Micah 5:8
Then the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep, which tramples and tears as it passes through, with no one to rescue them.
Sermons
God's People, Their Tender and Terrible Aspect in the WorldD. Thomas Micah 5:7-9
The Gentleness and Terribleness of the People of GodE.S. Prout Micah 5:7-9














The remnant of Jacob is the faithful few who remain loyal to God's truth and the duty of the day, whether in the times of Elijah (1 Kings 19:18), Uzziah (Isaiah 1:9), or Christ (Romans 11:5). The people of God, the Church of Christ dispersed among the "peoples" of the earth, have a twofold aspect - gentleness and terribleness. This twofold aspect is seen in God (Exodus 34:6, 7; Psalm 18:25, 26; Isaiah 8:13, 14), in Christ (Isaiah 28:16; Matthew 21:42-44; Luke 2:34), who is both a "Lamb" and a "Lion;" and therefore in his people who are called into fellowship with himself. They are -

I. GENTLE TO BLESS. Notice the figures.

1. "A dew from the Lord. The dew is of heavenly origin, and comes fresh from the hand of God (Job 38:28; cf. John 1:13; John 3:3, from above"), reflecting God's light, transparent and glistering (cf. Matthew 5:16; 2 Corinthians 1:12; Philippians 2:15, 16), evanescent and apparently one of the frailest of nature's forces, yet powerful to quicken and sustain life that would otherwise perish (cf. Corinthians 1:26-28; 4:15; 2 Corinthians 4:12; James 5:19, 20). Such spiritual qualifications in individuals made the Church of Christ a life-giving power. Issuing from Judaea, Christ's disciples were as dew to the parched and perishing Roman world, both by their teaching (Deuteronomy 32:2) and still more by the testimony of the wondrous beauty of their lives (Psalm 133:3). Therefore they were scattered abroad - John to Asia, Thomas to India, Paul to Rome, etc. - that the life-giving dew might be conveyed to the distant "peoples" of the earth.

2. "The showers upon the grass. Christ shall come down like rain," etc. (Psalm 72:6), not only by his individual blessings, but through his people. Like the rain, they "tarried not for man." Once the vision was seen and the appeal heard before the mission was commenced (Acts 16:9); yet even then, as elsewhere, the prophecy was fulfilled in the disciples as well as the Master, "I am found of them that sought me not" (Isaiah 65:1). Nor did they depend upon or, "wait for the sons of men" (1 Corinthians 3:5-7). By both proclaiming and living God's Word they became identified with the promise, and sharers in the blessing of the old Messianic predictions (Genesis 22:18; Isaiah 55:10, 11).

II. TERRIBLE TO VANQUISH OR DESTROY. Courage and fearlessness are implied, such as were promised (Luke 21:15) and enjoyed (Acts 4:13-21; Acts 5:29-42, etc.). But the lion is not always on the defensive. The Church of Christ, with its new doctrines, maxims, morals, and threats of a wrath to come, was terrible to the pagan world of the first century, with its foul gods, its godless creeds, its nameless immoralities, its revolting cruelties and crimes. The contrast of the "dew" and the "lion" may be marked even in the apostles' teaching both to heathen and to professing Christians (Acts 17:24 31; 24:24, 25; 2 Corinthians 5:11, 20; 2 Corinthians 13:1-11; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10). Its one object was to vanquish souls by destroying sin and bringing them into captivity to Christ. It trod down its foes and "went forth conquering and to conquer" (cf. Acts 21:20; Romans 15:19; 2 Corinthians 2:14), till, less than two hundred years later, Tertullian could speak of the Christians thus: "We are but of yesterday, and we have filled every place among you - cities, islands, fortresses, towns, marketplaces, the very camp, tribes, companies, palace, senate, forum; we have left nothing. to you but the temples of your gods" ('Apology,' c. 38). In a similar way the Church of the Reformation was terrible to the corruptions of the papacy, which it sought to "tear in pieces" with weapons not carnal, but spiritual. And today the true Church of Christ, with its lofty standards and ideals, is hateful to the world with its maxims of expediency and fraud, its sins and shams; and to many also who would claim the sacred name of Christian. Such foes of Christ and his people must submit (Isaiah 60:14) or perish (Isaiah 60:12). The Church of God will at last be terrible in the day of the destruction of those who love darkness rather than light, and who will be driven away in their wickedness. "The saints shall judge the world" (1 Corinthians 6:3; Jude 1:14, 15; Revelation 19:11-15); "Let thine hand be lifted up," etc. (ver. 9). - E.S.P.

And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the Lord
This text may suggest the beneficial influence which God's people are intended and calculated to exert upon surrounding society, wherever their lot may be cast, and whatever may be the circumstances in which they are placed. God has never failed to preserve for Himself a people in the world. The principles of spiritual religion, embodied in living character, and manifested in suitable conduct, have had the effect of spreading an illumination which has operated beneficially upon the spiritual interests of mankind, and led many an ignorant wanderer to salvation and heaven. It is hardly possible to estimate too highly the beneficial influence of Christian character, when consistently and properly exemplified. It operates in a manner most beautiful and efficient. This character is composed of such elements that it cannot be successfully imitated. It is what no worldly system or agency is capable of producing. The influence which belongs legitimately to the character of God's people does not depend for its successful exertion upon associated numbers, or outward circumstances of wealth, respectability, and prosperity. More importance has been attached to these things than properly belongs to them. The potency of religious influence depends not upon mere accumulated numbers, but upon character. It will prove a fatal mistake, wherever the outward accessories of religion are allowed to supplant its spiritualities. The machinery of Christianity cannot be successfully worked, except by the hands of those who are under its sanctifying influence. This Christian influence is not something natural to a certain class of individuals, distinguished from the rest of their species by mysterious endowments. And the influence of Christian character must not be understood as superseding and disparaging the influence of those other agencies by which Christianity is to be spread and propagated in the world. We need not disparage the Christian ministry; or the doctrines of Christianity. The truth and grace in the Gospel are destined to issue in the formation of a holy character, and to display themselves in corresponding practical results. It is in vain to pretend to the possession of Christian character, where those appropriate practical results are not witnessed. On the exemplification of religion in its excellence and beauty, the usefulness of professing Christians very materially and essentially depends. Worldly observers will justly come to the conclusion that the religion is worthless, the offspring of hypocritical ostentation, of infatuated superstition, which does not ameliorate and elevate the character. These are just expectations, and ought to be realised. How great then ought to be the circumspection of those who bear the Christian name, that they may not dishonour it by any unbecoming conduct. It is a matter of great importance, that religious character should develop itself, free from all those blemishes which would have the effect of tarnishing its Divine lustre and impairing its reputation. Those who would exemplify the legitimate influence of Christian character in its fullest efficiency, must live in close fellowship with the Divine throne. Nothing else can render us beneficially influential. The influence of genuine Christian character is always mild, and beneficent, and diffusive. Individual Christians should reflect much upon their responsibility.

(William Hurt.)

The truth in this verse may be said to have met with its partial fulfilment in the unique and marvellous experience of the Jews; for(1) They are but a "remnant" of the human family, being but a fragment, a fraction of the whole human race.(2) They dwell in "remnants," in detached, broken, and fragmentary portions, "here a little and there a little."(3) They dwell "in the midst of many people," so that there is hardly a single nation or people in which there is not at present some small remnant of the Abrahamic seed.(4) They exist, and are preserved as a witness on the behalf of heaven and its truth.(5) All this has been continued irrespective of, and, in many cases, in opposition to the most earnest human effort, "tarrying not for man," etc.

I. THE PAUCITY OF THE TRUE. God has ever had a people peculiarly His own; and who will dare dispute His right to have a more special regard to some, than He may have to others? Calvinian or Arminian, we all agree that "the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for Himself"; the true from among the false, and the pure from amongst the vile. From the dawn of human history these have been but a "remnant" of the human family. Look at the flood, and at Egypt. Thus the holy and the true are but a "remnant" in nations, in towns, and in families.

II. THE POSITION OF THE TRUE. "In the midst," etc. It might be more in harmony with our own natural tastes and preferences to be a separate people in one land swarming together, without any of the false about us, but such is not God's arrangement. Shiploads of Christians may leave our shores for some Canterbury or other settlement, where they may hope to live and not see the face of an unbeliever, but sadly do such men err in expecting this. Should the whole Church but settle down in one land, it would be a most grievous curse and woe to the world. We are to settle down only in heaven. The distribution of the Church "in the midst," etc., is necessary in order to promote the Divine purpose; for it exists not for itself alone, but as leaven in meal, as salt, as Divine seed, here a grain and there a grain. Learn this, that God hath placed you "in the midst" of your enemies, by contact to bless them, for each has his sphere.

III. THE PURPOSE OF THE TRUE. The design of their dispersion has a vital relation to the people amongst whom they are placed, as the dew and showers to the grass. As the showers are of heavenly origin, so is Israel "born from above." As the dew is a pure and crystal liquid, so the true Israel is composed of the choicest natures and sweetest spirits in the world. Dew is silently produced, and so the mightiest work may be accomplished in the human soul, "without observation." As the dew and showers are entirely independent of the human, so the Church, like the truth, lives not upon human sufferance. This purpose will be fulfilled. Many weak and unbelieving minds have thought that the true, being but a "remnant," their influence would waste and die, but thank God this cannot be, for the source is unfailing and Divine.

(E. D. Green.)

Homilist.
Two things are predicted concerning the Jews after their restoration from Babylon.

1. Their influence upon the nations would be as refreshing dew.

2. Their power on the nations would be as terrible as the lion's on the herds, and on the flocks.It will not, I think, be unfair to use the passage to illustrate the twofold aspect of the people of God in this world — the tender and terrible, the restorative and the destructive. Like Israel of old, godly men in every age have only been a remnant, a very small minority of the generation in which they lived. It will not always be so.

I. The TENDER aspect of God's people in the world. They are spoken of here as "dew." Silent in its fall, beautiful in its appearance, refreshing in its influence. Three things are suggested concerning this "dew."

1. It is Divine. It is "from the Lord." All that is quickening and refreshing in the thoughts, spirits, character of good men on this earth descends from heaven. "Every good and perfect gift cometh down from the Father of lights," etc.

2. It is copious. "As the showers upon the grass." There have been seasons when those spiritual influences have descended on men with plenitude and power, such as on the day of Pentecost. Would it were so now!

3. It is undeserved of men. "That tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men." Good men on this earth are to their generation what the gentle dew and the fertilising shower are to the thirsty earth. Their speech distils as dew, and their influence descends on the souls of men like rain upon the new mown grass.

II. The TERRIBLE ASPECT of God's people in the world. The same men as are represented under the metaphor of dew are here spoken of as a "lion." Bold, terrible, and destructive. Elijah was a lion in his age, so was John the Baptist, so was Luther, so was Latimer, etc. This subject suggests —

1. A picture of the unregenerate world. There are some germs of goodness in its soil that require the fertilising influence of heaven to quicken and develop, and there are some things in it so pernicious and baneful that it requires all the courage, force, and passion of moral lions to destroy.

2. A picture of the completeness of moral character, Not all "dew," nor all "lion," but both combined.

(Homilist.)

We are imperfect judges of moral power, both as to what really constitutes moral power and as to its extent and influence. We are very prone to transfer the idea of largeness, mass, weight from the physical to the moral world; to place our trust in numbers, in wealth, in outward visible power, and are disposed to despond even of the very best cause when it has not these upon its side. In the management of public affairs men come to have implicit faith in majorities, rather than in truth and in righteousness. We are apt to think the Church strong and prosperous when it is popular with the crowd; when its coffers are filled with wealth; when it is surrounded with the bulwarks and appliances of secular power and favour. There is forgetfulness of that which constitutes the real strength and power of a moral system; which is the goodness of the cause; and the faith, earnestness, and zeal of those who are its advocates and its professors. One man, with God's truth in him, which he thoroughly believes and which he has the courage to speak out, has more real weight in him than a whole community that are ignorant of that truth, or opposed to it. The strength of God's Church lies in the truth of her doctrines, in the purity of her morality, in the piety and zeal of her members. By means of these she is leaven in the mass. Thus she becomes a great blessing to the nation. The higher meaning of our text has reference to the Church as such, to the spiritual Church of God in all times and ages.

1. We need not be surprised to find the Church of God existing as a small remnant. It has, indeed, never yet been otherwise. At no period has the Church ever been in a majority. At times the spiritual body has seemed to be almost lost to the eye of sense. Seen ever at her best estate, she is but a remnant in the midst of many people.

2. The proper place of this remnant is in the midst of the community. God has so placed His Church. Sometimes the Church, or individual members of the Church, would have it otherwise. Secluding themselves in coteries or cloisters. Whilst Christians keep themselves sedulously pure from the contamination of evil example or corrupt conversation, they are not to go out of the world. They are to abide in the calling in which they were when God called them. They are to be friendly, social, courteous, benevolent towards all men.

3. The Church possesses a mighty power tint benefiting a community. It is amongst them "as a dew from the Lord, and as showers that water the grass." Dew and rain came to be regarded as special gifts of God. And so they were taken in Scripture as symbols of what is directly and immediately God produced. They are thus a fitting emblem of the Church, in its position and its working in the world. God has formed the Church as an instrument in His hands for the accomplishment of His immediate purpose of grace and mercy to the world.

4. This working does not depend upon man's will or permission. It is not by our favour that the Church of God is in the midst of the nations as a dew from the Lord, exerting a conservative, vivifying, renovating, ameliorating power upon the world. God has ever been with His own cause. Neither from fear nor favour must the Church wait upon man, nor lean upon an arm of flesh. It is when God is with His Church that she is strong and powerful and good. Learn, then —(1) The importance and the responsibility of the Church's position in the midst of the nations.(2) The condition on which the Church's usefulness depends. It is that it be as a dew from the Lord. He must be in the midst of His Church, and His Church must be prayerfully dependent on Him.

(W. L. Alexander, D. D.)

I. THE INFLUENCE WHICH THE CHURCH MAY EXERT IN THE WORLD.

1. Their influence is great. Dew and rain rank among the most powerful natural agencies. In the energy of these we have a fit image of the influence of the Church. The resources which the members of the Church may command, and the instrumentality which they can employ, are "mighty through God." This is evident from the purposes they are called to fulfil; the field upon which they are to operate; the promises and provisions on which they may rely; the responsibility under which they are laid; the influence, limited indeed, but vast, which they have already exerted, and the prophecies which they must yet fulfil. What might not the Church accomplish did she put forth her strength? but at what a low standard have Christians commonly estimated their power.

2. This influence is beneficial. Who can adequately calculate the consequence of being deprived, but for a single season, of the rain and the dew from heaven! It is our peculiar prerogative and privilege to possess a power which can convert the sources of man's present evil into means and channels of permanent good; to render every society and institution and mind under heaven an unmixed blessing.

3. This influence is diffusive. It is delightful to consider it within a narrow circle and on a limited scale — in the family, neighbourhood, Sabbath school. But it is adapted and designed for all the nations and tribes and families of men, and for all the classes and individuals that compose them. This universal adaptation of the influence of the Church arises not merely from the nature of that influence, but also from the diversified gifts and circumstances of those who possess it. These are marked by an almost boundless variety.

4. This influence is Divine. It is not inherent in the Church nor independent of God. If the Church has power, it is endued from on high. She is mighty through God.

II. THE POSITION WHICH THE CHURCH SHOULD OCCUPY. "In the midst of many people." Rain and dew are but images of the far more genial influences which the Church is able and destined to diffuse through the world. In what position, and by what process, can we best employ this power? "Teach all nations." How far has our Saviour's design been met? Much has been done; but the labours of the Church are but begun. Much remains to be done at home and abroad. Why is progress so slow It cannot be traced to deficient power; to inadequate means, to want of opportunity, or to any inability in the Church to furnish the requisite agency. It is due to imperfectness of consecration, and the partial employment of the Church's resources.

III. THE INDEPENDENCE WHICH THE CHURCH MAY CLAIM. "That tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men." The principal source of independence is the power and presence of Him from whom she has received her commission. Enjoying this, she need not, she dare not "wait for man." Shall we wait till civilisation and law have smoothed and opened our way? But while the Church must not tarry for man, God waits for His Church. Then listen not to the dictates of the selfish; follow not the course of the indolent; look not to others; let each in his sphere, and according to his ability, arise and be doing, and the Lord will be with thee.

(E. Prout.)

It must be evident to every thoughtful man that we are all apt to judge unfairly of moral force. We are so much more familiar with the sphere of sense than with the sphere of spirit that we constantly transfer ideas gained from the former into the latter, although its nature is quite different. We judge of matter by its bulk, we judge of machinery by its clever adaptations, and we carry these criteria from the physical into the spiritual sphere. Because we see great effects produced by the movement of mighty bodies, we argue that it must be so everywhere, and that what the world requires is a Niagara-like Church, which will make itself felt by noise and impetus and quantity. Hence we get very depressed if, in connection with a religious society, we see small numbers and hear of diminished funds, while we congratulate ourselves all round if, in regard to these, we hear a good report. This false method of judgment asserts itself in various directions. Many of us trust to majorities, instead of to conscience. We are very respectable to public opinion, and wait cautiously to see which way the wind blows before we commit ourselves to a policy. Power and victory were our Lord's, not because He won the majority over to His way of thinking, not because He devised complex ecclesiastical machinery cleverly adapted to the times, not because He had on His side the weight of money bags and the prestige of social respectability, but because His followers, though few and unlearned, were inspired by Him with an enthusiasm of faith which proved resistless. I say, then, that the real strength of a moral system does not lie in its mass; but in its truth and goodness, and in the faith and zeal of its advocates. Even in the physical world there are not wanting examples of quality overmatching quantity. The heaviest sword made of poor material cannot do what even a light rapier would do, in attack and defence, if the rapier be of well-tempered steel. A handful of men, trained and brave, have often held out victoriously against the impact of a vast horde of undisciplined savages. And this is equally true of a Church. Its fellowship may not be numerous, its members may not be individually influential, but if it be distinguished for piety and prayerfulness, it does more for the cause of Christ than far larger Churches not so rich in them. The influence which the world's wiseacres contemn is mighty through God, to the pulling down of strongholds. Now, it is in the light of these truths you can most clearly see the meaning of our text. It compares God's people not to a mighty storm or to a resistless sea, but to the silent dew and the gentle showers, which are mighty, not because of the stir they make, but because of what they themselves are. And this analogy is accordant with all the parables of our Lord, on the nature of His kingdom, in which He likened it to the mustard seed, and to the leaven hidden in three measures of meal. Every one knows that dew is absolutely essential to the continued life of nature in the lands to which this prophet referred. From the beginning of April to the end of October — in other words, from the close of the "latter" to the beginning of the "former rains" — during all the hot summer months, the life of herbage depends there on dew alone. That dew is transparent, beautiful, glistening with light, gentle and silent, weak in itself, yet mighty in its aggregate effect, refreshing and cooling beyond power of description, and preserving the life it touches, while it is itself consumed in giving the blessing. Then as for the "showers." Often, after a long period of drought, and of dry, searching winds, the face of the sky has been covered with clouds, and showers have fallen on every field and garden throughout the land, descending without effort, yet penetrating deeply to nourish forgotten seeds and parched roots, and though no one drop of rain was of any great value in itself yet the aggregate of drops which we call a "shower" has proved of Divine and incalculable worth. It is to these two means — showers and dew — which God employs to bless the natural world, that Micah likens "the remnant of Jacob," the handful of people which alone would represent God among the heathen; and the Christian Churches, who represent the same God, may fairly regard the description as applicable to themselves.

1. Our attention is called here first to the Church's insignificance. It is referred to as a "remnant." It has seldom been otherwise. Insignificance, in the scale of the world's judgment, is its normal condition. Earnest, religious men have never been a majority at any time in the world's history. Once the Church consisted of a single family called from idolatry in Ur of the Chaldees. Indeed, even now, what is the Christian Church but a "remnant"? Compare the number even of professing Christians — with the teeming millions of those who follow Mahomet, Confucius, or Buddha — and your heart will sink in hopelessness, if you do not believe that on your side is the living God — the Eternal Truth — the Almighty Saviour! God does His work by despised agencies, and this He does also in the moral enlightenment of the world and in its regeneration, choosing the weak things" and the things which are despised, that the excellency of the power may be of God "and not of us." Do not suppose, then, that you are on the losing side because you hold a religious faith which as yet only the minority of the race accepts.

2. But we are also reminded by our text of the Church's association. It is in contact with the world. The remnant of Jacob is "in the midst of the people." The dew and the showers are blessings, because they actually touch the earth. There have been times when Christian people have sought to have it otherwise. They have retired to cells in the desert, and to monasteries and convents. We are followers of Jesus Christ, brethren, and He went to eat with publicans and sinners, and talked to folk the Pharisees would have had nothing to do with. Now, you perhaps are thrown by God's providence, as a Christian man, into business. You cannot help yourself. There you see people of all sorts — men sensual and men spiritual; men avaricious and men open handed; men saint-like and men worldly; men who believe in Christ and men who scorn Him. Do not, I beseech you, resent that position; do not go about your daily work as if you were ashamed of it. Do not give the cold shoulder to everybody who differs from you. You are put there as God's representative to the worldly, as well as to the pious.

3. The Church's beneficence, i.e., its capacity for doing good, is suggested in the figures of the dew and the showers. These powers in nature are the gifts of God. We cannot create them by any of our scientific appliances, nor can we foretell them with any approach to accuracy. Has not the apostle said, "We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath ordained before that we should walk in them"? And Jehovah Himself declared, "This people have I formed for Myself; they shall show forth My praise." In other words, God has given you such religious life as you have. You are a Christian because He has made you a new creature in Christ. And He has done this, not that you may complacently congratulate yourself on your own salvation, and contentedly but selfishly enjoy your religious privileges, but that you may bless others, and that you may serve Him. Do your own part faithfully and prayerfully, and you will do much more than you think, and perhaps the results you did not aim at will prove greater than those you did.

4. The fourth and final suggestion which this verse aroused in my mind was one respecting the Church's independence of mere human planning. Of the dew and of the showers, to which Micah likens the Church, he says, "They tarry not for man, nor wait for the sons of men." The Church of Jesus Christ did not depend for its existence on man's permission. It originated in God's free gift of His only Son. If you have some God-given indication of your work, do not hesitate for a moment to follow it up. Just throw yourself right into it at once, for you are amongst those who are not to tarry for man nor to wait for the sons of men. Do not give up the idea of it because your friends would dissuade you. Depend upon it, if we go out in God's strength and at His call; if, in the name of our God, we set up our banners, success is certain. If you would be a blessing to others you need yourself to receive a fuller blessing. The morning dew only appears when there is a certain relation between heaven and earth, and if there be not that, no power we know of can create the dew. The earth must give off its own heat, under an open heaven, when the air is still, and then the dew will be deposited abundantly. There is something you have to give forth — namely, your own love and longing; and if these rise heavenward in the stillness of thought and prayer, and there be no cloud of doubt between you and heaven, you, too, may become as the dew, pure in itself and as a means of blessing to others. Therefore, let us pray for the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.

(A. Rowland, D. D.)

The simple natural science of the Hebrews saw a mystery in the production of the dew on a clear night, and the poetic imagination found in it a fit symbol for all silent and gentle influences from Heaven that refreshed and quickened parched and dusty souls. Where the dew fell the scorched vegetation lifted its drooping head. That is what Israel is to be in the world, says Micah. He saw very deep into God's mind, and into the function of the nation. It may be a question as to whether the text refers more especially to the place and office of Israel when planted in its own land, or when dispersed among the nations. For, as you see, he speaks of "the remnant of Jacob" as if he was thinking of the survivors of some great calamity which had swept away the greater portion of the nation. Both things are true.

I. THE FUNCTION OF EACH CHRISTIAN IN HIS PLACE. "The remnant of Jacob shall be as a dew from the Lord in the midst of many nations." What made Israel "as a dew"? One thing only: its religion, its knowledge of God, and its consequent purer morality. It could teach Greece no philosophy, no art, no refinement, no sensitiveness to the beautiful. It could teach Rome no lessons of policy or government. It could bring no wisdom to Egypt, no power or wealth to Assyria. The same thing is true about Christian people. We cannot teach the world science, we cannot teach it philosophy or art, but we can teach it God. Now, the possibility brings with it the obligation. The personal experience of Jesus Christ in our hearts, as the dew that brings to us life and fertility, carries with it a commission as distinct and imperative as if it had been pealed into each single ear by a voice from heaven. Remember, too, that, strange as it may seem, the only way by which that knowledge of God which was bestowed upon Israel could become the possession of the world was by its, first of all, being made the possession of a few. Art, literature, science, political wisdom, they are all entrusted to a few who are made their apostles; and the purpose is their universal diffusion from these human centres. So to us the message comes: "The Lord hath need of thee." Now, that diffusion from individual centres of the life that is in Jesus Christ is the chiefest reason — or, at all events, is one chief reason — for the strange and inextricable intertwining in modern society of saint and sinner, of Christian and non-Christian. The seed is sown among the thorns; the wheat springs up amongst the tares. The renmant of Jacob is in the midst of many peoples; and you and I are all encompassed by those who need our Christ, and who do not know Him or love Him; and one great reason for the close inter twining is that, scattered we may diffuse, and that at all points the world may be in contact with those who ought to be working to preserve it from putrefaction and decay. Now, there are two ways by which this function may be discharged. The one is by direct efforts to impart to others the knowledge of God in Jesus Christ which we have, and which we profess to be the very root of our lives. We can do all that if we will, and we are here to do it. Every one of us has somebody or other close to us, bound to us, perhaps, by the tie of kindred and love, who will listen to us more than they will to anybody else. Christian men and women, have you utilised these channels which God Himself, by the arrangements of society, has dug for you, that through them you may pour upon some thirsty ground the water of life? But there is another way by which "the remnant of Jacob" is to be "a dew from the Lord," and that is by trying to bring to bear Christian thoughts and Christian principles upon all the relations of life in which we stand, and all the societies, be they greater or smaller — the family, the city, or the nation — of which we form parts. Have you ever lifted a finger to abate drunkenness? Have you ever done anything to help to make it possible that the masses of our town communities should live in places better than the pigstyes in which many of them have to wallow? Time was when a bastard piety shrank back from intermeddling with these affairs and gathered up its skirts about it in an ecstasy of unwholesome unworldliness. There is not much danger of that now, when Christian men are in the full swim of the currents of civic, professional, literary, national life.

II. THE FUNCTION OF ENGLISH CHRISTIANS IN THE WORLD. I have suggested in an earlier part of this sermon that possibly the application of this text originally was to the scattered remnant. Be that as it may, wherever you go you find the Jew and the Englishman. I need not dwell upon the ubiquity of our race. But I do wish to remind you that that ubiquity has its obligation. We hear a great deal today about Imperialism, about "the Greater Britain," about "the expansion of England." And on one side all that new atmosphere of feeling is good, for it speaks of a vivid consciousness which is all to the good in the pulsations of the national life. But there is another side to it that is not so good. What is the expansion sought for? Trade? Yes! necessarily; and no man who lives in Lancashire will speak lightly of that necessity. My text tells us why expansion should be sought, and what are the obligations it brings with it. "The remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people aa a dew from the Lord." "He that is greatest among you, let him be your servant"; and the dominion founded on unselfish surrender for others is the only dominion that will last. That is the spirit in which alone England will keep its empire over the world. I need not remind you that the gift which we have to carry to the heathen nations, the subject peoples who are under the aegis of our laws, is not merely our literature, our science, our Western civilisation, still less the products of our commerce, for all of which some of them are asking; but it is the gift that they do not ask for.

III. THE FAILURE TO FULFIL THE FUNCTION. Israel failed. Pharisaism was the end of it. And so destruction came, and the fire on the hearth was scattered and died out, and the vineyard was taken from them and "given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." "A dew from the Lord!" Say rather a malaria from the devil! "By you," said the prophet, "is the name of God blasphemed among the Gentiles." And by Englishmen the missionary's efforts are, in a hundred cases, neutralised, or hampered if not neutralised. We have failed because, as Christian people, we have not been adequately in earnest. No man can say with truth that the churches of England are awake to the imperative obligation of this missionary enterprise. Israel's religion was not diffusive, therefore it corrupted; Israel's religion did not reach out a hand to the nations, therefore its heart was paralysed and stricken. They who bring the Gospel to others increase their own hold upon it. There is a joy of activity, there is a firmer faith, as new evidences of its power are presented before them. There is the blessing that comes down upon all faithful discharge of duty. If our fleece is wet and we leave the ground dry, our fleece will soon be dry, though the ground may be bedewed.

(A. Maclaren, D. D.)

People
Ephratah, Israelites, Jacob, Micah, Nimrod
Places
Assyria, Bethlehem, Nimrod, Zion
Topics
Animals, Beasts, Bits, Crushed, Deliver, Deliverer, Flock, Flocks, Foot, Forest, Gentiles, Goes, Jacob, Lion, Mangles, Mass, Mauls, Middle, Midst, Nations, None, Passed, Passes, Peoples, Pieces, Pulled, Ranks, Remnant, Rescue, Rest, Saviour, Sheep, Teareth, Tears, Torn, Tramples, Treadeth, Treads, Trodden, Woods, Yea
Outline
1. The birth of Christ.
4. His kingdom.
8. His conquest.

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Micah 5:8

     4448   forests
     6738   rescue

Micah 5:7-9

     7145   remnant

Micah 5:8-9

     9220   day of the LORD

Library
'A Dew from the Lord'
'The remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the Lord, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.'--MICAH v. 7. The simple natural science of the Hebrews saw a mystery in the production of the dew on a clear night, and their poetic imagination found in it a fit symbol for all silent and gentle influences from heaven that refreshed and quickened parched and dusty souls. Created by an inscrutable process in silence and darkness, the dewdrops lay innumerable
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Christ is Glorious --Let us Make Him Known
I want to conduct you in such a frame of mind through the glories of my text. First, bidding you observe the perpetual reign of Christ: "He shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God;" then I shall beg you to observe that flowing from this is the perpetual continuance of his church: "and they shall abide;" and then proceeding both from his continued reign and from the Church's consequent perpetual existence comes the greatness of our King: "for
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 10: 1864

The Incarnation and Birth of Christ
"Who with more care keep holiday The wrong, than others the right way." The old Puritans made a parade of work on Christmas-day, just to show that they protested against the observance of it. But we believe they entered that protest so completely, that we are willing, as their descendants, to take the good accidentally conferred by the day, and leave its superstitions to the superstitious. To proceed at once to what we have to say to you: we notice, first, who it was that sent Christ forth. God the
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 2: 1856

Whether this is a Good Definition of Eternity, "The Simultaneously-Whole and Perfect Possession of Interminable Life"?
Objection 1: It seems that the definition of eternity given by Boethius (De Consol. v) is not a good one: "Eternity is the simultaneously-whole and perfect possession of interminable life." For the word "interminable" is a negative one. But negation only belongs to what is defective, and this does not belong to eternity. Therefore in the definition of eternity the word "interminable" ought not to be found. Objection 2: Further, eternity signifies a certain kind of duration. But duration regards existence
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

And Again the Prophet Micah Speaks of the Place Where Christ Should be Born...
And again the prophet Micah speaks of the place where Christ should be born, that it should be in Bethlehem of Judæa, saying thus: And thou, Bethlehem of Judæa, art thou the least among the princes of Judah? for out of, thee shall come a prince who shall feed my people Israel. [229] (Micah v. 2) But Bethlehem is the native place [230] of David: so that not only in respect of the Virgin who bore Him is He of David's race, but also in respect of His birth in Bethlehem the native place of
Irenæus—The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching

Balaam
He sent messengers therefore unto Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me.'--NUM. xxii. 6. Give a general outline of the history. See Bishop Butler's great sermon. I. How much knowledge and love of good there may be in a bad man. Balaam was a prophet: (a) He knew something of the divine character,
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The visit and Homage of the Magi, and the Flight into Egypt
With the Presentation of the Infant Saviour in the Temple, and His acknowledgment - not indeed by the leaders of Israel, but, characteristically, by the representatives of those earnest men and women who looked for His Advent - the Prologue, if such it may be called, to the third Gospel closes. From whatever source its information was derived - perhaps, as has been suggested, its earlier portion from the Virgin-Mother, the later from Anna; or else both alike from her, who with loving reverence and
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Signs of the Redeemer's Return
As we have shown in the last chapter, the apostles and their converts looked for Christ to return in their own lifetime. They did not affirm that He would but they believed that He might. But eighteen centuries have passed since then and yet He has not come. The question therefore arises, What evidence is there that the second advent of our Lord is now nigh at hand--that is, nigh as judged even by human measurement of time? May there not be another eighteen centuries which must yet run their weary
Arthur W. Pink—The Redeemer's Return

The Greatest Trial on Record
Brethren, as the Lord gave commandment concerning even the ashes and offal of the sacrifices, we ought to think no matter trivial which stands in connection with our great burnt offering. My admonition is, "Gather up the fragments which remain, that nothing be lost." As goldsmiths sweep their shops, to save even the filings of the gold, so every word of Jesus should be treasured up as very precious. But, indeed, the narrative to which I invite you is not unimportant. Things which were purposed of
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 9: 1863

The Song of Solomon.
An important link in the chain of the Messianic hopes is formed by the Song of Solomon. It is intimately associated with Ps. lxxii., which was written by Solomon, and represents the Messiah as the Prince of Peace, imperfectly prefigured by Solomon as His type. As in this Psalm, so also in the Song of Solomon, the coming of the Messiah forms the subject throughout, and He is introduced there under the name of Solomon, the Peaceful One. His coming shall be preceded by severe afflictions, represented
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Covenanting Provided for in the Everlasting Covenant.
The duty of Covenanting is founded on the law of nature; but it also stands among the arrangements of Divine mercy made from everlasting. The promulgation of the law, enjoining it on man in innocence as a duty, was due to God's necessary dominion over the creatures of his power. The revelation of it as a service obligatory on men in a state of sin, arose from his unmerited grace. In the one display, we contemplate the authority of the righteous moral Governor of the universe; in the other, we see
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

The Millennium in Relation to Sin.
In spite of the fact that Satan will have been removed from the earth, and that Christ reigns in person over it, yet conditions here will not be perfect even in the Millennium. Unregenerate human nature will remain unchanged. Sin will still be present, though much of its outward manifestation will be restrained. Discontent and wickedness will not be eradicated from the hearts of men, but will be kept beneath the surface by means of the Iron Rod. Multitudes will yield to Christ nothing but a "feigned
Arthur W. Pink—The Redeemer's Return

The Birth of Jesus.
(at Bethlehem of Judæa, b.c. 5.) ^C Luke II. 1-7. ^c 1 Now it came to pass in those days [the days of the birth of John the Baptist], there went out a decree [a law] from Cæsar Augustus [Octavius, or Augustus, Cæsar was the nephew of and successor to Julius Cæsar. He took the name Augustus in compliment to his own greatness; and our month August is named for him; its old name being Sextilis], that all the world should be enrolled. [This enrollment or census was the first step
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Fulfilled Prophecies of the Bible Bespeak the Omniscience of Its Author
In Isaiah 41:21-23 we have what is probably the most remarkable challenge to be found in the Bible. "Produce your cause, saith the Lord; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob. Let them bring them forth, and show us what shall happen; let them show the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods." This Scripture has both a negative
Arthur W. Pink—The Divine Inspiration of the Bible

The Millennium in Relation to Israel.
"And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. In that same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land" (Gen. 15:17, 18). Here the two great periods of Israel's history was made known to Abram in figure. The vision of the smoking furnace and the burning lamp intimated that the history of Abraham's descendants was to be a checkered one. It was a prophecy in
Arthur W. Pink—The Redeemer's Return

The Restoration of Israel is Only Made Possible by the Second Advent of Christ.
Under this head we shall seek to prove briefly three things--that Israel as a nation will be restored, that Israel's restoration occurs at the Return of Christ, that Israel's restoration will result in great blessing to the whole world. That Israel as a nation will be actually and literally restored is declared again and again in the Word of God. We quote now but two prophecies from among scores of similar ones:--"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch,
Arthur W. Pink—The Redeemer's Return

Balaam's Prophecy. (Numb. xxiv. 17-19. )
Carried by the Spirit into the far distant future, Balaam sees here how a star goeth out of Jacob and a sceptre riseth out of Israel, and how this sceptre smiteth Moab, by whose enmity the Seer had been brought from a distant region for the destruction of Israel. And not Moab only shall be smitten, but its southern neighbour, Edom, too shall be subdued, whose hatred against Israel had already been prefigured in its ancestor, and had now begun to display Itself; and In general, all the enemies of
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Paul's Departure and Crown;
OR, AN EXPOSITION UPON 2 TIM. IV. 6-8 ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR How great and glorious is the Christian's ultimate destiny--a kingdom and a crown! Surely it hath not entered into the heart of man to conceive what ear never heard, nor mortal eye ever saw? the mansions of the blest--the realms of glory--'a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.' For whom can so precious an inheritance be intended? How are those treated in this world who are entitled to so glorious, so exalted, so eternal,
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

The Sun Rising Upon a Dark World
The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon then hath the light shined. C ontrasts are suited to illustrate and strengthen the impression of each other. The happiness of those, who by faith in MESSIAH, are brought into a state of peace, liberty, and comfort, is greatly enhanced and heightened by the consideration of that previous state of misery in which they once lived, and of the greater misery to which they were justly exposed.
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

What Messiah did the Jews Expect?
1. The most important point here is to keep in mind the organic unity of the Old Testament. Its predictions are not isolated, but features of one grand prophetic picture; its ritual and institutions parts of one great system; its history, not loosely connected events, but an organic development tending towards a definite end. Viewed in its innermost substance, the history of the Old Testament is not different from its typical institutions, nor yet these two from its predictions. The idea, underlying
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Eastern Wise-Men, or Magi, visit Jesus, the New-Born King.
(Jerusalem and Bethlehem, b.c. 4.) ^A Matt. II. 1-12. ^a 1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem [It lies five miles south by west of Jerusalem, a little to the east of the road to Hebron. It occupies part of the summit and sides of a narrow limestone ridge which shoots out eastward from the central chains of the Judæan mountains, and breaks down abruptly into deep valleys on the north, south, and east. Its old name, Ephrath, meant "the fruitful." Bethlehem means "house of bread." Its modern
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

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