Therefore will he give them up, until the time when she which travaileth shall have brought forth and the residue of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.
Micah's prophecy moves from a besieged city and a rejected Judge to a birth. One word ties them together: "therefore." The verse tells us why God set His people aside, how long that lasts, and what happens when it ends.
Verse 3 does not follow verse 2 as a new thought. It finishes the sentence begun in verse 1, which points to how Israel treated their Judge. In between comes a description of who that Judge is.
Why is it that the Lord allows the last siege of Jerusalem? He says it is because of their conduct towards their ruler and judge. Who was the judge? He was born in Bethlehem. But that is not all, for "his goings forth have been of old from everlasting." He was a divine person. He in grace became a baby in Bethlehem; but He was Jehovah the true God of Israel. Then follows the conclusion of the sentence begun in the first verse.
Giving them up is God's answer to what Israel did to His King. One writer names the exchange, then names its limit.
He is Israel's divine-human King, yet they rejected Him. And because they rejected Him, He rejects them: "therefore does He give them up." Here is the secret of their condition as a nation ever since. It is a secret still to them, sad to say, though it is declared so plainly. Here too is the reason for their final sorrows. But there is a limit: He cannot always give them up: His promises to the fathers must find their fulfilment.
Another writer names the woman in labour, then shows what God is doing while Israel is set aside.
It is Zion who is in labour. This is a most important statement to understand… Christ ascended to the right hand of God. There He began a new work: the calling out of a heavenly people to share His portion on high. This is what is going on now… He has given them up for a time, because they did not believe and rejected Him. But He does not give them up for ever. "The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable."
Do the labour pains belong to the night at Bethlehem? One writer sets the two events far apart.
The labour and the pain refer to Israel's coming hour of trial, the Great Tribulation. But before that great event the Messiah, the Man-Child, is born… The woman's labour comes at least two thousand years after the birth of the Messiah. It points to her sorrow in the coming Tribulation.
The suffering is not only punishment. It has a goal.
Israel… must pass through all the afflictions, the anguish, the judgments, the chastening of God. These are needed to bring her to accept the punishment of her sin. At last His grace convinces her that she needs that grace, and needs the mercy of God. So she is made fit to be the vessel through whom that Son who was to be born to her is shown to the world.
The last clause names a direction of travel, and it reverses what happens today.
How deep will be the joy when He whom they had rejected of old is once more restored to them, the Judge of Israel! Today Jews are taken out of their Israelite position and brought into the church of God, which began at Pentecost and has gone on ever since. Then it will be the other way round: the remnant of His brothers shall return to the children of Israel. They go back to their Jewish hopes… No one can understand the verse, or explain it rightly, unless he sees the difference between the heavenly calling now and the earthly calling by and by.
His brothers are not the whole nation. They are a remnant God raises up by grace.
At length another godly remnant shall be raised up by grace, not to form part of the church as now, but to be the nucleus of the generation to come. Micah 5:3 speaks of these as the remnant of His brothers. At that time the Ruler in Israel is about to stand and feed His flock in the strength of Jehovah, in the majesty of the name of Jehovah His God. And they shall abide… "for now shall He be great even to the ends of the earth."
- Cause. They struck the Judge; therefore He gives them up. Verse 2 breaks in to say who that Judge is: born at Bethlehem, yet from everlasting.
- Limit. "Until" governs the whole sentence. The setting aside is real, but it has a date. God will keep His promises to the fathers.
- Interval. While Israel is set aside, Christ is calling out a heavenly people to share His portion on high.
- Labour. The pains are Israel's coming hour of trial. God's chastening brings her to accept His hand and to own that she needs His grace.
- Return. The remnant does not join the church then. It goes back to Israel, and the Ruler they rejected stands and feeds His flock, great to the ends of the earth.
And he shall stand and feed [his flock] in the strength of Jehovah, in the majesty of the name of Jehovah his God. And they shall abide; for now shall he be great even unto the ends of the earth.
Micah's promise of a ruler born in Bethlehem does not stop at His birth. It moves straight on to His work — He stands, He feeds a flock, and the people He feeds live in safety.
Israel refused this Ruler, and God gave the nation up for a time. The shepherd care here belongs to the very One they refused:
He, then, who had been rejected becomes the Shepherd of Israel, and that according to the strength of Jehovah in the majesty of the name of Jehovah His God. Israel dwells in safety, for His King becomes great to the ends of the earth.
Another writer traces the same turn from rejection to public honour, and notes what will change in Israel's own attitude:
The consequence of Israel's rejection of Christ is that the nation is given up by God (v. 3), for the time. The day will come, however, when the nation that refused Him will acclaim Him as Ruler. Then He shall stand and feed them, as a shepherd does his flock.
Commentators differ over the timing. One reads the whole passage as future:
Verses 4-6. This refers to His second coming. He will stand and feed in the strength of Jehovah, for He is the LORD; and they (saved Israel) shall abide. Yes, more than that, "He shall be great to the ends of the earth."
Another finds both comings here, and reads what follows as future:
These words surely have a bearing on both the first and second comings of the Lord Jesus. What follows has to do with His second coming: "This Man shall be the Peace when the Assyrian shall come into our land". He will deal with the Assyrian, the rod of His anger. He will judge them for their sins before bringing them into blessing along with Israel and Egypt.
Standing and feeding is a gentler picture than a throne. It meets two needs at once:
There seems to be some distinction between the Lord viewed as Shepherd and as King. The nature of the offices of the Shepherd, taken as a whole, is more peaceful than that of the King of Israel... Just as the King's energies work in two directions, so the Shepherd shows a twofold care. First, He protects His own from the raiding enemies of the flock... But He not only protects, He also preserves and provides food. The Shepherd brings His flock into the green pastures and beside the still waters.
The Lord chose a title that suited the hour of His death. One writer sets Micah's glory beside it:
He does not call Himself either the "chief" or the "great" Shepherd, but the "good" Shepherd, as laying down His life for the sheep. The time had not yet come for titles like these. He is not thinking here of the glories that belong to the "Shepherd of Israel." Then He will stand and shepherd them in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord His God. The sheep will then wander no more, "they shall abide."
The people's safety does not rest on themselves. It rests on their Messiah:
They shall be purified, while their enemies shall be destroyed. The remnant will now "abide," because their Messiah in strength and majesty "shall be great to the ends of the earth." They shall also be as "dew from the Lord," and as "a young lion among the flocks." To all around them they will bring either blessing or judgment.
This greatness adds nothing to His Person. It shows itself in the place that shamed Him:
Hallelujah! Let this word sink into your rejoicing souls, you who love the Lord. He shall be great! Personally great He always was. But here, where He was belittled and put to shame, among the people who crowned Him with disgrace and contempt, He shall be great.
One writer sets this greatness beside the glory of the first man, Adam:
The glory of Adam, seen that day in Eden, passed away, never to be restored. The glory of the Lord, displayed on earth in a brief, passing way, can never grow stale, can never decay. "He shall be great to the ends of the earth."
- Rejected — the nation refused Him, and the One they refused is the same One who stands to shepherd. Their refusal delayed His rule; it did not cancel it.
- Standing — He does not rule from a distance. He stands over the flock, guards it from enemies, and feeds it in green pastures.
- Strength — He shepherds in the strength of the LORD, and in the majesty of that name, not in strength of His own.
- Abiding — because He stands, the flock settles. The sheep wander no more, and His greatness keeps the nation safe, not their own.
- Great — His greatness reaches the ends of the earth, never decays, and shines out in the very place that despised Him.
And this [man] shall be 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 princes of men.
Micah has just pointed to the Ruler who comes out of Bethlehem. Now an invader is inside the land. The answer is not a strategy or a treaty but a Person — "he shall be their peace."
The verse does not say He makes peace or keeps peace. It says He is their peace. Older translations read "this man shall be the peace." One writer contrasts what Christ is to believers now with what He will be to Israel then:
So the Jews, instead of being swept out of their land, will be settled in it once more; "for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth." All their strength depends on His greatness. "And he shall be their peace." The One who is our peace in heaven will be their peace on earth.
Other prophets say the same thing in their own words, and the title reaches back to the cross:
How beautiful is the opening sentence of the fifth verse! "This Man shall be peace (or our peace)." Isaiah also spoke of Him as "the Prince of Peace," and said that "of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end." He made peace by the blood of His cross, and for all who trust in Him He is peace: "for He is our peace."
The promise comes at the worst possible moment. The invader is treading in the palaces:
If the Messiah were not with them, their hearts would be full of dread as such mighty armies came down on them. But the prophet can say, "he shall be their peace. When the Assyrian comes into our land and treads in our palaces" (verse 5). What confidence God's people will have when the Messiah is with them, providing for their defence in the "seven shepherds and eight princes of men." The rod of the Shepherd will protect them, and His staff will sustain them; and the wisdom of the Man of Peace will direct them.
Commentators agree the invader here is still future, but they differ on how to name him. Some identify him with the king of the north:
He will be the peace for them when the Assyrian, the king of the north, enters their land, and by His power He will strike down the invader. Who are the seven shepherds and the eight princes? They are the ones who will be used in that day to hold back the invading armies. Who they are is unknown now, but it will be known when the day comes. Then Assyria, the land of Nimrod, and all opposing world powers will be brought to an end.
Others see the invader that Ezekiel describes:
"The Assyrian" points partly to the king of the North, and partly to the Gog of Ezekiel. Micah 5, in our judgement, refers to Gog. Christ, the true Judge of Israel, is then in the land. He who was once born in Bethlehem Ephrathah is then among His people, to feed, bless, and protect them. This makes the attack of Gog and his armies all the more serious.
The invaded people become the ones who strike back. One writer also ties the enemy's end to where his empire began:
Christ will have come, and because He is present Israel will be able to send their "seven shepherds and eight princes" to waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod at its entrances. The Spirit of God links the end of the Assyrian power with its beginning in Nimrod.
The One who is now their peace was once rejected by His own people:
It is Christ Himself, the true "Judge of Israel," once struck down and rejected by them. But in that future day the prophet speaks of, He is their deliverer from the power of the Assyrian. … These mighty nations think they can carry out their own will and do as they like, "but they do not know the thoughts of the LORD; they do not understand His plan."
This enemy's fall closes a long chapter of God's anger. God's blows against the invader are mercy toward His people:
The Assyrian is always presented here as the one whose destruction ends "the indignation." … You can see the aim of this judgment of God. He is full of patience and long-suffering. Meanwhile His people are alarmed at the power of the enemy. When God strikes the enemies, it is always the deliverance of His people.
- Peace is Someone. Not a state Israel reaches but a Person among them: the One who is our peace in heaven will be their peace on earth.
- Peace under siege. The promise comes while the enemy is treading the palaces. His presence, not the absence of danger, is the calm.
- Peace that arms. Because He is there, Israel raises seven shepherds and eight princes. Who they are stays hidden until that day.
- Peace that finishes the enemy. Assyria and the land of Nimrod are wasted; where the power began is where it ends.
- Peace through the rejected One. The Judge they rejected is their Deliverer. His blow against the invader ends God's indignation and frees His people.
And they shall waste the land of Asshur with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof; and he shall deliver [us] from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders.
In this chapter an invader called "the Assyrian" marches into Israel's land, and verse 6 says what will happen to his own homeland. It raises two questions: who is this Assyrian, and who really does the delivering?
Writers place this scene at the end of the age, not in Micah's own century. One separates the siege that opens the chapter from Assyria's earlier attack on Jerusalem.
The daughter of troops gathers herself in troops to besiege Jerusalem — the Assyrian army (see v. 5). But here it is quite a different thing from the attack of Sennacherib. Judah had now plunged much deeper into sin and rebellion.
Another writer tests the words of verse 5 against history:
Mark this — "when the Assyrian comes into our land," and "when he treads in our palaces": a thing that has never happened yet. When the Assyrian came into the land long ago, clearly this Judge of Israel was not there, and Israel had not yet been given up at that time. The Assyrian of that day was only a picture of the great heir to the same name and power in the last days.
The verse names Assyria and the land of Nimrod side by side. That pairing is not repetition — it is geography.
The true sense of Micah 5:6 confirms this. It marks off "the land of Assyria" from "the land of Nimrod," and that second land was the plain of Shinar. The two were quite distinct, and the Hiddekel, or Tigris, separated them.
Nimrod is the ruler named in Genesis 10. Naming his land here ties the last enemy back to the first:
They are not content with destroying the invading armies: "They shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod at its entrances" (verse 6). The Lord, with His chosen instruments, will carry out His final judgments before He brings peace to this troubled world. He strikes the lands where the lawlessness of man among the nations first appeared, through Nimrod and Assyria (Gen. 10:9–11).
(An older translation reads "waste" here. The ESV reads "shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword.")
The men of verse 5 do the fighting, yet the verse gives the credit to one Person: "he shall deliver us." One writer traces Israel's strength back to the presence of the Man who is their peace, and names two enemies the promise covers:
Israel's power to handle the situation "when the Assyrian comes into our land" has a secret: this Man Himself will be their peace (Micah 5:5). Christ will have come, and because of His Presence Israel will be able to send their "seven shepherds and eight princes" to waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod at its entrances. What is more, Christ "shall deliver us from the Assyrian when he comes into our land and treads within our border" (Micah 5:6). This will be true both of the king of the north and of Gog, the prince of Rosh.
after_note: DISCUSS
Who the seven and the eight are is left open:
He will be the peace for them when the Assyrian, the king of the north, enters their land, and by His power He will strike down the invader. Who are the seven shepherds and the eight principal men? They are the ones He will use in that day to hold back the invading armies. Who they are is unknown, but it will be known when the time comes. Then comes the complete end of Assyria, the land of Nimrod, and all opposing world powers.
The verse turns the invasion inside out. The land that sent the army becomes the land that Israel enters.
He who had been rejected becomes the Shepherd of Israel, and He does it in the strength of Jehovah, in the majesty of the name of Jehovah His God. Israel dwells in safety, for His King becomes great to the ends of the earth. By Him the Assyrian will be overthrown, and the very Israel he had sought to overthrow will lay his land waste.
That reversal is deliberate, and it changes how the whole passage should be read:
What a future have we here of irresistible might in store for the oppressed, despised, and downtrodden people of Israel!… Warfare will take place, and Israel will be victorious, and that not as standing merely on the defensive, but taking the place of invaders likewise.
- Enemy — the Assyrian who came in Micah's day was only a picture. The real foe is still to come, and he will receive his judgment from God.
- Origin — Assyria and the land of Nimrod are two separate lands. Naming Nimrod points back to where lawlessness among the nations first appeared.
- Presence — the seven shepherds and eight princes do not fight in their own strength. Christ is present as their peace, and that is the secret of their power.
- Deliverance — men carry the sword, but the verse gives the credit to one Person. He delivers when the invader enters the land.
- Reversal — the invaded become the invaders. Israel lays waste the very land that came to overthrow them.