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Articles 2018-2020
Now gather yourself in troops, O daughter of troops; He has laid siege against us; they will strike the judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek.
One of the major themes in Micah’s prophecies was God’s looming judgment upon His people for their idolatry. Israel’s enemies would defeat her and humiliate her leadership – i.e., strike her judge on the cheek. And indeed, after the Babylonian captivity, Israel never again attained the strength, glory, or dominion that she had under David and Solomon. After the Babylonians came the Persians. Then Alexander the Great dominated that part of the world followed by the Roman Empire. And the house of David became as a great tree that had been cut down. But God promised that from its roots a little green shoot would emerge (Isaiah 11:1 - 2). And He anointed Micah to give further detail.
But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.
The Messiah, the son of David would come from the town of David’s origins. But He would also be from eternity. The Root of David would become the offspring of David (Revelation 22:16). And He would come forth from Bethlehem unto God. Jesus arose in Israel first unto His Father and only then unto the nation. As the Scripture says, He grew up before Him (Isaiah 53:2 NIV). Here is why He could spend His first thirty years in obscurity and not be frustrated in His limited sphere of service as a carpenter. For Him, the Father was enough. Only when God released Him did He then step into the visible ministry we read about in the Gospels. The Father was His focus; the Kingdom of Heaven – the will of God revealed in Israel as it was in heaven was the result.
In the fullness of time intimacy with God in the hidden place brings the outward demonstration of His person, power, and purpose. Here is how the hope of Israel and of the nations will be realized – God’s purpose revealed through a process of spiritual birth.
Therefore He shall give them up, until the time that she who is in labor has given birth; then the remnant of His brethren shall return to the children of Israel.
The gathering of the Jews as one people around their Messiah will be realized by a birth. Today, something is forming in the hidden place among God’s people, both Jew and Gentile. Rooted in intimacy with Heaven, the coming demonstration of God’s person, power, and purpose will confront this generation with the next phase of His eternally designed work. This birth process has been a recurring work of God throughout history.
For example, many cried out to Him from the hidden place in the late 1800s/early 1900s and from Heaven came the powerful visible demonstration of God’s work both in the Welsh and in the Azusa street revivals. And it revealed the next step in His purpose for Israel. Soon after these visitations, the British government in 1917 issued the Balfour declaration – a statement announcing England’s support for a national home for the Jews in the Middle East. Not many years later, in response to the intercessory cry rooted in the hidden intimacy of many believer’s relationships with the Lord, God again arose in the late 1940s in the healing revivals and also the Latter Rain visitation in western Canada. At that time Israel became a nation. Then in the late 1960s God arose in the Charismatic Renewal while at the same time Israel for the first time in 1900 years took control of Jerusalem. Jesus had prophesied that Jerusalem would indeed be trampled by the Gentiles but only until the times for them to do so would be fulfilled (Luke 21:24). In 1967 those days came to an end.
The fact that God extends His kingdom through intimacy with Him in the hidden place resulting over time in an increased manifestation of His presence and of His work among the nations can be seen in John’s vision in Revelation Chapter 12. Scholars have debated about what event John was seeing. Who was the pregnant woman and who was born? But it is clear that the spiritual birth John saw followed a recurring series of births just like it. We know this is true because after warfare in the heavens, the enemy went forth to wreck havoc on the earth and to make war with the rest of her children (Revelation 12:17). Clearly, she had given birth before.
And the season for the next visitation, the next visible manifestation among the nations of Heaven’s work is upon us. Have you heard His call to intimacy over the last generation? “Come, spend time with Me. Sit at My feet and learn to discern My voice. I want to make Myself known to you in My word.” Has He become the focus of your life? Those who have been responding in the hidden place are far more strategic in the eternal plan of God than many realize.
And Israel’s coming salvation is directly tied to this recurring and presently unfolding process. What will result from her turning to God?
And He shall stand and feed His flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord His God; and they shall abide, for now He shall be great to the ends of the earth; and this One shall be peace.
The Ruler from Bethlehem will shepherd His people by the power of the Holy Spirit and His name shall be exalted worldwide. Here is our emphasis in these days. Here is how we lay the foundation for the coming generation(s). We must preach the centrality and lordship of Christ. It is His name not ours that must be promoted. And in His exaltation, He will be peace (Heb., SHALOM) or wholeness, soundness to all who respond to Him. Restoration will come to God’s people both Jew and Gentile. And they will become one flock with one shepherd (John 10:16). Jesus’ prayer will be answered – He will so make us one that the world will have to face the truth that He was sent by the Father (John 17:21, 23).
But with prophetic insight concerning Judah’s then present circumstances, Micah foresaw the coming Assyrian invasion. And God’s solution for His people would not be found in armies and stronger military defenses but in a small number of humble men. In other words, God would sovereignly intervene and bring victory in an unusual way (Micah 5:5 - 6, Isaiah 37).
And because of the Assyrian and Babylonian invasions, the Jewish people would be scattered among the nations. While many did come back to their own land in the days of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Zechariah, etc. many others were indeed dispersed. And after the Roman invasion in AD 70, the diaspora only increased. But God had something to say about the Jews among the nations.
Then the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples, like dew from the Lord, like showers on the grass, that tarry for no man nor wait for the sons of men.
They would be like the dew, a blessing. Consider the words of scripture. The king’s wrath is like the roaring of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass (Proverbs 19:12). The Jewish people would be like the favor of a king to the nations in which they lived. Consider the blessings God released through them over the years. Such a small nation has produced a disproportionately large number of scientists, doctors, lawyers, and economically successful people. And these achievements have been a blessing to the nations where they lived. Though these successes resulted in jealousy and great persecution against them, it does not negate the truth of God’s prophetic word.
But notice how else the Jewish people would impact the nations.
And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep, who, if he passes through, both treads down and tears in pieces, and none can deliver.
They would be like lions among sheep? Has it not appeared to be just the opposite? Have they not over the years been repeatedly maligned and unjustly treated? But if a king’s wrath is like the roaring of a lion, and the Jews would be as lions among sheep, then their presence would be to the nations like the wrath of a king. In other words, God would display His judgments through them. Remember the words of Malachi.
”For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,” says the Lord of hosts, “that will leave them neither root nor branch. But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves (you will go forth and skip about like calves, NASB). You shall trample the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I do this,” says the Lord of hosts.
In the season leading up to the final judgment, God’s people would experience a gradual dawning of Heaven’s righteous illumination, even Christ himself. And He would involve them in His dealings with the wicked. And specifically, saved Israel would break forth in Heaven’s prosperity and tread the wicked as ashes under their feet. So here is a question. Are we to consider the application of this promise as only in the future?
I would suggest that God gave a powerful foretaste of this promise in Acts Chapter 13 – two Jews among the nations as lions. When Paul and Barnabas preached the gospel in Cyprus, Elymas the magician opposed them. Notice the story of two unbelievers. First there was Sergius Paulus the Roman proconsul who wanted to hear the truth. Scripture says he was an intelligent man. But Elymas not only rejected the truth, he specifically hated it, twisted it, and tried to turn others against it. Paul’s response in the power of the Holy Spirit was quick and decisive. The Lord’s hand came upon this man striking him blind for a season. While the proconsul believed, the magician stumbled around looking for someone to guide him.
Mercy, salvation, and judgment were all revealed in one incident. And even the false prophet experienced God’s mercy. The Lord could have struck Elymas blind permanently instead of for a season. Maybe this man even came to his senses and repented. We do not know. But it seems likely that this type of scenario will be played out increasingly as the final day of the Lord approaches. Can you not see the Lord arising to reveal His mercy and His judgment with apostolic authority on national TV before the eyes of the whole world, just like He did in Cyprus?
But first, He intends to destroy every trust that the Jewish people have other than Him (Micah 5:9 - 15). The result? They will never again worship the work of their own hands (Micah 5:13). Let us pray for God’s work in the hidden place among the Gentiles to come to full fruition. Let us pray that Israel will become jealous and turn to her Messiah. The future of the nations depends on it.
Donald Rumble – November 2018
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