Micah 4

Mic 4:1-13.

TRANSITION TO THE

GLORY,

PEACE,

KINGDOM, AND

VICTORY OF

ZION.

1-3. Almost identical with

Isa 2:2-4.

the mountain of the house of the Lord--which just before

(Mic 3:12)

had been doomed to be a wild forest height. Under Messiah, its

elevation is to be not that of situation, but of moral dignity, as the

seat of God's universal empire.

people shall flow into it--In Isaiah it is "all nations": a more

universal prophecy.

3. rebuke--convict of sin

(Joh 16:8, 9);

and subdue with judgments

(Ps 2:5, 9; 110:5, 6;

Re 2:27; 12:5).

many people . . . strong nations afar off--In

Isa 2:4

it is "the nations . . . many people."

4. sit every man under his vine, &c.--that is, enjoy the most

prosperous tranquillity

(1Ki 4:25;

Zec 3:10).

The "vine" and "fig tree" are mentioned rather than a house, to

signify, there will be no need of a covert; men will be safe even in

the fields and open air.

Lord of hosts hath spoken it--Therefore it must come to pass, however

unlikely now it may seem.

5. For--rather, Though it be that all people walk after their

several gods, yet we (the Jews in the dispersion) will walk in the name

of the Lord. So the Hebrew particle means in the Margin,

Ge 8:21;

Ex 13:17;

Jos 17:18.

The resolution of the exile Jews is: As Jehovah gives us hope of so

glorious a restoration, notwithstanding the overthrow of our temple and

nation, we must in confident reliance on His promise persevere in the

true worship of Him, however the nations around, our superiors now in

strength and numbers, walk after their gods [ROSENMULLER]. As the Jews were thoroughly weaned from

idols by the Babylonian captivity, so they shall be completely cured of

unbelief by their present long dispersion

(Zec 10:8-12).

6. assemble her that halteth--feminine for neuter in Hebrew idiom,

"whatever halteth": metaphor from sheep wearied out with a journey:

all the suffering exiles of Israel

(Eze 34:16;

Zep 3:19).

her . . . driven out--all Israel's outcasts. Called "the Lord's flock"

(Jer 13:17;

Eze 34:13; 37:21).

7. I will make her that halted a remnant--I will cause a remnant to

remain which shall not perish.

Lord shall reign . . . in . . . Zion--David's kingdom shall be restored

in the person of Messiah, who is the seed of David and at the same time

Jehovah

(Isa 24:23).

for ever--

(Isa 9:6, 7;

Da 7:14, 27;

Lu 1:33;

Re 11:15).

8. tower of the flock--following up the metaphor of sheep

(see on

Mic 4:6).

Jerusalem is called the "tower," from which the King and Shepherd

observes and guards His flock: both the spiritual Jerusalem, the Church

now whose tower-like elevation is that of doctrine and practice

(So 4:4,

"Thy neck is like the tower of David"), and the literal

hereafter

(Jer 3:17).

In large pastures it was usual to erect a high wooden tower, so as to

oversee the flock. JEROME takes the Hebrew

for "flock," Eder or Edar, as a proper name, namely, a

village near Beth-lehem, for which it is put, Beth-lehem being taken to

represent the royal stock of David

(Mic 5:2;

compare

Ge 35:21).

But the explanatory words, "the stronghold of the daughter of Zion,"

confirm English Version.

stronghold--Hebrew, "Ophel"; an impregnable height on Mount Zion

(2Ch 27:3; 33:14;

Ne 3:26, 27).

unto thee shall . . . come . . . the first dominion--namely, the

dominion formerly exercised by thee shall come back to thee.

kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem--rather, "the kingdom

of the daughter of Jerusalem shall come (again)"; such as it was under

David, before its being weakened by the secession of the ten tribes.

9. Addressed to the daughter of Zion, in her consternation at the

approach of the Chaldeans.

is there no king in thee?--asked tauntingly. There is a king in

her; but it is the same as if there were none, so helpless to devise

means of escape are he and his counsellors

[MAURER]. Or, Zion's pains

are because her king is taken away from her

(Jer 52:9;

La 4:20;

Eze 12:13)

[CALVIN]. The former is perhaps the preferable

view (compare

Jer 49:7).

The latter, however, describes better Zion's kingless state during her

present long dispersion

(Ho 3:4, 5).

10. Be in pain, and labour--carrying on the metaphor of a pregnant

woman. Thou shalt be affected with bitter sorrows before thy deliverance

shall come. I do not forbid thy grieving, but I bring thee consolation.

Though God cares for His children, yet they must not expect to be exempt

from trouble, but must prepare for it.

go forth out of the city--on its capture. So "come out" is used

2Ki 24:12;

Isa 36:16.

dwell in the field--namely, in the open country, defenseless, instead

of their fortified city. Beside the Chebar

(Ps 137:1;

Eze 3:15).

Babylon--Like Isaiah, Micah looks beyond the existing Assyrian dynasty

to the Babylonian, and to Judah's captivity under it, and restoration

(Isa 39:7; 43:14; 48:20).

Had they been, as rationalists represent, merely sagacious politicians,

they would have restricted their prophecies to the sphere of the

existing Assyrian dynasty. But their seeing into the far-off

future of Babylon's subsequent supremacy, and Judah's connection

with her, proves them to be inspired prophets.

there . . . there--emphatic repetition. The very scene of thy

calamities is to be the scene of thy deliverance. In the midst of

enemies, where all hope seems cut off, there shall Cyrus, the

deliverer, appear (compare

Jud 14:14).

Cyrus again being the type of the greater Deliverer, who shall finally

restore Israel.

11. many nations--the subject peoples composing Babylon's armies:

and also Edom, Ammon, &c., who exulted in Judah's fall

(La 2:16;

Ob 11-13).

defiled--metaphor from a virgin. Let her be defiled (that is, outraged

shame and sorrow

(Mic 7:10).

Her foes desired to feast their eyes on her calamities.

12. thoughts of the Lord--Their unsearchable wisdom,

overruling seeming disaster to the final good of His people, is the

very ground on which the restoration of Israel hereafter (of which the

restoration from Babylon is a type) is based in

Isa 55:8;

compare with

Mic 4:3, 12, 13,

which prove that Israel, not merely the Christian Church, is the

ultimate subject of the prophecy; also in

Ro 11:13.

God's counsel is to discipline His people for a time with the foe as a

scourge; and then to destroy the foe by the hands of His people.

gather them as . . . sheaves--them who "gathered" themselves for Zion's

destruction

(Mic 4:11)

the Lord "shall gather" for destruction by Zion

(Mic 4:13),

like sheaves gathered to be threshed (compare

Isa 21:10;

Jer 51:33).

The Hebrew is singular, "sheaf." However great the

numbers of the foe, they are all but as one sheaf ready to be

threshed [CALVIN]. Threshing was done by treading

with the feet: hence the propriety of the image for treading under foot

and breaking asunder the foe.

13. thresh--destroy thy foes "gathered" by Jehovah as "sheaves"

(Isa 41:15, 16).

thine horn--Zion being compared to an ox treading corn, and an ox's

strength lying in the horns, her strength is implied by giving her a

horn of iron (compare

1Ki 22:11).

beat in pieces many--

(Da 2:44).

I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord--God subjects the nations

to Zion, not for her own selfish aggrandizement, but for His glory

(Isa 60:6, 9;

Zec 14:20,

with which compare

Isa 23:18)

and for their ultimate good; therefore He is here called, not merely

God of Israel, but "Lord of the whole earth."