Since you have been following me, then you understand what I tried to convey as I spoke of the destructive properties of these last days, and the armies that converge on Israel. Allow me to point out now, that only a third of Israel's population will survive. With roughly eight million people in the land that will leave approximately two million survivors.
Some will ask, where do you get this information?
Zechariah 13:7-9 ERV The LORD All-Powerful says, "Sword, wake up and strike the shepherd, my friend! Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will run away. And I will punish those little ones. (8) Two-thirds of the people in the land will be struck down and die," says the LORD, "but one-third will survive. (9) Then I will test those survivors by giving them many troubles. The troubles will be like the fire a person uses to prove silver is pure. I will test them the way a person tests gold. Then they will call to me for help, and I will answer them. I will say, 'You are my people.' And they will say, 'The LORD is my God.'"
If Zechariah does not convince you, perhaps passages from Ezekiel will. Ezekiel may be giving us a more explicit definition of how the Jews within Israel die.
Ezekiel 5:12-14 ERV A third of your people will die inside the city from diseases and hunger. Another third will die in battle outside the city. And then I will pull out my sword and chase the last third of your people into faraway countries. (13) Only then will I stop being angry with your people. I will know that they have been punished for the bad things they did to me. They will know that I am the LORD and that I spoke to them because of my strong love for them!" (14) God said, "Jerusalem, I will destroy you (and-) you will be nothing but a pile of rocks. The people around you will make fun of you. Everyone who walks by will make fun of you.
Never forget that God, has on occasion, used others, namely the nations, to wield His sword. The death and destruction will seem like it happened overnight, but the process will begin, either right before the church is caught away to Jesus, or, immediately after that.
With that information let's move on to the study:
Most translations say something like this: “Your hand will be lifted up against your adversaries.” We want to believe that, and if we watch the news, you can actively see Israel retaliating against aggressive acts, of which there are many. If I chose to read this loosely, and not study the verse out, I could take this statement, seen here in the CJB, as being one against Israel. The NASB and the NLT prove otherwise.
Micah 5:9 NASB Your hand will be lifted up against your adversaries, And all your enemies will be cut off.
Micah 5:9 NLT The people of Israel will stand up to their foes, and all their enemies will be wiped out.
This standing up to one's foes all sounds bold, but it is in stark contrast to the devastation that we see coming against Israel. Destruction, however, does not mean that Israel did not put up a fight. Regardless, scripture shows two-thirds of Israel being killed off, and the city being trampled by the invaders. (Zechariah 13:7-9)
There is only one point in time in which I can envision Israel acting so boldly, and that is when their Messiah returns to earth as the warring King they expected. Revelation 19 clearly shows us this King.
Revelation 19:11-16 NLT “Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. (12) His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one understood except himself. (13) He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God. (14) The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses. (15) From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a wine press. (16) On his robe at his thigh was written this title: King of all kings and Lord of all lords.”
A consideration. If you have spent your life living in a state of fear, as I have, then you tend to look at this scenario in one of two ways. You either see yourself rejoicing that you are finally going to be rescued from the bullies of the world or, you feel that with the appearance of Christ you will grow a backbone and gladly lend a hand. Imagine living in a world without fear or retaliation from enemies. It is possible that none of my scenarios is a reality, and we may be asked to stand back while Jesus clears the world of bullies for us. This hope is not a fairy tale; it is a scriptural reality that both Micah, Joel, and the prophet Isaiah spoke of.
Isaiah 2:3-4 NASB And many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways And that we may walk in His paths." For the law will go forth from Zion And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. (4) And He will judge between the nations, And will render decisions for many peoples, And, they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. A nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war.
Micah 5:10 NASB "It will be in that day," declares the LORD, "That I will cut off your horses from among you And destroy your chariots.
Again, we have to ask, which day? The answer is the day when Jesus comes back as the warring Messiah. So many things will happen quickly.
The Ultimate Cross-Reference Treasury has this to say about this verse. “This seems to refer to those happy times when the Jews shall be converted and restored to their own land, and all their enemies being destroyed, shall have no further need of cavalry or fenced cities.”
Is this statement by the writers of the UCRT a solid supposition?
We understand that the remnant, after the Messiah's return, will come to the mountain of Lord, to worship the Lord, and, they will be the teachers of the nations. In case you missed what I said there - The Jews are the remnant, and by my archaic calculations, there will be well over two million of them.
Will they live in a restored Jerusalem?
No, but they will live in the NEW Jerusalem.
If they are restored to their land, could they live outside the walls of the New Jerusalem?
I don't see why not, as there is evidence that free will still exist during the millennial reign.
What of this statement, “all their enemies being destroyed, (Israel, and those who also live as citizens during this period,) shall have no further need of cavalry or fenced cities.”?
We already understand this from Isaiah 2:4, as you can see above. As one trained in Horticulture, I get a little excited about growing my own crops; and some of these Jews may feel the same way. Micah gives us this:
“Each of them will sit under his vine And under his fig tree, With no one to make them afraid, For the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.” Micah 4:4 NASB
The context of Micah 4:4 applies to the nations, and not the Jews, or me. So, my assumption (and I think it is logical,) is that while there would no longer be a need for weapons of war; there may, however, indeed be a need for horses and farming equipment. This line of reasoning could apply; nonetheless, there is clearly a dissembling of the large and small scale war machine. Fences, though not entirely war-related, could still fit into this scenario, as they keep people divided from one another.
Micah 5:11-15 NASB "I will also cut off the cities of your land And tear down all your fortifications. (12) "I will cut off sorceries from your hand, And you will have fortune-tellers no more. (13) "I will cut off your carved images And your sacred pillars from among you So that you will no longer bow down To the work of your hands. (14) "I will root out your Asherim from among you And destroy your cities. (15) "And I will execute vengeance in anger and wrath On the nations which have not obeyed."
There are some interesting statements in Micah 5:11-15.
“He made his sons pass through the fire in the valley of Ben-hinnom; and he practiced witchcraft, used divination, practiced sorcery and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger. Then he put the carved image of the idol which he had made in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon, his son, "In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever; (9) Thus Manasseh misled Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the sons of Israel.” 2 Chronicles 33:6, 7, 9 NASB
Keep in mind that Manasseh learned none of this on his own. He was taught, either through active training or by observation.
While on the one hand, this ends with the Messiah ruling over a restored kingdom - a kingdom into which we, the followers of Christ, have been engrafted. And although I despise the word, sin, Israel has been neck deep in it, and God told them they would have pay severely if they did not stop; and, they did not. So we have a nightmarish mix of damage, but it will, someday, end in peace. I know that so many of you are living amidst the horrors of the Islamic invasion, brought under the guise of refugees. Joel chapter speaks of some of us standing our ground in the Name of Jesus. I don't know you, but I know the God you serve, and I am calling you out to speak against these things, just as the Prophet Elijah spoke to the rain. If you have a relationship with Christ, then you have the most powerful force on the face of this planet living within you, the HOLY SPIRIT. Stand your ground, and declare, NOT ON MY WATCH!
Some will ask, where do you get this information?
Zechariah 13:7-9 ERV The LORD All-Powerful says, "Sword, wake up and strike the shepherd, my friend! Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will run away. And I will punish those little ones. (8) Two-thirds of the people in the land will be struck down and die," says the LORD, "but one-third will survive. (9) Then I will test those survivors by giving them many troubles. The troubles will be like the fire a person uses to prove silver is pure. I will test them the way a person tests gold. Then they will call to me for help, and I will answer them. I will say, 'You are my people.' And they will say, 'The LORD is my God.'"
If Zechariah does not convince you, perhaps passages from Ezekiel will. Ezekiel may be giving us a more explicit definition of how the Jews within Israel die.
Ezekiel 5:12-14 ERV A third of your people will die inside the city from diseases and hunger. Another third will die in battle outside the city. And then I will pull out my sword and chase the last third of your people into faraway countries. (13) Only then will I stop being angry with your people. I will know that they have been punished for the bad things they did to me. They will know that I am the LORD and that I spoke to them because of my strong love for them!" (14) God said, "Jerusalem, I will destroy you (and-) you will be nothing but a pile of rocks. The people around you will make fun of you. Everyone who walks by will make fun of you.
Never forget that God, has on occasion, used others, namely the nations, to wield His sword. The death and destruction will seem like it happened overnight, but the process will begin, either right before the church is caught away to Jesus, or, immediately after that.
With that information let's move on to the study:
A Remnant Shall Be Delivered
Micah 5:7-8 ERV “But those from Jacob who are still living and scattered among the nations will be like dew from the LORD that does not depend on anyone. They will be like rain on the grass that does not wait for anyone. (8) Those from Jacob who are still living are scattered among the nations. But they will be like a lion among the animals in the forest. They will be like a young lion among flocks of sheep. If the lion passes through, he goes where he wants to go. If he attacks an animal, no one can save it. The survivors will be like that.”- “But those from Jacob who are still living and scattered among the nations.” A read of Zechariah's prophecy doesn't inform us that Israel may, once again, be scattered. The idea of scattering comes across more like, run for your life! The Complete Jewish Bible translates this verse in this manner. “The remnant of Ya`akov among the nations, surrounded by many peoples, will be like a lion among forest animals, like a young lion among flocks of sheep—if it passes through, tramples and tears to pieces, there is no one to rescue them.” (Micah 5:7 CJB)
- “Those from Jacob who are still living are scattered among the nations. But they will be like a lion among the animals in the forest. They will be like a young lion among flocks of sheep. If the lion passes through, he goes where he wants to go. If he attacks an animal, no one can save it.”
Most translations say something like this: “Your hand will be lifted up against your adversaries.” We want to believe that, and if we watch the news, you can actively see Israel retaliating against aggressive acts, of which there are many. If I chose to read this loosely, and not study the verse out, I could take this statement, seen here in the CJB, as being one against Israel. The NASB and the NLT prove otherwise.
Micah 5:9 NASB Your hand will be lifted up against your adversaries, And all your enemies will be cut off.
Micah 5:9 NLT The people of Israel will stand up to their foes, and all their enemies will be wiped out.
This standing up to one's foes all sounds bold, but it is in stark contrast to the devastation that we see coming against Israel. Destruction, however, does not mean that Israel did not put up a fight. Regardless, scripture shows two-thirds of Israel being killed off, and the city being trampled by the invaders. (Zechariah 13:7-9)
There is only one point in time in which I can envision Israel acting so boldly, and that is when their Messiah returns to earth as the warring King they expected. Revelation 19 clearly shows us this King.
Revelation 19:11-16 NLT “Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. (12) His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one understood except himself. (13) He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God. (14) The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses. (15) From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a wine press. (16) On his robe at his thigh was written this title: King of all kings and Lord of all lords.”
A consideration. If you have spent your life living in a state of fear, as I have, then you tend to look at this scenario in one of two ways. You either see yourself rejoicing that you are finally going to be rescued from the bullies of the world or, you feel that with the appearance of Christ you will grow a backbone and gladly lend a hand. Imagine living in a world without fear or retaliation from enemies. It is possible that none of my scenarios is a reality, and we may be asked to stand back while Jesus clears the world of bullies for us. This hope is not a fairy tale; it is a scriptural reality that both Micah, Joel, and the prophet Isaiah spoke of.
Isaiah 2:3-4 NASB And many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways And that we may walk in His paths." For the law will go forth from Zion And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. (4) And He will judge between the nations, And will render decisions for many peoples, And, they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. A nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war.
Micah 5:10 NASB "It will be in that day," declares the LORD, "That I will cut off your horses from among you And destroy your chariots.
Again, we have to ask, which day? The answer is the day when Jesus comes back as the warring Messiah. So many things will happen quickly.
The Ultimate Cross-Reference Treasury has this to say about this verse. “This seems to refer to those happy times when the Jews shall be converted and restored to their own land, and all their enemies being destroyed, shall have no further need of cavalry or fenced cities.”
Is this statement by the writers of the UCRT a solid supposition?
We understand that the remnant, after the Messiah's return, will come to the mountain of Lord, to worship the Lord, and, they will be the teachers of the nations. In case you missed what I said there - The Jews are the remnant, and by my archaic calculations, there will be well over two million of them.
Will they live in a restored Jerusalem?
No, but they will live in the NEW Jerusalem.
If they are restored to their land, could they live outside the walls of the New Jerusalem?
I don't see why not, as there is evidence that free will still exist during the millennial reign.
What of this statement, “all their enemies being destroyed, (Israel, and those who also live as citizens during this period,) shall have no further need of cavalry or fenced cities.”?
We already understand this from Isaiah 2:4, as you can see above. As one trained in Horticulture, I get a little excited about growing my own crops; and some of these Jews may feel the same way. Micah gives us this:
“Each of them will sit under his vine And under his fig tree, With no one to make them afraid, For the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.” Micah 4:4 NASB
The context of Micah 4:4 applies to the nations, and not the Jews, or me. So, my assumption (and I think it is logical,) is that while there would no longer be a need for weapons of war; there may, however, indeed be a need for horses and farming equipment. This line of reasoning could apply; nonetheless, there is clearly a dissembling of the large and small scale war machine. Fences, though not entirely war-related, could still fit into this scenario, as they keep people divided from one another.
Micah 5:11-15 NASB "I will also cut off the cities of your land And tear down all your fortifications. (12) "I will cut off sorceries from your hand, And you will have fortune-tellers no more. (13) "I will cut off your carved images And your sacred pillars from among you So that you will no longer bow down To the work of your hands. (14) "I will root out your Asherim from among you And destroy your cities. (15) "And I will execute vengeance in anger and wrath On the nations which have not obeyed."
There are some interesting statements in Micah 5:11-15.
- “I will cut off sorceries from your hand, And you will have fortune-tellers no more. I will cut off your carved images And your sacred pillars from among you So that you will no longer bow down To the work of your hands.”
“He made his sons pass through the fire in the valley of Ben-hinnom; and he practiced witchcraft, used divination, practiced sorcery and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger. Then he put the carved image of the idol which he had made in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon, his son, "In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever; (9) Thus Manasseh misled Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the sons of Israel.” 2 Chronicles 33:6, 7, 9 NASB
Keep in mind that Manasseh learned none of this on his own. He was taught, either through active training or by observation.
- "I will root out your Asherim from among you And destroy your cities. Strong's Concordance tells us:'ăshêrâh - asherah (or Astarte) a Phoenician goddess. While The Word Study Dictionary gives us this: A feminine noun which signifies the Canaanite fertility goddess believed to be the consort of Baal. Because of this association, the worship of Baal and Asherah was often linked together (Jdg_3:7; 1Ki_18:19; 2Ki_23:4). The noun is most often used for a carved wooden image of the goddess instead of a proper name (Jdg_6:26; 1Ki_14:15). Israel was deeply entrenched in idol worship, and Aaron's making of the god Molech should be all the evidence you need.
- "And I will execute vengeance in anger and wrath On the nations which have not obeyed." It is evident that the nations played a role in the idolatrous downfall of Israel. The prophet for hire, Balaam, told King Balak how he could bring about the destruction of Israel by bringing in women from nearby nations to them. The men of Israel gave up their souls for these young girls. "Therefore wait for Me," declares the LORD, "For the day when I rise up as a witness. Indeed, My decision is to gather nations, To assemble kingdoms, To pour out on them My indignation, All My burning anger; For all the earth will be devoured By the fire of My zeal.” Zephaniah 3:8 NASB
While on the one hand, this ends with the Messiah ruling over a restored kingdom - a kingdom into which we, the followers of Christ, have been engrafted. And although I despise the word, sin, Israel has been neck deep in it, and God told them they would have pay severely if they did not stop; and, they did not. So we have a nightmarish mix of damage, but it will, someday, end in peace. I know that so many of you are living amidst the horrors of the Islamic invasion, brought under the guise of refugees. Joel chapter speaks of some of us standing our ground in the Name of Jesus. I don't know you, but I know the God you serve, and I am calling you out to speak against these things, just as the Prophet Elijah spoke to the rain. If you have a relationship with Christ, then you have the most powerful force on the face of this planet living within you, the HOLY SPIRIT. Stand your ground, and declare, NOT ON MY WATCH!
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