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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
M I C A H.
CHAP. IV.
Comparing this chapter with the close of the foregoing chapter, the
comfortable promises here with the terrible threatenings there, we may,
with the apostle, “behold the goodness and severity of God,”
(Rom. xi. 22),
towards the Jewish church which fell, severity when Zion was ploughed
as a field, but towards the Christian church, which was built upon the
ruins of it, goodness, great goodness; for it is here promised,
I. That it shall be advanced and enlarged by the accession of the
nations to it,
II. That it shall be protected in tranquility and peace,
III. That it shall be kept close, and constant, and faithful to God,
IV. That under Christ’s government, all its grievances shall be
redressed,
V. That it shall have an ample and flourishing dominion,
VI. That its troubles shall be brought to a happy issue at length,
VII. That its enemies shall be disquieted, nay, that they shall be
destroyed in and by their attempts against it,
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1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the
mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top
of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and
people shall flow unto it.
2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up
to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of
Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his
paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the
LORD from Jerusalem.
3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong
nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into
plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not
lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any
more.
4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig
tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the
LORD of hosts hath spoken it.
5 For all people will walk every one in the name of his god,
and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and
ever.
6 In that day, saith the LORD, will I assemble her that
halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I
have afflicted;
7 And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was
cast far off a strong nation: and the LORD shall reign over them
in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever.
It is a very comfortable but with which this chapter begins, and
very reviving to those who lay the interests of God’s church near their
heart and are concerned for the welfare of it. When we sometimes see
the corruptions of the church, especially of church-rulers, princes,
priests, and prophets, seeking their own things and not the things of
God, and when we soon after see the desolations of the church,
Zion for their sakes ploughed as a field, we are ready to
fear that it will one day perish between both, that the name of Israel
shall be no more in remembrance; we are ready to give up all for gone,
and to conclude the church will have neither root not branch upon
earth. But let not our faith fail in this matter; out of the ashes of
the church another phoenix shall arise. In the last words of the
foregoing chapter we left the mountain of the house as desolate
and waste as the high places of the forest; and is it possible
that such a wilderness should ever become a fruitful field again? Yes,
the first words of this chapter bring in the mountain of the Lord’s
house as much dignified by being frequented as ever it had been
disgraced by being deserted. Though Zion be ploughed as a field, yet
God has not cast off his people, but by the fall of the Jews
salvation has come to the Gentiles, so that it proves to be the riches
of the world,
This is the mystery which God by the prophet here shows us, and he says
the very same in the
of this chapter which another prophet said by the word of the Lord at
the same time
(Isa. ii. 2-4),
that out of the mouth of these two witnesses these promises
might be established; and very precious promises they are, relating to
the gospel-church, which have been in part accomplished, and will be
yet more and more, for he is faithful that has promised.
I. That there shall be a church for God set up in the world, after the
defection and destruction of the Jewish church, and this in the last
days; that is, as some of the rabbin themselves acknowledge, in the
days of the Messiah. The people of God shall be incorporated by a
new charter, a new spiritual way of worship shall be enacted, and a new
institution of offices to attend it; better privileges shall be granted
by this new charter, and better provision made for enlarging and
establishing the kingdom of God among men than had been made by the
Old-Testament constitution: The mountain of the house of the
Lord shall again appear firm ground for God’s faithful worshippers
to stand, and go, and build upon, in their attendance on him,
v. 1.
And it shall be a centre of unity to them; a church shall be set up in
the world, to which the Lord will be daily adding such as shall be
saved.
II. That this church shall be firmly founded and well-built: It
shall be established in the top of the mountains; Christ himself
will build it upon a rock; it shall be an impregnable fort upon an
immovable foundation, so that the gates of hell shall neither overthrow
the one nor undermine the other
its foundations are still in the holy mountains
the everlasting mountains, which cannot, which shall not, be
removed. It shall be established, not as the temple, upon one mountain,
but upon many; for the foundations of the church, as they are sure, so
they are large.
III. That it shall be highly advanced, and become eminent and
conspicuous: It shall be exalted above the hills, observed with
wonder for its growing greatness from small beginnings. The kingdom of
Christ shall shine with greater lustre than ever any of the kingdoms of
the earth did. It shall be as a city on a hill, which cannot be
hid,
Matt. v. 14.
The glory of this latter house is greater than that of the former,
See
&c.
IV. That there shall be a great accession of converts to it and
succession of converts in it. People shall flow unto it as the
waters of a river are continually flowing; there shall be a constant
stream of believers flowing in from all parts into the church, as the
people of the Jews flowed into the temple, while it was standing, to
worship there. Then many tribes came to the mountain of the house, to
enquire of God’s temple; but in gospel-times many nations shall flow
into the church, shall fly like a cloud and as the doves to their
windows. Ministers shall be sent forth to disciple all
nations, and they shall not labour in vain; for, multitudes
being wrought upon to believe the gospel and embrace the Christian
religion, they shall excite and encourage one another, and shall say,
“Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord now raised
among us, even to the house of the God of Jacob, the spiritual
temple which we need not travel far to, for it is brought to our doors
and set up in the midst of us.” Thus shall people be made willing in
the day of his power
(Ps. cx. 3),
and shall do what they can to make others willing, as Andrew invited
Peter, and Philip Nathanael, to be acquainted with Christ. They shall
call the people to the mountain
for there is in Christ enough for all, enough for each. Now observe
what it is,
1. Which these converts expect to find in the house of the God of
Jacob. They come thither for instruction: “He will teach us of
his ways, what is the way in which he would have us to walk with
him and in which we may depend upon him to meet us graciously.” Note,
Where we come to worship God we come to be taught of him.
2. Which they engage to do when they are thus taught of God: We will
walk in his paths. Note, Those may comfortably expect that God will
teach them who are firmly resolved by his grace to do as they are
taught.
V. That, in order to this, a new revelation shall be published to the
world, on which the church shall be founded, and by which multitudes
shall be brought into it: For the law shall go forth of Zion, and
the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. The gospel is here called
the word of the Lord, for the Lord gave the word, and great
was the company of those that published it,
Ps. lxviii. 11.
It was of a divine original, a divine authority; it began to be spoken
by the Lord Christ himself,
And it is a law, a law of faith; we are under the law to
Christ. This was to go forth from Jerusalem, from Zion, the
metropolis of the Old-Testament dispensation, where the temple, and
altars, and oracles were, and whither the Jews went to worship from all
parts; thence the gospel must take rise, to show the connexion between
the Old Testament and the New, that the gospel is not set up in
opposition to the law, but is an explication and illustration of it,
and a branch growing out of its roots. It was in Jerusalem that
Christ preached and wrought miracles; there he died, rose again, and
ascended; there the Spirit was poured out; and those that were to
preach repentance and remission of sins to all nations were ordered to
begin at Jerusalem, so that thence flowed the streams that were
to water the desert world.
VI. That a convincing power should go along with the gospel of Christ,
in all places where it should be preached
(v. 3):
He shall judge among many people. Messiah, the lawgiver
(v. 2),
is here the judge, for to him the Father committed all
judgment, and for judgment he came into this world; his
word, the word of his gospel, that was to go forth from
Jerusalem, was the golden sceptre by which he shall rule and judge when
he sits as king on the holy hill of Zion,
Ps. ii. 6.
By it he shall rebuke strong nations afar off; for the Spirit
working with the word shall reprove the world,
John xvi. 8.
It is promised to the Son of David that he shall judge among the
heathen
(Ps. cx. 6),
which he does when in the chariot of his everlasting gospel he goes
forth, and goes on, conquering and to conquer.
VII. That a disposition to mutual peace and love shall be the happy
effect of the setting up of the kingdom of the Messiah: They shall
beat their swords into plough-shares; that is, angry passionate
men, that have been fierce and furious, shall be wonderfully sweetened,
and made mild and meek,
Those who, before their conversion, did injuries, and would bear none,
after their conversion can bear injuries, but will do none. As far as
the gospel prevails it makes men peaceable, for such is the wisdom
from above; it is gentle and easy to be entreated; and if
nations were but leavened by it, there would be universal peace. When
Christ was born there was universal peace in the Roman empire; those
that were first brought into the gospel church were all of one heart
and of one soul
(Acts iv. 32);
and it was observed of the primitive Christians how well they loved
one another. In heaven this will have its full accomplishment. It
is promised,
1. That none shall be quarrelsome. The art of war, instead of being
improved (which some reckon the glory of a kingdom), shall be forgotten
and laid aside as useless. They shall not learn war any more as
they have done, for they shall have no need to defend themselves nor
any inclination to offend their neighbours. Nation shall no longer
lift up sword against nation; not that the gospel will make men
cowards, but it will make men peaceable.
2. That all shall be quiet, both from evil and from the fear of evil
(v. 4):
They shall sit safely, and none shall disturb them; they shall
sit securely, and shall not disturb themselves, every man under his
vine and under his fig-tree, enjoying the fruit of them, and
needing no other shelter than the leaves of them. None shall make
them afraid; not only there shall be nothing that is likely to
frighten them, but they shall not be disposed to fear. under the
dominion of Christ, as that of Solomon, there shall be abundance of
peace. Though his followers have trouble in the world, in him they
enjoy great tranquillity. If this seems unlikely, yet we may depend
upon it, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it, and no word of
his shall fall to the ground; what he has spoken by his word he will do
by his providence and grace. He that is the Lord of hosts will
be the God of peace; and those may well be easy whom the Lord
of hosts, of all hosts, undertakes the protection of.
VIII. That the churches shall be constant in their duty, and so shall
make a good use of their tranquillity and shall not provoke the Lord to
deprive them of it,
v. 5.
When the churches have rest they shall be edified, and
confirmed, and comforted, and shall resolve to be as firm to their God
as other nations are to theirs, though they be no gods. Where we find
the foregoing promises,
&c. it follows
(v. 5),
O house of Jacob! come ye, and let us walk in the light of the
Lord; and here, We will walk in the name of the Lord our
God. Note, Peace is a blessing indeed when it strengthens our
resolutions to cleave to the Lord. Observe,
1. How constant other nations were to their gods: All people will
walk every one in the name of his god, will own their god and
cleave to him, will worship their god and serve him, will depend upon
him and put confidence in him. Whatever men make a god of they will
make use of, and take his name along with them in all their actions and
affairs. The mariners, in a storm, cried every man to his god,
Jonah i. 5.
And no instance could be found of a nation’s changing its gods,
If the hosts of heaven were their gods, they loved them, and served
them, and walked after them,
Jer. viii. 2.
2. How constant God’s people now resolve to be to him: “We will walk
in the name of the Lord our God, will acknowledge him in all our
ways, and govern ourselves by a continual regard to him, doing nothing
but what we have warrant from him for, and openly professing our
relation to him.” Observe, Their resolution is peremptory; it is not a
thing that needs be disputed: “We will walk in the name of the Lord
our God.” It is just and reasonable: He is our God. And it
is a resolution for a perpetuity: “We will do it for ever and
ever, and will never leave him. He will be ours for ever, and
therefore so we will be his, and never repent our choice.”
IX. That notwithstanding the dispersions, distress, and infirmities of
the church, it shall be formed and established, and made very
considerable,
1. The state of the church had been low, and weak, and very helpless,
in the latter times of the Old Testament, partly through the
corruptions of the Jewish nation, and partly through the oppressions
under which they groaned. They were like a flock of sheep that
were maimed, worried, and scattered,
Ezek. xxxiv. 16; Jer. l. 6, 17.
The good people among them, and in other places, that were well
inclined, were dispersed, were very infirm, and in a manner lost and
cast far off.
2. It is promised that all these grievances shall be redressed and the
distemper healed. Christ will come himself
(Matt. xv. 24),
and send his apostles to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,
Matt. x. 6.
From among the Jews that halted, or that for want of strength, could
not go upright, God gathered a remnant
(v. 7),
that remnant according to the election of grace which is spoken
of in
which embraced the gospel of Christ. And from among the Gentiles that
were cast far off (so the Gentiles are described to be,
he raised a strong nation; greater numbers of them were brought into
the church than of the Jews,
And such a strong nation the gospel-church is that the gates of hell
shall never be able to prevail against it. The church of Christ is more
numerous than any other nation, and strong in the Lord and in the
power of his might.
X. That the Messiah shall be the king of this kingdom, shall
protect and govern it, and order all the affairs of it for the best,
and this to the end of time. The Lord Jesus shall reign over them in
Mount Zion by his word and Spirit in his ordinances, and this
henceforth and for ever, for of the increase of his
government and peace there shall be no end.
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8 And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the
daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first
dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.
9 Now why dost thou cry out aloud? is there no king in thee?
is thy counsellor perished? for pangs have taken thee as a woman
in travail.
10 Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion,
like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the
city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even
to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the LORD shall
redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.
11 Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say,
Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion.
12 But they know not the thoughts of the LORD, neither
understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the
sheaves into the floor.
13 Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine
horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat
in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain unto the
LORD, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth.
These verses relate to Zion and Jerusalem, here called the tower of
the flock or the tower of Edor; we read of such a place
near Bethlehem; and some conjecture it is the same place where the
shepherds were keeping their flocks when the angels brought them
tidings of the birth of Christ, and some think Bethlehem itself is here
spoken of, as
Some think it is a tower at that gate of Jerusalem which is called the
sheep-gate
(Neh. iii. 32),
and conjecture that through that gate Christ rode in triumph into
Jerusalem. However, it seems to be put for Jerusalem itself, or for
Zion the tower of David. All the sheep of Israel flocked thither
three times a year; it was the stronghold (Ophel, which
is also a name of a place in Jerusalem,
or castle, of the daughter of Zion. Now here,
I. We have a promise of the glories of the spiritual Jerusalem, the
gospel-church, which is; the tower of the flock, that one fold in which
all the sheep of Christ are protected under one Shepherd: “Unto thee
shall it come; that which thou hast long wanted and wished for,
even the first dominion, a dignity and power equal to that of
David and Solomon, by whom Jerusalem was first raised, that
kingdom shall again come to the daughter of Jerusalem,
which it was deprived of at the captivity. It shall make as great a
figure and shine with as much lustre among the nations, and have as
much influence upon them, as ever it had; this is the first or
chief dominion.” Now this had by no means its accomplishment in
Zerubbabel; his was nothing like the first dominion either in respect
of splendour and sovereignty at home or the extent of power abroad; and
therefore it must refer to the kingdom of the Messiah (and to
that the Chaldee-paraphrase refers it) and had its accomplishment when
God gave to our Lord Jesus the throne of his father David
(Luke i. 32),
set him king upon the holy hill of Zion and gave him the
heathen for his inheritance
(Ps. ii. 6),
made him, his first-born, higher than the kings of the earth,
Ps. lxxxix. 27; Dan. vii. 14.
David, in spirit, called him Lord, and (as Dr. Pocock observes)
he witnessed of himself, and his witness was true, that he was greater
than Solomon, none of their dominions being like his for extent and
duration. The common people welcomed Christ into Jerusalem with
hosannas to the son of David, to show that it was the first
dominion that came to the daughter of Zion; and the
evangelist applies it to the promise of Zion’s king coming to her,
Some give this sense of the words: To Zion, and Jerusalem that tower of
the flock, to the nation of the Jews, came the first dominion;
that is, there the kingdom of Christ was first set up, the gospel of
the kingdom was first preached
there Christ was first called king of the Jews.
II. This is illustrated by a prediction of the calamities of the
literal Jerusalem, to which some favour and relief should be granted,
as a type and figure of what God would do for the gospel-Jerusalem in
the last days, notwithstanding its distresses. We have here,
1. Jerusalem put in pain by the providences of God. “She cries out
aloud, that all her neighbours may take notice of her griefs,
because there is no king in her, none of that honour and power
she used to have. Instead of ruling the nations, as she did when she
sat a queen, she is ruled by them, and has become a captive. Her
counsellors have perished; she is no longer at her own
disposal, but is given up to the will of her enemies, and is governed
by their counsellors. Pangs have taken her.”
(1.) She is carried captive to Babylon, and there is in pangs of grief.
“She goes forth out of the city, and is constrained to dwell
in the field, exposed to all manner of inconveniences; she goes
even to Babylon, and there wears out seventy tedious years
in a miserable captivity, all that while in pain, as a woman in
travail, waiting to be delivered, and thinking the time very long.”
(2.) When she is delivered out of Babylon, and redeemed from the hand
of her enemies there, yet still she is in pangs of fear; the end of one
trouble is but the beginning of another; for now also, when
Jerusalem is in the rebuilding, many nations are gathered against
her,
v. 11.
They were so in Ezra’s and Nehemiah’s time, and did all they could to
obstruct the building of the temple and the wall. They were so in the
time of the Maccabees; they said, Let her be defiled; let her be
looked upon as a place polluted with sin, and be forsaken and abandoned
both of God and man; let her holy places be profaned and all her
honours laid in the dust; let our eye look upon Zion, and please
itself with the sight of its ruins, as it is said of Edom
(Obad. 12,
Thou shouldst not have looked upon the day of thy brother); let
our eyes see our desire upon Zion, the day we have long wished for.
When they hear the enemies thus combine against them, and insult over
them, no wonder that they are in pain, and cry aloud. Without are
fightings, within are fears.
2. Jerusalem made easy by the promises of God: “Why dost thou cry
out aloud? Let thy griefs and fears be silenced; indulge not
thyself in them, for, though things are bad with thee, they shall end
well; thy pangs are great, but they are like those of a woman in
travail
(v. 9),
that labours to bring forth
(v. 10),
the issue of which will be good at last.” Jerusalem’s pangs are not as
dying agonies, but as travailing throes, which after a while will be
forgotten, for joy that a child is born into the world. Let the literal
Jerusalem comfort herself with this, that, whatever straits she may be
reduced to, she shall continue until the coming of the Messiah, for
there his kingdom must be first set up, and she shall not be destroyed
while that blessing is in her; and when at length she is ploughed as a
field, and become heaps (as is threatened,
yet her privileges shall be resigned to the spiritual Jerusalem, and in
that the promises made to her shall be fulfilled. Let Jerusalem be easy
then, for,
(1.) Her captivity in Babylon shall have an end, a happy end
(v. 10):
There shalt thou be delivered, and the Lord shall redeem thee from
the hand of thy enemies there. This was done by Cyrus, who acted
therein as God’s servant; and that deliverance was typical of our
redemption by Jesus Christ, and the release from our spiritual bondage
which is proclaimed in the everlasting gospel, that acceptable year
of the Lord, in which Christ himself preached liberty to the
captives, and the opening of the prison to those that were bound,
Luke iv. 18, 19.
(2.) The designs of her enemies against her afterwards shall be
baffled, nay, they shall turn upon themselves,
They promise themselves a day of it, but it shall prove God’s
day. They are gathered against Zion, to destroy it, but it
shall prove to their own destruction, which Israel and Israel’s God
shall have the glory of.
[1.] Their coming together against Zion shall be the occasion of their
ruin. They associate themselves, and gird themselves, that they
may break Jerusalem in pieces, but it will prove that they shall be
broken in pieces,
They know not the thoughts of the Lord. When they are gathering
together, and Providence favours them in it, they little think what God
is designing by it, nor do they understand his counsel; they know what
they aim at in coming together, but they know not what God aims at in
bringing them together; they aim at Zion’s ruin, but God aims at
theirs. Note, When men are made use of as instruments of Providence in
accomplishing its purposes it is very common for them to intend one
thing and for God to intend quite the contrary. The king of Assyria is
to be a rod in God’s hand for the correction of his people, in order to
their reformation; howbeit he means not so, nor does his heart think
so,
Isa. x. 7.
And thus it is here; the nations are gathered against Zion, as soldiers
into the field, but God gathers them as sheaves into the floor,
to be beaten to pieces; and they could not have been so easily, so
effectually, destroyed, if they had not gathered together against
Zion. Note, The designs of enemies for the ruin of the church often
prove ruining to themselves; and thereby they prepare themselves for
destruction and put themselves in the way of it; they are snared in
the work of their own hands.
[2.] Zion shall have the honour of being victorious over them,
When they are gathered as sheaves into the floor, to be trodden
down, as the corn then was by the oxen, then, “Arise, and thresh, O
daughter of Zion! instead of fearing them, and fleeing from them,
boldly set upon them, and take the opportunity Providence favours thee
with of trampling upon them. Plead not thy own weakness, and that thou
art not a match for so many confederated enemies; God will make thy
horn iron, to push them down, and thy hoofs brass, to tread
upon them when they are down; and thus thou shalt beat in pieces
many people, that have long been beating thee in pieces.” Thus,
when God pleases, the daughter of Babylon is made a threshing floor
(it is time to thresh her,
Jer. li. 33),
and the worm Jacob is made a threshing instrument, with
which God will thresh the mountains, and make them as chaff,
Isa. xli. 14, 15.
How strangely, how happily, are the tables turned, since Jacob was the
threshing-floor and Babylon the threshing instrument!
Note, When God has conquering work for his people to do he will furnish
them with strength and ability for it, will make the horn iron and the
hoofs brass; and, when he does so, they must exert the power he gives
them, and execute the commission; even the daughter of Zion must arise,
and thresh.
[3.] The glory of the victory shall redound to God. Zion shall thresh
these sheaves in the floor, but the corn threshed out shall be a
meat-offering at God’s altar: I will consecrate their gain unto the
Lord (that is, I will have it consecrated) and their substance
unto the Lord of the whole earth. The spoils gained by Zion’s
victory shall be brought into the sanctuary, and devoted to God, either
in part, as those of Midian
or in whole, as those of Jericho,
God is Jehovah, the fountain of being; he is the Lord of the whole
earth, the fountain of power; and therefore he needs not any of our
gain or substance, but may challenge and demand it all if he please;
and with ourselves we must devote all we have to his honour, to be
employed as he directs. Thus far all we have must have holiness to
the Lord written upon it, all our gain and substance must be
consecrated to the Lord of the whole earth,
Isa. xxiii. 18.
And extraordinary successes call for extraordinary acknowledgments,
whether they be of spoils in war or gains in trade. It is God that
gives us power to get wealth, which way soever it is honestly
got, and therefore he must be honoured with what we get. Some make all
this to point at the defeat of Sennacherib when he besieged Jerusalem,
others to the destruction of Babylon, others to the successes of the
Maccabees; but the learned Dr. Pocock and others think it had its full
accomplishment in the spiritual victories obtained by the gospel of
Christ over the powers of darkness that fought against it. The nations
thought to ruin Christianity in its infancy, but it was victorious over
them; those that persisted in their enmity were broken to pieces
particularly the Jewish nation; but multitudes by divine grace were
gained to the church, and they and their substance were consecrated to
the Lord Jesus, the Lord of the whole earth.
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