Jesus’ Eternal Throne

Micah 4:1-13
1It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it,
2and many nations shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
3He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore;
4but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.
5For all the peoples walk each in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.

6In that day, declares the Lord, I will assemble the lame and gather those who have been driven away and those whom I have afflicted;
7and the lame I will make the remnant, and those who were cast off, a strong nation; and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion from this time forth and forevermore.
8And you, O tower of the flock, hill of the daughter of Zion, to you shall it come, the former dominion shall come, kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem.
9Now why do you cry aloud? Is there no king in you? Has your counselor perished, that pain seized you like a woman in labor?
10Writhe and groan, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in labor, for now you shall go out from the city and dwell in the open country; you shall go to Babylon. There you shall be rescued; there the Lord will redeem you from the hand of your enemies.
11Now many nations are assembled against you, saying, “Let her be defiled, and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.”
12But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord; they do not understand his plan, that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor.
13Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion, for I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hoofs bronze; you shall beat in pieces many peoples; and shall devote their gain to the Lord, their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth.

After the scathing rebuke Micah gives the leadership of God’s people for their apostacy and self-serving efforts (in chapter 3), he now offers up a prophecy that contains impending struggle and brilliant hope, for God has all things under His control. His plans are not thwarted by the sin of the people, but neither will they escape His punishment for their idolatry. Captivity in Babylon awaits, but so too does God’s eternal Kingdom, ruled by the Messiah.

The phrase “in the last days,” when used by the prophets, refers to the time of the Messiah, marking the end of the Jewish age and introducing the New Testament era. So in these 13 verses, are promises of the 70 years of captivity in Babylon as well as God’s ultimate victory over all evil as His Son takes over His Eternal Throne. As Micah looked forward, so too Paul, in the book of Ephesians looks both at Jesus’ work and at the future in Heaven.

Ephesians 2:19-22
19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Micah notes three characteristics of the New Testament church.
  1. It will be “chief among the mountains,” superior to all other kingdoms, secular and religious. Already in the Old Testament, God’s saving kingdom had a superior glory. But the New Testament church would exceed the glory of the old covenant by abolishing its ceremonial regulations in the person of Jesus Christ (Colossians 2:9–17).
  2. “It will be raised above the hills,” that is, it would be of a different nature than other kingdoms that are here today and gone tomorrow. Christ’s kingdom will be permanent, established forever (Psalm 45:6; Daniel 2:44).
  3. “Peoples will stream to it.” The church of Jesus Christ will be universal, for all people. Time, race, sex, age, and geographical boundaries will have no bearing on the extent of Messiah’s rule in the hearts of people (Romans 10:12, 13; Colossians 3:11).
Spaude, C. W. (1987). Obadiah, Jonah, Micah (p. 136). Milwaukee, WI: Northwestern Pub. House.

Of special note for me today is verse 7. If you will recall, in Genesis 32, Jacob wrestles with God during the night right before he reconnects with the brother he duped over 20 years earlier. He is, of course, nervous and concerned. And during the night, the Lord comes to Jacob and engages him in a wrestling match. While no one “wins” the match, God does touch Jacob’s hip and he walks away with a permanent limp. Over a thousand years later, Jacob’s descendants, (now called The Children of Israel) are referenced by Micah with these words, ”… and the lame I will make the remnant”.  Just like Jacob after he wrestled with God, The Children of Israel (Jacob) will be lame but restored when they are freed from their Babylonian exile. They will not return to their former glory until the Son of Man comes and establishes His Eternal Throne for all people. The Messianic overtones of this passage are beyond brilliant.

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