Micah 4-5

Micah 4-5

I don’t think I have many comments on these chapters. My New Oxford Annotated NRSV tells me that these chapters contain “pronouncements of hope,” and that is certainly the dynamic. Zion will be a place people in the region will look to for wisdom and peace.

The most notable thing to me is what a stark contrast these two chapters are to chapters 1-3, which persistently list the injustices happening within Zion (the high place on the hill, I think) and announce a coming judgment and exile. But chapters 4 and 5 present Zion as a place that is a future model of just and peaceful society.

4:3 “[The Lord] shall judge between many peoples, and shall arbitrate between nations far away; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”

This is a strong image for illustrating what a community of peace looks like in contrast to a community of conflict. Rather than working against each other in war and fighting over possessions, provision through agriculture is the dominant cultural purpose. Notably, the weapons of war are transformed to tools of construction rather than destruction.

In the remainder of Chapter 4, Micah reinforces the fact that while others have many gods, Zion will follow the one true God. Recently I learned, or was reminded, that this is what made the Israelites unique among the nations of their time, a belief in one divine being rather than many divine beings who influenced the various cycles of creation. Micah also mentions the leveled playing field: “The lame I will make the remnant, and those who were cast off, a strong nation” (4:7), a literal fulfillment of the metaphor of the mountains being lowered and the valleys raised.

4:10 “Writhe and groan, O daughter Zion, like a woman in labor; for now you shall go forth from the city and camp in the open country; you shall go to Babylon. There you shall be rescued, there the Lord will redeem you from the hands of your enemies.”

I like a couple of things about this prophecy. First, even in this time of judgment there is the promise and hope of new birth. A woman in labor experiences much pain, but the end result is new life and joy. Secondly, it is quite encouraging to read that the place of captivity and exile is also the place of “rescue.” For those of us who take a passive approach to life, it’s nice to be reminded that the changes that are forced upon us bring about positive change, and even for those who don’t have these passive leanings, there’s something incredibly hopeful about the idea that our suffering is part of the process of transformation, rebirth, and “rescue.” The other nuance worth observing here is that it is God who does the work. We, of course, would not choose suffering, captivity, or exile, and we likewise--as people of faith--probably have very little to do with bringing about our recovery from these things. Yet God makes miracles from the situation, just as a cocoon yields a butterfly and a naked tree, after a long wait, yields buds that become leaves and soak up the light.

Chapter 5 appears to be divided into four fairly balanced sections. The first appears to anticipate the coming of a messiah, someone who comes from a longstanding genealogy and who will represent a new kind of leadership, a shepherd who has both strength and the influence to bring peace, as well as one who will have his people’s confidence. The second section is--to me at least--some kind of mysterious prophecy about the leadership of “seven shepherds and eight installed as rulers” (5:5). These shepherds will apparently save the nation from Assyrian invasion. I have no memory of hearing any particular interpretation of these verses.

After this, Micah prophesies a re-emergence of the strength of Israel. The nation is compared to a lion among the other animals, as well as (my favorite) “like dew from the Lord, like showers on the grass, which do not depend upon people or wait for any mortal” (5:7). I love a couple things about this image. For one, the dew is like magic; unasked for and uncontrolled, it is a sustainer and enricher of life, sparkling like a thousand rare jewels as it feeds the plants that thrive in its presence. In a related reflection, this gift of magic is nothing that humans have anything to do with; it is entirely the provision of “the Lord,” and once again we see that it is God who is the active force in changing the dynamic of history, yet another reversal of realities in the salvation story.

In the fourth section, another pronouncement of judgment seems to occur, though in this case the emphasis is less on the causes for punishment and more on the ways in which restoration and redemption will occur. We see once again that idolatry will disappear and that pride will not remain the supreme cultural value (“and you shall bow down no more to the work of your hands,” 5:13).

Initially, I was uncertain as to whether this fourth section applied to Israel or other nations, but my annotated edition tells me this is meant for Israel, a notification to the people that they must rely on the Lord rather than on themselves.

5:13b “and you shall bow down no more to the work of your hands.”

This half-a-verse seems worthy of further comment. It appears that this form of idolatry is an historical human weakness, and it is certainly recognizable in the capitalistic economy of the powerful and influential USA. Pride in a work ethic that prioritizes the value of one’s labor is a crucial thread in the American value system, and this idea is so ingrained that it seems nearly immoral to question its value as an ethic. As a whole, the Bible does place importance on a commitment to work (e.g. do it six days out of every seven) but this admonition in Micah reminds us of the importance of that seventh day, in which we find humility by reminding ourselves that God is our ultimate provider rather than ourselves. Once again, I must acknowledge Peterson’s Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places for keeping this idea in the forefront of my mind at the moment. Likewise, my perspective that this chapter emphasizes the work of God as the redemptive force rather than the work of humans I owe to Peterson's Christ Plays.

This fourth section in Chapter 5 serves as a good transition to the closing two chapters, I assume, since my NOANRS tells me Chapters 6 & 7 move from more judgment to more hope.