12“I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob;
I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel.
I will bring them together like sheep in a pen,
like a flock in its pasture;
the place will throng with people.
13One who breaks open the way will go up before them;
they will break through the gate and go out.
Their king will pass through before them,
the LORD at their head.”
Original Meaning
THE LARGER SECTION of Micah 1:1–2:13 is completed with a salvation oracle that provides the possibility of hope for a future gathering of a remnant after the judgment of the nation. In some ways this brief positive note is unexpected after the long series of negative messages. Consequently, scholars have doubted the authenticity and meaning of these verses. A. S. van der Woude interprets these words as the foolish hope of the false prophets whom Micah is quoting,1 but why would these people be talking about a return from exile if they never believed the nation would see disaster in Jerusalem (2:6)? Mays’s interpretation of “breaker” (prṣ; NIV “one who breaks,” 2:13) causes him to view this as a judgment oracle in which God sovereignly leads the people out of Jerusalem into exile.2
Some scholars see these two verses as an exilic or postexilic addition displaced from its original location in Micah 4:1–8,3 while others see it as Micah’s statement about the gathering of refugees because of Sennacherib’s invasion in 701 B.C.4 L. C. Allen makes the connection with 701 B.C. because he notices similarities between the wording here and Isaiah’s oracle of hope to Hezekiah when Sennacherib was attacking Jerusalem (2 Kings 19:31; Isa. 37:32). He also believes this verse contrasts victory at the gates of Jerusalem with the destruction at the gates in Micah 1:9, 12.5 If Micah is predicting the coming of an army against the cities in 1:10–15 (including Jerusalem in 1:9, 12), it should not be surprising for him to give a word of hope about what God will do for the remnant after the time of judgment (2:12–13).
These words cannot be dated exactly (i.e., during Sennacherib’s attack), because the description is too vague to be an eyewitness account of what happens.6 The rhetorical purpose of 2:12–13 is to encourage the righteous (following the hints of hope behind 2:5), who are being oppressed in Judah. They need to know that God has not forgotten them and that there will be a radical change in their situation in the future, when God acts as king among his people (2:13).
The Lord describes what he will do in 2:12 in first-person language. Then, using third-person verbs, Micah writes in 2:13 how God will do this. God promises in strong overtones (using an infinitive absolute plus a finite verb7) that “I will surely gather all of you,” giving the listeners great assurance of the promise of God’s care. It arouses determination to walk by faith, knowing that in the future God will transform their situation. This promise is first pronounced on all of “Jacob,” and then specifically given to “the remnant of Israel.” These are not contradictory, for all that will be left of Judah after God’s judgment of the powerful leaders (2:3–5, 10) will be a remnant.
This “gathering” and “bringing together” of many people “like sheep in a pen” implies a threatening force around them, possibly the destructive forces that come from God (alluded to in Micah 1:10–16). God’s shepherding is an activity of care and guidance that was the ideal of Hebrew kings (2 Sam. 5:2; Ezek. 34:1–6) and God himself (Ps. 23; Isa. 40:10–11; Ezek. 34:11–19). God will properly shepherd his people and not abuse them like the powerful leaders in Micah’s audience. There is no indication of who will scatter the flock, how the one who scatters will be defeated, where the people will be gathered to, or when this gathering will happen.
Since the exact historical setting is hidden in the future (some think it may relate to Sennacherib’s attack on Jerusalem), the focus falls only on God’s gracious care for his people. God has not and will not forget his faithful people in the midst of their trials. The final line of verse 12 describes the noise and excitement among those who are gathered together, not “confusion” as Waltke suggests.8
Additional information is provided in Micah 2:13 to explain more about this promise. There are three references to God (“one,” “their king,” “the LORD”), who will lead his people out of a gate. This probably does not refer to God’s breaking his people out of Babylonian captivity but to his breaking out of the gates of a city in power and victory.9 Elsewhere God does “break out” in his anger to defeat his enemies (Ex. 19:22, 24; 2 Sam. 6:8).10 Willis connects this idea to Davidic tradition, which recalls how “the LORD has broken out [prṣ] against my enemies before me” (2 Sam. 5:20).11 This imagery suggests that the people will be trapped in a city and God will deliver them. Verse 13 focuses on God as the sovereign King, who will bring about this great event, not on how this breaking out will actually be accomplished. God’s people do not need all the details spelled out; they act in faith, trusting that God will do what he has promised.
Bridging Contexts
THIS PASSAGE CANNOT be taken as a promise that God will always deliver his people from harm’s way or that God will always give us victory over our enemies. Sometimes God allows his people to suffer because of the sins of others (the powerful are oppressing people in Micah’s day), and at other times he miraculously intervenes in his sovereign power to care for and guide the remnant who will follow him. This promise does not eliminate the need for the death and destruction of Judah’s powerful leaders (and it also negatively impacts many innocent bystanders caught in this setting), for God also promises to destroy them (2:3–5, 10). This promise offers hope and a future to those who can see only more and more hopelessness ahead.
The character of God. Two principles are fundamental to all believers as they look to the future hope that God promises. People need to be sure about his character and what he will do for them. This passage says little directly about God’s character, although his kingly role and his “breaking out” imply that he has great power. His shepherding of his flock implies that he is loving and caring for each one of his sheep. He knows about the scattering of his people, so he will act on the behalf of the remnant.
The explicit promises in 2:12 (based on God’s character) provide the listener a great sense of security. The followers of God can be assured that he has a plan (“I will . . .”) for the future and is not at wits’ end trying to deal with calamities that happen to pop up unexpectedly. He will gather people (he will “surely” do so). This is not something that is just in the process of being thought out. His action is for his people, and he will provide safety for many. He will give good leadership because he is their king and leader. He will face the foe, and his power will overcome the enemy as he breaks out before them.
All of these factors function to support the rhetorical aim of this promise. As a messenger of God, Micah wants people in his audience to choose to trust God for their future, for he will sovereignly act on their behalf. Hope based on God’s character, and his promises can transform people to act in faith.
Contemporary Significance
CERTAINTY IN GOD’S promises. The character of God has not changed, and his actions on behalf of his people will continue into the future. These facts bring assurance and hope to God’s people everywhere and cause them to trust him as they struggle through trials. Although no one can predict what God will do in any specific situation (not even Micah does this), Scripture contains promises (Ezek. 36–39; Dan. 7–8) that assure people today that God knows what will happen and that he will ultimately have victory over all forces of evil.
In his Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24; Luke 21) Jesus reveals some of God’s plans. After the abomination that causes desolation appears in the temple (Matt. 24:15), the Son of Man will come in the clouds with power and great glory to gather his elect up into heaven (24:29–31). Knowing the future does not come from reading astrology charts in the newspaper; it comes from reading the Scriptures and understanding the character and plans of the Creator of the universe.
It is clear that God’s justice brings judgment on humankind, but his plans also include the eventual restoration of his people to himself. God is not powerless to deliver and restore his people. Believers must stand fast in their faith in God, wait for his timing to reveal the next step, and rest in the assurance that he will do what he has promised. We have hope because God is still in sovereign control of all that happens.
How does one prepare people in a congregation for these future events? One way is to follow Micah’s example and preach both God’s judgment of sin and his glorious hope for his people. As J. N. Oswalt contends:
There is no hope apart from judgment, and there is no judgment apart from hope. . . . He will be just and that means judgment, but he will be merciful and that means hope, and hope comes through judgment. What else is the Cross of Christ than the eternal vindication of the justice of God and the eternal proclamation of the mercy of God.12
If one believes in this supreme act of justice and mercy, the future justice and mercy of God fit as part of his eternal plan. A steady diet of basic Christian doctrine sprinkled into every sermon should provide a solid foundation for believers to face the future with hope. Then we can look through the eyes of faith to see and follow the divine plan God has revealed. There is hope because an all-powerful God who loves us is in charge of the future. He will not forsake his own but will gather them to himself.