Mic 5:7-14 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Mic 5:7-15: 5:7-15 God’s purpose was not to create another nation like all the other nations (Exod 19:4-6 ; Num 23:9 ; Jer 7:23 ), but to have his own people who would walk in his ways and be holy as he is holy (Lev 11:45 ). In that day (Mic 5:10 ), God will rule a redeemed and purified people, healed of violence and the ravages of war. 5:7 The remnant are those whom God’s grace preserved to be the foundation of his new people (Ezra 9:8-15 ; Neh 1:2 ). • Dew and rain are gifts from the Lord; no person can prevent his sending them.

Summary for Mic 5:7-15: 5:7-15 ^a God’s purpose was not to create another nation like all the other nations (Exod 19:4-6 ^b; Num 23:9 ^c; Jer 7:23 ^d), but to have his own people who would walk in his ways and be holy as he is holy (Lev 11:45 ^e). In that day (Mic 5:10 ^f), God will rule a redeemed and purified people, healed of violence and the ravages of war. 5:7 ^g The remnant are those whom God’s grace preserved to be the foundation of his new people (Ezra 9:8-15 ^h; Neh 1:2 ⁱ).

• Dew and rain are gifts from the Lord; no person can prevent his sending them.
Summary for Mic 5:8-9: 5:8-9 ^j God’s people will have a unique place among the nations of the world (Gen 12:3 ^k; Exod 19:4-6 ^l). They will be the head and not the tail (Deut 28:13 ^m), and invincible as a lion (cp. Esth 6:13 ⁿ) as God gives them hegemony over the nations.

• The Lord will judge their foes (see Mic 5:15 ^o) if they continue to rebel against him. The Lord’s desire, however, is ultimately to bless the nations, not to curse or destroy them (Gen 12:3 ^p; Jon 4:11 ^q; John 3:16 ^r).
Summary for Mic 5:10-14: 5:10-14 ^s The Lord’s actions for and against his people purify them. The Lord removed several abominable things imported from the pagan cultures of Mesopotamia and Canaan.
Summary for Mic 5:13-14: 5:13-14 ^t sacred pillars ... Asherah poles: Stones were set up as places or objects of worship; they could represent pagan deities. The Asherah poles were green poles or trees that represented the goddess Asherah and her powers of fertility. Both the stones and the trees may have had sexual implications—one male, the other female. Asherah was seen as the mother of gods and El’s (or Baal’s) consort.