NOTES for Mic 4:10

The logic of Micah seems paradoxical: it turns out that for God, His people have to be in Babylon, in exile, and only there will appear to God the possibility to redeem (the Jewish corresponding word means in particular that; all other semantic connotations connected to it, with all their importance, are all the same secondary) His people. On one hand, we have before us, certainly, the continuation of the subject of the loss by the people of the land given by God because of their sins, and from another - the subject of the remnant, about which spoke all the prophets of the pre-captivity period. But the prophet brings to an old subject something new: he says that the people are in captivity because of their sins, but here is, redeems them from captivity God. Such a look gave the topic somewhat unexpected angle.

Indeed, it was in this case about such sins, of which it is impossible to deliver from the consequences, according to the Torah and the traditional representations. The Torah admits of course a possibility of purification from the consequences of the sin committed by man, but only when the sin is committed involuntarily, and not when it is about a conscious and voluntary sin. However, the people are in captivity in particular because of the conscious and voluntary sin: because captivity, according to the testimony of all the prophets of the pre-captivity period, became the result of a conscious violation of the Torah, until the apostasy.

And if God, in spite of everything, is ready to redeem the people, is ready to forget all that they committed, it means only a thing: He is ready to manifest to the world and His people all the fullness of His mercy. Such fullness, which can do the impossible, redeem the unredeemable, deliver from what, according to all the laws of the not transformed world, is impossible to be delivered. And here is, appear then these semantic connotations, which lead us directly towards the New Testament: because without the coming of the Messiah, without the approached Kingdom, the task of the redemption of the people of God is absolutely impossible. So the logic of the opposition to sin leads the people of God to the doorstep of the Kingdom. The only place, where one can be delivered from the power of any sin once for all.

There are certain “special points” on the face of the earth that are pivotal in human history. One such point is Jerusalem. It is pointless to ask why this is so—it is simply a fact. And now, in these very days, we see especially clearly that Jerusalem is to the world like the solar plexus in the human body—a point where a vast number of nerve fibers converge, and a blow to it can paralyze the whole body. Almost three thousand years ago, the prophet Micah was shown this significance of Jerusalem, and above all he connected it with the coming of the Messiah, “the One who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from the beginning, from the days of eternity.” This Messiah is born in a small town near Jerusalem—Bethlehem. He becomes “great to the ends of the earth,” raising the mountain of the house of the Lord above all the mountains.

Mount Zion is small, and Jerusalem, too, is smaller in area than many great cities. And yet it is not by size, not by outward grandeur, that they will be set at the head of all nations. The Lord's truth is not always shown in outward greatness; often it is not immediately noticeable. But perhaps those who can discern the trace of His presence in what is small and outwardly plain will be able to share in Him sooner than those who look for mandatory outward magnificence.

In one and the same chapter we see both the condemnation of nations that have taken up arms against Zion and a prophecy about the peaceful life of other nations. The closeness of such different sayings may appear to be a glaring contradiction, a joining of things that cannot be joined. But here we see how a view of the reality of the near future stands side by side with a view of what must become reality by the will of the Creator, who desires peace for all nations. Yes, today the surrounding nations, following pagan ways, are hostile not only to Israel but also to Israel's Lord. But He loves them too and wants to gather them into one, and therefore He reveals Himself and His will on Zion and in Jerusalem not only for Israel, but for all nations.

And it is no accident that it is here that we see the prophecy of the One who will appear in Bethlehem, a small town where the Creator's greatness will be revealed. The prophetic speech about the siege of Zion by pagans suddenly turns into a narrative about the Savior, who will save not only the Israelites but also those who are still hostile to them. Let us note that the prophet does not say that He will bring peace, but that He Himself is peace. People will habitually expect Him to fulfill their immediate requests, and fulfillment of them will not be refused. But what will be saving is not the receiving of something that comes from Him, but the receiving of Him Himself.