Wednesday Discussion
October 28, 2015 · Pastor Miles DeBenedictis
In this teaching
A walk through Micah 5, showing how God used the judgment of Israel by Assyria and Babylon to purify a remnant and prepare the way for the Messiah, who was prophesied to come from Bethlehem (Micah 5:2) and who will one day return to reign in peace, security, and purity.
- Micah 4 and 5 are one continuous message; chapter and verse divisions were added roughly a thousand years after Christ and are not inspired.
- Behind the rise of Assyria and Babylon, God was spiritually at work judging Israel to bring His people back into line for the coming Messiah.
- Micah 5:2 names Bethlehem as the Messiah's birthplace some 700 years in advance, confirmed in Matthew 2 at Jesus' birth.
- God scattered His people as a purifying judgment so that a remnant would return, not to obliterate them.
- Jesus did not come in majesty and global glory 2,000 years ago; that part of the prophecy awaits His second coming.
- The Messiah does not merely bring peace—He *is* peace (Isaiah 9:6; Ephesians 2:14)—and will one day remove war, walls, and idols, bringing peace, security, and purity.
Readable is a lightly edited reading copy; Verbatim stays close to the spoken words. The audio and video are the record of what was said.
But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting. ()
God turns the judgment of nations into the road that leads to Bethlehem and the Prince of Peace.
Chapters 4 and 5 Are One Message
Last week in chapter 4 we saw God speaking through Micah about the latter days. He says in 4:1, "Now it shall come to pass in the latter days," and again in 4:6, and once more in 5:10. One of the most important things to recognize is that chapters 4 and 5 are a single message. They go together.
In the original language there were no chapter and verse markers. Those divisions were added much later—around the 10th, 11th, and 12th centuries A.D., a thousand years after Christ. So the chapter and verse numbers in your Bible are not divinely inspired. If your favorite number is eleven and you love because of it, I'm sorry to break it to you—God didn't set that up. But the words themselves are inspired and from God.
This matters here, because actually connects best with chapter 4. In the Hebrew Scriptures, 5:1 was part of chapter 4, and our 5:2 was their 5:1. So 5:1 takes us right back to where we were last week.
God Behind the Scenes of Empire
Micah pictures the city of Jerusalem under siege, a nation coming against it and ultimately bringing punishment upon Judah, whose capital was Jerusalem. We already know one of those nations is Babylon, mentioned last week. The other is Assyria. The Assyrians came against Israel in the 8th and 7th centuries B.C., and the Babylonians came in the 6th century B.C.
If you studied secular history, you would read about the Assyrians and Babylonians as the warring empires of the day. You'd marvel at how clever they were—the Assyrians first developed steel chariots, and the Babylonians built upon that. But when you read the Scriptures and gain spiritual insight from God, you begin to understand what's happening behind the spiritual scene. God was raising up these people and their kings to bring judgment upon His own people.
Why? Because God had a plan for Israel: through Abraham would come the Messiah, the King who would bring redemption to sinful people throughout the entire world. But as you follow Israel's history, they got out of order—as we all do, falling short of God's glory. They were caught up in idolatry, adultery, covetousness, and injustice toward those they led. God said, in effect, "We're going to have to deal with that." So He used Assyria to bring judgment, and when their idolatry only grew worse, He brought the Babylonians.
A Spiritual Battle Then and Now
We see something happening on this side of the spiritual curtain, but behind it God is moving and working. When I see that in the Old Testament, it makes me realize that even in our day the things happening physically throughout the world—nations rising against nations—are indications of a spiritual battle going on.
In last week's passage we also saw a far prophetic promise: one day the Lord will come and reign upon the earth bodily, and there will be no war, but prosperity, righteousness, and joy (). It's pictured again in chapter 5. I don't know anyone who hears that promise and doesn't say, "That sounds good." Even people who call themselves atheists would admit peace, prosperity, safety, and joy look good. That future promise was given to bring hope to a people about to be judged. God says, "I'm going to bring a punishment because of your sin, but you will not be completely obliterated, because I have a future promise to bring."
The Coming One from Bethlehem
In chapter 5 we come to this great promise of the coming One—the Redeemer, the Messiah, the Christ. We're introduced to His first coming in 5:2: "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah... yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting."
Notice He is the everlasting One. He wasn't created; He didn't just appear at one point in time. He is eternal—yet now He comes to the earth, through the little town of Bethlehem. And remember, this was written about 700 years before Jesus came.
There are hundreds of prophecies in the Bible, and most are filled with poetic metaphor that's hard to interpret. Get three pastors together on a prophetic passage and you'll get five different opinions. But this passage we know with absolute certainty, because in the Gospel of Matthew we are told it speaks of Jesus, born in Bethlehem.
You remember the story: wise men from the east followed His star to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is He who was born King of the Jews?" King Herod didn't know, so he asked the religious leaders where the Messiah would be born. They answered, "In Bethlehem"—because says so. God Himself has revealed in that this passage speaks of the coming of the Messiah.
Why God Abandons His People
In 5:1 we're told judgment will come upon Israel and upon their ruler in that day, King Hezekiah. But a future Ruler, the everlasting One, will come through Bethlehem. And in 5:3 God says He will abandon His people—which seems harsh. Why would God release a people He called His special treasure into exile?
The answer is that He is doing this to prepare the way of the Messiah and to make the people ready for His coming. It doesn't make sense to us because God's thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways. He works differently than we work, in unexpected ways. Many of us have recognized that in our own lives.
Verse 3 gives the purpose: "a remnant shall return." A remnant is a small portion. If you reach into a big bucket of apples and pull out three, you have a remnant. God is purifying a people for Himself, through whom the Messiah will come—a people who had been filled with idolatry, covetousness, adultery, and sin. He says, "I need to purify you."
His Reign of Strength and Glory
When that remnant returns, the Messiah comes and shepherds the people, overseeing and caring for them. Verse 4 says His reign will be a time of His majesty, of ruling in strength, of the people living securely, and of His glory extending to the whole earth.
Now, 2,000 years ago Jesus came to earth, God incarnate, through the little town of Bethlehem. But did He come with strength and majesty and power and glory? Did His greatness fill the whole earth? No. He did come to Bethlehem—but the rest hasn't happened yet. So either He won't fulfill this promise, or He already fulfilled it in some way we don't understand, or it remains future. I suggest to you it hasn't happened yet. There is coming a day when Jesus will come again and reign with majesty and strength, and His glory will fill the earth.
The Messiah Who Is Peace
When He does, this passage tells us He will bring peace. says, "And this One shall be peace." Notice it doesn't say He shall bring peace, though that is a byproduct of His coming. The Messiah shall be peace—the very embodiment of it, because calls Him the Prince of Peace. Jesus is, in His very nature, peace.
The apostle Paul keys in on this in , revealing that Jesus "is our peace." So Jesus is the Prince of Peace, bringing peace into the lives He enters, and one day He will bring peace to the whole world.
Judgment, Scattering, and the Purpose Behind It
That is the promise Micah reveals. Israel's leadership and rulers will be judged, but a great Ruler is coming—the Messiah, the Prince of Peace—who will one day reign on the earth and bring global peace. That good news was not for Micah's day, but for the latter day.
In 5:5–6, Judah's enemies will one day be judged. Before that, however, the people would go through great difficulty and be scattered among the nations. Verses 7–9 tell us Israel would be scattered to other nations for a time because of their sin and as punishment—a punishment for the purpose of purification. If you want to read more about this exile, read Daniel, Jeremiah, and the related Old Testament passages.
Verse 8 says the remnant of Jacob shall be among these nations, and verse 9 says God will lift them up one day to stand upon and judge their foes. So they pass through tribulation, but not forever, and not without purpose. God is preparing them for the coming of the Messiah, the Prince of Peace. There is joy mixed with the bitterness of this judgment.
Peace, Security, and Purity
Chapter 5 ends pointing back to that great day when the Lord brings about His kingdom of righteousness. When He comes and reigns, verse 10 says He will remove all the instruments of war—their horses and chariots—which means peace. He will remove the walls and defenses around their cities, which means security. And He will remove all their idols, which means purity.
So Micah finishes looking forward to the day when the Messiah comes in fullness: He gets rid of warfare and there is peace; He gets rid of walls and defenses and there is security; He gets rid of idolatry and there is purity.
A lot is happening in this passage as Micah jumps between the judgment of his own day—through Assyria and Babylon—and the far future when the Messiah reigns in righteousness. But the connection between the two is this: the judgment 2,800 years ago made Israel ready to bring forth the Messiah who will bring the righteous reign still to come. That is how these things go together.
Closing Prayer
Father, I pray that You would give us wisdom as we talk tonight, as we discuss the application questions. Help us to take these things to heart—the things we can learn from this passage—and make us more like You, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen.
tonight, week 6. Before we look at the scripture here and consider some of the things that are going on, why don't we pray and ask the Lord to give us wisdom and direction?
God, your word is spiritually discerned. That means that though we can read and understand what the words say on the pages here, the true meaning behind it, the application for our lives, is really given by the direction and the understanding of your Spirit. So I pray, God, that you would speak to us and give us insight. There are things in Micah and other places in the Bible that, when we first read them, just don't make a whole lot of sense. I pray, God, that you would help us to comprehend what it is that you are trying to say to us and to see how these things are for us living in 2015. So guide us and direct us by your Spirit tonight, we pray. In Jesus' name, and all those who are agreed said, Amen.
Last week, as we were going through chapter 4, we see God speaking through the prophet Micah about the latter days. He says in , "Now it shall come to pass in the latter days." Then in chapter 4, verse 6, he says, "And we're going to see in the passage that we're looking at tonight as well." In verse 10 of chapter 5, it also says, "One of the really important things for us to recognize is that chapter 4 and chapter 5 are one message. They go together."
In the original language that this was written in, when Micah the prophet penned this, or maybe a scribe that was with Micah actually wrote these things down, there were no chapter and verse markers. It's really important for us to note when we're going through the Bible that the chapters and verses were added much, much later. In fact, the chapters and verses were not added until the 10th century, 11th century A.D., and 12th century A.D. Those things got added a thousand years after Christ was here upon the earth.
So the chapter and verse numbers in your Bible are not divinely inspired. If your favorite number is the number 11, and you really like because it's your favorite number, I'm really sorry to break it to you. God didn't do that and set that up that way. At least, I don't think He did. But the words are inspired and from God.
Now, that becomes really clear when you get into chapter 5, because chapter 5, verse 1 actually connects best with chapter 4. In the Hebrew Scriptures, which also have chapter and verse numbers, chapter 5, verse 1 was actually part of chapter 4. Chapter 5, verse 2 is actually chapter 5, verse 1. I apologize for any confusion caused by that sort of thing.
Chapter 5, verse 1 goes back to where we were previously with the book of Micah, chapter 4, last week. Micah is picturing and looking at the city of Jerusalem being besieged, with a nation coming against the city and ultimately bringing punishment to the people of Judah. That was the nation, and their capital city was Jerusalem. That city and that nation are going to be judged by God, receiving punishment from God at the hands of another nation.
We already know that one of those nations is Babylon, as mentioned in the text we were looking at just last week. The other nation is Assyria. This all took place about 2,800 years ago in the 8th and 7th centuries BC, when the Assyrian nation came against the people of Israel. Then, in the 6th century BC, the Babylonians came against the people of Israel.
If you were to study secular history, particularly Middle Eastern ancient history in your history class at school, you would read about the Assyrians and the Babylonians. During that period, they were the warring nations, the empires of the day. When you look at it through secular history, you see that they were really smart. They had all kinds of ingenious ways to come against these nations, developing weapons and warfare that were quite advanced. It was the Assyrians who first developed steel chariots, and the Babylonians built upon that. They created many amazing things.
However, when you look at the Scriptures and gain spiritual insight from God, you begin to understand what is happening behind the spiritual scenes. God is raising up these people called the Assyrians and their kings to bring judgment upon His own people, the nation of Israel. God had a plan for the nation of Israel to bring forth the Redeemer for all people. That was God's ultimate plan for the descendants of Abraham: that through Abraham would come the Messiah, the King, who would bring redemption to sinful people throughout the entire world.
As you follow Israel's history in the Old Testament, you see this unfolding.
You see that they get out of order. We all do. We're all fallen short of God's glory. We're all sinful. They got out of the way, and so God needs to bring them back to the way. He needs to bring them back to where they will be the people that will bring forth the King, the Prince. That's what's happening behind the scenes spiritually in this text. The nation of Israel is out of the way because of sin.
We've already looked at some of the things that they were involved in sinfully. They were involved in idolatry, adultery, and covetousness. That's what was driving their idolatry and their adultery. They were unjust towards the people that they were leading. Those were just a few of the things that they were doing. God says we’re going to have to deal with that. He is dealing with it by using the nation of Assyria to bring judgment upon the people of Judah and Jerusalem.
When that didn't work, because one of the primary problems they had was idolatry, and their idolatry actually got worse after the Assyrians came and almost destroyed the nation of Judah, He brings the Babylonians to destroy and deal with their idolatry. God is doing something. We see something happening in the world, this side of the spiritual curtain, if you will, but behind it, God is moving and working.
When I see that happen in the Old Testament, it makes me realize that even in our day, the things we’re seeing happening physically throughout the world, manifested in nations rising against nations, indicate a spiritual battle that's going on. In the passage we looked at last week, we saw this far prophetic promise: one day the Lord will come and rule and reign upon the earth. He will be here in bodily form, and there will be a time of no war, a time of prosperity, a time of righteousness, and a time of joy.
We talked about that in through 3 last week. It's pictured again in . I don't know anyone who hears that promise and thinks it sounds bad. A time of peace, a time of prosperity, a time of joy, wonderful things, the glory of God being upon the earth—there's not a single person we would talk to, even people who don't believe in God and call themselves atheists, who wouldn't say that sounds like a good time. Peace, prosperity, safety, security, joy—those look good.
That's the prophetic promise given to us in Micah chapters 4 and 5 for the future. That future promise is to bring hope to a people that are about to be judged. God is saying, "I'm going to judge you; I'm going to bring a punishment upon you because of your sin."
But you're not going to be completely obliterated and destroyed because I have a future promise that I'm going to bring. That's kind of what's happening in this passage. In , we come into this great promise of the coming one, the Redeemer, the Messiah, the Christ, the one who's going to bring about this restoration. We're introduced to His first coming in .
It's a very interesting verse. It says, "But you, Bethlehem, how many of you have heard of Bethlehem before? O little town of Bethlehem. Yeah, that one. O you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, or of Judah, though you are little among a thousand of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to me the one to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from old, from everlasting."
Here in , God speaks through Micah and says there is going to come one out of that little small town of Bethlehem who is going to be the ruler. He is the everlasting one. He's not one who's created; He didn't just show up on the scene at one point in time. He is the everlasting one. He's eternal, but now He comes to the earth, and He is going to come through the little town of Bethlehem.
Now, it's really important to note that this was written about 700 years before Jesus came. There is a lot of prophecy in the Bible predicting things that are going to come in the future. Hundreds and hundreds of prophecies talk about things that will come. Most of those prophecies, when we read them, are filled with all kinds of poetic metaphor. They don't always make a lot of sense, and they are hard to interpret and figure out what's going on.
There are just all kinds of different ideas. It might mean this; it could mean that. If you go to 20 different churches doing prophecy messages, you're going to hear 20 different ideas on the same text. One person will say, "Well, it might mean this," and another will say, "No, it doesn't mean that; it means this." If you get three pastors together talking about prophecy, you're going to get five different opinions on a passage.
Everybody has a different opinion, especially with prophetic passages. However, this passage, , along with a few other passages in the Old Testament, we know with absolute certainty what it's speaking of. The reason we know with absolute certainty is that in the New Testament, in the Gospel of Matthew, we are told that this prophecy is speaking about the coming of Jesus, born in the town of Bethlehem 2,000 years ago.
You may remember the story that after Jesus had been born, there were wise men from the East who came following His star.
Remember the story? We're going to be telling it here in just a number of weeks at the church because we're getting close to Christmas. There are wise men from the East following his star. They come to Jerusalem and go to the king, asking, "Where is he who was born king of the Jews? We saw his star, and we've come to follow it." King Herod responds, "Well, gosh, I don't know what you're talking about." He then asks the religious leaders, the ones who knew the Bible, where the Messiah is going to be born. They tell him he will be born in Bethlehem because tells us this.
This passage reveals that God is speaking about the coming of the Messiah, as told in . In , we learn that a judgment is going to come upon the people of Israel and their ruler at that time, King Hezekiah. However, there will come a future ruler, the everlasting one, who will come through the town of Bethlehem. Yet, there is a judgment that will come upon the people. In , God states that he will abandon his people, which seems rather harsh. Why would God abandon a people that he once called a special treasure? Why would he release them to their enemies to be exiled and taken away from their land?
It seems incredibly harsh, but what is revealed here is that God is doing this to prepare the way for the Messiah and to prepare the people for his coming. We may look at this and say it just doesn't make any sense. The reason it doesn't make sense is that God's thoughts are not our thoughts, and his ways are not our ways. God works differently than we would work. How many of you have ever recognized that in your own life? He works in unexpected ways. There are things that, when we look at them, we go, "I just don't understand why or how you're doing this. Why are you going to allow us to be dispersed to the Assyrians and then to the Babylonians?" It seems so wrong and harsh.
Well, he gives us the answer in the passage in verse 3. The purpose is so that a remnant shall return. What's a remnant? It's a small portion. If you have a big bucket of apples and you reach in and grab three apples out of that big bucket, you have the remnant of the apples. God is purifying for himself this people through which the Messiah will come.
Because the people had been filled with idolatry, covetousness, adultery, and all kinds of sin, God said, "I need to purify you." He declared that a remnant would return, and when they do, the Messiah would come to shepherd the people. He would oversee them and take care of them. When the Messiah rules and reigns over the people, it will be a time of His majesty being shown. It will be a time when He rules and reigns with strength, a time when the people will live securely, as verse 4 states. It will also be a time when His glory extends to the whole earth.
Now, 2,000 years ago, Jesus came to the earth, God incarnate, through the little town of Bethlehem. Did He come with strength, majesty, power, and glory? Did He rule, and did His greatness extend to the whole earth? Did that happen 2,000 years ago? No, but He did come to the little town of Bethlehem. So, what does this tell us? Either He is not going to fulfill this promise, or He fulfilled it in a way we do not understand, or it is fulfilled in some sort of spiritual way, or it has not happened yet. I suggest to you that it has not happened yet, but there is coming a day, as this passage and chapter 4 tell us, when Jesus will come again. He will rule and reign with majesty, strength, and power, and His glory will fill the earth.
When He does, we also see in this passage that He will bring peace. states that this ruler, Jesus the Messiah, "shall be peace." Notice it does not say He shall bring peace, although that is a byproduct of His coming. This one, the Messiah, Jesus, shall be peace. He is the very embodiment of peace. , refers to Him as the Prince of Peace. Jesus is, in His very nature, peace.
In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul emphasizes this in , where he reveals that Jesus is our peace. So, Jesus is the Prince of Peace. He is to bring peace into the lives of those He encounters, and one day, He will bring peace to the whole world. This is the promise that Micah reveals in . The nation of Israel will be judged, and their leadership and rulers will be held accountable, but there is coming a great leader, the ruler, the Messiah, the Prince of Peace. One day, He will rule and reign upon the earth and bring global peace.
That's good news, but that wasn't the case in the day of Micah; it is something that will happen in the future, in the latter days. In through 6, we see that Judah's enemies will one day be judged. God will ultimately judge the enemies who come against His people. This is a glorious message for those hearing this prophecy. Micah states that their nation will be judged; the Assyrians and the Babylonians will come and destroy this nation, but one day they will be judged as well.
However, before that judgment occurs, the people will go through a time of great difficulty and will be scattered among all the nations. They will be removed from their homeland. through 9, tells us that the people of Israel would be scattered to other nations for a period of time because of their sin and as a form of punishment. Yet, this punishment serves the purpose of purification. God will bring forth a remnant from them. During the time they are scattered among the Assyrians and the Babylonians, they will endure hardship.
If you want to read more about this, consider the book of Daniel, the book of Jeremiah, or any of the Old Testament passages that deal with this period of exile. The purpose, as stated in verse 8 of , is that the remnant of Jacob shall be among all these people, amidst these other nations. God will eventually raise them up to stand against their foes and to judge them, as verse 9 indicates. They will go through this period of difficulty, trial, and tribulation, but it is not forever; it is for a purpose. God is preparing them for the coming of the Messiah, the Prince of Peace.
Thus, there is a mix of joy and bitterness in this judgment. Chapter 5 concludes by pointing back to that great day when the Lord will establish a kingdom of righteousness where He reigns. When He comes to bring this reign of righteousness, it is said that He will remove all instruments of war from the people. Their horses and chariots are mentioned in verse 10. He will eliminate all instruments of war, which signifies peace. He will also remove the walls and defenses around their cities, indicating a time of security. Furthermore, He will get rid of all their idols, which means it will be a time of purity.
Micah finishes chapter 5 looking forward to the day when the Messiah comes in fullness, bringing an end to warfare and ushering in a time of peace, along with the removal of their walls and defenses.
There is a time of security, and He gets rid of all their idolatry. There is a time of purity. This is what is happening here in this passage. A lot of things are occurring as Micah jumps between prophecies that pertain to his day and the coming judgment through the Assyrians and the Babylonians. He then jumps far into the future to events that have not even happened yet, 2,800 years later, to the time when the Messiah will come and reign in righteousness.
The connection between these two events is significant. Micah shows that the judgment 2,800 years ago by the Assyrians and the Babylonians was meant to prepare them to bring forth the Messiah, who will establish a righteous reign in the future. That is how these events are interconnected.
Father, I pray that You would give us wisdom as we talk tonight and discuss the application questions. Help us to take these lessons to heart, the things we can learn from this passage, and make us more like You, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen.
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