Micah 4 by G. V. KILGORE

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 26, 1875

By G. V. KILGORE

We are told that this is the portion of Scripture which proves positively the glorious millennium prior to the second advent of Christ. It states emphatically that “he [Christ] shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks.” In plain words it testifies that “nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree; and none shall make them afraid;” and to confirm it beyond a doubt, the reason that we may expect peace is assigned; “for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it.” These words are used by men professing to belong to the true Israel of God to prove the doctrine of the world’s conversion. This peace-and-safety cry is sounded aloud from the pulpits of the present day, and is echoed far and wide by many people.

If the above scripture was not surrounded with qualifying testimony, there would be some ground for such a theory. But the 4th verse of this liberal prediction—the 6th of the chapter—breathes a spirit which is not in harmony with that of the God of Heaven, who is “a jealous God” and who declares, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” This shows at once that somebody else besides the Lord is speaking. We look at the introduction of this prediction, verse 2, and learn who the real speakers are: “Many nations shall come and say.” Isaiah says: “Many people shall go and say.” Say what? The very same things that Micah declares many nations shall say in the “last days.” Does Isaiah say they will say these things in the last days? Yes; chap. 2: 2. And he declares in verse 6: “Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people, the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines.” The nations which Israel possessed hearkened unto diviners (Deut. 18: 14), but the Lord did not permit his people so to do. Diviners are the same as soothsayers. Josh. 13: 22. And here Isaiah says that many people in the last days will be like the Philistines, hearkening unto diviners. Therefore he cries out, chap. 3: 12, “As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them [i. e., they are easily led astray]. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.”

Right here we hear Ezekiel blaming the prophets (teachers) for not making up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord. Eze. 13: 5. In verses 9, 10, the Lord says, “Mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies; they shall not be in the assembly of my people. . . . Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace.”

The Philistines were a very proud people, Zech. 9: 6, hence Isaiah compares “many people” in the last days to them, and states that “the lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.” Isa. 2: 11. For he says they will cast their idols to the moles and to the bats, “to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.” This is to be the fate of those that hearken to diviners. Therefore, the prophet adds, “Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils.”

It is evident that they who say, “Nation shall not lift up a sword against nation,” &c., are not the people of God. Who, then, are the true Israel? What are they doing? and how do the “many nations” look upon them? Let the Lord answer by Micah: “In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted.” Chap. 4: 6, 7. For what? “And I will make her that halteth a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation.” In what day? In that day when “many people” are predicting peace; that is, “in the last days!” While the majority are rushing along eager for gain, and listening alone to the teachings of men, a few will halt and hear what God says; they will obey Isaiah’s injunction, “Cease ye from man.” Of them, the Lord says, he will make a strong nation, and reign over them forever in Mount Zion. Praise him for his goodness! Verse 8: “And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.” Yes; God will verify his promise to his Son, Ps. 2: 8; when the prediction contained in Dan. 7: 13, 14, is fulfilled. And afterward Christ will obey his Father’s instructions, Ps. 2: 9, and fulfill his own promise, by giving the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, to the people of the saints of the Most High.

But what people in the last days will the Lord call? The remnant. Joel 2: 32. Micah says they are “driven out,” “cast far off,” and “afflicted.” John from Patmos beholds them as they came up after “the earth helped the woman” (after the Reformation), keeping the commandments of God, and says that the dragon went to make war with them. No war, controversy, or division, can be raised about the commandments, except about the fourth, which enjoins the observance of the seventh day. Hence, it is evident that this is the precept that will cause the remnant trouble. The dragon urges the two-horned beast to make a law, causing “the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast,” which beast instituted and enforced first-day observance.

Verses 9 and 10 show that the remnant are to experience greater trials before deliverance than merely being driven out and cast off. These things are common now; for as soon as a person commences to keep all of God’s law, and believes that the spirit of prophecy belongs to the church in these days, he is driven out of fellowship, and cast off as non-Christian.

“Now why dost thou cry out aloud? is there no king in thee? is thy counselor perished? for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail. Be in pain, and labor to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail; for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.” These words imply that there is a king, a counselor, in Zion, and that we should trust in him, and not complain when troubles thicken around us; that there are great trials yet in the future for the people of God; and that they will not always have the privilege of even pitching tents in cities in which to hold meetings. Luke 14: 16–24, gives an illustration of the call to the marriage supper of the Lamb. In this parable, the invitation is given at a certain time to those in the “streets and lanes of the city,” afterward it is extended to those in the “highways and hedges.” So Micah says, “Now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field.” And more than this: “Thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.”

In Rev. 17, Babylon denotes that mother church which was drunken with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. In chapter 14: 8, herself and her daughters are represented by the same term, as being in a fallen condition. And here it is noticed that all nations have imbibed her corrupt doctrines. Immediately following this is a warning against the worship of the beast after which “all the world wondered,” and to which the two-horned beast of chapter 13 causes an image to be made, and whose worship it enforces under penalty of death. In this warning message are brought to view those who “keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” They are the remnant with whom the dragon makes war. Rev. 12: 17.

Dan. 12: 1, says, “There shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time; and at that time thy people shall be delivered.” Christ says in Matt. 10 that those whom he sends forth shall be as sheep among wolves; that they shall be brought before kings, governors, and councils; “and ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake; but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.” Therefore, considering the testimonies of Christ, Daniel, and John, it seems evident that Micah’s reference to the remnant’s going even to Babylon, and there being delivered, implies that after they are prohibited from preaching even in the streets and lanes of the city, and it is found out by the rulers that they have not held their peace, but have been crying aloud in the highways and hedges, they will be arrested and brought before governors for promulgating such doctrines as they hold. That is the way the old dragon (pagan Rome) served the apostle Paul. The leopard beast (papacy) received his power and did the same kind of work. The two-horned beast is to follow suit. He is to exercise all the power of the first beast before him, and speak as the dragon spake. The rigid laws of the dragon imprisoned the apostles, yea, they beheaded them, and nailed Jesus to the cross! What may the remnant expect, with whom the dragon is to make war? But, thank God, deliverance is promised. And the deeper the bondage by the power of Satan, the greater the deliverance.

“Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion.” This is the way the remnant, “whom the Lord shall call,” are to be looked upon, says Micah. The many nations feel sure that they are right, “but they know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither understand they his counsel; for he shall gather them as sheaves into the floor.” Verses 11, 12. He shall “bind them in bundles to burn them.” Matt. 13: 30.

Verse 13: “Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion; for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass; and thou shalt beat in pieces many people; and I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth.” Oh! who wants to be among the “many people” who say that “nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more”? Who wants to be with the heathen and all the wicked when they are convinced of sin? For that will not be until the fulfillment of Enoch’s prophecy: “Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” Then what becomes of them? Are they converted to holy living? They shall be “beat in pieces.” He shall “dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” They shall become “like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors;” and the wind shall carry them away, that no place shall be found for them.

G. V. KILGORE.

Micah 4.