July 3, 2020
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Reading along with us in Micah? Here’s today’s reading:
Micah 4 (ESV)
The Mountain of the Lord
1 It shall come to pass in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and it shall be lifted up above the hills;
and peoples shall flow to it,.....Continue Reading
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There you shall be rescued;
there the Lord will redeem you
from the hand of your enemies.
Once again we see hope and forgiveness despite our own rebellion.
Now it shall come to pass in the latter days
That the mountain of the Lord’s house
Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And peoples shall flow to it.
Many nations shall come and say,
“Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
He will teach us His ways,
And we shall walk in His paths.”
It seems like Micah is speaking about slightly different time frames in chapter 4. He begins with the far future, referring to the last days, where God’s rulership will be manifest and recognized by the world. Many will want to come to the Lord and learn of His ways and change their ways to fall in line with His. They will lay down their weapons because they will need them no more in the economy of God. What a blessed time that will be for all the people alive at that time and in God’s earthly kingdom. In that time, God will also take care of the weak and vulnerable. They are close to His heart.
Verse 9 appears to be a transition where he talks about his time and the near future. Judah is suffering and will suffer the consequences of disobedience. Nations are and will come against them and they will be brought into exile. But in the time of their duress (and ours as well) it is important to remember God has a bigger and better plan, and in spite of the hardship we deal with now, God has the future secured. He will establish a kingdom on the earth. And all the things mankind hopped to accomplish in what we tried to establish in our kingdoms will be shown to be lacking compared to what God establishes in His power and righteousness. How blessed that He is willing to share that with those who believe!
I wonder if Micah 4:1-5 is tied to the end of the last chapter because this speaks of the restoration of what was lost? Where chapter 3 ends on the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem, chapter 4 speaks of a yet future time where ‘many nations shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.”‘
Compared to the last chapter where I read of leaders forsaking knowledge and justice, these first few verses of chapter four speaks of those who will seek justice and knowledge from the LORD in Jerusalem. Contrast verse 3 and the imagery of people beating swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks with the evil of tearing the ‘skin from off my people and their flesh from off their bones’.
Contrast the poverty and injustice of chapter 3 with the prosperity of each individual in this chapter where ‘they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid’.
At verse six, God changes the tone back to a blend of judgment and restoration. The lessons here in verses 6-13 lead up to the very familiar verses of the promised Messiah in Micah 5:2.
In Micah 4:6-7, the prophet makes a declaration talking about those God preserves, a remnant. I notice that he only mentions the afflicted, the lame, those cast-off.
2and many nations shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
3He shall judge between many peoples,
and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore;