Micah 4: From Conquered To Conqueror

Micah 4 envisions Jerusalem as both defeated and victorious, wounded and wonderful, conquered and conquering.  When we look closely at his message, we find that the prophet sees dark days ahead for Judah in the near term, but a hopeful future for the nation farther out.

The chapter begins with a look at "the last days."  Micah says that the temple mount will come to be regarded as the chief mountain in the world.  (Has this prophecy been fulfilled?  2800 years after it was issued, Jerusalem is now looked to as a central city of the faith to billions of Christians, Muslims, and Jews!)

Verses 2 through 5 present a beautiful vision of a utopia with the teaching of the Lord emanating from Jerusalem.  Wars will not be fought any more, and even the tools and training for war will be forsaken (vs. 3).  There will be peace and prosperity, as "every man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree" (vs. 4).  This part of the prophecy, at least, appears to be as yet unfulfilled.  But we can be hopeful that every word of the Lord will come to pass.

However, before we get there, the prophet knows that Jerusalem has some rough roads to travel first.  This dream city will only come into existence when the remnant returns from exile (vs 6-8).  The horrors that the Israelites must undergo are detailed in verses 9 through 12.  Words like "cry," pain," "writhe," and "agony" describe the plight of the people as they go through a coming exile.  Micah acknowledges that they will be forced to camp in the open field on their way to Babylon (vs. 10).  The opposing nations will gather around Judah, wishing her ill and seeking her destruction.  They do not realize that the Lord has a reversal of fortune in mind.

In fact, it is the Lord's will that the conquered shall become the conqueror!  "Rise and thresh, O Daughter of Zion, for I will give you horns of iron; I will give you hoofs of bronze and you will break to pieces many nations" (vs. 13).  After all that Israel has been through in history, all the enemies that she has faced down and outlasted, it seems sure that the Lord is not done with her yet.  She still has a part to play in God's grand story of salvation!