“But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” — Micah 4:1, 2.
TO MICAH, as to all the seers of the old Testament, the era of universal peace was still in the future and was linked up with the coming and reign of the Branch of Jehovah (Isa. 4:2), who was destined to be born in Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2), but would be rejected when He came the first time and presented Himself as the appointed Ruler of Israel. Because of this, the earthly people were to pass through a long period of affliction, which will come to an end only when the promised Redeemer shall appear the second time to bring in the long-predicted Kingdom of peace founded upon righteousness.
Until our Lord’s return there can never be settled peace among the nations in spite of all man’s best and well-meant efforts, for He has declared that until the end of this age there will be wars and rumors of wars, nation rising against nation, and kingdom against kingdom (Matt. 24:6, 7). In Ezekiel 21:27 God says, “I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until He come whose right it is; and I will give it Him.” This refers, as the context shows, to the first dominion which God has promised to Israel as His representative people on the earth. The Jew is, therefore, the key to the prophetic plan.
“Our God shall come, the silence shall be broken,
Which long has reigned o’er this sin-stricken world;
The saints of every name and tongue shall gather
Beneath His banner which shall be unfurled.
Our God shall come, to scatter all oppressors,
For He the righteous Judge shall fill the throne;
No longer shall the tyrant have dominion,
No longer shall the helpless captive groan.”
—H. Bunn.