Micah 5:15

15. The prophecy closes with a threat of vengeance.

Vengeance The references to the divine vengeance must be understood like those to the divine jealousy (see on Joel 2:18). The resentment of Jehovah is aroused by the hostile attitude of the nations toward the “remnant” so dear to him. The greater the hostility, the intenser the resentment; the limit of his patience has now been reached, and he will blot out the enemies of his people forever.

Such as they have not heard The blow will be more terrible than anything they have ever experienced or heard. R.V. follows more closely the original in 15b and translates “the nations which hearkened not,” that is, the nations which did not respond to the beneficent influence of the remnant (Micah 5:8).

Chapter 5 does not reveal the same abrupt transitions that are seen in chapter 4. A break seems to occur between Micah 5:9 and Micah 5:10, and yet Micah 5:10-15 are in a real sense a continuation of the description of the Messianic age; there certainly is nothing in them to militate seriously against the authorship of Micah. Hence, in discussing the fulfillment of the prophecy, the entire chapter may be considered as one piece, setting forth the birth and reign of the ideal king and the conditions resulting from his reign both within and without the nation. So far as the predictions concerning the conditions are concerned, the statements made in connection with Micah 4:1-5 (pp. 398ff.), may be repeated. They have not yet been fulfilled; literally they will probably never be fulfilled; in essence and spirit they will be fulfilled when the entire human race has had an opportunity to decide for or against Jesus the Messiah.

A few words need to be said, however, concerning the fulfillment of the more personal predictions, those pointing to the advent, place of birth, and reign of the Messianic king. That these predictions received their ultimate and highest fulfillment in Jesus is believed by all Christians. But this still leaves open the question whether the prophet, when uttering these words, actually had in mind the person, birth, and work of Jesus. The answer to this question must be determined by a careful interpretation of the utterances in the light of their contexts. If we take into consideration the statements concerning some of the things to be accomplished subsequent to the coming of the ideal ruler, it will be seen how difficult it is to maintain that the primary reference is to Jesus. Micah 5:5-6, for example, make it clear that Micah expected the king to arise before the downfall of the Assyrian world power, and that one of the great achievements of his reign would be the deliverance from this long-time enemy. Micah was firmly convinced, as a result of his intimate communion and fellowship with Jehovah, that a deliverer, who would establish the kingdom of God upon earth, would come, and, like other prophets, he expected him to come from the dynasty of David; but his thoughts as to when he would come, who he would be, where he would be born, how he would work out his great purpose, were influenced by the course of events in his own day. All prophecy, Messianic prophecy included, was intended to have a profound significance for the prophets’ contemporaries, and it is a convincing evidence of their close walk with God, or, in other words, of prophetic inspiration, that in the midst of darkness and apparent hopelessness these ancient saints should give utterance to such sublime expressions of faith. Micah may not have foreseen the Incarnation, but he did foresee the establishment of the kingdom of God upon earth; he may not have known the time when the salvation of the Lord would appear, but he knew that it would appear. Now Assyria might seem invincible, nevertheless Assyria must fall and Zion must triumph. Assyria did fall, but Zion did not triumph immediately; Chaldea took the place of the former, and oppression and distress continued. Many lost hope, but the prophets of God, in sublime faith, rose above the despair of the present and continued to revel in the glories of the future. Descendants of David sat upon the throne, some noble and true; around some of these centered anew the hopes of the prophets, but not one met the expectations of the men of God until Jesus, the Christ, fulfilled them in a manner more sublime and spiritual than even the greatest of the prophets had hoped for. Thus, while primarily the prophecy in Micah 5:2 ff., does not refer to Jesus the Messiah, it does refer to a Messiah, and in the history of the past nineteen centuries Christians find complete justification for their belief that this and similar predictions found their fulfillment in the coming and work of Jesus the Christ.

The direct mention of Beth-lehem as the birthplace of the ideal ruler in no way affects this interpretation. The prophets expected the Messianic king to spring from the dynasty of David, and, in addition to this, they were convinced that in influence and power he would be a second David. For this reason Isaiah says “of the stock of Jesse” rather than “of the stock of David,” and for the same reason Micah names as his birthplace Beth-lehem, the native town of David, rather than Jerusalem, where the successors of David were born. Such a promise would awaken memories of David, and would be suggestive of the character and splendor of his reign. A prediction similar in character is that in Isaiah 9:1 ff, which promises special blessings to the territory north of the Plain of Esdraelon, because these districts had suffered most severely in the prophet’s day, a prediction which received a new significance when Jesus proclaimed his gospel first in Galilee (Matthew 4:13 ff.).