Micah 4:1

Micah chapter 4 is a great chapter about the future of the world in general, and the future of Israel specifically. The Bible says in Micah 4:1, “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.” Notice that it mentions “the mountain of the house of the Lord.” That is the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. By saying that it will be “in the top of the mountains,” it means that Jerusalem will be the leading city of the world and will have power and authority over all the other nations. The words “mountains” and “hills” are symbolic of the nations and the power and authority that each nation has. Jerusalem shall become the capital city of the world. Of course, we also know that Jesus will rule the world from the throne of David in Jerusalem. Jesus will be the King of the world. All of these skirmishes and contests for power will end with this result: Jesus will have the power and the glory forever. All of the hatred for the Jewish people and for the nation of Israel will end with this result: Israel will be the greatest nation and a Jew will be the King of the world.

The Bible says in Micah 4:2, “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.” Think of it: Jesus Himself will be in Jerusalem where people can go to see Him and hear Him. How wonderful that will be. Of course, “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.” Finally, the world will be the way it ought to be. There will be a great leader, the greatest of all: Jesus Christ. The leader will teach the truth of the Word of God to the whole world, and the world will love every word of it.

One of the circumstances of this future existence that is also known as the Millennial Reign of Christ, is the fact that there will be no war. It says in Micah 4:3, “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 pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” General Sherman said, “War is hell.” No one ever disagreed with him. People have always wished there could be an end to war, but there never is. One war is always followed by another. As a matter of fact there are almost always wars being fought somewhere in the world. One of the things that make wars so horrible is that innocent civilians often get hurt the most. In spite of people’s efforts and good intentions, no one has been able to put an end to war. One reason for this is because of the evil that exists in the world. Jesus said in Matthew 24:7-14 about the age in which we currently live, “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.[8] All these are the beginning of sorrows.[9] Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.[10] And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.[11] And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.[12] And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.[13] But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.[14] And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”

Only God can end war, and Jesus will do just that when He is King in Israel. But Jesus also warned us that there will always be war in the age in which we live. The leaders of nations will be wise to prepare for war from a defensive standpoint. Either prepare to defend yourself or prepare to be conquered. Those who have a Christian heritage had better also prepare their hearts to seek help from the Lord. The Lord used war to punish Israel when they would no longer turn to Him. Since history usually repeats itself especially in regards to spiritual matters, no doubt God will use war again for such purposes. The worst war this world has ever seen is yet to come. Notice what the Bible says about the war of the Great Tribulation in Revelation 6:4, “And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.” It also says in Revelation 6:8, “And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.”

The Bible says in Micah 4:4, “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.” Of course, we are still talking about the wonderful 1,000 reign of Christ on this earth and how great it will be. One of the blessings of the reign of Christ will be the fact that every man will sit “under his vine and under his fig tree.” Notice the emphasis on private ownership. The best government that this world will ever see will not be communism, but it will be capitalism. It is a blessing to own your own property, and to be able to rest peacefully there. An old American expression for this blessing is: “Every man’s home is his castle.” Also, strongly built into our laws is the fact that every person has a right to defend himself or herself within their own home.” But in the reign of Christ, there will be no need for self-defense. It says in Micah 4:4, “none shall make them afraid.”

Describing another important characteristic of the millennial reign of Christ, the Bible says in Micah 4:5-6, “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.” Righteousness will cover the earth. Those who love God long for an increase in righteousness. We know that sin has terrible negative effects, not only for the individual, but also for the nation and for the whole world. One of the best things about heaven is that no sin will be there. One of the best things about the Millennial reign of Christ is the initial spread of godliness over all the earth. Christians always pray that godliness will spread, and Christians are always involved in teaching the Word of God and publicly proclaiming the Word of God. We know how important the Word of God really is. This is the only book in the world that comes directly from God. Jesus said in Matthew 4:4, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” In the current age there is a falling away from the truth. This is partly the fault of the growing number of people who are turning away from God. It is partly the fault of our leaders who seem to be in spiritual darkness themselves and are of no help in leading a nation back to God. It is also partly the fault of believers who themselves have fallen away from the proper emphasis on studying and understanding and obeying the precious Word of God. But God will not fail. One of the reasons that He put people on this earth to begin with was to know Him and to know His truth. But where man has failed, God will succeed. When Jesus rules the earth in His millennial kingdom, this is what it will be like all over the earth: “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.” The same truth is stated in Isaiah 11:9, “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.”

The Bible says in Micah 4:6-10, “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.[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 counseller 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.” The main emphasis of the first part of this passage has to do with the re-gathering of Israel. God promised that He would gather them back to the land of Israel even before He cast them out. The casting-out was temporary, but the gathering back in would be permanent. God wanted to make that very clear to His people. Of course, this is consistent with the doctrine of eternal security. The temporary punishments were because of the failures and sins of the people, but the permanent blessings were because of the grace of God and the promises of God. God said, “I will assemble her,” “I will gather her,” and “I will make her….a strong nation.”

The nation of Israel was captured by Assyria and Babylon. Ninety percent of the people were killed, and most of the rest were taken captive to foreign nations. There was a small re-gathering as described in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. And perhaps the current country of Israel could be described as another small re-gathering at best. But the full re-gathering as described here in this passage in Amos and in the other prophets has not yet happened. It is a future event still. It will actually take place after Jesus returns in His Second Coming. Notice the phrase in Amos 4:8, “the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.” What Kingdom shall come? The Kingdom of God on earth shall come. It appears that God wants to have at least one government to rule on this earth that will do things the right way, and create an existence the way it always could have been, except for the deceit, and the manipulation, and the lying of the human rulers, and the arrogance, and the lack of wisdom of the human rulers. What a wonderful kingdom it will be, and all the believers in Jesus get to experience it. This is probably the kingdom that Jesus spoke of when He told us to pray in Matthew 6:10, “Thy kingdom come.” The Bible never talks about the hopes and dreams of humans being realized through some human government, nation, or political philosophy. All are doomed because they all have one fatal flaw: they are man-centered instead of Christ-centered. At least the Christian can have a Christ-centered life inside one’s heart in this life. We look forward to the day when King Jesus will come to the earth, and fulfill this great promise about the kingdom of God on earth.

Notice what God said in Micah 4:9, “Now why dost thou cry out aloud? is there no king in thee? is thy counseller perished?” There are two things described here that would keep the people of God from crying out in the midst of their sorrow and suffering. The first is having a “king.” We have a king. His name is King Jesus. Jesus is the greatest of all kings. That is why He is called King of kings and Lord of lords. It is good to have a king especially if he is a benevolent monarch. This king is all-powerful. He can do anything, and He is intimately involved in all things. The key is to believe and to trust. If the king allows a sorrow or a problem, He does so for a reason. Also, if there is something you do not like about your situation, you can always ask the King to change it. This King loves contact with His subjects, and He loves to grant His subjects their requests. He can move mountains, and He can fix any problem. If King Jesus is your king, then you should be fine.

Of course, Jesus is not going to do everything. There are things that you can do for yourself. The question is: what should you do? Sometimes, you will need a good counselor to tell you what should be done in your situation. After asking them if they had a king, then God asked them if they had a counselor. You must have the right counselor and the right teacher. That is critical. Guess what? If you are a believer, Jesus is not only your King, but He is also your counselor. As it says about the Messiah (Jesus) in Isaiah 9:6, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Two of the many benefits of being a Christian are that Jesus is our King and our Counselor.

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