micah 1-2

Read Micah 1-2 at Bible Gateway.

Micah was contemporary with Isaiah, and his prophecies were along similar themes. Micah begins by telling to Israel and Judah their sins, because of which destruction and desolation is coming upon them. But the word of the LORD does not end with judgment and punishment, but hope and restoration:

“I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob.
I will surely gather the remnant of Israel;
I will put them together like sheep of the fold,
Like a flock in the midst of their pasture;
They shall make a loud noise because of so many people.
The one who breaks open will come up before them;
They will break out,
Pass through the gate,
And go out by it;
Their king will pass before them,
With the LORD at their head.” Mic 2:12-13

The two kingdoms are divided now, and suffering separate judgments and captivities, but the time will come when all who are of Jacob will be regathered to Israel into one flock as one people. They are described as a noisy multitude, and their number will be so great, that the many people will break through their boundaries.

This reminds me of Jacob’s prophecy and blessing over Ephraim:

Now when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; so he took hold of his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. And Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.” But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.” Gen 48:17-19

Ephraim was to become a multitude of nations: melo hagoyim, a fulness of Gentiles, literally in the Hebrew. Multitude is in Hebrew, a noisy crowd of people. The remnant whom God will regather to Israel, will not be Jews (Judah) only. God will regather Ephraim to Israel as well, a noisy crowd of Gentiles, who will fill the land until they break through its boundaries. Isaiah prophesied the same thing:

“Lift up your eyes, look around and see; all these gather together and come to you. As I live,” says the LORD, “You shall surely clothe yourselves with them all as an ornament, and bind them on you as a bride does. For your waste and desolate places, and the land of your destruction, will even now be too small for the inhabitants; and those who swallowed you up will be far away. The children you will have, after you have lost the others, will say again in your ears, ‘The place is too small for me, give me a place where I may dwell.’ Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who has begotten these for me, since I have lost my children and am desolate, a captive, and wandering to and fro? And who has brought these up? There I was, left alone; but these, where were they?'” Isa 49:18-21

Jacob is not only those who are his biological descendants, but the seed of Abraham are all those who have put their faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Abraham is the father of all those who believe (Rom 4:11). This is why the Psalmist says:

The earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness (melo),
The world and those who dwell therein.
For He has founded it upon the seas,
And established it upon the waters.
Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD?
Or who may stand in His holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,
Nor sworn deceitfully.
He shall receive blessing from the LORD,
And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
This is Jacob: the generation of those who seek Him,
Who seek Your face.  Psa 24:1-6

The remnant of Jacob will be led out with their King before them, and the LORD at their head. Their King is the Son of David, Messiah Yeshua, and the regathering of the remnant is a prophecy tied to His second coming as King of kings. Judah is being regathered now, and Ephraim will one day follow him. The time is near for His return!