The Pulpit Commentary — Micah — Section 83

Tltis could only arise from the giving up of Israel into the power of its enemies. JII icah had already stated clearly enough, in what precedes, that this fate would fall upon the nation and the royal house of David, on account of its ap011tai1y from the Lord; so that he could overlook this here, and give prominence to the other side alone, viz. to the fact that according to the counsel of God the future Deliverer and Ruler of lsrnel would al~o resemble his royal ancestor David in the fa.et that he was not to spring from Zion, the royal city built on high, but from the insignificant country town -0f Bethlehem, and that for this very reason Israel was to remain so long under the power of the nations of the world." These words may be regarded as presenting to ns Christ as the great Shepherd of manlcind ; and looking at them in this light the following .points come up to notice. I. His INTRODU0TION TO THE WORLD AS A SHEPHERD. "Therefore will he give them up [that is, leave them to suffer their calamities], until the time that she which travaileth bath brought forth." Christ came into the world through sufferings that may be fairly represented as parturient. 'rhe whole Jewish nation groaned and travailed together until be came; and although the throes of bis mother are perhaps specially referred to here, the Hebrew people through all preceding times had struggled in agony in order to give birth to the Messiah. Herein is a mystery-the world's Deliverer came into the world through suffaring. And does not all the good we have come out of anguish? Every true enjoyment, like every birth, implies previous pain. •• Through much tribulation" we enter into kingdoms. "Our light afllictioill!, which are but for a moment," etc. II, IIIs QUALIFICATION FOB HIS WORK AS A SHEPHERD, "He shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the Name of the Lord bis God." Observe: 1. His attitude. " He shall stand." The word "stand" here may mean one of two things-either a commanding position, by which he can observe and direct all, or 11tability, indicating his endurance and unswerving perseverance. He is settled and fixed in his work as a Shepherd. Both these ideas are true. It is true that Christ, as a Shepherd, has a commanding view of all, and a controlling power over all; and it is also true that he stands immovable as a Shepherd. "He shall not fail nor be dis- couraged, until he bath set judgment in the earth" (IS&. xiii. 4). 2. Hu Divinity. " lo the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the Name of the Lord his God." He is ~ndowed with the strength of Omnipotence, he is invested with the majesty of God himself. .He is " Almighty to save," he is the " Image of the in visible God." Hera is a competent Shepherd I III. HIB BENEFICENCE IN HIS WORK AS A SHEPHERD. He " shall feed iD the 11trength of the Lord." The:word "feed" means both "feed" and" rule;" indeed, feed implies rule, for human souls can scarcely be nourished without a wise and merciful ,control. "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young D (Isa. xl. 11); "They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat or the sun smite them; for he that bath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs .of water shall he guide them " (Isa. xlix. 10). IV. THE EXTENSION OF HIS FAME ON THE EARTH AS A SHEPHERD. .. For now shall•. he be great unto the ends of the earth." His authority on the earth as a spiritual Shepherd is limited to-day, but is wider than it has been; and it will widen and .widen until it fills the earth. His Name will one day be e.bove every name on the earth.: All other names will be esteemed as mean aud contemptible unless they reflect his. CoNOLUBION. "All we like sheep have gone astray," etc. But a Shepherd from .heaven has come to seek and restore us. Would that all heard and responded to his !Voice I "Come unto me, all that are weary and heavy laden," " Good Shepherd, hasten thou that gloriollS day, When we shall ell in the one fold abide with thee for aye I" D. T. Vere. 6, 6.-An invasion, "And this Man shall be the Peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise .against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men. And they shall waste the land tl4 'fHE 13OOK OF MICAII. [err. v. 1-15~ --------------------------- of A~syria with the sword, And the land of Nimrod in the cntrancre tl1orcof: thue shaU he dr-tiver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our laud, and when hi, treaddh within our bnrders." "And this same shall be the peace when tho Assyrinn shall invad~ our land, and tread our palaces, we will misc agamst him seven shopherdA• 1rnd eight anointed men. And they shall afflict the land of Assyria with the sword and the land of Nimrod at the entrances thereof; and there shall be deliverance fro~ the Assyrian, when he shall invade our land, and when he shall tread our borders•• (Henderson). Assyria is here made the representative of all the foes of Israel in an a;.!C'S, who shall see the destruction of all its enemies at the Messiah's appeamnce. "&ven shepherds and eight principal men." Seven expresses rerfcction; seven and eight are an idiom for a full and sufficient number. "And they' (thnt is, these scve:i and eight shepherds) "shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land ot lftmrod in the entrances thereof." The land of Nimrod means Babylon, includin<> Assyria, to which it extended its borders. "'l'hus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian~ when he cometh into our land." As the Assyrians invade our borders, so shall their own borders and entrances be invaded. "He." Who? The Messiah, mentioned in the fifth verse," This Man shall be the Peace." We have here two things. I. A TERRIBLE INVASION. 'l'he Assyrian, which, as we have said, may be regarded! as the representative of all the enemies of Israel, enters the Holy Land, takes Jerusalem, and treads in the" palaces" of the chosen people. A faint picture is the Assyrian of the hellish invader of human souls. He breaks his way through all bulwarks, enters the sacred t.erritory, and treads even in the palaces of the intellect and heart. Satan is a strong man armed, that enters the human soul and "keepeth his pa.lace." Moral invasion is the worst of all invasions. IL A TRIUll.PRANT DEFElIDER. There are "seven shepherds, and eight principal men" who now hurled back the As~yrian invader, entered his own territory, and carried war i.Dto the midst. Who is the Deliverer? "This Man shall be the Peace." The Man mentioned in the preceding verses, "whose goings forth have been of old, from everlasting." He did it. L He did it successful,ly. "'l'hus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian." "When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trnsted, and divideth hiR spoils." Christ will one day ruin this moral Assyrian; as "lightning falleth from heaven he shall fall." He will hurl bi.In from the habitation of men. 2. Christ, in doing this, uses human instrumentality. "Seven shepherds, and eight principal men." Christ destroys the works of the devil b_y 1he instrumentality of men. (1) 'l'he instrnmentality that he employs may seem to ua •1ery feeble. •· ,even shepherds, and eight principal men," against unnumbered hosts of the enemies. "He chooseth the foolish things of the world to confound the wise," etc. (1 Cor. i 27). (2) Though the i.Dstrumentality may seem feeble, it was sufficient. The work WBB done. "Not· by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord " (Zech. iv. 6).-D. T. Vera. 1-9.-God's people, their tender and terrl.bk aspect in the 1JJO'l"ld. "Aud the remnant of Jacob shall he in the midst of many people as a dew from the Lord, as the abowere upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor weiteth for the sons of men." T,.-o thi.Dgs are here predicted concerning the Jews after their restoration from Babylon •. 1 fheir influence upon the nations would be as refruhing dew. "Their signal victories against snch formidable armieR, attracting attention to him whom they worshipped, and to whom they ascribed their success. During the existence of the- new Jewish state, the members of the theocracy had much intercourse with foreigners, multitudes of whom became proselytes to the faith of Jehovah, and were thus -prepared to receive the gospel when preached by the apostles" (Henderson). 2. Their power on the nations would he as tern"bl,e aa the lion's on the herds of the flock. It will not, I think, be unfair to UBC the passage to illustrate the twofold aspect of the people of God iD this world-the tender and terrible, the restorative and the destructive. Like Israel of old, godly men in every age Lave only been a remnant, a very small minority c,f the generation in which they lived. It will not always he so. Speed the day when- Ibey shall become, not merely the majority, but the whole. Notice- I. THE TENDER ASPECT OF GoD'B PEOPLE IN TUE woBLD. They are spoken of her•  '{JIJ, v. 1-lG.] THE DOOK OF MICAII. 85