M
I C A H
CHAP. V.
In
this chapter we have, I. A prediction of the troubles and distresses of the
Jewish nation, ver. 1. II. A promise of the Messiah, and of his kingdom, to
support the people of God in the day of these troubles. 1. Of the birth of the
Messiah, ver. 2, 3. 2. Of his advancement, ver. 4. 3. Of his protection of his
people, and his victory over his and their enemies, ver. 5, 6. 4. Of the great
world by it, ver. 7. 5. Of the destruction of the enemies of the church, both
those without, that attack it, and those within, that expose it, ver. 8-15.
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The
Abasement and Distress of
Zion
; Birth of the Messiah
Predicted;
The Glory of Messiah.
B. C. 720.
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1 Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of
troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of
Israel
with a rod upon the cheek. 2 But
thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of
Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be
ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from
everlasting. 3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time that
she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren
shall return unto the children of
Israel
. 4 And he shall stand and feed in
the strength of the LORD,
in the majesty of the name of the LORD
his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the
earth. 5 And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian
shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall
we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men. 6
And they shall waste the
land
of
Assyria
with the sword, and the
land
of
Nimrod
in the entrances thereof: thus shall he
deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he
treadeth within our borders.
Here, as before, we have,
I. The abasement and distress of
Zion
, v. 1. The Jewish nation, for many years before the captivity,
dwindled, and fell into disgrace: Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter
of troops! It is either a summons to Zion's enemies, that had troops at
their service, to come and do their worst against her (God will suffer them to
do it), or a challenge to Zion's friends, that had troops too at command, to
come and do their best for her; Let them gather in troops, yet it shall
be to no purpose; for, says the prophet, in the name of the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, He has laid siege against us; the king of Assyria has, the
king of Babylon has, and we know not which way to defend ourselves; so that
the enemies shall gain their point, and prevail so far as to smite the
judge of Israel--the king, the chief justice, and the other inferior
judges--with a rod upon the cheek, in contempt of them and their
dignity; having made them prisoners, they shall use them as shamefully as any
of the common captives. Complaint had been made of the judges of Israel (ch.
iii. 11) that they were corrupt and took bribes, and this disgrace came justly
upon them for abusing their power; yet it was a great calamity to Israel to
have their judges treated thus ignominiously. Some make this the reason why
the troops (that is, the Roman army) shall lay siege to Jerusalem, because the
Jews shall smite the judge of Israel upon the cheek, because of the
indignities they shall do to the Messiah, the Judge of Israel, whom they smote
on the cheek, saying, Prophesy, who smote thee. But the former sense
seems more probable, and that it is meant of the besieging of Jerusalem, not
by the Romans, but the Chaldeans, and was fulfilled in the indignities done to
king Zedekiah and the princes of the house of David.
II. The advancement of Zion's King. Having shown how low the house of David
should be brought, and how vilely the shield of that mighty family should be
cast away, as though it had not been anointed with oil, to encourage the faith
of God's people, who might be tempted now to think that his covenant with
David and his house was abrogated (according to the psalmist's complaint, Ps.
lxxxix. 38, 39), he adds an illustrious prediction of the Messiah and his
kingdom, in whom that covenant should be established, and the honours of that
house should be revived, advanced, and perpetuated. Now let us see,
1. How the Messiah is here described. It is he that is to be ruler in
Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting, from
the days of eternity, as the word is. Here we have, (1.) His existence
from eternity, as God: his goings forth, or emanations, as the
going forth of the beams from the sun, were, or have been, of old, from
everlasting, which (says Dr. Pocock) is so signal a description of
Christ's eternal generation, or his going forth as the Son of God, begotten of
his Father before all worlds, that this prophecy must belong only to him, and
could never be verified of any other. It certainly speaks of a going forth
that was now past, when the prophet spoke, and cannot but be read, as we read
it, his outgoings have been; and the putting of both these words
together, which severally are used to denote eternity, plainly shows that they
must here be taken in the strictest sense (the same with Ps. xc. 2, From
everlasting to everlasting thou are God), and can be applied to no other
than to him who was able to say, Before Abraham was, I am, John viii.
58. Dr. Pocock observes that the going forth is used (Deut. viii. 3)
for a word which proceeds out of the mouth, and is therefore
very fitly used to signify the eternal generation of him who is called the Word
of God, that was in the beginning with God, John i. 1, 2. (2.) His
office as Mediator; he was to be ruler in Israel, king of his church;
he was to reign over the house of Jacob for ever, Luke i. 32, 33. The
Jews object that our Lord Jesus could not be the Messiah, for he was so far
from being ruler in Israel that Israel ruled over him, and put him to death,
and would not have him to reign over them; but he answered that himself when
he said, My kingdom is not of this world, John xviii. 36. And it is a
spiritual Israel that he reigns over, the children of promise, all the
followers of believing Abraham and praying Jacob. In the hearts of these he
reigns by his Spirit and grace, and in the society of these by his word and
ordinances. And was not he ruler in Israel whom winds and seas obeyed,
to whom legions of devils were forced to submit, and who commanded away
diseases from the sick and called the dead out of their graves? None but he
whose goings forth were from of old, from everlasting, was fit to be ruler
in Israel, to be head of the church, and head over all things to the
church.
2. What is here foretold concerning him.
(1.) That Bethlehem should be the place of his nativity, v. 2. This was
the scripture which the scribes went upon when with the greatest assurance
they told Herod where Christ should be born (Matt. ii. 6), and hence it
was universally known among the Jews that Christ should come out of the
town of Bethlehem where David was, John vii. 42. Beth-lehem
signifies the house of bread, the fittest place for him to be born in
who is the bread of life. And, because it was the city of David, by a
special providence it was ordered that he should be born there who was to be
the Son of David, and his heir and successor for ever. It is called Bethlehem-Ephratah,
both names of the same city, as appears Gen. xxxv. 19. It was little among
the thousands of Judah, not considerable either for the number of the
inhabitants or the figure they made; it had nothing in it worthy to have this
honour put upon it; but God in that, as in other instances, chose to exalt
those of low degree, Luke i. 52. Christ would give honour to the place of
his birth, and not derive honour from it: Though thou be little, yet
this shall make thee great, and, as St. Matthew reads it, Thou art not the
least among the princes of Judah, but upon this account art really
honourable above any of them. A relation to Christ will magnify those that are
little in the world.
(2.) That in the fulness of time he should be born of a woman (v. 3): Therefore
will he give them up; he will give up his people Israel to distress and
trouble, and will defer their salvation, which has been so long promised and
expected, until the time, the set time, that she who travails has
brought forth, or (as it should be read) that she who shall bring forth
shall have brought forth, that the blessed virgin, who was to be the
mother of the Messiah, shall have brought him forth at Bethlehem, the place
appointed. This Dr. Pocock thinks to be the most genuine sense of the words.
Though the out-goings of the Messiah were from everlasting, yet the redemption
in Jerusalem, the consolation of Israel, must be waited for
(Luke ii. 25-38) until the time that she who should bring forth (so the
virgin Mary is called, as Christ is himself called, He that shall come)
shall bring forth; and in the mean time he will give them up.
Divine salvations must be waited for until the time fixed for the bringing of
them forth.
(3.) That the remnant of his brethren shall then return to the children of
Israel. The remnant of the Jewish nation shall return to the spirit of the
true genuine children of Israel, a people in covenant with God; the hearts of
the children shall be turned to the fathers, Mal. iv. 6. Some understand it of
all believers, Gentiles as well as Jews; they shall all be incorporated into
the commonwealth of Israel; and, as they are all brethren to one another, so he
is not ashamed to call them brethren, Heb. ii. 11.
(4.) That he shall be a glorious prince, and his subjects shall be happy under
his government (v. 4): He shall stand and feed, that is, he
shall both teach and rule, and continue to do so, as a good shepherd, with
wisdom, and care, and love. So it was foretold. He shall feed his flock
like a shepherd, shall provide green pastures for them, and
under-shepherds to lead them into these pastures. He is the good shepherd
that goes before the sheep, and presides among them. He shall do this,
not as an ordinary man, but in the strength of the Lord, as one clothed
with a divine power to go through his work, and break through the difficulties
in his way, so as not to fail, or be discouraged; he shall do it
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God, so as plainly to
evidence that God's name was in him (Exod. xxiii. 21) the majesty of
his name, for he taught as one having authority and not as the scribes.
The prophets prefaced their messages with, Thus saith the Lord; but
Christ spoke, not as a servant, but as a Son--Verily, verily, I say unto
you. This was feeding in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
All power was given him in heaven and in earth, a power over all flesh,
by virtue of which he still rules in the majesty of the name of the Lord
his God, a name above every name. Christ's government shall be, [1.] Very
happy for his subjects, for they shall abide; they shall be safe and
easy, and continue so for ever. Because he lives, they shall live also.
They shall lie down in the green pastures to which he shall lead them, shall
abide in God's tabernacle for ever, Ps. lxi. 4. His church shall abide,
and he in it, and with it, always, even to the end of the world. [2.] It shall
be very glorious to himself: Now shall he be great to the ends of the
earth. Now that he stands and feeds his flock, now shall he be great.
For Christ reckons it his greatness to do good. Now he shall be great to
the ends of the earth, for the uttermost parts of the earth shall be given
him for his possession, and the ends of the world shall see his salvation.
(5) That he shall secure the peace and welfare of his church and people
against all the attempts of his and their enemies (v. 5, 6): This
man, as king and ruler, shall be the peace when the Assyrians shall
come into our land. This refers to the deliverance of Hezekiah and his
kingdom from the power of Sennacherib, who invaded them, in the type; but,
under the shadow of that, it is a promise of the safety of the gospel-church
and of all believers from the designs and attempts of the powers of darkness,
Satan and all his instruments, the dragon and his angels, that seek to devour
the church of the first-born and all that belong to it. Observe, [1.] The
peril and danger which Christ's subjects are supposed to be in. The Assyrian,
a potent enemy, comes into their land (v. 5, 6), treads
within their borders, nay, prevails so far as to tread in their
palaces; it was a time of treading down and of perplexity when
Sennacherib made a descent upon Judah, took all the defenced cities, and laid
siege to Jerusalem, Isa. xxxvi. 1; xxxvii. 3. This represented the gates of
hell fighting against the kingdom of Christ, encompassing the camp of the
saints and of the holy city, and threatening to bear down all before them.
When the terrors of the law set themselves in array against a convinced soul,
when the temptations of Satan assault the people of God, and the troubles of
the world threaten to rob them of all their comforts, then the Assyrian
comes into their land and treads in their palaces. Without are
fightings, within are fears. [2.] The protection and defence which his
subjects are then sure to be under. First, Christ will himself be their
peace. When the Assyrian comes with such a force into a land, can there be
any other peace than a tame submission and an unresisted desolation? Yes, even
then the church's King will be the conservator of the church's peace, will be for
a hiding-place, Isa. xxxii. 1, 2. Christ is our peace as a priest, making
atonement for sin, and reconciling us to God; and he is our peace as a king,
conquering our enemies and commanding down disquieting fears and passions; he creates
the fruit of the lips, peace. Even when the Assyrian comes into the land,
when we are in the greatest distress and danger and have received a sentence
of death within ourselves, yet this man may be the peace. In me, says
Christ, you shall have peace, when in the world you have
tribulation; at such a time our souls may dwell at ease in him. Secondly,
He will find out proper instruments to be employed for their protection and
deliverance, and the defeat of their enemies: Then shall we raise against
him seven shepherds and eight principal men, that is, a competent number
of persons, proper to oppose the enemy, and make head against him, and protect
the church of God in peace, men that shall have the care and tenderness of
shepherds and the courage and authority of principal men, or princes
of men. Seven and eight are a certain number for an uncertain.
Note, When God has work to do he will not want fitting instruments to do it
with; and when he pleases he can do it by a few; he needs not raise thousands,
but seven or eight principal men may serve the turn if God be with them.
Magistrates and ministers are shepherds and principal men, raised in defence
of religion's righteous cause against the powers of sin and Satan in the
world. Thirdly, The opposition given to the church shall be got over,
and the opposers brought down. This is represented by the laying of Assyria
and Chaldea waste, which two nations were the most formidable enemies to the
Israel of God of any, and the destruction of them signified the making of
Christ's enemies his footstool: They shall waste the land of Assyria with
the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof; they shall
make inroads upon the land, and put to the sword all that they find in arms.
Note, Those that threaten ruin to the church of God hasten ruin to themselves;
and their destruction is the church's salvation: Thus shall he deliver
us from the Assyrian. When Satan fell as lightning from heaven
before the preaching of the gospel, and Christ's enemies, that would not have
him to reign over them, were slain before him, then this was fulfilled.
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The
Increase of the Church; Encouraging Predictions.
B. C. 720.
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7 And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the
midst of many people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth
for the sons of men. 8 And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the
Gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest,
as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both
treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver. 9
Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies
shall be cut off. 10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith
the LORD,
that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy
thy chariots: 11 And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and
throw down all thy strong holds: 12 And I will cut off witchcrafts
out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers:
13 Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the
midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands.
14 And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee: so will I destroy
thy cities. 15 And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon
the heathen, such as they have not heard.
Glorious things are here spoken of the remnant of Jacob, that remnant
which was raised of her that halted (ch. iv. 7), and it seems to
be that remnant which the Lord our God shall call (Joel ii. 32), on
whom the Spirit shall be poured out, the remnant that shall be saved, Rom. ix.
27. Note, God's people are but a remnant, a small number in comparison with
the many that are left to perish, a little flock; but they are the
remnant of Jacob, a people in covenant with God, and in his favour. Now
concerning this remnant it is here promised,
I. That they shall be as a dew in the midst of the nations, v.
7. God's church is dispersed all the world over; it is in the midst of many
people, as gold in the ore, wheat in the heap. Israel according to the
flesh dwelt alone, and was not numbered among the nations; but the spiritual
Israel lies scattered in the midst of many people, as the salt of
the earth, or as seed sown in the ground, here a grain and there a grain,
Hos. ii. 23. Now this remnant shall be as dew from the Lord. 1. They
shall be of a heavenly extraction; as dew from the Lord, who is the Father
of the rain, and has begotten the drops of the dew, Job xxxviii.
28. They are born from above, and are not of the earth, savouring the
things of the earth. 2. They shall be numerous as the drops of dew in a
summer's morning. Ps. cx. 3, Thou hast the dew of thy youth. 3. They
shall be pure and clear, not muddy and corrupt, but crystal drops, as the water
of life. 4. They shall be produced silently and without noise, as the dew
that distils insensibly, we know not how; such is the way of the Spirit. 5.
They shall live in a continual dependence upon God, and be still deriving from
him, as the dew, which tarries not for man, not waits for the sons
of men; they shall not rely upon human aids and powers, but on divine
grace, for they are, and own that they are, no more than what the free grace
of God makes them every day. 6. They shall be great blessings to those among
whom they live, as the dew and the showers are to the grass, to make it grow
without the help of man, or the sons of men. Their doctrine, example, and
prayers, shall make them as dew, to soften and moisten others, and make them
fruitful. Their speech shall distil as the dew (Deut. xxxii. 2), and
all about them shall wait for them as for the rain, Job xxix. 23. The
people among whom they live shall be as the grass, which flourishes only by
the blessing of God, and not by the art and care of man; they shall be
beneficial to those about them by drawing down God's blessings on them, as
Jacob on Laban's house, and by cooling and mitigating God's wrath, which
otherwise would burn them up, as the dew preserves the grass from being
scorched by the sun; so Dr. Pocock; they shall be mild and gentle in their
behaviour, like their Master, who comes down like rain upon the new-mown
grass, Ps. lxxii. 6.
II. That they shall be as a lion among the beasts of the forest, that treads
down and tears in pieces, v. 8. As they shall be silent, and
gentle, and communicative of all good, to those that receive the truth in the
love of it, so they shall be bold as a lion in witnessing against the
corruptions of the times and places they live in, and strong as a lion, in the
strength of God, to resist and overcome their spiritual enemies. The weapons
of their warfare are mighty, through God, to the pulling down of strongholds,
2 Cor. x. 4, 5. They shall have courage which all their adversaries shall
not be able to resist (Luke xxi. 15), as when the lion tears none can
deliver. When infidelity is silenced, and all iniquity made to stop her
mouth, when sinners are convinced and converted by the power of the
gospel, in the doctrine of its ministers and the conversation of its
professors, then the remnant of Jacob is like a lion. This is explained, v.
9, Thy hand shall be lifted up upon thy adversaries; the church shall
have the upper hand at last of all that oppose her. Her enemies shall be
cut off; they shall cease to be enemies; their enmity shall be cut off.
Christ's arrows of conviction shall be sharp in their hearts, so that they
shall fall under him; they shall yield themselves subjects to him (Ps. xlv. 5)
and be happily conquered and subdued, Ps. cx. 2.
III. That they shall be brought off from all carnal confidences, which they
have relied on, that by the providence of God they shall enjoy such a security
that they shall not need them, and by the grace of God they shall be brought
to see the folly of them and come off from them. It was the sin of Israel that
they furnished themselves extravagantly with horses and chariots, and
were soothsayers and idolaters; see Isa. ii. 6-8. But here it is
promised that they shall not regard them any more. The tranquillity of the
kingdom of Christ is intended in that promise, which explains this, Zech. ix.
10, I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem.
Note, It is a great mercy to be deprived of those things in which we have
reposed a confidence in competition with God, which we have made our arm, and
after which we have gone a whoring from God. Let us observe the particulars:--
1. They had trusted in chariots and horses, and multiplied them (Ps. xx. 7);
but now God will cut off their horses, and destroy their chariots
(v. 10), as David houghed the chariot-horses, 2 Sam. viii. 4.
They shall not have them, lest they should be tempted to trust in them. 2.
They depended upon their strongholds, and fortified cities, for their
security; but God will take care that they be demolished (v. 11): I
will cut off the cities of thy land; I will throw down thy strongholds.
They shall have them for habitations, but not for garrisons, for God will be
their only place of defence, their high tower, and their deliverer.
3. Many of them depended much upon the conduct and advice of their conjurors,
diviners, and fortune-tellers; and those God will cut off, not only as weak
things, and insufficient to relieve them, but as wicked things, and sufficient
to ruin them (v. 12): "I will cut off witchcrafts out of thy
hand, that thou shalt no more take hold of them, and stay thyself upon
them, and thou shalt have no more soothsayers, for thou shalt be
convinced that all their pretensions are a cheat." The justice of the
nation shall cut them off according to law, Lev. xx. 27. The preaching of the
gospel brought men off from using curious arts, Acts xix. 19. 4. Many of them
had said to the work of their hands, You are our gods; but now idolatry
shall be abolished and abandoned (v. 13): "Thy graven images
will I cut off, and thy standing images, both those that were movable and
those that were fixed; they shall be destroyed by the power of the law of
Moses and deserted by the power of the gospel of Christ, so that thou shalt
no more worship the work of thy hands, but be ashamed that ever thou hast
been so deluded. Among other monuments of idolatry, I will pluck up thy
groves out of the midst of thee," v. 14. These were planted
and preserved in honour of their idols, and used in the worship of them; these
they were ordered to burn (Deut. xii. 2, 3), and, if they do not, God will, so
that they shall not have them to trust to. And so will I destroy their
cities, meaning the cities that were dedicated to the idols, to some
dunghill-deity or other, which they confided in for their protection.
IV. That those who stand it out against the gospel of Christ, and continue in
league with their idolatries and witchcrafts, shall fall under the wrath of
God, and be consumed by it (v. 15): I will execute vengeance in
anger and fury upon the heathen (that is, upon heathenism), such as
they have not heard; idolatries shall be done away, and idolaters put to
shame. I will execute vengeance upon the heathen who have not heard (so
some read it), or who would not hear and receive the doctrine of Christ. God
will give his Son either the hearts or the necks of his enemies, and make them
either his friends or his footstool.
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