Micah 5:8

"And the renmant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples, as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep; who, if he go through, treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and there is none to deliver."

There, at first, appears to be here a denial of the peaceful character and benevolent behavior of God's people when scattered throughout the world; but the prophet was not speaking of that. He had reference to the consequence of the knowledge of God on the part of rebellious and sinful men refusing to obey it. The terrible metaphor of destruction "as a lion ... a young lion" would indeed come to pass, as executed by God Himself, not by his humble and faithful children. Again, the whole passage points to Micah 5:15. The sons of earth who have the opportunity to know and obey the gospel are laying up for themselves a terrible harvest when they neglect or refuse to be corrected by it. Some see this verse as a prophecy of the earthly kingdom of Israel, after the captivity, and in the times of the Maccabees, "conquering Idumea, Samaria, and parts of Ammon and Moab";[13] but we believe that if such is in it, it still is typical of the ultimate significance which we have attributed to it.