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Micah Chapter
Five
Micah 5
Chapter Contents
The birth of Christ and conversion of the Gentiles. (1-6)
The triumphs of Israel. (7-15)
Commentary on Micah 5:1-6
Having showed how low the house of David would be
brought
a prediction of the Messiah and his kingdom is added to encourage the
faith of God's people. His existence from eternity as God
and his office as
Mediator
are noticed. Here is foretold that Bethlehem should be his
birthplace. Hence it was universally known among the Jews
Matthew 2:5. Christ's government shall be very
happy for his subjects; they shall be safe and easy. Under the shadow of
protection from the Assyrians
is a promise of protection to the gospel church
and all believers
from the designs and attempts of the powers of darkness.
Christ is our Peace as a Priest
making atonement for sin
and reconciling us
to God; and he is our Peace as a King
conquering our enemies: hence our souls
may dwell at ease in him. Christ will find instruments to protect and deliver.
Those that threaten ruin to the church of God
soon bring ruin on themselves.
This may include the past powerful effects of the preached gospel
its future
spread
and the ruin of all antichristian powers. This is
perhaps
the most
important single prophecy in the Old Testament: it respects the personal
character of the Messiah
and the discoveries of himself to the world. It
distinguishes his human birth from his existing from eternity; it foretells the
rejection of the Israelites and Jews for a season
their final restoration
and
the universal peace to prevail through the whole earth in the latter days. In
the mean time let us trust our Shepherd's care and power. If he permits the
assault of our enemies
he will supply helpers and assistance for us.
Commentary on Micah 5:7-15
The remnant of Israel
converted to Christ in the
primitive times
were among many nations as the drops of dew
and were made
instruments in calling a large increase of spiritual worshippers. But to those
who neglected or opposed this salvation
they would
as lions
cause terror
their doctrine condemning them. The Lord also declares that he would cause not
only the reformation of the Jews
but the purification of the Christian church.
In like manner shall we be assured of victory in our personal conflicts
as we
simply depend upon the Lord our salvation
worship him
and serve him with
diligence.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Micah》
Micah 5
Verse 1
[1] Now gather thyself in troops
O daughter of troops: he
hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod
upon the cheek.
Now gather thyself — Since this must be
done
do it quickly.
O daughter of troops — Nineveh or Babylon.
He — Sennacherib
or Nebuchadnezzar.
They — The proud
oppressive enemy.
The judge — The king.
Of Israel — Not the ten tribes
though they
are actually called by this name
but the two tribes that adhered to David's
family.
A rod — This is a proverbial speech
expressing the most
contemptuous usage.
Verse 2
[2] But thou
Bethlehem Ephratah
though thou be little
among the thousands of Judah
yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that
is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old
from
everlasting.
Bethlehem — Bethlehem of Judah was called
Ephratah
from the fruitfulness of the land where it stood: the word whence it
is derived importing fruitfulness.
Art thou little — If thou art the least in other
respects in this thou art honoured above them all.
Ruler — King and sovereign.
In Israel — Amidst the Israel of God.
Going forth — Whose generation
as he is the
Son of God
equal with his father
is eternal.
Verse 3
[3] Therefore will he give them up
until the time that she
which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall
return unto the children of Israel.
He — God.
Give them up — To the Chaldeans.
She — The daughter of Zion
compared here to a woman in
travail
shall be delivered out of captivity.
His brethren — The brethren of the Messiah.
Those of Judah and Benjamin who were carried captive.
Verse 4
[4] And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD
in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now
shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.
He — The ruler
the Messiah shall stand. This posture
speaks the readiness
chearfulness
and stability of Christ
his government
and kingdom.
Feed — As a shepherd that diligently guides
preserves
and
feeds his sheep.
By the strength — By his own almighty strength.
Of the name — By commission from the Father in
whose name Christ came
preached
wrought miracles
and instituted his gospel
church.
They — His church made up of converted Jews and Gentiles
shall continue; the gates of hell shall not prevail against them.
For — The church is so redeemed
and established
that
Christ the Messiah might be glorified
throughout the world.
Verse 5
[5] And this man shall be the peace
when the Assyrian shall
come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces
then shall we raise
against him seven shepherds
and eight principal men.
This man — The Messiah.
The peace — Which is promised to the people of
God; all their deliverances are not only for his sake
but effected by his
power.
Shall tread in our palaces — Which Sennacherib did
in all the cities of Judah
except Jerusalem.
We — Hezekiah
and with him the prophets and people
shall
prevail with God to send deliverance.
Seven shepherds — A certain number put for an
uncertain.
Verse 6
[6] And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword
and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from
the Assyrian
when he cometh into our land
and when he treadeth within our
borders.
They — The seven shepherds
and eight principal men
those
great instruments of God's revenge
and his church's deliverance.
Waste the land — So did Merodach Baladan
king of
Babylon.
The land of Nimrod — The same with the
land of Assyria.
The entrance — The fortified frontiers. In this
manner shall he
the Messiah
deliver the Jews
his people.
The Assyrian — The type of all other enemies
to
the people of God.
Verse 7
[7] And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many
people as a dew from the LORD
as the showers upon the grass
that tarrieth not
for man
nor waiteth for the sons of men.
As a dew — This remnant wherever they are
shall multiply as the
dew that refreshes the grass
so where this remnant is
it shall be a blessing
to those about them
that use them friendly.
As the showers — God shall bless them by his
immediate hand
as he alone
without the help of man
gives dew and showers. As
this was fulfilled in the type
before the gospel was preached to all nations
so it hath been
now is
and ever shall be fulfilled in ages to come. God's
remnant shall be a blessing to the places they live in.
Verse 8
[8] And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in
the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest
as a young
lion among the flocks of sheep: who
if he go through
both treadeth down
and
teareth in pieces
and none can deliver.
As a lion — For strength and courage
which
the beasts of the forest dare not oppose
and cannot resist.
Verse 9
[9] Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries
and all thine enemies shall be cut off.
Thine hand — Thou people of God.
Verse 10
[10] And it shall come to pass in that day
saith the LORD
that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee
and I will destroy thy
chariots:
I will cut off — Not in judgment
but in mercy
for there shall be no need of them
nor shall the church of God any more rely
on them.
Thy chariots — Chariots prepared for war.
Verse 11
[11] And I will cut off the cities of thy land
and throw
down all thy strong holds:
The cities — Cut off the occasion of
fortifying their cities
thou shalt need no other defence than what I am to
thee.
Verse 12
[12] And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and
thou shalt have no more soothsayers:
I will cut off — God will in mercy to his people
take away these occasions of sin.
Verse 13
[13] Thy graven images also will I cut off
and thy standing
images out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of
thine hands.
Graven images — This was verified among the Jews
who to this day hate images for divine uses
and learnt this in their
captivity.
Verse 14
[14] And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee:
so will I destroy thy cities.
Thy groves — The groves which they abused by
idolatrous worship.
Verse 15
[15] And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the
heathen
such as they have not heard.
Have not heard — In an unprecedented manner.
Christ will give his Son either the hearts or necks of his enemies
and make
them either his friends or his footstool.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Micah》
05 Chapter 5
Verses 1-15
Verse 1
Now gather thyself in troops
O daughter of troops
The Church of God
I.
As
militant in its character. Jerusalem is addressed as “daughter of troops.” As
Jerusalem was a military city containing a great body of soldiers within her
walls
so is the Church on earth
it is military. The life of all true men here
is that of a battle; all are soldiers
bound to be valiant for the truth. They
are commanded to fight the good fight
to war the good warfare. The warfare is
spiritual
righteous
indispensable
personal. No one can fight the battle by
proxy. Look at the Church--
II. As perilous in
its position. “He hath laid siege against us.” The dangerous condition of
Jerusalem when the Chaldean army surrounded its walls in order to force an
entrance
is only a faint shadow of the perilous position of the Church of God.
It is besieged by mighty hosts of errors and evil passions
and mighty lusts
that “war against the soul.” The siege is planned with strategic skill
and
with malignant determination.
III. As resulted by
its enemies. “They shall smite the Judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.”
Were the enemies of Christianity ever more insolent than in this age?
IV. As summoned to
action. “Now gather thyself in troops.” The men of Jerusalem are here commanded
by heaven to marshal their troops and to prepare for battle
since the enemies
are outside their walls. Far more urgent is the duty of the Church to collect
arrange
and concentrate all its forces against the mighty hosts that encompass
it. (Homilist.)
Verse 2
But thou
Bethlehem Ephratah
though thou be little among the
thousands of Judah
Bethlehem and its Babe
The Jews regarded this text as a prophecy of Messiah’s birthplace.
Micah
though a prophet of Divine wrath
is also a prophet of Divine promise.
Next to Isaiah
he is richest in Messianic prediction.
I. Concerning
Bethlehem. Micah is noted for his “rapid transitions” from one topic to
another--from threats to promises. The prophet addresses the village by both
its names
Bethlehem Ephratah. The patriarchal name Ephratah means
“fruitfulness.” It was one of the most fertile parts of Palestine
and its
natural fruitfulness was a prophecy of its spiritual fruitfulness. Bethlehem
means the “house of bread
” and points to its specific form of fertility
its
rich corn land. The prophet marks with wonder its insignificance. It was too
remote ever to become a place of importance.
II. Concerning
christ. We cannot select our birthplace and circumstances
but Christ could.
The Saviour came to teach humility
and to reverse the maxims of the world.
Bethlehem was the city of David
and Christ was to be of the seed of David. We
have also the description of Christ’s office. “Ruler in Israel.” He came to
found a kingdom. The description of Christ’s person
the eternity of God the
Son
is also contained in the text.
III. Lessons.
1. We are taught the grace of lowliness.
2. The name “house of bread” reminds us of the great Sacrament.
3. The prophetic description helps us to realise the two natures in
one Divine Person.
4. Obedience to our King is the way to reach up to the higher mystery
of His timeless generation (John 7:17). (The Thinker.)
The littleness of Bethlehem
and the greatness of Christ
Bethlehem cannot account for Jesus. Do mangers bring forth
Messiahs? Things bring forth after their kind. It is true that genius often
arises from lowliest station
and the great human powers seem to make way for
themselves through narrowest surroundings.
1. Consider the meaning of this fact
that from the lowliest of
peasants sprang the soul that has swayed the mightiest intellects of the world.
The moving powers of the eighteen centuries have been themselves moved by Jesus
Christ.
2. That out of the most materialistic of religions came the most
spiritual of teachers. Judaism clung with almost ferocious tenacity to external
signs and symbols.
3. That out of the narrowest of races came the most universal of
teachers. The characteristic of Judaism
ancient and modern
is its refusal to
recognise the universal element in religion or in humanity.
4. That out of an age which exalted power as supreme
came One who
exalted love as supreme in God and in man. The symbol of Rome was the
rapacious
unwearied eagle. Military virtues were supreme. The Jews wanted a
conquering general as Messiah. Out of such environment and atmosphere came One
who exalted the feminine virtues
and proclaimed that the meek should inherit
the earth. And as Bethlehem could not produce Christ
it could not confine
Christ. (W. H. P. Faunce.)
Prophecy of the Nativity
One great use of prophecy is to give authority and weight to the
doctrines delivered by the prophet. In order that the evidence arising from
prophecy may be perfectly convincing
it seems necessary that the meaning of
the prediction should be somewhat obscure at first; otherwise the friends and
followers of the prophet might perhaps find means to bring about a fulfilment
of it; or his opposers might
in some cases
prevent its accomplishment. It
must
however
be sufficiently precise to verify the event when it comes to
pass. However obscure and mysterious
a prophet’s words could not fail to be
striking and interesting. The text pro vides an excellent specimen of prophetic
methods. Suppose you had never heard of any event which could be regarded as a
fulfilment of Micah’s prediction
in what light would it appear to you? However
perplexing
there is one thing you would understand. A town is distinctly
referred to. There the Person foretold by Micah was born seven hundred years
later.
I. The human birth
of Jesus. It is a human birth that is foretold. The place where David was born
was to be the birthplace of a second David
the Saviour of the world. Observe
how singularly the prediction was fulfilled
without the least suspicion of
human contrivance
merely by God’s secret overruling providence.
II. The eternal
Godhead of Christ. “Whose goings forth have been from everlasting.” To those
who first heard this language
how strange it would appear! Something more than
human is here described. Words like these are never applied to any creature;
but to God the Creator they are frequently applied. The language of Micah gives
the twofold character of the Messiah.
III. His mediatorial
dignity. He is--
1. Our Ruler.
2. Our Restorer.
3. Our Shepherd.
His administration of all these offices shall one day be
universal. (J. Jowett.)
Christ
I. His birth as
the Son of Man.
1. He was born in obscurity. As a protest to the ages against the
popular and influential opinion that human dignity consists in birth and
ancestral distinctions.
2. He was born according to Divine plan. “Out of thee shall He come
forth unto Me.” Who? Jehovah. The fact of His birth
the scene of His birth
the object of His birth
were all according to a Divine plan. “He shall come
forth unto Me.”
3. He was born to an empire. “To be Ruler in Israel.” He is the
Prince of Peace on whose shoulder the government is laid. He is a Ruler. Not a
temporal ruler
temporal rule is but a shadow. He is to rule thought
intelligence
soul. He is the greatest king who governs mind; and no one has
obtained such a government over mind as He who
eighteen centuries ago
“came
forth out of Bethlehem Ephratah.” His kingdom is increasing every day.
II. His history as
the Son of God. “Whose goings forth have been from of old
from everlasting
”
or
as Delitzsch says
“Whose goings forth are from olden time
from the days
of eternity.” (Homilist.)
Of the Nativity
There is no applying this verse to any but to Christ.
I. The place of
His birth. Bethlehem; spoken of as little
and Ephrata fruitful.” There were
two Bethlehems. One in the tribe of Zebulon. It was a sorry poor village.
II. The Person that
cometh from this place.
III. Of both His
natures. “As Man from Bethlehem; as God from everlasting.
IV. His office. Go
before us
and be our Guide. He not only leads
He feeds. (Launcelot
Andrewes
D. D.)
The King of Zion
I. The promised
Messiah in His true nature. A Man. Come out of Bethlehem. He was born there.
More than man. The prophet speaks of a twofold going forth
of Bethlehem
and
“from everlasting.” True God as well as true Man.
II. Jesus in His
character as Ruler. What are regal acts? The exercise of legislative and
judicial authority. The legislative consists in making and repealing laws. The
judicial in executing or applying laws.
III. Jesus in His
character as Shepherd. Who are His sheep? First the Jews
then the Gentiles. As
a shepherd His care is constant--He changes not. It is tender and
discriminating care. It is effectual. He gives us life. (J. Summerfield
A.
M.)
Christ’s birthplace
This passage has always been regarded as one of the clearest and
most striking of the ancient prophecies of the Messiah. The gradations in the
revelations of Christ have always awakened the attention of Bible readers.
First
we have the old word in Eden from the lips of the Lord God to the
serpent about his seed and the seed of Eve: “It shall bruise thy head
and thou
shalt bruise his heel.” Out of which dim Messianic germ grows the whole
wonderful mediatorial history
its conflicts
its alterations
its reversals
and its eternal triumph in the endless overthrow of its great adversary. Then
about 1600 years later
the Shemitic division of the human race is indicated as
the favoured one
rather than Japhet or Ham. By and by Abraham was selected
from the sons of Shem to be the head of the Hebrew race
from whom the Redeemer
should come. Two hundred years later Jacob
on his dying bed
points out the
particular tribe of Israel from whom the Shiloh or Prince of Peace shall be
born. No further revelation was then made for about seven hundred years
when
the house of David
of the tribe of Judah
was declared to be the favoured
family
and about three hundred years after that
in the days of Hezekiah
the
prophet Micah reveals the place where Messiah shall be born. This was all that
was known for the next seven hundred years
but every intelligent Jew knew that
the coming Messiah was to be the Son of David
and was to be born in Bethlehem
of Judah. “Thou Bethlehem Ephratah
though thou be little among the thousands
of Judah.” So unimportant was Bethlehem in the old times
that Joshua in his
enumeration of the cities and villages of Judah gives it no mention: Rehoboam
made it a sort of outlying fortress to Jerusalem
and the Philistines at one
time had a garrison there
the place being a strong natural position. But it
never grew to size
or became of any national importance
except for its
associations. Although the birthplace of David
the great king
yet it never
rose above the grade of an obscure Jewish village. In the list of Judean
villages which Nehemiah gives after the Captivity it is not named
and in the
New Testament
after the birth of Jesus and in that connection
its name never
once occurs. So little was Bethlehem Ephratah. And it did not seem destined to
any more commanding place in history when
in later times
a plain-looking
couple drew near the village
a young wife and her husband
travelling on foot
because very poor
although both of the lineage of David. For not only was
Bethlehem little
but the exceeding low condition to which the family of the
great king had sunk appears from the fact that Joseph and Mary
who could trace
their pedigree up to David through a long line of kings
were thus poor
and
received no sort of recognition in the crowded village. But Bethlehem Ephratah
was now to be immortalised indeed. Athens
Ephesus
Alexandria
Rome
all were
extant
some of them at the very pinnacle of their glory
but the glory of
Bethlehem was henceforth to surpass them all. You will mark here the words “unto
Me.” The birth of Christ was an event whose relations were chiefly
Godward. Christ’s coming to the earth is inconceivably the greatest of all
events to us; but
after all
God the Father
and the eternal glory of the
Godhead
are concerned in it in a way we cannot now fully understand
but of
which the Scriptures give us distinct intimations. It would be quite in
accordance with the choice of little Bethlehem as the birth place of the Divine
Lord
and the passing by of the great places of the world
if God should have
chosen our small earth
this little globe
to be the scene of the wondrous
Incarnation
passing by those far mightier worlds in space whose magnitude
dwarfs into insignificance this minute planet; here
in a world whose absence
would hardly be missed from the vast system
to enact scenes of unparalleled
importance to all worlds
illustrating all the principles of the Divine
government and the most precious attributes of the Divine Nature. The word
“Ruler” is suggestive. The usual Old Testament idea of Christ is that of the
head of a kingdom or dynasty. The representations of Isaiah
chapter 53
and of
the prophet Zechariah
are exceptions to the general Old Testament thought of
the Messiah. Elsewhere it
is the Shiloh or Prince
the King in Zion
the son
of David enthroned--He upon whose shoulders has been laid the government
who
is to reign over the house of Jacob forever
and to whose kingdom there is to
be no end. The connection of these last words with the former words of the
prophecy are wonderfully instructive; “He shall come forth out of thee
little
Bethlehem
” and the words
“He whose goings forth have been from of old
from
everlasting.” Have they not great suggestions of the nature of the coming
Messiah? Does the Old Testament know nothing of the mystery and the miracle of
the Saviour’s birth
of the human and the divine
of the advent in time and the
glory with the Father before the makest the outgoings of the morning and
evening to rejoice.” It is used to denote that which proceeds out from any one
as speech or language. Deuteronomy 8:3
“By every word that
proceedeth out of the mouth of God doth man live.” Thus it comes to have the
meaning of origin
descent
an outgoing of existence
which is its import in
our text The old divines declare it to be a proof text of the doctrine of the
eternal generation of the Second Person of the Trinity. Without feeling called
on to adopt that phrase
yet I fully agree with one of them who says
“We have
here Christ’s existence from eternity; the phrase
‘His goings forth have been
from of old
from everlasting
’ is so signal a description of Christ’s eternal
generation
or His going forth as the Son of God begotten of the Father before
all worlds
that this prophecy must belong only to Him
and could never
be
verified of any other.” We embrace the mysterious truth of Christ’s humanity
and divinity as herein declared; one of the clearest prophecies of this sublime
foundation doctrine of the Scriptures which they anywhere contain. With what greatness
does this invest the birth of the Babe of Bethlehem! If He had indeed come to
little Bethlehem
whose goings forth were from everlasting
then all the
miracles He performed were the simplest outstretching of His hand; the
obedience to Him of demons
of nature
of death
were mere matters of course;
the attendant angels
the awaiting legions ready at His call
were but the
renewed services of cherubim and seraphim who had of old listened to His
commands standing round His heavenly throne. There is not time even to glance
at the triumphs which this birth in Bethlehem has already won. How it has given
the era to all human history
guided the life of nations
subjected the
intellects of the greatest of men
moulded the sentiments of civilised society
yea
made true society a possibility; rescued women and the family from
degradation
uplifted the poor
guarded the rights of the weak; won the deep
unquenchable love of millions upon millions of true human hearts; stood by the
martyr’s rack
walked with him in the furnace; put the arms of support beneath
dying pillows
and uplifted to the eternal hills the successive generations of
the believing children of God. All these things have been done through that
birth in Bethlehem Ephratah. There can be no greater things in kind
but there
are yet to be greater in the extent of the victory. (R. Aikman
D. D.)
Advent
The thought of the prophet is
that God is about to restore the
monarchy in Israel by a return to its original starting point
the ancestral
house and home of David
and to restore it in surpassing greatness and power.
As in the days of Saul’s apostasy and the kingdom’s peril
He had taken from
thence a man to sit upon the throne
so again when wickedness with its long
train of miseries had brought the nation low
a Deliverer was to come forth
from the place that had given David to Israel. The prophet had asked (Micah 4:9) as he beheld the desolation of
his country
“Is there no king in thee?” And here the answer is given. Isaiah
and Micah were contemporaries. The former was the prophet of the city
the latter of the country. The power and wealth of the kingdoms had become
centralised in the two cities
Samaria and Jerusalem. The condition of the
country was like France in the years before the Revolution
when Paris was
France
and the provinces were despised and oppressed; pillaged to feed the
luxuries and vices of the metropolis; It was joy to the rural prophet to know
that God would pass by the pomp and pride of the city
and bring forth the king
from a place that was little among the thousands of Judah.” A parallel is
plainly instituted between what God had once done in Israel’s history and what
He is about to do. Bethlehem
that had already furnished one king
the typical
king
should furnish yet another. The scene of Christ’s advent
its
significance concerning Himself.
1. It declared His advent to be the advent of a King. Bethlehem was
identified in every mind With the throne of Israel
with the royal house of
David. Insignificant in itself
it was famous through its association with
Israel’s great king. The kingly idea was enshrined in Bethlehem. It is a
prediction of His royalty.
2. It declared His advent to be not according to human ideas and
expectations. It was a surprise to Samuel when he was sent to Bethlehem to
anoint the son of Jesse
and his surprise deepened as the stalwart elder
brethren were rejected. The wise men from the East came to Jerusalem
naturally
expecting to find the new king in the great city. But they found him not at
Jerusalem
but at Bethlehem. He is to be a King after God’s mind
and not
according to human thought. His royalty is to be the royalty of His own nature
and not of earthly circumstance and rank.
3. It declared the character of His kingly rule. “He chose David also
His servant
and took him from the sheepfolds. He brought him to feed Jacob His
people
and Israel His inheritance.” It intimated that his shepherd life was
the preparation and the pattern of his kingly life
that as a shepherd with his
flock so was the king over his people; ruling them for their good
defending
them from their enemies
risking his life for them
carrying into the affairs
of his kingdom the spirit of a shepherd with his sheep. In like manner when we
hear that another King is to rise from Bethlehem we conclude that His rule will
be of the same kind. He too will be a Shepherd King
ruling not by force but by
gentleness
seeking not His own gain but the good of His people
caring for the
weak
recovering the lost.
4. It declared that His advent was demanded by the condition of
others
by the need
the misery of those to whom He came. Men have sought
sovereignty at the bidding of their own ambition. The Bethlehem King was called
to it by God Himself
called to it by the national crisis
by the misery of the
people
the degradation of the land. The prophet sees everywhere anarchy and
confusion
oppression and wrong
weakness and suffering. The advent of Christ
is the advent of a King whose presence is demanded by the need and misery of
men. He does not come to set up a kingdom for Himself
that is
for personal
ends. He comes into the world because the world cannot do without Him.
5. The unprecedented greatness of the future King
“whose goings
forth have been from of old
from everlasting.” Coming into the world centuries
after David had fallen on sleep
He is yet before David. He is David’s Lord as
well as David’s Son. His advent is the manifestation of One whose nature knows
neither youth nor age
whose sovereignty has no beginning and no end. “From of
old
from everlasting.” The scene of His advent teaches chiefly the greatness
of His condescension and humiliation. He “whose goings forth have been from of
old
from everlasting
” links Himself with time
enters into human history
associates Himself with earthly places. (W. Perkins.)
Verse 4
He shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord
The Mighty Shepherd
I.
His
activity and zeal. “He shall stand.” We read of idle shepherds
who lie down
and sleep and neglect their flock. This attitude of standing shows--
1. Dignity. He is the Royal Shepherd.
2. Observation. He who stands can survey all around.
3. Attention. He does not withdraw His eyes. He that keepeth Israel
neither slumbers nor sleeps.
II. His regard. “He
shall feed.” The term feed is not confined to providing food. It applies to all
the duties of a shepherd. And this office consists of unwearied care
such as--
1. Causing them to rest. The weary child of God must pause
and the
wise Shepherd selects the time and place.
2. Leading them. The Eastern shepherd treads the ground before his
flock.
3. Restoring the wanderers. There are always the erring and
wandering--headstrong
foolish
daring.
4. Healing the wounded.
5. Defending the weak and securing the flock.
III. His ability.
“In the strength of the Lord.” This does not mean “borrowed” strength; the
strength of the Lord is His own. And power is needed. Who can realise the
danger and difficulties of the Church on earth
or the trials of a struggling
soul?
IV. His dignity.
“In the majesty of His God.” Majesty combined with strength. How majestic was
Christ
even in His humiliation! Majesty combined with simplicity; majesty and
gentleness. But Christ is terrible in majesty
terrible to His foes. Who shall
abide His day? Yea
He is terrible to the foes of His flock. (Homilist.)
The Shepherd and His mission
“The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Many other
things were predicted in the Scriptures; but incidentally
relatively
subordinately; this testimony was the fixed subject and steady aim of the
whole. All the prophets testified of Jesus
though not all in the same way or
in the same degree. They did not always understand their own predictions. From
this prediction consider--
I. His implied
character. It is that of a shepherd. The character of a shepherd now is far
less respectable than it was in early ages
and especially in the East. The
character of a good shepherd has been applied to a good ruler. Christ is called
the Good Shepherd
the Chief Shepherd
the Great Shepherd
and God’s Shepherd.
And we are told that both His kindness and His love are unexampled.
II. Observe His work.
“Stand and feed.” The pastures in which He feeds His people are His Word and
ordinances. We are not to restrain the work of this Divine Shepherd to feeding
only. He affords repose; for His flock need rest as well as provision. A
shepherd also guides them. Christ guides His people by His Word
by His Spirit
and by His providence. By His Word He shows them the way in which they should
go. By His Spirit He gives them the inclination
and works in them to walk in
the way of His pleasure. By His providence He arranges all
and fixes all their
circumstances in life for the advancement of His own glory and their real
welfare. As a shepherd He restores; for they sometimes
nay often
go astray.
As a shepherd He heals their sicknesses. He renders all His ordinances and all
His dispensations salutary. As a shepherd He defends them all
else they would
be destroyed.
III. How He is to
perform His work.
1. He will do this attentively. “Stand and feed.”
2. Powerfully. “In the strength of the Lord.”
3. Nobly or gracefully. “In the majesty of the . . . name of the Lord
His God . . . Power . . . is not always
dignity; authority
when it is not
softened by condescension
has in it something harsh and repelling.
Some who feel their strength
think of nothing else. Christ is
mild and gentle. He exerted His power mildly
kindly
if you will
majestically.
IV. The safety of
the flock. “And they shall abide.” To abide is to continue
to endure
to be
able to withstand any foe
and to go forth against it. There is
however
a difference
between the fact and the comfort of it. The believer is often filled with fear
and is ready to suppose that God is going to destroy us. At other times
Christians are able to realise this fact by faith.
V. The extension
of His own renown. “Now shall He be great unto the ends of the earth.” In order
to this He must be known
and to make Himself known is all that is necessary to
this. The more He is known
the more will He be loved and adored. And does He
not deserve to be known? The Christians’ grief is that Christ is so little
known and adored. There are
however
two things to console them.
1. That it is not so in the other world.
2. They know that it will not be so always
nor long
even in this
world.
They know that He shall have “the heathen for His inheritance
and
the uttermost parts of the earth for His possession.” (William Jay.)
Verse 5
And this Man shall be the peace
when the Assyrian shall come into
our land
Peace in Christ amid invading foes
This is an announcement of the mission of our Saviour.
He is to be peace. Two facts in the text.
1. A special danger is apprehended.
2. A provision is made to meet the danger.
I. The crisis of
danger. Two great nations invaded the Holy Land
the Assyrian and the
Babylonian. These differed. The former was heathen
the latter idolatrous. The
one sought to destroy all worship; the other to establish the worship of its
own gods. These two nations represent the different forces that battle against
Christianity to the present time. In the philosophy of the infidel we see the
one; in the superstition of Rome we see the other.
II. The provision
to meet the danger. This Man
Christ
is our peace. Christ meets the infidel
successfully at every turn. Human unbelief directs its whole power to break
down the truth of God in Christ
and to destroy the hope of man. Sometimes by
outward
open
organised attack
at other times by private
insidious attacks
on the heart Of man. In the midst of all this hostility the advent of our
Saviour is our peace.
III. Some of the
weapons of this Assyrian enemy.
1. It contested the authenticity of the Scriptures. This was the
method of attack
from Porphyry and Celsus down to Hume and Gibbon. This mode
of attack is ended.
2. The impossibility
the absurdity of the incarnation of Christ is
urged. The Assyrian rejects the personality of God
the immortality of man. He
seeks the enthronement of matter.
3. There is a private
a personal hostility. Many a man retains his
peace amid all the outward conflict
but when assailed by doubt and fear the
citadel of the soul is carried. But this Man--this Saviour--is the strength of
the soul forever. (Stephen H. Tyng
D. D.)
Christ our peace
The term “Assyrian” may he regarded as symbolically used
the
great enemy of the Jews being made to represent generally the enemies of man
or particularly of the Church. One of the titles under which Isaiah announces
the Child that should be born is “Prince of Peace.” The chorus of the angels
mentions “peace.” The angels associated the incarnation of the Saviour with the
reestablishment of peace on the disquieted earth. In the apostolic writings
peace is equally associated with Christ
and especially attributed to His
death. Except through Him there could be no reconciliation of the human race to
God. Christ Jesus
by His obedience and death
removed every obstacle to the
free forgiveness of sinners
and thus in the largest sense reconciled the world
unto God. There are other reasons why Christ may be affirmed to have
accomplished our text. It is the tendency and property of the Christian
religion to heal all differences between man and man
and to produce and
preserve universal harmony. In the very degree in which the religion of Christ
now gains a hold on individuals or families
it vindicates its character as a
religion of peace. It cannot establish its dominion in the heart without
producing a disposition towards goodwill to all men. Christianity
going
straightway to the inner man
throws the salt
as it were
into the very
fountains of the waters of strife
and by healing the springs
sweetens all
their after flowings. Who shall order the jarring elements of the world into
harmony? Make true Christians of all men
and then
such will be the principles
which are universally acted on
such the motives which will be universally at
work
such the ends which will be universally proposed
that divisions must
disappear
because every one will seek the good of others in seeking his own.
In an individual and personal sense
too
Christ is our peace. (Henry
Melvill
B. D.)
The peace from God
In some crystals that coat
as with shining frost work
the sides
of a vessel
we have all the salts that give perpetual freshness to the ocean
their life to the weeds that clothe its rocks
and their energy to the fish
that swim its depths and hollows. In some drops of oil distilled from rose
leaves of Indian lands
and valued at many times their weight in gold
we have
enclosed within one small phial the perfume of a whole field of roses
that
which
diffused through ten thousand leaves
gave every flower its fragrance.
Like these our text contains the essence of the Gospel; peace to a world at
enmity against God; peace to a race of sinners at variance with God; peace and
joy in believing. Peace.
I. Who is here
spoken of? The Man; the Christ. He stands alone as the Man. This is His
distinguishing feature. Micah has just uttered a prediction fixing the
birthplace of the promised Messiah. He is called “the Man
” because He is--
1. The Divine Man. God manifest in the flesh. He is in the Father
and the Father is in Him.
2. As the sinless Man. “He knew no sin
neither was guile found in
His mouth.” A Lamb for sacrifice
“without blemish and without spot.”
II. What is He to
be to us? Christ our peace. In Him God provides for the destruction of all
causes of enmity and disorder. This work of destruction was to be the
foundation for peace between God and man. For peace between God and man as a
sinner
and as a saint. Peace He brings for the sinner. The true peace is in
Christ
through His precious bloodshedding
and by His atoning death. Peace He
brings for the believer. It is built upon His own promise and Word
and is
compatible with the most calm and considerate view of all truth. God’s peace is
with one’s self
with our conscience
with God
in fact
through the blood of
Jesus. It is that we want.
III. How is He to be
peace to us?
1. He satisfied Jehovah. By bearing our sins in His own body on the
tree; by making peace through the blood of His Cross; by dying the just for the
unjust to bring us to God; by making reconciliation for iniquity
and bringing
in everlasting righteousness.
2. He overcame the enmity of the human heart. This peace is purchased
for us by His Divinely efficacious bloodshedding
but it is bestowed upon us by
the mysterious communication of His Spirit. The source of true peace is faith
realising and resting on the faithful and unchanging promises of God.
IV. When may Christ
be said to be our peace? “When the Assyrian cometh into our land.” The allusion
is to the invasion of Judaea by Sennacherib
in the reign of Hezekiah. Some
think that Hezekiah is the man here referred to. But note that this Man
was born at Bethlehem; and He was a Man whose goings forth have been of old
from everlasting. This must be the Son of God. It is in the very presence of
the Assyrian that the child of God has peace. We do not say that the
consequences of our sins are taken away. And yet there is peace; Christ works
it by destroying the painful sense of the corruption of the spirit’s purity
and the deadly evil poisoning of all the springs of being. He is our peace
able and willing to hush every storm
and fill us with all peace and joy. Apply
both to our corruption and to our affliction. Then
if there is no true peace
in time or eternity but what comes from God in Christ
then let the believer
live near to God. Let him
through the aids of the Holy Spirit
maintain a
conscience void of offence towards God and man. (William Adamson.)
An invasion
I. A terrible
invasion. The Assyrian
who may be regarded as the representative of all the
enemies of Israel
enters the Holy Land
takes Jerusalem
and treads the
“palaces” of the chosen people. A faint picture is the Assyrian of the hellish
invader of human souls. He breaks his way through all bulwarks
enters the
sacred territory
and treads even in the palaces of the intellect and heart.
II. A triumphant
defender. There are “seven shepherds and eight principal men” who now hurled
back the Assyrian invader
entered his own territory
and carried war into the
midst. Who is the deliverer? “This Man shall be the peace.”
1. He did it successfully. “Thus shall He deliver us from the
Assyrian.” Christ will one day ruin this moral Assyrian
as lightning falleth
from heaven he shall fall. He will hurl him from the habitation of men.
2. Christ
in doing this
uses human instrumentality. “Seven
shepherds and eight principal men.” Christ destroys the works of the devil by
the instrumentality of men.
Verse 7
And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a
dew from the Lord
Christian influence
This text may suggest the beneficial influence which God’s
people are intended and calculated to exert upon surrounding society
wherever
their lot may be cast
and whatever may be the circumstances in which they are
placed.
God has never failed to preserve for Himself a people in the world. The principles
of spiritual religion
embodied in living character
and manifested in suitable
conduct
have had the effect of spreading an illumination which has operated
beneficially upon the spiritual interests of mankind
and led many an ignorant
wanderer to salvation and heaven. It is hardly possible to estimate too highly
the beneficial influence of Christian character
when consistently and properly
exemplified. It operates in a manner most beautiful and efficient. This
character is composed of such elements that it cannot be successfully imitated.
It is what no worldly system or agency is capable of producing. The influence
which belongs legitimately to the character of God’s people does not depend for
its successful exertion upon associated numbers
or outward circumstances of
wealth
respectability
and prosperity. More importance has been attached to
these things than properly belongs to them. The potency of religious influence
depends not upon mere accumulated numbers
but upon character. It will prove a
fatal mistake
wherever the outward accessories of religion are allowed to
supplant its spiritualities. The machinery of Christianity cannot be
successfully worked
except by the hands of those who are under its sanctifying
influence. This Christian influence is not something natural to a certain class
of individuals
distinguished from the rest of their species by mysterious
endowments. And the influence of Christian character must not be understood as
superseding and disparaging the influence of those other agencies by which
Christianity is to be spread and propagated in the world. We need not disparage
the Christian ministry; or the doctrines of Christianity. The truth and grace
in the Gospel are destined to issue in the formation of a holy character
and
to display themselves in corresponding practical results. It is in vain to
pretend to the possession of Christian character
where those appropriate
practical results are not witnessed. On the exemplification of religion in its
excellence and beauty
the usefulness of professing Christians very materially
and essentially depends. Worldly observers will justly come to the conclusion
that the religion is worthless
the offspring of hypocritical ostentation
of
infatuated superstition
which does not ameliorate and elevate the character.
These are just expectations
and ought to be realised. How great then ought to
be the circumspection of those who bear the Christian name
that they may not
dishonour it by any unbecoming conduct. It is a matter of great importance
that religious character should develop itself
free from all those blemishes
which would have the effect of tarnishing its Divine lustre and impairing its
reputation. Those who would exemplify the legitimate influence of Christian
character in its fullest efficiency
must live in close fellowship with the
Divine throne. Nothing else can render us beneficially influential. The
influence of genuine Christian character is always mild
and beneficent
and
diffusive. Individual Christians should reflect much upon their responsibility.
(William Hurt.)
The paucity
position
and power of the true
The truth in this verse may be said to have met with its partial
fulfilment in the unique and marvellous experience of the Jews; for
I. The paucity of
the true. God has ever had a people peculiarly His own; and who will dare
dispute His right to have a more special regard to some
than He may have to
others? Calvinian or Arminian
we all agree that “the Lord hath set apart him
that is godly for Himself”; the true from among the false
and the pure from
amongst the vile. From the dawn of human history these have been but a
“remnant” of the human family. Look at the flood
and at Egypt. Thus the holy
and the true are but a “remnant” in nations
in towns
and in families.
II. The position of
the true. “In the midst
” etc. It might be more in harmony with our own natural
tastes and preferences to be a separate people in one land swarming together
without any of the false about us
but such is not God’s arrangement. Shiploads
of Christians may leave our shores for some Canterbury or other settlement
where they may hope to live and not see the face of an unbeliever
but sadly do
such men err in expecting this. Should the whole Church but settle down in one
land
it would be a most grievous curse and woe to the world. We are to settle
down only in heaven. The distribution of the Church “in the midst
” etc.
is
necessary in order to promote the Divine purpose; for it exists not for itself
alone
but as leaven in meal
as salt
as Divine seed
here a grain and there a
grain. Learn this
that God hath placed you “in the midst” of your enemies
by
contact to bless them
for each has his sphere.
III. The purpose of
the true. The design of their dispersion has a vital relation to the people
amongst whom they are placed
as the dew and showers to the grass. As the
showers are of heavenly origin
so is Israel “born from above.” As the dew is a
pure and crystal liquid
so the true Israel is composed of the choicest natures
and sweetest spirits in the world. Dew is silently produced
and so the
mightiest work may be accomplished in the human soul
“without observation.” As
the dew and showers are entirely independent of the human
so the Church
like
the truth
lives not upon human sufferance. This purpose will be fulfilled.
Many weak and unbelieving minds have thought that the true
being but a
“remnant
” their influence would waste and die
but thank God this cannot be
for the source is unfailing and Divine. (E. D. Green.)
God’s people
their tender and terrible aspect in the world
Two things are predicted concerning the Jews after their
restoration from Babylon.
1. Their influence upon the nations would be as refreshing dew.
2. Their power on the nations would be as terrible as the lion’s on
the herds
and on the flocks.
It will not
I think
be unfair to use the passage to illustrate
the twofold aspect of the people of God in this world--the tender and terrible
the restorative and the destructive. Like Israel of old
godly men in every age
have only been a remnant
a very small minority of the generation in which they
lived. It will not always be so.
I. The tender
aspect of God’s people in the world. They are spoken of here as “dew.” Silent
in its fall
beautiful in its appearance
refreshing in its influence. Three
things are suggested concerning this “dew.”
1. It is Divine. It is “from the Lord.” All that is quickening and
refreshing in the thoughts
spirits
character of good men on this earth
descends from heaven. “Every good and perfect gift cometh down from the Father
of lights
” etc.
2. It is copious. “As the showers upon the grass.” There have been
seasons when those spiritual influences have descended on men with plenitude
and power
such as on the day of Pentecost. Would it were so now!
3. It is undeserved of men. “That tarrieth not for man
nor waiteth
for the sons of men.” Good men on this earth are to their generation what the
gentle dew and the fertilising shower are to the thirsty earth. Their speech
distils as dew
and their influence descends on the souls of men like rain upon
the new mown grass.
II. The terrible
aspect of God’s people in the world. The same men as are represented under the
metaphor of dew are here spoken of as a “lion.” Bold
terrible
and
destructive. Elijah was a lion in his age
so was John the Baptist
so was
Luther
so was Latimer
etc. This subject suggests--
1. A picture of the unregenerate world. There are some germs of
goodness in its soil that require the fertilising influence of heaven to quicken
and develop
and there are some things in it so pernicious and baneful that it
requires all the courage
force
and passion of moral lions to destroy.
2. A picture of the completeness of moral character
Not all “dew
”
nor all “lion
” but both combined. (Homilist.)
God’s purposes of mercy
We are imperfect judges of moral power
both as to what really
constitutes moral power and as to its extent and influence. We are very prone
to transfer the idea of largeness
mass
weight from the physical to the moral
world; to place our trust in numbers
in wealth
in outward visible power
and
are disposed to despond even of the very best cause when it has not these upon
its side. In the management of public affairs men come to have implicit faith
in majorities
rather than in truth and in righteousness. We are apt to think
the Church strong and prosperous when it is popular with the crowd; when its
coffers are filled with wealth; when it is surrounded with the bulwarks and
appliances of secular power and favour. There is forgetfulness of that which
constitutes the real strength and power of a moral system; which is the
goodness of the cause; and the faith
earnestness
and zeal of those who are
its advocates and its professors. One man
with God’s truth in him
which he
thoroughly believes and which he has the courage to speak out
has more real
weight in him than a whole community that are ignorant of that truth
or
opposed to it. The strength of God’s Church lies in the truth of her doctrines
in the purity of her morality
in the piety and zeal of her members. By means
of these she is leaven in the mass. Thus she becomes a great blessing to the
nation. The higher meaning of our text has reference to the Church as such
to
the spiritual Church of God in all times and ages.
1. We need not be surprised to find the Church of God existing as a
small remnant. It has
indeed
never yet been otherwise. At no period has the
Church ever been in a majority. At times the spiritual body has seemed to be
almost lost to the eye of sense. Seen ever at her best estate
she is but a
remnant in the midst of many people.
2. The proper place of this remnant is in the midst of the community.
God has so placed His Church. Sometimes the Church
or individual members of
the Church
would have it otherwise. Secluding themselves in coteries or
cloisters. Whilst Christians keep themselves sedulously pure from the
contamination of evil example or corrupt conversation
they are not to go out
of the world. They are to abide in the calling in which they were when God
called them. They are to be friendly
social
courteous
benevolent towards all
men.
3. The Church possesses a mighty power tint benefiting a community.
It is amongst them “as a dew from the Lord
and as showers that water the
grass.” Dew and rain came to be regarded as special gifts of God. And so they
were taken in Scripture as symbols of what is directly and immediately God
produced. They are thus a fitting emblem of the Church
in its position and its
working in the world. God has formed the Church as an instrument in His hands
for the accomplishment of His immediate purpose of grace and mercy to the
world.
4. This working does not depend upon man’s will or permission. It is
not by our favour that the Church of God is in the midst of the nations as a
dew from the Lord
exerting a conservative
vivifying
renovating
ameliorating
power upon the world. God has ever been with His own cause. Neither from fear
nor favour must the Church wait upon man
nor lean upon an arm of flesh. It is
when God is with His Church that she is strong and powerful and good. Learn
then--
The Church in the world
I. The influence
which the Church may exert in the world.
1. Their influence is great. Dew and rain rank among the most
powerful natural agencies. In the energy of these we have a fit image of the
influence of the Church. The resources which the members of the Church may
command
and the instrumentality which they can employ
are “mighty through
God.” This is evident from the purposes they are called to fulfil; the field
upon which they are to operate; the promises and provisions on which they may
rely; the responsibility under which they are laid; the influence
limited
indeed
but vast
which they have already exerted
and the prophecies which
they must yet fulfil. What might not the Church accomplish did she put forth
her strength? but at what a low standard have Christians commonly estimated
their power.
2. This influence is beneficial. Who can adequately calculate the
consequence of being deprived
but for a single season
of the rain and the dew
from heaven! It is our peculiar prerogative and privilege to possess a power
which can convert the sources of man’s present evil into means and channels of
permanent good; to render every society and institution and mind under heaven
an unmixed blessing.
3. This influence is diffusive. It is delightful to consider it
within a narrow circle and on a limited scale--in the family
neighbourhood
Sabbath school. But it is adapted and designed for all the nations and tribes
and families of men
and for all the classes and individuals that compose them.
This universal adaptation of the influence of the Church arises not merely from
the nature of that influence
but also from the diversified gifts and
circumstances of those who possess it. These are marked by an almost boundless
variety.
4. This influence is Divine. It is not inherent in the Church nor
independent of God. If the Church has power
it is endued from on high. She is
mighty through God.
II. The position
which the Church should occupy. “In the midst of many people.” Rain and dew are
but images of the far more genial influences which the Church is able and
destined to diffuse through the world. In what position
and by what process
can we best employ this power? “Teach all nations.” How far has our Saviour’s
design been met? Much has been done; but the labours of the Church are but
begun. Much remains to be done at home and abroad. Why is progress so slow It
cannot be traced to deficient power; to inadequate means
to want of
opportunity
or to any inability in the Church to furnish the requisite agency.
It is due to imperfectness of consecration
and the partial employment of the
Church’s resources.
III. The
independence which the Church may claim. “That tarrieth not for man
nor
waiteth for the sons of men.” The principal source of independence is the power
and presence of Him from whom she has received her commission. Enjoying this
she need not
she dare not “wait for man.” Shall we wait till civilisation and law
have smoothed and opened our way? But while the Church must not tarry for man
God waits for His Church. Then listen not to the dictates of the selfish;
follow not the course of the indolent; look not to others; let each in his
sphere
and according to his ability
arise and be doing
and the Lord will be
with thee. (E. Prout.)
The world’s silent benefactor
It must be evident to every thoughtful man that we are all apt to
judge unfairly of moral force. We are so much more familiar with the sphere of
sense than with the sphere of spirit that we constantly transfer ideas gained
from the former into the latter
although its nature is quite different. We
judge of matter by its bulk
we judge of machinery by its clever adaptations
and we carry these criteria from the physical into the spiritual sphere.
Because we see great effects produced by the movement of mighty bodies
we
argue that it must be so everywhere
and that what the world requires is a
Niagara-like Church
which will make itself felt by noise and impetus and
quantity. Hence we get very depressed if
in connection with a religious
society
we see small numbers and hear of diminished funds
while we
congratulate ourselves all round if
in regard to these
we hear a good report.
This false method of judgment asserts itself in various directions. Many of us
trust to majorities
instead of to conscience. We are very respectable to
public opinion
and wait cautiously to see which way the wind blows before we
commit ourselves to a policy. Power and victory were our Lord’s
not because He
won the majority over to His way of thinking
not because He devised complex
ecclesiastical machinery cleverly adapted to the times
not because He had on
His side the weight of money bags and the prestige of social respectability
but because His followers
though few and unlearned
were inspired by Him with
an enthusiasm of faith which proved resistless. I say
then
that the real
strength of a moral system does not lie in its mass; but in its truth and
goodness
and in the faith and zeal of its advocates. Even in the physical
world there are not wanting examples of quality overmatching quantity. The
heaviest sword made of poor material cannot do what even a light rapier would
do
in attack and defence
if the rapier be of well-tempered steel. A handful
of men
trained and brave
have often held out victoriously against the impact
of a vast horde of undisciplined savages. And this is equally true of a Church.
Its fellowship may not be numerous
its members may not be individually
influential
but if it be distinguished for piety and prayerfulness
it does
more for the cause of Christ than far larger Churches not so rich in them. The
influence which the world’s wiseacres contemn is mighty through God
to the
pulling down of strongholds. Now
it is in the light of these truths you can
most clearly see the meaning of our text. It compares God’s people not to a
mighty storm or to a resistless sea
but to the silent dew and the gentle
showers
which are mighty
not because of the stir they make
but because of
what they themselves are. And this analogy is accordant with all the parables
of our Lord
on the nature of His kingdom
in which He likened it to the
mustard seed
and to the leaven hidden in three measures of meal. Every one
knows that dew is absolutely essential to the continued life of nature in the
lands to which this prophet referred. From the beginning of April to the end of
October--in other words
from the close of the “latter” to the beginning of the
“former rains”--during all the hot summer months
the life of herbage depends
there on dew alone. That dew is transparent
beautiful
glistening with light
gentle and silent
weak in itself
yet mighty in its aggregate effect
refreshing and cooling beyond power of description
and preserving the life it
touches
while it is itself consumed in giving the blessing. Then as for the
“showers.” Often
after a long period of drought
and of dry
searching winds
the face of the sky has been covered with clouds
and showers have fallen on
every field and garden throughout the land
descending without effort
yet
penetrating deeply to nourish forgotten seeds and parched roots
and though no
one drop of rain was of any great value in itself yet the aggregate of drops
which we call a “shower” has proved of Divine and incalculable worth. It is to
these two means--showers and dew--which God employs to bless the natural world
that Micah likens “the remnant of Jacob
” the handful of people which alone
would represent God among the heathen; and the Christian Churches
who
represent the same God
may fairly regard the description as applicable to
themselves.
1. Our attention is called here first to the Church’s insignificance.
It is referred to as a “remnant.” It has seldom been otherwise. Insignificance
in the scale of the world’s judgment
is its normal condition. Earnest
religious men have never been a majority at any time in the world’s history.
Once the Church consisted of a single family called from idolatry in Ur of the
Chaldees. Indeed
even now
what is the Christian Church but a “remnant”?
Compare the number even of professing Christians--with the teeming millions of
those who follow Mahomet
Confucius
or Buddha--and your heart will sink in
hopelessness
if you do not believe that on your side is the living God--the
Eternal Truth--the Almighty Saviour! God does His work by despised agencies
and this He does also in the moral enlightenment of the world and in its
regeneration
choosing the weak things” and the things which are despised
that
the excellency of the power may be of God “and not of us.” Do not suppose
then
that you are on the losing side because you hold a religious faith which
as yet only the minority of the race accepts.
2. But we are also reminded by our text of the Church’s association.
It is in contact with the world. The remnant of Jacob is “in the midst of the
people.” The dew and the showers are blessings
because they actually touch the
earth. There have been times when Christian people have sought to have it
otherwise. They have retired to cells in the desert
and to monasteries and
convents. We are followers of Jesus Christ
brethren
and He went to eat with
publicans and sinners
and talked to folk the Pharisees would have had nothing
to do with. Now
you perhaps are thrown by God’s providence
as a Christian
man
into business. You cannot help yourself. There you see people of all
sorts--men sensual and men spiritual; men avaricious and men open handed; men
saint-like and men worldly; men who believe in Christ and men who scorn Him. Do
not
I beseech you
resent that position; do not go about your daily work as if
you were ashamed of it. Do not give the cold shoulder to everybody who differs
from you. You are put there as God’s representative to the worldly
as well as
to the pious.
3. The Church’s beneficence
i.e.
its capacity for doing
good
is suggested in the figures of the dew and the showers. These powers in
nature are the gifts of God. We cannot create them by any of our scientific
appliances
nor can we foretell them with any approach to accuracy. Has not the
apostle said
“We are His workmanship
created in Christ Jesus unto good works
which God hath ordained before that we should walk in them”? And Jehovah
Himself declared
“This people have I formed for Myself; they shall show forth
My praise.” In other words
God has given you such religious life as you have.
You are a Christian because He has made you a new creature in Christ. And He
has done this
not that you may complacently congratulate yourself on your own
salvation
and contentedly but selfishly enjoy your religious privileges
but
that you may bless others
and that you may serve Him. Do your own part
faithfully and prayerfully
and you will do much more than you think
and
perhaps the results you did not aim at will prove greater than those you did.
4. The fourth and final suggestion which this verse aroused in my
mind was one respecting the Church’s independence of mere human planning. Of
the dew and of the showers
to which Micah likens the Church
he says
“They
tarry not for man
nor wait for the sons of men.” The Church of Jesus Christ
did not depend for its existence on man’s permission. It originated in God’s
free gift of His only Son. If you have some God-given indication of your work
do not hesitate for a moment to follow it up. Just throw yourself right into it
at once
for you are amongst those who are not to tarry for man nor to wait for
the sons of men. Do not give up the idea of it because your friends would
dissuade you. Depend upon it
if we go out in God’s strength and at His call;
if
in the name of our God
we set up our banners
success is certain. If you
would be a blessing to others you need yourself to receive a fuller blessing.
The morning dew only appears when there is a certain relation between heaven
and earth
and if there be not that
no power we know of can create the dew.
The earth must give off its own heat
under an open heaven
when the air is
still
and then the dew will be deposited abundantly. There is something you
have to give forth--namely
your own love and longing; and if these rise
heavenward in the stillness of thought and prayer
and there be no cloud of
doubt between you and heaven
you
too
may become as the dew
pure in itself
and as a means of blessing to others. Therefore
let us pray for the
transforming power of the Holy Spirit. (A. Rowland
D. D.)
A dew from the Lord
The simple natural science of the Hebrews saw a mystery in the
production of the dew on a clear night
and the poetic imagination found in it
a fit symbol for all silent and gentle influences from Heaven that refreshed
and quickened parched and dusty souls. Where the dew fell the scorched
vegetation lifted its drooping head. That is what Israel is to be in the world
says Micah. He saw very deep into God’s mind
and into the function of the
nation. It may be a question as to whether the text refers more especially to
the place and office of Israel when planted in its own land
or when dispersed
among the nations. For
as you see
he speaks of “the remnant of Jacob” as if
he was thinking of the survivors of some great calamity which had swept away
the greater portion of the nation. Both things are true.
I. The function of
each Christian in his place. “The remnant of Jacob shall be as a dew from the
Lord in the midst of many nations.” What made Israel “as a dew”? One thing
only: its religion
its knowledge of God
and its consequent purer morality. It
could teach Greece no philosophy
no art
no refinement
no sensitiveness to the
beautiful. It could teach Rome no lessons of policy or government. It could
bring no wisdom to Egypt
no power or wealth to Assyria. The same thing is true
about Christian people. We cannot teach the world science
we cannot teach it
philosophy or art
but we can teach it God. Now
the possibility brings with it
the obligation. The personal experience of Jesus Christ in our hearts
as the
dew that brings to us life and fertility
carries with it a commission as
distinct and imperative as if it had been pealed into each single ear by a
voice from heaven. Remember
too
that
strange as it may seem
the only way by
which that knowledge of God which was bestowed upon Israel could become the
possession of the world was by its
first of all
being made the possession of
a few. Art
literature
science
political wisdom
they are all entrusted to a
few who are made their apostles; and the purpose is their universal diffusion
from these human centres. So to us the message comes: “The Lord hath need of
thee.” Now
that diffusion from individual centres of the life that is in Jesus
Christ is the chiefest reason--or
at all events
is one chief reason--for the
strange and inextricable intertwining in modern society of saint and sinner
of
Christian and non-Christian. The seed is sown among the thorns; the wheat
springs up amongst the tares. The renmant of Jacob is in the midst of
many peoples; and you and I are all encompassed by those who need our Christ
and who do not know Him or love Him; and one great reason for the close inter
twining is that
scattered we may diffuse
and that at all points the world may
be in contact with those who ought to be working to preserve it from
putrefaction and decay. Now
there are two ways by which this function may be
discharged. The one is by direct efforts to impart to others the knowledge of
God in Jesus Christ which we have
and which we profess to be the very root of
our lives. We can do all that if we will
and we are here to do it. Every one
of us has somebody or other close to us
bound to us
perhaps
by the tie of
kindred and love
who will listen to us more than they will to anybody else.
Christian men and women
have you utilised these channels which God Himself
by
the arrangements of society
has dug for you
that through them you may pour
upon some thirsty ground the water of life? But there is another way by which
“the remnant of Jacob” is to be “a dew from the Lord
” and that is by trying to
bring to bear Christian thoughts and Christian principles upon all the relations
of life in which we stand
and all the societies
be they greater or
smaller--the family
the city
or the nation--of which we form parts. Have you
ever lifted a finger to abate drunkenness? Have you ever done anything to help
to make it possible that the masses of our town communities should live in
places better than the pigstyes in which many of them have to wallow? Time was
when a bastard piety shrank back from intermeddling with these affairs and
gathered up its skirts about it in an ecstasy of unwholesome unworldliness.
There is not much danger of that now
when Christian men are in the full swim
of the currents of civic
professional
literary
national life.
II. The function of
English Christians in the world. I have suggested in an earlier part of this
sermon that possibly the application of this text originally was to the
scattered remnant. Be that as it may
wherever you go you find the Jew and the
Englishman. I need not dwell upon the ubiquity of our race. But I do wish to
remind you that that ubiquity has its obligation. We hear a great deal today
about Imperialism
about “the Greater Britain
” about “the expansion of
England.” And on one side all that new atmosphere of feeling is good
for it
speaks of a vivid consciousness which is all to the good in the pulsations of
the national life. But there is another side to it that is not so good. What is
the expansion sought for? Trade? Yes! necessarily; and no man who lives in
Lancashire will speak lightly of that necessity. My text tells us why expansion
should be sought
and what are the obligations it brings with it. “The remnant
of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people aa a dew from the Lord.” “He that
is greatest among you
let him be your servant”; and the dominion founded on
unselfish surrender for others is the only dominion that will last. That is the
spirit in which alone England will keep its empire over the world. I need not
remind you that the gift which we have to carry to the heathen nations
the
subject peoples who are under the aegis of our laws
is not merely our
literature
our science
our Western civilisation
still less the products of
our commerce
for all of which some of them are asking; but it is the gift
that they do not ask for.
III. The failure to
fulfil the function. Israel failed. Pharisaism was the end of it. And so
destruction came
and the fire on the hearth was scattered and died out
and
the vineyard was taken from them and “given to a nation bringing forth the
fruits thereof.” “A dew from the Lord!” Say rather a malaria from the devil!
“By you
” said the prophet
“is the name of God blasphemed among the Gentiles.”
And by Englishmen the missionary’s efforts are
in a hundred cases
neutralised
or hampered if not neutralised. We have failed because
as
Christian people
we have not been adequately in earnest. No man can say with
truth that the churches of England are awake to the imperative obligation of
this missionary enterprise. Israel’s religion was not diffusive
therefore it
corrupted; Israel’s religion did not reach out a hand to the nations
therefore
its heart was paralysed and stricken. They who bring the Gospel to others
increase their own hold upon it. There is a joy of activity
there is a firmer
faith
as new evidences of its power are presented before them. There is the
blessing that comes down upon all faithful discharge of duty. If our fleece is
wet and we leave the ground dry
our fleece will soon be dry
though the ground
may be bedewed. (A. Maclaren
D. D.)
I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee
God’s depriving dispensation towards men
Here the Almighty is represented as taking away from Israel many
things they greatly valued.
God’s providence deprives as well as bestows. Depriving dispensations are--
I. Very painful.
The things He takes away are--
1. The temporally valuable. Whatever is dearest to the
heart--property
friends
health
fame--is the most painful to lose. The other
class of things He takes away are--
2. The morally vile. Here are “witchcrafts
soothsayers
graven
images
” etc. Whatever man indulges in that is wrong--false worship
all the
sorceries of intellectual or physical pleasure--must go
the sooner the better.
II. They are very
useful. God takes away temporal property from a man in order that he may get
spiritual wealth; and often does a man’s secular fall lead to his spiritual
rise. He takes away physical health from a man in order that he may get
spiritual; and often do the diseases of the body lead to the care of the soul.
(Homilist.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》