against him seven shepherds and eight anointed men *. 6. And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: and he shall deliver us from the Assyrian when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders. 7. And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people, as the dew from the Lord, as showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men. 8. And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations 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. 9. Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off.

"Some imagine,"

Seven shepherds-eight anointed men.] says Dr. Gray, "that Micah foretells in this prophecy the vic"tories to be obtained by the leaders of the Medes and Baby"lonians who took Nineveh. Others suppose him to speak "of the seven Maccabees with their eight royal successors, from "Aristobulus to Antigonus." Dr. Gray himself conjectures, that "it may perhaps bear a reference to some higher triii umph;" and refers us to Ezek. xxxviii. and xxxix. wherein the destruction of Gog and Magog is foretold (Key to O. Test. p. 465.). Though I cannot believe that it relates to the war of Gog and Magog, I think him' perfectly right in his general idea that the accomplishment of it is yet future. All these events are to happen at the era of the restoration of the Jews: how then can they, with any degree of propriety, be referred to times previous even to the first advent of Christ?

10. 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 war-chariots: 11. And I will cut off the fortified cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strong holds: 12. And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers: 13. Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands: 14. And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee; and I will destroy thy fortified cities. 15. And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the nations*, such as they have not heard.

COMMENTARY.

Micah begins this prophecy with predicting, in terms similar to a parallel passage in Isaiah †, the glories of the millennian kingdom of Christ.

He declares, that, after God had judged among the people, and rebuked the nations, war and destruction should be no more; but that every one should dwell peaceably with his neighbour.

* I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the nations.] "When I have purged my people from their corruptions, "I will severely vindicate their cause, to the utter destruction of all their unbelieving enemies." Mr. Lowth in loc.

Isaiah ii. 1-5.

He

He then proceeds to enter into particulars, He foretells the general restoration of Israel; and, addressing himself to the mystic daughter of Zion, he calls upon her to be in travail, and to bring forth the mighty multitude of her sons*. Though she has long gone out of her city, and has been led away captive into the dominions of the Roman Babylon t; yet even there the Lord will convert her and deliver her, and will redeem her from the hand of her enemies.

He next directs our attention to another particular, with which the period immediately preceding the Millennium will be marked. While the daughter of Zion is returning into her own land, many nations, ignorant of the counsel of the Lord, shall league themselves against her. But this confederacy of Antichrist God, by the instrumentality of certain unclean spirits, will gather together to Armageddon, as sheaves of corn are gathered into the floor. Then will he call aloud to the daughter of Zion to arise and thresh, and to beat in pieces many people: then will he make her horn iron, and her hoofs brass: then will he devote unto the Lord with a curse of utter destruction the substance of those, who have themselves proclaimed

* Compare Isaiah xxvi. 17. and lxvi. 7-12.

+ The literal Babylonian captivity can only be meant in an inchoate sense, for the daughter of Zion has never yet arisen and threshed her enemies.

Rev. xvi. 16. Compare 1 Kings xxii. 19-23,

an

an anathema against their opponents.

Antichrist wars under the pretext of religion. He goeth forth, as we learn from Daniel, to devote with a curse many to utter destruction. But this curse of extermination will be retorted upon himself: and he will perish with his assembled multitudes at Megiddo; which St. John to denote the same circumstance that Micah here alludes to, fórms into the compound word Armageddon, or the cursing to ex termination at Megiddo. Against this enemy, who will lay siege to Jerusalem, who will even be permitted to take it, and who will smite with the rod of tyrannical oppression the tribes of Israel, the daughter of Zion is called upon to gather herself in troops.

It is now necessary however, that the prophet should go back to the times of the first advent, in order to bring upon the stage that mighty deliverer who alone is able to tread the wine-press of God's indignation. He foretells, that, although the goings forth of the Messiah have been from everlasting, the place of his earthly nativity should be the small town of Bethlehem*. The divine ruler cometh to his own, and his own receive him not. Therefore will he give them up to be led away captive by their ene

It is not unworthy of notice, that the Chaldee Paraphrast expressly applies this prophecy to the Messiah, just as the chief priests and scribes (Matt. ii. 3-6) rightly interpreted it to Herod. "Et tu, Bethlehem Ephrata,-ex te coram me pro* dibit Christus."

mies, till the time when the daughter of Zion shall travail, and bring forth a whole nation at once; or till that mystic birth of the restored Jewish people shall take place, which the prophet had already announced *. Then shall the children of Judah, the remnant of Christ's brethren according to the flesh, return unto the children of Israel, and form with them only one nation. Their once rejected: Redeemer shall be their king. He shall feed his flock in the strength of the Lord. And such shall be the increase of the Church in the happy age of the Millennium, that he shall be great unto the ends of the earth, and all people shall flow unto his holy mountain.

Messiah however will be revealed, not only to be peace unto his people, but likewise to be a terror unto his enemies. When the mystic Assyrian, the Antichristian head of the Roman Babylon, shall enter into the land of Palestine; when he shall tread down its palaces, and plant the curtains of his tents between the seas in the glorious holy mountain: then will the Lord suddenly go forth in his anger, and deliver his chosen from the hand of their oppressors; then shall the wilful king come to his end, and none shall be able to help him. The tyrant of Babylon, that shook whole kingdoms, and that made the world as a wilderness, shall in his turn feel the avenging arm of

* Compare: Micah iv. 10. with v, 3:

God.