Micah 4:6, commentary and pictures

In that day the Lord himself gathers those who halt and falter, who are driven out and cast far off, and who are afflicted and brought low. He makes her that halted a remnant and her that was cast far off a strong nation, and reigns over them in Mount Zion forever, restoring the former dominion and kingdom to Jerusalem. That day is the latter days and last days, when many nations and many people advocate and proclaim peace and that they shall learn war no more, while some of God's people are still halting, driven out, and afflicted. Those gathered are the last part of God's church living before the Saviour comes, called out from Babylon to keep all God's commandments and have the testimony of Jesus, opposed and cast off especially over the fourth commandment and the seventh-day Sabbath. It is not a converted world enjoying peace and safety or a temporal millennium of worldwide conversion, but the gathering and salvation of His remnant just before the Lord's return under His own future reign.

Words and Historical Setting

In that day is the time when many nations speak of peace and safety while the Lord's remnant people are still driven out and afflicted. It distinguishes the Lord's own words about gathering in verses 6-7 from the nations' predictions of peace in verses 2-5, and it is not a time when the world has been converted and made peaceful. Her that halteth are the few who halt amid the majority rushing for gain and listening only to men, who stop to hear what God says and obey the injunction to cease from man, in the last days when many nations and many people predict peace and say nation shall not lift up sword against nation. Halteth points to Jacob, whose thigh was touched by the angel and whose sinew shrank, and pictures the true church as regarded by the proud church and the world as weak and lame, gathered by God in the day when the world is falsely secure.

Micah prophesied in the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah as a prophet of Judah and an early contemporary of Isaiah, contemporary with Isaiah or a little earlier, whose prophecies his resemble. His fourth-chapter prophecy belongs to the latter days and foretells the last days when God will gather His people. His book is noted for its high standard of moral teaching and closely resembles Isaiah 2, and it prophesies very definitely of Christ's coming and holds out wonderful promise to the repentant sinner.

The verse is part of what the people shall say, not a command the Lord has spoken. It is the opposite of the call to prepare war, expressing the people's self-mocking illusion that they stand on the vestibule of a resplendently glorious era, with no corresponding action to follow it.

Gathering and Promised Kingdom

In that day the Lord Himself assembles and gathers her that halts and is driven out and afflicted, not forgetting His people in the day when false proclamations of peace and of war are precursors of Christ's coming. Those gathered are the lame and scattered and faltering, those cast far off and weak and unable to stand firm, the afflicted and driven out who are weak while the nations declare they shall learn war no more. They are a little flock persecuted because they proclaim peace only through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and the promise belongs to those who separate from former brethren and unite in the principles of present truth, who have God's approval and precious promises.

He makes her that halts a remnant and her that was cast far off a strong nation, and He reigns over them in Mount Zion forever. The remnant is the last part of God's church living on earth in the last days before the Saviour comes, called out after the signs of the darkened sun and moon, still driven out and afflicted while the nations speak of peace and safety. When earthly powers unite to enforce religion and persecute them, these afflicted, scattered and weakened people stand on God's word and trust in Christ rather than rely on nations or human power.

He restores the former dominion and kingdom to Jerusalem, with the kingdom coming to the daughter of Jerusalem. Though rejected and weak, though few and pressed by the nations, the gathered become the remnant and by God's support a strong nation, living under the Lord's rule in Mount Zion forever. They are distinct from the powerful latter-day religious movement of many peoples that is upheld by numbers, amid which God gathers those driven away and afflicted.

God repudiates the pretentious peace conferences of the nations to establish Christ's kingdom by force, and assembles His own children to reign over them as those at that time driven out of the cities who dwell in the field as Lot did in Zoar. This gathering message results in the salvation of His remnant people, with the kingdom coming to Christ, and the Jerusalem over which God reigns is the Jerusalem above. The strong nation includes all God's children who have died in Christ and are raised at Jesus' coming, while the remnant living in the last days is a small company compared with the world.

Last Days and False Peace

Micah's fourth chapter is a prophecy of the latter days and the last days, foretelling the time when God will gather His people. Micah 4:2-6 is the part of that prophecy in which in the last days many peoples and nations proclaim peace and declare that war will cease.

In the last days, while many nations and many people advocate, predict and proclaim peace and conversion, saying nation shall not lift up sword against nation and they shall learn war no more, some of God's people halt, are driven out, cast off, afflicted and brought low. Her that halts are the few who halt amid the majority rushing for gain and listening only to men, who stop to hear what God says and obey the injunction to cease from man. When the nations speak of peace, God gathers His remnant people, including those scattered, faltering, weak, unable to stand firm, and cast far off. While the nations proclaim a coming time of peace, the Lord's people are a halting, afflicted remnant.

Verses 6-7 give the Lord's own words about the gathering of His remnant, distinct from the predictions of the nations in verses 2-5 that peace and the cessation of war have come. They are God's account of what His remnant people will be doing when people declare that the nations will learn war no more, describing the Lord gathering those who are afflicted, driven out, or weak. In that day is the time when many nations speak of peace and safety while the Lord's remnant people are still driven out and afflicted.

It is not a time when the world has been converted and made peaceful, enjoys peace and safety, or enters a temporal millennium of worldwide conversion and an age of peace and righteousness. It describes the church's condition, work and end just before the Lord's return. The promised peace among the nations belongs to the Lord's future reign rather than the present age of war and deception. The gathering belongs to God's warning message of appeal to be reconciled to Him through Jesus Christ, and takes place after a brief period of political peace, not in a converted world or a peace that lasts forever. The popular message of peace and security prevails just as sudden destruction comes. While preparations for war continue, multitudes deceive themselves with the hope of peace, and that false hope becomes their snare.

The prophecy is a concise prophecy of a great world federation in the last days, drawn together under the influence of many people stirring popular sentiment. It is identified with the last days and with Jerusalem as the seat of a final confederacy, to which many nations give nominal honor to Christianity and offer feigned obedience. Micah 4 is a word about war concerning these times, standing alongside Joel 3:9-16. Its opening seven verses set the promise of peace in striking contrast to nations that speak of peace while preparing for war, a contrast fulfilled in the events of the time.

Identity and Persecution of Remnant

The remnant is the last part of God's church living on earth in the last days before the Saviour comes, called out after the signs of the darkened sun and moon. In the last days, while many people speak of universal peace and conversion, some of God's people will be afflicted, driven out, and cast off, and God will gather them and make them a remnant over whom He will reign in Mount Zion forever. This remnant is opposed by earthly powers, yet the scattered, faltering, and afflicted become a strong nation under His reign.

The verse points to the last end of the church, which must exist in the last days and face the dragon's wrath in falsehood, ridicule, and persecution. It must pass through the severe conflicts of the time of trouble, develop the patience of the saints and live by faith, and then stand triumphant with abundant entrance into the heavenly city. Those gathered are those called out from Babylon as a remnant of God's true church. They keep all of God's commandments and have the testimony of Jesus and the spirit of prophecy, keep the faith of Jesus, and sound the trumpet of alarm about the great day of God, for which they are counted of no esteem in the religious world and cast off by the popular religious movement that calls together the many nations.

The controversy and trouble against them centers on the fourth commandment, the observance of the seventh day, opposed by powers that institute and enforce first-day observance, for which they are driven out of fellowship and cast off as non-Christian. They hold back from the nations' self-directed plans for establishing the Lord's kingdom and proclaiming peace before God establishes His kingdom, and belong to the everlasting kingdom of righteousness. In the day when many nations pursue their own way of establishing the Lord's kingdom, the Lord assembles those who hold back from that work, pictured as halt, driven out, and afflicted, and makes them a remnant and a strong nation over whom He reigns in Mount Zion forever.

The promise applies to people who separate from former brethren and unite in the principles of present truth and have God's approval and precious promises. Those gathered are a little flock persecuted because they proclaim peace only through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whom God does not forget in the day when false proclamations of peace and war are precursors of Christ's coming. When a self-exalted church appears to triumph through earthly governments and earthly powers unite to enforce religion, God gathers His humble, persecuted, scattered people and makes the weak and far-off people a remnant and a strong nation. They stand on God's word and trust in Christ rather than rely on nations or human power, and being driven out and cast off is only the present part of their affliction before still greater trials and final deliverance.

The prophecy of a last-days government where God's true Israel, the church, would have independent nationality and power and be protected in civil and religious liberty was fulfilled in the establishment of the United States. As an ensign drawing people of many nations, it ended the scattering and protects and gathers God's afflicted and driven-out people under its guarantee of civil and religious liberty. The verse is part of the prophecy of Israel's restoration after Gentile rule, in which the Lord will gather and restore His afflicted, scattered people.

Related Prophecies and Fulfillments

Micah 4 closely resembles Isaiah 2. Micah was a prophet of Judah in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, about the time of Isaiah or a little earlier, an early contemporary whose prophecies resemble Isaiah's, and his book is noted for its high standard of moral teaching. Micah 4 gives the same glowing last-days promise of peace and glory for Jerusalem and the Jews as Isaiah 2:2-4, saying peace, peace where there is no peace, in contrast to the true last-day warning to prepare for war. That connection must be weighed before concluding from Isaiah 2:6 that God has forsaken the house of Jacob for prophesying falsely and being replenished from the east with soothsaying.

The peace among the nations belongs to the Lord's future reign, not to the present age of war and deception, distinguishing His promised future peace from claims that worldwide peace is about to arrive now. The prophecy runs parallel to Isaiah's warning that the nations seeking to establish Christ's kingdom through civil power will be disappointed and face divine judgment. Micah 4 and 5 contain very definite prophecies concerning the birth of Jesus and prophesy very definitely of Christ's coming. They hold out wonderful promise to the repentant sinner.

Read with Micah 5 and Revelation 12, Micah 4 belongs to the account of Judah's captivity. It shows Babylon as the beginning of the beast's succession of church-and-state powers, starting when Judah was taken captive.