Verse 1 Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.
The Hebrew word translated as “troops” is “gadad” and it means to penetrate, cut, attack, invade, or gather. The Hebrew word translated as “seige” is “suwm” and it means to put, place, set, appoint or make, to extend, to ordain, to establish, make, determine or fix. The exact meaning of this verse is open for debate depending on who the “he” is. Is it God, the Assyrians, or the Babylonians? This writer believes the prophet Micah is referring to God Almighty who has judged and pronounced in the previous chapters that both Israel and Judah will go into captivity because of their rebellion and wickedness. So based on that interpretation, the prophetic picture here is that God has appointed or established and determined certain events that will happen to these two nations. But that there will be a time when God who was/is the judge of Israel will be smitten by those that He saved out of Egypt and brought into the land of promise and established as a great nation. How can evil and wicked people serving Satan smite God who is Spirit? By killing His Son, Jesus Christ, who is presented by the prophet Micah in the next verse. “Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly; Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.” Acts 10:40-43
Verse 2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
This verse declares the coming Messiah, Jesus, who was born in Bethlehem and who was/is the ruler of Israel whose coming to Earth was planned and prophesied from before time began and foretold by all the prophets of God. Notice that the verse says, “shall he come forth unto me”. The “me” is God Almighty speaking through the prophet Micah.
The name, “Ephratah”, means “ash-heap or place of fruitfulness”. It was a place near Bethel where Rachel (Jacob’s wife) died and was buried, and it is another name for Bethlehem.
Application: Verse two above predicted the birth of the LORD Jesus Christ who is God manifested in the flesh. Jesus always existed in the Spirit as the Son of God, but the prophet Micah is saying that the Son of God was going to come to Earth as a man and take on the flesh of man. Jesus was both God and man. According to this verse, Jesus was to be the ruler in Israel, and most people interpret this verse by gravitating to the physical or natural and assume this ruler-ship was to be here on Earth in the physical land of Israel. Since that did not happen at the time of Jesus’ ministry on Earth, and since Jesus stated clearly that, “my kingdom is not of this world”, then this ruler-ship in Israel has to be other than that involving the land. It has to be in the spirit realm. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 3:28-29 So verse two above has been fulfilled as Jesus Christ the Son of God was born in the flesh in Bethlehem, and through His obedience to the Father took the sins of all people upon Himself, fulfilled the Old Testament Law and established a spiritual kingdom into which all of His children in Heaven and on Earth are citizens under His ruler-ship: the Israel of God.
Verse 3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.
Now it appears that the voice is that of the prophet Micah and the “he” doing the action is God. So Micah is saying that God is going to allow a time where the children of Israel will be under the governance of foreigners until the time of the coming of Jesus. “She which travaileth” refers in the natural to Mary birthing the LORD Jesus Christ, and in the spiritual to the establishment of the New Covenant and the spiritual Kingdom of God in which the Church became the Israel of God as the rebellious physical nation of Israel was destroyed and the Israelites scattered all over the world.
Application: This prophecy was fullfilled. Israel was conquered and taken captive into Assyria. When Assyria was conquered by Babylon, the Israelites were then absorbed into that nation along with their brethren, Judah, who were conquered and taken captive by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Eventually, a remnant returned to the land and resettled it when under the governance of the Medo-Persian empire, and they remained under foreign dominion by the Greek empire and then the Roman empire, during which the LORD Jesus Christ came to establish His Kingdom which is everlasting, the Spiritual Kingdom of God. Into that spiritual kingdom the apostles and many Jews entered and the Church was born.
Verses 4-5 And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth. 5 And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men.
Here it appears that “the Assyrian” is metaphor for the enemy of God and of His people. The LORD is the Shepherd of His people and so the picture here is that those who follow and serve the LORD will be cared for and strengthened by the spiritual ruler of Israel, Jesus, who will be/is great (“gadal” meaning nourish up, to grow, promote, make powerful, do great things, to be magnified). Jesus is the believer’s peace, as faith in Him provides a peace that the world cannot and does not understand. When the enemies of God and of His people come to attack and try to destroy, Jesus will be the defender. The number 7 in Scripture means divine protection, and the number 8 means resurrection or new beginnings. When people repent, get baptized, and then filled with the Holy Ghost/Spirit, they are new creatures with a new beginning. Before conversion, they were the walking dead as their bodies were alive, but their spirits were headed for eternal damnation. So as the Shepherd of His people, Jesus will protect and carry believers through this physical life into the next where they will be part of the resurrection of the dead on the last day, when the graves will open and those in Christ will rise to meet him, and those without Christ will be consigned to eternal damnation.
Verse 6 And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders.
In the natural, the land of Assyria was wasted with the sword of the Babylonians, but the spiritual context of this verse is that God’s people, the true Israel of God, the Church, will have the victory over the enemy with the sword, and for the believer, the sword is the Word of God. “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all taking the shield of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;” Ephesians 6:14-18
The name, Nimrod, means “rebellion” or “the valiant”. The story of Nimrod is recorded in Genesis chapter 10. It is from Nimrod that witchcraft came about. The kingdom he established was located in what became Assyria and later Babylon. So since witchcraft is Satan’s religion, the picture here is that under the leadership of the LORD Jesus Christ through His Holy Ghost/Spirit the Kingdom of God will have victory over that of Satan using the Word of God to fight the battles.
Verses 7-9 And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men. 8 And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver. 9 Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off.
Bible scholars interpret the verses above to mean that the Jews will live among many nations and be powerful and respected. Does history bear this out? They did indeed live among many nations when in captivity and when dispersed all over the world after 70A.D., but what about today? Historically, people calling themselves Jews were expelled from many nations because of their corrupt business practices and because of the trouble they caused and their violence. They historically have not been respected. And today, with the genocide they are committing in Palestine, can it be said that they are respected? And would they be powerful today if not for all the taxpayer monies going to their government via the United States? You, the reader, decide.
Another way to interpret the above verses is that the remnant of the children of Jacob (notice the prophet Micah did not say, “the remnant of Israel”, but used the name, Jacob, which means supplanter or one that replaces) would indeed dwell in the midst of many Gentile nations where they acted and are acting as predators (lions), not only among the unbelievers, but among the Church, where they trample down and destroy all the Gentiles that get in the way of their plan for world wide domination and the destruction of the Christian Church. A serious look at the history of conflict and wars in the last 100 years will reveal the footprint of the Jewish elite who have both instigated, started, and profited from all the death and destruction of Gentile people and their countries. Now, in case you, the reader, see the statements here as anti-Semitic, understand that they are not as there are no Semites or descendants of Shem, the son of Noah, that can be identified since the records of the Hebrew people were destroyed in 70 A.D., plain and simple. And those people today calling themselves Jews cannot prove their lineage back to the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. No, this writer is anti those who are against Christ and His people, the Church, against those who serve Satan and who hate truth.
Verses 10-15 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots: 11 And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strong holds: 12 And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers: 13 Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands. 14 And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee: so will I destroy thy cities. 15 And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard. (Micah 5)
Again the phrase, “that day”, is used by God to describe a judgement that will basically destroy the war machine, the armament supplies and military strongholds, the leadership and their witchcraft advisors, the idolatry and worship of Satan and his devils and the cities of all those who refuse to accept the true Judge and ruler of Israel and all the world, the King of kings and LORD of lords, the LORD Jesus Christ. “. . . Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” Romans 12:19