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 5:7-15 ESV
Micah describes a scene that is radically different than the one facing his 8th-Century B.C. audience. They were living in a time when constant threats from the likes of the Assyrians and Babylonians were a part of everyday life. So, the latter-day events that Micah is telling them about had to have sounded alien to their ears. Would there really be a day when they would have the upper hand on the enemies? Would the tables turn and the Israelites be the dominant force in the region once again?
The day is coming when the Israelites will be dispersed among the nations, but not as a result of God’s judgment. This time it will be so that they might refresh the nations of the earth by their very presence.
Then the remnant left in Israel
will take their place among the nations.
They will be like dew sent by the Lord
or like rain falling on the grass,
which no one can hold back
and no one can restrain.
The remnant left in Israel
will take their place among the nations. – Micah 5:7-8 NLT
Like dew and rain, the redeemed and restored people of God will have a positive and beneficial impact on the world of that day. But like God Almighty, they will also be a powerful presence in the world, displaying the strength of a lion among sheep.
They will be like a lion among the animals of the forest,
like a strong young lion among flocks of sheep and goats,
pouncing and tearing as they go
with no rescuer in sight.
The people of Israel will stand up to their foes,
and all their enemies will be wiped out. – Micah 5:8-9 NLT
What a dramatic change of circumstances. Israel will find itself in the driver’s seat, operating from a position of strength, not weakness. And this will be in fulfillment of the promise Moses made to the people of Israel as they waited to cross into the promised land for the very first time.
If you listen to these commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, and if you carefully obey them, the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always be on top and never at the bottom. – Deuteronomy 28:13 NLT
For the foreseeable future, Israel was going to find their fortunes to be quite the opposite of what Moses described. They would be the tail and not the head. And it would be their misfortune to be on the bottom rather than the top. Defeat, destruction, and exile were headed their way, but Micah wanted them to know that God had future plans for them that would reverse that trend – completely and permanently.
But there will also be a period of purging when God cleanses the land of all the vestiges of idolatry and rebellion that were the cause of His judgment against them. God will not be content to restore them to the land just to see them continue to live in the same way they did before. It will be a time of intense cleansing as God removes anything and everything that the people of Israel allowed to draw them away from their faithful worship of Him.
“In that day,” says the Lord,
“I will slaughter your horses
and destroy your chariots.
I will tear down your walls
and demolish your defenses.
I will put an end to all witchcraft,
and there will be no more fortune-tellers.
I will destroy all your idols and sacred pillars,
so you will never again worship the work of your own hands.
I will abolish your idol shrines with their Asherah poles
and destroy your pagan cities.” – Micah 5:10-12 NLT
Horses and chariots represent man’s dependence upon military might. The psalmist wrote, “Some nations boast of their chariots and horses, but we boast in the name of the Lord our God. Those nations will fall down and collapse, but we will rise up and stand firm” (Psalm 20:7-8 NLT). And yet, virtually every king of Israel and Judah had accumulated horses and chariots for himself, in a misguided attempt to provide a source of power and protection other than God Almighty.
The kings of Israel and Judah had constructed elaborate defensive fortifications, in a vain attempt to protect them from enemy attack. But what they failed to remember was that they had the Lord of Hosts as their champion. He was to have been their sole source of strength and the one on whom they relied for victory.
“When you go out to fight your enemies and you face horses and chariots and an army greater than your own, do not be afraid. The LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, is with you!” – Deuteronomy 20: 1 NLT
Witchcraft, fortune-tellers, idols, and sacred pillars were all symbols of their misplaced trust in man-made replacements for God. Rather than place all their confidence in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the people of Israel had developed a litany of alternative sources of help, hope, and deliverance. He would no longer tolerate their spiritual infidelity. In the new Kingdom established by His Son, God would ensure that there would be no substitutes and stand-ins available that could draw the people away from worshiping Him in spirit and in truth.
During the thousand-year reign of Christ, often referred to as the Millennial Kingdom, He will sit in righteous judgment over the entire world. And we are told that He will rule with a “rod of iron” (Revelation 19:15). The nations of the earth will all recognize that He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. That does not mean that they will worship Him as their Lord and Savior, but they will acknowledge His sovereign rule over all the earth.
In those days, God will no longer tolerate sin and rebellion. He will not put up with insurrection and insubordination, among His chosen people or the nations of the earth. His Son will sit on the throne of David, ruling in righteousness and judging the world with perfect justice.
But the millennial reign of Christ will come to an end. The thousand years will pass and then God will bring one last judgment upon the world.
When the thousand years come to an end, Satan will be let out of his prison. He will go out to deceive the nations—called Gog and Magog—in every corner of the earth. He will gather them together for battle—a mighty army, as numberless as sand along the seashore. And I saw them as they went up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded God’s people and the beloved city. But fire from heaven came down on the attacking armies and consumed them.
Then the devil, who had deceived them, was thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. – Revelation 20:7-10 NLT
Amazingly, during the thousand years, Satan will be bound and incapable of influencing the nations of the earth. But he will be released and lead one more misguided insurrection against God and His Son. He will rally the nations of the world to his side and attempt one last overthrow of God’s power and dominion. But he will fail. And his evil influence over the world will be done away with once and for all.
And the apostle John provides us with insight into what happens next.
And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds. Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire. – Revelation 20:11-15 NLT
The final judgment – the Great White Throne Judgment – when Jesus Christ will deliver a just and righteous verdict on all those who have refused to accept Him as their Savior and Lord. All during the period of the Great Tribulation, God will offer mankind one more opportunity to accept His free gift of salvation through His Son. But the majority will choose death over eternal life. They will prefer judgment over redemption.
But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk! And they did not repent of their murders or their witchcraft or their sexual immorality or their thefts. – Revelation 9:20-21 NLT
The day will come when no more opportunities for salvation are made available. As the author of Hebrews reminds us, “And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, so also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him” (Hebrews 9:27-28 NLT).
Those who have placed their hope in Christ can face the future unafraid and fully confident in the eternal security of their relationship with God Almighty. But for all those who refused God’s gracious offer of salvation by faith alone in Christ alone, death will be followed by judgment. And the judgment of God, without forgiveness made possible through faith in the Son of God, will end in eternal separation from God.
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
The Message (MSG)Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson