Micah 2:12

Micah has spoken hard things to *Israel’s people. The army from Assyria will soon come to kill them. That army will even destroy the land. God has told the people to get up. He has told them to go far away. They must leave their *spiritually unclean (unholy) country. This seems to be the end. There seems to be no hope.

However, this first section of this book ends with a promise. *Israel’s God is a king. He is also like a *shepherd. In this special description, it is as if his people are his sheep. They are like his flock (group of sheep). There are other references to God as a *shepherd. Some references are in the *Old Testament (Psalms 23; Ezekiel 34:1-31). There are also some references in the *New Testament (John 10:1-30).

There will always be some people that love God. But there will not be many people like that. The Bible calls these few people the *remnant. God will gather these together. His people will be like sheep that are afraid. They will be in a strange, foreign country. He will be like a *shepherd to them. He will gather his sheep (people). He will bring them to a safe place. There will be a large crowd of people. They will be noisy. They will be happy. They will all come home. This is a promise. They can be sure that it will happen.

The phrase ‘you all’ here is difficult to understand. God will cause the people in *Israel to scatter to other countries. He will then gather together the few people that remain. ‘You all’ refers to the *remnant. These are the few people that have kept their belief in God. And God will rescue the whole *remnant.

v13 Then God will break open the way. He will go up ahead of those people. The people will break through the gate and they will go out. They will leave that city. They will leave with their king. He will march in front of them. Their king is the *LORD. He will lead them.