Micah 4 commentary

MICAH 4 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
The Mountain of the Lord
1 In the last days
the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be
established
as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,
and peoples will stream to it.
BAR ES. "But (And) in the last days it shall come to pass - God’s promises,
goodness, truth, fail not. He withdraws His Presence from those who receive Him not,
only to give Himself to those who will receive Him. Mercy is the sequel and end of
chastisement. Micah then joins on this great prophecy of future mercy to the preceding
woe, as its issue in the order of God’s Will. “And it shall be.” He fixes the mind to some
great thing which shall come to pass; “it shall be.” Then follows, in marked reference to
the preceding privations, a superabundance of mercy. For “the mountain of the house,”
which should be as a forest and which was left unto them desolate, there is “the
mountain of the Lord’s house established;” for the heap of dust and the plowed field,
there is the flowing-in of the Gentiles; for the night and darkness, that there shall be no
vision, there is the fullness of revelation; for corrupt judgment, teaching, divining, a law
from God Himself going forth through the world; for the building of Jerusalem with
blood, one universal peace.
In the last days - Literally, the end of the days, that is, of those days which are in the
thoughts of the speaker. Politically, there are many beginnings and many endings; as
many endings as there are beginnings, since all human polity begins, only to end, and to
be displaced in its turn by some new beginning, which too runs its course, only to end.
Religiously, there are but two consummations. All time, since man fell, is divided into
two halves, the looking forward to Christ to come in humility; the looking forward to His
coming in glory. These are the two events on which man’s history turns. To that former
people the whole period of Christ’s kingdom was one future, the fullness of all their own

shadows, types, sacrifices, services, prophecies, longing, being. The “end of their days”
was the beginning of the new Day of Christ: the coming of His Day was necessarily the
close of the former days, the period of the dispensation which prepared for it.
The prophets then by the words, “the end of the days,” always mean the times of the
Gospel . “The end of the days” is the close of all which went before, the last dispensation,
after which there shall be no other. Yet this too hast “last days” of its own, which shall
close God’s kingdom of grace and shall issue in the Second Coming of Christ; as the end
of those former days, which closed the times of “the law,” issued in His First Coming. We
are then at once living in the last times, and looking on to a last time still to come. In the
one way Peter speaks Eph_1:20 of the last times, or the end of the times , in which Christ
was manifested for us, in contrast with the foundations of the world, before which He
was foreordained.
And Paul contrasts God’s Heb_1:1 speaking to the fathers in the prophets, and at the
end of these days speaking to us in the Son; and of our Lord coming Heb_9:26 at the
end, consummation, of the times , to put away sins by the sacrifice of Himself; and says
that the things which befell the Jews 1Co_10:11 were written for our admonition, unto
whom the ends of the times (that is, of those of the former people of whom he had been
speaking) are come; and John speaks of this as 1Jo_2:18 the last time. In the other way,
they contrast the last days, not with the times before them but with their own, and then
plainly they are a last and distant part of this their own last time .
The Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith
; In the last days perilous times shall come : There shall come at the end of the days
scoffers : They told you that there should be mockers in the last time. The Jews
distributed all time between “this world” and “the coming world” , including under “the
coming world” the time of grace under the Messiah’s reign, and the future glory. To us
the names have shifted, since this present world Mat_13:40; Eph_1:21; Tit_2:12 is to us
the kingdom of Christ, and there remains nothing further on this earth to look to,
beyond what God has already given us. Our future then, placed as we are between the
two Comings of our Lord, is, of necessity, beyond this world .
The mountain of the house of the Lord shall be - abidingly
Established - He does not say merely, “it shall be established.” Kingdoms may be
established at one time, and then come to an end. He says, “it shall be a thing
established” . His saying is expanded by Daniel; “In the days of these kings shall the God
of heaven set up a kingdom which shall not be destroyed forever, and it shall abide
forever” Dan_2:44. The house of the Lord was the center of His worship, the token of
His Presence, the pledge of His revelations and of His abiding acceptance, protection,
favor. All these were to be increased and continuous. The image is one familiar to us in
the Hebrew Scriptures. People were said to go up to it, as to a place of dignity.
In the Psalm on the carrying of the Ark thither, the hill of God is compared to the
many-topped mountains of Basan Psa_68:16-17, (the Hermon-peaks which bound
Basan,) and so declared to be greater than they, as being the object of God’s choice. The
mountain where God was worshiped rose above the mountains of idolatry. Ezekiel,
varying the image, speaks of the Gospel as an overshadowing cedar Eze_17:22-23,
planted by God upon an high mountain and an eminent, in the mountain of the height of
Israel, under which should dwell all fowl of every wing; and, in his vision of the Temple,
he sees this, the image of the Christian Church Eze_40:2, upon a very high mountain.
Our Lord speaks of His Apostles and the Church in them, as Mat_5:14 a city set upon a
hill which cannot be hid. The seat of God’s worship was to be seen far and wide; nothing
was to obscure it. It, now lower than the surrounding hills, was then to be as on the
summit of them. Human elevation, the more exalted it is, the more unstable is it. Divine

greatness alone is at once solid and exalted. The new kingdom of God was at once to be
“exalted above the hills,” and “established on the top of the mountains;” “exalted,” at
once, above everything human, and yet “established,” strong as the mountains on which
it rested, and unassailable, unconquerable, seated secure aloft, between heaven, whence
it came and to which it tends, and earth, on which it just tests in the sublime serenity of
its majesty.
The image sets forth the supereminence of the Lord’s House above all things earthly.
It does not define wherein that greatness consists. The flowing in of the nations is a fruit
of it Mic_4:1-2. The immediate object of their coming is explained to be, to learn to
know and to do the will of God Mic_4:2. But the new revelation does not form all its
greatness. That greatness is from the Presence of God, revealing and evermore teaching
His Will, ruling, judging, rebuking, peacemaking Mic_4:3-4. Dionysius: “The ‘mountain
of the Lord’s House’ was then ‘exalted above the hills’ by the bodily Presence of Christ,
when He, in the Temple built on that mountain, spake, preached, worked so many
miracles; as, on the same ground, Haggai says, ‘the glory of this latter house shall be
greater than the glory of the former’ Hag_2:9.” Lap.: “This ‘mountain,’ the church of
Christ, transcends all laws, schools, doctrines, religions, Synagogues of Jews and
Philosophers, which seemed to rise aloft among men, like mountain-tops, yea, whatever
under the sun is sublime and lofty, it will overpass, trample on, subdue to itself.”
Even Jews have seen the meaning of this figure. Their oldest mystical book explains it.
Zohar, f. 93: “‘And it shall be in the last days,’ when namely the Lord shall visit the
daughter of Jacob, then shall ‘the mountain of the house of the Lord be firmly
established, that is, the Jerusalem which is above, which shall stand firmly in its place,
that it may shine by the light which is above. (For no light can retain its existence, except
through the light from above.) For in that time shall the light from above shine sevenfold
more than before; according to that, Moreover, the light of the moon shall be as the light
of the sun; and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the
day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of His people and healeth the stroke of their
wound” Isa_30:26. Another, of the dry literal school, says (Aben Ezra), “It is well known
that the house of the Temple is not high. The meaning then is, that its fame shall go forth
far, and there shall return to it from all quarters persons with offerings, so that it shall
be, as if it were on the top of all hills, so that all the inhabitants of the earth should see
it.”
Some interpret “the mountain” to be Christ, who is called the Rock 1Co_10:4-6, on
the confession of whom, God-Man, “the house of the Lord,” that is, the Church is built ,
the precious Cornerstone Isa_28:16; 1Pe_2:6; Eph_2:20, which is laid, beside which no
foundation can be laid 1Co_3:11; “the great mountain,” of which Daniel Dan_2:35
prophesied. It is “firmly established,” so that the gates of Hell shall not prevail against
the Church, being built thereon; “exalted above hills and mountains”, that is above all
beside, greater or smaller, which has any eminence; for He in truth is Phi_2:9 highly
exalted and hath a Name above every name, being Eph_1:20-23 at the Right Hand of
God in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and
dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world but also in that which is
to come; and all things are under His Feet. And this for us, in that He, the Same, is the
Head over all things to the Church which is His Body, the fullness of Him that filleth all
in all. Rup.: “He is God and Man, King and Priest, King of kings, and a Priest abiding
forever. Since then His Majesty reacheth to the Right Hand of God, neither mountains
nor hills, Angels nor holy men, reach thereto; for “to which of the Angels said God at any
time, Sit thou on My Right Hand?” Heb_1:13.
Cyril: “Aloft then is the Church of God raised, both in that its Head is in heaven and

the Lord of all, and that, on earth, it is not like the Temple, in one small people, but “set
on a hill that it cannot be hid” Mat_5:14, or remain unseen even to those tar from it. Its
doctrine too and life are far above the wisdom of this world, showing in them nothing of
earth, but are above; its wisdom is the knowledge and love of God and of His Son Jesus
Christ, and its life is bid with Christ in God, in those who are justified in Him and
hallowed by His Spirit.” In Him, it is lifted above all things, and with the eyes of the
mind beholdeth (as far as may be) the glory of God, soaring on high toward Him who is
the Author of all being, and, filled with divine light, it owneth Him the Maker of all.
And people (peoples, nations) shall flow unto (literally upon) it - A mighty
tide should set in to the Gospel. The word is used only figuratively) is appropriated to
the streaming in of multitudes, such as of old poured into Babylon, the merchant-
empress of the world Jer_51:44. It is used of the distant nations who should throng in
one continuous stream into the Gospel, or of Israel streaming together from the four
corners of the world . So, Isaiah foretells, “Thy gates shall be open continually; they shall
not be shut day nor night; that they may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and
that their kings may be brought” (Isa_60:11, add Rev_21:25-26). These were to flow
upon it, perhaps so as to cover it, expressing both the multitude and density of the
throng of nations, how full the Church should be, as the swollen river spreads itself over
the whole champaign country, and the surging flood-tide climbs up the face of the rock
which hounds it. The flood once covered the highest mountains to destroy life; this flood
should pour in for the saving of life. Lap.: “It is a miracle, if waters ascend from a valley
and flow to a mountain. So is it a miracle that earthly nations should ascend to the
church, whose doctrine and life are lofty, arduous, sublime. This the grace of Christ
effecteth, mighty and lofty, as being sent from heaven. As then waters, conducted from
the fountains by pipes into a valley, in that valley bound up and rise nearly to their
original height, so these waters of heavenly grace, brought down into valleys, that is, the
hearts of men, make them to bound up with them into heaven and enter upon and
embrace a heavenly life.”
CLARKE, "But in the last days it shall come to pass - These four verses
contain, says Bp. Newcome, a prophecy that was to be fulfilled by the coming of the
Messiah, when the Gentiles were to be admitted into covenant with God, and the
apostles were to preach the Gospel, beginning at Jerusalem, Luk_24:47; Act_2:14, etc.,
when Christ was to be the spiritual Judge and King of many people, was to convince
many nations of their errors and vices, and was to found a religion which had the
strongest tendency to promote peace. Bp. Lowth thinks that “Micah took this passage
from Isaiah;” or the Spirit may have inspired both prophets with this prediction; or both
may have copied some common original, the words of a prophet well known at that time.
The variations (few and of little importance) may be seen in the notes on the parallel
passages, Isa_2:2, etc.; to which the reader is requested to refer.
GILL, "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,.... It
appears by the adversative but, with which these words are introduced, that they have a
dependence upon and a connection with the last of the preceding chapter; signifying,
that though "the mountain of the house", on which the temple stood, should become
desolate, yet "the mountain of the house of the Lord", which is not literally the same, but

what that was typical of, the church of Christ, should be greatly exalted and enlarged;
and which, according to this prophecy, would be "in the last days": that is, as Kimchi
rightly interprets it, the days of the Messiah; and it should be observed, that all this will
be in the last of his days, or of the Gospel dispensation: the first of these days were the
days of Christ in the flesh, the times of his ministry, and of John the Baptist his
forerunner, and of his disciples; and were indeed the last days of the Jewish world, or of
their civil and church state; and when also it must be allowed the mountain of the Lord's
house, or the temple literally taken, became glorious by the presence of Christ in it, by
his doctrine and miracles there, and by the effusion of the Spirit on his disciples in that
place, and the ministration of the Gospel; but then all this was before the destruction of
the second temple; whereas this prophecy follows that, and is opposed to it, and
supposes it; besides, in those times there was not such an exaltation and stability of the
church of Christ; nor such a flow of nations to it; nor such a settled and universal peace
and security as here promised: this prophecy therefore respects times yet to come, as
Aben Ezra observes; the last of the days of the Messiah, or the last times of the Gospel
dispensation, when the reign of antichrist will be at an end; he will be destroyed, and the
kingdom of Christ set up, established, and enlarged in the world. The Prophet Isaiah
predicts the same things, and much in the same words, Isa_2:2; these two prophets were
contemporary, and might converse together, and communicate to each other what they
had received from the Lord upon this subject; but it is needless to inquire which might
have them from the other, since they were both holy men of God, and moved by his
Spirit, and were inspired by the same Spirit, with the same things, and to speak the same
language; yet there is a diversity in words, though an agreement in sentiment nor does it
appear a clear case that they borrowed, much less that they stole, their words from one
other, as the false prophets did; for they do not always use the same words to convey the
same idea; and there are some words which Isaiah has that Micah has not and there are
others that Micah uses that Isaiah has not; though in the whole there is a most beautiful
harmony of sense in their diversity of expression. By "the mountain of the house of the
Lord" is not meant the temple built on Mount Moriah, where the divine Majesty resided;
where were the symbols of his presence, the ark and mercy seat, and where he was
worshipped, which has been destroyed long ago, and will never be rebuilt more; for a
third temple hereafter to be built at Jerusalem is a mere fiction of the Jews; nor indeed is
any material building here intended, and still less any such building to be erected in such
an absurd sense, literally taken, as if mountain was piled on mountain, and hill on hill, to
raise it higher; but, mystically and spiritually, it designs the church of God, called so
because it is built by him, and built for a habitation for him; where he will, at the time
here referred to, more manifestly dwell in a spiritual manner; and by whom, and by
which spiritual and gracious presence of his, it will be made very beautiful and glorious:
and it is signified by a "mountain", to denote its visibility, immovableness, and
perpetuity; and is said to be "established in the top of the mountains", with respect to
the kingdoms of this world, and especially antichristian churches, which, because of
their eminence, and largeness, and national establishment, may seem like mountains;
but, in the latter day, the true church of Christ, which now may seem like a mole hill to
them, will be above them, and will be in a settled state and condition, and not be
fluctuating, and tossed to and fro, and removing here and there, as now; but be fixed and
stable, and continue so until the second and personal coming of Christ:
and it shall be exalted above the hills: by "hills" may be meant petty kingdoms,
inferior to greater monarchies; or religious states, not of Christ's constitution; and the
"exaltation" of the church above them denotes her power over them, to enjoy the one,
and crush the other: it may respect the glory of the church, both as to things temporal

and spiritual; for now will the kingdoms under the whole heaven be given to the saints of
the most High; civil government will come into their hands, the kings and princes of the
earth being now members of Gospel churches; so that the church will be in a glorious
and exalted state, having riches, power, and authority, a large extent everywhere, and a
multitude of members, and those of the highest class and rank, as well as of the meaner
and lower sort; and all of them possessed largely of the gifts and graces of the Spirit of
God, and enjoying the Gospel and Gospel ordinances in their power and purity:
and the people shall flow unto it: in great abundance, in large numbers, in company
like the flowing streams of a river; and may denote not only their numbers, but their
swiftness and readiness to join themselves with the church of God, to hear the word, and
partake of the ordinances, and of all the privileges of the house of the Lord. It may be
rendered, "they shall look unto it", as the word is translated in Psa_34:6; and so the
Targum here,
"and the kingdoms shall look (or turn their faces) to serve upon it;''
and this sense is preferred by many learned Jewish writers (n); and the meaning may be,
that multitudes, seeing the glory of the church, and the many desirable things in it, shall
look to it with a look of love and affection, and with a wishful look, greatly desiring to be
admitted into it. In Isa_2:2; it is said, "and all nations shall flow unto it": not the people
of the Jews only, now converted; or a single and, on only, or some out of that; but all the
nations of the world, at least great numbers out of all, by far the greatest in them; such
an increase will there be of the churches in the latter day.
HE RY, "It is a very comfortable but with which this chapter begins, and very
reviving to those who lay the interests of God's church near their heart and are
concerned for the welfare of it. When we sometimes see the corruptions of the church,
especially of church-rulers, princes, priests, and prophets, seeking their own things and
not the things of God, and when we soon after see the desolations of the church, Zion for
their sakes ploughed as a field, we are ready to fear that it will one day perish between
both, that the name of Israel shall be no more in remembrance; we are ready to give up
all for gone, and to conclude the church will have neither root not branch upon earth.
But let not our faith fail in this matter; out of the ashes of the church another phoenix
shall arise. In the last words of the foregoing chapter we left the mountain of the house
as desolate and waste as the high places of the forest; and is it possible that such a
wilderness should ever become a fruitful field again? Yes, the first words of this chapter
bring in the mountain of the Lord's house as much dignified by being frequented as ever
it had been disgraced by being deserted. Though Zion be ploughed as a field, yet God has
not cast off his people, but by the fall of the Jews salvation has come to the Gentiles, so
that it proves to be the riches of the world, Rom_11:11, Rom_11:12. This is the mystery
which God by the prophet here shows us, and he says the very same in the first three
verses of this chapter which another prophet said by the word of the Lord at the same
time (Isa_2:2-4), that out of the mouth of these two witnesses these promises might be
established; and very precious promises they are, relating to the gospel-church, which
have been in part accomplished, and will be yet more and more, for he is faithful that has
promised.
I. That there shall be a church for God set up in the world, after the defection and
destruction of the Jewish church, and this in the last days; that is, as some of the rabbin
themselves acknowledge, in the days of the Messiah. The people of God shall be
incorporated by a new charter, a new spiritual way of worship shall be enacted, and a

new institution of offices to attend it; better privileges shall be granted by this new
charter, and better provision made for enlarging and establishing the kingdom of God
among men than had been made by the Old Testament constitution: The mountain of
the house of the Lord shall again appear firm ground for God's faithful worshippers to
stand, and go, and build upon, in their attendance on him, Mic_4:1. And it shall be a
centre of unity to them; a church shall be set up in the world, to which the Lord will be
daily adding such as shall be saved.
II. That this church shall be firmly founded and well-built: It shall be established in
the top of the mountains; Christ himself will build it upon a rock; it shall be an
impregnable fort upon an immovable foundation, so that the gates of hell shall neither
overthrow the one nor undermine the other (Mat_16:18); its foundations are still in the
holy mountains (Psa_87:1), the everlasting mountains, which cannot, which shall not,
be removed. It shall be established, not as the temple, upon one mountain, but upon
many; for the foundations of the church, as they are sure, so they are large.
III. That it shall be highly advanced, and become eminent and conspicuous: It shall be
exalted above the hills, observed with wonder for its growing greatness from small
beginnings. The kingdom of Christ shall shine with greater lustre than ever any of the
kingdoms of the earth did. It shall be as a city on a hill, which cannot be hid, Mat_5:14.
The glory of this latter house is greater than that of the former, Hag_2:9. See 2Co_3:7,
2Co_3:8, etc.
IV. That there shall be a great accession of converts to it and succession of converts in
it. People shall flow unto it as the waters of a river are continually flowing; there shall be
a constant stream of believers flowing in from all parts into the church, as the people of
the Jews flowed into the temple, while it was standing, to worship there. Then many
tribes came to the mountain of the house, to enquire of God's temple; but in gospel-
times many nations shall flow into the church, shall fly like a cloud and as the doves to
their windows. Ministers shall be sent forth to disciple all nations, and they shall not
labour in vain; for, multitudes being wrought upon to believe the gospel and embrace
the Christian religion, they shall excite and encourage one another, and shall say, “Come,
and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord now raised among us, even to the house of
the God of Jacob, the spiritual temple which we need not travel far to, for it is brought to
our doors and set up in the midst of us.” Thus shall people be made willing in the day of
his power (Psa_110:3), and shall do what they can to make others willing, as Andrew
invited Peter, and Philip Nathanael, to be acquainted with Christ. They shall call the
people to the mountain (Deu_33:19), for there is in Christ enough for all, enough for
each. Now observe what it is, 1. Which these converts expect to find in the house of the
God of Jacob. They come thither for instruction: “He will teach us of his ways, what is
the way in which he would have us to walk with him and in which we may depend upon
him to meet us graciously.” Note, Where we come to worship God we come to be taught
of him. 2. Which they engage to do when they are thus taught of God: We will walk in
his paths. Note, Those may comfortably expect that God will teach them who are firmly
resolved by his grace to do as they are taught.
V. That, in order to this, a new revelation shall be published to the world, on which the
church shall be founded, and by which multitudes shall be brought into it: For the law
shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. The gospel is here
called the word of the Lord, for the Lord gave the word, and great was the company of
those that published it, Psa_68:11. It was of a divine original, a divine authority; it began
to be spoken by the Lord Christ himself, Heb_2:3. And it is a law, a law of faith; we are
under the law to Christ. This was to go forth from Jerusalem, from Zion, the metropolis
of the Old Testament dispensation, where the temple, and altars, and oracles were, and

whither the Jews went to worship from all parts; thence the gospel must take rise, to
show the connexion between the Old Testament and the New, that the gospel is not set
up in opposition to the law, but is an explication and illustration of it, and a branch
growing out of its roots. It was in Jerusalem that Christ preached and wrought miracles;
there he died, rose again, and ascended; there the Spirit was poured out; and those that
were to preach repentance and remission of sins to all nations were ordered to begin at
Jerusalem, so that thence flowed the streams that were to water the desert world.
JAMISO , "Mic_4:1-13. Transition to the glory, peace, kingdom, and victory of
Zion.
Almost identical with Isa_2:2-4.
the mountain of the house of the Lord — which just before (Mic_3:12) had been
doomed to be a wild forest height. Under Messiah, its elevation is to be not that of
situation, but of moral dignity, as the seat of God’s universal empire.
people shall flow into it — In Isaiah it is “all nations”: a more universal prophecy.
K&D 1-4, "The promise of salvation opens, in closest connection with the destruction
of Jerusalem and of the temple, with a picture of the glory awaiting in the remotest
future the temple mountain, which has now become a wild forest-height. Mic_4:1. “And
it comes to pass at the end of the days, that the mountain of Jehovah's house will be
established on the head of the mountains, and it will be exalted above the hills, and
nations stream to it. Mic_4:2. And many nations go, and say, Up, let us go up to the
mountain of Jehovah, and to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us of His
ways, and we may walk in His paths: for from Zion will law go forth, and the word of
Jehovah from Jerusalem. Mic_4:3. And He will judge between many nations, and
pronounce sentence on strong nations afar off; and they forge their swords into
coulters, and their spears into pruning-hooks: nation will not lift up sword against
nation, nor will they learn war any more. Mic_4:4. And they will sit, every one under
his vine, and under his fig-tree, and no one will make them afraid: for the mouth of
Jehovah of hosts hath spoken it.”
(Note: This promise is placed by Isaiah (Isa_2:2-4) at the head of his prophecy of
Zion's way through judgment from the false glory to the true. The originality of the
passage in Micah is open to no question. Delitzsch acknowledges this, and has given
the principal arguments in its favour in the Commentary on Isaiah. For still more
elaborate proofs, see Caspari's Micha, pp. 444-5.)
By the phrase “at the end of the days,” which always denotes the Messianic era when
used by the prophets (see at Hos_3:5), the predicted exaltation of the temple mountain
is assigned to the period of the completion of the kingdom of God. The mountain of the
house of Jehovah is the temple mountain, strictly speaking, Moriah, as the distinction
made between the mountain of the house and Zion in Mic_3:12 clearly shows; but as a
subordinate peak of Zion, it is embraced along with Zion in what follows (compare Mic_
4:2 with Mic_4:7) as the seat of Jehovah's rule, from which the law proceeds. ‫כוֹן‬ָ‫נ‬ does
not mean placed or set up, but established, founded. By connecting the participle with
‫ה‬ֶ‫י‬ ְ‫ה‬ִ‫,י‬ the founding is designated as a permanent one. ‫ים‬ ִ‫ר‬ ָ‫ה‬ ֶ‫ה‬ ‫ּאשׁ‬‫ר‬ ְ , upon (not at) the top of
the mountains, as in Jdg_9:7; 1Sa_26:13; Psa_72:16; whereas such passages as Mic_
2:13; Amo_6:7, and 1Ki_21:9 are of a different character, and have no bearing upon the
point. The temple mountain, or Zion, will be so exalted above all the mountains and

hills, that it will appear to be founded upon the top of the mountains. This exaltation is
of course not a physical one, as Hofmann, Drechsler, and several of the Rabbins
suppose, but a spiritual (ethical) elevation above all the mountains. This is obvious from
Mic_4:2, according to which Zion will tower above all the mountains, because the law of
the Lord issues from it. The assumption of a physical elevation cannot be established
from Eze_40:2 and Rev_21:10, for in the visions described in both these passages the
earthly elevation is a symbol of a spiritual one. “Through a new revelation of the Lord,
which is made upon it, and which leaves the older revelations far behind, whether made
upon Sinai or upon itself, Zion becomes the greatest and loftiest mountain in the world”
(Caspari), and the mountain seen from afar, to which “nations” stream, and not merely
the one nation of Israel.
‫ים‬ ִ ַ‫ע‬ is more precisely defined in Mic_4:2 as ‫ים‬ ִ ַ‫ר‬ ‫ם‬ִ‫וֹי‬ . The attractive power which this
mountain exerts upon the nations, so that they call upon one another to go up to it
(Mic_4:2), does not reside in its height, which towers above that of all other mountains,
but in the fact that the house of the God of Jacob stands upon it, i.e., that Jehovah is
enthroned there, and teacher how to walk in His ways. ‫ן‬ ִ‫מ‬ ‫ה‬ ָ‫,הוֹר‬ to teach out of the ways,
so that the ways of God form the material from which they derive continual instruction.
The desire for salvation, therefore, is the motive which prompts them to this pilgrimage;
for they desire instruction in the ways of the Lord, that they may walk in them. The ways
of Jehovah are the ways which God takes in His dealing with men, and by which men are
led by Him; in reality, therefore, the ordinances of salvation which He has revealed in
His word, the knowledge and observance of which secure life and blessedness. The
words “for the law goes forth from Zion,” etc., are words spoken not by the nations, but
by the prophet, and assign the reason why the heathen go with such zeal to the mountain
of Jehovah. The accent is laid upon ‫יוֹן‬ ִ ִ‫מ‬ (from Zion), which stands at the head, and
ִ‫ם‬ ַ‫ל‬ ָ‫ירוּשׁ‬ ִ‫מ‬ (from Jerusalem), which is parallel to it. Thence does tōrâh, i.e., instruction in
the ways of God, proceed, - in other words, the law as the rule of a godly life, and de
bhar
Ye
hōvâh (the word of Jehovah), or the word of revelation as the source of salvation. It is
evident from this that the mountain of the house of God is not thought of here as the
place of worship, but as the scene of divine revelation, the centre of the kingdom of God.
Zion is the source of the law and word of the Lord, from which the nations draw
instruction how to walk in the ways of God, to make it their own, take it to their homes,
and walk according to it. The fruit of this adoption of the word of the Lord will be, that
they will not longer fight out their disputes with weapons of war, but let Jehovah judge
and settle them, and thus acknowledge Him as their King and Judge. ‫ם‬ ַ‫פ‬ ָ‫שׁ‬ signifies to act
as judge; ַ‫יה‬ ִ‫הוֹכ‬ (lit., to set right), to settle and put a stop to a dispute. “Many nations,” in
contrast with the one nation, which formerly was alone in acknowledge Jehovah as its
King and Judge. This is strengthened still further by the parallel “strong, mighty nations
afar off.” In consequence of this they will turn their weapons into instruments of
peaceful agriculture, and wage no more war; in fact, they will learn war no more, no
longer exercise themselves in the use of arms. For the words ‫וגו‬ ‫תוּ‬ ְ ִ‫כ‬ְ‫ו‬ compare Joe_3:10,
where the summons to the nations to a decisive conflict with the kingdom of God is
described as turning the instruments of agriculture into weapons of war. With the
cessation of war, universal peace will ensue, and Israel will have no further enemies to
fear, so that every one will have undisturbed enjoyment of the blessings of peace, of
which Israel had had a foretaste during the peaceful reign of Solomon. The words “sit

under his vine” are taken from 1Ki_5:5 (cf. Zec_3:10), and ‫יד‬ ִ‫ר‬ ֲ‫ח‬ ַ‫מ‬ ‫ין‬ ֵ‫א‬ from the promise in
Lev_26:6. All this, however incredible it might appear, not only for the Israel of that
time, but even now under the Christian dispensation, will assuredly take place, for the
mouth of Jehovah the true God has spoken it.
CALVI , "Here Micah begins his address to the faithful, who were a remnant
among that people; for though the infection had nearly extended over the whole
body, there were yet a few, we know, who sincerely worshipped God. Hence Micah,
that he might not dishearten God’s children by extreme terror, reasonably adds
what we have now heard, — that though for a time the temple would be demolished
and laid waste, it would yet be only for a season, for the Lord would be again
mindful of his covenant. When, therefore, the Prophet had hitherto spoken of God’s
dreadful vengeance, he directed his discourse to the whole people and to the
princess; but now, especially, and as it were apart, addresses the pious and sincere
servants of God; as though he said, “There is now a reason why I should speak to
the few: I have hitherto spoken of the near judgment of God on the king’s
counselors, the priests and the prophets; in short, on the whole community, because
they are all become wicked and ungodly; a contempt of God and an irreclaimable
obstinacy have pervaded the whole body. Let them therefore have what they have
deserved. But now I address the children of God by themselves, for I have
something to say to them.”
For though the Prophet publicly proclaimed this promise, there is yet no doubt but
that he had regard only to the children of God, for others were not capable of
receiving this consolation; nay, he had shortly before condemned the extreme
security of hypocrites, inasmuch as they leaned upon God; that is, relied on a false
pretense of religion, in thinking that they were redeemed by a lawful price when
they had offered their sacrifices. And we know that we meet with the same thing in
the writings of the Prophets, and that it is a practice common among them to add
consolations to threatening, not for the sake of the whole people, but to sustain the
faithful in their hope, who would have despaired, had not a helping hand been
stretched forth to them: for the faithful, we know, tremble, as soon as God manifests
any token of wrath; for the more any one is touched with the fear of God, the more
he dreads his judgment, and fears on account of his threatening. We hence see how
necessary it is to moderate threatenings and terrors, when prophets and teachers
have a regard to the children of God; for, as I have said, they are without these
fearful enough. Let us then know that Micah has hitherto directed his discourse to
the wicked despisers of God, who yet put on the cloak of religion; but now he turns
his address to the true and pious worshipers of God. And he further so addresses
the faithful of his age, that his doctrine especially belongs to us now; for how has it
been, that the kingdom of God has been propagated through all parts of the earth?
How has it been, that the truth of the gospel has come to us, and that we are made
partakers with the ancient people of the same adoption, except that this prophecy
has been fulfilled? Then the calling of the Gentiles, and consequently our salvation,
is included in this prophecy.

But the Prophet says, And it shall be in the extremity of days, (114) that the mount
of the house of Jehovah shall be set in order (115) on the top of mountains The
extremity of days the Prophet no doubt calls the coming of Christ, for then it was
that the Church of God was built anew; in short, since it was Christ that introduced
the renovation of the world, his advent is rightly called a new age; and hence it is
also said to be the extremity of days: and this mode of expression very frequently
occurs in Scripture; and we know that the time of the gospel is expressly called the
last days and the last time by John, (John 2:18,) as well as by the author of the
Epistle to the Hebrews, (Hebrews 1:2,) and also by Paul, (2 Timothy 3:1;) and this
way of speaking they borrowed from the prophets. On this subject some remarks
were made on Joel 2:0. Paul gives us the reason for this mode of speaking in 1
Corinthians 10:11 : “Upon whom,” he says, “the ends of the world are come.” As
Christ then brought in the completion of all things at his coming, the Prophet
rightly says that it would be the last days when God would restore his Church by
the hand of the Redeemer. At the same time, Micah no doubt intended to intimate
that the time of God’s wrath would not be short, but designed to show that its
course would be for a long time.
It shall then be in the last of days; that is, when the Lord shall have executed his
vengeance by demolishing the temple, by destroying the city, and by reducing the
holy place into a solitude, this dreadful devastation shall continue, not for one year,
nor for two; in a word, it will not remain only for forty or fifty years, but the Lord
will let loose the reins of his wrath, that their minds may long languish, and that no
restoration may be evident. We now then understand the Prophet’s design as to the
last days.
He calls the mount, the mount of the house of Jehovah, (116) in a sense different
from what he did before; for then it was, as we have stated by way of concession;
and now he sets forth the reason why God did not wish wholly to cast aside that
mount; for he commanded his temple to be built there. It is the same, then, as
though he said, — “This ought not to be ascribed to the holiness of the mountain, as
if it excelled other mountains in dignity; but because there the temple was founded,
not by the authority of men, but by a celestial oracle, as it is sufficiently known.”
The mount then of the house of Jehovah shall be set in order on the top of the
mountains, that is it shall surpass in height all other mountains; and it shall be
raised, he says, above the highest summits, and assemble (117) there shall all
nations. It is certain, that by these words of the Prophet is to be understood no
visible eminence of situation: for that mount was not increased at the coming of
Christ; and they who lived in the time of the Prophet entertained no gross idea of
this kind. But he speaks here of the eminence of dignity, — that God would give to
mount Zion a distinction so eminent, that all other mountains would yield to its
honor. And how was this done? The explanation follows in the next verse. Lest,
then, any one thought that there would be some visible change in mount Zion, that it
would increase in size, the Prophet immediately explains what he meant and says, at
the end of the verse, Come shall nations to God. It is now easy to see what its

elevation was to be, — that God designed this mount to be, as it were, a royal seat.
As under the monarchy of the king of Persia, the whole of the east, we know, was
subject to one tower of the Persian; so also, when mount Zion became the seat of
sovereign power, God designed to reign there, and there he designed that the whole
world should be subject to him; and this is the reason and the Prophet said that it
would be higher than all other mountains. Hence his meaning, in this expression, is
sufficiently evident.
Kimchi says, that this word means to “run to what is pleasing or delightful,” —”
currere ad beneplacitum, hoc est, ad id quod cupias An old author, quoted by Leigh,
says, that it implies abundance and celerity — affluentiam cum celeritate It is
rendered “flow together” in Jeremiah 51:44.
Instead of “peoples,” ‫,עמים‬ Isaiah has ‫חגוים‬ ‫,כל‬ “all the nations.” One MS. Has the
same here, and three have ‫כל‬ before ‫,עמים‬ and this seems to be the correct reading.
‫,עם‬ in the plural number, is synonymous with ‫,גוים‬ meaning nations. The rest of this
verse is exactly the same in the two Prophets, except that ‫,נכון‬ “prepared,” is
differently placed, and ‫,הוא‬ “it,” is added by Micah after ‫,נשא‬ “exalted.”
In the second verse, which is the third in Isaiah, there is a complete verbal identity,
except that ‫גוים‬ and ‫עמים‬ are reversed, and that ‫ו‬ before ‫אל‬ is wanting in Isaiah; but
it is supplied in several MSS.
In the third, the fourth in Isaiah, there are verbal varieties in the two first lines, the
four remaining are exactly the same with the exception of a paragogic ‫,ן‬ nun, added
to a verb by Micah, and the verb ‫ישאו‬ is singular in Isaiah. In the two lines referred
to, there is also an addition of ‫רחוק‬ ‫,עד‬ “afar of,” in Micah.
Isaiah.
‫הגוים‬ ‫בין‬ ‫ושפט‬4 .
‫רבים‬ ‫והוכיחלעמים‬
And he shall judge among the nation,
And shall convince many peoples.
Micah.
whwkyx lgwyM eumyM ed rxwq wspj by emyM rbyM
And he shall judge among many peoples,
And shall convince strong nations afar off.
With this verse the passage ends in Isaiah; Micah adds another: and this, with the
two other circumstances — that the passage is fuller and more connected with the
context here than in Isaiah, may seem to favor the opinion that Isaiah, and not
Micah, was the copyist; but the words, with which the passage is introduced in
Isaiah, forbid such a supposition.
“Bishop Lowth, on Isaiah 2:2, thinks that Micah took this passage from Isaiah. It is
true that he has improved it after the manner of imitators. Or, the Spirit may have

inspired both with this prediction: or both may have copied some common original,
the words of a Prophet well known at the time. — ewcome.
COFFMA , "This and the following chapter are the citadel of Old Testament
prophecy. Here Satan is vanquished; the light of truth is lighted for millenniums of
time; the bold and undeniable prophecies of the coming of the Son of God, the
establishment of his kingdom, the glorious success of it, and the ultimate fate of the
wicked are graphically foretold in such a manner as to frustrate, discredit, and
confound every effort of the evil one to get rid of the message. It lives forever. In this
chapter, the establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ and the going forth of the
word of the Lord from Jerusalem are graphically predicted and described. The
further judgment of the secular Israel for their idolatry was exactly predicted and
foretold, even Babylon being named as the place of their banishment a full century,
and more, before the event. If one really wishes to experience the deepening and
strengthening of his faith, then let him understand this chapter and other portions
of Micah.
SATA 'S ATTACK UPO MICAH
Satan is perfectly willing to allow practically all of Micah to stand as the
unquestionable Word of God through that prophet; but the fearless predictions of
this chapter have aroused the evil one to his fiercest activity. He must oppose what is
written here. He has no choice. o matter if there are no arguments against it, he
will make arguments anyway. When all else fails, he simply screams "it is not so!"
Those who are familiar with the efforts of Satan to discredit the Bible could easily
reproduce the arrogant carpings of Old Testament enemies without ever reading
their books. ot one new argument in a thousand years has come out of their
schools. Their knee-jerk response is as predictable as grass turning green in
summer.
Satan's first maneuver is to declare that none of the "in" people accept this chapter.
"According to the best scholarly opinion, Micah 4-5 contain no material by the
prophet Micah."[1] The assertion of this is that none of it is true prophecy; all of it
was inserted by an imposter long after Micah lived. ote the false claim that "the
best scholarship" accepts such denials. What Christian has not heard that before?
The same author declared concerning our Lord Jesus Christ that, " one of the
rulers or Pharisees believed on him" (John 7:48). To be sure, the Pharisees also
considered themselves and those who agreed with them as "the best scholars," no
doubt believing that they were the "in" people. As a matter of fact, they were the
"outs" and were the most profoundly blind and deceived scholars that the world
had ever known up to that time.
"Since Micah was a prophet of doom," none of this happy material in Micah 4 could
have come from him![2] This hoary-headed and decrepit objection has been
discredited and disproved so often that it is astounding any of the "best scholars"
would dare to make it; but as noted above, those who deny this passage are pressed
beyond limits. As a matter of simple truth, all of the prophets, including most

conspicuously the Christ himself, that Prophet like unto Moses, brought messages
both of doom and of glory. Who has not heard of heaven and hell?
Another proposition is that, "The consensus of scholarship is that these chapters,
Micah 4-5, are post-exilic."[3] Such views intimidate some people; but it should be
recalled that the same "consensus" was teaching that the world is flat not very long
ago in the historical past, or that "matter can neither be created nor destroyed" as
recently as 1930. The same "consensus" dated the gospel of John in the mid-second
century A.D., until the Rylands fragment exploded their denial of apostolic status to
that gospel. We are thankful indeed that many of the greatest scholars of a thousand
years, yes, the majority of them, do not hesitate to receive this glorious chapter for
exactly what it is, the prophecy of Micah. We shall cite the opinions of a number of
these in the notes below.
Are there any reasons, really, why these chapters should not be accepted as bona
fide? o! ot one tiniest jot or tittle of solid evidence may be cited. If one is willing
to accept as "evidence" the speculative imaginations of Bible enemies, then the
theoretical guesses and suppositions of such enemies could be pointed out as
evidence; but there's no wisdom in any such acceptance. The imaginations of men
are, by definition, wicked. The unity and integrity of Micah are unquestionable and
absolutely incapable of being disproved. The mere reading of it by a discerning
scholar is sufficient to dispel the insinuations which are cast against it by people
who do not believe in the inspiration of God's Word, nor even in the supernatural,
nor in any such thing as predictive prophecy, nor in any revelation of holy religion
from the Father in heaven, only believing in themselves and their vain imaginations.
How sad it is that the pitiful inclination of sinful, fallible men is to believe it when
Satan arrogantly contradicts the Word of God, saying, "Ye shall OT surely die."
Micah 4:1
"But in the latter days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of Jehovah's house
shall be established on the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the
hills; and peoples shall flow unto it."
"In the latter days ..." has the meaning of, "in the times of the Messiah." "It always
denotes the Messianic era when used by the prophets."[4] The literal translation of
these words would be "`At the end of the days.' an expression used by the prophets
to refer to the last days, or to the times of the Messiah."[5] The apostle Peter
declared on the day of Pentecost that the expression refers to this present
dispensation (Acts 2:16). Of course, this requires the interpretation of this passage
as a description of the glory and success of the kingdom of Christ. The whole
passage "points to the end of the Jewish age and the introduction of a new era under
the spiritual ruler."[6]
"Mountain of Jehovah's house ... exalted above the hills ..." It is not a geographical
upheaval that was predicted here, but that, "The worship of the true God (of which
the temple mountain was a symbol) shall be promulgated among all nations."[7]

"Peoples shall flow unto it ..." "The word flow here is from the same root as
river."[8] The people will flow as a mighty river into the kingdom (church) of Jesus
Christ.
Before leaving this verse, we should take note of the upsetting fact (to most scholars)
that these verses are very similar, in fact, almost identical with a passage in Isaiah
2:2-4. The old knee-jerk response to this is to stage a full, learned debate on which is
the original! Such a ludicrous contest is postulated by the acceptance of the false
premise that similar passages in holy writ are invariably to be understood as the
original, and a copy. That is not the case, in either the Old Testament or the ew
Testament. It presupposes that God could not have spoken to two, or more,
prophets in identical words; and where, under the sun of heaven, is any proof of a
canard like that? When sacred writers quoted each other, they named the author
quoted, usually adding that "God had spoken through him." If either Isaiah or
Micah had quoted the other, would he not have said so? But how about the debate?
It always winds up with an array of scholars on both sides of the question, as has
been the case here. When such a stalemate occurs, then the old reliable proposition
is resorted to, that affirms both writers were quoting an older document! "Some
scholars propose a third source from which the Holy Spirit led both men to gain
material for their discourses."[9] Indeed, what is that third source, that higher
authority, that previously existing fountain of wisdom, if it is not God Himself?. God
is the author who spoke through Micah.
We do not have to do here with the literature of men, but with the inspired Word of
God, who said, "The testimony of two men is true"; and, therefore he has given us
the same promise through both Micah and Isaiah, that all men may know that
neither wrote from himself, but that he was moved by the Holy Spirit.[10]
CO STABLE, "Verse 1
Reference to "the last days" often points to the eschatological future in the
Prophets, and it does here (e.g, Deuteronomy 4:30; Ezekiel 38:16; Daniel 2:28;
Daniel 10:14; Hosea 3:5). This phrase usually refers to the Tribulation and or the
Millennium. Some ew Testament writers said that Christians live in the last days,
namely, the days preceding Messiah"s return to the earth and the establishment of
His kingdom on earth (e.g, Hebrews 1:2; Hebrews 9:26; 1 Peter 1:20).
"The mountain of the house of the Lord" is Mt. Zion where the temple, the Lord"s
house, stood in the past and will stand in the future (cf. Ezekiel 40-43). In the future,
Mt. Zion would become the chief of all the mountains on earth rising above all other
hills in its importance (cf. Genesis 12:3; Zechariah 8:3). "Mountain" is also a figure
for a kingdom in the Old Testament (e.g, Daniel 2:35; Daniel 2:44-45). Here it
probably has the double significance of literal Mt. Zion (Jerusalem) and the whole
kingdom of Israel that Mt. Zion represents (by metonymy). People from all parts of
the earth will migrate to it. This is quite a contrast from what Micah predicted
about the immediate future of Jerusalem and the temple: its destruction and
abandonment (cf. Micah 3:12). Literal streams of water will flow from this

millennial temple ( Ezekiel 47), but people will stream to it. [ ote: Mays, pp96-97.]
"Year by year bands of pilgrims would make their way to Jerusalem to engage in
festive worship, in the course of which they would receive instruction in the moral
traditions of the covenant. This Israelite pilgrimage is here magnified to universal
dimensions. ot merely Israel, but their pagan neighbors from all around would one
day wend their way to Yahweh"s earthly residence, and there learn lessons which
they would put into practice back in their own communities." [ ote: Allen, p323.]
Verses 1-5
Zion"s positive future role4:1-5
Verses 1-8
1. The exaltation of Zion4:1-8
Micah mentioned several characteristics of the future kingdom of Messiah in this
section. Micah 4:1-3 are similar to Isaiah 2:2-4. Scholars debate whether Isaiah
borrowed from Micah or vice versa, whether they both drew from an older original
source, or whether they each received their similar words directly from the Lord.
There is no way to tell for sure.
BE SO , "Verses 1-5
Micah 4:1-5. In the last days it shall come to pass, &c., — The first three of these
verses are the same as Isaiah 2:2-4, where see the notes. They evidently “contain a
prophecy which was to be fulfilled by the coming of the Messiah; when the
[believing] Gentiles were to be admitted into covenant with God, and the apostles
were to preach the gospel, beginning at Jerusalem; when Christ was to be the
spiritual Judge and King of many people, was to convince many nations of their
errors and vices, and was to found a religion which had the strongest tendency to
promote peace.” — ewcome. They shall sit every man under his vine, &c. — This
shall be the effect of that peace foretold in the foregoing verse, every man shall
securely enjoy his own possessions, and the fruits of his labours. The expressions are
figurative, signifying a state of uninterrupted tranquillity. All people will walk every
one in the name of his god — It is the practice of all people to serve their gods, and
to be attached to the religion of their forefathers, though false and absurd. And
surely it much more becomes us to cleave steadfastly to the service of the true God,
and not to disobey his laws or forsake his ordinances, as we have too often done.
This prophecy will be remarkably fulfilled at the time of the general conversion of
the Jews, as has been observed in the notes on the parallel place in Isaiah.
TRAPP, "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.
Ver. 1. But in the last days it shall come to pass] God reserveth his best comforts till
the last, as that ruler of the feast did his best wine, John 2:10, and as the sweetest of
the honey lieth at the bottom. These last days are the Gospel days, Hebrews 1:2,

times of reformation, Hebrews 9:10, of restitution, Acts 3:21, called the world to
come, Hebrews 2:5, that "new heaven and earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness," 2
Peter 3:13, that new Jerusalem, that is all of gold, Revelation 21:18, Ezekiel’s new
temple, larger than all the old Jerusalem, and his new Jerusalem, larger than all the
land of Canaan, Ezekiel 40:41-49. Let Popish buzzards blaspheme that description
of the temple and city; calling it (as Sanctius doth once and again) insulsam
descriptionem, a senseless description; so speaking evil of the things that they know
not, 1:10. We believe and are sure, John 6:69, that God hath provided some better
thing for us than for those under the law, Hebrews 11:40, viz. that great mystery of
godliness, God manifested in the flesh, 1 Timothy 3:16, who should again restore the
kingdom to Israel, the spiritual kingdom to the Israel of God; as is here foretold in
the self same words with those of Isaiah, Isaiah 2:1-2, whence he is not ashamed to
take it.
That the mountain of the house of the Lord] The Church, 1 Timothy 3:15, called
elsewhere the mountain of the Lord, and his holy hill, Psalms 15:1; Psalms 24:3;
Psalms 48:2, Isaiah 30:17, both for its sublimity, Galatians 4:26, and firmness,
Psalms 46:3; Psalms 125:1 : winds and storms move it not; no more can all the
power and policy of hell combined prevail against the Church, Matthew 16:18. She
is ανικητος και ακινητος, a kingdom that cannot be shaken; and may, better than
the city of Venice, take for her posy Immota manet. May she stand immovable.
Shall be established in the top of the mountains] Constituetur firmiter, She shall be
established more securely, shall be strongly set upon a sure bottom, upon munitions
of rocks; yea, upon the Rock of Ages, Matthew 15:18, Jeremiah 31:35, Isaiah 33:16.
Some by "the house of the Lord" here understand the Church; and by the mountain
of this house, Christ, whereon it is built, and whom Daniel describeth by that great
mountain that filled the whole earth, that stone cut out without hands that smote in
pieces the four monarchies, Daniel 2:35. And hence it is that this mountain of the
Lord’s house is exalted above the hills: the Church must needs be above all earthly
eminences whatsoever, because founded upon Christ; who therefore cannot be
exalted, but she must be lifted up aloft together with him. God, who is rich in mercy,
saith that great apostle, "hath quickened us together with Christ, and hath raised us
up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus," Ephesians
2:5-6. The Church is mystical Christ, 1 Corinthians 12:12, she is his wife, and
wherever he is Caius she is Caia; she shineth with his beams and partaketh of his
honours; union being the ground of communion.
And people shall flow unto it] As waters roll and run toward the sea; but that these
waters shall flow upward, flow to the mountain, as here, is as wonderful as that the
sun should send his beams downward to the earth, when as it is the property of all
fire to aspire and fly upwards. This is the Lord’s own work, and it is marvellous in
our eyes. The metaphor of flowing importeth the coming of people to Christ by the
preaching of the Gospel. 1. Freely, Psalms 110:3 2. Swiftly, as the waters of the river

Tigris, swift as an arrow out of a bow. See Isaiah 60:8 3. Plentifully, by whole
nations turned to the faith, and giving up their names to Christ. 4. Jointly, as Micah
4:2, Zechariah 8:21 5. Zealously, bearing down all obstacles that would dam up
their way. 6. Constantly and continually, as rivers run perpetually, by reason of the
perennity of their fountains; and are never dried up, though sometimes fuller than
some: quin ut fluvii repentinis imbribus augentur, saith Gualther; as rivers swell
often with sudden showers, and overflow the banks, so, beyond all expectation,
many times doth God take away tyrants, and propagates his truth, enlarging the
bounds of his Church with new confluxes of converts.
ELLICOTT, "(1) But in the last days.—There is again a sudden transition. As the
third chapter commenced with a startling denunciation, following immediately upon
the predicted blessings of the restored kingdom, so upon that chapter, closed in
deepest gloom, there now rises a vision of glorious light. The first three verses are
almost identical with the second chapter of Isaiah, Micah 4:2-4; and it has been
almost an open question which of the two prophets is the original author of them, or
whether indeed they both adopted the words from an older prophecy current at the
time. Dr. Pusey takes very decided ground, saying, “It is now owned, well-nigh on
all hands, that the great prophecy, three verses of which Isaiah prefixed to his
second chapter, was originally delivered by Micah. . . . o one now thinks Micah
adopted that great prophecy from Isaiah” (Minor Prophets, p. 289). This last
statement, however, is far too sweeping; all that can be correctly said is that the
preponderance of opinion is in favour of Micah being regarded as the original
writer.
In the top of the mountains—i.e., the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be
spiritually elevated above all else, visible and invisible, and it shall be established for
ever.
EXPOSITOR'S DICTIO ARY, "The Golden Age
Micah 4:1
The Prophet lifts his eyes away to the latter days to gain refreshment in his present
toil. Without the anticipation of a golden age he would lose his buoyancy, and the
spirit of endeavour would go out of his work. What are the characteristics of the
golden age to which the Prophet was looking with hungry and aspiring spirit?
I. In the golden age emphasis is to be given to the spiritual. In the latter days the
spiritual is to have emphasis above pleasure, money, armaments. In whatever
prominence these may be seen they are all to be subordinate to the reverence and
worship of God. Military prowess and money making and pleasure seeking are to be
put in their own place, and not to be permitted to leave it. First things first! "In the
beginning, God." This is the first characteristic of the golden age.
II. People are to find their confluence and unity in common worship. The
brotherhood is to be discovered in spiritual communion. We are not to find

profound community upon the river of pleasure or in the ways of business or in the
armaments of the castle. These are never permanently cohesive. Pleasure is more
frequently divisive than cohesive. It is in the common worship of the one Lord. It is
in united adoration of the God revealed in Christ that our brotherhood will be
unburied, and we shall realize how rich is our oneness in Him.
III. The conversion of merely destructive force in to positive and constructive
ministries. "And they shall beat their swords into plow-shares, and their spears into
pruninghooks." That is the suggestion we seek in the golden age; all destructive
forces are to be changed into helpful ministries. Tongues that speak nothing but
malice are to be turned into instructors of wisdom. All men"s gifts and powers and
all material forces are to be used in the employment of the kingdom of God.
IV. There is to be a distribution of comforts. "They shall sit every man under his
vine and under his fig-tree." To every mortal man there is to be given a little
treasure, a little leisure, a little pleasure. In the golden age peace is to be the
attendant of comfort, and both are to be the guests in every man"s dwelling.
V. The beautiful final touches in this Prophet"s dream; "I will assemble her that
halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out and her that is afflicted ". They are
all to be found in God"s family. The day of grief is to be ended, mourning shall be
the thing of the preparatory day which is over; "He shall wipe away all tears from
the eyes, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away".
—J. H. Jowett, Homiletic Review, 1904 , vol. xlviii. p309.
The Reign of Peace
Micah 4:1-3
The Holy Ghost, we say, as we repeat our Creed, spake by the Prophets; and when
we read verses like these we feel that we have here one of the great utterances thus
inspired and spoken long ago. This vision of the Prophet Micah is recognized as one
of the great visions of history, one of those flashes from the Divine life that remains
with us as a great possession for all succeeding generations of men, illuminating,
enriching, inspiring with a new spirit. But the strange and the melancholy thing is
that this vision of the reign among men of the spirit of peace, a vision so noble and
so beautiful, and universally recognized as expressing some of the highest and bent
aspirations of the human heart, still remains unrealized, even in the most advanced
and the most Christian communities.
I. These facts of life may well perplex thoughtful men. Does the goddess of warfare
and strife still rule the nations, even the most civilized and the most enlightened
among them? Is the issue of the days still practically as far off as it was when Micah
saw it in his vision? We acknowledge that, indeed, it is not so. The issue of the days
is nearer to us. We see striking phenomena on the other side—great armies of peace,
and self-sacrifice, and personal devotion, and charity marching to their lifelong

warfare under the banner of Jesus of azareth; or, again, we contrast the ways of
Turk and Christian, and we see that there is a great gulf separating them in all their
moral and spiritual attributes, and that gulf is the witness of what you and I owe to
the revelation of Jesus. That revelation has given to men a new sense of the value of
each human soul. As under its influence and possessed by its spirit you look in the
eyes of Prayer of Manasseh , woman, or child, you are moved to a new feeling of the
sacredness of human life. It has given you a new pity for human suffering—in one
word, a new sense of humanity.
II. The rule of the Spirit in men"s hearts, the history of moral enlightenment and
progress, has been strangely partial. It has laid its redeeming hand on one nation, or
race, or continent, and left another hardly touched, unmoved. It has changed one
half of a man"s life and not the other half; changed, for instance, our standards of
private conduct but hardly those of political conduct, bringing half of our life into,
at any rate, a nominal allegiance to Christ, but leaving the other half practically
pagan. How marvellously inconsistent and contradictory are the phenomena of our
complex Christian society! And amidst all this there comes to us day by day, little
noticed it may be in the excitement of the daily life, the soothing voice of the
pleading Saviour as He stands at our side, invisible, but really present with us,
calling us one by one to give Him an unstinting and not a conventional or
halfhearted allegiance, to make our Christianity a real power, actual and dominant,
in the practical affairs of both public and private life.
III. Among the lessons of Christ we have to learn more fully is this one—that war is
a weapon of barbarism, a dreadful scourge, and full of misery, and all the more
because the miseries fall not on the men who make the war, but on the victims who
suffer. Thus a selfish war, a war of greed, a war to satisfy the pride or the personal
ambition or temper of a politician, or a really unnecessary or ill-ordered war, is a
great crime. Our plain duty is to put goodwill above jealousy and enmity, and to
enthrone law in the place of brute force. "Even in thy warfare thou must be of the
peace-making spirit," said the great Augustine to the soldier of his day. It is a great
and a good word for you and for me. Let us carry it with us into all the opinions and
the conduct of our common life.
IV. It is because through all the clouds and the dust of politics and of war we see
unmistakable signs of the growth and the spread of this love of peace among men,
among men of goodwill, that we do not despair. The growing signs of brotherhood
among nations, the growing conviction that war is a method of barbarism, the
growing feeling that it is a crime, a national crime, to sacrifice the humble
multitudes to the ambitions of the comparatively few, the growing recognition that,
if the Spirit of Christ is to rule amongst us, and not to be a mere shadow of a name,
our conduct must be regulated by law, and justice, and goodwill, and not by force or
greed—all this makes for growing peace and extending happiness in the years that
lie before us. A great orator declared that what is morally wrong cannot be
politically right. It is an obvious truth as we listen to it Well, then, let us translate it
into the language of bur practical politics, for it simply means that what would be
indefensible or wrong for us, as individuals, to do, cannot be right for the conduct of

nations or empires. And it is because of the growing hold of great truths like this
upon the consciences and the lives of men that we feel ourselves to be nearer to the
ultimate fulfilment of the Prophet"s vision, even while what he saw be far off on the
distant horizon.
EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE COMME TARY
O TIME’S HORIZO
Micah 4:1-7
THE immediate prospect of Zion’s desolation which closes chapter 3 is followed in
the opening of chapter 4 by an ideal picture of her exaltation and supremacy "in the
issue of the days." We can hardly doubt that this arrangement has been made of
purpose, nor can we deny that it is natural and artistic. Whether it be due to Micah
himself, or Whether he wrote the second passage, are questions we have already
discussed. Like so many others of their kind, they cannot be answered with
certainty, far less with dogmatism. But I repeat, I see no conclusive reason for
denying either to the circumstances of Micah’s times or to the principles of their
prophecy the possibility of such a hope as inspires Micah 4:1-4. Remember how the
prophets of the eighth century identified Jehovah with supreme and universal
righteousness; remember how Amos explicitly condemned the aggravations of war
and slavery among the heathen as sins against Him, and how Isaiah claimed the
future gains of Tyrian commerce as gifts for His sanctuary; remember how Amos
heard His voice come forth from Jerusalem, and Isaiah counted upon the eternal
inviolateness of His shrine and city, -and you will not think it impossible for a third
Judean prophet of that age, whether he was Micah or another, to have drawn the
prospect of Jerusalem which now opens before us.
It is the far-off horizon of time, which, like the spatial horizon, always seems a fixed
and eternal line, but as constantly shifts with the shifting of our standpoint or
elevation. Every prophet has his own vision of "the latter days"; seldom is that
prospect the same. Determined by the circumstances of the seer, by the desires these
prompt or only partially fulfill, it changes from age to age. The ideal is always
shaped by the real, and in this vision of the eighth century there is no exception.
This is not any of the ideals of later ages, when the evil was the oppression of the
Lord’s people by foreign armies or their scattering in exile; it is not, in contrast to
these, the spectacle of the armies of the Lord of Hosts imbrued in the blood of the
heathen, or of the columns of returning captives filling all the narrow roads to
Jerusalem, "like streams in the south"; nor, again, is it a nation of priests gathering
about a rebuilt temple and a restored ritual. But because the pain of the greatest
minds of the eighth century was the contradiction between faith in the God of Zion
as Universal Righteousness and the experience that, nevertheless, Zion had
absolutely no influence upon surrounding nations, this vision shows a day when
Zion’s influence will be as great as her right, and from far and wide the nations
whom Amos has condemned for their transgressions against Jehovah will
acknowledge His law, and be drawn to Jerusalem to learn of Him. Observe that

nothing is said of Israel going forth to teach the nations the law of the Lord. That is
the ideal of a later age, when Jews were scattered across the world. Here, in
conformity with the experience of a still unraveled people, we see the Gentiles
drawing in upon the Mountain of the House of the Lord. With the same lofty
impartiality which distinguishes the oracles of Amos on the heathen, the prophet
takes no account of their enmity to Israel; nor is there any talk-such as later
generations were almost forced by the hostility of neighboring tribes to indulge in-of
politically subduing them to the king in Zion. Jehovah will arbitrate between them,
and the result shall be the institution of a great peace, with no special political
privilege to Israel, unless this be understood in Micah 4:5, which speaks of such
security to life as was impossible, at that time at least, in all borderlands of Israel.
But among the heathen themselves there will be a resting from war: the factions and
ferocities of that wild Semitic world, which Amos so vividly characterised, shall
cease. In all this there is nothing beyond the possibility of suggestion by the
circumstances of the eighth century or by the spirit of its prophecy.
A prophet speaks:-
"And it shall come to pass in the issue of the days, That the Mount of the House of
Jehovah shall be established on the tops of the mountains, And lifted shall it be
above the hills, And peoples shall flow to it,"
"And many nations shall go and say: "Come, and let us up to the Mount of Jehovah,
And to the House of the God of Jacob, That He may teach us of His ways, And we
will walk in His paths.’ For from Zion goeth forth the law, And the word of Jehovah
from out of Jerusalem! And He shall judge between many peoples,"
"And decide for strong nations far and wide; And they shall hammer their swords
into plough shares, And their spears into pruning-hooks: They shall not lift up,
nation against nation, a sword, And they shall not any more learn war. Every man
shall dwell under his vine And under his fig-tree, And none shall make afraid; For
the mouth of Jehovah of Hosts has spoken."
What connection this last verse is intended to have with the preceding is not quite
obvious. It may mean that every family among the Gentiles shall dwell in peace; or,
as suggested above, that with the voluntary disarming of the surrounding
heathendom, Israel herself shall dwell secure, in no fear of border raids and slave-
hunting expeditions, with which especially Micah’s Shephelah and other
borderlands were familiar. The verse does not occur in Isaiah’s quotation of the
three which precede it. We can scarcely suppose, fain though we may be to do so,
that Micah added the verse in order to exhibit the future correction of the evils he
has been deploring in chapter 3: the insecurity of the householder in Israel before
the unscrupulous land-grabbing of the wealthy. Such are not the evils from which
this passage prophesies redemption. It deals only, like the first oracles of Amos, with
the relentlessness and ferocity of the heathen under Jehovah’s arbitrament these
shall be at peace, and whether among themselves or in Israel, hitherto so exposed to
their raids, men shall dwell in unalarmed possession of their houses and fields.

Security from war, not from social tyranny, is what is promised.
The following verse (Micah 4:5) gives in a curious way the contrast of the present to
that future in which all men will own the sway of one God. "For" at the present
time "all the nations are walking each in the name of his God, but we go in the name
of Jehovah forever and aye."
To which vision, complete in itself, there has been added by another hand, of what
date we cannot tell, a further effect of God’s blessed influence. To peace among men
shall be added healing and redemption, the ingathering of the outcast and the care
of the crippled.
"In that day-‘tis the oracle of Jehovah-I will gather the halt, And the cast-off I will
bring in, and all that I have afflicted; And I will make the halt for a Remnant, And
her that was weakened into a strong people, And Jehovah shall reign over them In
the Mount of Zion from now and forever."
Whatever be the origin of the separate oracles which compose this passage Micah
4:1-7, they form as they now stand a beautiful whole, rising from Peace through
Freedom to Love. They begin with obedience to God and they culminate in the most
glorious service which God or man may undertake, the service of saving the lost. See
how the Divine spiral ascends. We have, first, Religion the center and origin of all,
compelling the attention of men by its historical evidence of justice and
righteousness. We have the world’s willingness to learn of it. We have the results in
the widening brotherhood of nations, in universal Peace, in Labor freed from War,
and with none of her resources absorbed by the conscriptions and armaments which
in our times are deemed necessary for enforcing peace. We have the universal
diffusion and security of Property, the prosperity and safety of the humblest home.
And, finally, we have this free strength and wealth inspired by the example of God
Himself to nourish the broken and to gather in the forwandered.
Such is the ideal world, seen and promised two thousand five hundred years ago,
out of as real an experience of human sin and failure as ever mankind awoke to. Are
we nearer the Vision today, or does it still hang upon time’s horizon, that line which
seems so stable from every seer’s point of view, but which moves from the
generations as fast as they travel to it?
So far from this being so, there is much in the Vision that is not only nearer us than
it was to the Hebrew prophets, and not only abreast of us, but actually achieved and
behind us, as we live and strive still onward. Yes, brothers, actually behind us!
History has in part fulfilled the promised influence of religion upon the nations. The
Unity of God has been owned, and the civilized peoples bow to the standards of
justice and of mercy first revealed from Mount Zion. "Many nations" and
"powerful nations" acknowledge the arbitrament of the God of the Bible. We have
had revealed that High Fatherhood of which every family in heaven and earth is
named; and wherever that is believed the brotherhood of men is confessed. We have
seen Sin, that profound discord in man and estrangement from God, of which all

human hatreds and malices are the fruit, atoned for and reconciled by a Sacrifice in
face of which human pride and passion stand abashed. The first part of the Vision is
fulfilled. "The nations stream to the God of Jerusalem and His Christ." And though
today our Peace be but a paradox, and the "Christian" nations stand still from war
not in love, but in fear of one another, there are in every nation an increasing
number of men and women, with growing influence, who, without being fanatics for
peace, or blind to the fact that war may be a people’s duty in fulfillment of its own
destiny or in relief of the enslaved, do yet keep themselves from foolish forms of
patriotism, and by their recognition of each other across all national differences
make sudden and unconsidered war more and more of an impossibility. I write this
in the sound of that call to stand upon arms which broke like thunder upon our
Christmas peace; but, amid all the ignoble jealousies and hot rashness which
prevail, how the air, burned clean by that first electric discharge, has filled with the
determination that war shall not happen in the interests of mere wealth or at the
caprice of a tyrant! God help us to use this peace for the last ideals of His prophet!
May we see, not that of which our modern peace has been far too full, mere freedom
for the wealth of the few to increase at the expense of the mass of mankind. May our
Peace mean the gradual disarmament of the nations, the increase of labor, the
diffusion of property, and, above all, the redemption of the waste of the people and
the recovery of our outcasts. Without this, peace is no peace; and better were war to
burn out by its fierce fires those evil humors of our secure comfort, which render us
insensible to the needy and the fallen at our side. Without the redemptive forces at
work which Christ brought to earth, peace is no peace; and the cruelties of war, that
slay and mutilate so many, are as nothing to the cruelties of a peace which leaves us
insensible to the outcasts and the perishing, of whom there are so many even in our
civilization.
One application of the prophecy may be made at this moment. We are told by those
who know best and have most responsibility in the matter that an ancient Church
and people of Christ are being left a prey to the wrath of an infidel tyrant, not
because Christendom is without strength to compel him to deliver, but because to
use the strength, would be to imperil the peace, of Christendom. It is an ignoble
peace which cannot use the forces of redemption, and with the cry of Armenia in
our ears the Unity of Europe is but a mockery.
PARKER, "Verses 1-13
The Glory of the Church
Micah 4 , Micah 5
We cut up our time into days and years, little spaces and periods, and we magnify
them exceedingly by the trifling incidents which occur within them; but to the
prophetic gaze the whole question of time was divided into two—the first days, and
the last days; the days before Christ, and the days after Christ. As to all that went
between, it was matter of detail and necessary progress, and sequential
development. How much we lose by frittering away our time by a frivolous division
into parts, and minor parts, and major parts! Thus we are vexed by detail,

exceedingly tormented, and our minds are clouded, and the horizon is shut out, and
we are the victims of little views and small conceptions and narrow prejudices. Why
do we live in the valley when we might live on the hilltop? The higher we ascend the
more distant is the view. There is poetry in distance, there is music in the horizon;
but who can find anything in smoke and cloud and fog but depression and fear, and
loss of those higher enthusiasms that ought to rule our life. Arise, awake! Climb any
hill that you can get your feet upon; it is good to be much in the upper air.
Politically and socially, we are always beginning and ending; we are in a circle of
elections and depositions and reconstructions, but in the spirit of our Lord we are
seated with himself upon the circle of eternity, and oh, how small everything
appears far away yonder! Yet what trouble the inhabitants are in! how they are
voting and canvassing and knocking at each other"s doors, and exciting one another
in momentary fury about nothing! Yet if all this inferior and temporary business
must be done it can be best done in the spirit of eternity. It is when we have been
most in heaven that we can most effectually and successfully handle the affairs of
time. All depends upon the point of approach: if we approach the work from below
it will be all uphill toil; if we descend upon it from communion with God we shall
bring the whole stress of our strength to bear upon it, and a touch will have in it the
force of a battering-ram. Why all this toiling, and upheaving, and struggling, and
strenuous endeavour, when life might be made a joy; when life might be made to
grow the flower of peace and the fruit of plenty, and the whole action might be a
movement of triumph? Men will not be right until they are geometrically right; they
must have the right point of origin; they must put themselves into proper figure;
they must accept something that was in the universe before they came consciously
into it; they must receive, and adore, and obey the will of God. The prophets looked
forward to Christ, and we do just the same. We talk about ancient prophets—there
is nothing in the world but prophecy. Yet we have in our transient wisdom classified
men into major prophets and minor prophets, and we go to the Old Testament for
prophets of all sorts and qualities, forgetting that Jesus Christ is the greatest
Prophet of all, and that Christians are still in the region of prophecy, and that if we
could get out of the region of prophecy, we should soon get into the region of
monotony, and the region of monotony lies close to the region of despair. It is hope
that saves us; it is prophecy that gives us all our music and higher cheer and nobler
enthusiasm; it is the beyond that holds our home, and it will be the beyond eternities
hence. To see the invisible is to live; to lay hold of the eternal is to be safe for
evermore.
"But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the
Lord shall be established" ( Micah 4:1).
There is a word wanting there; at least, the word is wanting in the English. The
word was in the language of the prophet and in the tone of the prophet. The word
"established" may be accepted as conveying a sense of only temporary security. We
speak of our establishments, we speak of an established institution; but in so using
the term we are aware that the establishment is regulated by certain unwritten and
necessary laws, which govern the rise, the flourishing, and the decay of empire and
institution. Micah used a word which means abidingly established, for ever firm,

eternally secure. ot established even as a mountain is established, for mountains
were planted that they might be torn up. Below the mountain there is a fire mightier
than they, and that gleesome, grim, playful fire makes toys of the mountains, shapes
them and reshapes them, lifts them up and tears them down; and yet we speak of
the everlasting hills. Micah is now speaking of an eternal settlement, a position that
never can be disturbed, part and parcel of the duration, because part and parcel of
the quality of God. Where shall the mountain of the Lord"s house be established?—
on "the top of the mountains." Whatever is on the top of the mountain is higher
than the mountain. A child standing on the Andes, or Teneriffe, or Himalayan
glories, is higher than they all. The little child looks down upon the mountain it
stands upon; the mountain was never so high as that child is. Here is the mountain
of the house of the Lord; it is a mountain upon a mountain. The house of the Lord
itself is spoken of under the figure of a mountain, and the mountains of the earth
have to carry the mountain of God. They are all his; he made the staircase as well as
the temple; he made the vestibule as well as the palace; he made the earth first, and
then he built upon it; he made the mountain first, and then he set his Church on the
top of it. The meaning Isaiah , that the Church is to be the uppermost institution,
the sanctuary of God is to be at the top of things, and out of it is to come law; out of
it also is to come the spirit of righteousness, and out of it, day by day, is to come the
spirit of peace, the spirit of benediction. We must be right at the top, or we never
can be right otherwhere. Given a proper sovereignty, a rule of righteousness, truth,
beauty, love, music, honour, and we shall have a world at peace. Who is on the
throne? is the uppermost question. Who reigns? What governs?—for the "what" in
that case is larger than the "who." Say righteousness is on the throne, and the earth
may be at peace; say the highest interests of humanity as a whole are represented by
the throne, and no misfortune can befall that symbol of majesty. Every Church that
is selfish must be torn down; nay, may we change the phrase, and say, Why tear it
down? Time is against it; the ages coming and going are against it; the spirit of
liberty is against it; Providence is against it. Distress not thyself, therefore, with any
tearing down violence, for all bad institutions, political, ecclesiastical, theological,
social, will fall, and no man shall care to look into their dishonoured graves.
What a wonderful forecast was this on the part of the villager Micah! The
prophecies of these men seem to my own mind not only to suggest, but to confirm
their inspiration. This is not only talk. Here are men that shoot out above us all,
miles and miles beyond. They are in the heavens, whilst we are on the earth. Yet
they were unlearned men—they were rustics, they were villagers; they laid down
their credentials, and in those credentials there is nothing of Song of Solomon -
called ancestral and hereditary glory. But how they lived! They sat down as guests
at the banqueting-table of the ages. Micah , the villager, comes and sits down at the
latter-day feast; he is a guest of the Lord, and takes part in the song of festival. We
might have more joys if we understood that all things are ours. All time belongs to
the children of light. We are not bounded by the little grey dewy morning of the
present; we have all the mornings that ever grew in the garden of the horizon. We
are only poor because we are faithless. If we had faith we should have all time, all
strength, all confidence, and all peace. Lord, increase our faith.

What does Micah see? Whole nations coming to the Lord, and saying to one
another,—
"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" ( Micah 4:2).
Here is a popular sentiment; here Isaiah , indeed, a universal sentiment. At present
our ideal Christian life is represented by a one-man ministry. If you close your eyes,
and look upon the ideal Church of to-day, it is that there shall be a congregation,
and one man shall be addressing it; and that one man shall sustain the position of
exhorter, and in high, poignant, hortatory tones he shall call men, and warn men,
and bless men. Micah saw a much larger ministry; he said, The time will come when
the people will exhort one another; when all the congregations shall mutually excite
one another to higher enthusiasm and nobler endeavour. Wherever you meet a man
he will say, Come to the mountain of the house of the Lord; wherever you see an
assembly of men they shall, with one concurrent and dominating voice, say, Come!
and their call will be to festival, to banqueting, to the holy rite of harmonious joy in
the living Saviour. What wonder that Micah was rich and strong, and full of peace
and gladness! The image is one of an inspiring kind.
What shall happen when this mountain of the house of the Lord is exalted on the top
of the mountains? This shall come to pass,—
"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" ( Micah 4:3).
How is that result brought about? ot by argument, not by voting, not by
overwhelming majorities; it is brought about as a detail—it is part of something
else, it is the issue of a certain all-inclusive process. The third verse is in the second
verse: let the mountain of the house of the Lord be in its right place, and all other
things shall adjust themselves to the genius that presides and governs. We have been
working at the wrong end too much; we have been trying to do things in parts that
were never meant to be done, except as in relation to sublimer movements. Let the
temple of the Lord be in the right place; let it be rightly defined as the sanctuary of
righteousness and judgment, the abode of law and the home of pureness and peace,
and then all other things will fall into harmonic and helpful relation. We cannot
carry on our poor shoulders the universe; it is impossible for us to hasten
millenniums to any appreciable extent. We lose ourselves so much in false
enthusiasm. The thing to be remembered is this, that you never can have peace until
you have righteousness; you cannot have a happy earth until that earth is governed
by eternal and indestructible principles: if you think you can, then you will have
reformations, and insignia, and paraphernalia, and clubs, and arrangements of
divers social kinds, all of which may be momentarily pleasant. They will never bring
in the millennium. Only one thing can carry the earth, and that is gravitation.

Gravitation will pick it up, but your hands cannot, your institutions cannot, your
politics cannot; only one thing keeps the universe right, and sends it whirling
through its musical revolutions, and that is gravitation. Gravitation can pick up a
thousand universes, and hold them all— in fact, it can make them hold one another;
but we, with our poor shoulders, yea, with both of them, cannot carry the tiniest
planet. Better come to an understanding about this whole business of reformation,
elevation, education, and progress. othing is right until it is religiously right. By
religiously right do not understand any mean, detestable, and utterly unworthy
sectarian interpretation of the term. Dismiss all meddlers, welcome all helpers; but
know that nothing is right until it is right in its soul. All compromises, adjustments,
and temporary relationships are but for a moment. That is right which is religiously
true; that is right which God pronounces very good.
What comes after peace? Security:—
"But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall
make them afraid" ( Micah 4:4).
The vine and the fig tree were children of Palestine, they were the typical plants of
the country; and every man shall have his own vine growing by his own door, and
putting out its leafage so plentifully that it can curl itself around the trellis-work of
the portico, and the old grey-haired sire shall sit and think over the past, and
forecast the future, and meditate in the law of the Lord, the very air itself being a
speechless benediction. There shall be personal security, there shall be a sense of
nearness to God; but all coming out of the proper establishment of the house of the
Lord. If that house had not been on the top of the mountains you could not have had
the vine and fig tree; or if you had the vine and fig tree they would have been no
security. If you had no sun you could have no violet. Is that little blue-eyed thing
born in the sun? Yes. If you had no solar system you could have no daisies in the
meadow, no redbreasts, no larks, no songs in the air. Do not look at the violet and
say, "Bless thee, sweet little blue-eyed stranger, we are glad to see thee,"—and think
that it is not part of the solar system: it eats at the table of the angels, it is a guest in
the household of the Father; it is a snip of the sun, one infinitesimal glint of his
infinite light. So you could not have your vine and fig tree if you had not the
mountain of the house of the Lord established on the top of the mountains. Religion
carries everything with it. It is a true religious settlement that gives you your home,
your cottage, your palace; it is the spirit of righteousness that hangs your walls with
pictures; it is the spirit of goodness that makes it possible for the poorest man to
have one poor little pot of flowers on his sloping window-sill. Look at things in their
right relations. Seize the bigness and unity of all things. Otherwise, what shall
happen to you? You will be the victims of detail and accident and incident and hap,
and you will say, Chance thus, and thus it fell out. othing of the kind. Why do you
not live in the sanctuary? Why do you not find your habitation in eternity?
"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" ( Micah 4:5).

Why not? Do not worldly men excel us in this matter of brute courage? It is difficult
for the worldly man to keep down his vulgarity. He will chaffer about the market-
place before he leaves the church; he will say his creed. The worldly man is not
afraid to speak about his markets, and his bargains, and his chances, his profits and
his successes; is the Christian to be a dumb soul that has nothing to say about the
living Lord? The worldly man will talk about his unclean little deities, his chance
and his fortune, his opportunities and his investments, and his progress and his
sagacity, and he will revel in the detestable pantheon of his own imagination and
idolatry; and shall Christian men have nothing to say about righteousness and
truth, the all-grouping and all-controlling Cross? If dumbness were piety,
Christianity may be said to have won the day.
ow comes the great evangelical prophecy. Hear it, and remember who spake it:—
"But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of
Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose
goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting" ( Micah 5:2).
If we were not familiar with these words they would be amongst the grandest
utterances of the ages; we know them so well that we miss their meaning. We are too
frivolous. We have seen the sun so often that we now never look at him; we have
been so many mornings in the world, that morning comes to us with no Song of
Solomon , no poetry, no new testament just written with the blood of the heart of
God. "But" should be "And." or is the word "and" a simple conjunctive in
grammar; it is a conjunctive in history, in genius, in spiritual intent,—"And thou,
Bethlehem Ephratah." Thus the events are run into one another. We slip up history
by our disjunctives. "But" we assign as dividing a sentence; Micah says "and."
Many a chapter begins with "and." The little pedantic grammarian says "and"
ought not to begin a sentence; but the great grammarians, the spiritual interpreters
of ages and eternities, make all grammar bend itself to their uses. Chapter iii. begins
"And." Thus we get the unity of history, the solidarity of events. One thing belongs
to another: Bethlehem, thou art very little, but out of thee shall come the greatest
Man that ever lived; Bethlehem, thou art not worthy to be counted among the
Gileads of Judah, but out of thy little thousand there shall stand a man who shall
rule all men. There is a wonderful spirit of compensation in providence. God is
saying to each of us, Though thou art poor, thou mayest be wise; though thou art
slow, thou mayest be painstaking and persevering; thou art—though misunderstood
by men—thou art fully comprehended by thy Father. Look for the "though" in
every history; look for the compensation in every life. "... From of old, from
everlasting"—here is pre-existence; the whole mystery of the Gospel is here; for
here we have eternity, personality, a historical point; we have the divine before the
human. In the Old Testament language God is called by a very simple term—the
God of Before. You cannot amend that phrase; do not paint that lily, bring no tinsel
to that gold. If we cannot understand the term "Eternity" because of its vastness
and its sublimity, we have some inkling of the meaning of the word "before." Of the
Saviour, the azarene, the Man of Sorrows, of him who was acquainted with grief,
whose face was marred more than any man"s, it is said he was "before all things."

Micah 4 commentary

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