God in the Burning City

Introduction

Zion will burn, what a shocking thing for a prophet of the God of Zion to communicate. A great King does not see his capital burn, a great military leader does not see his most fortified defense destroyed, and it would seem that, for the sake of punishing Israel for their rebellion against him, he has harmed his own glory. How can such a God be holy and devoted to his glory? Will he leave his kingdom of priests forever and retreat from the world? Has evil one?

These are the questions that Micah 4 is answering as God gives some insight into his plans for the days to come. While its clear that Jerusalem, the city that represented God’s glory and reign on earth, will be destroyed and will never be the same, God is also going about making the kingdom of the Lame through this. Evil may seem to win, but in reality God’s Kingdom of the Lame and weak will rise up in strength and be built into the new, higher mountain that will draw the nations to it. Last week we saw that for this to happen, Israel would have to be humbled, have their King taken away, and brought to a place where they could rely only on God and not on any earthly power.

In our text today, we see that perspective of the gentile nations who are seemingly victorious over Zion hatefully persecuting the people of God and thinking it easy to destroy the great symbol of God’s might and authority over all. But as verse 12 tells us, “they do not know the thoughts of the LORD.”

The Many Nations

Both Kingdoms find themselves surrounded by the nations. This probably refers specifically to the Northern Kingdom which, at the time, was being invaded by Assyria. The message is for both, however, as Judah is just watching her future state.

The image that this passage gives us is one of the city of Zion under seige against the nations of the earth. Who are these nations?

Physically and historically the Assyrians and later the Babylonians.

Illusrative of all the nations of the world that do not submit themselves to God.

Since they do not submit to God, they have no care for the people of God and in fact attack them as an expression of their rebellion against “the Lord of the whole earth.”

Although this attack is due to Israel’s sin, here God is expressing the attacks of the nations as persecution and hostility to God from these satan-led nations.

God maintains his faithfulness, his holiness, his sovereign plan, and his glory through this great humbling because of his plans. While these nations look at what the seem to be accomplishing in worldly victory, they are actually carrying out the plans of the God of Israel without even knowing it.

God’s Plans for the Persecuted City

Irony around the word “assembled.” While the nations assemble themselves to burn and metaphorically rape the city of Zion, God “assembles” the Kingdom of the Lame and “gathers” the nations as sheaves of grain to be threashed.

They gather against Jerusalem, but really it is the Lord who gathers them; they plan to lay bare the temple precincts, but the Lord will break them; they come to strip Jerusalem, but instead they will be stripped, and the wealth they leave behind will be offered up to the Lord.

-Tyndale OT Commentary

Jeremiah 51:33 ESV

For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time when it is trodden; yet a little while and the time of her harvest will come.”

Who will thresh them? The daughter of Zion, the true people of God. The lame and oppressed will be like a bull with horns of iron and hoofs of bronze that will trample the nations, seperating the grain from the chaff and offering the grani to the Lord, who is not only the Lord of Israel, but is the Lord of the whole earth.

Victory and Devotion

“Arise and thresh.” God’s lamed people will be given the power from God himself to claim glory and victory“Arise and thresh.” God’s lamed people will be given the power from God himself to claim glory and victory and offer it to God.

The nations victory over God’s people turns to God’s victory over the nations.

The spoils of war. Not physical, but people. The spoils will be those led in procession as captives of Christ to become his worshippers. This gives us an idea of the kind of victory this will be. Not one of earthly military or political strength, but one of spirtual subjection.

The LORD of the whole earth. This is true of Christ doubly, but is not fully realized. (Heb 2:8 at present we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.)

We wait for the age to come when the Kingdom of God will be fully realized. For now, the Kingdom is not of this world and the world will continue to think that they are winning against us, but this simply isn’t true. We aren’t waiting for Christ’s victory, we are enacting it. And although it may not look like we are winning, we are. The Kingdom of the Lame overtakes the kingdoms of the world. While the beast seems to overcome the church, in heaven it is clear that the beast is overcome by the martyrs of God’s people.

Conclusion: We aren’t stuck in the world with the wicked, the wicked are stuck with us. Although weak, our God uses us in our weakness, even through our weakness, to accomplish actual victory.