Micah stands among the first, if he is not the very first, who thus focussed 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,[883] like one of those solitary towers with folds round them which were built here and there upon the border pastures of Israel for defence of the flock against the raiders of the desert.[884] 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 (vv. 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.[885] Once more (ver. 14) the blockade is established. Israel's ruler is helpless, _smitten on the cheek by the foe_.[886] 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,[887] or is thy counsellor 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);_[888] _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 wilt 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_:[889] The foe _hath set a wall around us,_ _With a rod they smite on the cheek Israel's regent_! _But thou, Beth-Ephrath,_[890] _smallest among the thousands_[891] _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._[892] (_Then the rest of His brethren shall return with the children of Israel._)[893] _And He shall stand and shepherd His flock_[894] _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 an One shall be our Peace._[895]