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Expositor's Bible Commentary Micah 5:1 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. THE KING TO COME Micah 4:8 - Micah 5:1-15 WHEN a people has to be purged of long injustice, when some high aim of liberty or of order has to be won, it is remarkable how often the drama of revolution passes through three acts. There is first the period of criticism and of vision, in which men feel discontent, dream of new things, and put their hopes into systems: it seems then as if-the future were to come of itself. But often a catastrophe, relevant or irrelevant, ensues: the visions pale before a vast conflagration, and poet, philosopher, and prophet disappear under the feet of a mad mob of wreckers. Yet this is often the greatest period of all, for somewhere in the midst of it a strong character is forming, and men, by the very anarchy, are being taught, in preparation for him, the indispensableness of obedience and loyalty. With their chastened minds he achieves the third act, and fulfills all of the early vision that God’s ordeal by fire has proved worthy to survive. Thus history, when distraught, rallies again upon the Man. To this law the prophets of Israel only gradually gave expression. We find no trace of it among the earliest of them; and in the essential faith of all there was much which predisposed them against the conviction of its necessity. For, on the one hand, the seers were so filled with the inherent truth and inevitableness of their visions, that they described these as if already realised; there was no room for a great figure to rise before the future, for with a rush the future was upon them. On the other hand, it was ever a principle of prophecy that God is able to dispense with human aid. "In presence of the Divine omnipotence all secondary causes, all interposition on the part of the creature, fall away." The more striking is it that before long the prophets should have begun, not only to look for a Man, but to paint him as the central figure of their hopes. In Hosea, who has no such promise, we already see the instinct at work. The age of revolution which he describes is cursed by its want of men: there is no great leader of the people sent from God; those who come to the front are the creatures of faction and party; there is no king from God. How different it had been in the great days of old, when God had ever worked for Israel through some man-a Moses, a Gideon, a Samuel, but especially a David. Thus memory, equally with the present dearth of personalities, prompted to a great desire, and with passion Israel waited for a Man. The hope of the mother for her firstborn, the pride of the father in his son, the eagerness of the woman for her lover, the devotion of the slave to his liberator, the enthusiasm of soldiers for their captain-unite these noblest affections of the human heart, and you shall yet fail to reach the passion and the glory with which prophecy looked for the King to Come. Each age, of course, expected him in the qualities of power and character needed for its own troubles, and the ideal changed from glory unto glory. From valor and victory in war, it became peace and good government, care for the poor and the oppressed, sympathy with the sufferings of the whole people, but especially of the righteous among them, with fidelity to the truth delivered unto the fathers, and, finally, a conscience for the people’s sin, a bearing of their punishment and a travail, for their spiritual redemption. But all these qualities and functions were gathered upon an individual-a Victor, a King, a Prophet, a Martyr, a Servant of the Lord. Micah stands among the first, if he is not the very first, who thus focused the hopes of Israel upon a great Redeemer; and his promise of Him shares all the characteristics just described. In his book it lies next a number of brief oracles with which we are unable to trace its immediate connection. They differ from it in style and rhythm: they are in verse, while it seems to be in prose. They do not appear to have been uttered along with it. But they reflect the troubles out of which the Hero is expected to emerge, and the deliverance which He shall accomplish, though at first they picture the latter without any hint of Himself. They apparently describe an invasion which is actually in course, rather than one which is near and inevitable; and if so they can only date from Sennacherib’s campaign against Judah in 701 B.C. Jerusalem is in siege, standing alone in the land, like one of those solitary towers with folds round them which were built here and there upon the border pastures of Israel for defense of the flock against the raiders of the desert. The prophet sees the possibility of Zion’s capitulation, but the people shall leave her only for their deliverance elsewhere. Many are gathered against her, but he sees them as sheaves upon the floor for Zion to thresh. This oracle ( Micah 4:11-13 ) cannot, of course, have been uttered at the same time as the previous one, but there is no reason why the same prophet should not have uttered both at different periods. Isaiah had prospects of the fate of Jerusalem which differ quite as much. Once more ( Micah 5:1 ) the blockade is established. Israel’s ruler is helpless, "smitten on the cheek by the foe." It is to this last picture that the promise of the Deliverer is attached. The prophet speaks:- "But thou, O Tower of the Flock, Hill of the daughter of Zion, To thee shall arrive the former rule, And the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Zion. Now wherefore criest thou so loud? Is there no king in thee, or is thy counselor perished, That throes have seized thee like a woman in childbirth? Quiver and writhe, daughter of Zion, like one in childbirth: For now must thou forth from the city, And encamp on the field (and come unto Babel); There shalt thou be rescued, There shall Jehovah redeem thee from the hand of thy foes"! "And now gather against thee many nations, that say, ‘Let her be violate, that our eyes may fasten on Zion! But they know not the plans of Jehovah, Nor understand they His counsel, For He hath gathered them in like sheaves to the floor. Up and thresh, O daughter of Zion For thy horns will I turn into iron, And thy hoofs will I turn into brass; And thou will beat down many nations, And devote to Jehovah their spoil, And their wealth to the Lord of all earth". "Now press thyself together, thou daughter of pressure: The foe hath set a wall around us, With a rod they smite on the cheek Israel’s regent! But thou, Beth-Ephrath, smallest among the thousands of Judah, From thee unto Me shall come forth the Ruler to be in Israel! Yea, of old are His goings forth, from the days of long ago! Therefore shall He suffer them till the time that one bearing shall have born. (Then the rest of His brethren shall return with the children of Israel.) And He shall stand and shepherd His flock in the strength of Jehovah, In the pride of the name of His God. And they shall abide! For now is He great to the ends of the earth. And Such a One shall be our Peace." Bethlehem was the birthplace of David, but when Micah says that the Deliverer shall emerge from her he does not only mean what Isaiah affirms by his promise of a rod from the stock of Jesse, that the King to Come shall spring from the one great dynasty in Judah. Micah means rather to emphasize the rustic and popular origin of the Messiah, "too small to be among the thousands of Judah." David, the son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, was a dearer figure than Solomon son of David the King. He impressed the people’s imagination, because he had sprung from themselves, and in his lifetime had been the popular rival of an unlovable despot. Micah himself was the prophet of the country as distinct from the capital, of the peasants as against the rich who oppressed them. When, therefore, he fixed upon Bethlehem as the Messiah’s birthplace, he doubtless desired, without departing from the orthodox hope in the Davidic dynasty, to throw round its new representative those associations which had so endeared to the people their father-monarch. The shepherds of Judah, that strong source of undefiled life from which the fortunes of the state and prophecy itself had ever been recuperated, should again send forth salvation. Had not Micah already declared that, after the overthrow of the capital and the rulers, the glory of Israel should come to Adullam, where of old David had gathered its soiled and scattered fragments? We may conceive how such a promise would affect the crushed peasants for whom Micah wrote. A Savior, who was one of themselves, not born up there in the capital, foster-brother of the very nobles who oppressed them, but born among the people, sharer of their toils and of their wrongs!-it would bring hope to every broken heart among the disinherited poor of Israel. Yet meantime, be it observed, this was a promise, not for the peasants only, but for the whole people. In the present danger of the nation the class disputes are forgotten, and the hopes of Israel gather upon their Hero for a common deliverance from the foreign foe. "Such a One shall be our peace." But in the peace He is "to stand and shepherd His flock," conspicuous and watchful. The country folk knew what such a figure meant to themselves for security and weal on the land of their fathers. Heretofore their rulers had not been shepherds, but thieves and robbers. We can imagine the contrast which such a vision must have offered to the fancies of the false prophets. What were they beside this? Deity descending in fire and thunder, with all the other features of the ancient Theophanies that had now become much cant in the mouths of mercenary traditionalists. Besides those, how sane was this how footed upon the earth, how practical, how popular in the best sense! We see, then, the value of Micah’s prophecy for his own day. Has it also any value for ours-especially in that aspect of it which must have appealed to the hearts of those for whom chiefly Micah arose? Is it wise to paint the Messiah, to paint Christ, so much a workingman? Is it not much more to our purpose to remember the general fact of His humanity, by which He is able to be Priest and Brother to all classes, high and low, rich and poor, the noble and the peasant alike? Is not the Man of Sorrows a much wider name than the Man of Labor? Let us answer these questions. The value of such a prophecy of Christ lies in the correctives which it supplies to the Christian apocalypse and theology. Both of these have raised Christ to a throne too far above the actual circumstance of His earthly ministry and the theatre of His eternal sympathies. Whether enthroned in the praises of Heaven, or by scholasticism relegated to an ideal and abstract humanity, Christ is lifted away from touch with the common people. But His lowly origin was a fact. He sprang from the most democratic of peoples. His ancestor was a shepherd, and His mother a peasant girl. He Himself was a carpenter: at home, as His parables show, in the fields and the folds and the barns of His country; with the servants of the great houses, with the unemployed in the market; with the woman in the hovel seeking one piece of silver, with the shepherd on the moors seeking the lost sheep. "The poor had the gospel preached to them; and the common people heard Him gladly." As the peasants of Judea must have listened to Micah’s promise of His origin among themselves with new hope and patience, so in the Roman empire the religion of Jesus Christ was welcomed chiefly, as the Apostles and the Fathers bear witness, by the lowly and the laboring of every nation. In the great persecution which bears His name, the Emperor Domitian heard that there were two relatives alive of this Jesus whom so many acknowledged as their King, and he sent for them that he might put them to death. But when they came, he asked them to hold up their hands, and seeing these brown and chapped with toil, he dismissed the men, saying, "From such slaves we have nothing to fear." Ah but, Emperor! it is just the horny hands of this religion that thou and thy gods have to fear! Any cynic or satirist of thy literature, from Celsus onwards, could have told thee that it was by men who worked with their hands for their daily bread, by domestics, artisans, and all manner of slaves, that the power of this King should spread, which meant destruction to [flee and thine empire] "From little Bethlehem came forth the Ruler," and "now He is great to the ends of the earth." There follows upon this prophecy of the Shepherd a curious fragment which divides His office among a number of His order, though the grammar returns towards the end to One. The mention of Assyria stamps this oracle also as of the eighth century. Mark the refrain which opens and closes it. "When Asshur cometh into our land, And when he marcheth on our borders, Then shall we raise against him seven shepherds And eight princes of men. And they shall shepherd Asshur with a sword, And Nimrod’s land with her own bare blades. And He shall deliver from Asshur, When he cometh into our land, And marcheth upon our borders." There follows an oracle in which there is no evidence of Micah’s hand or of his times; but if it carries any proof of a date, it seems a late one. "And the remnant of Jacob shall be among many peoples Like the dew from Jehovah, Like showers upon grass, Which wait not for a man. Nor tarry for the children of men. And the remnant of Jacob (among nations,) among many peoples, Shall be like the lion among the beasts of the jungle, Like a young lion among the sheepfolds, Who, when he cometh by, treadeth and teareth, And none may deliver. Let thine hand be high on thine adversaries, And all thine enemies be cut off!" Finally in this section we have an oracle full of the notes we had from Micah in The first two chapters. It explains itself. Compare Micah 2:1-13 and Isaiah 2:1-22 . "And it shall be in that day-‘tis the oracle of Jehovah-That I will cut off thy horses from the midst of thee, And I will destroy thy chariots; That I will cut off the cities of thy land, And tear down all thy fortresses, And I will cut off thine enchantments from thy hand, And thou shalt have no more soothsayers; And I will cut off thine images and thy pillars from the midst of thee, And thou shalt not bow down any more to the work of thy hands; And I will uproot thine Asheras from the midst of thee, And will destroy thine idols. So shall I do, in My wrath and Mine anger, Vengeance to the nations, who have not known Me." The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops Micah 5:1 The Church of God Homilist. 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. ) But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah Micah 5:2 Bethlehem and its Babe The Thinker. 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 W. H. P. Faunce. 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 J. Jowett. 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 Homilist. 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." (1) According to My will. (2) To do My will. 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 Launcelot Andrewes, D. D. 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 J. Summerfield, A. M. 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 R. Aikman, D. D. 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 W. Perkins. 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. ) He shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord Micah 5:4 The Mighty Shepherd Homilist. 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 William Jay. "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. ) And this Man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land Micah 5:5 Peace in Christ amid invading foes Stephen H. Tyng, D. D. 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 Henry Melvill, B. D. 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 William Adamson. 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, an

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, Mt 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. 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.