Biblical Optimism, With a Dash of Reality
Micah 4:9-13
Introduction – What have we been
promised in this chapter? Zion will be
exalted above all other mountains (v1), drawing all nations to herself and
bringing peace on earth (vv 2-5). Those
who have been afflicted, the meek, will personally be assembled in victory
(v6), to inherit the earth (vv7-8).
It’s enough to make one giddy with a simplistic optimism. But as we have seen, the triumph comes as a
result of the purification. And
purification comes from the fire of trials.
Micah guards against the abuse
which might be made of this optimistic hope.
He gives a clear exhortation to those who might carelessly fancy that
the threat of punishment was not meant so seriously after all. But that is balanced with a rebuke to the
very nations He will use to chastise His children.
The
Text –“Now why do you cry aloud? Is there no king in your midst? Has your counselor perished? For pangs have seized you like a woman in
labor. Be in pain, and labor to bring
forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in birth pangs. For now you shall go forth from the city,
you shall dwell in the field, and to Babylon you shall go. There you shall be delivered; there the Lord will redeem you from the hand of
your enemies. Now also many nations
have gathered against you, who say, “Let her be defiled, and let our eye look
upon Zion.” But they do not know the
thoughts of the Lord, nor do they
understand His counsel; for He will gather them like sheaves to the threshing
floor. “Arise and thresh, O daughter of
Zion; for I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hooves bronze; you
shall beat in pieces many peoples; I will consecrate their gain to the Lord, and their substance to the Lord
of the whole earth.”
God’s
Strategy With Israel (vv9-10) – With prophetic language,
Micah anticipates what Israel will say during its exile. But this paradigm exists for every believer
who experiences a time of trial and suffering.
Just as Micah gave this message to Israel before the actual trial, so it
is good for all believers to consider how they will walk through future
sufferings.
King and Counselor
– The glories have been promised, but “now” there are severe trials to
go through. These rhetorical questions
betray the faltering faith of Israel when she goes through these trials.
Be In Pain
– Labor coaches in delivery rooms speak like this – ‘go with the pain’. This vivid illustration of the labor and
birth is very appropriate. There are
sharp pains, but they lead to life.
This is not a ‘health and wealth’ gospel, for God has not ever promised
that there will not be any suffering here.
Quite the opposite “all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will
suffer persecution” (2 Tim 3:12).
Prophetic Details
– Micah takes the time to describe the exile.
First, you will be driven from the city. Then you will live in the open fields, and finally you will be
brought to Babylon. Isaiah will later
make a prophecy about Babylon as well (2 Kings 20:12-19). Even while Assyria is God’s appointed tool,
He knows His plans to use nations in the future.
God’s
Strategy With The Other Nations (vv11-13) – God
entices the other nations, making it look as though Israel is easy to
overthrow. He uses these nations to
perfect Israel through discipline, but He never leaves the remnant. For God has His plans, and they are never
thwarted, even in the midst of the plans for evil being devised by the wicked
nations. This is sovereignty in all its
glory.
The Use of Many Nations
– In its near fulfillment, all the enemies of Israel came together, hoping to
destroy her. They saw that God had left
her for a while in their hands, so they maliciously sought her
destruction. But there is another
“Israel” whom many nations gathered against, and in this One we see the
complete fulfillment (Acts 4:27-28). In
both situations, these enemies of God “…do not know the thoughts of the Lord,
nor do they understand His counsel”.
They look like they are in charge, but they don’t have a clue.
Arise and Thresh
– There is a great contrast here to the command in verse 9 to ‘be in
pain’. There comes a time when the
trial is over, God reveals His hand, and the battle turns. Is this fulfilled at Sennacherib’s defeat (2
Kings 18:13 – 19:37)? There is so much
more promised in the context of Chapters 4-5, we should see that defeat again
as a type of what Christ and His church will do. “And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on
whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder” (Matt 21:44).
The Consecration of the Whole Earth
– This threshing is going to accomplish something. All the gain will be the Lord’s, and it will be granted to Him as
“Lord of the whole earth” (see also Haggai 2:6-9). This kingdom is not simply manifest in heaven, but upon the earth
as well. This is why we pray, “Thy
kingdom come, they will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. This is why Jesus said “All authority has
been given to me in heaven and on earth …”
Pathetic Gospel
– When all we preach is that Jesus would like to be your friend if you would
like to come to Him, there is no threat.
If Jesus is simply waiting for us, hoping we will decide for Him, the
gospel will never be a force, so no one will attack it.
Gospel Threshing
– But we are told to ‘disciple the nations’, and we are promised that they
will. And when reformation takes hold
of the church, there will be opposition.
Personal Trials
– Having an optimistic view of the future does not promise a health-and-wealth
gospel for today. It pleases God to
take us through many trials.
Tribulation produces perseverance, character, and hope (Rom 5:1-5).
And
so, there are times to ‘be in pain’ and there are times to ‘arise and
thresh’. Dave
Hatcher – November 26, 2000