Miles de Libros Cristianos Gratis. Accede a nuestra Biblioteca Virtual

Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Micah 5:7

Para un estudio avanzado de: “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Micah 5:7” utilice nuestra app.

And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.

7. many people ] Rather, many peoples. See Mic 4:11; Mic 4:13.

as the showers upon the grass ] ‘The grass withereth, the flower fadeth’ (Isa 40:7) is the prophet’s exclamation on the extinction of mighty empires. But there is no inherent necessity for the death of nations; Israel is the ‘dew,’ the fertilizing rain, of the nations, as the Church is elsewhere described as their ‘salt’ (Mat 5:13).

that tarrieth not for man ] Man can neither help nor hinder the works of God in nature; and the initial reluctance of the heathen shall be no bar to the blessed influence of Israel.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

7, 8. The twofold operation of the Messiah’s people. Israel is a precious and powerful instrument given by God to mankind. In a certain sense, he is a Messiah, because specially chosen to set an example of obedience to God’s laws (Exo 19:5-6), and to preach His religion to the Gentiles (Mic 4:2), and because the pious kernel of the nation is mystically united to Him who is preeminently the Messiah. Christ (‘the Christ’), as we know from Luk 2:34, was ‘set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel,’ and so too the people of Israel, regarded as a Messiah or Messianic agent, has a twofold influence on the neighbouring peoples, comparable on the one hand to the softly-falling, beneficent dew, and on the other to the fierce, destructive lion. (The same antithesis of figures occurs in Pro 19:12.)

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

And the remnant of Jacob – Micah (Mic 4:7), as well as Isaiah (Isa 10:21), had prophesied, that a remnant only should return unto the Mighty God. These, though very many in themselves, are yet but a remnant only of the unconverted mass; yet this, the remnant, who shall be saved Rom 9:27, who believe in Christ, the little flock Luk 12:32, of whom were the Apostles and their disciples, shall be, in the midst of many people, whom they won to the faith, as John in Asia, Thomas in India, Peter in Babylon and Rome, Paul well-nigh in the whole world, what? something to be readily swallowed up by their multitude? No, but as a dew from the Lord, as the showers from the grass, which tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men, quickening to life that, which, like soon-withered (see Psa 102:5, Psa 102:12; 2Ki 19:26; Isa 37:27) grass, no human cultivation, no 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 Deu 32:2. The dew comes down from heaven, is of heavenly not of earthly birth, transparent, glistening with light, reflecting the hues of heaven, gentle, slight, weak in itself, refreshing, cooling the strong heats of the day (Ecclesiasticus 18:16; 43:22), consumed itself, yet thereby preserving life, falling on the dry and withered grass wherein all nature droops, and recalling it to freshness of life. And still more in those lands, where from the beginning of April to the end of October, the close of the latter 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 the more deeply.

So did the Apostles bedew 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 the more through their death 2Co 4:12, quenching the fiery heat of passions, and watering the dry and barren soil, that it might bring forth fruits unto Christ. Yet, they say, the excellency of the power was of God and not of us 2Co 4:7. and God gave the increase 1Co 3:6-7. For neither was their doctrine of man nor by man Gal 1:12; but it came from heaven, the Holy Spirit teaching them invisibly and making unlearned and ignorant men mighty inward and deed. Rup.: Whence these and these alone the Church of Christ looks up to, as furnishing the rule of truth. Rib.: The herb, upon which this dew falleth, groweth to God without any aid of man, and flourisheth, and needeth neither doctrines of philosophers, nor the rewards or praises of men.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Mic 5:7

And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the Lord

Christian influence

This text may suggest the beneficial influence which Gods people are intended and calculated to exert upon surrounding society, wherever their lot may be cast, and whatever may be the circumstances in which they are placed.

God has never failed to preserve for Himself a people in the world. The principles of spiritual religion, embodied in living character, and manifested in suitable conduct, have had the effect of spreading an illumination which has operated beneficially upon the spiritual interests of mankind, and led many an ignorant wanderer to salvation and heaven. It is hardly possible to estimate too highly the beneficial influence of Christian character, when consistently and properly exemplified. It operates in a manner most beautiful and efficient. This character is composed of such elements that it cannot be successfully imitated. It is what no worldly system or agency is capable of producing. The influence which belongs legitimately to the character of Gods people does not depend for its successful exertion upon associated numbers, or outward circumstances of wealth, respectability, and prosperity. More importance has been attached to these things than properly belongs to them. The potency of religious influence depends not upon mere accumulated numbers, but upon character. It will prove a fatal mistake, wherever the outward accessories of religion are allowed to supplant its spiritualities. The machinery of Christianity cannot be successfully worked, except by the hands of those who are under its sanctifying influence. This Christian influence is not something natural to a certain class of individuals, distinguished from the rest of their species by mysterious endowments. And the influence of Christian character must not be understood as superseding and disparaging the influence of those other agencies by which Christianity is to be spread and propagated in the world. We need not disparage the Christian ministry; or the doctrines of Christianity. The truth and grace in the Gospel are destined to issue in the formation of a holy character, and to display themselves in corresponding practical results. It is in vain to pretend to the possession of Christian character, where those appropriate practical results are not witnessed. On the exemplification of religion in its excellence and beauty, the usefulness of professing Christians very materially and essentially depends. Worldly observers will justly come to the conclusion that the religion is worthless, the offspring of hypocritical ostentation, of infatuated superstition, which does not ameliorate and elevate the character. These are just expectations, and ought to be realised. How great then ought to be the circumspection of those who bear the Christian name, that they may not dishonour it by any unbecoming conduct. It is a matter of great importance, that religious character should develop itself, free from all those blemishes which would have the effect of tarnishing its Divine lustre and impairing its reputation. Those who would exemplify the legitimate influence of Christian character in its fullest efficiency, must live in close fellowship with the Divine throne. Nothing else can render us beneficially influential. The influence of genuine Christian character is always mild, and beneficent, and diffusive. Individual Christians should reflect much upon their responsibility. (William Hurt.)

The paucity, position, and power of the true

The truth in this verse may be said to have met with its partial fulfilment in the unique and marvellous experience of the Jews; for

(1) They are but a remnant of the human family, being but a fragment, a fraction of the whole human race.

(2) They dwell in remnants, in detached, broken, and fragmentary portions, here a little and there a little.

(3) They dwell in the midst of many people, so that there is hardly a single nation or people in which there is not at present some small remnant of the Abrahamic seed.

(4) They exist, and are preserved as a witness on the behalf of heaven and its truth.

(5) All this has been continued irrespective of, and, in many cases, in opposition to the most earnest human effort, tarrying not for man, etc.

I. The paucity of the true. God has ever had a people peculiarly His own; and who will dare dispute His right to have a more special regard to some, than He may have to others? Calvinian or Arminian, we all agree that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for Himself; the true from among the false, and the pure from amongst the vile. From the dawn of human history these have been but a remnant of the human family. Look at the flood, and at Egypt. Thus the holy and the true are but a remnant in nations, in towns, and in families.

II. The position of the true. In the midst, etc. It might be more in harmony with our own natural tastes and preferences to be a separate people in one land swarming together, without any of the false about us, but such is not Gods arrangement. Shiploads of Christians may leave our shores for some Canterbury or other settlement, where they may hope to live and not see the face of an unbeliever, but sadly do such men err in expecting this. Should the whole Church but settle down in one land, it would be a most grievous curse and woe to the world. We are to settle down only in heaven. The distribution of the Church in the midst, etc., is necessary in order to promote the Divine purpose; for it exists not for itself alone, but as leaven in meal, as salt, as Divine seed, here a grain and there a grain. Learn this, that God hath placed you in the midst of your enemies, by contact to bless them, for each has his sphere.

III. The purpose of the true. The design of their dispersion has a vital relation to the people amongst whom they are placed, as the dew and showers to the grass. As the showers are of heavenly origin, so is Israel born from above. As the dew is a pure and crystal liquid, so the true Israel is composed of the choicest natures and sweetest spirits in the world. Dew is silently produced, and so the mightiest work may be accomplished in the human soul, without observation. As the dew and showers are entirely independent of the human, so the Church, like the truth, lives not upon human sufferance. This purpose will be fulfilled. Many weak and unbelieving minds have thought that the true, being but a remnant, their influence would waste and die, but thank God this cannot be, for the source is unfailing and Divine. (E. D. Green.)

Gods people, their tender and terrible aspect in the world

Two things are predicted concerning the Jews after their restoration from Babylon.

1. Their influence upon the nations would be as refreshing dew.

2. Their power on the nations would be as terrible as the lions on the herds, and on the flocks.

It will not, I think, be unfair to use the passage to illustrate the twofold aspect of the people of God in this world–the tender and terrible, the restorative and the destructive. Like Israel of old, godly men in every age have only been a remnant, a very small minority of the generation in which they lived. It will not always be so.

I. The tender aspect of Gods people in the world. They are spoken of here as dew. Silent in its fall, beautiful in its appearance, refreshing in its influence. Three things are suggested concerning this dew.

1. It is Divine. It is from the Lord. All that is quickening and refreshing in the thoughts, spirits, character of good men on this earth descends from heaven. Every good and perfect gift cometh down from the Father of lights, etc.

2. It is copious. As the showers upon the grass. There have been seasons when those spiritual influences have descended on men with plenitude and power, such as on the day of Pentecost. Would it were so now!

3. It is undeserved of men. That tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men. Good men on this earth are to their generation what the gentle dew and the fertilising shower are to the thirsty earth. Their speech distils as dew, and their influence descends on the souls of men like rain upon the new mown grass.

II. The terrible aspect of Gods people in the world. The same men as are represented under the metaphor of dew are here spoken of as a lion. Bold, terrible, and destructive. Elijah was a lion in his age, so was John the Baptist, so was Luther, so was Latimer, etc. This subject suggests–

1. A picture of the unregenerate world. There are some germs of goodness in its soil that require the fertilising influence of heaven to quicken and develop, and there are some things in it so pernicious and baneful that it requires all the courage, force, and passion of moral lions to destroy.

2. A picture of the completeness of moral character, Not all dew, nor all lion, but both combined. (Homilist.)

Gods purposes of mercy

We are imperfect judges of moral power, both as to what really constitutes moral power and as to its extent and influence. We are very prone to transfer the idea of largeness, mass, weight from the physical to the moral world; to place our trust in numbers, in wealth, in outward visible power, and are disposed to despond even of the very best cause when it has not these upon its side. In the management of public affairs men come to have implicit faith in majorities, rather than in truth and in righteousness. We are apt to think the Church strong and prosperous when it is popular with the crowd; when its coffers are filled with wealth; when it is surrounded with the bulwarks and appliances of secular power and favour. There is forgetfulness of that which constitutes the real strength and power of a moral system; which is the goodness of the cause; and the faith, earnestness, and zeal of those who are its advocates and its professors. One man, with Gods truth in him, which he thoroughly believes and which he has the courage to speak out, has more real weight in him than a whole community that are ignorant of that truth, or opposed to it. The strength of Gods Church lies in the truth of her doctrines, in the purity of her morality, in the piety and zeal of her members. By means of these she is leaven in the mass. Thus she becomes a great blessing to the nation. The higher meaning of our text has reference to the Church as such, to the spiritual Church of God in all times and ages.

1. We need not be surprised to find the Church of God existing as a small remnant. It has, indeed, never yet been otherwise. At no period has the Church ever been in a majority. At times the spiritual body has seemed to be almost lost to the eye of sense. Seen ever at her best estate, she is but a remnant in the midst of many people.

2. The proper place of this remnant is in the midst of the community. God has so placed His Church. Sometimes the Church, or individual members of the Church, would have it otherwise. Secluding themselves in coteries or cloisters. Whilst Christians keep themselves sedulously pure from the contamination of evil example or corrupt conversation, they are not to go out of the world. They are to abide in the calling in which they were when God called them. They are to be friendly, social, courteous, benevolent towards all men.

3. The Church possesses a mighty power tint benefiting a community. It is amongst them as a dew from the Lord, and as showers that water the grass. Dew and rain came to be regarded as special gifts of God. And so they were taken in Scripture as symbols of what is directly and immediately God produced. They are thus a fitting emblem of the Church, in its position and its working in the world. God has formed the Church as an instrument in His hands for the accomplishment of His immediate purpose of grace and mercy to the world.

4. This working does not depend upon mans will or permission. It is not by our favour that the Church of God is in the midst of the nations as a dew from the Lord, exerting a conservative, vivifying, renovating, ameliorating power upon the world. God has ever been with His own cause. Neither from fear nor favour must the Church wait upon man, nor lean upon an arm of flesh. It is when God is with His Church that she is strong and powerful and good. Learn, then–

(1) The importance and the responsibility of the Churchs position in the midst of the nations.

(2) The condition on which the Churchs usefulness depends. It is that it be as a dew from the Lord. He must be in the midst of His Church, and His Church must be prayerfully dependent on Him. (W. L. Alexander, D. D.)

The Church in the world

I. The influence which the Church may exert in the world.

1. Their influence is great. Dew and rain rank among the most powerful natural agencies. In the energy of these we have a fit image of the influence of the Church. The resources which the members of the Church may command, and the instrumentality which they can employ, are mighty through God. This is evident from the purposes they are called to fulfil; the field upon which they are to operate; the promises and provisions on which they may rely; the responsibility under which they are laid; the influence, limited indeed, but vast, which they have already exerted, and the prophecies which they must yet fulfil. What might not the Church accomplish did she put forth her strength? but at what a low standard have Christians commonly estimated their power.

2. This influence is beneficial. Who can adequately calculate the consequence of being deprived, but for a single season, of the rain and the dew from heaven! It is our peculiar prerogative and privilege to possess a power which can convert the sources of mans present evil into means and channels of permanent good; to render every society and institution and mind under heaven an unmixed blessing.

3. This influence is diffusive. It is delightful to consider it within a narrow circle and on a limited scale–in the family, neighbourhood, Sabbath school. But it is adapted and designed for all the nations and tribes and families of men, and for all the classes and individuals that compose them. This universal adaptation of the influence of the Church arises not merely from the nature of that influence, but also from the diversified gifts and circumstances of those who possess it. These are marked by an almost boundless variety.

4. This influence is Divine. It is not inherent in the Church nor independent of God. If the Church has power, it is endued from on high. She is mighty through God.

II. The position which the Church should occupy. In the midst of many people. Rain and dew are but images of the far more genial influences which the Church is able and destined to diffuse through the world. In what position, and by what process, can we best employ this power? Teach all nations. How far has our Saviours design been met? Much has been done; but the labours of the Church are but begun. Much remains to be done at home and abroad. Why is progress so slow It cannot be traced to deficient power; to inadequate means, to want of opportunity, or to any inability in the Church to furnish the requisite agency. It is due to imperfectness of consecration, and the partial employment of the Churchs resources.

III. The independence which the Church may claim. That tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men. The principal source of independence is the power and presence of Him from whom she has received her commission. Enjoying this, she need not, she dare not wait for man. Shall we wait till civilisation and law have smoothed and opened our way? But while the Church must not tarry for man, God waits for His Church. Then listen not to the dictates of the selfish; follow not the course of the indolent; look not to others; let each in his sphere, and according to his ability, arise and be doing, and the Lord will be with thee. (E. Prout.)

The worlds silent benefactor

It must be evident to every thoughtful man that we are all apt to judge unfairly of moral force. We are so much more familiar with the sphere of sense than with the sphere of spirit that we constantly transfer ideas gained from the former into the latter, although its nature is quite different. We judge of matter by its bulk, we judge of machinery by its clever adaptations, and we carry these criteria from the physical into the spiritual sphere. Because we see great effects produced by the movement of mighty bodies, we argue that it must be so everywhere, and that what the world requires is a Niagara-like Church, which will make itself felt by noise and impetus and quantity. Hence we get very depressed if, in connection with a religious society, we see small numbers and hear of diminished funds, while we congratulate ourselves all round if, in regard to these, we hear a good report. This false method of judgment asserts itself in various directions. Many of us trust to majorities, instead of to conscience. We are very respectable to public opinion, and wait cautiously to see which way the wind blows before we commit ourselves to a policy. Power and victory were our Lords, not because He won the majority over to His way of thinking, not because He devised complex ecclesiastical machinery cleverly adapted to the times, not because He had on His side the weight of money bags and the prestige of social respectability, but because His followers, though few and unlearned, were inspired by Him with an enthusiasm of faith which proved resistless. I say, then, that the real strength of a moral system does not lie in its mass; but in its truth and goodness, and in the faith and zeal of its advocates. Even in the physical world there are not wanting examples of quality overmatching quantity. The heaviest sword made of poor material cannot do what even a light rapier would do, in attack and defence, if the rapier be of well-tempered steel. A handful of men, trained and brave, have often held out victoriously against the impact of a vast horde of undisciplined savages. And this is equally true of a Church. Its fellowship may not be numerous, its members may not be individually influential, but if it be distinguished for piety and prayerfulness, it does more for the cause of Christ than far larger Churches not so rich in them. The influence which the worlds wiseacres contemn is mighty through God, to the pulling down of strongholds. Now, it is in the light of these truths you can most clearly see the meaning of our text. It compares Gods people not to a mighty storm or to a resistless sea, but to the silent dew and the gentle showers, which are mighty, not because of the stir they make, but because of what they themselves are. And this analogy is accordant with all the parables of our Lord, on the nature of His kingdom, in which He likened it to the mustard seed, and to the leaven hidden in three measures of meal. Every one knows that dew is absolutely essential to the continued life of nature in the lands to which this prophet referred. From the beginning of April to the end of October–in other words, from the close of the latter to the beginning of the former rains–during all the hot summer months, the life of herbage depends there on dew alone. That dew is transparent, beautiful, glistening with light, gentle and silent, weak in itself, yet mighty in its aggregate effect, refreshing and cooling beyond power of description, and preserving the life it touches, while it is itself consumed in giving the blessing. Then as for the showers. Often, after a long period of drought, and of dry, searching winds, the face of the sky has been covered with clouds, and showers have fallen on every field and garden throughout the land, descending without effort, yet penetrating deeply to nourish forgotten seeds and parched roots, and though no one drop of rain was of any great value in itself yet the aggregate of drops which we call a shower has proved of Divine and incalculable worth. It is to these two means–showers and dew–which God employs to bless the natural world, that Micah likens the remnant of Jacob, the handful of people which alone would represent God among the heathen; and the Christian Churches, who represent the same God, may fairly regard the description as applicable to themselves.

1. Our attention is called here first to the Churchs insignificance. It is referred to as a remnant. It has seldom been otherwise. Insignificance, in the scale of the worlds judgment, is its normal condition. Earnest, religious men have never been a majority at any time in the worlds history. Once the Church consisted of a single family called from idolatry in Ur of the Chaldees. Indeed, even now, what is the Christian Church but a remnant? Compare the number even of professing Christians–with the teeming millions of those who follow Mahomet, Confucius, or Buddha–and your heart will sink in hopelessness, if you do not believe that on your side is the living God–the Eternal Truth–the Almighty Saviour! God does His work by despised agencies, and this He does also in the moral enlightenment of the world and in its regeneration, choosing the weak things and the things which are despised, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. Do not suppose, then, that you are on the losing side because you hold a religious faith which as yet only the minority of the race accepts.

2. But we are also reminded by our text of the Churchs association. It is in contact with the world. The remnant of Jacob is in the midst of the people. The dew and the showers are blessings, because they actually touch the earth. There have been times when Christian people have sought to have it otherwise. They have retired to cells in the desert, and to monasteries and convents. We are followers of Jesus Christ, brethren, and He went to eat with publicans and sinners, and talked to folk the Pharisees would have had nothing to do with. Now, you perhaps are thrown by Gods providence, as a Christian man, into business. You cannot help yourself. There you see people of all sorts–men sensual and men spiritual; men avaricious and men open handed; men saint-like and men worldly; men who believe in Christ and men who scorn Him. Do not, I beseech you, resent that position; do not go about your daily work as if you were ashamed of it. Do not give the cold shoulder to everybody who differs from you. You are put there as Gods representative to the worldly, as well as to the pious.

3. The Churchs beneficence, i.e., its capacity for doing good, is suggested in the figures of the dew and the showers. These powers in nature are the gifts of God. We cannot create them by any of our scientific appliances, nor can we foretell them with any approach to accuracy. Has not the apostle said, We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath ordained before that we should walk in them? And Jehovah Himself declared, This people have I formed for Myself; they shall show forth My praise. In other words, God has given you such religious life as you have. You are a Christian because He has made you a new creature in Christ. And He has done this, not that you may complacently congratulate yourself on your own salvation, and contentedly but selfishly enjoy your religious privileges, but that you may bless others, and that you may serve Him. Do your own part faithfully and prayerfully, and you will do much more than you think, and perhaps the results you did not aim at will prove greater than those you did.

4. The fourth and final suggestion which this verse aroused in my mind was one respecting the Churchs independence of mere human planning. Of the dew and of the showers, to which Micah likens the Church, he says, They tarry not for man, nor wait for the sons of men. The Church of Jesus Christ did not depend for its existence on mans permission. It originated in Gods free gift of His only Son. If you have some God-given indication of your work, do not hesitate for a moment to follow it up. Just throw yourself right into it at once, for you are amongst those who are not to tarry for man nor to wait for the sons of men. Do not give up the idea of it because your friends would dissuade you. Depend upon it, if we go out in Gods strength and at His call; if, in the name of our God, we set up our banners, success is certain. If you would be a blessing to others you need yourself to receive a fuller blessing. The morning dew only appears when there is a certain relation between heaven and earth, and if there be not that, no power we know of can create the dew. The earth must give off its own heat, under an open heaven, when the air is still, and then the dew will be deposited abundantly. There is something you have to give forth–namely, your own love and longing; and if these rise heavenward in the stillness of thought and prayer, and there be no cloud of doubt between you and heaven, you, too, may become as the dew, pure in itself and as a means of blessing to others. Therefore, let us pray for the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. (A. Rowland, D. D.)

A dew from the Lord

The simple natural science of the Hebrews saw a mystery in the production of the dew on a clear night, and the poetic imagination found in it a fit symbol for all silent and gentle influences from Heaven that refreshed and quickened parched and dusty souls. Where the dew fell the scorched vegetation lifted its drooping head. That is what Israel is to be in the world, says Micah. He saw very deep into Gods mind, and into the function of the nation. It may be a question as to whether the text refers more especially to the place and office of Israel when planted in its own land, or when dispersed among the nations. For, as you see, he speaks of the remnant of Jacob as if he was thinking of the survivors of some great calamity which had swept away the greater portion of the nation. Both things are true.

I. The function of each Christian in his place. The remnant of Jacob shall be as a dew from the Lord in the midst of many nations. What made Israel as a dew? One thing only: its religion, its knowledge of God, and its consequent purer morality. It could teach Greece no philosophy, no art, no refinement, no sensitiveness to the beautiful. It could teach Rome no lessons of policy or government. It could bring no wisdom to Egypt, no power or wealth to Assyria. The same thing is true about Christian people. We cannot teach the world science, we cannot teach it philosophy or art, but we can teach it God. Now, the possibility brings with it the obligation. The personal experience of Jesus Christ in our hearts, as the dew that brings to us life and fertility, carries with it a commission as distinct and imperative as if it had been pealed into each single ear by a voice from heaven. Remember, too, that, strange as it may seem, the only way by which that knowledge of God which was bestowed upon Israel could become the possession of the world was by its, first of all, being made the possession of a few. Art, literature, science, political wisdom, they are all entrusted to a few who are made their apostles; and the purpose is their universal diffusion from these human centres. So to us the message comes: The Lord hath need of thee. Now, that diffusion from individual centres of the life that is in Jesus Christ is the chiefest reason–or, at all events, is one chief reason–for the strange and inextricable intertwining in modern society of saint and sinner, of Christian and non-Christian. The seed is sown among the thorns; the wheat springs up amongst the tares. The renmant of Jacob is in the midst of many peoples; and you and I are all encompassed by those who need our Christ, and who do not know Him or love Him; and one great reason for the close inter twining is that, scattered we may diffuse, and that at all points the world may be in contact with those who ought to be working to preserve it from putrefaction and decay. Now, there are two ways by which this function may be discharged. The one is by direct efforts to impart to others the knowledge of God in Jesus Christ which we have, and which we profess to be the very root of our lives. We can do all that if we will, and we are here to do it. Every one of us has somebody or other close to us, bound to us, perhaps, by the tie of kindred and love, who will listen to us more than they will to anybody else. Christian men and women, have you utilised these channels which God Himself, by the arrangements of society, has dug for you, that through them you may pour upon some thirsty ground the water of life? But there is another way by which the remnant of Jacob is to be a dew from the Lord, and that is by trying to bring to bear Christian thoughts and Christian principles upon all the relations of life in which we stand, and all the societies, be they greater or smaller–the family, the city, or the nation–of which we form parts. Have you ever lifted a finger to abate drunkenness? Have you ever done anything to help to make it possible that the masses of our town communities should live in places better than the pigstyes in which many of them have to wallow? Time was when a bastard piety shrank back from intermeddling with these affairs and gathered up its skirts about it in an ecstasy of unwholesome unworldliness. There is not much danger of that now, when Christian men are in the full swim of the currents of civic, professional, literary, national life.

II. The function of English Christians in the world. I have suggested in an earlier part of this sermon that possibly the application of this text originally was to the scattered remnant. Be that as it may, wherever you go you find the Jew and the Englishman. I need not dwell upon the ubiquity of our race. But I do wish to remind you that that ubiquity has its obligation. We hear a great deal today about Imperialism, about the Greater Britain, about the expansion of England. And on one side all that new atmosphere of feeling is good, for it speaks of a vivid consciousness which is all to the good in the pulsations of the national life. But there is another side to it that is not so good. What is the expansion sought for? Trade? Yes! necessarily; and no man who lives in Lancashire will speak lightly of that necessity. My text tells us why expansion should be sought, and what are the obligations it brings with it. The remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people aa a dew from the Lord. He that is greatest among you, let him be your servant; and the dominion founded on unselfish surrender for others is the only dominion that will last. That is the spirit in which alone England will keep its empire over the world. I need not remind you that the gift which we have to carry to the heathen nations, the subject peoples who are under the aegis of our laws, is not merely our literature, our science, our Western civilisation, still less the products of our commerce, for all of which some of them are asking; but it is the gift that they do not ask for.

III. The failure to fulfil the function. Israel failed. Pharisaism was the end of it. And so destruction came, and the fire on the hearth was scattered and died out, and the vineyard was taken from them and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. A dew from the Lord! Say rather a malaria from the devil! By you, said the prophet, is the name of God blasphemed among the Gentiles. And by Englishmen the missionarys efforts are, in a hundred cases, neutralised, or hampered if not neutralised. We have failed because, as Christian people, we have not been adequately in earnest. No man can say with truth that the churches of England are awake to the imperative obligation of this missionary enterprise. Israels religion was not diffusive, therefore it corrupted; Israels religion did not reach out a hand to the nations, therefore its heart was paralysed and stricken. They who bring the Gospel to others increase their own hold upon it. There is a joy of activity, there is a firmer faith, as new evidences of its power are presented before them. There is the blessing that comes down upon all faithful discharge of duty. If our fleece is wet and we leave the ground dry, our fleece will soon be dry, though the ground may be bedewed. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 7. The remnant of Jacob] From the reign of Darius Hystaspes (Ahasuerus, husband of Esther) the Jews were greatly favoured. Those who continued in Persia and Chaldea were greatly honoured under the protection of Mordecai and Esther.-Calmet. But others consider this as applying to the Maccabees.

As a dew from the Lord] Even during their captivity many of the Jews were the means of spreading the knowledge of the one true God; see Da 2:47; Da 3:29; Da 4:34; Da 6:26. This may be the dew from the Lord mentioned here. When the Messiah appeared, the Gospel was preached by them; and it shall again be propagated by their future glorious restoration, Ro 11:12; Ro 11:25.

The grass, that tarrieth not for man] Which grass springs up without the attention and culture of man; leish, even the best and most skilful of men.

Nor waiteth for the sons of men.] libney adam, for the sons of Adam, the first transgressor. The dew and the showers descend on the earth and water it, in order to render it fruitful; and the grass springs up independently either of the worth or wickedness of man. All comes through God’s bounty, who causes his sun to shine on the just and the unjust, and his rain to descend on the evil and the good.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

The remnant of Jacob; both the remnant which surviveth the sacking and burning of their city and temple, and, carried captive, live in a scattered condition; and the whole remnant, according to the election of grace, whether of Jacob after the flesh or after the Spirit.

In the midst of many people; either among the several people under the Babylonian dominion, which may well be called many, when it is said of Nebuchadnezzar, that God gave him all nations and kingdoms, Jer 27:6-8; or else, amidst the nations, their neighbours, after their return and reestablishment in their own land. This remnant, wherever they are,

shall be as a dew; either subsisting and multiplying as the dew; or else, as the dew refresheth the grass, and is beneficial to it, so where this remnant is, it should be a blessing to those about them that use them friendly; so Hos 14:5.

From the Lord; it shall be the peculiar work of God; as dew hath no other father or fountain, so the blessings on Jacob, and the blessing by him on others, shall be from the Lord. So God blesseth those that bless Abrahams seed, Gen 12:3. So Cyrus received his blessings, and his Persians with him, Isa 45:1-4.

As the showers upon the grass; the same thing in a different, but very apt expression; nations kind to Jacob should for this spring and flourish, as the grass doth by the dew and showers.

That tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men; it shall be the only work of God, he shall by his immediate hand bless such, as he alone, without the help of man, giveth dew and showers. As this was fulfilled in the type, before the gospel of the kingdom was preached to all nations, so it hath been, now is, and ever shall be fulfilled in ages to come. Gods remnant shall be a blessing to the places they live in, and the persons they live with, as Jacob was to Laban, Gen 30:27, and Joseph was to Potiphar, and to the keeper of the prison.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

7. remnant of Jacobalreadymentioned in Mic 5:3. It incomparative smallness stands in antithesis to the “many people.”Though Israel be but a remnant amidst many nations after herrestoration, yet she shall exercise the same blessed influence inquickening them spiritually that the small imperceptible dewexercises in refreshing the grass (Deu 32:2;Psa 72:6; Psa 110:3).The influence of the Jews restored from Babylon in making manyGentile proselytes is an earnest of a larger similar effect hereafter(Isa 66:19; Zec 8:13).

from the LordIsrael’srestoration and the consequent conversion of the Gentiles are solelyof grace.

tarrieth not for manentirelyGod’s work, as independent of human contrivance as the dew and rainsthat fertilize the soil.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people,…. The Jews, who will be converted in the latter day, the remnant of them according to the election of grace, as well as all true Israelites, whether Jews or Gentiles, the Lord’s chosen and peculiar people; who, though but a small number in comparison of others, and mean and contemptible in the eyes of men, are such as God has made a reserve of for himself; and these, though not of the world, yet are in the world, and will be in the several parts of it, but a distinct people from it, and of no account in it; nevertheless will be visible in it, and wonderfully preserved in the midst of it: and will be

as a dew from the Lord; both with respect to themselves, being like to dew for the generation of it, which is from above, from heaven, and of God, as their regeneration is; and which secretly and silently falls as the grace of God in regeneration does; and for the number of the drops of it, which are not to be reckoned; and so numerous are the people of God, at least they will be in the latter day, when Christ shall again have the dew of his youth; or such a number of converts, as will be like the drops of the morning dew; as also for the favour, grace, and blessings of God upon them, which are as the dew; and which he himself is as that unto them, so that they themselves are as dew from him, being indulged with his favour; which, as the dew is entirely free, very softening, cooling, and refreshing, as well as fructifying; and having the dews of his grace, or the blessings of it, falling upon them in plenty; see Ho 14:5; and with respect to others, among whom they are, and to whom they are as the dew, by their speech, their doctrine, the word ministered by then, which distils like the dew, De 32:26; and by their good works, which are profitable unto men; and by their soft and gentle behaviour towards them; and by reason of the many outward blessings they enjoy through them, as Laban did for the sake of Jacob, and Potiphar on the account of Josiah:

as the showers upon the grass; which revive, refresh it, and cause it to grow and flourish; or they are like grass, on which the showers fall, and grow up as such in great numbers, and with great verdure and fruitfulness, Ps 72:16;

that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men; which seems to be connected with the dew, though it agrees with both dew and rain, which stay not for men’s desires or deserts, but descend according to the will of God: and as this regards the people of God, either with respect to themselves; it shows that as they are, as the dew, or as showers and clouds full of rain, either of grace or doctrine compared thereunto; they are not of themselves so, or of men, but of God; and that their dependence is not upon the creature, but upon the Lord for support and supply:, and with respect to others, to whom they are beneficial by their doctrine and works; that it is all from the Lord, and owing to his goodness, which makes them a blessing round about unasked and undeserved; see Eze 34:26. It may have respect to plenty of Gospel ministers, whose doctrine is as the dew; and which, being attended with the power and Spirit of God, waits not for anything in man, but operates at once secretly and powerfully.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

But the Messiah will prove Himself to be peace to His people, not only by the fact that He protects and saves it from the attacks of the imperial power represented by Asshur, but also by the fact that He endows His rescuing people with the power to overcome their enemies, both spiritually and bodily also. Mic 5:7. “And the remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many nations like dew from Jehovah, like drops of rain upon grass, which tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for children of men. Mic 5:8. And the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many nations, like the lion among the beasts of the forest, like the young lion among the flocks of sheep; which, when it goes through, treads down, and tears in pieces, without deliverer. Mic 5:9. High be thy hand above thine oppressors, and may all thine enemies be rooted out.” Two things are predicted here. In the first place (Mic 5:7), Israel will come upon many nations, like a refreshing dew from Jehovah, which falls plentifully in drops upon the grass, and will produce and promote new and vigorous life among them. Dew is here, as indeed everywhere else, a figurative expression for refreshing, stimulating, enlivening (cf. Psa 110:3; Psa 133:3, and Psa 72:6; Hos 14:6; Deu 33:2). The spiritual dew, which Jacob will bring to the nations, comes from Jehovah, and falls in rich abundance without the cooperation of men. Without the spiritual dew from above, the nations are grass (cf. Isa 40:6-8). before does not refer to , but to the principal idea of the preceding clause, viz., to , to which the explanatory is subordinate. As the falling of the dew in rain-drops upon the grass does not depend upon the waiting of men, but proceeds from Jehovah; so will the spiritual blessing, which will flow over from Israel upon the nations, not depend upon the waiting of the nations, but will flow to them against and beyond their expectation. This does not deny the fact that the heathen wait for the salvation of Jehovah, but simply expresses the thought that the blessings will not be measured by their expectation. Secondly (Mic 5:8, Mic 5:9), the rescued Israel will prove itself a terrible power among the nations, and one to which they will be obliged to succumb. No proof is needed that Mic 5:8, Mic 5:9 do not state in what way Israel will refresh the heathen, as Hitzig supposes. The refreshing dew and the rending lion cannot possibly be synonymous figures. The similarity of the introduction to Mic 5:7 and Mic 5:8 points of itself to something new. To the nations Christ is set for the rising and falling of many (compare Luk 2:34; Rom 9:33, with Isa 8:14 and Isa 28:16). The people of God shows itself like a lion, trampling and rending the sheep among the nations of the world which oppose its beneficent work. And over these may it triumph. This wish ( tarom is optative) closes the promise of the attitude which Israel will assume among the nations of the world. For tarom yad (high be the hand), compare Isa 26:11. High is the hand which accomplishes mighty deeds, which smites and destroys the foe.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

The Increase of the Church; Encouraging Predictions.

B. C. 720.

7 And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men. 8 And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver. 9 Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off. 10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots: 11 And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strong holds: 12 And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers: 13 Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands. 14 And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee: so will I destroy thy cities. 15 And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard.

Glorious things are here spoken of the remnant of Jacob, that remnant which was raised of her that halted (ch. iv. 7), and it seems to be that remnant which the Lord our God shall call (Joel ii. 32), on whom the Spirit shall be poured out, the remnant that shall be saved, Rom. ix. 27. Note, God’s people are but a remnant, a small number in comparison with the many that are left to perish, a little flock; but they are the remnant of Jacob, a people in covenant with God, and in his favour. Now concerning this remnant it is here promised,

I. That they shall be as a dew in the midst of the nations, v. 7. God’s church is dispersed all the world over; it is in the midst of many people, as gold in the ore, wheat in the heap. Israel according to the flesh dwelt alone, and was not numbered among the nations; but the spiritual Israel lies scattered in the midst of many people, as the salt of the earth, or as seed sown in the ground, here a grain and there a grain, Hos. ii. 23. Now this remnant shall be as dew from the Lord. 1. They shall be of a heavenly extraction; as dew from the Lord, who is the Father of the rain, and has begotten the drops of the dew, Job xxxviii. 28. They are born from above, and are not of the earth, savouring the things of the earth. 2. They shall be numerous as the drops of dew in a summer’s morning. Ps. cx. 3, Thou hast the dew of thy youth. 3. They shall be pure and clear, not muddy and corrupt, but crystal drops, as the water of life. 4. They shall be produced silently and without noise, as the dew that distils insensibly, we know not how; such is the way of the Spirit. 5. They shall live in a continual dependence upon God, and be still deriving from him, as the dew, which tarries not for man, not waits for the sons of men; they shall not rely upon human aids and powers, but on divine grace, for they are, and own that they are, no more than what the free grace of God makes them every day. 6. They shall be great blessings to those among whom they live, as the dew and the showers are to the grass, to make it grow without the help of man, or the sons of men. Their doctrine, example, and prayers, shall make them as dew, to soften and moisten others, and make them fruitful. Their speech shall distil as the dew (Deut. xxxii. 2), and all about them shall wait for them as for the rain, Job xxix. 23. The people among whom they live shall be as the grass, which flourishes only by the blessing of God, and not by the art and care of man; they shall be beneficial to those about them by drawing down God’s blessings on them, as Jacob on Laban’s house, and by cooling and mitigating God’s wrath, which otherwise would burn them up, as the dew preserves the grass from being scorched by the sun; so Dr. Pocock; they shall be mild and gentle in their behaviour, like their Master, who comes down like rain upon the new-mown grass, Ps. lxxii. 6.

II. That they shall be as a lion among the beasts of the forest, that treads down and tears in pieces, v. 8. As they shall be silent, and gentle, and communicative of all good, to those that receive the truth in the love of it, so they shall be bold as a lion in witnessing against the corruptions of the times and places they live in, and strong as a lion, in the strength of God, to resist and overcome their spiritual enemies. The weapons of their warfare are mighty, through God, to the pulling down of strongholds,2Co 10:4; 2Co 10:5. They shall have courage which all their adversaries shall not be able to resist (Luke xxi. 15), as when the lion tears none can deliver. When infidelity is silenced, and all iniquity made to stop her mouth, when sinners are convinced and converted by the power of the gospel, in the doctrine of its ministers and the conversation of its professors, then the remnant of Jacob is like a lion. This is explained, v. 9, Thy hand shall be lifted up upon thy adversaries; the church shall have the upper hand at last of all that oppose her. Her enemies shall be cut off; they shall cease to be enemies; their enmity shall be cut off. Christ’s arrows of conviction shall be sharp in their hearts, so that they shall fall under him; they shall yield themselves subjects to him (Ps. xlv. 5) and be happily conquered and subdued, Ps. cx. 2.

III. That they shall be brought off from all carnal confidences, which they have relied on, that by the providence of God they shall enjoy such a security that they shall not need them, and by the grace of God they shall be brought to see the folly of them and come off from them. It was the sin of Israel that they furnished themselves extravagantly with horses and chariots, and were soothsayers and idolaters; see Isa. ii. 6-8. But here it is promised that they shall not regard them any more. The tranquillity of the kingdom of Christ is intended in that promise, which explains this, Zech. ix. 10, I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem. Note, It is a great mercy to be deprived of those things in which we have reposed a confidence in competition with God, which we have made our arm, and after which we have gone a whoring from God. Let us observe the particulars:– 1. They had trusted in chariots and horses, and multiplied them (Ps. xx. 7); but now God will cut off their horses, and destroy their chariots (v. 10), as David houghed the chariot-horses, 2 Sam. viii. 4. They shall not have them, lest they should be tempted to trust in them. 2. They depended upon their strongholds, and fortified cities, for their security; but God will take care that they be demolished (v. 11): I will cut off the cities of thy land; I will throw down thy strongholds. They shall have them for habitations, but not for garrisons, for God will be their only place of defence, their high tower, and their deliverer. 3. Many of them depended much upon the conduct and advice of their conjurors, diviners, and fortune-tellers; and those God will cut off, not only as weak things, and insufficient to relieve them, but as wicked things, and sufficient to ruin them (v. 12): “I will cut off witchcrafts out of thy hand, that thou shalt no more take hold of them, and stay thyself upon them, and thou shalt have no more soothsayers, for thou shalt be convinced that all their pretensions are a cheat.” The justice of the nation shall cut them off according to law, Lev. xx. 27. The preaching of the gospel brought men off from using curious arts, Acts xix. 19. 4. Many of them had said to the work of their hands, You are our gods; but now idolatry shall be abolished and abandoned (v. 13): “Thy graven images will I cut off, and thy standing images, both those that were movable and those that were fixed; they shall be destroyed by the power of the law of Moses and deserted by the power of the gospel of Christ, so that thou shalt no more worship the work of thy hands, but be ashamed that ever thou hast been so deluded. Among other monuments of idolatry, I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee,” v. 14. These were planted and preserved in honour of their idols, and used in the worship of them; these they were ordered to burn (Deu 12:2; Deu 12:3), and, if they do not, God will, so that they shall not have them to trust to. And so will I destroy their cities, meaning the cities that were dedicated to the idols, to some dunghill-deity or other, which they confided in for their protection.

IV. That those who stand it out against the gospel of Christ, and continue in league with their idolatries and witchcrafts, shall fall under the wrath of God, and be consumed by it (v. 15): I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen (that is, upon heathenism), such as they have not heard; idolatries shall be done away, and idolaters put to shame. I will execute vengeance upon the heathen who have not heard (so some read it), or who would not hear and receive the doctrine of Christ. God will give his Son either the hearts or the necks of his enemies, and make them either his friends or his footstool.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

Micah promises here two things as to the future state of the Church, — that God shall defend it without the help and aid of men, — and that he will supply it with strength, so that it will become superior to all enemies. In the first place, to show that the preservation of the Church depends on the mere favor of God, and that there is no need of any earthly aids, he makes use of a most suitable similitude; he says, that the people of God are like a dewy meadow. The Prophet speaks not what is strictly correct; for what he says of the rain and dew is to be applied to the grass or the meadow. (151) The residue of Jacob, he says, shall be as dew from Jehovah, and drops of rain on the grass. This cannot be applied according to the design of the Prophet, except you take the dew, as I have already said, for the dewy meadows or for the grass, which draws moisture and vigor from the rains. The sense indeed is by no means obscure, which is, — that God will make his people to grow like the grass, which is fed only by celestial dew, without any culture or labor on the part of men: and this is also what the Prophet expressly mentions; for he says, that the grass of which he speaks waits not for men, nor grows through men’s care, but grows through the dew of heaven.

But that we may better understand the Prophet’s intention, I shall briefly notice the words. There shall be, he says, the residue of Jacob He shows here that the whole people would not he preserved; for he had before spoken of their destruction. We hence see that this promise is to be confined to the seed, which God had wonderfully preserved in the calamitous state of the Church, yea, even in its almost total destruction. Then this promise belongs not to the whole body of the people, but to a small number; and hence he uses as before, the word שארית, sharit, a remnant or residue. There shall then be the residue of Jacob; (152) that is, though the people shall nearly all perish, yet there shall be some residue.

He then adds, Among great or many nations There is here a contrast between the remnants and great nations: and the Prophet has not unnecessarily added the expression בקרב, bekoreb, in the midst. There are then three things to be observed here, — that God does not promise deliverance to the whole people, but to a residue only, — and then, that he promises this deliverance among powerful or many nations, as though he said, — “Though the Church of God shall not excel in number, nay, so great may be the number of its enemies, as to be sufficient to overwhelm it, yet God will cause it to grow and to propagate: in a word, its enemies, though many in number, and strong in force and power, shall not yet hinder the Lord, that he should not increase his Church more and more;” — and the third particular is what the expression, in the midst, intimates, and that is, that the people of God shall be besieged on every side. When enemies come upon us only from one part, it is not so very distressing, but when they surround us, being in front, and behind, and on both sides, then our condition seems miserable indeed; for when they thus press on us on all sides, they hardly allow us time to draw our breath. But the Prophet declares, that though surrounded on all sides by enemies, yet the Church would be safe.

He now adds, כטל מאת יהוה, cathel meat Ieve, As a dew from Jehovah; that is, it shall be, as I have said, as the grass, which is nourished and grows by means of dew from heaven, and as grass, which flourishes, not through the culture or labor of men, but which God himself makes to grow. He might have merely said, as the dew, but he adds, from Jehovah, that he might make a distinction between God and man, and show that the power of God is alone sufficient to support and sustain the Church, though men brought no assistance. And this is expressed more clearly in the next clause, when he says, As drops of rain on the grass, which waits not for man, nor tarries for the sons of men. We now then see that the faithful have their attention called to God alone, that they may understand that they are to be safe through his favor, that if all helps on earth failed, they ought not to fear, since they can be effectually sustained by the power of God alone: for God makes grass to grow on mountains and in meadows without the help and labor of man; and thus he can defend his Church without any foreign aid, but by his own hidden, and, so to speak, his own intrinsic power.

(151) There seems to be no necessity for this supposed inaccuracy in this comparison; it indeed changes the obvious meaning of the passage. The Jews are compared to the dew and rain, through which the grass grows; and then it is said, that the growth of the grass, not the dew or the rain, is not dependent on man, but on the dew or rain. The comparison is thus in every way suitable. — Ed.

(152) We have the residue or remnant of Joseph in Amo 5:15,—the remnant of Israel in Mic 2:12, — and here in the following verse, the remnant of Jacob. — Ed.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

CRITICAL NOTES.

Mic. 5:7. Rem.] Shall quicken and have the same influence as imperceptible dew] (Deu. 32:2; Psa. 72:6). An earnest of greater blessings hereafter (Isa. 66:19; Zec. 8:13). Showers] From dbr to multiply, multitudes of drops; from God, and independent of human agency, as dew and rain.

CRITICAL NOTES.

HOMILETICS

ISRAEL AS THE DEW.Mic. 5:7

The remnant of Jacob through participation in the Messiahs work shall have a beneficent power, and spiritually influence surrounding nations, as rain and dew revive withering grass.

I. The Divine origin of dew. As a dew from the Lord. Israels restoration and increase here entirely from the Lord. This orient pearl glistens with Divine light. It is one of the precious things of heaven (Deu. 33:13). Everything that quickens and invigorates spiritual life, every influence that preserves it from corruption and decay, comes from God. I will be as the dew unto Israel.

II. The sovereign laws of dew. That tarrieth not for man, &c. It is independent of the contrivance of man. It does not originate by human caprice and calculation. Man with all his science and skill can neither make nor hinder it. God supplies it according to his own purpose and law. Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of dew?

III. The blessed influence of dew. Distilled in the silent night by the influences of heaven and earth, it bathes and refreshes each blade and flower with stainless moisture, and becomes an image of choicest blessing.

1. It is quickening in its influence. Without rain a Christian or an ungodly community is like grass dry and withered in appearance. All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field.

2. It is gentle in its influence. The word showers implies multitude of drops. Drops as the gentle dew from heaven. Imagine sheets of water falling at once. What destruction to life and vegetation! God breaks the force by its distribution in the needed showers, and each shower into countless drops. Not even the tenderest plant is injured. It descends noiselessly and penetrates deeply. Herbs grow and flourish under the soft influence which waiteth not for the sons of men. My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew; as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass.

3. It is copious in its influence. As the showers. Multitude of drops in falling rain we call a shower. Showers are dispersed in drops over the face of the earth. God hath divided a watercourse for the overflowings of water (Job. 38:35). Pentecost and times of revivals illustrate this. Thus the influence of the Church upon the world should be like the effects of rain upon dry fields and withering plants. It should quicken and strengthen, make fruitful and fragrant. The godly should mitigate Gods anger which burns up the ungodly; draw blessings from heaven in personal and social life; and be as the dew in the midst of many people.

Now sliding streams their thirsty plants renew,
And feed their fibres with reviving dew [Pope].

ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 5

Mic. 5:7. Dew comes down from heaven, is of heavenly, not earthly, origin, transparent, glistening with light, reflecting the hues of heaven; gentle, slight, weak in itself, refreshing, cooling the strong heats of the day; consumed itself, yet thereby preserving life; falling on the dry and withered grass, wherein all nature droops, and recalling it to freshness of life. And still more in those lands, where from the beginning of April to the end of October, the close of the latter and the beginning of the early rain, during all the hot months of summer, the life of all herbage depends upon the dew alone [Pusey].

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

THE GLORIOUS FUTURE OF THE REMNANT . . . Mic. 5:7-15

RV . . . 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. And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep; who, if he go through, treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and there is none to deliver. Let thy hand be lifted up above thine adversaries, and let all thine enemies be cut off. And it shall come to pass in that day; saith Jehovah, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and will destroy thy chariots: and I will cut off the cities of thy land, and will throw down all thy strongholds. And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thy hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers: and I will cut off thy graven images and thy pillars out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thy hands; and I will pluck up thine Asherim out of the midst of thee; and I will destroy thy cities. And I will execute vengeance in anger and wrath upon the nations which hearkened not.
LXX . . . And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many peoples, as dew falling from the Lord, and as lambs on the grass; that none may assemble nor resist among the sons of men. And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many nations, as a lion in the forest among cattle, and as a lions whelp among flocks of sheep, even as when he goes through, and selects, and carries off his prey, and there is none to deliver. Thine hand shall be lifted up against them that afflict thee, and all thine enemies shall be utterly destroyed. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that I will utterly destroy the horses out of the midst of thee, and destroy thy chariots: and I will utterly destroy the cities of thy land, and demolish all thy strong-holds: and I will utterly destroy thy sorceries out of thine hands; and there shall be no soothsayers in thee. And I will utterly destroy thy graven images, and thy statues out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt never any more worship the works of thine hands. And I will cut off the groves out of the midst of thee, and I will abolish thy cities. And I will execute vengeance on the heathen in anger and wrath, because they hearkened not.

COMMENTS

The remnant shall be as dew from the lord, covering all as dew in a summer morning. (Cp. Psa. 110:3) They shall be pure and clear as dew drops, as the water of life. Dependent upon the Spirit, they shall tarry not for man, nor wait upon the sons of man. They shall be a great blessing to those people among whom they live, just as the refreshing dew from heaven is a blessing to thirsty earth.

But the remnant shall not be tread upon as is the dew. They shall be as a lion among the flocks of sheep. . . as a lion treadeth down and teareth in pieces and there is none to deliver.
Messiahs people shall be silent and gentle and bringers of blessings, as the dew, but they shall be as bold as lions. The forces which today threaten to destroy Christian civilization cannot stand against the power of the Gospel in the lives of committed people any more than a hyena can stand against a lion.

The strength of Gods covenant people is that which derives from the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. Israel of old had been instructed to not go to Egypt for horses (Deu. 17:16) lest they depend upon chariots and cavalry rather than upon God. (Psa. 20:7) From Solomon on they would disregard this command (1Ki. 10:26-28). The new Israel has no such arms. She stands or falls upon her trust in Christ. So long as she is faithful nothing can stand against her. (Cp. Rom. 8:31 -ff)

Note those things against which His people are to prevail. Mic. 5:10 . . . horses and chariots are cut off and destroyed. Mic. 5:11 . . . Cities and strongholds will be thrown down. The temptation to trust worldly power are so to be eliminated. The church has been slow to relinquish these things, but the circumstances of our day now leave us no choice. Only the Gospel can stand against the armed atheism which threatens our existence.

Witchcrafts and soothsayers (Mic. 5:12) are also to be cut off. There is a revival of such evil in our day, but not in the hands of the church.

Graven images and pillars and the graven images which are the works of our hand (Mic. 5:13) are to be eliminated. Even the Roman church has recently decommissioned two hundred saints before whose idols thousands have prayed! In the New Testament church such things were an abomination.

Mic. 5:15 must be almost unbelievable to the one today who thinks the God of the Old Testament was only a primitive fore-shadowing of the God of Love revealed in the new. Nevertheless, the prophet sees, IN THE AGE OF THE MESSIAH, God executing vengeance in anger and wrath upon the nations which hearken not.

The concept of a God Who does not bring vengeance against anyone is of very recent origin and completely foreign to the Christian God of the New Testament as well as the Old.

Chapter IXQuestions

Future Exaltation and Messianic Hope

Demonstrate that Micahs prophecy in Micah 4-5 has to do with the day of the Messiah, our own Messianic time.

What does John tell us about this end time? (1Jn. 2:18 -f)

What is the meaning of the mountain of Jehovahs house?

Comment on all peoples walk everyone in the name of his god, but we will walk in the name of Jehovah our God for ever and ever. (Mic. 4:5)

Discuss many nations. (Mic. 4:2)

Discuss . . . out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. (Mic. 4:2 cp. Luk. 24:44 -f)

Men are at war with men because ________________________.

God must become ruler of our ____________ as well as our church doctrine. (Mic. 4:4)

In that day (Mic. 4:6-7) refers us back to ___________________.

10.

That which is lame is the image of ____________.

11.

Discuss her that halted is become a remnant. (Mic. 4:7)

12.

Distinguish between that which was lame and that which was driven away.

13.

Discuss I will make . . . that which was cast far off a strong nation in Mic. 4:7 in light of Rom. 11:1.

14.

What is meant by tower of the flock? (Mic. 4:8)

15.

Discuss Mic. 4:11 in connection with Mic. 3:12.

16.

In Micahs own time the nation of ____________ dominated the international scene.

17.

____________ would wipe out the northern kingdom.

18.

____________ would enslave the southern kingdom.

19.

____________ would conquer the Medo-Persian empire.

20.

The Maccabean revolt was against the rule of ____________.

21.

All these powers, and others since have used the land of ____________ as a political pawn and a ____________ state.

22.

Discuss Romans 11, Mic. 4:11-13 in light of current events in the Middle East.

23.

The Jews are precious to Jehovah because ____________.

24.

This does not imply ____________.

25.

What New Testament reference is made to Mic. 5:2 -ff?

26.

What is the meaning of Ephratah? (Mic. 5:2)

27.

Bethlehem nestles on the ____________ slopes of a ridge some ____________ miles ____________ of Jerusalem.

28.

Discuss, the conditions of Jesus birth in contrast to what might have been expected for the birth of a king.

29.

The sheep tended on the slopes of Bethlehem were traditionally intended for _________.

30.

Why did the Roman emperor Harian forbid Jews to live in or near Bethlehem?

31.

Perhaps no other term in the Old Testament has been more grossly misunderstood than _____________.

32.

Humanly speaking, it was the Jews ambitious vision of ____________ that was responsible for the death of Jesus.

33.

It is the failure of many to recognize the kingly office and authority of Jesus that has brought about the ____________ in the modern church.

34.

Discuss the temptation of Jesus (Luk. 4:1-12) in relation to the Jewish dream of world power in the Messianic age.

35.

The real issue in Mic. 2:6 is the assurance that ____________.

36.

Why do the Jews object that Jesus cannot be the Messiah?

37.

Discuss the pre-existence of Christ in light of Mic. 5:2.

38.

God would not, Micah promised, fully vindicate His people and exalt them until ____________,

39.

The Messiah is to be a glorious prince, but His relationship to His people is that of a ____________.

40.

What is the significance of His greatness shall be to the ends of the earth?

41.

Discuss and this man shall be our peace . . .

42.

Discuss seven shepherds . . . eight principal men. (Mic. 5:5-6)

43.

What is meant by the remnant shall be as dew in a summer morning?

44.

Messiahs people are to be as bold as _____________.

45.

Mic. 5:15 must be almost unbelievable to ____________.

46.

The prophet sees in the age of

____________ God executing vengeance in anger and wrath upon the nations which hearken not

CHAPTER X

JEHOVAHS CONTROVERSY WITH HIS PEOPLE

Chapters six and seven are composed of a series of lamentations, threatenings and denunciations. These are directed against all classes of people in Israel and Judah, whereas those which introduce each of the three earlier cycles (chapters 1-3) are directed against the upper classes only. The themes struck there are extended here.
We are pressed to conclude that, just as the sins of societys leaders filter down through all classes so the judgements of God upon those sins are also applied to all classes of people. This is a lesson which is much needed today among revolutionaries who are critical of those in authority. Too many times protests against the system are merely the pot calling the kettle black.

Chapter XQuestions

Jehovahs Controversy With His People

Micah chapters six and seven are composed of a series of __________.

Just as the sins of societys leaders filter down through all classes so __________ are applied to all people.

Jehovahs first controversy with His people is occasioned by their having forgotten __________.

Gods controversy with His people is before all creation because __________.

How does Micah connect the final section of his book to the first section?

In Mic. 6:3-5 the __________ is made. In Mic. 6:9 to Mic. 7:6, the case will be __________.

The cry of Mic. 6:3-5 is the plea of a __________.

Explain Micahs reference to Balaam. (Mic. 6:5)

Why remember from Shittim to Gilgal? (Mic. 6:5(b))

10.

Show how Mic. 6:1-5 is timely in our day.

11.

What is alluded to by shall I give my first-born for my transgression? (Mic. 6:7 (b))

12.

Discuss Mic. 6:8 in connection with Mat. 26:16 and Heb. 2:1-4,

13.

Gods insistence upon faithfulness is not unreasonable when we remember __________ His __________ and __________.

14.

How does Micah answer the question, what doth Jehovah require of thee? (Mic. 6:8)

15.

The __________ is the Bible quoted by Jesus and the apostles.

16.

Mic. 6:8 does not claim that __________ an attribute of Gods character is required of Gods people.

17.

Rather than compassion, Micah insists that we are required to __________.

18.

Discuss Mic. 6:8 in connection with Mat. 23:23.

19.

Why must the outward forms of obedience always be expressive of inner reality?

20.

Compare Mic. 6:9 and Pro. 9:10.

21.

What is the significance of shall I be pure? Mic. 6:10-12

22.

The persistent fact of __________ is a prime factor in Micahs message.

23.

Compare Mic. 6:14 and Job. 20:15.

24.

What is meant by Mic. 6:15?

25.

What are the statutes of Omri? Mic. 6:15(a)

26.

Compare Mic. 6:16(b) and Mic. 3:12.

27.

Discuss the historic phenomena known as anti-semitism in light of Mic. 6:16.

28.

Compare Mic. 7:1-2(a) and Psa. 14:1-2.

29.

Discuss Mic. 7:1-2 in light of Rom. 3:9-18.

30.

Mic. 7:2(b) Mic. 7:4(a) refers to __________.

31.

Compare Mic. 7:2(b) Mic. 7:4(a) with 2Sa. 23:6-7, Isa. 55:13, and Eze. 2:6.

32.

Who are listed as those whom honest men cannot trust? (Mic. 7:5-6)

33.

Discuss Mic. 7:5-6 in connection with Mat. 10:35-36 and Luk. 12:53.

34.

Discuss Mic. 7:7 in connection with Jos. 24:14-15.

35.

Despite the wickedness of his time, Micah is unshaken in the conviction that __________.

36.

Discuss Mic. 7:8-10 in light of Rom. 8:31-39.

37.

Compare Mic. 7:9 to Psa. 22:1-24 and Rom. 7:24 to Rom. 8:1.

38.

What is meant by a day for rebuilding thy walls? (Mic. 7:11-13)

39.

If one requires proof of Micahs highest motives in writing his prophecies, his prayer for __________ provides it amply.

40.

The nations shall see what and be ashamed?

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(7) As a dew from the Lord.The Jews should, on their return from captivity, pour down their influence upon the nations, as God-sent showers upon the grass. So, through the dispersion of Jewish Christians, on the death of St. Stephen, the Lord caused the knowledge of the truth with which the Jews were cloud-charged to descend upon many people: He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass; as showers that water the earth (Psa. 72:6).

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

The restored nation’s attitude toward other peoples, 7-9.

Mic 5:7-9 give another glimpse of the future. The prophet pictures two phases of the remnant’s relation to others nations. To some it will dispense blessings and power, to others terror and destruction. The nations that are sensitive and submit to the moral and religious influences going forth from the remnant, will be refreshed and blessed; those who oppose the benign influences will be trodden down and torn (compare Isa 8:14; Luk 2:34).

7, 8. The remnant of Jacob See on Mic 5:3.

Dew showers The tertium comparationis is not “the mysterious origin of the dew and rain,” or “the countless number of the dewdrops,” but the refreshing and vitalizing power. “Israel will come upon many nations like a refreshing dew from Jehovah, which falls plentifully in drops upon the grass, and will produce and promote new and vigorous life among them” (compare Mic 4:1-3).

Tarrieth not nor waiteth The falling of the rain and dew is neither helped nor hindered by man, for the processes of nature go on while man slumbers; in the same way the vitalizing influences will proceed from the remnant no matter what the attitude of anyone. But this does not mean that the attitude of those involved has nothing to do with the participation or nonparticipation in these blessings. The destiny and mission of Israel cannot be affected by the hostility or friendship of the nations in whose midst it labors, but the destiny of these nations will be determined thereby. The friendly will be refreshed, but, Mic 5:8 continues, the hostile will be devoured by the remnant, as beasts of the forest or sheep are devoured by a ferocious lion. None can deliver [“there is none to deliver”] Nothing or no one can resist successfully the power of the remnant.

In Mic 5:9 the prophet addresses a word of encouragement or blessing to the remnant marching forth to subdue its enemies. If this is the meaning of the verse, R.V. is to be preferred: “Let thine hand be lifted up above thine adversaries, and let all thine enemies be cut off.” An even better rendering would be, “May be lifted up, may be cut off,” that is, May you be completely successful in the task appointed to you by Jehovah. “May thy hand be lifted up above” is equivalent to “mayest thou triumph over.” Others interpret Mic 5:9 as expressing the conviction of the prophet that the victory promised will surely be won. Then A.V. is to be preferred, “Thine hand shall indeed be lifted up.”

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Meanwhile Israel/Judah Will Have Been Scattered Among Many Nations, Where They Will Be Like Showers Of Rain, And YHWH Will Be With Them And Watch Over Them ( Mic 5:7-8 ).

The defeat of Assyria will not solve the problem of the large numbers of people from Israel/Judah who have been deported. There were first those from northern Galilee when that part was annexed as an Assyrian province, then those resulting from the campaigns in and final capture of Samaria, then those resulting from Sennacherib’s protracted campaign in Judah, and there would be others in the future (see Isa 11:11). But unknown to the world YHWH has a purpose for them.

Mic 5:7

‘And the remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples as dew from YHWH, as showers upon the grass, that tarry not for man, nor wait for the sons of men.’

The remnant of the exiles of Jacob (Israel/Judah) will be among the peoples as dew from YHWH. They will be like showers on the vegetation. The picture is one of fruitfulness and blessing. Their different way of life, their upholding of distinctive covenant laws (which would become more precious in heathen lands), and their belief in one God, will have their effects on the peoples among whom they live. They will be like a light in a dark place. And this would be even more so when the Gospel began to reach out to the synagogues and the converted remnant would begin to proclaim the Gospel to the world.

‘That tarry not for man, nor wait for the sons of men.’ We can here compare Joh 3:7, ‘the wind blows where it will’. God’s activity is not restricted by men nor dependent on men. He will in His own way use the exiles to prepare for the coming of the Messiah.

Mic 5:8

‘And the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep, who, if he go through, treads down and tears in pieces, and there is none to deliver.’

And YHWH will not only use His people like showers, but He will also make them strong and able to cope with their adversaries. For His people will be like lions in contrast with other wild beasts, and like young lions among a flock of sheep. The latter especially can act without restraint, and do what he wishes with no one to restrain him. For He will be present to protect them.

We can think in this context of how YHWH watched over His people in different parts of the world, Daniel and his friends in Babylon and Persia, giving them positions of great power through which they could watch over God’s people; Nehemiah and others in places of high authority in the Persian empire; Mordecai and Esther, and the way in which God enabled the Jews to be victorious over their enemies in Persia; and they way in which historically the Jews became well established in Alexandria and well able to take care of themselves. We have no reason to doubt that in smaller ways also God acted to protect His people to make them strong.

Mic 5:9

‘Let your hand be lifted up above your adversaries, and let all your enemies be cut off.’

As a result of God’s protection their hands will be lifted up above their adversaries. That is they will triumph and be successful. And in the end all their enemies will be cut off. For He will bring them through their trials and tribulations right through to the end. For His purpose for them, unknown to any but Him, was that they would be the firstfruits of the new congregation of the Messiah.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Mic 5:7. And the remnant of Jacob shall beas a dew, &c. The dews were of the greatest service in this land, which was watered by rain only in two seasons of the year. The word dew, therefore, is used figuratively, to express any thing fructifying and exhilarating; and is well applied to the Maccabees, who, relying on the divine help, and without any foreign aid, with a small band overthrew mighty armies of the enemy, and were in their walls like lions; and young lions; bringing the greatest comfort and the highest honour to their afflicted country. See Houbigant.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

DISCOURSE: 1211
THE JEWS A BLESSING TO THE WORLD

Mic 5:7. The remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the Lord, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.

IN this chapter we have as explicit a prophecy respecting Christ, as any that is to be found in all the sacred volume. His person is described in terms that can belong to none but Jehovah himself: His goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting [Note: ver. 2.]. The place of his nativity is expressly foretold, and so plainly mentioned, that all the Scribes and Pharisees at the time of our Saviours birth considered it as an indisputable point, that their Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem; and not in the Bethlehem that was in the land of Zabulon [Note: Jos 19:10; Jos 19:15.], but in Bethlehem Ephratah, which was in the land of Judah [Note: Mat 2:4-6.]. The establishment of his kingdom over the face of the whole earth was farther predicted [Note: ver. 4.]; and not only is the final restoration of the Jews to a participation of it declared [Note: ver. 3, 6.], but their agency in the conversion of the Gentile world is distinctly asserted [Note: The text.]. Whatever accomplishment the words of our text received in the apostolic age by the preaching of the Apostles and their immediate converts, they have respect to a period far remote from that age, a period yet future: they refer to a time, when Jehovah will gather his people from the four winds, and reign over them in their own land [Note: Mic 4:6-7.]; a time, when they shall vanquish all their enemies, as easily as a young lion prevails over a flock of sheep [Note: ver. 8.]; but shall be as rich blessings to others, as the dew or rain is to the thirsty earth.

To place this subject in a proper point of view, it will be necessary to shew,

The original design of God in their dispersion

Once they were numerous as the stars of heaven: but now they are reduced to a small remnant; and are scattered over the face of the whole earth. This judgment is designed of God,

To punish their iniquities

[Great and manifold were their transgressions, which caused them to be carried captive to Assyria and Babylon: but greater far has been their guilt in rejecting their Messiah, and crucifying the Lord of glory: and for that they have now been carried captive amongst all nations, and been reduced to the lowest state of degradation for the space of more than seventeen hundred years. The punishment inflicted for this crime is such as was foretold by Moses himself [Note: Lev 26:27; Lev 26:33. Deu 28:62-64.], and such as our blessed Lord also warned them to expect [Note: Mat 21:39-41.]. The Jews themselves see and acknowledge, that the hand of God is upon them on account of their sins: and it is Gods intention that his dispensations towards them should be viewed in this light by every nation under heaven [Note: Deu 29:24-28.].]

To bring them to repentance

[In this present world the judgments which God inflicts are all intended for good. It was for their good that God sent his people into captivity in Babylon [Note: Jer 24:5 and Mic 4:10.]: and for their good he has now scattered them over the face of the earth. The punishment inflicted on Levi for his cruelty to the Shechemites, was, that he and his family should have no lot among the tribes of Israel, but be scattered amongst them all [Note: Gen 49:5-7.]: yet was that overruled for their greater honour; they being appointed to minister in the sanctuary before the Lord; and pre-eminently honoured, as having the Lord himself for their portion [Note: Num 18:2-24.]. In like manner, though the present dispersion of the Jews is a heavy judgment, God inflicts it, not as the sentence of an inexorable Judge, but as the correction of a loving Parent: and the very circumstance of his transferring his regards from them to the Gentile world, is a yet farther expression of his parental love, it being designed to provoke his deserted people to jealousy, and thus to bring them to a renewed enjoyment of their forfeited inheritance [Note: Rom 11:11.]. They are cast off only for a season [Note: Rom 11:25-26.]; and, if they abide not in unbelief, they shall yet again be grafted on their own stem, from which they have been broken off [Note: Rom 11:23-24.].]

But in the prophecy before us, our attention is particularly called to,

II.

The ulterior purposes which they are destined to accomplish

The dew and rain are sent by God to fertilize the earth [Note: Isa 55:10.]: and in like manner are the Jews dispersed throughout the world,

As witnesses for him

[Whoever beholds a Jew, beholds a witness of the proper Deity of Jehovah. The whole of his history attests, that the Lord Jehovah is Lord of lords, and God of gods. Who amongst the gods of the heathen could ever have done for their votaries what Jehovah has done for his chosen people? Who amongst them could have predicted every thing that should befall them during the space of many thousand years? Who could have preserved their worshippers, as Jehovah has preserved his, unmixed with the people amongst whom they are scattered, and as distinct from all other people as they were when embodied in the land of Canaan? Other nations, that have been subdued and carried captive, have been blended at last with the inhabitants of the countries where they sojourned; but the Jews still, as formerly, dwell alone in the midst of the earth, as it was foretold they should do [Note: Num 23:9.]. Hence they, above all people, are witnesses of his godhead. And in this view God himself appeals to them, yea, and appeals to the whole universe on the authority of their testimony [Note: Isa 43:9-12; Isa 44:6-9.]. We may say then of the Jews in every place throughout the world, that they are living epistles from God to man, yea, are epistles known and read of all men; so that, whatever be the language of the country where they live, they do unwittingly, yet most intelligibly and unquestionably, proclaim, The Lord, He is the God; the Lord, He is the God [Note: 1Ki 18:39.].

They are witnesses also of all his glorious perfections. Who that sees a Jew can help seeing in him the power and love, which God manifested to his fathers in all the wonders of his grace; in their very origin from parents, who, according to the course of nature, could have had no children; in bringing them forth also out of the land of Egypt, and carrying them in safety to the promised land, and, in short, in all his other dealings with them to the present moment? Who can but see also the purity and holiness of Jehovah, as marked in the judgments inflicted on them? Is it not evident, that they are monuments of Gods wrath; and that, though God may spare long, he will at last visit the offences of his rebellious people? Above all, Who that sees a Jew, does not see in him the truth and faithfulness of Jehovah? God promised, that for Abrahams sake he would not utterly cast them off: and, notwithstanding all their provocations, he still preserves them, in order to their future restoration to their own land, and their renewed enjoyment of his special favour. David, expatiating on all the glorious perfections of God, interrupts, as it were, his song by what appears, at first sight, to be an unsuitable and irrelevant observation; He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel [Note: Psa 103:7.]. But this one observation speaks more than the whole psalm besides; for it embodies all that is more particularly expressed, and gives, what we may call, a graphical exhibition, or picture, of the Divine character; and in the fewest possible words shews us, what will be Gods conduct towards his people to the end of time. Precisely thus the sight of a Jew gives us a compendious view of all the Divine perfections, and sets God himself, as it were, almost visibly before our eyes.]

As instruments in his hands to dispense his blessings to the world

[The dew that floats in the air, and the clouds that are carried over the surface of the globe, are unconscious of the end for which they are sent; but they perform the most invaluable offices for the sons of men. In like manner the Jews are scattered through the world, unconscious of any particular good which they are destined to perform: but God designs to use them as his instruments, and by them to communicate the blessings of salvation to the whole world. This is plainly intimated in our text, and expressly declared by the Prophet Isaiah; They shall declare my glory among the Gentiles, and shall bring them for an offering unto the Lord out of all nations [Note: Isa 66:19-20.]. Then shall be fulfilled, in its utmost extent, that prophecy of Zechariah, It shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the Heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel, so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing [Note: Zec 8:13.].

For this office they are fitted, having their own Scriptures in their hands, and understanding the language of the different countries where they sojourn: so that nothing is wanting but to have the veil removed from their hearts, and they are ready at this moment, each in his place, to proclaim the glad tidings of salvation through a crucified Redeemer. And with what energy will they proclaim the Gospel, the very first moment that their eyes are opened! How deeply will they themselves be affected; and how much therefore will they affect others! How will they, when they look on Him whom they have pierced, mourn, and be in bitterness, even as one that is in bitterness for his first-born [Note: Zec 12:10.]! And how ardently will they love, when they see how much has been forgiven them [Note: Luk 7:47.]! How will they emulate the example of their fathers, the Apostles, in their zeal to spread the knowledge of their Messiah! and, when they hear that their brethren in every country under heaven are engaged in the same blessed work, how will they vie with each other in their endeavours to serve the Lord! With what effect too will they deliver their message! They are known every where to be the bitterest enemies to Christianity. They will not therefore be regarded, (as Christian preachers would be,) as a people endeavouring to propagate their own religion, but as people renouncing their own religion from conviction, and calling upon all other people to follow their example. This will create an interest which no other people could hope to excite: and the simultaneous efforts of their brethren in every quarter of the globe, accompanied as they will be by the operations of the Holy Spirit on the hearts of men, will bear down all before them, like another Pentecost, and produce, as it were, a resurrection from the dead [Note: Eze 37:10. with Rom 11:15.]. Then shall the heathen fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth his glory [Note: Psa 102:13-15. Mark the word So.]: and then shall be literally fulfilled those words of the prophet, A nation shall be born in a day [Note: Isa 66:8.].

Now in all this they will be, not as the canals which were made by man, to water the earth [Note: Deu 11:10-11.], but as the dew or rain, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men. As the clouds are not formed by mans device, or sent by the command of men, but owe both their original and their operations to God alone; so the Jews have gone to the ends of the earth, unsolicited, unsent, unconscious of their destiny; and in due time will exert such a genial influence on the souls of men, that the wilderness shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose [Note: Isa 35:1.].]

From hence we may see,
1.

In what light we should regard the Jews

[It cannot be but that God, in dispersing the Jews over the face of the whole earth, has designed, that we should gather instruction from his dispensations towards them, and subserve in some secret way his purposes towards them.
Wherever we see a Jew, we should regard him as an object from whom we are to derive good, and to whom we are to do good. There is no creature under heaven from the sight of whom we may derive greater good than from the sight of a Jew. We have before said, that, whether intentionally or not, he proclaims to all, in the most convincing way, both the nature and the perfections of God. But there is one lesson in particular which we may learn from him, namely, the guilt and danger of neglecting the Lord Jesus Christ. It was for rejecting and crucifying their Messiah that Gods wrath fell upon that whole nation; and that it has now abode upon them for the space of almost eighteen hundred years. They knew him not; for had they known him, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory: yet, notwithstanding their crime admits of this extenuation, it has been visited with a punishment unprecedented in the annals of the world. What guilt then must we contract, and of what punishment shall we be thought worthy, if we crucify the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame, by continuing in our sins! We profess to know him, and to honour him, and to expect salvation from him: our conduct therefore in pouring contempt upon him is aggravated in a ten-fold degree. O! how shall we escape? If such things were done in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry? If such judgments have been executed on them, what must be the end of us, if we obey not the Gospel of Christ? Brethren, I entreat you never to look upon a Jew, without recalling to your minds this salutary and important lesson

Yet be not content with deriving good from him, but put forth all your powers to do good to him. He, notwithstanding all the chastisements that are upon him, is still beloved of God for his fathers sakes. And, if he is beloved of God, should he not be beloved of you? If God have designs of love towards him, should not you seek to be an instrument in Gods hands to accomplish towards him those gracious purposes? Can you think of the obligations which you are under to the Jews of former days, and not labour to requite them in their posterity? Or can you reflect on the purposes which are to be accomplished by the Jews in the present and future generations, and not endeavour to fit them for the work to which they are destined? If you have any love to the Gentile world, you should bestow all possible care on the instruction of the Jews, since it is by the Jews chiefly that the Gentiles will be brought into the fold of Christ. O! delay no longer to make this improvement of the circumstances before your eyes; but awake to all the calls of duty, of gratitude, and of love ]

What ends we ourselves should endeavour to answer in our respective spheres

[Doubtless we should not live for ourselves, any more than they: we should all be inquiring, What can I do for God? or, what can I do for man? This is truly Christian; or, rather I should say, it is god-like. God himself is represented as resembling the rain [Note: Hos 6:3.], and being like the dew [Note: Hos 14:5.]: and O! what glorious effects does his descent upon the soul produce [Note: Hos 14:6.]! Would to God that we might live for the same ends, and produce, according to our measure, the same effects! Let every one know, that all his faculties, and all his powers, are the Lords. Let all regard their time, their property, their influence, as talents committed to them by their God, to be improved by Him who has entrusted them to their care. If it be thought by any, that their talent is only as a single drop or two upon the barren ground, and too small to be of any use, let them remember, that a cloud is but an assemblage of drops; and that, if we only contribute according to our power, we may hope soon to see this wilderness of ourszbecome as Eden, and this desert as the garden of the Lord [Note: Isa 51:3.] We look for such a season both among Jews and Gentiles: and may we not expect it also amongst ourselves? Yes surely: if we were all, ministers and people, to unite our efforts for this end, God would be with us; our labour should not be in vain [Note: Isa 55:11.]: children should be born to God in this our Jerusalem, which is the mother of us all [Note: Gal 4:26-27.]; her children should be numerous as the piles of grass [Note: Psa 72:16.]; yea, the birth of her womb should be as the dew of the morning [Note: Psa 110:3.]. May God give us to see such a season of revival in the midst of us, and throughout our whole land, for Christs sake!]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

This is a very lovely description of the people of God. They art called a remnant. So they are in the Gospel; and a little flock. Rom 9:27 . Taken from Isa 10:21-22 ; Luk 12:32 . They are promised to be distinguished from the world around them by divine blessings, as the fleece of Gideon, from the dry earth. Jdg 6:36-38 . But how beautiful the figure. They are to be as the dew, and from the Lord. And what is this? and how is it known? The Lord hath said by Hosea, I will be as the dew unto Israel. Hos 14:5 . First observe, it is all of the Lord, not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord. Zec 4-6. Now as the dew is from the Lord, so are the remnant of Jacob. They are born, saith John, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of men, but of God. Joh 1:13 . Moreover, this remnant, though known and distinguished as the dew when fallen, yet what eye sees the dew fall? who observes the method of its coming? Precisely so by Jacob’s remnant. The work of God the Holy Ghost upon the soul is unknown in the time of his operation, unnoticed, unperceived by the world; yea, the very receiver is for a while a stranger to the Lord’s work within him. Still further in reference to this beautiful allusion; as the dew comes down in abundance on the earth, so the grace of God the Spirit comes down most plentifully on the soul. The promise to the Lord Jesus was, that from the womb of the morning he should have the dew of his youth. Psa 110:3 . Multitudes of souls should be given to Christ, as incalculable as the dew-drops of the morning. And as the dew is like the crystal, clear, pellucid, and shining; so the remnant of Jacob should be amidst the unclean and clouded around. Hence David’s song concerning Jesus, the Rock of Israel, and his people in him. 2Sa 23:4 . And not only dew, but showers; not only a few here and there, like the droppings of rain, but multitudes, like the plentiful outpouring of the clouds, that refresheth the whole earth with their copiousness. And what endears the whole, and recommends the whole to show the sovereignty of grace, and the good pleasure of the Lord in bestowing all these mercies; this remnant of Jacob shall be so blessed, not only before they ask for the blessing, or are deserving of it, but before they have any consciousness of the blessing itself, or their want of it; for it tarrieth not for man, neither waiteth for the sons of men. Reader! I do beseech you, pause over this rich verse, and read it again and again. And then may we both fall down before the mercy seat, and freely, fully give all the glory of rich, free, and sovereign grace, where alone it is due, crying out with the Apostle, now thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. 2Co 9:15 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Mic 5:7 And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.

Ver. 7. And the remnant of Jacob ] The “remnant according to the election of grace,” Rom 11:5 . These are but a few in comparison, as a remnant to the whole piece, or a handful to a houseful; but they shall increase and multiply, by God’s blessing upon them, as is here set forth by two similitudes. First, for their propagation and multiplication, the prophet compareth them to the dew, which is engendered and distilled from heaven immediately. Therefore also, Psa 110:3 , new converts are compared to dew, and God’s begetting them, to the womb of the morning, when overnight the earth was dry. Secondly, for their growth and increase, he compareth it to the sprouting up of herbs and grass in the wilderness, where man cometh not, and so their springing tarrieth not for man, nor “waiteth for the sons of men,” for them to come with their watering pots to nourish them (as herbs in gardens do), but these have showers from heaven that give the increase. “I the Lord do keep my vineyard, I will water it every moment,” Isa 27:3 . There is an honour due to God’s ministers, 1Th 5:13 , but the word only must be glorified, Act 13:48 , and Christ earnestly entreated, that as of old the manna came down with the dew, which covered the manna (whence that expression, “hidden manna,” Rev 2:17 ), so he himself, who is the bread of life, would descend unto us by the word of his grace, and fill us with the fruits of righteousness; that he would, rigare et recreare, refresh and cherish our hearts, as the dew from heaven doth the dry and lady fields.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Micah

‘A DEW FROM THE LORD’

Mic 5:7 .

The simple natural science of the Hebrews saw a mystery in the production of the dew on a clear night, and their poetic imagination found in it a fit symbol for all silent and gentle influences from heaven that refreshed and quickened parched and dusty souls. Created by an inscrutable process in silence and darkness, the dewdrops lay innumerable on the dry plains and hung from every leaf and thorn, each little globule a perfect sphere that reflected the sun, and twinkled back the beams in its own little rainbow. Where they fell the scorched vegetation lifted its drooping head. That is what Israel is to be in the world, says Micah. He saw very deep into God’s mind and into the function of the nation.

It may be a question as to whether the text refers more especially to the place and office of Israel when planted in its own land, or when dispersed among the nations. For, as you see, he speaks of ‘the remnant of Jacob’ as if he was thinking of the survivors of some great calamity which had swept away the greater portion of the nation. Both things are true. When settled in its own land, Israel’s office was to teach the nations God; when dispersed among the Gentiles, its office ought to have been the same. But be that as it may, the conception here set forth is as true to-day as ever it was. For the prophetic teachings, rooted though they may be in the transitory circumstances of a tiny nation, are ‘not for an age, but for all time,’ and we get a great deal nearer the heart of them when we grasp the permanent truths that underlie them, than when we learnedly exhume the dead history which was their occasion.

Micah’s message comes to all Christians, and very eminently to English Christians. The subject of Christian missions is before us to-day, and some thoughts in the line of this great text may not be inappropriate.

We have here, then,

I. The function of each Christian in his place.

‘The remnant of Jacob shall be as a dew from the Lord in the midst of many nations.’ What made Israel ‘as a dew’? One thing only; its religion, its knowledge of God, and its consequent purer morality. It could teach Greece no philosophy, no art, no refinement, no sensitiveness to the beautiful. It could teach Rome no lessons of policy or government. It could bring no wisdom to Egypt, no power or wealth to Assyria. But God lit His candle and set it on a candlestick, that it ‘might give light to all that were in the house.’ The same thing is true about Christian people. We cannot teach the world science, we cannot teach it philosophy or art, but we can teach it God. Now the possibility brings with it the obligation. The personal experience of Jesus Christ in our hearts, as the dew that brings to us life and fertility, carries with it a commission as distinct and imperative as if it had been pealed into each single ear by a voice from heaven. That which made Israel the ‘dew amidst many nations,’ parched for want of it, makes Christian men and women fit to fill the analogous office, and calls upon them to discharge the same functions. For-in regard to all our possessions, and therefore most eminently and imperatively in regard to the best-that which we have, we have as stewards, and the Gospel, as the Apostle found, was not only given to him for his own individual enjoyment, elevation, ennobling, emancipation, salvation, but was ‘committed to his charge,’ and he was ‘entrusted’ with it, as he says, as a sacred deposit.

Remember, too, that, strange as it may seem, the only way by which that knowledge of God which was bestowed upon Israel could become the possession of the world was by its first of all being made the possession of a few. People talk about the unfairness, the harshness, of the providential arrangement by which the whole world was not made participant of the revelation which was granted to Israel. The fire is gathered on to a hearth. Does that mean that the corners of the room are left uncared for? No! the brazier is in the middle-as Palestine was, even geographically in the centre of the then civilised world-that from the centre the beneficent warmth might radiate and give heat as well as light to ‘all them that are in the house.’

So it is in regard to all the great possessions of the race. Art, literature, science, political wisdom, they are all intrusted to a few who are made their apostles; and the purpose is their universal diffusion from these human centres. It is in the line of the analogy of all the other gifts of God to humanity, that chosen men should be raised up in whom the life is lodged, that it may be diffused.

So to us the message comes: ‘The Lord hath need of thee.’ Christ has died; the Cross is the world’s redemption. Christ lives that He may apply the power and the benefits of His death and of His risen life to all humanity. But the missing link between the all sufficient redemption that is in Christ Jesus, and the actual redemption of the world, is ‘the remnant of Jacob,’ the Christian Church which is to be ‘in the midst of many people, as a dew from the Lord.’

Now, that diffusion from individual centres of the life that is in Jesus Christ is the chiefest reason-or at all events, is one chief reason-for the strange and inextricable intertwining in modern society, of saint and sinner, of Christian and non-Christian. The seed is sown among the thorns; the wheat springs up amongst the tares. Their roots are so matted together that no hand can separate them. In families, in professions, in business relations, in civil life, in national life, both grow together. God sows His seed thin that all the field may smile in harvest. The salt is broken up into many minute particles and rubbed into that which it is to preserve from corruption. The remnant of Jacob is in the midst of many peoples; and you and I are encompassed by those who need our Christ, and who do not know Him or love Him; and one great reason for the close intertwining is that, scattered, we may diffuse, and that at all points the world may be in contact with those who ought to be working to preserve it from putrefaction and decay.

Now there are two ways by which this function may be discharged, and in which it is incumbent upon every Christian man to make his contribution, be it greater or smaller, to the discharge of it. The one is by direct efforts to impart to others the knowledge of God in Jesus Christ which we have, and which we profess to be the very root of our lives. We can all do that if we will, and we are here to do it. Every one of us has somebody or other close to us, bound to us, perhaps, by the tie of kindred and love, who will listen to us more readily than to anybody else. Christian men and women, have you utilised these channels which God Himself, by the arrangements of society, has dug for you, that through them you may pour upon some thirsty ground the water of life? We could also help, and help far more than any of us do, in associated efforts for the same purpose. The direct obligation to direct efforts to impart the Gospel cannot be shirked, though, alas! it is far too often ignored by us professing Christians.

But there is another way by which ‘the remnant of Jacob’ is to be ‘a dew from the Lord,’ and that is by trying to bring to bear Christian thoughts and Christian principles upon all the relations of life in which we stand, and upon all the societies, be they greater or smaller-the family, the city, or the nation-of which we form parts. We have heard a great deal lately about what people that know very little about it, are pleased to call ‘the Nonconformist conscience,’ I take the compliment, which is not intended, but is conveyed by the word. But I venture to say that what is meant, is not the ‘Nonconformist’ conscience, it is the Christian conscience. We Nonconformists have no monopoly, thank God, of that. Nay, rather, in some respects, our friends in the Anglican churches are teaching some of us a lesson as to the application of Christian principles to civic duty and to national life. I beseech you, although I do not mean to dwell upon that point at all at this time, to ask yourselves whether, as citizens, the vices, the godlessness, the miseries-the removable miseries-of our great town populations, lie upon your hearts. Have you ever lifted a finger to abate drunkenness? Have you ever done anything to help to make it possible that the masses of our town communities should live in places better than the pigsties in which many of them have to wallow? Have you any care for the dignity, the purity, the Christianity of our civic rulers; and do you, to the extent of your ability, try to ensure that Christ’s teaching shall govern the life of our cities? And the same question may be put yet more emphatically with regard to wider subjects, namely, the national life and the national action, whether in regard to war or in regard to other pressing subjects for national consideration. I do not touch upon these; I only ask you to remember the grand ideal of my text, which applies to the narrowest circle-the family; and to the wider circles-the city and the nation, as well as to the world. Time was when a bastard piety shrank back from intermeddling with these affairs and gathered up its skirts about it in an ecstasy of unwholesome unworldliness. There is not much danger of that now, when Christian men are in the full swim of the currents of civic, professional, literary, national life. But I will tell you of what there is a danger-Christian men and women moving in their families, going into town councils, going into Parliament, going to the polling booths, and leaving their Christianity behind them. ‘The remnant of Jacob shall be as a dew from the Lord.’

Now let me turn for a moment to a second point, and that is

II. The function of English Christians in the world.

I have suggested in an earlier part of this sermon that possibly the application of this text originally was to the scattered remnant. Be that as it may, wherever you go, you find the Jew and the Englishman. I need not dwell upon the ubiquity of our race. I need not point you to the fact that, in all probability, our language is destined to be the world’s language some day. I need do nothing more than recall the fact that a man may go on board ship, in Liverpool or London, and go round the world; everywhere he sees the Union Jack, and everywhere he lands upon British soil. The ubiquity of the scattered Englishman needs no illustration.

But I do wish to remind you that that ubiquity has its obligation. We hear a great deal to-day about Imperialism, about ‘the Greater Britain,’ about ‘the expansion of England.’ And on one side all that new atmosphere of feeling is good, for it speaks of a vivid consciousness which is all to the good in the pulsations of the national life. But there is another side to it that is not so good. What is the expansion sought for? Trade? Yes! necessarily; and no man who lives in Lancashire will speak lightly of that necessity. Vulgar greed, and earth-hunger? that is evil. Glory? that is cruel, blood-stained, empty. My text tells us why expansion should be sought, and what are the obligations it brings with it. ‘The remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the Lord’ There are two kinds of Imperialism: one which regards the Empire as a thing for the advantage of us here, in this little land, and another which regards it as a burden that God has laid on the shoulders of the men whom John Milton, two centuries ago, was not afraid to call ‘His Englishmen.’

Let me remind you of two contrasted pictures which will give far more forcibly than anything I can say, the two points of view from which our world-wide dominion may be regarded. Here is one of them: ‘By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I am prudent. And I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people; and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved a wing, or opened a mouth, or peeped.’ That is the voice of the lust for Empire for selfish advantages. And here is the other one: ‘The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents; yea, all kings shall fall down before Him; all nations shall serve Him, for He shall deliver the needy when he crieth, the poor also, and him that hath no helper. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence, and precious shall their blood be in His sight.’ That is the voice that has learned: ‘He that is greatest among you, let him be your servant’; and that the dominion founded on unselfish surrender for others is the only dominion that will last. Brethren! that is the spirit in which alone England will keep its Empire over the world.

I need not remind you that the gift which we have to carry to the heathen nations, the subject peoples who are under the s of our laws, is not merely our literature, our science, our Western civilisation, still less the products of our commerce, for all of which some of them are asking; but it is the gift that they do not ask for. The dew ‘waiteth not for man, nor tarrieth for the sons of men.’ We have to create the demand by bringing the supply. We have to carry Christ’s Gospel as the greatest gift that we have in our hands.

And now, I was going to have said a word, lastly, but I see it can only be a word, about-

III. The failure to fulfil the function.

Israel failed. Pharisaism was the end of it-a hugging itself in the possession of the gift which it did not appreciate, and a bitter contempt of the nations, and so destruction came, and the fire on the hearth was scattered and died out, and the vineyard was taken from them and ‘given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.’ Change the name, as the Latin poet says, and the story is told about us. England largely fails in this function; as witness in India godless civilians; as witness on every palm-shaded coral beach in the South Seas, profligate beach-combers, drunken sailors, unscrupulous traders; as witness the dying out of races by diseases imported with profligacy and gin from this land. ‘A dew from the Lord!’; say rather a malaria from the devil! ‘By you,’ said the Prophet, ‘is the name of God blasphemed among the Gentiles.’ By Englishmen the missionary’s efforts are, in a hundred cases, neutralised, or hampered if not neutralised.

We have failed because, as Christian people, we have not been adequately in earnest. No man can say with truth that the churches of England are awake to the imperative obligation of this missionary enterprise. ‘If God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest He spare not thee.’ Israel’s religion was not diffusive, therefore it corrupted; Israel’s religion did not reach out a hand to the nations, therefore its heart was paralysed and stricken. They who bring the Gospel to others increase their own hold upon it. There is a joy of activity, there is a firmer faith, as new evidences of its power are presented before them. There is the blessing that comes down upon all faithful discharge of duty; ‘If the house be not worthy, your peace shall return to you.’ After all, our Empire rests on moral foundations, and if it is administered by us-and we each have part of the responsibility for all that is done-on the selfish ground of only seeking the advantage of ‘the predominant partner,’ then our hold will be loosened. There is no such cement of empire as a common religion. If we desire to make these subject peoples loyal fellow-subjects, we must make them true fellow-worshippers. The missionary holds India for England far more strongly than the soldier does. If we apply Christian principles to our administration of our Empire, then instead of its being knit together by iron bands, it will be laced together by the intertwining tendrils of the hearts of those who are possessors of ‘like precious faith.’ Brethren, there is another saying in the Old Testament, about the dew. ‘I will be as the dew unto Israel,’ says God through the Prophet. We must have Him as the dew for our own souls first. Then only shall we be able to discharge the office laid upon us, to be in the midst of many peoples as ‘dew from the Lord.’ If our fleece is wet and we leave the ground dry, our fleece will soon be dry, though the ground may be bedewed.

Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren

as a dew, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Deu 32:2, the same verbal idiom). App-92.

a dew = a night mist. See note on Psa 133:3.

the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Mic 5:7-15

THE GLORIOUS FUTURE OF THE REMNANT (Mic 5:7-15)

Micah writes glorious things in this passage concerning the remnant. Israel according to the flesh dwelt alone until her destruction. The nearer destruction finally came, the more she dwelt alone, turned in upon herself the less certain it was Gods Messiah would save her and make the Gentiles her slaves, Not so the remnant, the true Israel; she will be in the midst of many people . . . as the salt of the earth, or as seed sown upon the ground. (Cp. Hos 2:23) The remnant shall be as dew from the lord, covering all as dew in a summer morning. (Cp. Psa 110:3) They shall be pure and clear as dew drops, as the water of life. Dependent upon the Spirit, they shall tarry not for man, nor wait upon the sons of man. They shall be a great blessing to those people among whom they live, just as the refreshing dew from heaven is a blessing to thirsty earth.

Zerr: Mic 5:7. Small things are sometimes very effective in their influence. The dew is light and small compared with the vegetable kingdom, yet it can enliven an entire field of dry and parched grass. Likewise, the influence of the remnant of Israel was to be great when it was settled down upon the (politically) dry land of Palestine.

But the remnant shall not be tread upon as is the dew. They shall be as a lion among the flocks of sheep. . . as a lion treadeth down and teareth in pieces and there is none to deliver.

Zerr: Mic 5:8. This verse continues the thought of the preceding one but with a different figure. Now the remnant is likened to a Hon among other beasts, with the added specific thought that Israel was to be like a lion in a flock of sheep. Not that the people of Israel were actually to exercise any violence against, the surroundings, but the illustration is to show the power of God’s nation.

Messiahs people shall be silent and gentle and bringers of blessings, as the dew, but they shall be as bold as lions. The forces which today threaten to destroy Christian civilization cannot stand against the power of the Gospel in the lives of committed people any more than a hyena can stand against a lion. The strength of Gods covenant people is that which derives from the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. Israel of old had been instructed to not go to Egypt for horses (Deu 17:16) lest they depend upon chariots and cavalry rather than upon God. (Psa 20:7) From Solomon on they would disregard this command (1Ki 10:26-28). The new Israel has no such arms. She stands or falls upon her trust in Christ. So long as she is faithful nothing can stand against her. (Cp. Rom 8:31 -ff)

Zerr: Mic 5:9. The greatest enemies the people of Israel ever had were those who led them into idolatry. All of that, was to be reversed by the revolutionary effects of the captivity. This is the sense in which the enemies were to be cut off.

Note those things against which His people are to prevail. Mic 5:10 . . . horses and chariots are cut off and destroyed. Mic 5:11 . . . Cities and strongholds will be thrown down. The temptation to trust worldly power are so to be eliminated. The church has been slow to relinquish these things, but the circumstances of our day now leave us no choice. Only the Gospel can stand against the armed atheism which threatens our existence.

Zerr: Mic 5:10. The general subject of the verses from 8 to the close of the chapter is the return from captivity, in-cluding the things that were to be accomplished by that sad experience. Chief among these was the cure of Idolatry and the worldly Interests the people of Israel had manifested. This verse cites one of those as being the horse and chariot. Such things should not have led them into wrong-doing, but it seems they did. The Lord knew the tendencies of them and had forbidden their use as early as in Deu 17:16 which Solomon disobeyed after he became king (1Ki 10:28). Mic 5:11. The mere tact of being a city was not objectionable to God, but some of them had been devoted to the service of idolatry and He proposed to deprive the land of such.

Witchcrafts and soothsayers (Mic 5:12) are also to be cut off. There is a revival of such evil in our day, but not in the hands of the church.

Zerr: Mic 5:12. The belief in witchcraft and soothsaying was based largely on that of the supposed power of the in-visible false gods of the heathen. As an item in removing the indications of such false service, the presence and use of such evil characters as witches and soothsayers had to be removed.

Graven images and pillars and the graven images which are the works of our hand (Mic 5:13) are to be eliminated. Even the Roman church has recently decommissioned two hundred saints before whose idols thousands have prayed! In the New Testament church such things were an abomination.

Zerr: Mic 5:13. Idolaters were not content to offer service to the invisible gods, but made images of them out of metal and other materials. All of this was to be discontinued as a result of the captivity, and the reader should keep hiis memory informed about this important subject. See the historical note that records the fulfillment of the prediction at Isa 1:25 of this Commentary. A very foolish fact, in connection with the worship of graven images is that they were the work of their hands. The idea of serving a thing as a god that was the work of that same servant is the height of fotly and inconsistency. Mic 5:14. Not all groves were objectionable to God. for be is the creator of all vegetable life. But the heathen nations turned many groves into places of idolatrous worship, and in some cases they even Bingled out in-dividual trees and consecrated them to the worship of false gods. It was these abominable groves that were meant by the prediction of this verse and others on the same line of denunciation. The very presence of all such growing objects might remind the people of Israel of their former practices and rekindle in them a desire to return to the abomination. As a precautionary movement the lord decreed that such groves should be destroyed. The cities that had been used for the same, purpose were to share in the same fate as these, groves.

Mic 5:15 must be almost unbelievable to the one today who thinks the God of the Old Testament was only a primitive fore-shadowing of the God of Love revealed in the new. Nevertheless, the prophet sees, IN THE AGE OF THE MESSIAH, God executing vengeance in anger and wrath upon the nations which hearken not. The concept of a God Who does not bring vengeance against anyone is of very recent origin and completely foreign to the Christian God of the New Testament as well as the Old.

Zerr: Mic 5:15. The people of God learned of the practice of idolatry through the heathen nations, hence He was incensed against them and determined to take vengeance on them. This included even the destruction of their cities.

JEHOVAHS CONTROVERSY WITH HIS PEOPLE

We are pressed to conclude that, just as the sins of societys leaders filter down through all classes so the judgements of God upon those sins are also applied to all classes of people. This is a lesson which is much needed today among revolutionaries who are critical of those in authority. Too many times protests against the system are merely the pot calling the kettle black.

Questions

Jehovahs Controversy With His People

1. Micah chapters six and seven are composed of a series of __________.

2. Just as the sins of societys leaders filter down through all classes so __________ are applied to all people.

3. Jehovahs first controversy with His people is occasioned by their having forgotten __________.

4. Gods controversy with His people is before all creation because __________.

5. How does Micah connect the final section of his book to the first section?

6. In Mic 6:3-5 the __________ is made. In Mic 6:9 to Mic 7:6, the case will be __________.

7. The cry of Mic 6:3-5 is the plea of a __________.

8. Explain Micahs reference to Balaam. (Mic 6:5)

9. Why remember from Shittim to Gilgal? (Mic 6:5(b))

10. Show how Mic 6:1-5 is timely in our day.

11. What is alluded to by shall I give my first-born for my transgression? (Mic 6:7 (b))

12. Discuss Mic 6:8 in connection with Mat 26:16 and Heb 2:1-4,

13. Gods insistence upon faithfulness is not unreasonable when we remember __________ His __________ and __________.

14. How does Micah answer the question, what doth Jehovah require of thee? (Mic 6:8)

15. The __________ is the Bible quoted by Jesus and the apostles.

16. Mic 6:8 does not claim that __________ an attribute of Gods character is required of Gods people.

17. Rather than compassion, Micah insists that we are required to __________.

18. Discuss Mic 6:8 in connection with Mat 23:23.

19. Why must the outward forms of obedience always be expressive of inner reality?

20. Compare Mic 6:9 and Pro 9:10.

21. What is the significance of shall I be pure? Mic 6:10-12

22. The persistent fact of __________ is a prime factor in Micahs message.

23. Compare Mic 6:14 and Job 20:15.

24. What is meant by Mic 6:15?

25. What are the statutes of Omri? Mic 6:15(a)

26. Compare Mic 6:16(b) and Mic 3:12.

27. Discuss the historic phenomena known as anti-semitism in light of Mic 6:16.

28. Compare Mic 7:1-2(a) and Psa 14:1-2.

29. Discuss Mic 7:1-2 in light of Rom 3:9-18.

30. Mic 7:2(b) – Mic 7:4(a) refers to __________.

31. Compare Mic 7:2(b) – Mic 7:4(a) with 2Sa 23:6-7, Isa 55:13, and Eze 2:6.

32. Who are listed as those whom honest men cannot trust? (Mic 7:5-6)

33. Discuss Mic 7:5-6 in connection with Mat 10:35-36 and Luk 12:53.

34. Discuss Mic 7:7 in connection with Jos 24:14-15.

35. Despite the wickedness of his time, Micah is unshaken in the conviction that __________.

36. Discuss Mic 7:8-10 in light of Rom 8:31-39.

37. Compare Mic 7:9 to Psa 22:1-24 and Rom 7:24 to Rom 8:1.

38. What is meant by a day for rebuilding thy walls? (Mic 7:11-13)

39. If one requires proof of Micahs highest motives in writing his prophecies, his prayer for __________ provides it amply.

40. The nations shall see what and be ashamed?

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

remnant

The ministry of the Jewish remnant Isa 1:9 (See Scofield “Rom 11:5”) has a twofold aspect, “a dew from the Lord”; “a lion among the beasts.” Turning to the Lord in the great tribulation Psa 2:5. See Scofield “Rev 7:14”, the remnant takes up the beautiful gospel of the kingdom. See Scofield “Rev 14:6” and proclaims it under awful persecution “unto all nations, for a witness.” Mat 24:14. The result is seen in Rev 7:4-14 This is the “dew” aspect, and is followed by the “day of the Lord”; Isa 2:10-22; Rev 19:11-21. In the morning of which the kingdom is set up in power. Again there is a world-wide preaching to Jew and Gentile, but now it is the word that the King is on His holy hill of Zion (Psalms 2.), and the unrepentant will be broken with His rod of iron. Psa 2:6-9. The preaching is given in Psa 2:10-12. This is the “lion” aspect of the remnant’s testimony. Rev 2:26-28. The full kingdom-age of blessing follows the “rod of iron” aspect.

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

the remnant: Mic 5:3, Mic 5:8, Eze 14:22, Joe 2:32, Amo 5:15, Zep 3:13, Rom 11:5, Rom 11:6

as a dew: Deu 32:2, Jdg 6:36, Psa 72:6, Psa 110:3, Isa 32:15, Isa 44:3, Isa 66:19, Eze 47:1, Hos 6:3, Hos 14:5, Zec 14:8, Mat 28:19, Act 9:15, Act 11:15, Act 13:46, Rom 11:12, Rom 15:19, Rom 15:20, 1Co 3:6

tarrieth: Isa 55:10, Jer 14:22, Act 16:9, Rom 9:30, Rom 10:20

Reciprocal: Gen 27:28 – of the dew Deu 33:13 – the dew 2Sa 23:4 – tender Eze 5:5 – I have Dan 11:32 – shall be Mic 4:7 – I will Mic 7:18 – the remnant Zep 2:9 – the residue Zec 8:13 – ye shall Zec 10:1 – and give Zec 10:9 – sow Mat 9:38 – that Joh 15:16 – bring Act 13:47 – that thou Act 15:17 – the residue Act 27:24 – lo Rev 17:14 – and they

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Mic 5:7. Small things are sometimes very effective in their influence. The dew is light and small compared with the vegetable kingdom, yet it can enliven an entire field of dry and parched grass. Likewise, the influence of the remnant of Israel was to be great when it was settled down upon the (politically) dry land of Palestine.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Mic 5:7. And the remnant of Jacob Those who remained after the Assyrian invasion in the days of Hezekiah and Josiah, in whose reigns a considerable reformation was effected; and the remnant that should be carried captive into Babylon, who during their captivity should contribute to spread the knowledge of the one true God among the Chaldeans; (see Dan 2:47; Dan 3:29; Dan 4:34; Dan 6:26;) and more especially those that should return from captivity under Zerubbabel; shall be in the midst of many people as the dew, &c. Shall multiply, and become numerous as the drops of dew. Or rather, as the dew refreshes and fertilizes the earth, so shall they be a blessing to all around them that use them friendly. The remnant, however, here principally meant, is that spoken of by Joe 2:32, the remnant which the Lord should call, on which the Spirit should be poured out, and which should be saved, (Rom 9:27,) namely, the Jewish converts to Christianity, among whom were the apostles, evangelists, and other first ministers of the word. These, dispersed through divers countries, like the drops of dew, or showers of rain scattered over the face of the earth, and refreshing and fertilizing the vegetable creation, shall, by their doctrine, example, exhortations, and prayers, refresh and render fruitful, in piety and virtue, the formerly barren nations, and make them grow in grace and goodness, like the grass that tarrieth not for man, but flourishes in places on which man bestows no culture, only by the divine blessing. Thus shall God, by the gospel of his grace, and the influence of his Spirit, unaided by human wisdom or power, render the barren deserts of the Gentile world fruitful to his praise, in a large increase of spiritual worshippers, and holy faithful servants to him.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

5:7 And the {i} remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.

(i) This remnant or Church which God will deliver will only depend on God’s power and defence (as does the grass of the field), and not on the hope of man.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

5. The vindication of Zion 5:7-9

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

In that day the remnant of Jacob will live all over the world scattered among the other nations. "The remnant of Jacob" is one of Micah’s favorite terms for the believing Jews living in the "last days" (cf. Mic 2:12; Mic 4:7; Mic 5:8; Mic 7:18), and here it refers to them after God judges the nations (Mic 5:5-6). The presence of the Jews will be a divine gift to the other people of the world, as dew and rain are to the earth (cf. Gen 12:3). God will have sent them among the nations as He sends the dew and rain; their presence there will be due to His working, not the result of human choices or national policies ultimately.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Disfruta de miles de canciones cristianas en exclusiva sólo en Bibles