A Confirming Voice

            Micah, a so-called minor prophet, offers a confirming witness to what we saw in the last blog concerning Israel’s choices. Not surprisingly, it begins with a warning. But the warning isn’t just for the wayward Jews. “Hear, all you peoples! Listen, O earth, and all that is in it! Let the Lord God be a witness against you,the Lord from His holy temple. For behold, the Lord is coming out of His place; He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth” (Micah 1:2-3).
            In verse 4 Micah describes Jesus’ literal coming to the Mount of Olives, when His presence causes an earthquake that splits the mountain to make a way of escape for the Jewish remnant from the Antichrist’s armies. “The mountains will melt under Him, and the valleys will split like wax before the fire, like waters poured down a steep place.” While their deliverance comes, Micah reminds the Jews of why they are in this time of trouble. “All this is for the transgression of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel.”
            In chapter 4, Micah echoes what Isaiah foretold about the Mountain of the Lord’s House—God’s kingdom (Is. 2:2). “Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it. Many nations shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Micah 4:1-2).
            Isaiah recognized that the Seed would bring forth a new work, yet it would be based on the first work. In fact, the Seed would fulfill the Law on behalf of all mankind.  “As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one says, ‘Do not destroy it, for a blessing is in it,’ so will I do for My servants’ sake, that I may not destroy them all. I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, and from Judah an heir of My mountains; My elect shall inherit it, and My servants shall dwell there” (Is. 65:8-9).
            Micah goes on to tell us that the “One to be Ruler in Israel” shall be born in Bethlehem. He is the One “whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2). In verse 3 Micah prophesies as to why the Jews they shall be torn and stricken for two great Days. “Therefore He shall give them up, until the time that she who is in labor has given birth; then the remnant of His brethren shall return to the children of Israel.” This labor and birth are recorded again in Revelation 12, with the same result. It is the rapture of the Male Child, the Body of Christ. It leads to the Jews’ 3rd Day revival.
            The Chronos Lesson: Micah 5:4-5 describes the glorious end result when the great Shepherd returns. “And He shall stand and feed His flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord His God; and they shall abide, for now He shall be great to the ends of the earth; and this One shall be peace.” Once God’s vengeance against evil is complete via the wrath of that Day, the rest of Christ’s millennial reign over the earth from the throne of God in Heaven will be great. Yet it is not the end of the story!
            Micah’s prophecy is yet another plea for repentance. “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8). The Lord who never changes is certainly consistent in His message. Over and over He reminds His people of their rebellious ways, yet assures them of a hopeful end, if they would just turn back to Him. Also, over and over again, the prophetic books provide the prophetic puzzle pieces of that fateful Day of the Lord that shall come as a thief in the night and as a snare on the world.
            Malachi’s prophecy heralds the end of the early Days and points us to the last Days. He affirms the New Testament truth that Jesus Christ, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, is the rightful Heir of God’s Mountain. In other words, He is the Heir of God’s kingdom.
            The passage, though, reveals even greater mysteries when it refers to the elect—the called-out ones. The House that Jesus would come to build will not only inherit the Mountain Kingdom but will share in the hope of His calling also. All who will eventually become the children of the kingdom will not share this unique calling. Instead, this heavenly calling is restricted to a specific time in God’s plan—between Jesus’ first and second coming—in which His Son is calling out His Church, His Body, and His Bride.
            This time-specific invitation to be a joint-heir will soon be closed. People will still be able to join the family of the redeemed during the last Day. But then even that invitation will be closed at the end of that Day.