Devotional Commentary on Micah 4
One of the unfortunate errors in prophetic
interpretation can be found in the commentaries of the Rabbis of the early,
middle and later Middle Ages and in the commentaries of many Reformation
Protestants who changed their interpretation model ca. the date of the
disappointment in 1844 of the Advent Awakening, as one can see in the appendix
of Thomas Myers commentary of Calvin on Daniel (1857). Not Historicism,
but Preterism garbed in Idealism, became the favorite
interpretation model of Protestantism globally since that time.
The Rabbis all came to the text of Micah 4,
read `atah = now and interpreted it as referring to the own-time of the
prophet. Thus, they were looking at events surrounding the time of Sennacherib
and Hezekiah with the Assyrians or the time of Nebuchadnezzar during the
Babylonian exile. Some rabbis, not all, made remarkable comments in which,
although they made an error in application to the day of Micah, nevertheless
hopped further to the times of the Messiah to come. These examples did not
escape our attention and will be incorporated in the explanations to follow.
There are in Micah 4, five times `atah = now
is used (Micah 4:7; 9; 10; 11; and 14). We note the errorful interpretations of
the rabbis to the prophets own times: 4:7 - Redak and Ibn Ezra had the exile in
mind. 4:9 - Rashi interpreted it as the kings of Assyria. Ibn Ezra and Redak
thought both of the exilic times. Redak thought about the exilic times altough
"a time will yet come when He will redeem all Israel who is scattered to
the ends of the earth". Rabbis Kara and Rashi interpreted it as a
reference to the exile. 4:10 - Rashi, Ibn Ezra, Redak thought of the captured
cities before the exile. Redak and Ibn Ezra mentioned Nebuchadnezzar. Isaiah da
Trani thought of Sennacherib. 4:11 - Redak feels that they should be consoled
"altough it is actually a long way off". Ibn Ezra thought it is to
the time of Zerubbabel. Mezudath David thought it is in the time of the Gog and
Magog wars. 4:14 - Kara and Rashi thought of Assyria. Redak interpreted the
verse as a reference to the war of the Gog and Magog. Mezudath David has the
exile in mind and Isaiah da Trani had Sennacherib in mind.
What is the great error in their hermeneutics
of Micah 4 here? It is the grammatical element `atah used five times by the
prophet Micah. Here is the bottom line: when the prophet uses `atah = now, it
can mean two different aspects: a) time `atah which is a point in time
in historical time bringing something into the present of the speaker or
writer. b) processional `atah which has nothing to do with past and
present or time but indicates the point in the order of occurences in a
process. It is the processional `atah that Micah is using here. He is busy
outlining some future series of events indicating some things to occur before
and after in a series of descriptions. When he interrupts the "then shall
...." series with a "and now" it is not his purpose to swing the
times back from future to his own day. It is rather within this string or chain
of events during the same future process, something will happen at a specific
point in time indicated as "and now" and that signal recognition in
future, will have an event happening concurrently or afterwards.
Micah is describing future events as one can
see in the verbs he is using: Qal imperfectum (4:1; 4:2; 4:3; 4:5; 4:6; 4:8;
4:10; 4:11; 4:13); Niphal imperfectum (4:10); Hiphil imperfectum (4:2; 4:6;
4:9; 4:14); Hithpo`el imperfectum (4:14); conversive perfectums (4:3; 4:4; 4:6;
4:7; 4:8; 4:9; 4:11; 4:12; 4:13). Prophetic genre is not narrative genre. One
cannot use the same grammatical logistics of narrative process descriptions to
explain everything in prophetic process descriptions. You cannot superimpose
over prophetic texts findings in narrative blocks of the Hebrew language and
then claim that the same rules and principles should apply. Mostly they do but
the difference between narrative descriptions and prophetic descriptions is
that the narrative descriptions are dealing with past events whereas the
prophetic descriptions are dealing with future events.
We know that Micah is not dealing with events
in his own time for the very reason that absolute events or terms are used:
forever. `awd = anymore (4:3); no one shall make them move (4:4); forever and
ever le`owlam w`ad (4:5; 7). These terms means that the eschaton has arrived.
The eschaton is the period where history transit to eschaton or eternity.
History meets eternity and that is the border of eschaton. Micah is describing
that transition period here. Things will be never more the same. Things will be
changed forever.
With these important principles laid down, we
are ready to see the message of Micah for our own day since the description is
what is going to happen shortly before the coming of the Lord or the Messiah.
We are living at the end of time and shortly before the coming of the Lord and
thus is the message of Micah relevant for us.
At the end of days, near the eschaton, near the coming of the
Lord, the mountain of the Lord shall be firmly establish at the top of the
mountains (4:1). Where is the mountain of the Lord? Not on earth. Not in Israel
or geographical Jerusalem. It is in heaven because that is where Satan or
Lucifer directed his attention against the throne of God according to Isaiah
14:12-14, the locus classicus for rebellion in heaven motif. The
rabbis all got entangled in ethnic and geographical literal earthly Israel and
Jerusalem. What Micah is describing here is the event of the Latter Rain and
its aftermaths. The result of the Latter Rain is that "the nations will
worship the Lord in one accord" (Redak). Even Redak did not think only of
ethnic Israel here. The heavenly sanctuary where Christ functions as highpriest
in the Most Holy since 1844 on the behalf of the saints, is the mountain that
will be established. We know it is the Most Holy since the tamid (daily
offerings = evenings and mornings offerings = `ereb boqer) took place in
the daily or Holies and that is the period between 31 CE to 1844 where Christ
ministered for people as priest at His Father's throne. If the tamid is
until 1844 or 2300 years (Daniel 8:14) then it follows that the next event will
be in the Most Holy and that is logical from 1844. Only Christ is involved in
this action and it forms part of the great process of salvation. In the Bible
all actions are directed by God from the Sanctuary and to the Sanctuary in
heaven. Our destiny is tied up to this great event or events at this location
and this is the mountain of the Lord that Micah is refering to. Redak's
thinking of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem can be cancelled for sure. Redak and
Ibn Ezra is correct in saying that the "consolation will come at the
end of the days, in the Messianic Era".
The biblical expression "mountain of
God" or "mountain of the Lord" is connected to the seat of the
throne of God, His reign, His operations, His heavenly sanctuary and the place
from where He rules and directs His judgments. The only denomination on earth
that has a Sanctuary Message is the Seventh-day Adventist church since 1844.
They discovered that the Lord was not to come in 1844, as true interpretation
of the year-day principle in the 2300 days prophecy of Daniel, but that Jesus
went as High Priest from the tamid or daily section of this mountain of the
Lord sanctuary to the Most Holy function, as typified by the tabernacle of
Moses, as the Lord showed the model to Moses way back in 1448 BCE at Sinai.
This message in 1844 was also Torah teaching since it brought the people since
those days back to the Ten Commandments of the Lord where especially Sunday was
a tampering with the Ten Commandments and a rectification of Creation and
Creator Theology in the Seventh-day Sabbath correction was bound up with
Sanctuary Theology. Instant Atonement Theology of the Reformers was replaced by
Continious Phases of Atonement Theology by Seventh-day Adventism. The process
of Atonement is not yet finished. Only when Hell eradicates Satan and all evil,
will atonement be fully accomplished. That is biblical theology. Of course
overlooked by Reformers in the past and denied by all who stick
fundamentalistically to the words of the Reformers. And yet the Reformers were
God's instruments in their generation and in their times. But, the Holy Spirit
will lead people into the full truth which will mean that what people A taught
them is less truth than what people B teaches them later and a shift in gears
are necessary. In Micah 4:9 Micah has the Lord asking the people why they are
so sad and whether they do not have a King of Kings (Himself, or Christ) and a
Counselor (Holy Spirit sent by Christ as our counselor and His vicarius
filii dei or representative of the Son of God). That is why papacy is in
trouble with Seventh-day Adventists and biblically in Revelation 13 with the
666 counting, since the papacy assumes the position allocated by Christ to the
Holy Spirit. Asking them if they do not have a King, means the King did not
come yet. Shortly before the King of Kings or Christ will come in the
Advent or Second Coming, there will be a Time of Trouble. It will
last about 9 months (Micah 5:2). If He comes, as King of Kings, the
people will not be sad. Thus, when He asks this question and is King of Kings,
it must be at the time of the closing of probabation or when the door
of Mercy closes. At that time Christ the Mediator or High Priest will
complete His Investigative Judgment phase with the people of God or
faithful through the ages and assume the kingly robe that the Father will give
Him. This is the time for nine months that the people of God will be without a
mediator in heaven and it is called in the Bible the Time of Jacob's trouble,
since in faith people will "wrestle with the God concept in
themselves". Meaning that they will feel that they are not saved. The
salvation security feeling will be absent and this will cause trauma for them.
Thus, the words of Micah 4:9 why they are sad since they do have a King of
Kings and Desire of Ages for themselves. The message of Micah 4 is
very clear. There is no need to find pockets in Assyrian and Babylonian historical
times for the allocation of this word and that word or this verse and that
verse like the rabbis struggled to do and many commentators through the
centuries followed in pursuit. The Door of Mercy closes some months
before the Second Coming and the time in between is the Time of
Trouble that Daniel 12:1 si talking about. Before this persecution time or
sad feeling time of the people of God, there will be a happy time or Latter
Rain time (see Joel and his promise of a second outpouring, 'early and latter
rain') when the gospel will be very successful all over the world due to the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit actitivies in abundance just like at Pentacost
days in Acts 2. This is where Micah 4 kicks off his description. The Sanctuary
Message Theology or Mountain of God theology shall be high above the
hills and nations shall stream to it and accept its truths (Micah 4:1).
When Micah 4 speaks about mountain, he
has in mind the throne of God, the seat of His activities in heaven, the
Heavenly Sanctuary. Heavenly Zion and heavenly Jerusalem are two spaces
intended for the remnant in future. This is not only Michah's idea, it is
biblical theology. The background of the origin of evil should not be left out
here and Micah did not. He used the word nakon in Micah 4:1 which is a
reference to the same word as mekon in Daniel 8:11 where the Little Horn
feminine verbs are suddenly switched to typify the rebellion in heaven
protagonist, Lucifer and as such masculine verbs are used, but also the mekon
of His sanctuary were thrown down by Lucifer. The sanctuary restoration since
1844 involves this nakon to be restored again and when the door of Mercy
closes is when Jesus the High Priest will conclude this action of restoration
of the nakon. The nakon will be established on the mountain says
Micah 4:1 which was the mekon of His sanctuary that was cast down (Daniel
8:11). The process of establishment of His mountain starts, according to
Micah 4:1 in the Time of the End and that according to biblical theology
is 1798 after. 1844 falls in this category as the end of the 2300 years and
thus the start of the establishment (nakon Micah 4:1). The role of the Torah
(Micah 4:2) from this period is important and Seventh-day Adventists role of
preaching the Torah or ten commandments, although the word is wider meaning all
instruction or revelation of God. Especially the Sabbath needed strong emphasis
since 1844 and is cardinal to a proper understanding of Torah. Break the
Sabbath by substitution of that day and you are not keeping the Torah. It is
that simple. From 1844 stretch the investigative judgement all the way to the
close of probation. "And He shall judge between many peoples" (Micah
4:3). This whole process of Judgment has three phases with the thousand years
in heaven establishing judgment of the saints where they ascertain God's just
reason for some of their love ones not to be there. The final executive
judgment will blot out all existence of evil, after the thousand years in
heaven of the saints. It is at this time of the final eradication of all evil
that swords and weapons are no longer useful and the expression of peace is
that in eternity people shall change weapons into agricultural tools (Micah
4:3). We know it is when eternity starts for Micah 4:3 says "neither shall
they learn war anymore". The eschaton has arrived. A new beginning, a new
creation of which Revelation's last chapters tells us more about and also the
last chapters of Isaiah.
During the Time of the judgment or investigative
judgment since 1844, ecumenism will be popular as Micah 4:5 says that they
will go "each one in the name of his god". However, the remnant or
people of God will go "in the name of the Lord" (Micah 4:5). They
will always go in the name of the Lord their God "forever and ever" (leolam
ad Micah 4:5).
Some time during this Investigative
Judgment since 1844 and before the close of probation or ending of this Investigative
Judgment in Heaven, the Latter Rain will fall. That experience is
what Micah 4:6 describes: He will heal the limping one, gather the lost and the
harmed and make them into one mighty nation. The unity of this remnant shall
continue past the time of the closing of probation, past the Time of Trouble
and past the Second Coming since He will rule over them "from now
unto eternity" (Micah 4:7). Christ will become King at the close of
probation (Revelation 11:15). That is when the last angel (seventh angel) is
blowing the trumpet. Ultimately at the Second Coming the remnant who are
resurrected and alive goes up in heaven to assemble in the heavenly Zion or
"tower of the daugther of Zion". The "daughter of Jerusalem [New
Jerusalem]" shall get the "former kingdom" as it was when
theocracy was in control of the universe (Micah 4:8). This has nothing to do
with earthly ecclessiastical agendas political or otherwise to set up a
"godlike" theocracy on earth. This is created and exists without any
human hands or assistance.
When it is the Close of Probation or
the Door of Mercy closes at the time Christ completes His Heavenly Sanctuary
activity, He will receive full Kingship from His Father, the Ancient of Days
of Daniel 7 (Revelation 11:15).
From this time, Micah 4:9 says, pangs like a
woman in confinement will grib the remnant. It will be a period of 9 months it
seems. It appears that the Time of Trouble will only be for 9 months. It
is then that the question is asked to the remnant "Is the King not among
you or the Counselor (Holy Spirit)?" This is a time of pain and kneeling
(Micah 4:10). The hand of the enemies will be strong on the remnant (Micah
4:10). The rescue in sight in this verse is when they shall be redeemed and
rescued (Micah 4:10). This is at the Second Coming at the end of the Time of
Trouble. During this Time of Trouble the judges of Israel shall be
striken on the cheek (Micah 4:14). The evil nations shall cry "Let her
[remnant] be guilty" (Micah 4:11). It is during this time that the remnant
will leave the cities (Micah 4:10) "now you shall go forth from the city
and you shall dwell in the field". They will be saved near Babylon.
Spiritual Babylon is the seat of the Vatican and political Babylon in modern
times will be the World Empire at that time. Currently the World Empire is the
United States and it has been that way since the fall of the Holy Roman Empire
or Catholic rule in 1798. Who the Global Persecuting World Empire is going to
be, is not clear. China has aspirations to be World Empire like the USA but
that hope is not peacefully possible since the USA is a rainbow nation but
China is only one race, Asian. Are the people in the Time of Trouble
going to ran to the USA [current political Babylon = current World `Empire']
and be saved there?
What the nations during the Time of
Trouble do not understand is that they thought by pronouncing the remnant
guilty they are doing the work of God and that their eyes will see on Zion
(Micah 4:11). They are mistaken and deceived and do not know the ways of God.
God intends the remnant who was squashed
during the Time of Trouble to be victorious. He wants them to take part
in His threshing action (4:12). Sheaves of evil will be gathered for threshing.
The Lord takes back (Micah 4:13) probably means that major confiscations and
landgrabbing are going to take place during the Time of Trouble in which God
will by His appearance at the Second Coming causes all evil nations to tremble
in that action "takes back" the confiscated lands. Take back can also
refer to a piece of wood that is burnt but grabbed before totally destroyed.
Dear God You have
Your eyes fixed on the remnant. It is our desire that You are eager to bring us
unto Yourself. Take our consecrated life unto Yourself. In Jesus Name Amen.