Albert Barnes Commentary Micah 5:7

"And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples as dew from Jehovah, as showers upon the grass, that tarry not for man, nor wait for the sons of men." — Micah 5:7 (ASV)

And the remnant of Jacob - Micah (Micah 4:7), as well as Isaiah (Isaiah 10:21), had prophesied that only a remnant should return to the Mighty God.

These, though very many in themselves, are yet but a remnant of the unconverted mass. Yet this remnant, who shall be saved (Romans 9:27), who believe in Christ—the little flock (Luke 12:32) which included the Apostles and their disciples—shall be, in the midst of many people. These were the people whom they won to the faith: John in Asia, Thomas in India, Peter in Babylon and Rome, and Paul nearly in the whole world. Were they, then, to be readily swallowed up by this multitude? No, they shall be as a dew from the Lord, as the showers from the grass, which tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men. This dew and these showers quicken to life that which, like soon-withered grass (see Psalm 102:5, Psalms 102:12; 2 Kings 19:26; Isaiah 37:27), no human cultivation or human help could reach.

In the Gospel and the grace of Christ there are both gentleness and might: softness as the dew, might as of a lion. For Wisdom reacheth from one end to another mightily; and sweetly doth she order all things. The dew is, in Holy Scripture, a symbol of divine doctrine: My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distill as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass (Deuteronomy 32:2).

The dew comes down from heaven. It is of heavenly, not earthly birth: transparent, glistening with light, reflecting the hues of heaven, gentle, slight, weak in itself, refreshing, cooling the strong heats of the day (43:22). It is consumed itself, yet thereby preserves life, falling on the dry and withered grass in which all nature droops, and recalling it to freshness of life.

This is still more the case in those lands where, from the beginning of April to the end of October (the close of the latter rain and the beginning of the early rain), during all the hot months of summer, the life of all herbage depends upon the dew alone.

Showers are so called from the multitude of drops—slight and of no account in themselves, descending noiselessly yet penetrating all the more deeply.

So the Apostles "bedewed the souls of believers with the word of godliness and enrich them abundantly with the words of the Gospel"—themselves dying, and the Church living all the more through their death (2 Corinthians 4:12)—quenching the fiery heat of passions, and watering the dry and barren soil, so that it might bring forth fruits to Christ.

Yet, they say, the excellency of the power was of God and not of us (2 Corinthians 4:7). And God gave the increase (1 Corinthians 3:6–7). For their doctrine was neither of man nor by man (Galatians 1:12); but it came from heaven, the Holy Spirit teaching them invisibly and making unlearned and ignorant men mighty in word and deed.

Rupertus says: “Therefore, the Church of Christ looks up to these and these alone as furnishing the rule of truth.” Ribera adds: “The herb upon which this dew falls grows to God without any aid of man, and flourishes, and needs neither doctrines of philosophers nor the rewards or praises of men.”