God's Law, Not the Gospel? What Micah 4 Really Says

Are you short of hope right now? Does it seem to you that the nations are defying God without facing the consequences? This episode is for those who are afraid that the church is going to be swallowed up, and who think that the best we can do is manage the church’s decline. This is a step back to look at how great our God really is, and how certain his victory is in time — not just in eternity.

We are in Micah chapter 4, verses 1 to 4.

“Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains and shall be exalted above the hills, and peoples shall flow to it. Many nations shall come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; he will teach us his ways and we shall walk in his paths.’ For out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between many peoples and rebuke strong nations afar off. They shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.”

The Latter Days: Now

Now it shall come to pass — not might happen, and certainly not that it will not happen — it shall come to pass. When? In the latter days. What are these latter or last days? The time between the completion of Messiah’s mission and the second coming of the Lord. We are in them now.

What shall happen? The mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains. A mountain is a kingdom. Mount Zion is a picture of Israel or Judah. Edom is known by Mount Seir. Moab by Mount Nebo. Aram or Syria by Mount Hermon. Rome, the great enemy of the Christian church, is identified by its seven hills. This great mountain represents a kingdom — the kingdom of God. This is the stone of Daniel that becomes a great mountain filling the entire earth.

What did Jesus come preaching? The kingdom of God. What is our priority? To seek first the kingdom of God. It shall be established on the top of the mountains — preeminent in the midst of all other kingdoms. It shall be exalted above the hills.

Now, the Lord Jesus likens this kingdom to a mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds. It does not instantly become a mighty tree. That is not how trees work. The same with the stone of Daniel 2 — it took time for that stone to grow into a mountain covering all the earth. But the kingdom seed does grow. And this is the end point: it shall be exalted above the hills.

Nations, Not Individuals

Who comes up to it? It says peoples — that is not just individuals. Then it says nations. Many nations shall come and say: come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord. At this point, when they come up, the kingdom of God is well established, prominent, and dominant — a fact in the whole world. Something established to which you can go up.

When we think of nations, we think of the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20: make disciples of the nations, teaching them what? We will see in a moment.

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob.” It is interesting that in this New Testament kingdom of God era, God identifies himself not even with Abraham the man of faith, but with Jacob — and not even by his name Israel. This underlines the fact that Jacob does not mean deceit. It means victory. It means grasping the heel in a race so that he overcomes his godless rival Esau.

And why are they coming up? They are coming up as nations. There is a national consensus: come, let us go up. A consensus does not happen without leadership. It is a fantasy to say that crowds self-organise spontaneously. Things always happen because of leaders. I do not think a nation says “come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord” without civil leadership — presidents, prime ministers, cabinet members, kings and their courts.

The Law Goes Forth

“He will teach us his ways and we shall walk in his paths. For out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

Derech — the way. Urach — his paths. These are synonyms for what? The very next line tells us: for out of Zion the law shall go forth. The law is Torah — the law of God, perfected and brought to its fullness in Jesus Christ, further interpreted by the apostles of Jesus Christ. But it is undeniably the law of God that shall go forth.

And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. They are coming as nations — but not to a study club. They do not just want to learn about it. They want to walk in its paths and ways. They want to put the law into practice as the only way that works. It is not just the Bible in a general sense. It is the nation seeking to obey, to put into practice, his law.

Now, before they came, the law went forth. Interestingly, it does not say the gospel went forth — it says the law went forth. Now there is no conflict here. The law is not the gospel. The gospel is not the law. But they are inseparable. The lungs are not the heart. The heart are not the lungs. Try doing without either one and you are dead. The same with the church. We need both. They are intertwined together in perfect harmony. But the text says the law went forth.

Matthew 28:18-20 says: teaching the nations all things Christ has commanded — in the whole Bible. That is his law, his Torah. And the nations are informed and motivated enough to go up from the lowlands to the high point, to Jerusalem as it were, because the high point has been established by the law going forth out of Zion, out of Christ’s church.

If you are against the law, you are against the nations being Christianised. You are anti the Great Commission. But if you are for the law, you cannot be for it in a narrow way. It cannot simply be your thing — like a club you are a member of, where you go and read Rushdoony books, a little hobby for you and your online friends. No. The nature of the law is that it should go forth. Who is it for? It is for the nations.

War Shall End

“He shall judge between many peoples and rebuke strong nations afar off. They shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”

Why do the nations come to this point? Because the law has gone forth faithfully. Generation after generation of true prophets speaking to the nations, until the nations come to realise that our old way of governing is self-defeating, it does not work, it is nonsense. We want the true way. We have seen it in action at Mount Zion. We want to go up there and learn. It is only then that they will be able to beat their swords into ploughshares.

Now, if you are against the law of God, you are against peace. You are against the ending of war. You are against the Christianisation of the world. You are for war. You are for continued ongoing bloodshed. The UN is a joke. Only the law of God — only that going out of Zion — is the God-guaranteed way to stop all this flow of blood.

This is very relevant to missionaries. What should be the content of your missionary work? What should be the goal? That the law should go forth, and that the nation as a nation should be discipled. Did I make this up? It was in the Bible when I opened it this morning. I am just reading Micah 4:1-4 and looking up the words, seeing what they mean, thinking about it, and comparing Scripture with Scripture. None of the words are complicated. Not one.

Vine and Fig Tree: Property and Security

“But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid.”

Everyone — is there an exception? Everyone. Everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree. Why are they sitting under a tree? Because they are unmolested. They are not bothered. Not by the taxman — most taxes go to war, whether it be a propaganda war against the people or a hot war. But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree.

This is the only true utopia possible. And notice what it is. It is a picture of property owners and business owners — one in the vine business, the other in the fig business. It is not a no-work paradise. No-work paradises are satanic nonsense. This is real work, but work unmolested. It is a picture of a little parcel of earth that is yours, and a little dominion — a little corner of the world which is yours. No one will steal anything from you. It is not a paradise of handouts from the government. It is work, but you get to keep the fruits of it all.

Imagine what a difference that would make in your life. And it is interesting that this is a picture of the garden renewed — Adam and Eve without the rebellion.

Now, many people offer this vision and promise it through other means. The Rabshakeh, when he came to the walls of Hezekiah’s Jerusalem in 2 Kings, said: “The empire of Assyria will allow everyone to sit under every man’s vine and fig tree.” Empires promise this. Big-daddy government promises this. And for that matter, libertarians promise this — as if following their way, which exalts the individual man to the level of God, you will be sitting under your vine unmolested. Just complain enough about big government and by magic it will fade away and a libertarian paradise will emerge.

But this is satanic fantasy — man as God. This is not the way. Christ is the way, and Christ’s ways — that is, the law of Christ — is the only way to true and lasting peace, security, and prosperity. Torah, the law, means way, after all.

It Is Guaranteed

Now you might say: this is never going to happen because of the United States, because of Russia, because of China, because of the Illuminati. You do not know how powerful they are. They are everywhere. No — to believe that there is some entrenched power in time and history that will stop God’s kingdom from emerging is to believe that Satan’s plans and purposes are stronger than God’s.

What is the answer? There is one answer, and we are required by faith to believe it. It is at the very end of verse 4. “For the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.”

Hosts — which hosts? The Lord of the armies of God. So how is all this going to be accomplished, when it seems so impossible in our time? By the Lord God, the commander of the armies of God. The mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. Wars will end throughout the earth. Your business will be secure. No man will make you afraid — no taxman, no war, nobody. It is all guaranteed. It is all money in the bank.

Why? Because ultimately God is the Lord. He is the creator who made everything, sustains everything, has all power. The Lord’s prayer says: for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory.

Believing that this will happen in the way that God said it would — that is faith. Everything else is unbelief. Faith is confidence in the every word of God. Faith is not just about heaven and going to heaven when I die. There is so much more in the Bible. Faith is saying: what we just read in Micah 4:1-4 will happen. Peace will come. The nations will actively seek to be ruled by King Jesus and his laws. Because why? Because God said it would happen.

And if you believe it, then get to know the law yourself, and support those who are teaching the law of God. And meditate upon this passage — because the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.

If you have any more questions, contact me at questions@godsworldgodsway.com.