M
I C A H
CHAP. IV.
Comparing
this chapter with the close of the foregoing chapter, the comfortable promises
here with the terrible threatenings there, we may, with the apostle,
"behold the goodness and severity of God," (Rom. xi. 22), towards
the Jewish church which fell, severity when Zion was ploughed as a field, but
towards the Christian church, which was built upon the ruins of it, goodness,
great goodness; for it is here promised, I. That it shall be advanced and
enlarged by the accession of the nations to it, ver. 1, 2. II. That it shall
be protected in tranquillity and peace, ver. 3, 4. III. That it shall be kept
close, and constant, and faithful to God, ver. 5. IV. That under Christ's
government, all its grievances shall be redressed, ver. 6, 7. V. That it shall
have an ample and flourishing dominion, ver. 8. VI. That its troubles shall be
brought to a happy issue at length, ver. 9, 10. VII. That its enemies shall be
disquieted, nay, that they shall be destroyed in and by their attempts against
it, ver. 11-13.
|
The
Prosperity of the Church Predicted.
|
B.
C. 726.
|
|
|
1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that
the mountain of the house of the LORD
shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted
above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. 2 And many nations
shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we
will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of
the LORD
from Jerusalem. 3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke
strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and
their spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against
nation, neither shall they learn war any more. 4 But they shall
sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them
afraid: for the mouth of the LORD
of hosts hath spoken it. 5 For all people will walk every
one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the LORD
our God for ever and ever. 6 In that day, saith the LORD,
will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out,
and her that I have afflicted; 7 And I will make her that halted a
remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the LORD
shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever.
It is a very comfortable but with which this chapter begins, and very
reviving to those who lay the interests of God's church near their heart and
are concerned for the welfare of it. When we sometimes see the corruptions of
the church, especially of church-rulers, princes, priests, and prophets,
seeking their own things and not the things of God, and when we soon after see
the desolations of the church, Zion for their sakes ploughed as a
field, we are ready to fear that it will one day perish between both, that
the name of Israel shall be no more in remembrance; we are ready to give up
all for gone, and to conclude the church will have neither root not branch
upon earth. But let not our faith fail in this matter; out of the ashes of the
church another phoenix shall arise. In the last words of the foregoing chapter
we left the mountain of the house as desolate and waste as the high
places of the forest; and is it possible that such a wilderness should
ever become a fruitful field again? Yes, the first words of this chapter bring
in the mountain of the Lord's house as much dignified by being
frequented as ever it had been disgraced by being deserted. Though Zion be
ploughed as a field, yet God has not cast off his people, but by the
fall of the Jews salvation has come to the Gentiles, so that it proves to be
the riches of the world, Rom. xi. 11, 12. This is the mystery which God by the
prophet here shows us, and he says the very same in the first three verses of
this chapter which another prophet said by the word of the Lord at the same
time (Isa. ii. 2-4), that out of the mouth of these two witnesses these
promises might be established; and very precious promises they are, relating
to the gospel-church, which have been in part accomplished, and will be yet
more and more, for he is faithful that has promised.
I. That there shall be a church for God set up in the world, after the
defection and destruction of the Jewish church, and this in the last days;
that is, as some of the rabbin themselves acknowledge, in the days of the
Messiah. The people of God shall be incorporated by a new charter, a new
spiritual way of worship shall be enacted, and a new institution of offices to
attend it; better privileges shall be granted by this new charter, and better
provision made for enlarging and establishing the kingdom of God among men
than had been made by the Old-Testament constitution: The mountain of the
house of the Lord shall again appear firm ground for God's faithful
worshippers to stand, and go, and build upon, in their attendance on him, v.
1. And it shall be a centre of unity to them; a church shall be set up in the
world, to which the Lord will be daily adding such as shall be saved.
II. That this church shall be firmly founded and well-built: It shall be
established in the top of the mountains; Christ himself will build it upon
a rock; it shall be an impregnable fort upon an immovable foundation, so that
the gates of hell shall neither overthrow the one nor undermine the other
(Matt. xvi. 18); its foundations are still in the holy mountains (Ps.
lxxxvii. 1), the everlasting mountains, which cannot, which shall not,
be removed. It shall be established, not as the temple, upon one mountain, but
upon many; for the foundations of the church, as they are sure, so they are
large.
III. That it shall be highly advanced, and become eminent and conspicuous: It shall
be exalted above the hills, observed with wonder for its growing greatness
from small beginnings. The kingdom of Christ shall shine with greater lustre
than ever any of the kingdoms of the earth did. It shall be as a city on a
hill, which cannot be hid, Matt. v. 14. The glory of this latter house is
greater than that of the former, Hag. ii. 9. See 2 Cor. iii. 7, 8, &c.
IV. That there shall be a great accession of converts to it and succession of
converts in it. People shall flow unto it as the waters of a river are
continually flowing; there shall be a constant stream of believers flowing in
from all parts into the church, as the people of the Jews flowed into the
temple, while it was standing, to worship there. Then many tribes came to the
mountain of the house, to enquire of God's temple; but in gospel-times many
nations shall flow into the church, shall fly like a cloud and as the doves
to their windows. Ministers shall be sent forth to disciple all
nations, and they shall not labour in vain; for, multitudes being
wrought upon to believe the gospel and embrace the Christian religion, they
shall excite and encourage one another, and shall say, "Come, and let
us go up to the mountain of the Lord now raised among us, even to the
house of the God of Jacob, the spiritual temple which we need not travel
far to, for it is brought to our doors and set up in the midst of us."
Thus shall people be made willing in the day of his power (Ps. cx. 3),
and shall do what they can to make others willing, as Andrew invited Peter,
and Philip Nathanael, to be acquainted with Christ. They shall call the
people to the mountain (Deut. xxxiii. 19), for there is in Christ enough
for all, enough for each. Now observe what it is, 1. Which these converts
expect to find in the house of the God of Jacob. They come thither for
instruction: "He will teach us of his ways, what is the way in
which he would have us to walk with him and in which we may depend upon him to
meet us graciously." Note, Where we come to worship God we come to be
taught of him. 2. Which they engage to do when they are thus taught of God: We
will walk in his paths. Note, Those may comfortably expect that God will
teach them who are firmly resolved by his grace to do as they are taught.
V. That, in order to this, a new revelation shall be published to the world,
on which the church shall be founded, and by which multitudes shall be brought
into it: For the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from
Jerusalem. The gospel is here called the word of the Lord, for the
Lord gave the word, and great was the company of those that published it,
Ps. lxviii. 11. It was of a divine original, a divine authority; it began to
be spoken by the Lord Christ himself, Heb. ii. 3. And it is a law, a
law of faith; we are under the law to Christ. This was to go forth
from Jerusalem, from Zion, the metropolis of the Old-Testament
dispensation, where the temple, and altars, and oracles were, and whither the
Jews went to worship from all parts; thence the gospel must take rise, to show
the connexion between the Old Testament and the New, that the gospel is not
set up in opposition to the law, but is an explication and illustration of it,
and a branch growing out of its roots. It was in Jerusalem that Christ
preached and wrought miracles; there he died, rose again, and ascended; there
the Spirit was poured out; and those that were to preach repentance and
remission of sins to all nations were ordered to begin at Jerusalem, so
that thence flowed the streams that were to water the desert world.
VI. That a convincing power should go along with the gospel of Christ, in all
places where it should be preached (v. 3): He shall judge among many
people. Messiah, the lawgiver (v. 2), is here the judge, for
to him the Father committed all judgment, and for judgment he came
into this world; his word, the word of his gospel, that was to go
forth from Jerusalem, was the golden sceptre by which he shall rule and judge
when he sits as king on the holy hill of Zion, Ps. ii. 6. By it he
shall rebuke strong nations afar off; for the Spirit working with the
word shall reprove the world, John xvi. 8. It is promised to the Son of
David that he shall judge among the heathen (Ps. cx. 6), which he does
when in the chariot of his everlasting gospel he goes forth, and goes on, conquering
and to conquer.
VII. That a disposition to mutual peace and love shall be the happy effect of
the setting up of the kingdom of the Messiah: They shall beat their swords
into plough-shares; that is, angry passionate men, that have been fierce
and furious, shall be wonderfully sweetened, and made mild and meek, Tit. iii.
2, 3. Those who, before their conversion, did injuries, and would bear none,
after their conversion can bear injuries, but will do none. As far as the
gospel prevails it makes men peaceable, for such is the wisdom from above;
it is gentle and easy to be entreated; and if nations were but leavened
by it, there would be universal peace. When Christ was born there was
universal peace in the Roman empire; those that were first brought into the
gospel church were all of one heart and of one soul (Acts iv. 32); and
it was observed of the primitive Christians how well they loved one
another. In heaven this will have its full accomplishment. It is promised,
1. That none shall be quarrelsome. The art of war, instead of being improved
(which some reckon the glory of a kingdom), shall be forgotten and laid aside
as useless. They shall not learn war any more as they have done, for
they shall have no need to defend themselves nor any inclination to offend
their neighbours. Nation shall no longer lift up sword against nation;
not that the gospel will make men cowards, but it will make men peaceable. 2.
That all shall be quiet, both from evil and from the fear of evil (v.
4): They shall sit safely, and none shall disturb them; they shall sit
securely, and shall not disturb themselves, every man under his vine and
under his fig-tree, enjoying the fruit of them, and needing no other
shelter than the leaves of them. None shall make them afraid; not only
there shall be nothing that is likely to frighten them, but they shall not be
disposed to fear. under the dominion of Christ, as that of Solomon, there
shall be abundance of peace. Though his followers have trouble in the
world, in him they enjoy great tranquillity. If this seems unlikely, yet we
may depend upon it, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it, and no
word of his shall fall to the ground; what he has spoken by his word he will
do by his providence and grace. He that is the Lord of hosts will be
the God of peace; and those may well be easy whom the Lord of hosts,
of all hosts, undertakes the protection of.
VIII. That the churches shall be constant in their duty, and so shall make a
good use of their tranquillity and shall not provoke the Lord to deprive them
of it, v. 5. When the churches have rest they shall be edified,
and confirmed, and comforted, and shall resolve to be as firm to their God as
other nations are to theirs, though they be no gods. Where we find the
foregoing promises, Isa. ii. 2, &c. it follows (v. 5), O house
of Jacob! come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord; and here, We
will walk in the name of the Lord our God. Note, Peace is a blessing
indeed when it strengthens our resolutions to cleave to the Lord. Observe, 1.
How constant other nations were to their gods: All people will walk every
one in the name of his god, will own their god and cleave to him, will
worship their god and serve him, will depend upon him and put confidence in
him. Whatever men make a god of they will make use of, and take his name along
with them in all their actions and affairs. The mariners, in a storm, cried
every man to his god, Jonah i. 5. And no instance could be found of a
nation's changing its gods, Jer. ii. 11: If the hosts of heaven were their
gods, they loved them, and served them, and walked after them, Jer.
viii. 2. 2. How constant God's people now resolve to be to him: "We
will walk in the name of the Lord our God, will acknowledge him in all our
ways, and govern ourselves by a continual regard to him, doing nothing but
what we have warrant from him for, and openly professing our relation to
him." Observe, Their resolution is peremptory; it is not a thing that
needs be disputed: "We will walk in the name of the Lord our God."
It is just and reasonable: He is our God. And it is a resolution for a
perpetuity: "We will do it for ever and ever, and will never leave
him. He will be ours for ever, and therefore so we will be his, and never
repent our choice."
IX. That notwithstanding the dispersions, distress, and infirmities of the
church, it shall be formed and established, and made very considerable, v.
6, 7. 1. The state of the church had been low, and weak, and very helpless, in
the latter times of the Old Testament, partly through the corruptions of the
Jewish nation, and partly through the oppressions under which they groaned.
They were like a flock of sheep that were maimed, worried, and scattered,
Ezek. xxxiv. 16; Jer. l. 6, 17. The good people among them, and in other
places, that were well inclined, were dispersed, were very infirm, and in a
manner lost and cast far off. 2. It is promised that all these grievances
shall be redressed and the distemper healed. Christ will come himself (Matt.
xv. 24), and send his apostles to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,
Matt. x. 6. From among the Jews that halted, or that for want of strength,
could not go upright, God gathered a remnant (v. 7), that remnant
according to the election of grace which is spoken of in Rom. xi. 7, which
embraced the gospel of Christ. And from among the Gentiles that were cast far
off (so the Gentiles are described to be, Eph. ii. 13, Acts ii. 39) he raised
a strong nation; greater numbers of them were brought into the church than of
the Jews, Gal. iv. 27. And such a strong nation the gospel-church is that the
gates of hell shall never be able to prevail against it. The church of Christ
is more numerous than any other nation, and strong in the Lord and in the
power of his might.
X. That the Messiah shall be the king of this kingdom, shall protect
and govern it, and order all the affairs of it for the best, and this to the
end of time. The Lord Jesus shall reign over them in Mount Zion by his
word and Spirit in his ordinances, and this henceforth and for ever,
for of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.
|
Judgments
and Mercies.
|
B.
C. 726.
|
|
|
8 And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong
hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first
dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem. 9
Now why dost thou cry out aloud? is there no king in thee? is thy
counsellor perished? for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail.
10 Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in
travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in
the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be
delivered; there the LORD shall redeem thee from the
hand of thine enemies. 11 Now also many nations are gathered
against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon
Zion. 12 But they know not the thoughts of the LORD,
neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves
into the floor. 13 Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I
will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt
beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain unto the LORD,
and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth.
These verses relate to Zion and Jerusalem, here called the tower of the
flock or the tower of Edor; we read of such a place (Gen. xxxv. 21)
near Bethlehem; and some conjecture it is the same place where the shepherds
were keeping their flocks when the angels brought them tidings of the birth of
Christ, and some think Bethlehem itself is here spoken of, as ch. v. 2.
Some think it is a tower at that gate of Jerusalem which is called the sheep-gate
(Neh. iii. 32), and conjecture that through that gate Christ rode in triumph
into Jerusalem. However, it seems to be put for Jerusalem itself, or for Zion
the tower of David. All the sheep of Israel flocked thither three times
a year; it was the stronghold (Ophel, which is also a name of a
place in Jerusalem, Neh. iii. 27), or castle, of the daughter of Zion.
Now here,
I. We have a promise of the glories of the spiritual Jerusalem, the
gospel-church, which is; the tower of the flock, that one fold in which all
the sheep of Christ are protected under one Shepherd: "Unto thee shall
it come; that which thou hast long wanted and wished for, even the
first dominion, a dignity and power equal to that of David and Solomon, by
whom Jerusalem was first raised, that kingdom shall again come to
the daughter of Jerusalem, which it was deprived of at the captivity. It
shall make as great a figure and shine with as much lustre among the nations,
and have as much influence upon them, as ever it had; this is the first
or chief dominion." Now this had by no means its accomplishment in
Zerubbabel; his was nothing like the first dominion either in respect of
splendour and sovereignty at home or the extent of power abroad; and therefore
it must refer to the kingdom of the Messiah (and to that the
Chaldee-paraphrase refers it) and had its accomplishment when God gave to our
Lord Jesus the throne of his father David (Luke i. 32), set him king upon
the holy hill of Zion and gave him the heathen for his inheritance
(Ps. ii. 6), made him, his first-born, higher than the kings of the earth,
Ps. lxxxix. 27; Dan. vii. 14. David, in spirit, called him Lord, and
(as Dr. Pocock observes) he witnessed of himself, and his witness was true,
that he was greater than Solomon, none of their dominions being like his for
extent and duration. The common people welcomed Christ into Jerusalem with hosannas
to the son of David, to show that it was the first dominion that
came to the daughter of Zion; and the evangelist applies it to the
promise of Zion's king coming to her, Matt. xxi. 5; Zech. ix. 9. Some give
this sense of the words: To Zion, and Jerusalem that tower of the flock, to
the nation of the Jews, came the first dominion; that is, there the
kingdom of Christ was first set up, the gospel of the kingdom was first
preached (Luke xxiv. 47), there Christ was first called king of the
Jews.
II. This is illustrated by a prediction of the calamities of the literal
Jerusalem, to which some favour and relief should be granted, as a type and
figure of what God would do for the gospel-Jerusalem in the last days,
notwithstanding its distresses. We have here,
1. Jerusalem put in pain by the providences of God. "She cries out
aloud, that all her neighbours may take notice of her griefs, because
there is no king in her, none of that honour and power she used to
have. Instead of ruling the nations, as she did when she sat a queen,
she is ruled by them, and has become a captive. Her counsellors have perished;
she is no longer at her own disposal, but is given up to the will of her
enemies, and is governed by their counsellors. Pangs have taken her."
(1.) She is carried captive to Babylon, and there is in pangs of grief.
"She goes forth out of the city, and is constrained to dwell in
the field, exposed to all manner of inconveniences; she goes even to
Babylon, and there wears out seventy tedious years in a miserable
captivity, all that while in pain, as a woman in travail, waiting to be
delivered, and thinking the time very long." (2.) When she is delivered
out of Babylon, and redeemed from the hand of her enemies there, yet still she
is in pangs of fear; the end of one trouble is but the beginning of another;
for now also, when Jerusalem is in the rebuilding, many nations are
gathered against her, v. 11. They were so in Ezra's and Nehemiah's
time, and did all they could to obstruct the building of the temple and the
wall. They were so in the time of the Maccabees; they said, Let her be
defiled; let her be looked upon as a place polluted with sin, and be
forsaken and abandoned both of God and man; let her holy places be profaned
and all her honours laid in the dust; let our eye look upon Zion, and
please itself with the sight of its ruins, as it is said of Edom (Obad. 12, Thou
shouldst not have looked upon the day of thy brother); let our eyes see
our desire upon Zion, the day we have long wished for. When they hear the
enemies thus combine against them, and insult over them, no wonder that they
are in pain, and cry aloud. Without are fightings, within are fears.
2.
Jerusalem
made easy by the promises of God: "Why dost thou cry out aloud?
Let thy griefs and fears be silenced; indulge not thyself in them, for, though
things are bad with thee, they shall end well; thy pangs are great, but they
are like those of a woman in travail (v. 9), that labours to
bring forth (v. 10), the issue of which will be good at last."
Jerusalem
's pangs are not as dying agonies, but as travailing throes, which after a
while will be forgotten, for joy that a child is born into the world. Let the
literal Jerusalem comfort herself with this, that, whatever straits she may be
reduced to, she shall continue until the coming of the Messiah, for there his
kingdom must be first set up, and she shall not be destroyed while that
blessing is in her; and when at length she is ploughed as a field, and become
heaps (as is threatened, ch. iii. 12), yet her privileges shall be
resigned to the spiritual Jerusalem, and in that the promises made to her
shall be fulfilled. Let
Jerusalem
be easy then, for, (1.) Her captivity in
Babylon
shall have an end, a happy end (v. 10): There shalt thou be
delivered, and the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of thy enemies there.
This was done by Cyrus, who acted therein as God's servant; and that
deliverance was typical of our redemption by Jesus Christ, and the release
from our spiritual bondage which is proclaimed in the everlasting gospel, that
acceptable year of the Lord, in which Christ himself preached liberty
to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those that were bound,
Luke iv. 18, 19. (2.) The designs of her enemies against her afterwards shall
be baffled, nay, they shall turn upon themselves, v. 12, 13. They
promise themselves a day of it, but it shall prove God's day. They are gathered
against
Zion
, to destroy it, but it shall prove to their own destruction, which
Israel
and
Israel
's God shall have the glory of. [1.] Their coming together against
Zion
shall be the occasion of their ruin. They associate themselves, and gird
themselves, that they may break
Jerusalem
in pieces, but it will prove that they shall be broken in pieces, Isa. viii.
9. They know not the thoughts of the Lord. When they are gathering
together, and
Providence
favours them in it, they little think what God is designing by it, nor do they
understand his counsel; they know what they aim at in coming together, but
they know not what God aims at in bringing them together; they aim at
Zion
's ruin, but God aims at theirs. Note, When men are made use of as instruments
of
Providence
in accomplishing its purposes it is very common for them to intend one thing
and for God to intend quite the contrary. The king of
Assyria
is to be a rod in God's hand for the correction of his people, in order to
their reformation; howbeit he means not so, nor does his heart think so,
Isa. x. 7. And thus it is here; the nations are gathered against
Zion
, as soldiers into the field, but God gathers them as sheaves into the
floor, to be beaten to pieces; and they could not have been so easily, so
effectually, destroyed, if they had not gathered together against
Zion
. Note, The designs of enemies for the ruin of the church often prove
ruining to themselves; and thereby they prepare themselves for destruction and
put themselves in the way of it; they are snared in the work of their own
hands. [2.]
Zion
shall have the honour of being victorious over them, v. 13. When they
are gathered as sheaves into the floor, to be trodden down, as the corn
then was by the oxen, then, "Arise, and thresh, O daughter of
Zion
! instead of fearing them, and fleeing from them, boldly set upon them,
and take the opportunity
Providence
favours thee with of trampling upon them. Plead not thy own weakness, and that
thou art not a match for so many confederated enemies; God will make thy
horn iron, to push them down, and thy hoofs brass, to tread upon
them when they are down; and thus thou shalt beat in pieces many people,
that have long been beating thee in pieces." Thus, when God pleases, the
daughter of Babylon is made a threshing floor (it is time to thresh her,
Jer. li. 33), and the worm Jacob is made a threshing instrument,
with which God will thresh the mountains, and make them as chaff, Isa.
xli. 14, 15. How strangely, how happily, are the tables turned, since Jacob
was the threshing-floor and
Babylon
the threshing instrument! Isa. xxi. 10. Note, When God has conquering work for
his people to do he will furnish them with strength and ability for it, will
make the horn iron and the hoofs brass; and, when he does so, they must exert
the power he gives them, and execute the commission; even the daughter of Zion
must arise, and thresh. [3.] The glory of the victory shall redound to God.
Zion
shall thresh these sheaves in the floor, but the corn threshed out shall be a
meat-offering at God's altar: I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord
(that is, I will have it consecrated) and their substance unto the Lord of
the whole earth. The spoils gained by Zion's victory shall be brought into
the sanctuary, and devoted to God, either in part, as those of Midian (Num.
xxxi. 28), or in whole, as those of Jericho, Josh. vi. 17. God is Jehovah, the
fountain of being; he is the Lord of the whole earth, the fountain of
power; and therefore he needs not any of our gain or substance, but may
challenge and demand it all if he please; and with ourselves we must devote
all we have to his honour, to be employed as he directs. Thus far all we have
must have holiness to the Lord written upon it, all our gain and
substance must be consecrated to the Lord of the whole earth, Isa.
xxiii. 18. And extraordinary successes call for extraordinary acknowledgments,
whether they be of spoils in war or gains in trade. It is God that gives us
power to get wealth, which way soever it is honestly got, and therefore he
must be honoured with what we get. Some make all this to point at the defeat
of Sennacherib when he besieged Jerusalem, others to the destruction of
Babylon, others to the successes of the Maccabees; but the learned Dr. Pocock
and others think it had its full accomplishment in the spiritual victories
obtained by the gospel of Christ over the powers of darkness that fought
against it. The nations thought to ruin Christianity in its infancy, but it
was victorious over them; those that persisted in their enmity were broken
to pieces (Matt. xxi. 44), particularly the Jewish nation; but multitudes
by divine grace were gained to the church, and they and their substance were
consecrated to the Lord Jesus, the Lord of the whole earth.
Contents
|
Next
Section
