Micah 5
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The rest of glory
The rest of glory
We ended last week looking at the first four verses of Micah 5 but in how they fit as the last of a pattern of three that showed how suffering twisted into blessing.
This time I want to start again with those first 4 verses but look more closely at how they specifically speak of Jesus.
Now muster your troops, O daughter of troops;
siege is laid against us;
with a rod they strike the judge of Israel
on the cheek.
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days.
Therefore he shall give them up until the time
when she who is in labor has given birth;
then the rest of his brothers shall return
to the people of Israel.
And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great
to the ends of the earth.
This speaks to the birthplace of the Christ like we see quoted in the beginning of Matthew.
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
“ ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ”
Here the scribes knew what this passage meant and how it spoke of the Messiah / King / Shepherd would be born in Bethlehem.
The section continues in the next two verses talking about this Messiah.
And he shall be their peace.
When the Assyrian comes into our land
and treads in our palaces,
then we will raise against him seven shepherds
and eight princes of men;
they shall shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword,
and the land of Nimrod at its entrances;
and he shall deliver us from the Assyrian
when he comes into our land
and treads within our border.
He shall be there peace ties us back up to previous verses dwelling securely implies peace. What gives that feeling of security better than peace, and a peace that is lasting without threats against it?
We see a number phrase we’ve talked about before. The seven yet even eight style talking about shepherd and princes. It gives the impression there will be enough (completion) more than enough in fact with eight. This deliverance will be from Assyrians which could be a way to talk about all the enemies of Israel. The epitome of what it means to be against israel. There is also a prophet aspect that lines up here for eschatological consideration. There is a line in Daniel 9:26 “And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed.” Where some think the antichrist (the prince who is to come) will be from the people who shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. I’ve read that it’s been recorded that the specific troops occupying Jerusalem at the time the temple was destroyed and the city overthrown were troops from the area historically known as Assyria. If that’s accurate, and we don’t know for sure that it is, that would happen to fall in line with this passage pointing to Assyria again being tied to yet another conquering of Israel as well as pointing to the end times possibility of the anti-christ coming from the historic Assyria.
Looking on we see the deliverance of the scattered people in view.
Then the remnant of Jacob shall be
in the midst of many peoples
like dew from the Lord,
like showers on the grass,
which delay not for a man
nor wait for the children of man.
And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations,
in the midst of many peoples,
like a lion among the beasts of the forest,
like a young lion among the flocks of sheep,
which, when it goes through, treads down
and tears in pieces, and there is none to deliver.
Your hand shall be lifted up over your adversaries,
and all your enemies shall be cut off.
We have the language that includes all twelve tribes by speaking of Jacob instead of Judah or Israel. Though yes Israel is Jacob we’ve used Israel so much to talk of just the northern kingdom there shouldn’t be any mistake here that all the descendants of jacob are represented in the scattered remnant. We also have language that reminds us of life and blessing with dew and rain. In a bit of contrast to this life and blessing there is also a hint of death as these scattered people will be like a lion. Their enemies will be killed. They’ll tear them to pieces. They will be victorious over their adversaries their enemies will be executed.
That sounds great for them at that will be restored.
So let’s see what happens next .
And in that day, declares the Lord,
I will cut off your horses from among you
and will destroy your chariots;
So we’ve moved from this declaration about being victorious over enemies but then we next see what appears to be the Lord destroying the possibility of them defeating there enemies. Horses and especially chariots are clear pictures of military power. Yes the lord is destroying their military power because it is The Lord that delivers them, not themselves.
and I will cut off the cities of your land
and throw down all your strongholds;
Cities are places that have walls i.e. fortifications. The strongholds being smaller places that are strategically placed forts in essence. So God its removing still these places of power and military might.
and I will cut off sorceries from your hand,
and you shall have no more tellers of fortunes;
We move from the military being stripped out to the the paganism perishing. God goes after all the pagan parts of the land to remove them, the people who purpetuate all of these activities.
and I will cut off your carved images
and your pillars from among you,
and you shall bow down no more
to the work of your hands;
Again removing the items of the pagan worship like removing the people that lead the paganism of the previous verse. And finally
and I will root out your Asherah images from among you
and destroy your cities.
it seems odd that we throw in destroying cities here again but it serves two purposes. It bookends how the Lord will deal with his people in their land desroying their cities / military power and their paganism as a summary verse but also showing how the cities tend to be a center of evil. The more densely populated a place becomes the more it chases after the ungodly things. In my experience that stays true to today.
Moving on but staying in our picture of how the Lord is handling things now we get to verse 15
And in anger and wrath I will execute vengeance
on the nations that did not obey.
The whole world is in view even when the primary revelation is towards God’s people.