MICAH 4 - THE HOUSE AND THE KINGDOM
MICAH 4 - THE HOUSE AND THE KINGDOM
When Jehovah leads the remnant of Israel out of evil associations and assembles them in relation to Himself, as we have seen in chapter 2, His intention will be to establish His house as the place of divine teaching, and to set up His kingdom over His people so that, in result, He may give them the kingdom and dominion. These are the great subjects which chapter 4 brings before us.
The elevation of Jehovah’s house is very strikingly presented in the opening verses of the chapter. We read of “the mountain”, “the top of the mountains”, “lifted up above the hills”. “And many nations shall go and say, Come, and let us go up”. Men will become sensible “in the end of days” that God’s house is very elevated, but that it is attractive, and that it is worth while to go up to it. Indeed, it is said that “the peoples shall flow unto it”, which seems to indicate a readiness to move under a law of attraction which draws upward. The natural law of gravitation is reversed, and this is what always happens when grace becomes operative in the souls of men. The tendency of everything here is downward, for it is a fallen world, but when God moves in “the peoples” they will desire to flow up to what [p. 37] is of Him, and will realise that it is to be found in His house. This is true, in the principle of it, today.
It is well that we should entertain the thought that God has a house here where He dwells in grace and holiness. In the Lord His saints “are built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit;” Ephesians 2: 22. And Paul wrote to Timothy that he might know “how one ought to conduct oneself in God’s house, which is the assembly of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth”, 1 Timothy 3:15. That house exists that what is of God may be set forth in it as an attraction to men who have desire for something which is far above the level of the world or of the natural man. What an exercise it is that what is set forth shall be a true presentation of God in His blessed character of a Saviour God who will have all men to be saved! Men, long darkened and held in bondage by the god of this world, need the truth to set them free, and God’s house is “the pillar and base” of it. Hence it is impossible to think of any form of error being set forth, or tolerated, in that which has the true character of God’s house. Everything there must, indeed, have a very elevated character, for nothing could be suitable there which is unworthy of the One whose house it is.
None of us learn all at once what is suitable for God’s house. Even Timothy needed instruction as to it, and the sense how much we need this should make us appreciate the fact that God’s house is the place of divine teaching. This is the first feature of the house, as seen in Micah 4; “He will teach us of his ways”, verse 2. We come there to learn, and we should never lay aside this attitude of mind. It would maintain freshness in our souls, and in our intercourse with one another, and in the meetings. Those learning from God in His house will always have something to communicate, and in this way light as to God’s mind will be diffused, and this in view of there being increased ability to walk in His paths. This leads to extended testimony.
“For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and Jehovah’s word from Jerusalem”. The assembly being “the pillar and base of the truth” shows that God has in mind to set forth the truth in a company of persons. But it is certain that the assembly can only be the pillar of the truth, the public witness of it here, as holding it in love. And being the base of the truth suggests that the assembly supports the truth by being in practical accord with it. So that the law and the word go forth from a suitable centre. We all realise how the assembly has failed in public witness to [p. 38] this, and we do not exempt ourselves from having part in that failure. But it is our privilege, notwithstanding admitted failure, to cherish what is in the mind of God, and to refuse to adopt any lower standards. The chapter we are reading will show us how God considers in grace for those who have halted or limped. We can all own that we have done so, more or less, so that we are cast upon grace and mercy all the time, but let us not give up the divine thought. There is a provision of grace to remedy defects if they are felt and owned. If we honestly accept the obligation which rests upon us as being of the house of God, His grace will come in to help us and give us strength. This comes out in a touching way in verses 6 and 7.
“In that day, saith Jehovah, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted; and I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast off a strong nation”. It is very touching to see that, after speaking of millennial peace and fruitfulness, Jehovah returns to the thought of His gracious consideration for His feeble and afflicted people. This is to remind us that all that is good, or that will ever be good, in human beings is the fruit of sovereign mercy. As limping and afflicted, and even cast far off in the righteous government of God, His people will be made a remnant and a strong nation. We have often been told that a remnant is not a fag-end, but a piece which has the features of the original. It is a great honour from God, and a wondrous mercy, to be amongst those who are true the remnant today, having some of the original features of the truth as set forth in the Scriptures, particularly in the ministry of the apostles Paul and John. Though found limping and afflicted the remnant of Israel will be strengthened by grace under the new covenant so as to become a nucleus of blessing for the whole nation. If Philadelphian features are found anywhere today they are a nucleus of blessing for the whole assembly. Something is secured which has the original features of the assembly.
We are painfully aware of the fact that the nations have not yet forged their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-knives, but we are glad to know that this will come to pass “in the end of days”. And in the meantime it is possible to have peace and fruitfulness in a spiritual sense.
When the people are brought to say, “But we will walk in the name of Jehovah our God for ever and ever”, conditions are secured for His kingdom. Therefore it can be said, “And Jehovah [p. 39] shall reign over them in mount Zion, from henceforth even for ever”, verse 7. The kingdom requires a subject people from whom all elements of lawlessness have been purged. Jehovah will not stop short in His dealings with Israel until He has reached this end by giving them the Spirit of Christ. They will then delight in the law of Jehovah as having it written in their hearts. As brought under the moral sway of God the saints of the assembly become His kingdom. The Lord makes His loved and washed ones “a kingdom” (Revelation 1: 6); in this aspect they are reigned over so that they may know the blessedness of subjection to infinite love. This qualifies them for the wondrous place of reigning with Christ; they will have the kingdom along with Him. And this is what the daughter of Zion and the daughter of Jerusalem will have in their God-given domain. “And thou, O tower of the flock, hill of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, yea, the first dominion shall come, the kingdom to the daughter of Jerusalem”, verse 8. All that was set forth typically in the reigns of David and Solomon will come to the daughter of Zion and Jerusalem as having her part along with the King according to Psalm 45. Saints of the assembly, and others also, will reign with Christ; the kingdom comes to them along with Him.
But the kingdom will not come to the daughter of Zion until she has passed through great travail. She had to go captive to Babylon (verse 10), and we find that many nations will assemble against her (verse 11), but her travail will result eventually in her bringing forth a seed for blessing in the earth. “The remnant of her seed” is spoken of in Revelation 12:17, as the subject of the dragon’s enmity. But Jehovah will give her the dominion and the kingdom, and she will beat her enemies in pieces; verse 13. Saints of the assembly will have the dominion and the kingdom in a higher and better way as reigning with Christ above. But the travail precedes the dominion, it is the time of suffering and endurance now; but reigning together with Christ is the sure portion of those who suffer for or with Him now.