The Coming of the Kingdom: Micah 4 (1)

Opening Prayer: Psalm 132.13-18
For the LORD has chosen Zion;
He has desired it for His dwelling place:
“This is My resting place forever;
Here I will dwell, for I have desired it.
I will abundantly bless her provision;
I will satisfy her poor with bread.
I will also clothe her priests with salvation,
And her saints shall shout aloud for joy.
There I will make the horn of David grow;
I will prepare a lamp for My Anointed.
His enemies I will clothe with shame,
But upon Himself His crown shall flourish.”

Sing Psalm 132.13-18
(Finlandia: Be Still My Soul)
God dwells among us, and He will forever, to meet our needs and clothe us with His grace.
He has to us sent Jesus Christ, our Savior, and made us His eternal resting-place.
His foes are banished from His Presence ever, but we shall reign with Him before His face.

Read Micah 4.1

Preparation
1. What is going to happen?

2. When will it happen? 

Meditation
The terrifying, dour mood of chapter 3 is immediately dispelled by a vision of the divine project for the last days.

The “last days” are the days of the coming of God’s Spirit, as Joel foresaw (Joel 2.28) and Peter confirmed (Acts 2.16, 17). The focus is on the rebuilding and exaltation of the “mountain of the LORD’s house”. Micah 3 ends with the temple of the Lord torn down and the people carried away captive.

But God, we recall, had promised a time of gathering and assembling for His people (Mic. 2.12), a time when His people would “break out” of their captivity and follow their King into all the world (Mic. 2.13). In Micah 4, the prophet will give us more details of what that entails. And chief among those details is the exalting of the Lord’s temple, which temple we know to be our Lord Jesus Christ (Jn. 2.19-22). The people of Israel could not see that far in Micah’s day. It’s likely Micah’s understanding of this Word from the Lord was not as full as ours is today (1 Pet. 1.10-12). But they could see this promise with their mind’s eye, and it would have been for them a source of hope.

Not only is the temple of our Lord exalted, but “peoples shall flow to it”. The whole world is coming to the Lord’s house, to the Church, to us as individual believers, and to Jesus our Lord! That’s what Micah saw. That’s what God gave him to share with His people. That was the sustaining hope he held out for the last days project of the Lord.

We’re living in the last days. Is this the vision we’re pursuing?

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
We are called by God to participate in His Last Days Project! Imagine that. We are invited to work with God in His Project for humankind. We can be a part of establishing His Church, so that it is exalted above all things, and people will flow to it. He wants us to be a part of His team. Co-workers. Amazing.

So if we have been called, which we have, then we need to get busy on the Project.
“But now, thus says the LORD, who created you…He who formed you: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine’” (Is. 43.1).
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose…Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified” (Rom. 8.28, 30).

One caveat: we must make sure that we are working our calling. “For many are called, but few chosen” (Matt. 20.16; 22.14).

“So we built the wall…for the people had a mind to work” (Neh.4.6).
“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Cor. 15.58).
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Phil. 2.12, 13).
“But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does” (James 1.25).

Let us be eager and willing Project workers--imitators of God: “The works of the LORD are great, studied by all who have pleasure in them. His work is honorable and glorious, and His righteousness endures forever. He has made His wonderful works to be remembered; the LORD is gracious and full of compassion” (Ps. 111.2-4).

Reflection
1. How would you explain the Lord’s Last Days Project to a new believer?

2. What is your role in that Project? When do you expect to be working on your role?

3. What should your church’s role be in this Project?

The prophet Micah employed the symbol of a high mountain to speak of the gathering of the nations in Christ. Augustine (354-430), City of God 18.30

Closing Prayer: Psalm 132.1-12
We are living in the last days. Ask God to show you today and every day what He is calling you to do.

Psalm 132.1-12
(Finlandia: Be Still My Soul)
Remember, Lord, we pray, in David’s favor, the hardships he endured, the oath he swore,

the vow he made to Jacob’s mighty Savior: “I shall not enter through my palace door;
I shall not sleep, nor slumber my eyes favor, until I make a dwelling for the Lord!”

The word throughout the chosen nation spread, to Ephrata, and in the fields of Jaar:
“Now let us go,” the faithful people said, “and worship where our Savior’s dwellings are!
Around His footstool let our worship spread; come, gather to Him, all from near and far!”

Arise, O Lord, come to Your resting place; Your holy Presence meet with us in might.
Clothe us with righteousness in Jesus’ grace, and we will shout to Your divine delight!
For David’s sake, turn not away Your face, but look upon us in Your holy light.

Remember, Lord, the oath You swore to David; do not turn back, do not deny Your Word:
“One of your sons, with your throne I will favor, and He shall keep My cov’nant evermore,
and walk within My testimonies ever; thus He shall ever rule as Israel’s Lord.”

T. M. and Susie Moore

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Except as indicated, all Scripture are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (Williston: Waxed Tablet Publications, 2006), available by clicking here.