Continued from part two. This information is also presented in the form of a podcast, available for streaming audio or MP3 download at http://e-jehovahs-witness.com

 

With rumors of nuclear war and reports of emerging pestilence swirling, and the tentacles of fascism slowly tightening around the leading nation of the so-called Free World, it seems especially timely now to consider more closely the prophecy of Micah. And why is that? Because it is in the context of international war, pestilence, societal upheaval and tyranny that Jehovah’s judgment commences – as expressed in Micah and the other prophets.

What is the fundamental message of Micah? The prophecy of Micah outlines Jehovah’s purpose to set matters straight upon the earth; particularly in connection with his dedicated nation. That is why the overriding theme of Micah has to do with the prosecution of Jehovah’s legal case against his people at the coming of Christ.

According to Micah, the ordering of events indicates that first God’s people are subjugated by Babylon as discipline for their transgressions and then, next, when the Assyrian Empire attempts another attack upon a redeemed and chastened remnant, Jehovah intervenes and annihilates the attackers – resulting in the complete cessation of wars upon this planet.

It would seem, though, that the prophecy of Micah has it all backwards. After all, every competent Bible student knows that the Assyrian Empire destroyed Israel well before Judah went into captivity to Babylon and yet the prophecy of Micah places the Assyrian invasion after the Jews are redeemed from Babylon.

Furthermore, in the context of foretelling that Bethlehem would be the birthplace of the Messiah, Micah also prophesies that the judge of Israel will be smitten by the Assyrian. The 5th chapter of Micah opens with these words:  “At this time you make cuttings upon yourself, O daughter of an invasion; a siege he has laid against us. With the rod they will strike upon the cheek the judge of Israel. And you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, the one too little to get to be among the thousands of Judah, from you there will come out to me the one who is to become ruler in Israel, whose origin is from early times, from the days of time indefinite.”

Of course, the Assyrian Empire no longer existed when Jesus Christ was on the earth. It had long since been overthrown; sometime after Jehovah thwarted Sennacherib’s invasion of Judah. So, why does the prophecy of Micah seemingly locate the Assyrian invasion in the time of Christ? (True, Jesus, the appointed Judge of Israel, was persecuted and physically struck by the agents of the Roman Empire, but it was certainly long before the Romans laid siege to Jerusalem in 70 C.E.)

To add to the enigma, Micah goes on to suggest that Jehovah’s appointed shepherd (Christ) will rescue God’s people from the Assyrian invasion and ultimately destroy the “land of Nimrod.” (Although Nimrod is typically associated with Babel and Babylon he was also the Founder of Nineveh, which much later became the capital of the Assyrian Empire.)

Micah 5:3-7 reads: “And he will certainly stand and do shepherding in the strength of Jehovah, in the superiority of the name of Jehovah his God. And they will certainly keep dwelling, for now he will be great as far as the ends of the earth. And this one must become peace. As for the Assyrian, when he comes into our land and when he treads upon our dwelling towers, we shall also have to raise up against him seven shepherds, yes, eight dukes of mankind. And they will actually shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in its entrances. And he will certainly bring about deliverance from the Assyrian, when he comes into our land and when he treads upon our territory.”

Besides the fact that Assyria was no longer a menace to God’s people when Christ was on the earth, Jesus himself was unknown outside of Israel during his lifetime; and yet the prophecy quoted above says “he will be great as far as the ends of the earth.”

Clearly, Micah 5:3-7 pertains to the second coming of Christ. As is the case with many Messianic prophecies, Christ’s first and second comings are seamlessly interwoven into the same fabric of Scripture. So it is apparent that Assyria and Babylon, as well as Israel, have prophetic values pertaining to the second coming and the final judgment.

The reason that Assyria and Babylon may serve as symbols of other world powers is because from Jehovah’s standpoint there is only one government over the political nations. It is the invisible cosmocracy of Satan the Devil. And although the Devil’s influence permeates all of human society, his rulership has been primarily expressed by means of the seven dominant empires that have opposed Jehovah from the time of ancient Egypt. That is why the Bible book of Revelation symbolizes the succession of governing powers as a single monstrous beast with seven consecutively ruling heads, which itself is merely a visible manifestation of the invisible seven-headed dragon symbolizing Satan.

It should be noted, that although they were often at enmity with each other, Assyria and Babylon were merely two heads of the same beastly system of things.

This explains the odd ordering of events in the prophecy of Micah. Babylon and Assyria may typify the ruling powers that exist at a later time.

Likewise, in regards to those who are shepherded by Christ, Israel typifies Christ’s anointed congregation – the Israel of God – not the literal, nuclear-armed nation of Israel today; which is, itself, a creation of 19th century British imperialism and presently serves as a key strategic asset of the Anglo-American Empire.

It is, then, that which God recognizes as his special possession which is called “Israel” – spiritual Israel – which is besieged by the Assyrian.  It is, therefore, apparent that Assyria represents the eighth king of Revelation and his coming into “our land” and treading “upon our dwelling towers” parallels the final attack of Ezekiel’s prophetic “Gog of Magog” out of the symbolic north, as well as Daniel’s king of the north.

 

“SEVEN SHEPHERDS, YES, EIGHT DUKES OF MANKIND”

As all Bible students know, when the Assyrian king, Sennacherib, came up to lay siege to Jerusalem his entire army was snuffed out by a single, supernatural, warrior angel of Jehovah. The Jews did not so much as shoot one arrow in their own defense. So, why does the prophecy of Micah say that “seven shepherds, yes, eight dukes of mankind…will actually shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword”?

The reason is because the prophecy applies to spiritual Israel, and those who are accepted as sons of the kingdom are to rule over mankind as under-shepherds of Christ and royal dukes under Christ’s kingship. Seven being a symbolic number denoting heavenly perfection or completeness, the “seven shepherds” denote the complete body of 144,000 who are taken from the earth to serve with Christ as supernatural kings in his heavenly kingdom. “Eight dukes of mankind” would suggest the addition of Christ to the seven, who, himself, was also taken from among mankind.

Their shepherding the Assyrian with the sword is in complete harmony with what Christ promised his anointed followers in Thyatira, and by extension all congregations making up the body of Christ: “And to him that conquers and observes my deeds down to the end I will give authority over the nations, and he shall shepherd the people with an iron rod so that they will be broken to pieces like clay vessels, the same as I have received from my Father, and I will give him the morning star. Let the one who has an ear hear what the spirit says to the congregations.” – Revelation 2:26-28.

Embarrassingly, the Watchtower claims that the “seven shepherds” symbolize Jehovah’s Witness elders who have supposedly wielded the sword of the spirit against totalitarian governments since 1919. No doubt the underlying reasoning behind such an absurd interpretation is the fact that the prophecy of Micah situates the Assyrian invasion as coming directly on the heels of the repurchase of God’s people from Babylon. And the Watchtower insists that the modern liberation from antitypical Babylon took place in 1919; so, the Society reasons that the Assyrian must represent totalitarian dictators like Hitler.

However, it must be recognized that the modern captivity of Christ’s congregation to Babylon the Great is a central feature of the outworking of Jehovah’s purpose. It is no small affair that can easily fade from memory; such as the events surrounding the International Bible Students in 1918-1919 have largely been forgotten. As already stated, captivity to Babylon is the means by which Jehovah humbles and disciplines his organization and permanently resolves his legal case against his covenanted people.

The captivity of Christ’s disciples to the greater Babylon was foretold by Jesus himself in his prophecy of the conclusion. Although the Watchtower does not recognize it as such, the desolation of the holy place, which is undeniably the central feature of Christ’s prophecy, pertains to the desolation of the anointed congregation – not to the destruction of Christendom, as Jehovah’s Witnesses presently imagine.

This is in complete harmony with numerous Hebrew prophecies, including Daniel, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Habakkuk, Amos, Hosea, Joel and Micah.

Indeed, Micah foretells that God will make his holy place a desolate object of astonishment, saying at Micah 6:13 and 16: “And I also, for my part, shall certainly make you sick by striking you; there will be a desolating of you, on account of your sins…to the end that I may make you an object of astonishment and her inhabitants something to be whistled at; and the reproach of peoples you men will bear.”

Micah prophetically speaks for the chastened remnant on that occasion, saying at Micah 7:7-10: “But as for me, it is for Jehovah that I shall keep on the lookout. I will show a waiting attitude for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. Do not rejoice over me, O you woman enemy of mine. Although I have fallen, I shall certainly rise up; although I dwell in the darkness, Jehovah will be a light to me. The raging of Jehovah I shall bear—for I have sinned against him—until he conducts my legal case and actually executes justice for me. He will bring me forth to the light; I shall look upon his righteousness. And my enemy will see, and shame will cover her, who was saying to me: ‘Where is he, Jehovah your God?’ My own eyes will look upon her. Now she will become a place of trampling, like the mire of streets.”

Although the Watchtower has never commented on the verses quoted above, if the Society’s interpretation were correct it would mean that Micah 7:7-10 would have been fulfilled in 1918. That is because the Watchtower teaches that the “woman enemy,” Babylon the Great, conquered the remnant and held them in captivity at that time. It would mean that the International Bible Students bore the “raging of Jehovah” back then for the sin of removing a few paragraphs from the Finished Mystery book because of pressure from government censors. It would mean that Jehovah’s legal case against his people was completely resolved in 1919 and a grand act of deliverance came about as a result of the Watchtower Society’s lawyers getting J.F. Rutherford out of prison.

Perhaps it is a good thing the self-proclaimed “Micah class” organization has not offered any interpretation of Micah 7:7-10.

In reality, the modern release of God’s people from the greater Babylon parallels the original Exodus. Liberation will not come about as a result of backroom lawyering. It will come about by an obvious Act of God. That is why Micah’s prophecy goes on to say:

“As in the days of your coming forth from the land of Egypt I shall show him wonderful things. Nations will see and become ashamed of all their mightiness. They will put their hand upon their mouth; their very ears will become deaf. They will lick up dust like the serpents; like reptiles of the earth they will come in agitation out of their bulwarks. To Jehovah our God they will come quivering, and they will be afraid of you.”

The closing words of the prophecy of Micah establishes the fact that the release from Babylon is a result of God having graciously pardoned the anointed “remnant of his inheritance” – Jacob. Essentially, the release from Babylon means that Jehovah’s purpose to form a world-ruling spiritual nation comes to a conclusion. The sin-atoning work of Christ will have been accomplished in the redemption of the seed of Abraham, so that their sins are pardoned. Jehovah then receives them into his residence and the kingdom reigns forever. The final judgment is expressed by the prophet in the concluding words of Micah:

“Who is a God like you, one pardoning error and passing over transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? He will certainly not hold onto his anger forever, for he is delighting in loving-kindness. He will again show us mercy; he will subject our errors. And you will throw into the depths of the sea all their sins. You will give the trueness given to Jacob, the loving-kindness given to Abraham, which you swore to our forefathers from the days of long ago.” – Micah 7:15-20

 

“THE REST OF HIS BROTHERS WILL RETURN”

But before God pardons his people for their sins first must come the discipline. Consider more closely the prophecy of Micah and its relationship to other more familiar prophecies. It is in reference to spiritual Israel that Micah 5:3 says: “Therefore he will give them up until the time that she who is giving birth actually gives birth. And the rest of his brothers will return to the sons of Israel.”

Who are the aforementioned “brothers”? They are the spiritual brothers of the ruler of Israel mentioned in verse two. The return of the “rest of his brothers” is in reference to the remnant of the brothers of Christ. Their return from captivity to Babylon is a direct result of the shepherding of Christ and “the superiority of the name of Jehovah his God.”

“She who is giving birth” to the brothers of Christ parallels the woman who gives birth to the male child in the 12th chapter of Revelation, concerning whom it is written: “And she gave birth to a son, a male, who is to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod. And her child was caught away to God and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and sixty days.” (The essay Who is the Woman of Prophecy? discusses the identity of the “woman” in greater detail.)

Micah 4:9-10 similarly depicts God’s spiritual woman going through the ordeal of child birth. Instead of fleeing into a wilderness, though, Micah foretells she “will have to reside in a field.”

“Now why is it that you keep shouting loudly? Is there no king in you, or has your own counselor perished, so that pangs like those of a woman giving birth have grabbed hold of you? Be in severe pains and burst forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman giving birth, for now you will go forth from a town, and you will have to reside in the field. And you will have to come as far as to Babylon. There you will be delivered. There Jehovah will buy you back out of the palm of your enemies.”

From the foregoing it is evident that Christ’s kingdom is born by the covenant-bearing woman while God’s people are in captivity to Babylon (the Great). But, as already stated, this could not possibly have occurred in the 1914-1919 interim, the reason being, according to the revelation contained in Micah the Assyrian invasion occurs immediately after Jehovah delivers his people from Babylon. (The fact that God’s holy place is invaded on two distinct occasions in a relatively short interval is in harmony with the two incursions of the king of the north during the time of the end. For a fuller discussion see the essay: The King of the North Comes to His End)

Hence, Micah 4:11-13 through 5:1 begins with the words “and now,” saying: “And now there will certainly be gathered against you many nations, those who are saying, ‘Let her be polluted, and may our eyes look upon Zion.’ But as for them, they have not come to know the thoughts of Jehovah, and they have not come to understand his counsel; because he will certainly collect them together like a row of newly cut grain to the threshing floor. Get up and thresh, O daughter of Zion; for your horn I shall change into iron, and your hoofs I shall change into copper, and you will certainly pulverize many peoples; and by a ban you will actually devote to Jehovah their unjust profit, and their resources to the true Lord of the whole earth. At this time you make cuttings upon yourself, O daughter of an invasion; a siege he has laid against us. With the rod they will strike upon the cheek the judge of Israel.”

The nations “have not come to know the thoughts of Jehovah” or “understand his counsel” because they do not grasp that just because God becomes indignant with his people and allows them to be disciplined by hardship and humiliation does not mean that they are not his people or that God has totally abandoned them. For the prophecy to have any meaning it is reasonable that the nations are gathered against “Jacob” shortly after his original desolation and restoration.

So it is that the repurchase of Christ’s brothers from modern Babylon parallels the final sealing and the gathering of the chosen ones from the four winds, as Jesus explained. Jehovah will have set matters straight with his erring nation so that the call to “let her be polluted” is really a death knell for the nations who presume to exterminate the sons of God’s kingdom. The “strike upon the cheek [of] the judge of Israel” is ultimately accomplished by the persecution of the brothers of Christ during the tribulation; of whom Jesus said: “To the extent that you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” (For a fuller discussion of the martyrdom of the sons of the kingdom see the essay: Will Christianity Survive the End of the World?)

In response to the indirect attack upon the judge of Israel, “the daughter of Zion” is empowered to thresh the nations – pulverizing them. This takes place when the last one of the sons of God has been raised to heaven; whereupon, the newly-established kingdom will then destroy all of God’s enemies on earth. The “unjust profit” and “resources” of the nations are devoted to Jehovah in the sense that the blessed earthly survivors, who are left behind to inherit the earth, dedicate the plunder to Jehovah and use such resources to his glory.

 

“LIKE A MANED YOUNG LION AMONG DROVES OF SHEEP”

Jehovah’s holy spirit is the most powerful force in the universe. It is also the most gentle. It is responsible for producing the fruit of love, kindness and peace and other gentle qualities of spirit; but it can also empower God’s otherwise meek servants to perform great feats and mighty acts of warfare.

So it is, we should not expect the final ingathering of the remaining anointed heirs of the kingdom in the post-desolation of the holy place period to be a commonplace occurrence. Micah describes it this way:

“And the remaining ones of Jacob must become in the midst of many peoples like dew from Jehovah, like copious showers upon vegetation, that does not hope for man or wait for the sons of earthling man. And the remaining ones of Jacob must become among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of a forest, like a maned young lion among droves of sheep, which, when it actually passes through, certainly both tramples down and tears in pieces; and there is no deliverer. Your hand will be high above your adversaries, and all enemies of yours will be cut off.”

In harmony with numerous other Hebrew prophecies, Micah confirms there is to be a final outpouring of holy spirit upon those whom Micah twice refers to as “the remaining ones of Jacob.” (Commonly called the “anointed remnant” because the wording of the King James Bible.)

Such an outpouring will transform the anointed sons of the kingdom into the glory of Christ. The sons of God will be revealed and become like refreshing dew to the friends of God; and it is then that they will also become “in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of a forest, like a maned young lion among droves of sheep.” They will be ferocious in their defense of the truth; in defense of Jehovah’s sovereignty. It is then that the brothers of Christ will be made to stand before rulers and kings to give them a spirit-inspired witness. A decisive confrontation with the then-ruling “Assyrian” will be inevitable.

At that point, during the last hour of the eighth king, the “good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations” by Jehovah’s spirit-empowered, lion-like witnesses.

This is verified by the seldom-cited prophecy of Nahum. Nahum’s prophecy is directed against the Assyrian Empire, and by extension to the eighth king. That is apparent from the fact that Nahum 1:9 declares that the execution of Jehovah’s judgment against the Assyrian will result in an “outright extermination” of God’s enemy; so that “distress will not rise up a second time.” But, obviously, the overthrow of Nineveh did not achieve that result. It was merely a shadow of the final judgment against the last king.

But, the relevant point is that Nahum 1:15 situates the preaching of the “good news” as taking place as an immediate prelude to the cutting off of the Assyrian, saying: “Look! Upon the mountains the feet of one bringing good news, one publishing peace. O Judah, celebrate your festivals. Pay your vows; because no more will any good-for-nothing person pass again through you. In his entirety he will certainly be cut off.”

“The feet of the one bringing good news” can be none other than Jesus Christ. The “good-for-nothing person” who will not be allowed to “pass again through you” is the “disgusting thing” that stands in the holy place during the tribulation.

It is evident, then, that a great preaching work yet lays ahead for Jehovah’s Witnesses – a preaching work that likely will not be accomplished by the present means of passing out literature to householders and passersby on the street. As the prophecy above stated, they “will not hope for man or wait for the sons of earthly man” in the sense that the sealed remaining ones will not need to be supplied or directed by any earthly organization. Each one will be personally impelled to act and speak with the irresistible spirit of God. They will be authorized to speak in behalf of Christ because at that time they will have become fully accepted into his kingdom.

The preaching work that lay ahead of us will come about after the angels purge the wicked and sluggish slave from God’s household and cleanse the remaining sons of their uncleanness. Jehovah’s judgments will be accomplished by means of war, famine and pestilence. A second Pentecost-like outpouring of holy spirit will then follow; empowering the remaining ones and the other sheep in a way we presently cannot imagine or conceive; in order that they may give witness to Satan’s world of Jehovah’s final judgment.

“And then the end will come,” or as Micah 5:15 words it: “And in anger and in rage I [Jehovah] will execute vengeance upon the nations that have not obeyed.”

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Copyright © 2006, by Robert King. All Rights Reserved.
Published March 25, 2006