Micah-End Time Prophecies
Micah’s name in Hebrew means: “Who is like YHVH.” Micah lived and wrote his book some 750 years before the birth of Yahshua. He also predicted the birthplace of the Messiah. This book is divided into three divisions:
Micah predicted the fall of Jerusalem, a prediction that seems to both include the Solomon and the Herod Temples. He predicted that the House of the Lord would become a heap, but he also prophesized a future Temple to be rebuilt in the Last Days. However, one of the most compelling prophecies found early in this book is that Micah reminded both Judah and Israel that they had not yet entered into their “rest.” There are many End-
Time implications carried in this simple statement. In Micah 2:10 we read:
Micah 2:10 “Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction.”
When this verse was written Israel was divided into Judah and Israel. The taking into captivity of the 10 northern tribes was already under way, and Judah’s captivity was still more than a 100 years away, but here Micah reminds both Judah and Israel that they had not entered into their anticipated “rest.” This terminology infers a “special kingdom.” Theology allows that when Yahshua establishes His kingdom there will be a great Sabbath. This is the 7th millennium of 1000 years of peace and safety, a special “rest” where Judah and Israel once again regathered into one kingdom will take their rightful place upon earth. Since Israel’s great Sabbath rest does not come in the third millennium in which Micah wrote, then he is telling them to look forward to when the Great Sabbath rest will come, apparently into the far future, the seventh millennium.
Micah’s biting judgments upon Judah earned him the epithet of being a “doom and gloom” prophet by the elders of Israel. One of these elders in Jeremiah 26:18-19 just prior to Judah’s Babylonian captivity of Judah brought up the subject of these frustrating doomsayers referring directly to Micah. However, instead of receiving Micah’s predictions instructively, they instead desired that he be silenced. They speculated as to why King Hezekiah allowed Micah to broadcast his prophecies of gloom and doom. He could not be shut up for it was ordained of G-d. .
In Micah 5:2 Micah foretold the birthplace of Yahshua HaMashiach, the one who shall become Israel’s ruler, Then in Micah 5:3, he predicts Yahshua’s “second event” Yahshua’s return and the setting up His earthly kingdom. Micah as other prophets did not make a distinction between the first and seconding coming of the Messiah. Read with me:
Micah 5:2 “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, (fruitfulness) though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”
Then in:
Micah 5:3 “Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel”.
Verse 2 is explicit. It predicts the birthplace of the future ruler of Israel, which interestingly enough also infers His divinity as written “whose going forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” The latter verse describes an interval of time when the Great King predicted in Micah 5:2 will forego the throne, His kingdom, and Jewish people will once again suffer the birth pangs of travail, but Micah predicts that one day The Messiah would return and with Him would be brought back all the remnant of Israel.
Read on with me to verse 4 for Micah here is unambiguous regarding the second coming of Yahshua HaMashiach.
Micah 5:4 “And he (the Messiah) shall stand and feed in the strength of YHVH, in the majesty of the name of YHVH his G-d; and they shall abide: for now shall He be great unto the ends of the earth.”
Then in verse 15 we see one of the activities of this King of Kings and Lord of Lords who feeds in the strength of YHVH. Read:
Micah 5:15 “And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard.”
Yahshua will defeat G-d’s and Israel’s enemies at Armageddon then rule with an iron hand to execute justice upon the whole world. Isaiah also writes of this time and we recall in the B’rit Chadasha, Yahshua at the synagogue in Nazareth, when He went forth in aliyah, reading from Isaiah’s scroll. Read the passage:
Isa 61:1 The spirit of the Adonai YHVH is upon me; because YHVH hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
Isa 61:2 To proclaim the acceptable year of YHVH, and the day of vengeance of our Elohim; to comfort all that mourn;
Now turn to where we read the passage as Yahshua did:
:
Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of Adonai is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Luke 4:19 To preach the acceptable year Adonai.”
This is the end of the quote but the narrative goes on:
Luke 4:20 “And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the synagogue leader, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
Luke 4:21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.”
Did you notice! Yahshua left out the last phrase of Isaiah’s passage; that is to proclaim “the day of vengeance of our Elohim”
Why did He do this? Because He was declaring that there are two stages in His earthly mission. His first coming was to proclaim “the acceptable year of YHVH,” but His second coming, still in the far future would someday declare the “day of vengeance of Elohim.” This is a marvelous example of how Scripture weaves together, even in the smallest details, the whole picture of G-d’s plan for humanity. G-d tells us in His Word that nothing comes to pass that He has not foretold so that we may be prepared. And Here Yahshua, King, Priest and prophet describes His earthly mission and the two elements it encompasses. One Messiah, two events separated by a space of time determined by YHVH Elohim. .
Now go to chapters 6-7. Micah reminds the people of G-d’s controversy with Israel. He recalls the exodus out of Egypt and the apostasy in the wilderness. Micah then comments about the futility of their sacrifices because their heart is not in it. Read:
Micah 6:7 “Will YHVH be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
And in:
Micah 6:8 “He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth YHVH require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”
This is not an annulling of the Torah. G-d is telling His errant children that their outward actions must reflect their internal heart, and because of their waywardness, they will be dispersed among the nations, but after the final judgment – the Tribulation Period of seven years they shall be regathered.
There is a very interesting passage in chapter 7. Read verses 1 and 2:
Micah 7:1 “Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grapegleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the firstripe fruit
Then in:
Micah 7:2 “The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.”
In the first verse, we see Judah feeling the crush of the condemnation of the world during the tribulation and they cry out “Woe is me.” Micah’s reference to a harvest in verse one is culminated in verse 2 where I want you to particularly note what is written, “the good man is perished out of the earth.”
The word “good” is the Hebrew word “chasid” meaning “saint.” We can then read that “the “saint” is [perished out of the world.] But we can’t stop there for the word “perished” is a translation of the Hebrew word “ovad,” which means “to cause to disappear,” Of the 15 other words translated “perish” in the Hebrew bible most are pretty bloody. However, the word “ovad” means simply to disappear. My understanding is that this is a picture of the pre-tribulation “rapture.” Read with me this translation: “The good man (or saint) is perished (that is, disappeared) out of the earth.” He is not hidden in some secure earthly location, but out of the earth, out of the world.
This brings our attention to how might such a phenomena as the “rapture” goes unnoticed in this world or instant communication. If the rapture occurred on an ordinary day there would be questions, but if it occurs during the Ezekiel 38 war, hardly any notice would be taken for millions will be killed by nuclear attack. This is what appears to be described in Micah 7:4: Let me read the second half of this prophecy:
“…the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity.”
Another translation of this verse from the original Hebrew renders it this way, “Today is come your ordeal from the north.” This implies to me the Russian invasion and the Rapture occur on the same day. If this occurs as I propose who will miss those taken with the earth in turmoil and reeling from the tremendous deaths inflicted on the rest of humanity who have been killed in this war. Micah is not the only prophet to imply that the rapture will occur during the Ezekiel war, Isaiah does also:
In Isaiah, chapter 57:1 it reads:
“The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.”
The same Hebrew word “ovad” is used here as in Micah. We have seen it means “to cause to disappear.” It is paradoxical that the English Bible translates it “perished” for that is what the world will think that those “raptured’ have perished in the war. And why do I think that none will notice? Read the last part of this verse again: “none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.” Isaiah says the world is unaware, ignorant of why so many have been removed from the earth before evil descends upon humankind. This is a picture of the pre-tribulation rapture.
Now let us return to Micah 7:2 where he continues with his description of the world and where he describes those that are left as totally wicked people. Read with me:
Micah 7:2 “The good man is perished (disappears) out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.”
Micah is describing the chaotic world in which the anti-messiah will arise to power. During this time, there will be confusion and the Jewish population of the world will suffer one last judgment. There will be three great wars during that time .The Battle of Magog and Gog (The Russian invasion of Israel) that triggers the rapture and the Tribulation; the second, the “Abomination of Desolation” spoken of by Yahshua in the book of Mathew that occurs in the middle of the Tribulation and then the ultimate Battle, the Battle of Armageddon will be fought at the end of the Tribulation as 200 million soldiers converge upon Israel for a purposed genocide of the Jews. This will provoke the appearance of Yahshua, King of King, and Lord of Lords.
Yahshua our Messiah King, Our Cohen Gadol, Our Adonai will appear with great power and great glory to rescue Judah and Israel will be regathered, exalted and placed in her rightful position on earth to receive all the promises given to her by our G-d YHVH Elohim. It will be a glorious day, long awaited but ever promised by the prophets of old.
There is one other aspect Micah writes about on this occasion and in 7:19-20 he writes of the universal salvation of the Jewish people, and the dispersed of Israel. Let me read the last two verses in Micah:
Micah 7:19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
Micah 7:20 Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.
Micah accused by the authorities as being a gloom and doom prophet leaves us with the most wonderful message in Scripture, He assures us that the Jewish people and Israel will be delivered, and that forgiveness will be obtained. That our Messiah Yahshua HaMashiach will return to save the earth, and establish His glorious reign and peace shall return to the whole earth. Amein.