John Calvin Commentary Micah 4:3

"and he will judge between many peoples, and will decide concerning strong nations afar off: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." — Micah 4:3 (ASV)

The Prophet here describes the fruit of Divine truth: God would restore all nations to such gentleness that they would strive to cultivate fraternal peace among themselves, and all would consult the good of others, having laid aside every desire for doing harm.

Just as he has lately shown that the Church of God could not be formed in any other way than by the Word, and that the legitimate worship of God cannot be established and continued unless God is honored with the obedience of faith, so now he shows that Divine truth produces this effect.

Those who previously lived in enmity towards one another and burned with the lust of doing harm, being full of cruelty and avarice, will now, their disposition having been changed, devote themselves wholly to acts of kindness.

But, before the Prophet comes to this subject, he says:

He will judge among many people, and will reprove strong nations. The word "judge," in Hebrew, means the same as to rule or govern. It is certain that God is spoken of here. It is then as though the Prophet had said that though the nations had not until now obeyed God, they would now acknowledge him as king and submit to his government.

God has indeed always governed the world by his hidden providence, as he still governs it. For however much the devil and the ungodly may rage, indeed, however much they may boil with unbridled fury, there is no doubt that God restrains and checks their madness by his hidden bridle.

But the Scripture speaks of God’s kingdom in two respects. God does indeed govern the devil and all the wicked, but not by his word, nor by the sanctifying power of his Spirit. This is done in such a way that they obey God, not willingly, but against their will. The peculiar government of God is that of his Church only, where, by his word and Spirit, he bends the hearts of men to obedience, so that they follow him voluntarily and willingly, being taught inwardly and outwardly—inwardly by the influence of the Spirit, and outwardly by the preaching of the word.

Hence it is said in Psalm 110, Thy willing people shall then assemble. This is the government that is here described by the Prophet. God then shall judge; not as he judges the world, but he will, in a peculiar manner, make them obedient to himself, so that they desire nothing else than to be wholly devoted to him.

But as men must first be subdued before they render such obedience to God, the Prophet expressly adds, And he will reprove (corripiet) or convince (arguet) many people. This sentence should be carefully noticed, for from this we learn that such is our innate pride that not one of us can become a fit disciple to God unless we are subdued by force. Truth then would of itself freeze amidst such corruption as is in us, unless the Lord proved us guilty, unless he prepared us beforehand, as it were, by violent measures.

We now perceive then the Prophet's design in connecting reproof with the government of God, for the verb יכח, ikech, sometimes signifies to expostulate, to convince, and sometimes to correct or reprove. In short, the wickedness and perversity of our flesh are implied here, for even the best of us would never offer themselves to God without being first subdued, and that by God’s powerful correction. This, then, is the beginning of the kingdom of Christ.

But when he says that strong nations would be reproved, he by this eulogizes and sets forth the character of the kingdom of which he speaks. And from this we learn the power of truth—that strong men, when thus reproved, shall offer themselves, without any resistance, to be ruled by God.

Correction is indeed necessary, but God employs no external force, nor any armed power, when he makes the Church subject to himself; and yet he collects strong nations. From this, then, the power of truth is seen, for where there is strength, there is confidence and arrogance, and also rebellious opposition.

Since then the Lord, without any other aid, thus corrects the perverseness of men, from this we see with what inconceivable power God works when he gathers his own Church. It is to be added that there is not the least doubt that this is to be applied to the person of Christ.

Micah speaks of God without mentioning Christ by name, for Christ was not yet manifested in the flesh. But we know that this has been fulfilled in his person—that God has governed the universe and subjected to himself the people of the whole world. From this we conclude that Christ is true God, for he is not only a minister to the Father, like Moses or any of the Prophets, but he is the supreme King of his Church.

Before I proceed to notice the fruit, the expression רחוק עד, od rechuk, “afar off,” must be observed. It may intimate a length of time as well as distance of place. Jonathan applies it to a long continuance of time—that God would convince men to the end of the world. But the Prophet, I doubt not, intended to include the most distant countries, as if he had said that God would not be the king of one people only, or of Judea alone, but that his kingdom would be propagated to the extremities of the earth. He will then convince people afar off.

He afterward adds, with respect to the fruit, They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks. I have already briefly explained the Prophet’s meaning: he shows, in fact, that when the nations should be taught by the word of God, there would be such a change that everyone would strive to do good and to perform the duties of love towards his neighbors.

But by speaking of swords and spears, he briefly intimates that men, until they are made gentle by the word of the Lord, are always intent on iniquitous tyranny and oppression. Nor can it be otherwise while everyone follows his own nature, for all are committed to their own advantages, and the cupidity of men is insatiable. Since, then, all are thus intent on gain, while everyone is blinded by self-love, what but cruelty must always break forth from this wicked principle?

Therefore, men cannot cultivate peace with one another, for everyone seeks to be first and draws everything to himself; no one will willingly give way. Then dissensions arise, and from dissensions, conflicts. This is what the Prophet intimates. And then he adds that the fruit of the doctrine of Christ would, however, be such that men, who were previously like cruel wild beasts, would become gentle and meek: Forge then shall they their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks.

Raise, he says, shall not a nation a sword against a nation, and accustom themselves they shall no more to war. He explains here more fully what I have said before—that the Gospel of Christ would be to the nations, as it were, a standard of peace. As when a banner is raised up, soldiers engage in battle, and their fury is kindled, so Micah ascribes a directly opposite office to the Gospel of Christ—that it will restore those to the cultivation of peace and concord who previously were given to acts of hostility.

For when he says, Raise a sword shall not a nation against nation, he intimates, as I have already stated, that wherever Christ does not reign, men are wolves to men, for everyone is disposed to devour all others. Since men are naturally impelled by so blind an impulse, the Prophet declares that this madness cannot be corrected, that men will not cease from wars, that they will not abstain from hostilities, until Christ becomes their teacher.

For by the word למד, lamed, he implies that it is a practice which always prevails among mankind that they contend with one another, that they are always prepared to do injuries and wrongs, unless they put off their natural disposition. But gentleness, from where does it proceed? Even from the teaching of the Gospel.

This passage should be remembered, for we learn here that the real fruit of the Gospel is not growing among us unless we exercise mutual love and benevolence and exert ourselves in doing good. Though the Gospel is purely preached among us today, yet when we consider how little progress we make in brotherly love, we should justly be ashamed of our indolence.

God proclaims daily that he is reconciled to us in his Son. Christ testifies that he is our peace with God, that he renders God propitious to us, for this purpose: that we may live as brethren together. We indeed wish to be considered the children of God, and we wish to enjoy the reconciliation obtained for us by the blood of Christ; but in the meantime, we tear one another, we sharpen our teeth, our dispositions are cruel. If then we desire really to prove ourselves to be the disciples of Christ, we must attend to this part of divine truth: each of us must strive to do good to his neighbors. But this cannot be done without being opposed by our flesh, for we have a strong propensity to self-love and are inclined to seek our own advantages too much. We must therefore put off these inordinate and sinful affections, so that brotherly kindness may take their place.

We are also reminded that it is not enough for anyone to refrain from doing harm unless he is also occupied in doing good to his brethren. The Prophet might indeed have said only, "They shall break their swords and their spears," so that they shall hereafter abstain from doing any harm to others. This, however, is not all he says; but, They shall forge, or beat, their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks;

That is, when they shall abstain from all injuries, they will seek to exercise themselves in the duties of love, consistently with what Paul says when he exhorts those who had stolen to steal no more, but to work with their own hands, that they might relieve others (Ephesians 4:28). Unless, then, we endeavor to relieve the necessities of our brethren and to offer them assistance, there will be in us only one part of true conversion, as is the case with many who are not indeed inhuman, who commit no plunder, who give no cause for complaint, but live to themselves and enjoy unprofitable leisure. This indolence the Prophet here indirectly condemns when he speaks of the plowshares and the pruning hooks.

Again, a question may be asked here: Was this fulfilled at the coming of Christ? It seems that the Prophet does not describe here the state of the Church for a time, but shows what the kingdom of Christ would be until the end. But we see that when the Gospel was first preached, the whole world boiled with wars more than ever. And now, though the Gospel is clearly preached in many parts, yet discords and contentions do not cease; we also see that rapacity, ambition, and insatiable avarice greatly prevail, and from this arise contentions and bloody wars.

And at the same time, it would have been inconsistent for the Prophet to have spoken thus of the kingdom of Christ if God had not really designed to perform what is here predicted. My answer to this is that as the kingdom of Christ was only begun in the world when God commanded the Gospel to be proclaimed everywhere, and as today its course is not yet completed, so what the Prophet says here has not yet fully taken place. But since the number of the faithful is small, and the greater part despise and reject the Gospel, so it happens that plunders and hostilities continue in the world.

How so? Because the Prophet speaks here only of the disciples of Christ. He shows the fruit of his doctrine: that wherever it strikes a living root, it brings forth fruit. But the doctrine of the Gospel hardly strikes roots in one out of a hundred. The measure of its progress must also be taken into account, for to the extent that anyone embraces the doctrine of the Gospel, to that extent he becomes gentle and seeks to do good to his neighbors.

But as we still carry about us the relics of sin in our flesh, and as our knowledge of the Gospel is not yet perfect, it is no wonder that not one of us has yet wholly laid aside the depraved and sinful affections of his flesh.

It is also easy from this to see how foolish is the notion of those who seek to abolish the use of the sword on account of the Gospel. The Anabaptists, we know, have been turbulent, as if all civil order were inconsistent with the kingdom of Christ, as if the kingdom of Christ were made up of doctrine only, and that doctrine without any influence. We might indeed do without the sword if we were angels in this world; but the number of the godly, as I have already said, is small. It is therefore necessary that the rest of the people be restrained by a strong bridle, for the children of God are found mixed together either with cruel monsters or with wolves and rapacious men. Some are indeed openly rebellious; others are hypocrites. The use of the sword will therefore continue until the end of the world.

We must now understand that at the time our Prophet delivered this discourse, Isaiah had used the very same words (Isaiah 2:4), and it is probable that Micah was a disciple of Isaiah. They, however, exercised the prophetic office at the same time, though Isaiah was the oldest. But Micah was not ashamed to follow Isaiah and to borrow his words, for he was not given to self-ostentation, as if he would not adduce anything but what was his own. He designedly adopted Isaiah’s expressions and repeated verbatim what Isaiah had said to show that there was a perfect agreement between him and that illustrious minister of God, so that his doctrine might obtain more credit.

From this we see how great was the simplicity of our Prophet, and that he did not regard what malevolent and perverse men might say: “What! He only repeats the words of another.” Such a calumny he wholly disregarded, and he thought it enough to show that he faithfully declared what God had commanded. Though we do not have עד רחיק, od rechuk, in Isaiah, yet the meaning is the same; in all other things they agree. It now follows—