TEXT [Commentary]

  II.   The Book of Visions (4:1–5:15)

A.   The Lord’s Future Reign (4:1-5)

1 In the last days, the mountain of the LORD’s house

will be the highest of all—

the most important place on earth.

It will be raised above the other hills,

and people from all over the world will stream there to worship.

2 People from many nations will come and say,

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,

to the house of Jacob’s God.

There he will teach us his ways,

and we will walk in his paths.”

For the LORD’s teaching will go out from Zion;

his word will go out from Jerusalem.

3 The LORD will mediate between peoples

and will settle disputes between strong nations far away.

They will hammer their swords into plowshares

and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation will no longer fight against nation,

nor train for war anymore.

4 Everyone will live in peace and prosperity,

enjoying their own grapevines and fig trees,

for there will be nothing to fear.

The LORD of Heaven’s Armies

has made this promise!

5 Though the nations around us follow their idols,

we will follow the LORD our God forever and ever.

NOTES

4:1 last days. This expression is prophetic shorthand for “the day of the LORD,” the eschatological day of divine intervention in history that brings both the judgment of the wicked and the deliverance of the righteous. It is a day of cosmic upheaval and reversal, a day of theophany (an appearance of the Lord) and holy war against the pagan nations. The “day of the LORD” is an indefinite period of time, but always an impending event for the OT prophets.

mountain of the LORD’s house. A reference to Mount Zion and the Temple of Yahweh (see note on Mount Zion in 3:12). The Temple that was laid waste as a result of God’s judgment of Judah’s sin will be restored (cf. 3:12), presumably after the heavenly prototype (cf. Ps 11:4; Heb 9:23). Mountains (harim [TH2022, ZH2215]) were the gateways to the abode of the gods in the minds of the ancients—“the psychic and spiritual entrance into the heavens” (Alexander, Baker, and Waltke 1988:168).

4:2 People from many nations will come. Jerusalem and the Temple of Yahweh as the cosmic center of God’s universal kingdom is a repeated motif in the eschatological visions of the OT prophets (e.g., Isa 56:6-7; Hag 2:7; Zech 14:16-19). The Day of the Lord culminates in the universal worship of Yahweh, and Micah’s vision anticipates John’s Apocalypse where the nations are gathered around the throne of the Lamb (Rev 7:9-10; cf. Rev 21:10-27).

teach. The verb (yarah [TH3384E, ZH3723]) means to “teach, instruct” (NIDOTTE 2.537-539), but is related to another root sharing the same spelling “to shoot an arrow” (NIDOTTE 2.535-536). The word “teaching, instruction” (torah [TH8451, ZH9368]) is derived from this same verb cluster. The instruction of Yahweh may be compared to archery in the sense that the “arrow” of God’s teaching (i.e., the laws, commandments, and statutes of the Mosaic covenant) was aimed at a “target”—God’s holiness. This is what the Hebrews were called to imitate as God’s people, his holiness (Lev 11:45).

walk in his paths. This is the Hebrew idiom for covenant fidelity with Yahweh, a lifestyle that confesses, loves, obeys, and relies upon the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (cf. Ps 1:2).

LORD’s teaching . . . his word. Lit., “instruction” (torah [TH8451, ZH9368]; cf. NIDOTTE 4.893-900), the very word of Yahweh (debar-yhwh [TH1697/3068, ZH1821/3378]). As Yahweh proclaimed his Torah from Mount Sinai to Israel, so the Lord’s instruction will be “broadcast” from Mount Zion to all nations. “This Torah is not simply head knowledge, a body of dogma or doctrine. It is instruction, a word from the Lord which calls for a response resulting in a new way of living for those who hear it” (Limburg 1988:181).

4:3 mediate. Yahweh will mediate (shapat [TH8199, ZH9149], “judge”) between the nations and “Jerusalem will become the international court whose findings [will] be accepted without quibble. Disputes would be settled amicably, for such would be Yahweh’s prestige that even great nations in far-flung corners of the world would acknowledge his equity” (Allen 1976:325).

nations . . . will hammer . . . plowshares. The nations will “retool” instruments of war and death into implements of peace and agricultural production as part of the cosmic reversal of the day of the Lord (cf. Isa 2:4; Joel 3:10). Mays (1976:98) notes that “people will use the scarce and valuable materials of earth to cultivate life instead of crafting death.”

4:4 enjoying their own grapevines and fig trees. The reference to vines and fig trees is an idiom for living in peace and security (cf. Zech 3:10) and recalled life during the “golden age” of King Solomon (1 Kgs 4:25).

LORD of Heaven’s Armies. This compound name for God is prominent in OT prophetic literature and is variously translated “LORD of Hosts” (NRSV) or “LORD Almighty” (NIV). The Hebrew expression (yhwh tseba’oth [TH3068/6635, ZH3378/7372]) is often understood as a construct-genitive, as is the case here. More precisely, the construction is one of absolute nouns in apposition, perhaps conveying a verbal force (“Yahweh creates armies”; cf. TDOT 5.515). The term translated “heaven’s armies” (tseba’oth) has military overtones and, in this case, refers to the angelic armies at God’s disposal. The epithet emphasizes the effective power behind the Lord’s commands, and the use of the name of God assures the prophet’s audience that the fulfillment of the divine promises concerning Judah’s deliverance and restoration is certain.

4:5 we will follow the LORD. The cosmic reversal of the day of the Lord will finally see a rebellious and unfaithful Israel cured of idolatry and fully restored to a relationship with Yahweh characterized by covenant obedience and loyalty (cf. Jer 31:31-34; Ezek 36:25-27).

COMMENTARY [Text]

This salvation oracle begins the Book of Visions (4:1–5:15) and marks a shift in the tone of Micah’s message from judgment to restoration. According to Andersen and Freedman (2000:397), the Book of Visions “is an apocalypse, a vision of the end and consummation of history.” R. L. Smith (1984:36) observes further that this passage “is freighted with eschatological overtones . . . Jerusalem and the Temple may be destroyed but they will be restored in a grander style than before.” Most striking is the transformation of the Jerusalem Temple from a local shrine for the Hebrew tribes to a universal worship center for people from all over the world (4:1). The prophecy is a highly stylized poem, “rhapsodical” in its presentation, in the assessment of Andersen and Freedman (2000:399; see further their discussion of the poetry of 4:1-5 [2000:398-399]).The first portion of the oracle (4:1-3) is very similar in form and content to Isaiah 2:2-4, but scholars disagree as to the relationship between the two pericopes (cf. the discussion in Hillers 1984:51-53). Allen (1976:323) is probably correct in his analysis that Micah took over and adapted an existing composition. A segment of the latter portion of the oracle (4:4) has affinities with Zechariah 3:10. The peace and security of Israel amid the nations portrayed in the salvation oracle stands in stark contrast to the preceding picture (in the oracle of judgment) of Jerusalem as a plowed field and a heap of rubble (3:12).

Micah described the day of the Lord as a day of reversal. He envisioned a day in which Jerusalem is the “navel” of the earth (4:1), a day when weapons of war are retooled as instruments of peace (4:3), a day when peace prevails over war (4:4), and a day when the worship of Yahweh is the “gold standard” among competing religious traditions (4:5). The idea of reversal is a common motif in the prophetic literature addressing the topic of the day of the Lord. This theme of reversal is sometimes called a “world upside down” (van Leeuwen 1986:599-610). God is a God of a “world upside down” in the sense that he is a God of surprises, a God of the unexpected. The Old Testament stories of Joseph, Gideon, Ruth, Hannah, David (among many others) reveal to us that God is such a God. Zechariah depicts God as a God of “small beginnings” (Zech 4:10). Jesus confirmed this in his teaching that compared the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed—the smallest of all seeds that eventually grows into a large tree (Matt 13:31-32). Paul explained to the Corinthian Christians that God deliberately chose to work through the foolish and weak things of this world so that humanity cannot boast in its achievement—rather, God receives all the glory (1 Cor 1:26-29). How much more does the New Testament story of the incarnation of Jesus the Messiah reveal God as a God of the unexpected, a God of surprises!

What might we learn from our discovery that God is the God of a “world upside down”? First, God has not changed. His thoughts are completely different than ours, and his ways are beyond anything we can imagine (Isa 55:8-9). Second, God is still in the business of doing “new things”—reversals like creating highways and rivers in the desert (Isa 43:19). Third, many in the religious communities of the Old and New Testaments missed seeing the hand of God in these surprises and failed to comprehend his work in the turnabout of unexpected events. This should sober us and make us ever alert and vigilant as a people of faith so that we do not find ourselves among those who are rebuked for having eyes but failing to see and ears but failing to hear (Mark 8:17-18). Finally, we must take the examples of Elisha (and his prayer that his servant’s eyes might be opened to the spiritual reality around him, 2 Kgs 6:17) and Paul (who constantly prayed that the eyes of the hearts of the Christians in Ephesus might be enlightened, [Eph 1:18, NIV]) as models of prayer. We need to ask God that our own “hearts will be flooded with light” so that we can begin to “understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him” (Eph 1:18-19, NLT).