God’s Future Reign in Israel (Micah 4:1-3)
By Rich Freeman, DMin.
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Micah 4:1–3 describes God’s reign in Jerusalem as a mountain to which all nations will stream in the last days. Micah’s wording in this passage is virtually identical to Isaiah 2:2–4. So, naturally, scholars ask, “Who copied from whom?” Or, they posit that maybe both prophets used the same older source for their information. But I like how Harry Ironside, Bible teacher, pastor, and author, responded to the debate of who borrowed from whom. “We are not dealing with men’s literature but with God’s inspired Word. The apostle wrote, ‘The testimony of two men is true’ (John 8:17), and God has given the same promise of millennial blessing through both Micah and Isaiah, that everyone may know that neither wrote from himself but as he was moved by the Holy Spirit. It should be no surprise that He chose to use the same language on each occasion.”1
Micah 4 begins by referring to a future time: “And it will come about in the last days.” The phrase “the last days” refers to the eschatological future, usually the Tribulation period or the millennium. Micah continues, “That the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains. It will be raised above the hills, and the peoples will stream to it.” “The mountain of the house of the Lord” usually refers to Mount Zion, where the First and Second Temples (the Lord’s house) stood and, according to the prophet Ezekiel, will stand again. Micah writes that, in the future, Mount Zion will become “the chief of the mountains,” rising above all other hills in its importance.
Interestingly, some interpreters see this as referring to a future change in the physical topography of Jerusalem. Zechariah shows this geographical transformation more explicitly when he records the return of Jesus to earth. “In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a vast valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south” (Zechariah 14:4).
In Micah 4:2, the prophet tells us that many nations beyond the borders of Israel will stream to God’s mountain: “Many nations will come and say, ‘Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us about His ways and that we may walk in His paths.’ For from Zion will go forth the law, even the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” Those nations will come to the Jerusalem of the millennial kingdom to learn the Lord’s ways from the Israelites. This way, Israel will finally fulfill its function as a kingdom of priests (Exodus 19:6).
Consider the contrast with Micah chapter three, in which the prophet predicts the destruction of the Temple and the city of Jerusalem: “Therefore, on account of you Zion will be plowed as a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the temple will become high places of a forest” (Mic 3:12). After predicting the destruction of the Temple and the city in Israel’s immediate future, Micah predicts a return to glory far beyond what it had previously.
Can you imagine all the great capitals of the world and their leaders coming to Jerusalem to learn the ways of God? Of course, we are not yet in the last days when Jesus our Messiah will reign on the earth as King of kings and Lord of lords. But we look forward to His soon arrival and Israel’s glorious future!
1 H. A. Ironside, The Minor Prophets, An Ironside Expository Commentary
