Today's Word Radio

Brett Meador: You know what's interesting about these dudes in Matthew chapter two? These wise men or Magi or whatever from Babylon were more interested in the Jewish Messiah than the Jews were. For thus it is written by the prophet. Which prophet? Micah. By the way, there's over 300 specific prophecies about Jesus in his first coming that Jesus of Nazareth would have to fulfill to be the true Messiah. This is one of those 300. He would be born in Bethlehem.

Guest (Male): The Gospel of Matthew's description of the birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem is not only the fulfillment of Scripture, but the fulfillment of prophecy of Micah hundreds of years earlier. As Pastor Brett Meador continues a verse-by-verse study of the Book of Micah, we'll learn some of what's left to be fulfilled in the coming last days of Micah, also spoken of in today's word.

Brett Meador: Micah's going to look forward to the millennial kingdom, the second coming of Christ, and some of the days that are going to lead up to that. Let's take a look here at chapter four, verse one. It says, "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."

Here in the beginning of this discussion, it talks about really what the beginning of the millennial kingdom's going to look like. If you're just joining us and if you're new to this stuff, the Bible talks about how after Jesus rose from the grave and then ascended into heaven, we entered into a church age where the Lord uses his church.

The Jews were largely dormant, unbelieving during the whole time from Jesus to the present day, largely. Israel is in unbelief for the most part right now. But in this church age, God has done an amazing work through the Gentile church, or anyone, Jew or Gentile, who accepts Christ as the Messiah.

But the Bible says at the end of that time of the Gentiles, then there's going to be a cataclysmic event that's going to happen in the world. That is the rapture of the church, the removing of the church, the bride of Christ, as the church is called. Then the Lord's going to wake up the nation of Israel. Eventually, in the tribulation period, seven years, Israel's going to be able to see that Jesus is the Messiah.

At the end of that seven years, Battle of Armageddon, Jews will be saved during that time. It's going to be an amazing time. Then that's the second coming of Christ, Revelation 19. Revelation 6 through 19 talks about the seven-year period called the tribulation period. You never see the church in Revelation 6 through 19 at all. You see tribulation saints, people who accept Christ during the tribulation period, but you don't see any mention of his church in Revelation 6 through 19.

In chapter 19 he returns, and then he will do battle against those nations. Then it says he will rule and reign from Jerusalem. That's what Micah chapter four here, verses one and two, is starting to articulate, that Jesus is going to come and rule and reign from Jerusalem. This is an amazing thing. It says here that "the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established." This might cause some of you Bible students to recall, where does the Bible compare or use as an analogy the kingdom of Christ as a mountain?

Daniel chapter two. Remember, it says there that the kingdoms of the world represented by the big Nebuchadnezzar statue, gold, silver, bronze, feet of iron and clay, that represents the nations of the world. Then a stone that was cut without hands, not with cutting of man's hands, a stone cut without hands will roll down the mountain and crush the kingdoms of this world. Then that stone, remember, it becomes a mighty, mighty mountain. The stone becomes a mountain. Then the Bible tells us Daniel interprets that mountain is the kingdom of God that's established, that's being set up.

There's this imagery in the Bible that when you talk about the mountains, there's actually for expositional constancy, as they call it, whenever you read about mountains, especially when it comes into Bible prophecy, we're usually talking about some of the kingdoms of the world. It's not just the kingdom of Christ as a mountain; there are many little mountains. But the one that's going to come and subdue all the other mountains is the mountain of the kingdom of Christ spoken of in Daniel chapter two.

But that's the language here in our text when it says there in verse one that "the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established." That's Daniel chapter two right there. That's the idea, the imagery of the coming kingdom of Christ is going to be a great and powerful, mighty mountain. That's the imagery that we're talking about here.

It says in verse three, "And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." Does this sound familiar? Who else spoke of this? Isaiah the prophet spoke these exact words.

Verse four, "But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it." This is where Micah does bounce around a little bit. There's a time coming, Micah says, where people will sit under the fig tree or the vine. This is an idiom, by the way, of Israel, the fruitful branch, the nation of Israel. Remember in Matthew 24, Jesus talked about the nation that sees the fig tree blossom, that generation will not pass.

What does it mean for the fig tree to blossom? We could talk about that, do a whole sermon on that. Some people say it was May 14th, 1948, when Israel became a nation. Maybe that's the blossoming. Or some people might say the Yom Kippur War when Israel got a bunch of land and Jerusalem back and the Temple Mount.

Verse five, "For all the people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever." There's going to come a time where the Jews will actually see that Jesus is God. Right now, the Jews are not following the true and living God. But there's coming a day where they will, and they'll do that forever and ever, like it says in verse five.

Verse six, "In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted." Remember, we're talking about the last days, which I believe we're living in those last days. So when Micah starts this chapter out, it says, "But in the last days." That could be from right now through into the millennial kingdom.

One of those attributes is the Lord says, "In that day," what's the Lord going to do? "I will assemble, I will gather her that is driven out, her that I've afflicted." He's talking about Israel. She was driven out, the diaspora, as it's called, where they were scattered really from Old Testament times, but even the pinnacle of the diaspora happened in AD 70 when the Romans finally once and for all crushed Jerusalem.

Then the Roman emperors came after that and they drove the Jews out once and for all. But the Lord says, "I will gather them." Ezekiel 36 and 37 talks about the regathering of the Jews. We've seen that in the last couple hundred years where the Jews have gathered. Micah's verse six is in line with Ezekiel 36 of the regathering. The Lord says, "I will gather her that I have afflicted." You can check that box. He has gathered them.

Verse seven, "And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the Lord shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for evermore." A strong nation, and indeed Israel is a strong nation. One of the things the Gog-Magog invasion of Ezekiel 38 declares is there's going to be a confederation of nations led by Russia, of all places, and the leader of Russia, Gog and Magog as the Bible says. If you don't know this prophecy, pick up our teaching on Ezekiel 38 and 39. We've done in-depth studies on this.

But the truth is, biblically, the Bible says Russia will be a power in the last days and will eventually attack Israel. But right now, Israel is a very strong nation, and the Lord has blessed them. They've gathered together, they're a powerful nation, one of the most powerful in the world, even though they're a speck compared to most nations just geographically.

Then verse eight, "And thou, O tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem." The daughter of Jerusalem is just an idiom for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The tower of the flock, the stronghold, there's all kinds of debate what that is. Is that just a literal place? Some people make the argument that there's a literal place called the tower of the flock.

Others say, no, it's a place that's coming in the millennial kingdom. The Lord will set up that's going to be kind of a stronghold. Whether it's spiritual or physical, there's all kinds of debate about that, but it's all part of the strengthening of Israel when Christ comes is the idea there.

Then there's a shift in verse nine. He says, "Now why dost thou cry out aloud? is there no king in thee? is thy counsellor perished? for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail. Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies."

Now this is an interesting discussion because all throughout the Bible, when it talks about Bible prophecy, Jesus used the idiom, Paul used the idiom there in 1 Thessalonians chapter five, of a woman in travail, of childbirth, labor pains. It always relates to the last days, which is interesting. So Jesus did that in Matthew 24 when he said it's like a woman going through childbirth.

You can have a sense of when the baby's coming when those contractions get more intense and more frequent, you know the baby's coming right around the corner. The Lord uses an idiom that would be known throughout all the ages, from Adam and Eve to this day. People go, yeah, labor pains with a woman, we got that. I think World War I was a contraction, a big one. World War II was another contraction. We're about due for another contraction.

It's interesting how we see the world go through times of travail like a woman with labor, but ultimately that travail, the pain is going to bring forth the Messiah Jesus. That's what Jesus says, that's what Paul says in 1 Thessalonians chapter five. Micah's one of the early guys to use that in the context of the last days.

But what's tricky about this one is this is one of those dual fulfillments of prophecy because he's talking about the literal Babylonians. If you recall, the Assyrians would take out the northern 10 tribes. The Babylonians would take out the southern two tribes. The Assyrians in 722 BC and the Babylonians would take out the southern two tribes in 586 would be the final wave of the Babylonians.

And that's really what we're talking about prophetically here. Micah's saying there's going to come a time where the southern two tribes, Jerusalem and Judah, will say, where's our king? Do we have a king? And the answer will be no. And the Babylonians are going to come and attack as it says there in verse 10, "and thou shalt go even to Babylon." That's the captivity. "There shall you be delivered; there the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies." Eventually, after 70 years of captivity, the Jews were allowed to leave Babylon, and Micah is speaking about this prophetically.

So that's something you have to remember, that there's these, the gaze goes into the future, but as it turns out, they're going to have more immediate future just trouble with Assyrian Babylon. But we're going to talk about the king during the time of that. Does anybody remember, who was the king when the Babylonians in 586 ultimately took the Jews into captivity?

A guy named Zedekiah. His children were killed right in front of his eyes, and then they took his eyes out so that the last thing he would see is the brutal death of his children. Can you imagine that? And that's the king of Israel. So when Micah's talking about this, they had no idea how accurate he was going to be when he says in verse nine, "Why do you cry aloud? is there no king in thee?" And the answer is there's not going to be when the Babylonians come, your king will be taken off into Babylon with his eyes poked out.

But that's what he's referring to here, but he's also talking about how it comes on like the last days as travail. And then he talks about the Assyrians as we keep going, verse 11. "Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion." Verse 11 there is interesting because they're just basically saying this stuff doesn't matter.

Verse 12, "But they know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves on the floor," or the threshing floor. Verse 13, "Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron." Horn speaks of authority and power. The Lord says chill out, Israel, don't worry, even though all these nations are going to come against you, I'm going to make your horn, your authority, your power like iron.

"I will make thy hoofs as brass." Brass speaks of judgment. "And thou shalt beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth." This is what's going to happen. All those nations are going to turn against Israel in the last days.

So his gaze goes beyond Assyria, beyond Babylon, beyond the Romans even, and the end of the tribulation period. That's what's being talked about here. Now, by the way, this threshing floor is also an idiom of the great tribulation. Isaiah 41, jot this down, verses 15 and 16 talks about how "I will make a sharp threshing instrument having teeth: and thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and make the hills as chaff." That's speaking of the Lord, how he's going to come like a whirlwind and thresh.

Also in Jeremiah 51:33, the Lord says, "daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor, it is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come." But the idea is all these nations are going to come and say, yeah, whatever, Jerusalem. Did you see verse 11 where it says, "now also many nations are gathered against thee, and say, let her be defiled"? In other words, whatever, who cares about Jerusalem? Let her be defiled and let our eye look on Zion. But then the Lord says, yeah, that's where I'm going to come and deliver Israel. And who's going to be the deliverer? Jesus.

Now, the next verse, chapter five, verse one, in the Hebrew Bible, if you were to read the Hebrew Bible today, verse one of chapter five is actually verse 14 of chapter four. Remember, chapter breaks came centuries after the Bible was compiled and given to us, which I'm thankful for because we can tell you to turn to chapter five of verse one. That's helpful.

But the Hebrew Bible, original Bible, actually said verse one, it says, "Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek." And that's the last verse of chapter four. Now why would the Jews do that? And why does this King James of mine from 1611, why did they put this here? It depends on who you think we're talking about.

If you think you're talking about Jesus, the Messiah, who would be smitten on the cheek with a rod, then you'd put that in chapter five. But if you think we're talking about Zedekiah, the king that we were referring to back in verse nine, "why dost thou cry aloud? there's no king in thee," which one is it? Here's a few things to think about. And I wouldn't die on this battlefield, but there's scholars who have debated this verse.

I feel that this verse belongs in chapter four and I'll tell you why. It has to do with the Babylonian captivity, and it says, "they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek." Did Jesus, was he smitten with a rod on the cheek? No. But it does seem that Zedekiah was. Minimally, his eyes were poked out with a rod. We do know that for sure, and we are talking about the king of Israel during that Babylonian time that was referred to earlier.

Also, Christ wasn't smitten in any siege of a nation. The Romans had already occupied Jerusalem; there was no siege happening. It says "daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge." That's exactly the conditions when Zedekiah the king had his eyes poked out; they were under siege of the Babylonians. So he was not smitten during a siege, Jesus wasn't.

And so I don't believe this is speaking of Christ. Now the reason there's confusion is the next verse, verse two of chapter five, is absolutely about Jesus. So that's where the confusion lies. And so if somebody really wants to make a case that this is Jesus and put it in chapter five, that's great because Jesus was smitten and bruised and that's something we do know. He was bruised on our behalf, smitten, despised, rejected, bruised and beaten beyond recognition. So we do know that that happened to Christ.

But I believe this is actually referring to Zedekiah, and then chapter five, verse two is the beginning of a new chapter. That's what a lot of scholars believe at least, and so we're talking about that. By the way, that story of Zedekiah, 2 Kings 25:7 where it says, "and they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon." I believe Micah's referring to this shameful treatment of the Jewish king during the time of Zedekiah. But that's just my opinion on that.

So then you get chapter five, verse two, where now we're talking for sure about Jesus and I'll show you why. It says it right here in verse two. "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."

Wow, this verse is packed full of stuff. The ruler that's going to come, as it says here, he's going to come from Bethlehem Ephratah, even though Bethlehem's little, it says here. Bethlehem was "O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie." Why is that such an important place? Isn't it interesting that Jesus, everything about his first coming was humble, lowly? He made himself of no reputation.

If Jesus wanted to be a big deal, he could have said, I'm going to be born in Rome and I'm going to be born on the main street where everybody sees the glorious coming of the Messiah. But he chooses this little Bethlehem that's a worthless little nameless town. That's what it says, just Bethlehem of Ephratah. And by the way, do you remember, they, even the Jewish scholars knew that's where the Messiah was supposed to come from?

It's Matthew chapter two, verses four through six. We read, "and when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judea: for thus it is written by the prophet." Which prophet? Micah, chapter five, verse two. It was written by the prophet, "and thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel."

So they knew that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem because of Micah chapter five, verse two. It's too bad they didn't know more about the first coming of Christ. They knew enough. You know what's interesting about these dudes in Matthew chapter two? These wise men or Magi or whatever from Babylon were more interested in the Jewish Messiah than the Jews were.

And they're saying, where's this Messiah going to be? And they're following the star to Bethlehem. They're interested. Herod says, I want to find this out, talk to the Jews, where's this Messiah supposed to be born? And the Jews know, it's supposed to be Bethlehem. Meanwhile, there's a star shining over Bethlehem. And the Jews are like, yeah, whatever. They don't even get up off their duff to get out of Jerusalem and go a 15-minute hike to Bethlehem and say, maybe we should go see what's going to be going on here. The rest of the people think there's some kind of a king being born in Bethlehem. Whatever. And they could care less.

By the way, there's going to be people that will miss Christ's second coming or not be ready for it with the same attitude. It's supposed to come, Jesus is coming again, second coming, but who cares? The Bible talks a lot about prophecy and how it's going to be in those last days, but who cares? It's just going to happen whenever. Meanwhile, we're seeing all the signs of the days we're living in today that it looks like we're living in the last days, if you ask me. And people are just indifferent, same as these Jews, who cares? And they told Herod, somewhere around Bethlehem. And then, you know the rest of that story.

So this is an amazing prophetic word, one of the powerful. By the way, there's over 300 specific prophecies about Jesus in his first coming from the Old Testament that Jesus of Nazareth would have to fulfill to be the true Messiah. This is one of those 300. He would be born in Bethlehem.

Guest (Male): Pastor Brett Meador continuing a fascinating prophetic account from the book of Micah in today's word. Of not only the birth of the Savior who came to die for our sins, yet still to rule and reign at his second coming. And I invite you to stay right there as Pastor Brett will join me here in a moment.

But first, today's word is the radio ministry of Athey Creek Church in the Portland, Oregon area where Pastor Brett Meador's the senior pastor. We invite you to find out more about Pastor Brett and Athey Creek Church by going to todayswordradio.com. If you missed any portion of this study, you'll find all of Pastor Brett's messages online at todayswordradio.com.

All right, I have Pastor Brett with me now. Brett, we talk many times about your teaching style of preaching verse by verse through the Bible. What impact in people's lives have you seen by teaching straight through God's word?

Brett Meador: I have to admit there's times when I reach a certain book of the Bible I think, oh boy, I wonder how the church is going to receive this book. But every single time without fail, that passage ministers to our congregation. People come up to me after the service saying, Pastor Brett, who told you what I was going through at this time? And it's because that scripture specifically spoke into their heart.

I just found that even in the minor prophets or wherever you might be in the Bible, I've had people say, Brett, you teach through Leviticus? And I say, absolutely, yes. And our church, one of our biggest growth spurts in our church was when I was teaching through Leviticus. And it's because the word of God is in fact living, powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. And people are starving for the full counsel of God, not just our favorite passages, but the whole book. Lo, I come in the volume of the book, it's written of me. That's speaking of Christ. So that's why we love it. Every book of the Bible.

Guest (Male): Thank you, Brett, for explaining why going verse by verse like you do is never a bad idea. Well friend, if you'd like more information about Pastor Brett Meador or today's word, you can just go to our website at todayswordradio.com. That's todayswordradio.com. Well next time Pastor Brett highlights the divine coordination and promise of the coming ultimate Prince of Peace. Today's word with Pastor Brett Meador is an outreach of Athey Creek Church in West Linn, Oregon.