Micah 5:5-6

Micah’s message is that the *Messiah will rule the world. His rule will bring his peace. Here Micah uses the words ‘our’ and ‘us’. It means that the *Messiah will rule together with his loyal people. They are part of the kingdom (nation) that will win the battle. The *Messiah will be their peace. This is the reason for their confidence. He will free them. The *Messiah will defend his nation from attack by enemies. He will rule over his enemies.

Micah mentions future attacks against the *Messiah. He says that the *Assyrians will attack the *Messiah’s nation. The *Assyrians did then attack *Israel, but they lost the battle in 612 *BC. That was six centuries before Christ’s birth.

The loyal nation will be under the *Messiah’s rule. The *Messiah will win. He will win with his people’s help. His people will appoint seven *shepherds (rulers). Seven is the perfect number in the Bible. Moreover, they will appoint even 8 leaders. 8 is one more than 7. So that means more than enough.

Also, the Ruler (the *Messiah) will bring peace to *Israel. He ‘will save us’. This statement emphasises that success belongs to the *Messiah. It does not belong to the leaders. The present leaders had spoken about peace (Micah 3:5). But it was a false peace. Jesus himself provides our peace (security). See Ephesians 2:14-17.

In verse 6, the word ‘they’ means the *Messiah’s *shepherds (the rulers of *Israel). The chief *shepherd is the *Messiah. The *Messiah’s *shepherds will be true *shepherds (good rulers). That is because they are under his rule. (Look at 1 Peter 5:1-4.) They will rule the country called Assyria. (See Isaiah 19:23-24 and Zechariah 10:11.) ‘Assyria’ here refers also to all the other enemies of God’s kingdom (rule). This refers especially to the chief enemy, the devil who is called Satan (Ephesians 4:7-12; Ephesians 6:10-18).

At an earlier time, Nimrod had been the man with the strongest power. People used the name Nimrod to refer to great strength. Nimrod was the grandson of Ham, who was Noah’s son. He was a very powerful man. And he became famous. When he began to rule, he was in Babel. That was in the country called Shinar (Babylon). From that country, he went to Nineveh (Genesis 10:8-11).

So the names Babel (or Babylon) and Nineveh mean something special. These names are important to Micah. He has a good reason to refer to Nimrod here. ‘Nimrod’s country’ is Babylon (Genesis 10:8-12). The people in Babylon were God’s chief enemies. And they were his people’s chief enemies. At the time when Micah lived, Assyria ruled over Babylon. But in 612 *BC, an army from Babylon destroyed Assyria. Then Babylon was the most powerful nation among all the nations. But then, in 539 *BC, another nation destroyed Babylon. In the *New Testament, the ‘sword’ often refers to God’s message, the Bible (Ephesians 6:17). We use this ‘sword’ by the Holy Spirit’s power.

5:7-9 The *remnant will rule the nations

v7 Then the few people that remain from Jacob will be among many people. They will be like *dew from the *LORD. And they will be like showers on the grass. The showers do not wait for anyone. Those people do not put their hope in men. They do not need anyone. v8 The few people that remain from Jacob will be among the nations. Those few people will be among many people. The few people will be like a lion among the animals in the forest. They will be like a young lion among groups of sheep. The lion passes through the forest. He goes where he wants to go. He chooses an animal. Then he attacks it. Nobody can save it. He tears it to pieces. There is nobody to rescue it.