Micah 4:7, commentary and pictures

In the last days God gathers those who are lame and halting, driven out, scattered far off and afflicted, makes the halted ones a remnant and the far-off ones a strong nation, and reigns over them in Mount Zion from henceforth even forever. The remnant is the last part of God's church living on earth in the last days before the Saviour comes. That reign is Christ Himself taking the throne in the holy city, not the earthly but the heavenly Jerusalem above, in His everlasting kingdom of righteousness when the earth is cleansed from sin and the redeemed live in His presence forever. It does not mean the whole world will be converted and enjoy peace, for while many nations speak of peace and safety and turn implements of warfare into utensils of agriculture in word, they are preparing for war, and their words are quoted by God rather than commanded by Him. Amid that false peace cry and the popular religious movements of the last days, the true remnant who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony and faith of Jesus are counted of no esteem, persecuted and driven out, yet they trust in Christ rather than earthly powers and soon become triumphant victors with abundant entrance into the heavenly city where the Lord reigns over them forever.

Words and Historical Setting

Micah gave this word in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, when he lived at the same time as Isaiah. It prophesies very definitely of the coming and reign of Christ. It holds out wonderful promises to the repentant sinner.

It belongs to the prophecy of the latter days, when God will gather His people. It is part of a chapter identified as a prophecy of the last days.

Her that halted is the lame and weakened people, those who hold back from the course of the many nations. Her that was cast far off is those driven away, scattered, and afflicted, whom God has afflicted. The verse is part of the larger prophecy about Zion in Micah 4:1-7 and Micah 4:6-7. In that surrounding prophecy the daughter of Zion is looking for the King born in David's line, whom the church symbolically brought forth when the Son became man.

Gathering the Afflicted Remnant

In that day the Lord assembles and gathers her that halts, her that is driven out, and her that is afflicted, including those cast far off and scattered. He does not forget His people when wars and false cries of peace are precursors of Christ's coming, for they are a little flock persecuted because they preach peace only through faith in Jesus Christ. This gathering belongs to the last-days picture of many nations advocating peace and seeking God's instruction, and to the final gathering in which God's people will possess the everlasting kingdom and He will reign over them in Mount Zion from henceforth, even forever. Those gathered are God's people driven from the cities and dwelling in the field, and their deliverance contrasts with the defeat of nations that try to establish Christ's kingdom through civil power.

While many predict peace and most follow human teachings, only a few stop and listen to God. These are the people who hold back from the course of the many nations, afflicted and scattered, whom God makes His remnant and a strong nation over whom He reigns forever in Mount Zion. They, not those who seek to establish the Lord's kingdom by their own worldly means and follow the nations' own plans, have a part in the everlasting kingdom of righteousness.

God makes her that halted a remnant and her that was cast far off a strong nation, restoring those who were weakened and scattered. These afflicted, driven-out people are the remnant to whom God calls attention amid the popular religious movements of the last days. 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 darkening of the sun and moon. In the last days, while many speak of peace and safety, this remnant is gathered from those driven out, afflicted, poor, and cast off, which shows the verse does not teach that the whole world will be converted and enjoy universal peace. This remnant is the last of God's church, keeps His commandments and has the testimony of Jesus, and though earthly powers stirred up by the devil make war against it, the Lord delivers it, gives it victory, and reigns over it in Mount Zion forever.

While many peoples unite in a popular religious movement, God gathers those who are lame, driven away, and cast off and makes them a remnant and a strong nation. Their strength comes from God's power, in contrast to the opposing force's strength through its great numbers, and these are the two opposing armies of the latter days. God first makes the lame and scattered people a remnant and then makes that remnant a strong nation. The strong nation includes all God's children who died in Christ and are raised at His coming, while the faithful company living in the last days remains small compared with the world, and the Lord reigns over His people in Mount Zion forever.

Everlasting Reign in Zion

The Lord will reign over the gathered people in Mount Zion from henceforth, even forever, after assembling her that halts, her that is driven out, and her that is afflicted, making her that halted a remnant and her that was cast far off a strong nation. That reign belongs to the last-days picture of nations seeking God's instruction and peace, and it is the hope of the little flock persecuted for preaching peace only through faith in Jesus Christ. In the time of persecution and enforced religion the remnant over whom He reigns stands on God's word and trusts in Christ rather than earthly powers or human strength.

With that reign the former dominion and kingdom of Jerusalem are restored, as part of the latter-days prophecy. After Israel's government was uprooted and the people came under Gentile rule, the remnant is to be restored as a nation under the Lord's reign in the closing scenes of the present dispensation, connected with the establishment of the Lord's government described in Micah 4.

The reign is Christ Himself taking the throne and reigning in the holy city Jerusalem, not the earthly but the heavenly Jerusalem, the Jerusalem above. Those over whom He will reign are His children who at that time are driven out of the cities and dwell in the field as Lot did in Zoar, distinct from those who follow the nations' own plans and their pretentious peace conferences whose procedure the Lord repudiates. It is His everlasting kingdom of righteousness.

The promise applies to the final gathering of God's people, who will possess the everlasting kingdom. The result of God's gathering message is that His remnant people will be saved and the kingdom will come to Christ.

In its final fulfillment the second Adam will redeem the ruined human family and the earth, restore the lost inheritance, and reign over the redeemed earth, and His children will live in His presence and reign forever. The lasting reign of peace begins when Christ comes and the earth is cleansed from sin, and Micah 4 does not promise that war will end in the present age.

Peace Cry Versus War

In the last days, while many nations speak of peace and safety and advocate peace, the Lord's people are instead a remnant who are driven out, afflicted, and cast off. In that day He assembles and gathers her that halts, her that is driven away, and her that is afflicted, including those cast far off and scattered, and He makes her that halted a remnant and her that was cast far off a strong nation, and He reigns over them in Mount Zion forever. The verse therefore describes the Lord's afflicted and scattered people, not a time when all nations have already entered lasting peace, and the Lord speaks of their condition in that day, not of a world converted to peace.

The claim that implements of warfare will be turned into utensils of agriculture and that nations will cease to learn war is what the nations say, the words of men which God quotes, not God's own declaration, command, or message. It belongs to words about peace that people say while deceiving themselves with the hope of a glorious era, and that time of peace has not come yet while the nations of the present world face war. "In that day" means in the day of the self-exalted church's imaginary triumph through the support of the governments of earth by restored church-and-state national reform through religious legislation and national decrees, after the boastful proclamation of many nations which falsely claims the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken. Then the Lord will assemble and gather His humble, persecuted, scattered church, make them a remnant and a strong nation and set them on high, and the Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion from henceforth even forever.

The verse therefore does not teach that the whole world will be converted and enjoy peace, and it refutes the hope of a temporal millennium. It is set against Joel's opposite word about turning agricultural utensils into implements of war and arousing men of war, and its vision of nations seeking God's instruction and peace is set against the contrasting prophecy of nations preparing for war. The prophecy belongs to our times and to the prophecy of the last days, just before wrath is visited upon the ungodly. It is being fulfilled amid pretentious peace conferences, peace proposals, and international efforts to disarm even as nations prepare for war, when a world-wide federation is drawn together under popular sentiment and a confederacy of many nations gathers around a nominal form of religion in Jerusalem, and many nations accept messages of peace and security just as sudden destruction comes.

This restoration is not a converted world or lasting political peace, and the apparent promise of peace contrasts with the coming humbling of human pride and terror before the Lord. The brief period of political peace gives God's people time to proclaim a worldwide warning against false peace and appeal to the world to be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. The prophecy supports the belief that a peace movement will, at some point in world history, succeed in part in accomplishing its aims. Micah 4 gives the same fair description of peace and prosperity for Jerusalem in the last days as Isaiah 2:2-4, and its presence keeps that glowing peaceful picture from being dismissed as only the words of those prophesying peace where there is none.

Remnant Identity and Destiny

The afflicted, driven-out people whom God gathers are the remnant to whom He calls attention amid the popular religious movements of the last days. They are the true church as a remnant amid last-day apostasy, including those called out of Babylon, whom He makes a remnant and a strong nation and over whom He reigns in Mount Zion forever. This remnant arises after the Reformation, keeping the commandments of God and having the testimony of Jesus and the faith of Jesus, and for that reason the dragon makes war against them. That war and trouble centers on the fourth commandment requiring observance of the seventh day, as the dragon moves the two-horned beast to make a law forcing the earth to worship the first beast that instituted and enforced first-day observance. They are a little flock, persecuted because they preach peace only through faith in Jesus Christ.

In the time of persecution and enforced religion this remnant stands on God's word and trusts in Christ rather than earthly powers or human strength. They do not seek to establish the Lord's kingdom by their own worldly means, for only those who hold back from the course of the many nations have part in the everlasting kingdom of righteousness. Those over whom He will reign are His children who at that time are driven out of the cities and dwell in the field as Lot did in Zoar. Their deliverance contrasts with the defeat of the nations that try to establish Christ's kingdom through civil power.

While the popular movement calling for the world's conversion goes forward, the remnant are halting and afflicted and cast far off by that movement and counted of no esteem in the religious world. They must pass through the severe conflicts of the time of trouble, instructed about them by the warning voice of the third angel, and feel the burden to sound the trumpet of alarm to prepare others for the great day of God while a counter peace-and-safety cry is raised against them. Yet a few will stand its searching test, develop the patience of the saints, and live by faith and not by sight or feeling. They will soon become triumphant victors with abundant entrance into the heavenly city where the Lord reigns over them forever, for the Lord delivers this loyal remnant and gives it victory, showing that the verse does not promise conversion of the whole world or universal peace before the end. The verse gives precious promises to those who separate from former brethren and unite in carrying out the great principles of present truth, assuring them of God's approval.

The weight of the passages holds that this making of her that halted into a remnant and her that was cast far off into a strong nation predicts the establishment in the last days of an independent government and nationality where the true Israel, the church of God, can be protected in the right of civil and religious liberty. There they sit under their own vine and fig-tree under their own independent government, the remnant made a strong nation in connection with and at the time the scattering of the power of the holy people is accomplished, fulfilled in no other government but the government of the United States of North America. Beside this, those who held a different reckoning taught that her that was cast far off made a strong nation is the United States as the habitation of the strong, which Louis Napoleon as king of Babylon will invade to overthrow the modern Babylonian power at the time appointed by the chosen man who is like God, Michael, the shepherd Cyrus. In the setting of Micah 4, the passage used alongside Micah 5 identifies Babylon's capture of Judah as the beginning of the beast system's history, with the future of Judah's scattered and weakened people placed in God's hands to become a remnant and a strong nation under His everlasting reign on Mount Zion. The surrounding prophecy identifies the daughter of Zion as looking for the King born in David's line, and when the Son became man the church symbolically brought Him forth.