Through the first four chapters of this book, the Lord tells Israel through Micah, that He is going to bring judgment on Israel because of their unrepentant sin before Him. And this is not going to be small discipline. God is going to use the Assryian army to destroy the Northern Kingdom and God is going to use the Babylonians to bring destruction to the Southern Kingdom.
This was the ministry of Micah. To speak words of rebuke and words of judgment. That is a difficult ministry to have. “Why can’t I be the prophet who speaks words of encouragement? Why can’t I be the prophet that speaks words of blessing” Micah might have thought. He was given a challenging role in a challenging season.
But here is the thing about reading words of judgment in books like Micah is that they remind us about some significant things about God.
First, even in challenging times, God is at work.
Second, God’s judgment reminds us that God cares about justice.
Third, when we see God’s judgment, we see God’s plan for redemption.
You see God acts to bring Him glory and God acts draw people to himself
Micah can be a difficult book to read because judgment is difficult to read. But as we read about His judgment, we are reading about God’s intimate actions with humanity and we are reading about his compassion and his plan of salvation.
As we come to chapter 5, we come to a passage in which the birth of the Messiah, the birth of Jesus is prophesied. Even in words of discipline to Israel, God is saying I have not abandoned you, Israel. You are still my people and I am still your God. And you will see salvation.
And the way he is going to bring them hope and salvation is the Lord is going to bring to Israel a new king, a new ruler. You see, Israel had known corrupt rulers, wicked rulers, oppressive rulers. But a new king is coming who will lead differently.
Verse 1
Chapter 5 verse 1 begins with discouraging words: Israel, get ready for war because your enemies are going to attack you. And the judge (and this is most likely a reference to the king of Israel) will be struck with a rod on the cheek. This is a reference to one being humiliated. And so Micah is saying, your enemies are going to siege you and they are going to humiliate your king meaning, you are going to experience defeat.
If you are Israel, those are not words you want to hear. If you are Micah, those are not words you want to speak. But the fall of a king in verse 1 leads us to the rise of a new king in verse 2.
Verse 2
“But…” Micah writes. Now when a sentence begins with but after a sentence of judgment or despair that is typically a good thing. And in the case of Micah 5:2 it is a very good thing.
Your kings have failed you, your leaders have turned from the Lord but don’t lose heart because there is another king coming. Micah describes this coming king in a very unexpected and unusual way. He begins by talking to the people of a town called Bethlehem.
And Micah doesn’t just say Bethlehem but Bethlehem Ephrathah to distinguish this Bethlehem from other towns with the same name. He is leaving no uncertainty about where this King is coming from.
And Micah makes a point of saying this town of Bethlehem was a small, tiny village in Judah. Why does he tell his audience this? It almost feels like he is shaming Bethlehem. Micah is wanting to make the point this that this ruler who will lead Israel will not come from an established lineage of wealth and power. He will not be born from a royal family. But rather the new king is going to come from a village that is insignificant. This new king will be born to parents without privilege and influence.
Why would this be welcome news for his audience?
Because one of their own, the ones who have been oppressed, the ones who have been forgotten, the ones who felt like they did not have a voice, one of their own will become ruler. God has a history of choosing his kings from the very least. In fact, God has a history of choosing a king from Bethlehem who was the very least.
When God choose David to be King, he sent the prophet Samuel to the house of Jesse in Bethlehem. And Jesse had 8 sons. And the Lord did not choose the oldest of his sons but the least of his sons. A young shepherd boy named David. He was the unlikely choice. Culturally, the one anointed should have been the first born. And yet in the economy of God, things are often turned upside.
1 Corinthians 1:25-31 says, “For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
As humans, we have a tendency to view power and wisdom based on what a person can generate within themselves. This is why in our human wisdom we don’t tend to elevate the weak, what do they have to offer? We don’t elevate the lowly, what can they possibly do?
This is why Scripture says don’t look to the person but look to where that person finds their strength. This is why 1 Corinthians tells us if we are going to boast about ourselves, or if we are going to boast about someone, boast about what God has done in and through that person. Because it was never about that person.
And so in Micah, the Lord is saying, Bethlehem, even though in the eyes of men, you are insignificant, I am going to raise up one from you who will be incredibly significant. In fact one who will be the most significant and people will recognize this does not come from human power, human wisdom or human bloodlines but from the power and wisdom of God.
At a church we served at in Iowa, there was a women who led our TNT group (kids 3rd -5th grade) in our Awana Ministries. And when she was initially asked to lead she gave a quick, “no”. I am not someone who leads things. I am not a leader. And they kept asking her and she kept resisting. And then finally, she sensed God saying, “this is not about you, this is about me.” This is not about who you are not, this is about who I am. This is not about your weakness, your insecurities, your iinadequacies – this is about me. This is so people will know me through your weaknesses.
After a couple of years of serving in that role, we interviewed her on video that we showed on a Sunday morning. And what was interesting is that the Sunday we showed that video, there happen to be a visitor who worked at the Awan headquarters who afterwards emailed me and asked if I would him that video. I think others need to see that. God has a way of raising up the so-called “insignificant” and then honoring the insignificant.
Verse 2 tells us this ruler, this leader, will first and foremost rule for the Lord. His motivation is for the glory of God.
Too often spiritual leaders seek leadership for themselves or they enjoy leading others or they enjoy growing an organization. But when we seek out spiritual leaders, we need to first and foremost find men and women who are serving for an audience of one. May that be our beginning criteria for leadership. When Samuel told King Saul that the Lord had rejected him as King, Samuel tells Saul that “The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart…”
I am choosing one who seeks first the heart of God. I am seeking one who seeks first the Kingdom of God.
And by the way, spiritual leadership is not just important in the church or in the para-church ministries but it is important in the family, in marriages. For all of our young ladies who are in here who are in high school, or college. When you begin to meet a guy that you want to date, make the first thing that you learn about Him is he seek the heart of the Lord. Find out if he loves Jesus more than he loves you. Make that the standard in your dating life so that it will be the standard in who you marry. That is the type of man you want spiritually leading your marriage and your family.
The Lord says, from you shall come forth one for me. His leadership will be about accomplishing the will of God. But not only will he come from God, but how about this for a shocking twist: He will be God.
That phrase “from of old” and that phrase “ancient days” was a phrase to describe the living God.
In Isaiah 43, we have this wonderful passage in which the Lord is telling Israel that He is their God, He is their redeemer, He is their Savior. And he goes on to say that He and He alone is the one true God. Listen to these words:
“Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me.
I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior.
I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—I, and not some foreign god among you.
You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “that I am God.
Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand.
When He says ancient days, He is saying before there were days. Before there was time, I existed. And I have always been and I will always will be. In this passage, the phrase ancient days is describing the eternal nature and quality of God.
And so in Micah, when the Lord says, from Bethlehem will come one who will rule Israel and he will be from of old, from ancient days, Micah’s audience would be hearing a description of a ruler that might seem confusing.
He will come from Bethlehem and so he will be a man who will have an origin and yet He will be from ancient days and He will not have an origin. And the audience could find themselves saying, “it seems like you are talking about one who is both man and God.” But surely that couldn’t be? How could man be God and God be a man.
These may have been the same thoughts that Mary had when an angel appeared to her and said, “you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
How can I give birth to one who will have a beginning and an end as all human’s do but who will be the Son of God and who will rule forever?
These were not necessarily things for Micah’s audience to understand or for Mary to understand but to recognize that God is at work accomplishing His purposes and He is going to do it in a way that is beyond the understandings of men. Now even though the Lord is telling them that a Messiah, a Savior is coming who will ruler and reign in Israel. Israel will still experience the consequences of their disobedience. The Lord will still bring judgment on them.
Verse 3
He uses the example of a woman in labor. There is pain before the blessing of the baby. For Israel, there is going to be pain in their life but there is a new blessing that is coming.
It is not easy to hear about future hope while also recognizing you have to still go through the pain of discipline. But even in the coming discipline we see the faithfulness of the Lord.
Sometimes we can think that love is removing the judgment and discipline but true love is allowing the judgment and discipline because of what it produces. No one wants to go through seasons of correction and discipline but those come into our life for our benefit, our spiritual growth so that we can move away from the things that harm us and bring us back into a right relationship with God. May we not resist the discipline of the Lord. May we not become bitter. But allow God to accomplish His work in us.
Verses 4 and 5 takes us back into future blessings that the coming Messiah will bring.
Verses 4-5
Now while first verse speaks of the first coming of the Messiah, the first coming of Christ – the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. I believe verse 4 is speaking of the second coming of Christ, when Christ will reign during the millennium, during the 1000-year reign of Christ on the earth.
In chapter 4, 1-2, we are given a picture of Christ ruling from Zion, from Jerusalem. And all nations will come to him seeking to be taught from Him. And then here in chapter 5, we see the manner in which he is going to reign in Jerusalem.
He is going to care and lead and shepherd His people through the strength of the Lord. He will not do this out of His own wisdom or power like the earthly kings often did. He will rely fully on the Lord to direct Him as he cares for His people. But not only that it says He will stand and shepherd in the majesty of the name of the Lord His God. He will care and shepherd out of a desire for the name of the Lord to be lifted up and praised and worship.
This is a great verse for everyone who is in spiritual leadership. Husbands and wives may you lead your families in the strength of the Lord and in a manner that glorifies the majestic name of the Lord. Those of you in church leadership, may you lead those entrusted to through the strength of the Lord and in a manner that glorifies the majestic name of the Lord.
And verse 4 continues and says the ruler will reign in a manner in which people will feel secured and protected and because of that they live in peace. This was the very opposite of how the people in Israel currently felt. They felt oppressed and abused. And there was no peace. But a ruler will come who will make them feel secured and protected.
When the King did finally come to Israel, born to a young couple in Bethlehem, he didn’t look like a king, He didn’t live like a king and He didn’t act like a king. In fact, throughout his life, He had no authority as king, no power as king and it was only in His death that he was mockingly recognized as king.
But he accomplished what no other King of Israel could accomplish. Through his death, burial and resurrection He paid the penalty for the sins of Israel and the world satisfying the wrath of God. And He provided a way for Israel and the world to be reconciled to God. Israel’s earthly Kings had moments in which they saved Israel from their enemies, but a King has come who has saved His people from their sins.