be restored: Cp. Amos 9:11-15 y; see 2 Sam 7:11-16 z.
4:9 aa Israel’s king and wise people were supposed to provide leadership and embody the Lord’s instructions and covenant in their lives (Deut 17:18-20 ab). Now, however, the people would be without godly leadership (cp. Judg 17:6 ac; 18:1 ad; 21:25 ae).
4:10 af Distant Babylon lay about 1,000 miles (1,700 kilometers) from Jerusalem; it could not be reached by cutting across the barren eastern desert.
• The Lord’s rescue of his people from sure death in Babylon would surpass his bringing them out of Egypt. They were formed in the womb of suffering and awaited a promising rebirth (Isa 43:1-5 ag; cp. Ezek 37 ah).
• For Micah, Babylon represented the concept of exile. In Micah’s time (the late 700s and early 600s BC), there was not even the whisper of a Babylonian empire replacing the Assyrians. But Micah was speaking for God, who knows the future.
Summary for Mic 4:11-13: 4:11-13 ai gathered against you: While closely tied to the historical assault of Babylon against Jerusalem in 588–586 BC, this oracle also bears on a future in which the idealized and restored Jerusalem of 4:1-5 aj will be attacked (cp. Rev 20:7-9 ak).
4:12 al God reveals his plans to his servants (Dan 2:19-23 am; Amos 3:7 an), but the nations don’t know—they are not privy to God’s great plans or to his behind-the-scenes activity on his people’s behalf. The hopes and plans of the nations around Israel were in vain—the Lord’s plans for his unique people will prevail, and he will rule the nations (Gen 12:1-3 ao; 15:12-21 ap; Exod 19:4-6 aq; Isa 45:23 ar; 66:23 as).
• At the threshing floor, grain was beaten and trampled to separate it from the chaff. So, too, the nations will be crushed (Mic 4:13 at).
4:13 au The horns and hooves of bulls and horses represent strength, as do both iron and bronze. Metal shoes may have been used on the feet of animals who trod out the grain. God will strengthen his peoples to defeat their enemies.
• stolen riches: Many nations had accumulated wealth by unjust means (war, plunder, oppressive tributes, forced labor, and conscription). The Lord of all the earth owned all of this wealth to begin with (Exod 19:5 av).
• You will present: The Hebrew term (kharam, “dedicate”) refers to military spoils of war that were dedicated, or set aside, as holy to the Lord (see Lev 27:28-29 aw).
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