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It 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, and 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 teaching, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away; and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore; but 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. (Micah 4:1–5) |
On May 9 in Liberation Square here in Jersey the above Bible reading was read to the crowds and broadcast live. But what is it all about – and what did the words mean at the time – and what do they actually mean now, for us? No one asked. No one wanted to know.
The writer, Micah, a Judean, lived there. He came from Moresheth, a small town about 22 miles SW of Jerusalem in what is still known as the Shephelah. He was alive there in BC 720. He had a message from the LORD – a message carefully preserved by Israel in its national archives to this day.
In fact he was a descendant of the original man named Israel and lived among people descended from him. To that man Israel the LORD God of the Bible (whose name consisted only of four consonants - YHWH) gave exceeding great and precious promises and commands, including the well-known Ten Commandments. The problem for Micah, being a prophet, was that this LORD God instructed him to tell His people that His judgment was about to fall upon them. The reason? They had transgressed His commands and forsaken Him.
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And judgment did fall on them. The majority were ousted from their lands by Assyria during Micah’s lifetime and, by 586 BC, the descendants of Israel had been totally conquered and displaced by the neo-Babylonian Empire.
But the LORD God instructed Micah to give a message to all Israel around BC 720 that after judgment would come restoration. That’s the substance of the first sentence read to us all on Monday in Liberation Square: It 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, and 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.”
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Sure enough, Jesus Christ, Son of Man, Son of God, after his death and resurrection in AD 30 in Jerusalem began to be seen to be “the mountain of the house of the LORD”. Folk from all nations then came (and have later come and are still coming) to him because of what he taught – as much by his death on behalf of others and his resurrection as by his words and his compassion and mercy to all who turn to him. As Micah wrote above: For out of Zion shall go forth the teaching, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
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| But what about the remainder of Micah’s words which were read to us in Liberation Square? He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away; and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore; but 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.
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If you’re thinking that these words – on any interpretation – must mean that the Messiah promised through Micah would bring peace, rest and security, you are absolutely correct. And it hasn’t happened. It hasn’t happened yet.
What the LORD God was revealing to Micah was that the Messiah who would come would provide to many nations – not just to Israel – the salvation which he was promising to Israel, through Jesus. So, there has been a postponement (for Israel and for us) of the ultimate blessing of this wonderful promise to Micah. A postponement so that we could be participants.
Thus it turns out that this promise to Israel around BC 720 belongs to us in 2022 when, as a human being from any nation, we make our peace with him. He is the “mountain of the house of the LORD”.
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