1 Now muster your troops, O daughter of troops;
siege is laid against us;
with a rod they strike the judge of Israel
on the cheek.- Comment: Maybe this would have meant a particular Judge and a particular person who smote the Judge (Punched him in the jaw?). I like to think that it is talking about God who is the Ultimate Judge, and I fancy that it was the Romans who are meant. I think that the Jewish troops tried to conquer the Romans soon after Jesus was Crucified and Risen, and the next verse talks about Jesus’ birth place. As was told to King Herod in Matt 2.
2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days. – A fact to be taken into account as you think: God is called the Ancient of Days in the Bible, and Bethlehem was the place where God, the Son, stepped from a Throne into a Cradle!
3 Therefore he shall give them up until the time
when she who is in labor has given birth;
then the rest of his brothers shall return
to the people of Israel. – Comment – It is an easy passage to understand. Obviously Mary gave birth to Jesus! But from this fact on the timing of what is prophesied is difficult! As you read on ponder these questions. I am using the questions as stimulation to think not as absolute truth! Does it talk about when the Jewish state was reformed under the Balfour Declaration? When the national ‘baby’ was born (Israel became a nation in 1948? Is it referring to when Jesus shall return and be the ‘on site’ Shepherd of His flock? I think that some of prophecy (what has happened already is ‘easy’ to see, but what is in the future is only dimly seen! Is the number seven used in the sense of Biblical perfection and the eight like an underlining of the statement? Is Assyria the only name that Micah knew and if it refers to the present can we translate it as Persia, which is basically the same place?
4 And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD,
in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.
And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great
to the ends of the earth.
5 And he shall be their peace.
When the Assyrian comes into our land
and treads in our palaces,
then we will raise against him seven shepherds
and eight princes of men;
6 they shall shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword,
and the land of Nimrod at its entrances;
and he shall deliver us from the Assyrian
when he comes into our land
and treads within our border. Food for thought: And as we read further there are more issues to be considered. What part does the diaspora of the Jewish nation take in all this? Is the success of ‘the young lions of Judah’ in being successful as seen in the number of Nobel prizes that they have won, to be considered?
7 Then the remnant of Jacob shall be
in the midst of many peoples
like dew from the LORD,
like showers on the grass,
which delay not for a man
nor wait for the children of man.
8 And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations,
in the midst of many peoples,
like a lion among the beasts of the forest,
like a young lion among the flocks of sheep,
which, when it goes through, treads down
and tears in pieces, and there is none to deliver.
9 Your hand shall be lifted up over your adversaries,
and all your enemies shall be cut off.
10 And in that day, declares the LORD, – Challenge for thinking: Is the previous portion spoken to the Jews and what follows to their idolatrous conquerors? Does it also include the purification of Jewish worship? When you arrive at v 15 – is Israel one of ‘the nations who did not obey‘?
I will cut off your horses from among you
and will destroy your chariots;
11 and I will cut off the cities of your land
and throw down all your strongholds;
12 and I will cut off sorceries from your hand,
and you shall have no more tellers of fortunes;
13 and I will cut off your carved images
and your pillars from among you,
and you shall bow down no more
to the work of your hands;
14 and I will root out your Asherah images from among you
and destroy your cities.
15 And in anger and wrath I will execute vengeance
on the nations that did not obey.
Comment: May You see God’s hand in all this!
Job is reported as saying in 42: 5-6 – I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” – I think that sees means understands!
Prayer: Help me to see You as Job saw You!
As I read it! 