Micah 5:9
Ver. 9. Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries,.... O remnant of Jacob or Israel, as the Targum; the church of God; now will be the time that it shall prevail over all the antichristian states; now will the Christian princes pour out the vials of God's wrath upon them; and they shall feel the strength and weight of their hand; which will fall heavy upon them, even to their utter destruction: or thine hand, O Messiah, the ruler in Israel, the man the peace that shall deliver from the Assyrian; and who will be at the head of his church and people, the remnant of Jacob, and destroy their enemies with the sword that proceeds out of his mouth:
and all thine enemies shall be cut off; all the enemies of Christ and his church; all the kings of the earth that shall gather against them, the beast and false prophet, with all their followers; see Re 19:19. Micah 5:10Ver. 10. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord,.... When the above things shall be accomplished, even in the Gospel day, made so by the rising of the sun of righteousness; the Gospel dispensation, the latter part of it:that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots; which some take to be an apostrophe to literal Babylon, and to be fulfilled when Cyrus took possession of it; but rather it respects mystical Babylon, and the destruction of that by Christ; but it is best of all to interpret it of the church of Christ, all whose carnal confidences and dependences shall be cut off, and shall trust alone in Christ for salvation; particularly the Jews now converted, who have been used to put their trust in the flesh, and in such things as are here mentioned; but now shall be made to see the folly and vanity of such things, and shall renounce and disclaim them; see Ho 14:3; or the sense is, there shall be no more war; horses and chariots shall be no more used in a hostile way; but there shall be perfect peace, all enemies being destroyed, which agrees with Mic 2:3 Zec 9:10. The Targum is,"I will cut off the horses of the people from the midst of thee, and destroy their chariots?'' Micah 5:11Ver. 11. And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strong holds. The meaning is, they should not dwell in fortified cities and walled towns; they should have none of these to trust to, nor should they stand in any need of them to defend them, their enemies being subdued; and besides, the Lord would be their strong hold and place of defence, a wall of fire round about them, but the glory in the midst of them, The phrases are expressive of the greatest tranquillity and safety, and of living in an open air, free and undisturbed; see Zec 2:4. The Targum is,"I will cut off the cities of the people out of thy land, and destroy all their strong fortresses;''these shall dwell no more there, and be no more offensive and troublesome. Micah 5:12Ver. 12. And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand,.... Such as were formerly practised among the Jews, though forbidden them, and in mystical Babylon, or the antichristian church, whose sorceries are mentioned, Re 9:21; but nothing of this kind will be found in the Christian church, consisting of Jews and Gentiles, in the latter day; all unlawful arts, cheating and juggling in religious matters, will cease, and be no more:and thou shalt have no [more] soothsayers; or diviners, that cast a mist over people's eyes, and deceived them with false appearances of things; that pretended to know times and seasons, when it was or was not a good day to go abroad, or to make merchandise; that judged by the clouds, and by the position of the heavens, what would come to pass hereafter; and though such sort of men were formerly indulged, connived at, and caressed among the Jews, they should be so no more; nor should they apply to such persons for advice and counsel; nor would they need it, nor should they use it; see De 18:10. Micah 5:13Ver. 13. Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee,.... The former were such as were made of wood or stone; the latter statues, such as were molten or cast, and made of gold, silver, or brass; Such as the Jews sometimes worshipped, and are now found in the apostate church of Rome; but will have no place in the Christian churches, or those so called, in the latter day. The Jews indeed have had no idols or idolatrous worship among them since the Babylonish captivity; and the prophet here speaks, not of what would be found among them, and removed at their conversion; but of what was in his time, or had been, or would be again, but should not be in future time, when they should turn to the Lord, and be like dew among the people; and so we are to understand some following passages. The Targum is,"I will cut off the images of the people, and their statues:''and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands; as not to fall down to idols and worship them, so neither to trust in carnal privileges, ceremonial rites, observances of the traditions of the elders, or any works of righteousness done by them, which they had been prone unto. Micah 5:14Ver. 14. And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee,.... Planted for idolatrous worship, and which the Jews in the reigns of some of their kings raised, and made use of for such purposes; see 1Ki 15:13; though contrary to the law of God, De 16:21; but now there should be nothing of this kind, all idolatry being rooted out of the world. The Targum is,"I will root out the plantations of the people out of the midst of thee:''so will I destroy thy cities; which some understand of cities given to idolatry; or rather it is to be understood in the same sense as in Mic 5:11; though by reason of that, and as something distinct from it, it is better to render the words with the Targum,"I will destroy thine enemies {n}.''{n} So Jarchi, and Marinas in Aben Ezra, and R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 102. 1. Micah 5:15Ver. 15. And I will execute vengeance in anger, and fury upon the Heathen,.... Or "nations" {o}; not the Pagan nations only, but the Papal and Mahometan ones, even all that are enemies to Christ, and his church and people:such as they have not heard; such terrible judgments, and dreadful expressions of divine wrath and fury, by earthquakes, hailstones, &c. as were never known or heard of in the world before; see Re 16:18; or, "which have not heard" {p}; the people that have not heard and hearkened to the word of God, to the voice of Christ in the Gospel, but have turned a deaf ear to it, and despised it. So the Targum,"who have not received the doctrine of the law;''but it is much more agreeable to understand it of the doctrine of the Gospel disobeyed by men, and therefore justly punished; see 2Th 1:8.{o} Mywgh ta "gentes", Junius & Tremellius. {p} wemv al rva "quae non audierunt", Pagninus, Montanus; "quae non auscultaverint", Junius & Tremellius; "quae non obediverunt", Burkius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.