Charles Ellicott Commentary Micah 4

But in the last days. — There is again a sudden transition. Just as the third chapter began with a startling denunciation, immediately following the predicted blessings of the restored kingdom, so after that chapter, which closed in deepest gloom, there now rises a vision of glorious light.

The first three verses are almost identical with Isaiah chapter 2, Micah 4:2–4; and it has been almost an open question which of the two prophets is the original author of these verses, or whether indeed they both adopted the words from an older prophecy current at the time. Dr. Pusey takes a very decided stance, saying, “It is now acknowledged, almost universally, that the great prophecy, three verses of which Isaiah prefixed to his second chapter, was originally delivered by Micah... No one now thinks Micah adopted that great prophecy from Isaiah” (Minor Prophets, p. 289). This last statement, however, is far too sweeping; all that can be correctly said is that the preponderance of opinion favors Micah being regarded as the original writer.

In the top of the mountains — i.e., the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be spiritually elevated above all else, visible and invisible, and it shall be established forever.

Many nations shall come. —This prepares the way for the more definitive prophecies that there shall be a common consent among the nations journeying forth to the house of the Lord: asking the way there in this world—finding the house itself in the eternal world. Even to this day, the hearts of Jews and Christians alike yearn toward Jerusalem—a physical representative of the love which turns spontaneously to the Messiah.

The name of the Messiah is the Prince of Peace; and we still look into the dim future out of a present life, rife with wars and rumors of wars, for the full realization of His reign of peace. And we are sure that the time will come, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

They shall beat their swords ...—See Note on Joel 3:10.

They shall sit ...—This was a proverbial expression for the feeling of security brought about by a peace which no foreign power was strong enough to disturb. It describes the state of the Israelites under Solomon—Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even unto Beersheba, all the days of Solomon. The vine and the fig-tree are the representative trees of Palestine.

For all people will walk. —The comparatively near future to Micah, and the still distant future to us, are blended in the prophet’s vision, just as in the prophecies of our Lord the destruction of Jerusalem is described in terms that have their final accomplishment in the day of judgment. Micah’s description of the universal rule of Messiah is primarily applicable to the antecedent prosperity, after the return of the Jews from the captivity.

The zeal of the Jews for Jehovah was stirred up after witnessing the example of “the children of this world” in Babylon. The devotion of the Babylonian princes to their god is strikingly evident in the diaries of Nebuchadnezzar and other prophets, as recently brought to light in The Records of the Past. That zealous Society, dedicated to a national return to the strictness of the Law of Moses and at first distinguished and honoured by the name of Pharisees, began after the return from the captivity.