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Micah 4:1-13
The Micah Mandate
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January 26, 2014 am
Preaching
“THE MOUNTAIN OF THE LORD"
INTRODUCTION: The prophets are perhaps the least preached section of the Bible…
1. And this is so for four reasons:
a. Modern evangelicals perceive their messages as “harsh.” It does not (we think) include enough
grace. Not so!
b. They are difficult to understand and to outline. But that obstacle can be overcome with rigorous
study.
c. We have difficulty applying their message to our day and our lives: they were a church-nation, a
theocracy.
d. Their time perspective is often difficult to discern.
2. This fourth criticism has some validity to it. The prophets often mix their timeframes in such a manner
that it is difficult to see what they are saying.
3. All the prophets (with the exception of Jonah which is really not a prophecy but a story about a prophet)
speak with four time references in mind:
a. The immediate context: their own day and current issues
b. The near future: the coming Assyrian invasion and Babylonian captivity or restoration
c. The Messianic hope: things pertaining to the life of Christ
d. The eschatological “Day of the Lord”: the end times; last days
4. For example: Micah speaks from all four of these perspectives
a. His immediate context (c. 733-701 BC). He preached for 32 years or more.
The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah,
kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
Hear, you peoples, all of you;
pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it,
and let the Lord God be a witness against you,
the Lord from his holy temple.
For behold, the Lord is coming out of his place,
and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.
And the mountains will melt under him,
and the valleys will split open,
like wax before the fire,
like waters poured down a steep place.
All this is for the transgression of Jacob
and for the sins of the house of Israel.
What is the transgression of Jacob?
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Is it not Samaria?
And what is the high place of Judah?
Is it not Jerusalem? (Micah 1:1-5)
b. William VanGemeren: Interpreting the Prophets; p. 150.
Micah’s ministry supported the significant reform programs of King Hezekiah. By the Spirit, this
godly king accepted prophetic critique and was greatly used by the Lord. A century later, Micah’s
ministry was still remembered by some of the elders of Judah.
c. His ministry was remembered 100 years later during the ministry of Jeremiah 26:16-19.
Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, “This man does not
deserve the sentence of death, for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.” And
certain of the elders of the land arose and spoke to all the assembled people, saying, “Micah of
Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and said to all the people of Judah:
‘Thus says the Lord of hosts,
“‘Zion shall be plowed as a field;
Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins,
and the mountain of the house a wooded height.’
Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Did he not fear the Lord and entreat
the favor of the Lord, and did not the Lord relent of the disaster that he had pronounced against
them? But we are about to bring great disaster upon ourselves.” (Jeremiah 26:16-19)
d. He warned of the Fall of Samaria in 722 BC and the Fall of Jerusalem in 605, 595, 586 BC – near
future:
Therefore I will make Samaria a heap in the open country,
a place for planting vineyards,
and I will pour down her stones into the valley
and uncover her foundations. (Micah 1:6)
Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair,
for the children of your delight;
make yourselves as bald as the eagle,
for they shall go from you into exile. (Micah 1:16)
e. He also pointed to the coming Messiah: Jesus Christ
i. 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. (Micah 5:2)
ii. Woe to those who devise wickedness
and work evil on their beds!
When the morning dawns, they perform it,
because it is in the power of their hand.
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They covet fields and seize them,
and houses, and take them away;
they oppress a man and his house,
a man and his inheritance.
Therefore thus says the Lord:
behold, against this family I am devising disaster,
from which you cannot remove your necks,
and you shall not walk haughtily,
for it will be a time of disaster.
In that day they shall take up a taunt song against you
and moan bitterly,
and say, “We are utterly ruined;
he changes the portion of my people;
how he removes it from me!
To an apostate he allots our fields.”
Therefore you will have none to cast the line by lot
in the assembly of the Lord.
“Do not preach”—thus they preach—
“one should not preach of such things;
disgrace will not overtake us.”
(Micah 2:1-6)
f. And he looks far down the corridors of time to these “last days” in which you and I live –
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,
and 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.
(Micah 4:1-2)
5. Sometimes all these timeframes are “jumbled” together in one sermon (oracle) and a single chapter.
6. Such is the case in this fourth chapter of Micah: “The Mountain of the Lord.”
a. In truth, chapters 4 and 5 may be one long sermon.
b. They are both about the future (last days).
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;
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and peoples shall flow to it. (Micah 4:1)
c. “The latter days:” what we call “the last days”
d. The age in which we live moving toward the Second Coming of Christ
7. Moses introduced Israel (and us) to the concept of the “latter days” (Deuteronomy 4:25-31)
a. When you father children and children's children, and have grown old in the land, if you act
corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight
of the Lord your God, so as to provoke him to anger, I call heaven and earth to witness against
you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to
possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed. And the Lord will scatter you
among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive
you. And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, that neither see,
nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. (Deuteronomy 4:25-28)
b. Israel’s diaspora under Assyria (722 BC)
c. Judah’s exile under Babylon (605 BC)
d. But God promised a restoration: a return to the land (538 BC).
e. And, eventually a full renewal (and a new world) in the “latter days”
f. But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with
all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon
you in the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey his voice. For the Lord your
God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your
fathers that he swore to them. (Deuteronomy 4:29-31)
8. Jeremiah also spoke of those “latter days.”
a. Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab
in the latter days, declares the Lord.”
Thus far is the judgment on Moab. (Jeremiah 48:47)
b. “But in the latter days I will restore the fortunes of Elam, declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 49:39)
9. Daniel, in Babylon, foretold of these “latter days.”
a. But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King
Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you
lay in bed are these: To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this,
and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. (Daniel 2:28-29)
b. And behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. And he said to me,
“O Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for
now I have been sent to you.” And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. Then
he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and
humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your
words. The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the
chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia, and came to make you
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understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days. For the vision is for days yet to
come.” (Daniel 10:10-14)
10. Peter quoted the prophet Joel about these “latter days.”
a. And it shall come to pass afterward,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions. (Joel 2:28)
b. And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams;
even on my male servants and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
And I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
the sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.
And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
(Acts 2:17-21)
11. David Price: Micah: BST, pp. 148-149.
Generally in the Old Testament the phrase seems to denote an unspecified future time, a prolonged period
rather than an actual date, when situations that have remained in place for years, if not for centuries, will
be reversed or replaced. In the New Testament the phrase seems to take on a specific reference to
everything that results from the first coming of Jesus Christ. It then possesses the eschatological flavor
discernible here in Micah. Micah, then, was anticipating this transformation sometime in the future.
Only future events would establish the accuracy of his words, and these events could take place over a
long period of time: ‘days’ could be years, generations or even centuries. But, however long it takes, it
shall come to pass.
12. Some of us would think, “Do I really need a message like this today? Pie in the sky dreams about a
perfect world in the future? I’ve got a troubled marriage, a son failing geometry, a daughter dating the
wrong kind of guy, bills I can’t pay, an aging father who is widowed and slipping into dementia, a lousy
job and NO retirement! I need real answers to problems now!”
13. Yep! You need this message! 
14. Here’s why: You need hope, and hope is always aimed toward and rooted in the promises of God and the
anticipation of heaven.
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15. Example: I find that one of the most difficult things for me to do is to maintain spiritual perspective when
things get difficult. I tend to one of three bad coping mechanisms.
a. I get angry. I operate in the flesh, take control, run over people, and make things happen. It never
solves my problems.
b. I look to the culture around me to see what other people are doing: the blind leading the blurred! It
makes matters worse.
c. I listen to people and let them influence my decisions rather than God’s Word. It simply
compounds and confuses the issues.
d. What I need is a perspective from God that will give me hope.
16. And that is what the “latter days” perspective is all about…
17. You need this “pie-in-the-sky” vision of Micah 4 for this reason: “…the beauty of this passage is that it is
totally out of harmony with the reality of our world, yet fully in harmony with what we would like the
world to be.” (Craigie; Micah: BST; p. 148)
18. One chapter (oracles), 13 verses, 3 paragraphs
a. The Mountain of the Lord (4:1-5)
b. The Remnant of the Lord (4:6-8)
c. The Ultimate Purpose of the Lord (4:9-13)
19. Note: Micah works “backward” in this message: From the Second Coming, to Christ, to his own days.
I. THE MOUNTAIN OF THE LORD (Micah 4:1-5)
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,
and 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.
He shall judge between many peoples,
and shall decide 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,
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neither shall they learn war anymore;
but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree,
and no one shall make them afraid,
for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.
For all the peoples walk
each in the name of its god,
but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God
forever and ever. (Micah 4:1-5)
1. This same prophecy was delivered by Isaiah, the contemporary of Micah. (Isaiah 2:1-5)
a. The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
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 shall be lifted up above the hills;
and all the nations shall flow to it,
and many peoples 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 the law,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
and shall decide disputes for many peoples;
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.
O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk
in the light of the Lord. (Isaiah 2:1-5)
b. Isaiah prophesied c. 740-750 BC.
c. Micah predated him by a decade, c. 750-700 BC.
d. No evidence to support who spoke this oracle first
2. Micah speaks of a golden age far in the future: “It shall come to pass in the latter days…”
a. An age promised by Isaiah and Micah 700 BC
b. An age introduced in Israel’s restoration from exile
c. The “last days” begun at Christ’s resurrection
d. The consummation of the ages in Christ’s Second Coming
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3. Bruce Waltke: Micah (McComiskey); vol. 2; p. 676.
The prophecy is marked off from 3:9-12 by (1) an abrupt change in form and mood: from an oracle of
doom to one of hoped-for salvation; (2) a change of speakers: from Micah (3:8-9) to the Lord (4:4b);
(3) a change of addressees: from Jerusalem’s apostate leaders (3:9-12) to faithful remnant.
4. Micah’s oracle of 4:1-5 reverses the oracle of judgment pronounced in 3:9-12.
a. Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob
and rulers of the house of Israel,
who detest justice
and make crooked all that is straight,
who build Zion with blood
and Jerusalem with iniquity.
Its heads give judgment for a bribe;
its priests teach for a price;
its prophets practice divination for money;
yet they lean on the Lord and say,
“Is not the Lord in the midst of us?
No disaster shall come upon us.”
Therefore because of you
Zion shall be plowed as a field;
Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins,
and the mountain of the house a wooded height. (Micah 3:9-12)
b. Leslie B. Allen: Micah: NICOT; p. 322.
The long passage denouncing Jerusalem’s leaders and announcing Jerusalem’s destruction is
counterbalanced by a short one of glorious hope for the capital under Yahweh’s leadership.
God’s last word is not judgment: that is but a necessary phase in His people’s history, which is
to culminate in salvation.
c. Jerusalem to be captured and plundered by Babylon will be rebuilt and exalted above every
city in the world!
i. Therefore because of you
Zion shall be plowed as a field;
Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins,
and the mountain of the house a wooded height. (Micah 3:12)
ii. 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. (Micah 4:1)
d. The injustice and bloodshed in corrupt Jerusalem will be changed to justice, mercy, peace, and
harmony.
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i. Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob
and rulers of the house of Israel,
who detest justice
and make crooked all that is straight. (Micah 3:9)
ii. He shall judge between many peoples,
and shall decide 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. (Micah 4:3)
e. The false teaching from corrupt prophets, priests, and judges turn into a center for knowing the
Teachings of the Lord.
i. Its heads give judgment for a bribe;
its priests teach for a price;
its prophets practice divination for money;
yet they lean on the Lord and say,
“Is not the Lord in the midst of us?
No disaster shall come upon us.” (Micah 3:11)
ii. And 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. (Micah 4:2)
f. The violence and danger of corrupt Jerusalem shall give way to a golden age of complete
security.
i. …who build Zion with blood
and Jerusalem with iniquity.
(Micah 3:10)
ii. …but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree,
and no one shall make them afraid,
for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. (Micah 4:4)
g. The age of apostasy by Israel shall be done, and the church will be faithful to God forever.
For all the peoples walk
each in the name of its god,
but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God
forever and ever. (Micah 4:5)
5. We need to know something about how the prophets prophesied of the future in order to make sense
of what they were saying. Seven things must be kept in mind:
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a. First: the prophets represented the realities of the New (New Testament) Age under the
symbols of the Old (Old Testament) Age: Temple, Zion, the law, etc. After Christ’s ascension
and Pentecost, these earthly symbols are done away with.
b. Second: Old Testament worship in the Temple foreshadowed the realities of heaven (Ezekiel,
Revelation), so when Jesus rent the curtain in two on Good Friday, the New Age of worship
began, but will not be complete until the New Heaven and Earth.
c. Third: We are never to hope for or expect a return to the Old Testament Temple and
Jerusalem, even in glorious form. Jesus made this clear in John 4:21-24.
Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor
in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship
what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when
the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such
people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and
truth.”
(John 4:21-24)
d. Fourth: To show the exceeding greatness and glory of the future age, the prophets
“supercharged” (Waltke) the old symbols with deliberate hyperbole (exaggeration).
e. Fifth: The prophets compressed a long period of time into “temporal thickness” (Waltke):
restoration, age of Christ, New Testament church, New Heaven and Earth all make up “the
latter days.”
f. Sixth: The prophets expected a spiritual fulfillment to their literal predictions and not a greater
version of their own age.
g. Seventh: The prophets expected all these prophecies to be fulfilled in and through the coming
Messiah and His Messianic age, even if they know not how this might be done in a particular
way.
For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter
our Amen to God for his glory. (2 Corinthians 1:20)
6. Isaiah and Micah were looking forward to four great events that merged together in their vision.
a. The day Jerusalem would see the resurrected and glorified Christ, on Easter Sunday…
b. The day Jerusalem would experience the baptism of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday, the
birth of the New Testament Church, and the launching of the Great Commission…
c. The age of the Church and its spread throughout the world as literally millions and then
billions turn to Christ in faith…
d. The New Heaven and the New Earth on the great “day of the Lord.”
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed
away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of
heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from
the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them,
and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away
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every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor
crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he
said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” (Revelation 21:1-5)
7. Illustration: If you stand on the Piedmont of North Carolina and look to the West, you see the
Appalachian Mountains. They seem to be one huge entity, but as you drive toward them, then through
them, you realize that they are a series of mountains, one after another, which make up one grand
range of peaks.
8. So is The Mountain of the Lord. As we move from the book of Micah to the book of Revelation, we
realize that The Mountain of the Lord is a series of great peaks, all joined together in Christ –
a. Jerusalem of David and Solomon
b. Jerusalem restored after the Babylonian Exile
c. Jerusalem entered by the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth
d. Jerusalem of Pentecost and the Apostles
e. The New Jerusalem: The Church in the World
f. The City of God – the Jerusalem coming down from heaven
g. Zion…Church…the City of God
9. Bruce Waltke: Micah: McComiskey: vol. 2; p. 679.
There is a temporal thickness to these prophecies; they embrace a beginning of fulfillment in Israel’s
restoration from the exile, a victorious fulfillment in the church age stretching from Christ’s first
advent to His parousia, and a consummation in the eschatological new heaven and earth when
Christ’s Kingdom becomes co-extensive with creation. Zion’s final and consummate vindication will
come when the New Jerusalem is lowered from heaven to the regenerated earth. Though the prophets
represent the future ideally, the prophecies are in the process of being fulfilled. The future is
unfolding and the completion of what already exists in Christ through the Holy Spirit will be carried
through triumphantly in spite of sin, suffering, and death. We do not yet see the Kingdom of God
coextensive with creation, but our hope for its future is based both on its past victory and its present
lack. Buoyed by these visions and promises of their Lord’s triumph, saints in all ages are nerved to
fidelity in testing and succored in sorrows.
10. For us this is important: All we go through here, difficult and painful as was Israel’s captivity and
ruin, is moving us toward and preparing us for our place in the City of God on the Mountain of the
Lord.
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same
image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by
day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all
comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things
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that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
Corinthians 3:18; 4:16-18)
(2
11. So, Micah takes a step back from the far future, to look at the near future…
II. THE REMNANT OF THE LORD (Micah 4:6-8)
In that day, declares the Lord,
I will assemble the lame
and gather those who have been driven away
and those whom I have afflicted;
and the lame I will make the remnant,
and those who were cast off, a strong nation;
and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion
from this time forth and forevermore.
And you, O tower of the flock,
hill of the daughter of Zion,
to you shall it come,
the former dominion shall come,
kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem. (Micah 4:6-8)
1. The Lord promises Micah that he will return to visit Old Testament Israel in their Babylonian
Captivity and dispersion among the nations of Assyrians, and will gather a remnant back to
Jerusalem.
2. “Remnant” is the key word in this paragraph (v. 7).
…and the lame I will make the remnant,
and those who were cast off, a strong nation;
and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion
from this time forth and forevermore. (Micah 4:7)
3. In 539 BC, Cyrus of Persia conquered Babylon and allowed Jews from all over his empire to return to
Jerusalem and Palestine.
a. Most did not. They had become a part of the community and cultures where they had been
scattered…
b. From Persia to Spain, from North Africa to the Mediterranean Europe…
c. Only a very few returned, under Zerubbabel, Ezra, Nehemiah
d. The Remnant of the Restoration. (Haggai-Malachi)
4. This was the remnant who would…
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a. Rebuild Jerusalem and her walls
b. Reinhabit the Holy City
c. Build the Second Temple
d. Experience revival under Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi
e. And to whom the Messiah would come
f. 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,
and 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.
He shall judge between many peoples,
and shall decide 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;
but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree,
and no one shall make them afraid,
for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.
For all the peoples walk
each in the name of its god,
but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God
forever and ever. (Malachi 4:1-5)
5. Jesus, the Son of David, Lion of Judah, King of Kings would come and be a part of this previous
remnant:
a. And you, O tower of the flock,
hill of the daughter of Zion,
to you shall it come,
the former dominion shall come,
kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem.
b. “Kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem”
c. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
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righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zech. 9:9)
d. Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then
Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately
you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone
says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.”
This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,
“Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’” (Matthew 21:1-5)
e. And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he
who comes in the name of the Lord! (Mark 11:9)
f. As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude
of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that
they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in
heaven and glory in the highest!” (Luke 19:37-38)
6. This glorious vision of the New Heaven and New Earth cannot come to pass until a remnant returns to
Jerusalem; Jesus Christ is born into that remnant in Bethlehem, and is crucified and resurrected in the
Holy City.
7. The glory of the crown must first experience the shame of the Cross.
So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the
Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?”
Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me.
What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this
world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my
kingdom is not from the world.” Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You
say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to
bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” (John 18:33-37)
8. Jesus, the Shepherd-King will gather His flock (the Church), die for them, raise Himself for their new
life, give them the Spirit and will rule and guide them, as He builds them into His worldwide church –
The New Jerusalem.
And you, O tower of the flock,
hill of the daughter of Zion,
to you shall it come,
the former dominion shall come,
kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem. (Micah 4:8)
9. James M. Boice: The Minor Prophets: Micah; vol. 2; p. 34, 35.
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Micah introduces a beautiful image at this point, saying that the Lord will rule over His people as a
shepherd watches over His sheep. It is a theme found elsewhere in the Old Testament.
Micah is saying that this is what God will do with the captives of Judah. He will gather them as a
shepherd gathers limping sheep, assemble them into a flock, and eventually return them to their
capital city.
Micah is telling his readers that even in times of judgment it is good to be in the gentle care of Israel’s
good shepherd.
10. Micah now takes one further step back into the purpose of God…
III. THE ULTIMATE PURPOSE OF THE LORD (Micah 4:9-13)
Now why do you cry aloud?
Is there no king in you?
Has your counselor perished,
that pain seized you like a woman in labor?
Writhe and groan, O daughter of Zion,
like a woman in labor,
for now you shall go out from the city
and dwell in the open country;
you shall go to Babylon.
There you shall be rescued;
there the Lord will redeem you
from the hand of your enemies.
Now many nations
are assembled against you,
saying, “Let her be defiled,
and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.”
But they do not know
the thoughts of the Lord;
they do not understand his plan,
that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor.
Arise and thresh,
O daughter of Zion,
for I will make your horn iron,
and I will make your hoofs bronze;
you shall beat in pieces many peoples;
and shall devote their gain to the Lord,
their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth.
(Micah 4:9-13)
1. “Now…” – Micah returns to the sorrow and struggles of his own age.
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2. He tells them that they must go through agonizing trauma into the judgment of the Lord in the
Babylonian Captivity.
a. A mere 100-120 years in the future
b. Now why do you cry aloud?
Is there no king in you?
Has your counselor perished,
that pain seized you like a woman in labor?
Writhe and groan, O daughter of Zion,
like a woman in labor,
for now you shall go out from the city
and dwell in the open country;
you shall go to Babylon. (Micah 4:9-10a)
3. But…a rescue is forthcoming: They will only be in Babylon a mere 70 years and then returned to
their holy land…
There you shall be rescued;
there the Lord will redeem you
from the hand of your enemies. (Micah 4:10b)
4. He tells them that the very nations that were assembled against Israel and who delight in her demise
will one day know the Judgment of the Lord –
a. Now many nations
are assembled against you,
saying, “Let her be defiled,
and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.”
But they do not know
the thoughts of the Lord;
they do not understand his plan,
that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor. (Micah 4:11-12)
b. Babylon, Egypt, Moab, Edom, Elam, Ammon, etc.
c. They do not understand God’s ultimate plan.
d. But they do not know
the thoughts of the Lord;
they do not understand his plan,
that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor. (Micah 4:12)
5. What is that plan? To send the “church scattered” among the pagan nations of the earth with the
Gospel of the Kingdom, calling all men to forsake their gods, turn away from their sins, put their trust
in Jesus Christ, and enter His Kingdom (church) as a loyal citizen of heaven…or perish in the Last
Judgment!
a. The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.
(Mark 1:15)
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b. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony
to all nations, and then the end will come.
(Matthew 24:14)
c. …strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and
saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. (Acts 14:22)
6. For…in the end…it will be Israel, the Church, the Kingdom of Jesus Christ who will conquer the
nations with the Good News of the Kingdom of God, inherit the earth, and will inhabit the New World
in the New Age to come..
Arise and thresh,
O daughter of Zion,
for I will make your horn iron,
and I will make your hoofs bronze;
you shall beat in pieces many peoples;
and shall devote their gain to the Lord,
their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth.
(Micah 4:13)
7. The Ultimate Purpose of God: To bring the nations to Jesus Christ that He may possess the earth!
a. Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The
kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign
forever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15)
b. David Prior: Micah: BST; pp. 156-157.
On previous occasions in Israel’s history, devoting the possessions of pagan cities and nations
to the Lord meant their complete destruction, to avoid any contamination arising from their
use in idolatrous worship. The context of these commands, a passage dealing with a renewed
Jerusalem and worldwide worship of the lord, indicates that the meaning is similar to a later
vision of the wealth of the nations being brought into the city and the kingdom of God. This is
certainly the ultimate plan of the Lord.
CONCLUSION: Back on January 6, 1941, Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivered his most famous
speech…
1. …State of the Union Address: “The Four Freedoms”
a. As Europe was steeped in catastrophic war…
b. As Japan menaced the Pacific and plotted the Pearl Harbor attack…
c. As worldwide Fascism threatened the freedom of the Judeo-Christian world…
d. Four Freedoms to be exact…
2. Here is how FDR so beautifully described them:
a. In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four
essential human freedoms.
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The first is freedom of speech and expression -- everywhere in the world.
The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way -- everywhere in the world.
The third is freedom from want -- which, translated into world terms, means economic
understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants -everywhere in the world.
The fourth is freedom from fear -- which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide
reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a
position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor-- anywhere in the world.
That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our
own time and generation. That kind of world is the very antithesis of the so-called new order of
tyranny which the dictators seek to create with the crash of a bomb.
b. Freedom of Speech, Freedom from Want, Freedom from Fear and Freedom of Religion…
3. Where did FDR get the idea of these four freedoms? From our Christian religion and the prophets of Old.
4. Micah prophesied that the Messiah would come, and through the Church and its mission of preach, would
conquer the world by His grace and usher in a world in which these four freedoms reigned supreme,
absolute, and exclusively…
a. 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. (Micah 4:1)
b. The Freedom of Speech…
… and 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.
c. The Freedom from Want…
He shall judge between many peoples,
and shall decide 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. (Micah 4:3)
d. The Freedom from Fear…
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…but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree,
and no one shall make them afraid,
for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. (Micah 4:4)
e. The Freedom of Religion…
i. For all the peoples walk
each in the name of its god,
but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God
forever and ever. (Micah 4:5)
ii. Where men would freely choose to follow Christ
iii. And all other gods and religions would be forsaken
5. Seem far-fetched? It did to the Jews of Micah’s day, the Romans of the Apostles’ day, and the American
of our day.
6. But hear Micah’s first five words (4:1): “It shall come to pass…”
7. God Himself, in His holy zeal, will bring this to pass in and through Jesus Christ!
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shone.
You have multiplied the nation;
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
For the yoke of his burden,
and the staff for his shoulder,
the rod of his oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
and every garment rolled in blood
will be burned as fuel for the fire.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
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from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. (Isaiah 9:2-7)
8. All we go through now – personally, as families, as a church, as a community, as a nation, as mankind – is
preparing us, one way or another, to enter into these realities –
a. To become embittered, unbelieving, rejecting Christ and His Kingdom – judgment
b. To be softened, drawn in faith, committing ourselves to Jesus Christ and His Kingdom – salvation
9. God is bringing this to pass: What will be your response?
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