(2) Chapter 5: Verses 7, 8 – For the last few verses, God has been talking about the Kingdom of Heaven (See Scripture Study – Blossom17:Jun’11,Para11). In the context of the Kingdom of Heaven, we know that the ‘remnant’ of Israel refers to the Old Testament Faithful i.e. the ancient worthies (See Scripture Study – Blossom16:May’11,Para 05). Likewise in these verses, ‘the remnant of Jacob’ too indicates the same Old Testament Faithful. And as it talks here about the remnant of ‘Jacob’ in particular, it pertains to the Ancient Worthies after the times of Jacob since when Israel’s unique history began till the times of Jesus. We might remember the last two verses describing how the resurrected Church and the Ancient Worthies fight in support of Jerusalem and win Armageddon War for her (See Scripture Study – Blossom17:Jun’11,Para11). Now, God elaborates on the role of the Ancient Worthies (‘the remnant of Jacob’) in the post-Armageddon Kingdom of Heaven. God says that they would be a blessing to the peoples of the world. Like dew and rain, they would be independent and universal i.e. wait for no one and benefit all the people by implementing the will of God in the Kingdom of Heaven. Yes, as the representatives of God on earth, it’s indeed the Ancient Worthies who are to shower the blessings of the Truth impartially like dew and rain on all the peoples of the world who rise up from the dead. God is mentioning that here. Moreover, these Ancient Worthies are also to play the role of the authorities in the Kingdom of Heaven who discipline the people of the world when they commit wrongdoings. That’s why God says here that they would be like a lion, the king of the forest, among the people of world. Furthermore, He talks about the people of the world being flocks of sheep and the Ancient Worthies going about as a young lion amidst them. Sheep cannot escape from the might of a young lion. Likewise, the Ancient Worthies would be administrators of discipline from which wrongdoers would have no way of escape. Truly, wrongdoings would be instantly punished during the thousand year rule of Christ’s iron scepter (See Scripture Study – Blossom04:May’10,Para12). Thus, it would essentially be the Old Testament Faithful, i.e. the Ancient Worthies that rise to eternal life who would be delivering justice as divinely appointed authorities on earth.
(3) Verses 9 – 15 – In these verses, God so beautifully shows how higher His ways are than Man’s ways. First, He declares that Israel’s hand would be lifted up in triumph over her enemies and all her foes would be destroyed. As we know, at the conclusion of the Armageddon War, all the enemy nations that are to gather against Israel are to be destroyed. God then describes the changes He is to usher in the land of Israel after Armageddon i.e. during the 1000-year Kingdom of Christ. In ancient battles, horses and chariots were used. God refers to such war horses and chariots and says that He would destroy them from among the people. Even the Israel nation of today has not turned towards God and accepted her Messiah for her protection, but rather is reliant upon armed tanks and missiles that are essentially the war horses and chariots of the present age. But in the Armageddon War, those modern weapons of war would not protect Israel. She would be defeated at first and even half of Jerusalem would be captured. Finally, it would be God who rescues that nation (See Scripture Study – Blossom17:Jun’11,Paras09,10,11). God says that it’s after that He would destroy all the equipment of war. Why so? Because there is going to be no more wars on earth after that (Micah 4:3, See Scripture Study – Blossom17:Jun’11,Para02). Moreover, during ancient times, nations would setup fortified cities and strongholds for the sake of security. In that manner, just as God says here, even the Israel of today has constructed many fortified cities and a long stronghold of a wall (Israeli West Bank barrier). But all these human efforts are in vain indeed. Neither forts nor strongholds nor a wall are required for the security and protection that God is to deliver. It will be a protection of love. A security brought forth by mankind denouncing war forever. History bears witness to the fact that no fort or stronghold or wall has ever provided permanent protection to anyone howsoever mighty it was. That’s why, in His Kingdom, God says he would tear down strongholds and fortified cities that provide a false sense of security that never lasts. Furthermore, pagan practices like witchcraft, spell casting and idol/stone-worship that were detestable in His eyes were prevalent among the Israelites. God says He would destroy such practices and would make sure they no longer bow down to idols and stones that are the works of human hands. Thus, God would destroy the idols of Israelites and their fortified cities that provide them a false sense of security. But, justice in the Kingdom of God does not stop there. God declares that He would take vengeance in anger and wrath on the Gentile nations that have not obeyed Him. Indeed, in the Kingdom of Heaven, people of all nations would have to come under divine rule and be subject to divine justice. The nations of the world would have to denounce idol worship and give up the art of war that provides a false security and results only in destruction. Otherwise divine wrath would descend upon them. And those who do not listen till the end would be destroyed by the second death.
(4) Chapter 6: Verses 1, 2, 3 – The next prophetic section commences with this chapter. The Israelites of Micah’s time used to grumble and complain against God. So God asks them to stand up and plead their case against Him before the mountains and hills. He says He too would make his case against the Israelites to the mountains and the everlasting foundations of the earth. Why does He call the mountains and the foundations of the earth to hear this case as symbolic juries? – Because they have existed since the beginning of the world. And so, they have seen the history of the Israelites in its entirety. So, even as they might be non-living things, if they – having been from the beginning – had the ability to speak, they would declare that justice and truth is on God’s side. That’s what God’s symbolically implying here. God questions the people of Israel, ‘What have I done to you?’, ‘How have I burdened you?’ and asks them to answer Him. Truly, even in our lives, we too could sometimes end up thinking about grumbling against God due to the intensity of our trials and temptations. But if we remember how God has guided us since the beginning, we would realize the depth of God’s love towards us. Moreover, we would understand that the trials God permits upon us are essentially to test and refine us, i.e. ultimately to really benefit us. Furthermore, as Paul declares, those trials would never be something that we cannot bear. So, we should never forget that we are the ones responsible for the difficulties that come upon us due to our failures in those trials (1 Cor 10:13, See Grace – Blossom43:Jun’11,Appendix{Para03}). So, it’s indeed true that there is no room to grumble against God in any kind of situation.
(5) Verses 4, 5 – In these verses, God points out some incidents from Israel’s history as proof of His divine guidance upon them. He reminds them how He brought them up out of Egypt, redeemed them from that land of slavery, appointed suitable leaders like Moses, Aaron and Miriam to lead them, made them cross the wilderness and settled them in a free and fertile land. Furthermore, He asks them to remember what happened between Balaam, son of Beor and Balak, king of Moab. Balak plotted against Israel and asked Balaam to curse Israel. But, even after many attempts, Balaam could not curse the Israelites, but rather ended up saying they were blessed by God (Numbers Chap 22 – 24). Then God asks the Israelites to remember their journey from Shittim to Gilgal. Shittim was the place from where the Israelites set out to reach the shores of the Jordan after completing their journey through the wilderness (Josh 3:1). After that God miraculously split the Jordan and made them cross the river (Josh 3:2 – 4:18). And as a matter of fact, after crossing the Jordan the first place they camped was Gilgal (Josh 4:19). Thus, God is essentially asking them to remember how He made them cross the Jordan by miraculously splitting the river. He concludes that if they look back at their history in such a manner, they would realize how the righteous acts of God have guided them throughout.
(6) Verses 6, 7, 8 – A humble Micah responds to God’s accusations. Micah knew the intensity of Israel’s sins. So he worriedly asks himself, with what he should worship God to compensate for Israel’s transgressions. Should he go before God with burnt offerings and year-old calves? Or would God be pleased with thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Those not being enough, should he offer the fruit of his body – his firstborn child itself? Why does Micah ask such questions? – To indeed show how grievous the transgressions and sins of Israel had become. But Micah sure knew that such sacrifices were not important to God. By means of His Scriptures, God had already declared what is good for Man. So Micah says sacrifices are not important, rather God only requires us to act justly, have a merciful forgiving heart and live humbling ourselves before Him whenever we err. Yes, even as the Israelites of those times were expected to offer many sacrifices and carry out several rituals, it was only a loving heart that God had primarily wanted from them. Hasn’t Apostle Paul too mentioned that the aim of the giving of the Law was essentially to form pure love in men’s hearts? (1 Tim 1:5, See Grace – Blossom10:Dec’08,Para10).
(7) Verse 9 – Finally, Micah warns the Israelites that God is calling to the city (of Jerusalem, i.e. the people of Israel – See Scripture Study – Blossom15:Apr ’11,Para02). He declares that whoever has true wisdom would fear God’s name. He bids the Israelites to heed the rod of judgment and the One who appointed it – i.e. God. Who does Micah refer to here as the rod of judgment? Most probably, he might have been referring to himself. As he was the one delivering the news of the divine judgment to the Israelites of that time. Indeed, he had been doing so as the rod of judgment appointed by God.
(8)Verses 10 – 13 – From the 10th verse, Micah starts describing the transgressions of the Israelites of that time. God points out how a majority of the Israelites still remained non-repentant and persistent in their sins. Many holding ill-gotten treasures showed no signs of repentance. Otherwise they would have returned those to their rightful owners. Ephah, scales and weights were things used for measurements in those times. Like how the merchants of today cheat using dishonest weights, many of the Israeli merchants of the times of Micah were using short ephahs, dishonest scales and false weights. God asks how He could acquit someone who has not yet thrown away his bag of such false weights. Indeed, no matter how many sacrifices they offered, if the Israelites did not repent and reform their sinful ways, they could not be acquitted. We too, if we continue in our sins with no true repentance but consider ourselves children of God, we would just be fooling ourselves. Furthermore, the rich people among the Israelites of that time were violent and were committing injustice. And many of the people were liars with harmful deceitful tongues. God very much hates a deceitful tongue. Thus, as the Israelites of Micah’s time continued non-repentant and persistent in their sins, God declares that He would destroy and ruin them.
(9) Verses 14, 15 – The Israelites had turned against the Law Covenant by their transgressions. So God is telling them the consequences of those sins, which are to come upon them as declared by the Law. No matter how much they eat, they would remain unsatisfied and fatigued (Lev 26:26). God says that even the food that the Israelites try to preserve and store up would not be saved, but rather would be plundered by the sword of pillaging enemy soldiers (Lev 26:16,17). Moreover, even as they might work hard planting their fields, the harvest would not benefit them (Deut 28:30). They might press olives to extract oil, but they would not be able to use that oil. And they might crush grapes to ferment wine, but would not be able to drink it. To sum it up, God is conveying the message that the Israelites are to be taken into slavery. Does the harvest belong to the slave who plants the field? No. Same is the case for the olive oil or the wine that the slave labors to produce. He does not get to use them. Micah is talking about the people of the Southern Kingdom of Judah here. We might remember studying how the Northern Kingdom of Israel had been destroyed in 723 B.C. i.e. before Micah 3:9 was written and that is why Micah who had been distinguishing between Israel and Judah till then, starts addressing the people of the Southern Kingdom of Judah as simply Israel after that (See Scripture Study – Blossom16:May’11,Paras08,09). Since the people of Judah are addressed as Israel here, the slavery that God is describing here is essentially referring to the Babylonian captivity that started in 587 B.C. That’s when the Babylonian soldiers armed with swords plundered whatever the Israelites had stored. Then, they took the Israelites as slaves to Babylon.
(10) Verse 16 – We know that the Northern Kingdom of Israel was destroyed by the Assyrians before the very eyes of the people of the Southern Kingdom of Judah in 723 B.C. But the Southerners did not consider it as a warning, but rather continued in their sinful ways like the North. Kings of the Northern Israel like Omri and Ahab had committed evil in the eyes of God and indulged in detestable practices like idol worship (See 1 Kings 16:16-30). God declares the practices and statutes of the people of the Southern Judah of Micah’s times to be comparable to those of such evil kings. Therefore they were to undergo ruin, derision and scorn as experienced by the Northern Israel. As prophesied here, the Southern Judah was captured by Babylon in 587 B.C.
(11) Chapter 7: Verses 1, 2 – Hearing God’s warning message, Prophet Micah rues the non-repentant sinful ways of the Israelites. He says he feels like one who gathers fruit in the summer gleaning the vineyard but ends up with a poor harvest having no grapes to eat. Yes, Micah’s time was a summer heated up by the sinful transgressions of the Israelites. And he had been passionately toiling towards a bountiful harvest among his people with God’s message as his harvesting equipment. But not even one person could be reaped as no one heeded God’s warning message. This caused him tremendous heartbreak. He sadly declares that the faithful had been swept from the land and not one upright person remains. He says everyone seemed to be ready to gain selfish benefits by exploiting each other’s blood and by trying to tangle each other in nets i.e. issues. Micah was clearly frustrated with the society of his time.
(12) Verses 3, 4 – Micah accuses the Israelites of his time of using both their hands to skillfully commit evil without any hesitation. Everyone including rulers and judges demanded gifts and accepted bribes. The powerful, i.e. the rich and the mighty of the country, were dictating their evil desires by conspiring together with the rulers and the judges, overturning justice and oppressing the poor and the powerless. As a matter of fact, Micah pronounces those who seemed best in the eyes of the world as actually being evildoers like the prickly brier and those who were seen the most upright really being worse than a thorn hedge. This shows that the Israelite nation had slipped away from righteousness to such a great extent. Therefore, Micah warns that the day of their punishment has come as foretold by God’s watchmen i.e. prophets like himself. Accordingly, as we saw earlier, the Southern Kingdom of Judah was taken into Babylonian captivity in 587 B.C. Micah declares that would be the time of confusion for the Israelites who were immersed in their sinful ways, arrogant and unheeding to God’s message of warning.
(13) Verses 5, 6, 7 – In the previous verse, didn’t Micah warn about the impending day of judgment, a time of confusion and alarm on the Israelites? Someone who hears that warning might get afraid and seek advice from his friend, neighbor or his wife (‘the woman who lies in your embrace’). And they might say ‘No such thing would happen. Do not be afraid’ to comfort him. So Micah warns such an advice-seeker not to trust his friend or neighbor or wife when they say so but rather to keep the words of his lips guarded and not asking them or anyone for any such advice at all. Micah adds that even if a person seeks counsel from close relatives like his father, mother or daughter-in-law, it would always work against his spiritual life, ending up in his spiritual ruin. Micah declares that a man’s enemies are the members of his own household. This is a point to ponder for even us. Many a time fleshly relations could directly betray us. But Micah is not talking about just that here, but something deeper. The worldly affection of earthly relations makes a man or woman take decisions against the will of God. Doesn’t worldly affection belong to the earth? Moreover, such affection draws a man or woman into the sins of earthly relations. We need to be cautious about this. We should never seek the advice of our earthly relations in matters of our spiritual life. They would definitely say things influenced by their worldly affection towards us. And quite often that would not be right for our spiritual life. Their worldly affection would not want us to suffer. So, it would not let us to suffer for Christ but we need to suffer for Christ. Therefore, we need to be careful about this. As Micah says in the 7th verse, during times of trial, instead of turning towards earthly relations, we should rather watch in hope only for God, conduct ourselves as per His word and wait for His salvation. God surely would hear and help us.
(14) Verses 8, 9, 10 – In these verses Micah speaks on behalf of the nation of Israel. He knows that the heathen enemy nations of Israel would be delighted when she falls as foretold by God. So, he warns them. He tells them not to gloat because even as she falls, she would rise back. Even as she passes through darkness, she would walk confident with God as her light. Because Israel had sinned against God, she would bear God’s wrath until she pleads her case and upholds her cause. Then, He would bring her out into the light Himself, Micah assures. And when that happens, Micah says Israel would see God’s righteousness, essentially realizing that God was justified in punishing her till then. This particular time has not yet arrived. We might remember studying about Israel returning to God only during the Armageddon War (See Scripture Study – Blossom17:Jun’11,Paras09,10,11). This would be fulfilled only then. And as Micah declares in the 10th verse, it would be at that time indeed when the enemy nations who had mocked the scattered Jewish people for centuries saying “Where is the LORD your God?” would realize that God was fighting on Israel’s behalf in the Armageddon War. They would be covered with shame regarding their conduct. As Micah prophesies here, all those nations would be trampled underfoot like mire in the streets and be destroyed in the Armageddon War.
(15) Verses 11, 12, 13 – Now God hands down Micah and Israel a comforting prophetic promise. He had earlier said that the walls of Israel would fall and her people would be taken captive. Now, He assures her that the day when those walls would be rebuilt would come. That would also be the day for extending her national boundaries afar. The people of Judah, taken into Babylonian captivity in 587 B.C., were freed in 538 B.C. after Persia defeated Babylon. After that, the walls of Jerusalem were indeed rebuilt under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah (See Grace – Blossom 32:Aug’10,Para03). But is God talking about the walls of Jerusalem and that rebuilding here? No, for He is referring to the walls of the nation of Israel, i.e. her national boundaries. Essentially, He is talking about the Israelites attaining a totally independent nation for themselves. The walls and boundaries mentioned in this verse represent safe, secure and recognized national borders. Since 587 B.C., why even till today, it’s very true that the Israelites have not yet achieved a nation of extended and secure borders. Yes, there was a Hasmonean Jewish kingdom from 140 – 63 B.C and it lasted as a direct client state of the Roman Empire even till 37 B.C. But, it neither had complete freedom nor enjoyed total security. It was mostly under the Seleucid/Egyptian Empire and then under the Roman Empire. Moreover, there was also a brutal civil war during the times of the Hasmoneans. Therefore, even as the rise of the Hasmonean kingdom appears to be the fulfillment of certain biblical prophecies, it does not match with the peaceful and secure promises God is prophesying in these verses. And yes, the current nation of Israel was formed in 1948 A.D. But till today, due to prevailing border disputes and other crises, the nation’s borders are not even mentioned in her own constitution as a matter of her own policy. And the existing borders are not proving to be secure. So, this verse’s prophecy would be fulfilled only when the Kingdom of Heaven commences on earth. Only at that time, as God says here, people would come to Israel from every nation on earth to learn about God and the ways of righteousness (Zech 14:16, 17). As we saw earlier, the Old Testament Faithful, i.e. the Ancient Worthies of the Old Testament times would teach them the ways of the one true God. As the 13th verse says, the native nations of those people would have been destroyed in the Armageddon War because of their sins. As they learn more and more about righteousness, their nations would flourish and become like Eden (Zech 14:16, 17).
(16) Verse 14 – Responding to God’s promise, Micah utters a prayer for Israel. Carmel was and is a mountain range in the nation of Israel. Micah uses that to signify isolation – ‘which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel’ (KJV). This is because it was a wooded forest region. And the Israelites were to go into such a wilderness of slavery in a while. Micah pleads God to remember them again and shepherd them with His staff. God had fed them in fertile lands like Bashan and Gilead in days long ago. Micah appeals to God to again guide them likewise with His staff into better days.
(17) Verses 15, 16, 17 – God answers Micah’s prayer. He assures him that He would show Israel His wonders again. Wonders like those He did in the days when He brought them out of Egypt. Wonders like the plagues that struck the Egyptians and the miraculous parting of the Red Sea. Indeed, God is talking about the times of the Armageddon War here when such wonders would happen again. At that time, many a nation would come at Israel believing that their own military might could easily destroy her. But each one of them would see that their vaunted powers were worthless in front of the power of God. They would stand ashamed. They would stare in amazement with their hands over their mouths. The intensity of the wrath of God would be so severe that it would deafen their ears. Finally, like a snake eats the dust, they would lick the dust of defeat. They would be debased like creatures that crawl on the ground. They would realize that Yahweh, the God of Israel is the only true God and turn in fear towards Him. God says, they would be afraid of the nation of Israel that defeated them under the guidance of the Old Testament Faithful i.e. the Ancient Worthies. Yes, the Bible indeed says that the people of other nations on earth would recognize the true God only when they see Him miraculously delivering Israel during the Armageddon War. We might remember studying in an earlier issue of Grace that this is indeed God’s Plan (See Grace – Blossom 12: Feb ’09, Para 09).
(18) Verses 18, 19, 20 – Here too, the word ‘remnants’ appears in the context of the Kingdom of Heaven. So, it refers to the Ancient Worthies, especially those from the times of Jacob when Israel’s history began till the times of Jesus. It is they who are to inherit the nation of Israel in the Kingdom of Heaven. But that does not mean they never committed any transgression. We do know that even David committed many sins. But these were people who were willing to repent. So God forgave their transgressions. Micah exclaims who is such a merciful God like Yahweh! Yes, Yahweh God is a God of grace. So when anyone repents and asks for forgiveness, His anger goes away and He delights to show mercy. Yes, it was His justified anger on Israel that made Him declare that He would destroy that nation. And yes, He did do so in 587 B.C. But Micah says that anger would not stay forever, but rather God would again have compassion on Israel. With His power, God would tread the sins of the Israelites underfoot and hide their iniquities (‘hurl into the depths of the sea’). Likewise as we saw before, using His power, God is to guide not only the Israelites, but also the Gentiles into the right path after the times of the Armageddon War. Especially, God would gracefully fulfill the promises He once made to Jacob and Abraham, and hand over the nation of Israel to the Ancient Worthies who had proved themselves faithful during the Old Testament times. So if the Israelites of the times of Micah remain faithful, they could definitely inherit the blessings of God’s promise and become one of the ancient worthies. It’s indeed because of His ancient oath to Israel’s ancestors that God does not destroy Israel forever as He does the other failed nations.
(19) We learnt about God’s qualities, the Kingdom of Heaven and the Armageddon War from Micah. Let us use that knowledge and the lessons learnt. Let us be careful not to live against God like the Israelites of Micah’s times, but rather do gospel works and win our heavenly race! Amen.
– Epistle of James would be studied from next issue –