The Coming of the Kingdom: Micah 4 (7)

Opening Prayer: Psalm 72.1-4
Give the king Your judgments, O God,
And Your righteousness to the king’s Son.
He will judge Your people with righteousness,
And Your poor with justice.
The mountains will bring peace to the people,
And the little hills, by righteousness.
He will bring justice to the poor of the people;
He will save the children of the needy,
And will break in pieces the oppressor.

Sing Psalm 72.1-4
(Martyrdom: Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed)
O give the King Your judgment, Lord, and righteousness Your Son;
and let Him judge by Your good Word the need of every one.

Let now the mountains ring with peace, the hills in righteousness.
Let justice rise, oppression cease, and all the needy bless.

Read Micah 4; meditate on verses 7, 8.

Preparation
1. What did Micah foresee happening in the last days?

2. How was this going to happen?

Meditation
Micah 4 is a very poetic passage, and we can see this both in the compelling images the prophet employs as well as in the parallel structure of his message. The passage is set off by a device called inclusio, in which a pericope – the technical name for a single exegetical unit – begins and ends in the same place. We see this in verses 1 and 2 and verse 13, and the key word connecting them is “Arise” (v. 13).

In verses 1 and 2 the mountain of the Lord’s house “shall be exalted” – raised up. In verse 13 the people of God – the Lord’s mountain – are commanded to arise and get about the business of threshing the nations as an offering to the Lord. In the first two verses, the nations eagerly and happily come to Mount Zion to offer themselves; in verse 13, it is the work of God’s people which prepares them as an offering.

The gathering of the nations to Mt. Zion creates another parallel. In verse 2 they are gathering to learn from the Lord. In verses 11 and 12 they are gathered “like sheaves to the threshing floor.”

The repetition of “in the last days” (v. 1) and “in that day” (v. 6) lets us know that this entire passage envisions the same time frame. And while the people of Micah’s day were facing captivity in Babylon, this passage was meant to keep their faith alive by pointing them forward to a great day of release and revival (vv. 9, 10).

Verse 8 is the keystone on which this entire passage rests. God’s “tower” and “stronghold” is the Lord Himself, Who “will reign over them in Mount Zion” (v. 7). He has the dominion and the Kingdom, and He exercises it on behalf of “the daughter of Jerusalem” – a construction which indicates that Jerusalem, the people of God, are His sons and daughters.

But what is the work of threshing which seems so crucial here? It is explained in the second part of verse 2: “For out of Zion the law shall go forth, [even] the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem.” By the Word of God – the Gospel – lived and proclaimed, God’s people gather the sheaves of the nation, threshing them as they themselves are threshed, through repentance and faith, to become a perpetual offering to the Lord. The result of this great “last days” work is judgment, peace, flourishing, and faith throughout the world, just as David had seen in Psalm 72.

What a great vision! This is what should guide us whenever we pray, “Thy Kingdom come…on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6.10).

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
“I will make the lame a remnant…” (Mic. 4.7). That’s us. The lame. Made by God into a “small remaining quantity of something”. That’s how the dictionary defines remnant. And that’s how God describes those involved in “The Last Days Project”.

Paul was beset by a lameness, a thorn in the flesh, that he knew was sent to him to buffet him, “lest I be exalted above measure” for the abundance of revelations that God had blessed him with. But this lameness was so troublesome to him and caused him such suffering that he pleaded with God to remove it. Three times. We, too, are beset by thorns. Probably not because of extraordinary revelations from God, but thorns, nonetheless. A lameness. And despite our shortcomings, God loves us enough to make us a remnant too.

We, like Paul, must cry out to the Lord, to help us continue working our Personal Mission Fields as overcomers, as a lame remnant, finding our strength and comfort in Him.

“And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12.9, 10).

It shall come to pass in the last days, because of Jesus, “the blind see and the lame walk” (Matt. 11.5). And the one who struggled with the thorn assures us that “at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace” (Rom. 11.5).

Reflection
1. Who is God’s “remnant”? How can we know if we are in that remnant?

2. What work does God do for His remnant? What work does God expect of His remnant?

3. How can the vision of Micah 4 shape your vision for your Personal Mission Field?

The collecting [of] the captives from Babylon was an earnest [down payment] of healing, purifying, and prospering the church; and the reign of Christ shall continue till succeeded by the everlasting kingdom of heaven. Let us stir up each other to attend the ordinances of God, that we may learn his holy ways, and walk in them, receiving the law from his hands, which, being written in our hearts by his Spirit, may show our interest in the Redeemer’s righteousness. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Micah 4.8

Closing Prayer: Psalm 72.5-19
Pray for the coming of God’s Kingdom (Matt. 6.10) according to the promises set forth in these verses.

Sing Psalm 72.5-19
(Martyrdom: Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed)
Let nations fear You while the sun and moon endure on high;
refresh, renew us, every one, like sweet rain falling from the sky.

Let righteousness abundant be where Jesus’ reign endures;
let peace increase from sea to sea ‘til moonlight shall be no more.

And let the Righteous rule the earth, and let His foes bow low;
let nations praise His matchless worth, and all His bidding do.

The Lord the needy rescues when he cries to Him for grace;
all they who suffer violence find mercy before His face.

Let Christ be praised and all the gold of Sheba be His right;
let blessings to His Name be told, and prayers made both day and night.

And let the earth abound with grain, let fields His fame proclaim;
and may our King forever reign and nations bless His great Name.

Now bless the God of Israel Who wondrous works performs.
And bless His Name, His glory tell both now and forever more!

T. M. and Susie Moore

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Micah in God’s Covenant
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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.