Micah chapter 3 ends with a picture of great despair for Israel. These words could seem to indicate that that the days of Israel are over. is it possible that promise to Abraham that Israel would be a great nation and a blessing to the families of the earth that is done? Someone hearing these words could think,’ is there anything to hold to. Is there anything to hope for?”
Well, as Micah is about to tell us – there is something to hope for. And the hope that is given in chapter four is also hope for us as believers in Jesus Christ. And so we move into a section of Micah in which we are no longer talking about the historical events of ancient people but the words that give hope to all who place their trust in Christ.
Verses 1-5
What is interesting about these words is that Isaiah chapter 2 verses 1-5 record almost the exact same words. Isaiah and Micah were contemporaries. They served as prophets in Judah during the same time. And it can cause us to say, “did Micah copy Isaiah or did Isaiah copy Micah?” Well, I think the more important thing to conclude by these identical passages is that clearly God wanted Israel to hear these words that both prophets proclaimed. There is something about these words that were incredibly important for all of Israel to hear. And personally, I don’t think either man copied the other but rather these were two men being led by the Holy Spirit proclaiming the word of God.
Verse 1
In verse 1, Micah speaks on “latter days” other translations say “the last days”. The phrase “last days” is a term we hear a lot of Scripture and sometimes it refers to the return of Christ and the events surrounding the return of Christ or it could simply refer to the time period after the resurrection of Christ. It is true to say that we are in the last days not because of any recent events but because we are in the days post-resurrection. Christ could return any time.
So what latter days is Micah referring to. Well, let’s look at the events that will happen in these latter days.
Verse 1-2
These two verses give us this picture of the Lord establishing His house in the city of Jerusalem where He will reign. And it is this place that the nations will come to Him to learn of His truth, learn of His ways not just for knowledge but so that they can walk in His ways.
This is an event that has not happened yet but Micah is saying this is an event that will happen in the future. There will be a future day that the Lord will reign in Jerusalem. And all of the nations of the world, all of the powers and authorities of this world will look to Jerusalem.
These are events that will happen after the second coming of Christ. These are the events Zechariah describes in Zechariah 8:3 where he says, “This is what the LORD says: “I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the LORD of Hosts will be called the Holy Mountain.”
Now what is interesting about these words from Micah is what Micah just said at the end of chapter 3, “Zion shall be plowed as a field and Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins.”
Micah is telling Israel, the story of Jerusalem is not finished yet. Jerusalem will rise from the ashes.
And there will be a day that Jerusalem will become the focal point of all the nations. Every leader’s eyes will look to that city. Why? Because that is where the Lord will reign. And so when does verse 1 become a reality? As we just mentioned this is connected to the second coming of Christ. And I believe this reign of Christ is the 1000-year reign of Christ on this earth that Revelation 20 tells us about. And so Micah goes on to describe what this reign will look like.
Verse 3
The Lord will be the earth’s judge. We are often concerned with who serves on the Supreme Court because the impact the justice of this nation. When Christ reigns he will be “the judge”. Can you imagine what that time will be like? When nations have disputes with each other, they won’t have to figure it out in their own human wisdom and respond in their own human pride and stubbornness but they get to go before the Lord himself and he will bring resolution. And the nations will listen to Him.
Nations will no longer wage war against each other. In fact, as verse 3 says they will no longer learn or know the art of war. Nations will no longer have militaries. If America is still one of those nations during this time, there will no longer be an army or navy or air force. There will be no need for it.
Verse 4
The phrase “every man sitting under his vine and under his fig tree” is an expression used in other places in the Old Testament that is a reference to someone experiencing peace and prosperity. Micah says, when Christ reigns you will not be lacking anything. Your needs will be met. It can make us think about Psalm 23 verse 1 it which David says the Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.
And verse four continues and says, “and no one shall make them afraid…” Can you image that? Can you image living in a time in which there will be nothing to be afraid of. Nothing to fear. Now I know that as Christians God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. But since we still live in a fallen world there are things in this world that can still cause us to be afraid. Micah tells us when Christ reign no one shall make us afraid.
And we can look at these words and say, come on, how can life exists in this world where nations do not fight nations and there is no hunger and there is nothing to be afraid of. How can this happen? Well, It can happen because the word of the Lord has declared it to true.
Then end of verse 4 says, “the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” We can believe this future reign of Christ will occur in the manner that Micah says it will occur because the word of the Lord has declared that it to be true.
Verse 5
In verse 5, Micah brings his audience back to the present. There will be a time in which the Lord will reign from his house in Jerusalem and there will be a time in which every nation will recognize God as God. There will be a time in which every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. But in the mean time, we live in a world in which people live according to their own gods. They live according to their own truth and they delight in the things that do not please God. That is not a abstract, philosophical statement. We see it all around us. We have family members, we have friends and neighbors and co-workers in which they are making daily decisions contrary to the truth of God. And we see the destruction that it brings to their life. We see the messiness and the pain that it brings into their life.
We live in a world in which people live according to their own ways because apart from the Spirit of God they are blind to the truth. But Micah tells the people of Israel here in verse 5, you shouldn’t be blind. You know God’s truth. You know how He desires for you to live. Therefore, walk in his ways. Be a people who walking according to His name.
When the name of the Lord is referenced it is talking about the character and nature of God. His love, mercy, grace, patience, justice and so on. And when we live according to His name, we live in a manner in which we respond to His character. Because He is good, I am going to think according to His goodness. Because He is merciful, I am going to live according to his mercy.
Psalm 18:10 says, “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.
The name of the Lord impacts how the righteous live. God, since you are a strong tower that is where I am placing my hope and trust and security.
For the Israelites of Micah’s day they were allowing their own preferences, their own wants, their own needs, their own selfish pursuits to impact how they lived. They walked according to their own name.
When a comedian impersonates someone else they take on the speech pattern, speech tone and mannerisms of someone else. In that moment, they are not trying to reflect themselves they are trying to reflect someone else. So that when we hear them we do not hear the personality of the comedian, we hear the one they are impersonating or reflecting.
This is what Micah is calling Israel to. Walk in manner not to reflect ourselves but to reflect the nature and character of God. I think one of the most disheartening and painful things to observe is Christians who know God and yet do not reflect Him. Their lives do not point people to God they simply point people to their own wants and desires. Their own opinions.
And yet the psalmist says the righteous allow the name of the Lord to direct and shape their lives. The Lord is a strong tower, then that is where I find protect and provision and comfort.
Now what is the connection between the glimpse of the future given to us in verses 1-4 and the encouragement of how we should live now in verse 5. Well, the connection is that when we know what the outcome will be impacts how we act in the present. What we know about the future should impact how we live now.
Have you ever watched a pre-recorded game in which you already know the outcome? If you already know your team won, you watch and experience that game differently than if it was live and the outcome was unknown. The anxiety is gone. The worry is gone. You still experience the highs and lows of the game. You can enjoy the good plays and get frustrated when you team makes poor plays. But since you know the outcome, the poor plays or even getting down by a lot of points doesn’t put you into a place of despair. In fact, it creates a sense of anticipation. I can’t wait to watch how we actually come back from this. Because you know that you will.
You watch the game with hope.
Micah is telling Israel the outcome of the game. And because they know how the story ends, they get to live not based on the present but based on the future. And you know what? You and I have the same opportunity. We get to live not based on the present but based on the future. Too many Christians allow their hope to be shaped by the present circumstances of their life. And yet you and I have the opportunity to live life based on the present day hope but on a living hope.