So
the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion From now on, even forever. (Micah 4:7b)
Jesus taught His disciples to pray to the Father, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in
heaven.” (Matt.6:10) He means to literally answer that petition
that has been countlessly offered for two thousand years. The fourth chapter of Micah tells us of a
future time—much closer now than ever—when the kingdoms of men are supplanted
by the kingdom of God.
Our Lord was born into this world to be Lord and
Savior, yet rejected by man. Jesus
presented Himself to Israel as their Messiah.
He rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, but within days they demanded His
crucifixion. There is coming a day, when
the King who rode on a donkey into the city of David will the next time ride
into Jerusalem on a white horse as King of kings. The return of Jesus to Jerusalem will usher
in earth’s golden age (v.1-2). The
nation of Israel that last saw Him crowned Him with thorns will see Him crowned
with glory! A new temple will be built,
with all people flowing into it for worship.
Jews and Gentiles will be gathered to study His Word and submit to His
will.
This violent, war-wracked world will see an industry
of selling arms, transformed into supporting agriculture (v.3-5) for the Prince
of Peace will reign in Zion. At the
outset of the Millennium—the thousand year reign of Christ—the nations will be
gathered for judgment. The sheep will be
divided from the goats—the saved separated from the sinners. All who enter that kingdom will be those who
are God’s redeemed. Tragically, the rest
will be cast into hell.
The lame will be made to walk, the outcast will be
welcomed, the afflicted will be healed—all that Jesus previewed in His first
coming will be realized fully in His second coming (v.6-8). That thousand year reign on earth will give
way to the eternal state, voiced in the Hallelujah Chorus, “and He shall reign forever and ever!”
(Rev.11:15b).
The Jews—now hated and across the ages persecuted—will
in that day be delivered. The suffering
brought on by rejecting Christ will be reversed when they receive Him. A new world order will be birthed, but first
the labor pains of the tribulation will be experienced (v.9-10). Following the rapture of the church, there
will come seven years of God’s wrath being poured out on a Christ-rejecting
world. The last half will be the Great
Tribulation—three and one half years of unprecedented horror. The effect on the Jews, however, will be to
drive them to cry out for their King—and Christ will return to save the seed of
Abraham.
At the climax of those seven years, all the nations
will encircle Jerusalem—the battle of Armageddon will ensue (v.11-13). In their folly, the rulers of earth will
gather to war against Christ—and the battle is over as soon as it is
begun. Israel is delivered as God’s
wheat by the threshing of tribulation, while the sinners are as chaff to be blown
away.
Looking about at what is happening now—seeing the
suffering wrought by sin—wrings from my throat a cry to the skies, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev.22:20b).
With great expectation, may we join our prayer to those voiced across
the centuries and repeated in churches around the globe today, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in
heaven.”
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