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From Micah 4:1 to 5:15 we are given the prophet’s vision of hope through the coming of Christ at the close of the time of judgment in the first three chapters. Micah 4:1-3 says,
1 And it will come about in the last days that the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains. It will be raised above the hills, and the peoples will stream to it. 2 Many nations will come and say, “Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us about His ways and that we may walk in His paths.” For from Zion will go forth the law, even the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 3 And He will judge between many peoples and render decisions for mighty, distant nations. Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they train for war.
This prophecy is repeated in Isaiah 2:2-4. Since Micah and Isaiah were contemporaries, it is likely that they knew each other and read each other’s writings. We do not know who borrowed from who, but one of them thought that this vision was important enough to repeat.
The “mountain of the house of the Lord” in those days was the Temple Mount. Becoming “the chief of the mountains” indicates its prominence and prestige among the nations. In fact, the Israelites seem to fade into obscurity, as the prophecy extends the word of God to all nations. Perhaps Micah had also read Isaiah 56:6-8, where the prophet insists that the temple welcomed foreigners. God says, “My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.”
As usual, the Old Testament prophets make no clear distinction between the old and new Jerusalems. One must look to the New Testament to learn this. Yerushalayim has the dual ending (-ayim), which means two Jerusalems. Paul tells us in Galatians 4:25 that these two cities represent the two covenants and that the earthly (carnal) city is represented by Hagar. Hagar is incapable of bringing forth Isaac, the child of promise. The final end of this earthly city is stated in Galatians 4:30,
30 But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be an heir with the son of the free woman.”
Jerusalem is the bondwoman in question. God does not intend to change the nature of the earthly Jerusalem but to “cast out” the city in favor of the heavenly city. The same principle holds true with all of us. God does not intend to reform our flesh so that it can inherit the Kingdom. “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 15:50). Our flesh, inherited from Adam, was condemned to death when Adam sinned, and no matter how hard we try, that sentence cannot be overcome except through death and resurrection.
Paul speaks of baptism as a symbol of death and resurrection, where we become new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17), new entities, destined through the New Covenant promise to receive glorified bodies. We must become new creatures in order to escape the death sentence imposed upon the fleshly bodies that we inherited through Adam.
Hence, the same principle holds true, whether we apply it to the two Jerusalems or to our two natures (soulish and spiritual). In both cases, the carnal must die in order to bring forth that which is spiritual and heavenly. Unfortunately, few people seem to teach this clearly. The result is that many Christians spend their efforts trying to perfect the flesh, rather than learning how to transfer one’s identity from the old man of flesh to the new man that is spiritual.
So Micah’s prophecy speaks of “Jerusalem” without specifying the precise city. Will the earthly Jerusalem (“Hagar”) be the mother (capital) of the Kingdom? Will the age to come be dominated by the Old Covenant? Will Jesus rule from a carnal city with a physical temple, Levitical priests, and animal sacrifices? In the progression of the Kingdom, will the so-called Age of Grace end, and will we revert back to the carnal rituals of Old Covenant worship?
Will people of many nations make pilgrimages to the earthly Jerusalem? If so, what would they learn? Will they be taught by Levitical rabbis who are experts in Judaism? Will they have to bring animal sacrifices? Will they learn the principles of the Old Covenant? From a New Testament perspective, the answer is a resounding NO. One cannot learn His ways without accepting Christ as the Messiah-King and adopting His New Covenant.
It is because of the New Covenant that wars will cease. Christ comes as a righteous Judge to resolve disputes among the nations. He will judge impartially as His law demands (James 2:9). Neither Israelites nor Jews will be privileged to sin with immunity. Numbers 15:16 says,
16 there is to be one law and one ordinance for you and for the alien who sojourns with you.
There will not be a two-tiered justice system as we see so often today. Equal justice will bring credibility and respect for Christ and His law.
Dr. Stephen Jones has been writing blog posts since 2005 on a variety of topics from Bible Studies to World News, and he has been writing books since 1992. Dr. Jones' most important writings came after God brought him back into the full-time ministry in 1991. It is here that all his earlier years of searching the Scriptures began to come into clear focus. He combines a knowledge of the Old and New Testaments with a personal revelation of God that began and developed during the "wilderness" period of his life, which he often refers to as God's True Bible College... Read More
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