Mic 4:1

“(Chapter IV - Verses 1 onwards) And it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it, and many nations shall come, and say: 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.' For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem; he shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. For all the peoples walk each in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever. On that day, says the Lord, I will gather the lame and gather her whom I have driven away, and the one whom I have afflicted; I will make the lame a remnant, and the one who was cast off a strong nation; and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion from now on and forever. And in the last days, the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come and say: 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.' For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem; he shall judge between many peoples, and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more; but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees, and no one shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. For all the peoples walk, each in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever. But we will go in the name of the Lord our God forever and beyond. In that day, says the Lord, I will gather her who was crushed, and her who was cast out, I will receive, and those whom I had rejected: and I will make the crushed into a remnant, and the cast out into a strong nation, and the Lord will reign over them on Mount Zion, from now and forever. For the leaders of Judah have despised justice, and have perverted all that is right, and have built Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity: and not only have they done these things, but they have also judged for bribes, and the priests of Jerusalem have answered for payment, and her prophets have divined for money, and because of them, Zion was like a plowed field, and Jerusalem had fallen into heaps of stones, and the mountain of the temple of God, desolate among the high forests. Therefore now, their house is abandoned and deserted, when the Son of God, going out of the temple, said: Rise, let us go hence (John 14:31): And: Your house shall be left to you desolate (Luke 13:15). The angels also, with Joseph reporting, said: Let us go forth from our abodes, for the mountain of Zion is exalted, of which it is said to the prince of Tyre. And you were wounded on the mountain of the Lord (Ezek. XXVIII). But this mountain of the Lord was revealed in the last days, when the kingdom of heaven was drawing near. For in the consummation of the ages, for the condemnation of sinners, our Savior appeared through his sacrifice, and he came at the eleventh hour to hire workers. And completing His passion, John says: It is the last hour (1 John 2:18): in six thousand years, if five hundred years are divided by the hours of each day, the last hour will consequently be called the time of the faith of the Gentiles. And it will be made manifest, he says, the mountain of the Lord prepared upon the tops of the mountains. It will be made manifest, which was previously hidden, and prepared not only in the mountains, but upon the tops of the mountains, Moses and the Prophets, who prophesied about Him. For although they have written all things holy, nevertheless, in comparison to the prophecy in which they foretold the coming of the Savior, all other things are humble and do not reach to the top of the mountains. And it is said, 'He will be exalted upon the hills.' (Philippians 2:8-9) Indeed, he appeared as a man and took on the form of a servant; he humbled himself unto death, even death on a cross. But the Father exalted him and gave him a name that is above every name, and the whole life of mankind, compared to his way of life, is called fields and valleys. So to this mountain, which is prepared on the top of the mountains, and exalted above the hills, all people will hasten, or as it is written in Hebrew, all the people will flow, that is, in the manner of rivers, innumerable crowds will gather. But the people will hasten when the Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and the inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya which are near Cyrene, and Roman visitors, Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs will have believed in him together. Do they not seem to you to have hurried to the mountain, to whom it was said: Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men (Matt. 4:19-20), and they immediately followed the Savior? And again, the Scripture relates about James and John, that having left the boat and father and the waves of the world, they hurried to the mountain. And when Matthew the tax collector heard: Follow me (Matt. 9), he immediately ran. And that too in the Gospel, when great crowds from Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and beyond the Jordan followed him, and he healed them, he approves the peoples who hurried. But as the people hasten, many nations will also go to the mountain: indeed, the whole world believing in it, and they will say to the standard, mutually challenging themselves to the gallows: Come, let us ascend to the mountain of the Lord. Ascension is necessary in order for anyone to be able to reach Christ, and to the house of God of Jacob, the Church, which is the house of God, the pillar and foundation of truth. Moreover, what Jacob signifies the Savior, as we have said: Jacob, my servant, I will uphold him (Isaiah 2:3). But they will also say to those to whom they had spoken: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and they will add: So that they may show us His way, which we either understand in the Angels who are present in the Churches, or in the holy Scriptures, which show the way of the Lord, and Him who says: I am the way (John 14). And let us walk in His paths, namely in the Apostles, through whom we have believed in Christ. For from Zion a spiritual law has come forth, and the word of God has passed from Jerusalem to the nations, who He will judge among many peoples (John 5:22): For the Father has given all judgment to the Son. And he shall rebuke many nations unto a great distance (Ps. XCIII, 11): For the Lord takes hold of the wise in their craftiness, and he understands the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile. But he shall judge among the peoples who are deserving of salvation, and those who are unworthy, and at his coming all zeal for war shall be directed towards peace (Isai. II, 4). Swords shall be turned into plowshares, and spears into pruning-hooks, and the nation shall cease to wage war against another nation. No one will learn to fight, in the absence of the necessity to fight. And there will be such peace, that not only in cities, but also in villages and fields, everyone will be safe: and this will happen, because the mouth of the Lord has spoken. And first indeed, according to the letter, before a child was born to us, whose government was upon his shoulder, the whole world was full of blood, nations fought against nations, kings fought against kings, and peoples fought against peoples. Finally, even the Roman Republic itself was torn apart by civil wars, with Cinna and Octavius and Carbo fighting, with Sylla and Marius, Antony and Catiline, Caesar and Gnaeus Pompeius, Augustus and Brutus, and with the same Augustus and Antony: in their battles, entire kingdoms shed blood. But after the reign of Christ began, Rome obtained a unique reign; the path of the Apostles became known throughout the world, and the gates of cities were opened to them, and a unique reign of one God was established for preaching. It is also possible to interpret this saying in a tropological sense: that we may say to the faith of Christ, anger and unbridled insults are put aside, so that each person may place their hand on the plow and not look back, and desiring to reap spiritual fruits, breaking the darts of insults and spears of contempt, so that while others labor, we may enter into their labors, and it may be said of us: 'They that sow in tears shall reap in joy, carrying their sheaves.' Now no one fights against another, because we read: Blessed are the peacemakers (Matt. V, 9). No one learns to argue to the downfall of the listeners, but puts silence on his mouth, and is silent; because it is an evil time (Ps. CIII). And each one rests under his vine, to press the wine, which makes glad the heart of man, under that vine, whose farmer is the Father (John XV), and under his fig tree collecting the sweet fruits of the Holy Spirit, charity, joy, peace, and the rest. But all these things happen, according to both interpretations, because the words of the Lord are true, and he said and did them. All the peoples will go, each one on his own way: but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and beyond. They say to all the nations going astray according to their error, we hastened to the mountain of the Lord, and we said: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob (Isaiah 2:3), and we will walk in the name of Christ our Lord, because he is the mountain who is God. In that day, in which the sun of justice will shine, that which was formerly crushed will be gathered together, and that which was expelled will be received, and to this the crushed will be gathered together, so that it may be placed among the remnants, and the forsaken will be made into a strong nation. For unless the Lord of hosts had left us seed, we would have been like Sodom, and we would have been similar to Gomorrah (Rom. 9:29). But according to the Hebrew, it is beautiful: I will gather the limping one, and the one who has walked badly and to whom Elijah said: How long will you limp? (1 Kings 18:21). Whose foot had been scandalized was cut off (Mark 9). I will gather the one whom I had cast out, and to whom I had given the bill of divorce. And the one whom I had afflicted with various captivities, or had delivered to the devil and his angels. And so that a diligent reader may not immediately oppose us, saying how can you claim that the limping one has been gathered, and the one that had been cast out has been collected, when the Jews remain in unbelief? Let him hear about the first Church of Christ that believed from the Jews, from which even the Apostles came, about which Luke describes in the Acts of the Apostles: that in one day three thousand believed, and elsewhere five thousand (Acts 2). And about whom James speaks to Paul: You see, brother Paul, how many thousands there are among the Jews who believe, and all of these are zealous for the Law (Ibid., 21). But consider also the prophetic significance: He did not say, 'I will make the whole lame person whole,' but 'I will make the lame person into a remnant, so that the remnant and the chosen ones may be saved, and those who have labored may become a strong nation, namely the Christian people, which neither sword nor fire nor torments will overcome. See the faith and passion of the Martyrs, and you will not doubt the strength of this nation. And the Lord will rule over them, that is, over many nations, and over the lame remnants on Mount Zion, in the Church, in the watchtower, in the contemplation of virtues, from the present world to the future.' But if anyone wants to understand this which is said: 'I will gather that which was broken, and I will receive that which was cast out, etc.,' to refer to the human soul which, before the coming of Christ, was subject to various sufferings and vices, and was like a lost and diseased sheep torn apart by the jaws of wolves, he will not be mistaken, as long as he knows that the one that was broken and afflicted will later be part of the Lord's kingdom, and will live in Zion, and will be carried on the shoulders of the good shepherd to the former mountain. It should also be known, and this chapter which we have now exposed, and a similar one from Isaiah, refers the Jews and the heirs of their errors to the thousand-year reign of Christ and the saints. And that which is said: All peoples will worship, each one in the name of their Lord God, should be interpreted as each nation being tormented with their own idol, and being cast into the fire of eternal punishment. But from the subsequent things, it is argued that this is not said about the end of the ages, but about the first coming of Christ, in which the remnants of the limping are gathered and the nations are saved beforehand. Therefore Isaiah has given this testimony: The word that was spoken to Isaiah son of Amos concerning Judah and Jerusalem: In the last days the mountain of the Lord's house will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.' The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. (Isaiah 2) It is significant here that it is said that the word of God, coming out from Jerusalem, will judge between many nations and specifically rebuke the people of Judah. For he will judge us as sinners according to the measure of our works: but he will not judge them as wicked and deniers, but will reprove and condemn them.”

“After the experience of the troubles in which they would find themselves, made captive first by the Assyrians and later by the Babylonians, such a great transformation would occur regarding this place that the mountain on which God was reputed to dwell would become famous and would be shown to be superior to all the mountains and far surpass all mountains and all hills on account of the glory enveloping it as a result of the divine compassion. Large numbers from all quarters, even from foreign peoples, would hasten to assemble to reach this mountain of God, on which God is believed to dwell, and learn how they should regulate their lives and live as they ought.”

“The prophet Micah employed the symbol of a high mountain to speak of the gathering of the nations in Christ. He has this to say: "And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared in the top of the mountains and high above the hills; and people shall flow to it. And many nations shall come in haste, and say, 'Come, 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 out of Zion, and the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem. And he shall judge among many people and rebuke strong nations afar off.' "”

“The evangelical and divine preaching coursed to the ends of the earth, according to the Lord's prophecy contained in the sacred Gospels: "This good news will be preached to all the nations in witness to them." And he urged the holy apostles in the words, "Go, make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I commanded you." This evangelical law and apostolic preaching began with Jerusalem as with a fountain and traveled across the whole world, offering irrigation to those who made their approach with faith. It is also possible to see the divine houses situated in the middle of cities, villages, fields and remote areas, conspicuous for their size and beauty, so that they are illustrious and famous even on the highest mountains.”

“Last days. This sometimes means after this, Isaias ix. 1. But here it denotes the time which shall elapse from Christ till the day of eternity. The Jews allow that this prediction regards the Messias, though they will not explain it of Jesus Christ. Their exceptions are well refuted by Ribera. (Worthington) — It is plain that it can be verified nowhere else, but in the Church of Christ; though some expressions may, as usual, refer to the return of the captives. Isaias, (ii. 2.) &c., had already used the like terms under Ozias. Juda is here comforted, after its ruin had been denounced.”

“The promise of salvation opens, in closest connection with the destruction of Jerusalem and of the temple, with a picture of the glory awaiting in the remotest future the temple mountain, which has now become a wild forest-height. Mic 4:1. "And it comes to pass at the end of the days, that the mountain of Jehovah's house will be established on the head of the mountains, and it will be exalted above the hills, and nations stream to it. Mic 4:2. And many nations go, and say, Up, let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, and to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us of His ways, and we may walk in His paths: for from Zion will law go forth, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. Mic 4:3. And He will judge between many nations, and pronounce sentence on strong nations afar off; and they forge their swords into coulters, and their spears into pruning-hooks: nation will not lift up sword against nation, nor will they learn war any more. Mic 4:4. And they will sit, every one under his vine, and under his fig-tree, and no one will make them afraid: for the mouth of Jehovah of hosts hath spoken it." (Note: This promise is placed by Isaiah (Isa 2:2-4) at the head of his prophecy of Zion's way through judgment from the false glory to the true. The originality of the passage in Micah is open to no question. Delitzsch acknowledges this, and has given the principal arguments in its favour in the Commentary on Isaiah. For still more elaborate proofs, see Caspari's Micha, pp. 444-5.) By the phrase "at the end of the days," which always denotes the Messianic era when used by the prophets (see at Hos 3:5), the predicted exaltation of the temple mountain is assigned to the period of the completion of the kingdom of God. The mountain of the house of Jehovah is the temple mountain, strictly speaking, Moriah, as the distinction made between the mountain of the house and Zion in Mic 3:12 clearly shows; but as a subordinate peak of Zion, it is embraced along with Zion in what follows (compare Mic 4:2 with Mic 4:7) as the seat of Jehovah's rule, from which the law proceeds. נכון does not mean placed or set up, but established, founded. By connecting the participle with יהיה, the founding is designated as a permanent one. בּראשׁ ההרים, upon (not at) the top of the mountains, as in Jdg 9:7; Sa1 26:13; Psa 72:16; whereas such passages as Mic 2:13; Amo 6:7, and Kg1 21:9 are of a different character, and have no bearing upon the point. The temple mountain, or Zion, will be so exalted above all the mountains and hills, that it will appear to be founded upon the top of the mountains. This exaltation is of course not a physical one, as Hofmann, Drechsler, and several of the Rabbins suppose, but a spiritual (ethical) elevation above all the mountains. This is obvious from Mic 4:2, according to which Zion will tower above all the mountains, because the law of the Lord issues from it. The assumption of a physical elevation cannot be established from Eze 40:2 and Rev 21:10, for in the visions described in both these passages the earthly elevation is a symbol of a spiritual one. "Through a new revelation of the Lord, which is made upon it, and which leaves the older revelations far behind, whether made upon Sinai or upon itself, Zion becomes the greatest and loftiest mountain in the world" (Caspari), and the mountain seen from afar, to which "nations" stream, and not merely the one nation of Israel. עמּים is more precisely defined in Mic 4:2 as גּוים רבּים. The attractive power which this mountain exerts upon the nations, so that they call upon one another to go up to it (Mic 4:2), does not reside in its height, which towers above that of all other mountains, but in the fact that the house of the God of Jacob stands upon it, i.e., that Jehovah is enthroned there, and teacher how to walk in His ways. הורה מן, to teach out of the ways, so that the ways of God form the material from which they derive continual instruction. The desire for salvation, therefore, is the motive which prompts them to this pilgrimage; for they desire instruction in the ways of the Lord, that they may walk in them. The ways of Jehovah are the ways which God takes in His dealing with men, and by which men are led by Him; in reality, therefore, the ordinances of salvation which He has revealed in His word, the knowledge and observance of which secure life and blessedness. The words "for the law goes forth from Zion," etc., are words spoken not by the nations, but by the prophet, and assign the reason why the heathen go with such zeal to the mountain of Jehovah. The accent is laid upon מצּיון (from Zion), which stands at the head, and מירוּשׁלם (from Jerusalem), which is parallel to it. Thence does tōrâh, i.e., instruction in the ways of God, proceed, - in other words, the law as the rule of a godly life, and debhar Yehōvâh (the word of Jehovah), or the word of revelation as the source of salvation. It is evident from this that the mountain of the house of God is not thought of here as the place of worship, but as the scene of divine revelation, the centre of the kingdom of God. Zion is the source of the law and word of the Lord, from which the nations draw instruction how to walk in the ways of God, to make it their own, take it to their homes, and walk according to it. The fruit of this adoption of the word of the Lord will be, that they will not longer fight out their disputes with weapons of war, but let Jehovah judge and settle them, and thus acknowledge Him as their King and Judge. שׁפם signifies to act as judge; הוכיה (lit., to set right), to settle and put a stop to a dispute. "Many nations," in contrast with the one nation, which formerly was alone in acknowledge Jehovah as its King and Judge. This is strengthened still further by the parallel "strong, mighty nations afar off." In consequence of this they will turn their weapons into instruments of peaceful agriculture, and wage no more war; in fact, they will learn war no more, no longer exercise themselves in the use of arms. For the words וכתּתוּ וגו compare Joe 3:10, where the summons to the nations to a decisive conflict with the kingdom of God is described as turning the instruments of agriculture into weapons of war. With the cessation of war, universal peace will ensue, and Israel will have no further enemies to fear, so that every one will have undisturbed enjoyment of the blessings of peace, of which Israel had had a foretaste during the peaceful reign of Solomon. The words "sit under his vine" are taken from Kg1 5:5 (cf. Zac 3:10), and אין מחריד from the promise in Lev 26:6. All this, however incredible it might appear, not only for the Israel of that time, but even now under the Christian dispensation, will assuredly take place, for the mouth of Jehovah the true God has spoken it.”