Messianic Hope: Micah 5:1-15

Micah chapters 4-5 are without a doubt the heart of this little treasure of a book.  Last week, we saw Micah describe a glorious restoration for God’s people to give them hope beyond the coming judgment.  In Micah 5:1-15, Micah goes a step further, revealing that the coming restoration will ultimately be brought about by the Messiah.  In other words, God is going to restore His people through His Messiah.  The beauty of this development is that it demands that all hope for restoration beyond the coming judgment ultimately be Messianic.  It is important to distinguish between being hopeful about the future and hoping in the One who will bring about that future.  It is a good thing to have hope for the future, because God makes promises about the future.  However, that hope is just wishful thinking if the One making the promises cannot keep them!  Our hope must ultimately rest in God, and since the Messiah is the key to the coming restoration, God’s people should place their ultimate hope in person and work of Jesus Christ alone.

 [5:1]  Now muster your troops, O daughter of troops; siege is laid against us; with a rod they strike the judge of Israel on the cheek. [2]  But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. [3] Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel. [4] And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. [5] And he shall be their peace. When the Assyrian comes into our land and treads in our palaces, then we will raise against him seven shepherds and eight princes of men; [6] they shall shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod at its entrances; and he shall deliver us from the Assyrian when he comes into our land and treads within our border.

[7] Then the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples like dew from the LORD, like showers on the grass, which delay not for a man nor wait for the children of man. [8] And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among the flocks of sheep, which, when it goes through, treads down and tears in pieces, and there is none to deliver. [9] Your hand shall be lifted up over your adversaries, and all your enemies shall be cut off.

[10] And in that day, declares the LORD, I will cut off your horses from among you and will destroy your chariots; [11] and I will cut off the cities of your land and throw down all your strongholds; [12] and I will cut off sorceries from your hand, and you shall have no more tellers of fortunes; [13] and I will cut off your carved images and your pillars from among you, and you shall bow down no more to the work of your hands; [14] and I will root out your Asherah images from among you and destroy your cities. [15] And in anger and wrath I will execute vengeance on the nations that did not obey. (Micah 5:1-15 ESV)  How does this text point us to ultimate hope in Christ?

I.              God’s Messiah is the Remedy for His People’s Current Distress (5:1-6)

Micah 5:1 begins with a current distress for God’s people.  God’s people are under “siege” and their “judge” (king) is being humiliated (struck on the cheek).  This probably refers to the Assyrian invasion (2 Chron. 32) under Sennacherib in 701 B.C.  What I want you to recall is the reason for this distress.  This crisis isn’t happening because the Assyrians are so big and bad; it is happening because Yahweh’s people have broken covenant with Him through idolatry and oppression.  This is a distress a distress of their own making.  But notice that this people under distress are charged to “muster” her “troops!”  Why is this charge given in such a desperate situation? 

It is given because God is about to radically reverse this situation!  God’s solution to this distress is seen in 5:2-5a, marked by the word, “BUT.”  Though God’s people are in distress, God will provide a solution: “Bethlehem” will bring forth the “one who is to be ruler in Israel.”  We saw last week that in the coming restoration, the house of David would resume its reign (Micah 4:8); here we see how God is going to raise the house of David once more.  That is the significance of “Bethlehem” (where David was from), Bethlehem being “too little to be among the clans of Judah” (David was also an unlikely candidate), and the fact that the Messiah’s coming forth is “from of old, from ancient of days” (this probably refers to the ancient covenantal promises to David).  Though the description is obviously Davidic, the promise of the Messiah stems all the way back to Genesis 3:15 and His expectation can be seen throughout the Old Testament.  The point here is simply that God’s solution is the Messiah! 

Before we move on, notice how His coming will play out in verse 3: “he” will give up His people until it is time for “she who is in labor” (4:9-10: God’s People) to give birth to Him, “then” He will gather the “rest of His brothers” to His people.  Notice also the description of His rule in Micah 4-5b.  First, “HE” will stand and shepherd His flock in Yahweh’s strength the majesty of Yahweh’s name (4a).  Second, “HE” will be great to the ends of the earth and that greatness shall cause His people to “dwell secure” (4b).  Finally, “HE” will be His people’s “peace.” 

Under the Messiah’s rule, God’s people will experience a radical reversal (5b-6).  Instead of being under siege, the Messiah shall so deliver His people from the Assyrian and the Babylonian that when an enemy comes into the land, God’s people will “raise against him seven shepherds and eight princes of men” (7), who will not only drive them out, but also take the fight into enemy territory!  This will extend and establish the Messiah’s rule (His shepherding) even into enemy territory (6). 

We need to make sure we understand that the New Testament declares Jesus Christ to be the fulfillment of these promises.  The religious leaders of Jesus’ day understood Bethlehem to be the birthplace of the Messiah based upon this passage (Matt. 2:6, John 7:42).  Also, to a large degree, the reign of the Messiah here is being fulfilled in the church today.  He has become both our peace with God and with one another.  As a matter of fact, Paul quotes Micah 5:5 in Ephesians 2:14, describing how the work of Jesus Christ on the cross tears down the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile and unifies them.  The reference to the Messiah’s “brothers” returning is not a reference to only Israelites.  Jesus’ brothers and sisters are His disciples who do His will (Mark 3:35) and His sheep who hear His voice.  Under Christ’s rule today, the church victoriously takes the “fight” of preaching the gospel and making disciples of all nations into enemy territory and the very gates of Hell cannot overcome His people as they do so (Matt. 16:18-20)!

What do we take from this?  Simply that Jesus Christ is the remedy for His people’s current distress.  This is seen clearer in the gospel than it is anywhere else.  We too were in a mess of our own making, dead in our sins and trespasses.  God’s Messiah, Jesus Christ, was God’s solution to that distress.  He came from Bethlehem and lived the life we could never live and He died the death that we all deserved, bearing the wrath of God for our sins.  All those who now come to faith in Jesus experience a radical reversal as well (2 Cor. 5:17). 

II.            God’s Messiah is the Champion of His People’s Future Victory (5:7-15)

The big idea in verses 7-15 is how Yahweh will give His people victory over their enemies.  Consider first their victory over enemies from without (7-9,15).  The imagery used here (dew & lions) communicates victory for God’s people as God’s kingdom undergoes expansion among the nations (7-8): “the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples,” “among the nations.”  Also, notice that the two metaphors communicate a boldness that God’s people should possess during this expansion: (1) dew and showers which do not delay nor wait for man and (2) a lion among the beasts of the forests (even among sheep!) which treads down and tears in pieces and there is NONE to deliver.  This expansion will be unstoppable!!!  Since this is being fulfilled in the mission of the church, what boldness the people of God should have as we take the gospel to the nations!  If God is for us, truly, who can be against us (Rom. 8:31-39, Matt. 16:18)?  Finally, this imagery also communicates the nature of this victorious expansion of God’s kingdom.  God’s people will be both a source of blessing (dew, showers) to some and an instrument of destruction (lion) to others.  Is this not they way Paul described the mission of the church in 2 Corinthians 2:14-16? [14] But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. [15] For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, [16] to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?  (2 Cor. 2:14-16 ESV)

Also, just as it is Christ who is always leading His people to triumphant procession, it is the Messiah who leads His people in Micah to such victory.  That is why it is very important to see the word, “then” at the beginning of verse 7.  This victory will take place under the Messiah’s rule.  It is not the result of their own power.

Finally, we not only see that God’s people will not just experience victory over their enemies from without, they will also experience victory over their enemies within (10-14).  God declares here that He is going to save His people from their idols.  Some of the idols are idols that are obvious (sorcery, fortune telling, carved images, Asherah images: female fertility goddess of the Canaanites) and some idols that are not so obvious (cites, strongholds, horses, chariots).  The fact that some of these idols are not so obvious teaches us an important lesson: that self-sufficiency and trust in human resources is just as much a form of idolatry as bowing down before a wooden or stone image.  Sometimes very good things are the very last things that we need in our lives, because they subtly erode our faith in God alone for our security.  Like the church at Laodicea, we begin to think that we are in need of nothing, including God (Rev. 3:14-22).  Nations do this when they trust in their military for security and people do this when they trust in their back account or their retirement.  May we say with David, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.” (Ps. 20:7 ESV), because without Him we can do nothing (John 15:5)!

Notice also that both types of idols here are “the work of your hands” (13).  There is a tremendous irony and lunacy that the Old Testament prophets expose about idolatry.  When we worship idols, we exchange the worship of the God who made men for the worship of man-made gods.  We exchange the worship of our Creator for the worship of a created god.  Why do we do this?  We do so because as fallen people, we prefer a God who is manageable and predictable.  We also prefer a God whom we can manipulate.  That’s what the connection between idolatry and witchcraft and sorcery is all about.  Idolatry combined with witchcraft and sorcery is simply an attempt to manipulate the “gods” and “spirits” in some way to be in our favor.  Friends, Yahweh will not be molded, managed, or manipulated!  He is God! 

Martin Luther once said that the human heart was an idol factory.  That is because we are infected with it.  What are we to do?  Micah gives us an answer.  God’s promises that through His Messiah, He will save His people from their idolatry.  Notice how many times we see the phrase, “I will” (10-14).  Since we cannot free ourselves from the idolatry that is in our hearts, God will!  How will He do so?  Hezekiah may have repented and destroyed the idols in Judah in response to Micah’s preaching, but we know from the rest of the Bible that the Israelites returned to idolatry and had to be exiled. 

The gospel is the only way God ultimately saves His people from their idols.  In the gospel, Christ, the Messiah, dies on the cross to bear the penalty for our idolatry.  In the gospel, God’s people get new hearts that are no longer idol factories.  In the life of a Christian, who comes to faith in Christ, God gradually roots out the idols of our hearts and conforms us more and more into His image.  For believers, we look forward to the gospel’s final work in our lives as well, when God will ultimately deliver us from this body of death and it’s infection with idolatry.  On that day, we will be saved to sin no more!  Church, may we glory in our Redeemer today, not in our resources.  May we look to Christ as our champion in the fight with our enemies and our idolatry.  May we also look to Christ as our champion even when we fall, because His death covers our failures.  As His people, may we get back up, repent, and charge a hostile world as bold as a lion with the good news of Christ!  Muster the troops and take the world for the glory of Christ!