This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Micah 4-5” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, January 20, 1991.

of Micah, chapter 5, and we are beginning with verse 7. This is Micah, chapter 5, verse 7. Hear the word of God. And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the as the shower upon the grass that carrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men. And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people, as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep, who, if he go through, both treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver. shall be lifted up upon thy adversaries, and all thy enemies shall be cut off. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots, and I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strongholds And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thy hand, and thou shalt have no more soothsayers. Thy raven images open, and I cut them off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee, and thou shalt no more worship the work of thy hands. And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee, so will I destroy thy cities, and I will execute vengeance and anger and fury upon you with them. such as they have not heard.

And then turning over to Paul’s letter to the Romans, the eighth chapter, beginning with verse twenty-eight. This is Romans 8. And we know that all things work together for good. To them who are called according to His purpose, for whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among the younger brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate, then He also called. and whom He called, then He also justified, and whom He justified, then He also glorified.

What shall we say, then, to these sinners? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God be left? It is God that justifies. Whom is He that condemned? It is Christ that died, nay, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Whom shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long, we are accounted as sheep for this life. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Let’s pray together. Our Father, you make us ready to receive your word. Lord, we ask that we might hear it, that we might believe it, and that we might obey it. And in this, Lord, may we understand that we are hearing you, that we are believing you, that we are obeying you. Strengthen your church by your word by which you convince your church of the great and wonderful things that you have in store for her. Through Christ our Savior, Amen.

With the events that are taking place in the Middle East, and in result, there is bound to be a revival of interest in prophecy. Not just the old, but the young. Looking at the prophetic books again, taking account of them, thinking about what it all means. Israel has evolved. an astounding fact in itself, enough to make people scurry back to the Bibles for a second look. So much now is being said about the prophetic books, about prophecy itself.

But unfortunately, unfortunately, Many who have an interest, even a revived interest, in prophecy have no aptitude for it. They read it and they’re misinterpreting it. It’s almost as if, in the contemporary parlance, when it comes to matters of prophecy, they have no soul. Somehow, they’re not alive to the prophet’s poetry. to his cadence, to his style, to the form and pattern of his language, so much is this the case that in the most specific matters, in the most pressing matters, they miss the prophet’s point.

The prophets have a unique point of view. And unless you begin where they began, you’re not going to end in the right place. You see, the prophet is one chosen by God, set apart by him, one whom God has welcomed into his council chambers, where he, that prophet, hears about God’s purpose and intention. The Prophet’s vantage point, therefore, is not the earth. The Prophet’s vantage point is heaven. The Prophet speaks out of heaven. He speaks forth from glory, from the very council chambers of the Lord. If the Lord has convened a war council, he has invited his Prophet to sit in. But you see, the difficulty that many have when they come to prophecy is this.

They don’t take up their position behind or within the prophet, as that prophet is privy to the counsels of eternity, and the counsels of God himself. Rather, too many, as they come to the prophets, are contented with an earthbound perspective. And speaking then out of that earthbound perspective, the whole matter of prophetic interpretation becomes wooden, hard. It’s almost as if it has no breath, no life, no dynamic. Those who are bound earth-wise, in their view of prophecy, find themselves in being the champions of a literal approach.

This is the edge that they claim for themselves. We let the Prophet speak for himself, they say. We approach the prophets as we do the Bible in its entirety. We are the champions of literalness. With an actual fact, there are two groups that are infected by this approach to the prophetic books, this earthbound literalness when it comes to prophecy.

Let’s take, for example, the conservatives. It’s no fun for me to take exception to conservatives. I am conservative myself. I trust that I am orthodox in my convictions, that I believe in the integrity of the Bible, that I believe that the Bible should be taken in precisely the sense in which God meant it to be taken. Our conservative friends are Defenders of the cardinal truths of the Word.

They believe in the miraculous dimension. They believe in the supernatural. They believe in the virgin birth. They believe in the sinless life of Christ. They believe that God actually became man in Christ. They believe in His substitutionary death upon the cross, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to glory, and His present session at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. Thus far, we keep company.

But we do break ranks over the matter of prophetic interpretation and over the matter of biblical interpretation in many, many areas. How do many conservators approach a text like the one we have read this morning in Micah chapter 5? And I have here in mind verses 7 through 9.

They look at this passage, they notice here that there is word about Israel, called in these verses the remnant of Jacob. They see here a rise for Israel, in which then Israel will be amongst many peoples, And that idea reiterated from verse 7 into verse 8. It is repeated, as if to emphasize it. But not only will they be among, these Israelites, not only will they be among the nations, amongst the peoples, but their presence there will mean conquest for them and victory over all of their enemies. The language is militaristic, as well as nationals. Now, our conservative friends who have an interest, a vested interest, in preserving or defending the authority and integrity of the Bible say that such events as are described here in verses 7 and 8 of Micah 5 have not occurred.

And you think of the time in which they have occurred? Israel as a nation achieves such heights that now it has a militaristic mobilization by which it disperses itself throughout the nations for the purpose of conquest? Or are we beginning to see the start of the fulfillment of that prophecy? Why did Israel marches into Iraq?

Well, I think you get the point. What those conservatives of a liberalist mindset are saying to us that the words of Micah here, as we have them, have not occurred yet in history, and therefore they must be delayed to some future time. So we await the fulfillment of the prophecies that Micah delivers. It has not occurred. It has yet to come in some sort of realization of the millennial hope for the nation of Israel.

Well, the conservatives are not the only liberal-minded folk around these days. As strange as it may seem, those who stand opposite them are also liberal-minded when it comes to the province. Here I have in mind the liberals. The liberals also read these verses in that straightforward liberal fashion, and conclude that the events described here have not occurred. But then they break company with the conservatives.

For they say, not only have they not occurred, they will not occur. There will be no time when Israel as a nation rises to such heights as, in effect, conquers the world. And such language by the Prophet was merely a rhetorical and a literary device used by him to excite the people of his time with regard to their identity and also their destiny. But the lyrical goes even further. He tells us that not only will the things spoken of here in these verses never transpire, they should not, they ought not to transpire.

Why? Because you see, the things that are spoken of here, a high level of nationalism, insolence of, exultance of such types, nationalism, And militarism, these things are inherently evil. And we now have arrived in a new era, in which we are beyond such narrow provincial considerations. war and anything connected with the military is by itself, automatically, without any questions asked, evil. So says the liberal. Just an aside at that point. God is described in Exodus 15 as the man of war.

Back to our consideration of this text and its problem. There are those men who approach the prophets with this earth-bound literalness. And because they do, they short-circuit the prophet’s point of view. But how will we gain entrance to the prophet’s mind and to the mind of God now with regard to these verses? We know, first of all, the sequential nature of the verses, how they hang together with what has gone before. Is it not obvious to us that the prophet is speaking, first of all, of events that are not far distant, events that are put off, delayed, almost interminable.

In verses 5 and 6 you will note the prophet speaks about the current invasion by the Assyrians, an event that was taking place during the lifetime of Michael. It was a contemporary event of which the prophet spoke. Now, he speaks in those verses, the 5th and 6th verses, of the resolution of that Assyrian invasion in a rather remarkable way.

And he dealt with that last week, and we’re not going to go over that specifically this week. But I want you to note the sequential nature now, as the Prophet moves from those 5th and 6th verses to verses 7 through 9. He has his connective there at the beginning of verse 7, the word then, then the remnant of Jacob, if you have a new American standard of vision. So there is the connective, then, the remnant of Jacob. There is a sequential force to what the prophet is saying.

What comes after the Assyrian invasion and ascent as a world-dominating power of his time? Well, you know, Assyria gives way to Babylon and to Nebuchadnezzar, and one is peculiar of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians with respect to Israel. Is it not the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem, the destruction of the city and temple, and the taking then of those from Judah and Jerusalem into captivity? And what is that group of people that are taken into captivity called?

It is called the realmers. So as the Prophet Micah speaks, In verses 7 through 9, you must keep in mind the sequential nature, the sequential flow of his prophecy. He has in mind events that are close at hand, not far distant. That, in the first place. That, in the first place. And when the roundhouse goes forth then into exile from of Jacob will be among many people. She will have her place among the Gentiles then.” Now, we have to continue through this line, because you’ve noted the problems already, haven’t you?

The remnant of Jacob here is not described as an exilic band and chain, marched off in humiliation to a place of imprisonment. Rather, you see, the remnant of Jacob is described as a mighty army, conquering as it goes. Israel then, this remnant of Jacob, is like the doom, says the prophet, like the shower that comes down from God, which no man can stop. Israel’s assault then comes upon the nations, pervasively and inevitably, as a work of God. In verse 8, Israel is described as the fierce lion above all other beasts, and which no other beast can match or resist.

Well, here’s the problem. How is it possible for this prophet Micah, to combine the pictures of exile and military conquest? How is it possible for him to bring these two together? You answer that question and you will understand the prophets. Not just Micah, but every one of them. Here’s the problem. How is the Prophet able to combine the pictures of exile and military conquest? Why, it seems on the surface of things that they are diametrically opposite, contrary. They don’t mesh at all.

But you see, the prophet is so marvelously consistent. And that consistency does not arise from within himself. It is because he has been made privy to the mysteries of the council of eternity. He has been a visitant in the chambers of God. And the mystery that he observes there is that which overshadows now all of the words that he has to speak in their deepest meaning.

I say the prophet is being inconsistent. Why don’t you back up a bit in my authority? Why don’t you look? At verse 2, and the prophecy there, most famous from Micah, about Bethlehem, Ephratah, you see the inherent contradiction that is set before you there.

From this lowly, insignificant, bypassed town there comes the ruler of the world. city or village of the Quans of Judah, there comes forth one who is from of old, from all eternity, God itself. From the least comes forth the greatest. From the most insignificant comes the most important. From the lowest comes the highest. From the last comes the first.

Now, you read through the description given of that great ruler in verses 2 through 5, at least the beginning portion of verse 5, and you realize that there is a mystery here as well. For the world doesn’t see the impact of the rule of the one who is here described, yet that rule is certain, it is perceived by faith. And those who are of faith know it to be true. And it seems to be such a contradiction. A king who can’t see? A king who gains his crown by crucifixion? A king who lives by death? A king who triumphs in suffering?

What are we talking about here? We are talking about the mystery that is heard only in the council chambers of heaven. We’ve already played around a bit with verses 5 and 6 with respect to the Assyrian invasion. Remember what we said about those verses, how the shadow of the mystery of the Christ now falls upon the events that are transpiring currently in Israel, the events that Micah sees unfolding before his very eyes, He speaks of seven shepherds and eight leaders of men who will arise and shepherd the land of Assyria before. We have identified those seven or eight as the remaining kings that would come to the throne of Judah, sit on the throne that was destined for the son of David, and we have set that even though world history would record that Babylon was the reason for the demise of Assyria, we know that it was the Lord Jesus Christ who conquered Assyria. And now we come to verses 7 through 9.

And all you have in front of your eyes is a picture of exile, a picture of people who are in chains, people who are suffering, people who are in the deepest humiliation. And were to look at them as an army, a conquering army, yes, that is exactly how you are to see them. Though you be the remnant of God and your suffering be the most extreme, yet you are the truth of the Almighty. And God is triumphing through you. The world will never get the point. They will never get the point. It will only be by a work of grace that you will be able to see it and then accept it. The root to glory through suffering, exile, humiliation.

Isn’t it strange the way some of the New Testament writings speak? Have you considered, for instance, Peter, in his first epistle, Have you wondered about his language there as he begins to write to these Christians? This is what he says at the opening of that first epistle. Chapter 1, verse 1. He’s an apostle of Jesus Christ to those who reside as aliens scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia, who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. What kind of language is Peter employing here? He’s employing the language of exile. You are the exiles. You are the remnant. And how then Peter dresses up that language of exile and suffering and alienation and disenfranchisement.

Turning over to the second chapter of his first epistle, he does not draw back from identifying the Church of God as that chosen race, verse 9, the royal priesthood, the holy nation, the people of God’s possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. We are molded, you see, even beyond merely a matter where you take a step out of humiliation into glory. Rather, you see, according to the prophet’s point of view, and according to the apostle’s point of view, the glory is superimposed upon your humiliation. And it is in your humiliation that your true glory comes.

Turn back to the epistle of James, the very opening of that epistle. Note how James speaks now. James, a bondservant of God, of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the Twelve Tribes. Want to talk about the remnant of Jacob? To the Twelve Tribes who are dispersed abroad, that is, sent into exile. Greetings to you, but then he goes on. Consider it all joy. Consider it all joy when you encounter these drawings. Your joy superimposed upon your grief and your distress. And is there anything to match the exposition of this idea?

Comparable to what we find in Romans chapter 8. Have you ever stumbled over verse 36 in chapter 8 of Romans? I was at a funeral service where they left it out. They didn’t even read it. Well, what did you expect? They were liberals. They left it out. They didn’t even read it.

It’s that quote from Psalm 44. For thy sake we are being put to death all day long. We are considered as sheep to be swallowed. But then the apostle goes on and he says, but in all things we overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us. You see, your suffering has superimposed upon it, like as if it were a double expulsion, the glory of God. The glory of God. Why, it’s a message from which men flee. They don’t want it. It becomes a convenience in Bible interpretation to be high-bound literalists, because by that rule you can avoid, you can avoid the clear implications of what Mike is telling us here. Yes, not something far distant, but current. In fact, as far as the Church of Jesus Christ is concerned, at hand. Present. A present reality. Something that you are experiencing now. Yes, you are exiles. You are the remnant of God.

And though that is not a very nice place to be in, Though it entails suffering, yet He has superimposed upon it the glory of God, and this is the way of the Savior, is it not? For upon the cross we are not there to see Him merely as one who is pitiful, impotent, incapable, but rather as a king, exalted and lifted up.

In fact, that’s exactly how John’s gospel so describes him. Jesus in that gospel says, if I be lifted up, then I will draw all men to myself. When is he lifted up? Should we wait for the ascension? No. The enthronement of Christ begins in his crucifixion, so that glory is perceived. even in suffering. If we suffer with Him, we also shall reign with Him in glory.

The mystery of the prophet is the mystery of the gospel. Do you understand? If you don’t and want to, let’s talk again. Exalt Yourself, Lord, by way of Your Prophet, but by way of the Great Prophet, King and Priest Jesus Christ. May we ourselves now benefit in that we know even our exile not only has glory’s conclusion, but it has a present joy and a delight for us. We ask this in his name, the name of the one who sought his glory.

The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.