Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Micah
Chapter 4: They Shall Beat Their Swords Into Plowshares
After the plowed ruin of Zion in chapter 3, Micah lifts his eyes to the last days and sees a mountain rising. 'The mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains,' and 'many nations shall come' to learn His ways, for 'the law shall go forth of Zion.' The great King will judge the nations, and 'they shall beat their swords into plowshares,' war unlearned, every man resting 'under his vine and under his fig tree' with 'none to make them afraid.' God will gather the lame and the outcast into a strong nation, and 'the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion... even for ever.' Yet the road there runs through pain: Zion must labor like a woman in travail and go 'even to Babylon', but 'there the LORD shall redeem thee.' Judgment is real, but the kingdom of God is surer still.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Micah chapter 4, the vision of the exalted mountain of the LORD and the coming kingdom of peace. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. The chapter holds one of Scripture's great pictures of the reign of God and the road of suffering that leads to it. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
Established Above the Hills
The house of the LORD lifted up, and nations flowing in.
Swords Into Plowshares
War unlearned under the reign of the great King.
The Lame Made a Nation
God assembling the outcast into a strong remnant.
There the LORD Shall Redeem
Through Babylon's pain to redemption.
Nation Shall Not Lift Up a Sword (Micah 4:1-8)
In the last days the house of the LORD will be exalted and the nations will stream to learn His ways; the great King will judge the peoples into peace, war will be unlearned, and God will gather the lame and outcast into a kingdom over which the LORD reigns for ever.
The LORD Shall Reign Over Them in Mount Zion
"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. 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 a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. 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. For all 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 and ever. 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; 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 ever. And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem."
Hebrew Study
"in the last days," be-acharith ha-yamim (בְּאַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים). The phrase means the appointed future, the age of fulfilment. The New Testament declares that this age arrived in Christ: "God, who... spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son" (Hebrews 1:1-2), and Peter at Pentecost called the outpouring of the Spirit the "last days" (Acts 2:16-17). So Micah's vision of nations streaming to the mountain of the LORD is not merely a far-off millennium but a reality begun when the gospel went out from Jerusalem to all nations. The "mountain of the house of the LORD" exalted above all is the kingdom of God in Christ, to which peoples from every nation now flow.
"they shall beat their swords into plowshares." This famous promise (shared word-for-word with Isaiah 2:4) pictures the deep peace of God's reign: weapons of war remade into tools of harvest, "neither shall they learn war any more." Under the world's kings, plowshares become swords; under the great King, swords become plowshares. This peace is inaugurated in Christ, "the Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6), who "is our peace" (Ephesians 2:14), reconciling enemies, Jew and Gentile, to God and to one another, and it will be consummated when He reigns unopposed. The gospel is already turning warriors into worshippers and enemies into brothers; the full harvest of peace awaits His appearing.
Explanation
From the rubble of chapter 3, "Zion shall be plowed as a field," Micah turns to glory: "in the last days... the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains." What man plowed under, God will exalt above every height, and "people shall flow unto it" like a river running uphill. The nations themselves will say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD... he will teach us of his ways," for "the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem." The great King "shall judge among many people," and the result is peace: "they shall beat their swords into plowshares," war forgotten, every man secure "under his vine and under his fig tree," with "none to make them afraid."
Micah adds a note not in Isaiah's parallel: "we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever", a pledge of loyal devotion. And the King's subjects are surprising: "her that halteth" (the lame), "her that is driven out" (the outcast), "her that I have afflicted." God gathers the broken and makes them "a strong nation," and "the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion... even for ever." To "the tower of the flock" the ancient promise returns, "the kingdom shall come." God builds His everlasting kingdom not from the mighty but from the gathered lame.
Gospel Focus
This vision is unfolding now. The "mountain of the house of the LORD" exalted above the hills, with nations streaming to learn God's ways, began when the risen Christ sent the gospel out from Jerusalem to all peoples. "The law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem", and it did, at Pentecost and ever since, drawing men and women from every nation into the kingdom of God. When we see believers gathered from across the earth to learn God's ways and walk His paths, we are watching Micah 4 come true. And the peace it promises is real: Christ "is our peace," turning the swords of enmity into the plowshares of reconciliation, making former enemies one in Him.
See especially who fills this kingdom: "her that halteth... her that is driven out... her that I have afflicted." God assembles His strong nation out of the lame, the outcast, the afflicted, the very people the world discards. "God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty" (1 Corinthians 1:27). If you feel lame, driven out, or afflicted, this is your invitation: the King gathers exactly such into His everlasting kingdom and makes them strong. Come up to the mountain of the LORD, walk in His name "for ever and ever," and take your place among the gathered where "the LORD shall reign... even for ever."
There the LORD Shall Redeem Thee (Micah 4:9-13)
Zion must first pass through the pangs of exile, crying out in travail and going even to Babylon, but there God will redeem her; the nations that gather to gloat over her do not know that God has gathered them for threshing.
They Know Not the Thoughts of the LORD
"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 also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion. But they know not the thoughts of the LORD, neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor. Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: 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."
Hebrew Study
"there the LORD shall redeem thee," ga'al (גָּאַל), to redeem as a kinsman. The word pictures the near relative who buys back a member of his family from bondage or loss. Astonishingly, the very place of exile, "even to Babylon," is named as the place of redemption: "there the LORD shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies." God does not merely rescue His people before the trouble; He goes with them into it and redeems them from within it. This is the pattern of the gospel: God meets us in our Babylon, our captivity to sin and death, and redeems us there, for our Kinsman-Redeemer entered our exile Himself. "In whom we have redemption through his blood" (Ephesians 1:7). The place of deepest bondage becomes the place of redemption.
"they know not the thoughts of the LORD, neither understand they his counsel." The nations gather against Zion to gloat, "Let her be defiled," never suspecting that God has His own hidden purpose: "he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor" for threshing. What looks like the enemy's triumph is really the enemy walking into God's harvest. This is a great comfort in every dark providence: the powers arrayed against God's people "know not the thoughts of the LORD." They imagine they are winning, when in truth they are being gathered for judgment, "the LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought" (Psalm 33:10). Supremely, at the cross, the rulers of this world, "had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory" (1 Corinthians 2:8), the very act meant to destroy Him became the redemption of the world.
Explanation
Micah is honest about the road ahead. Before the glorious kingdom comes the agony of exile. Zion cries out "as a woman in travail", her king and counselor gone, and Micah tells her the hard truth: "thou shalt go even to Babylon." But he does not stop at the pain. In the same breath comes the promise: "there shalt thou be delivered; there the LORD shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies." The place of captivity will become the place of redemption.
Then Micah addresses the nations that gather to gloat over Zion, hungry to see her "defiled." They do not know what they are walking into: "they know not the thoughts of the LORD... for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor." The very enemies who think they are harvesting Zion are themselves the harvest, gathered for threshing. So God calls His people to rise: "Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion," with a "horn" of iron and "hoofs" of brass, to "beat in pieces many people," and their plunder will be "consecrate[d]... unto the Lord of the whole earth." The suffering is real, but it is not the end; through the travail comes both redemption and victory.
Gospel Focus
"There the LORD shall redeem thee" is one of the most comforting truths in Scripture: God redeems His people not only from trouble but in the very midst of it. He did not spare Zion the Babylon road, but He met her there. This is how God so often works, not by removing the trial but by redeeming us within it, so that the place of our deepest captivity becomes the place of our clearest deliverance. Above all, it is the pattern of the cross: our Kinsman-Redeemer came down into our exile, into our death, and redeemed us from inside it. Wherever your Babylon is, God is not absent from it; He redeems there.
And take courage from "they know not the thoughts of the LORD." When the enemies of God and of His people seem to be winning, gathering to gloat, they are blind to God's hidden purpose, and often they are walking straight into His harvest. The cross itself is the proof: the rulers who crucified the Lord of glory thought they had won, and by that very act God redeemed the world, "had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." So do not despair when the powers of this age triumph over the truth; they "know not the thoughts of the LORD." God is threshing where they think they are reaping, and the last word belongs to "the Lord of the whole earth."
Chapter 4 in Review
Micah 4 lifts the eyes from ruin to the reign of God. "In the last days" the mountain of the LORD will be exalted, and "many nations" will flow to it to learn His ways, for "the law shall go forth of Zion." The great King will judge the peoples into peace, so that "they shall beat their swords into plowshares," war unlearned, every man safe "under his vine and under his fig tree." God will gather "her that halteth" and "her that is driven out" into a strong nation over which "the LORD shall reign... even for ever." The road there runs through the travail of exile, "thou shalt go even to Babylon", but "there the LORD shall redeem thee," while the gloating nations, who "know not the thoughts of the LORD," are gathered for threshing.
For the Apostolic reader this chapter is being fulfilled in Christ. The exalted mountain with the nations streaming in is the kingdom of God, opened to all peoples when the gospel went out from Jerusalem; the peace of swords-into-plowshares is Christ, who "is our peace"; the gathered lame and outcast are the very people God calls into His church. It teaches that God redeems us in our Babylon, not only from it, meeting us in our captivity as our Kinsman-Redeemer. And it steadies us in every dark hour: the powers that gloat over God's people "know not the thoughts of the LORD," and are being gathered, even at the cross, into the harvest of His victory. Through travail to redemption, through the plowed field to the exalted mountain, the kingdom is sure.
- "The last days" began in Christ; the nations now flow to the mountain of the LORD (4:1-2; Hebrews 1:1-2; Acts 2:17).
- Christ's reign brings the peace of swords into plowshares; He "is our peace" (4:3; Ephesians 2:14).
- God builds His kingdom from the lame, the outcast, and the afflicted (4:6-7; 1 Corinthians 1:27).
- God redeems His people in their Babylon, not only from it: "there the LORD shall redeem thee" (4:10; Ephesians 1:7).
- Enemies who gloat "know not the thoughts of the LORD" and are gathered for threshing (4:12; 1 Corinthians 2:8).
- Through travail comes both redemption and victory under "the Lord of the whole earth" (4:13).
Questions for Reflection
- Do you see the kingdom of God drawing the nations in, and are you streaming to His mountain?
- Has Christ made peace where there was enmity in your life and relationships?
- Can you trust that God will "redeem thee" right in the middle of your Babylon?
- When evil seems to triumph, do you rest in the "thoughts of the LORD" that enemies cannot see?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). Key terms: be-acharith ha-yamim ("the last days," verse 1); ga'al ("redeem," as a kinsman, verse 10). The parallel vision: Isaiah 2:2-4. "The last days" fulfilled in Christ and the Spirit: Acts 2:16-17; Hebrews 1:1-2; 1 Peter 1:20; 1 John 2:18. The word going forth from Zion to the nations: Luke 24:47; Acts 1:8; Romans 15:19; Isaiah 42:1-4. Christ our peace and the reign of the Prince of Peace: Isaiah 9:6-7; Ephesians 2:13-18; Colossians 1:20; Zechariah 9:9-10. Every man under vine and fig tree: 1 Kings 4:25; Zechariah 3:10. God gathering the lame and outcast into a remnant: Zephaniah 3:19; Ezekiel 34:16; Luke 14:21; 1 Corinthians 1:26-29. Redemption in the place of exile: Isaiah 43:1-3, 14; 48:20; Ephesians 1:7; Galatians 3:13. Enemies ignorant of God's counsel, supremely at the cross: Psalm 2:1-6; 33:10-11; Isaiah 10:5-7; 1 Corinthians 2:7-8; Acts 2:23. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- The exalted mountain of the LORD, the peace of His reign, and the gathering of the lame: Micah 4:1-8; Isaiah 2:2-4; Ephesians 2:14.
- Through Babylon's travail to redemption, and the enemies gathered for threshing: Micah 4:9-13; Ephesians 1:7; 1 Corinthians 2:8.