00:00 Intro music and voice over.
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00:20 Speaker
In the latter days, God’s kingdom shall be exalted above all the empires of humanity and the evil one. As a result restoration of both the physical and spiritual realm will occur. God’s will as it is in heaven will be done on earth.
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All throughout God’s love story to us, the Bible both the Old and New Testament testify to this truth. To the Ancient Israelites, through the various prophets, the word of the LORD was spoken to them concerning the latter days.
One such prophet was Micah. He lived in a time when evil seemed to be overcoming the earth. Humanity was at its worst. There seemed no difference between those who claimed to be God’s people and those who were not. The rich abused their power and used it for self gain in active oppression of the poor. Pride was fed and even elevated above God.
Those who were entrusted with God’s truth and claimed to be His people had turned their hearts away from Him. They delighted in evil and hated what is good. They abhorred justice and perverted equality.
Yet God continued to pursue in love. Through His prophet Micah, God brought word as of truth and justice, salvation and equality, restoration and healing. His kingdom will come.
So let us turn to the prophecy given to Micah of the latter days.
Micah 4:1-8 Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the LORD’s house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And peoples shall flow to it. Many nations shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths.” For out of Zion the law shall go forth, And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between many peoples, And rebuke strong nations afar off; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore. But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, And no one shall make them afraid; For the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken. For all people walk each in the name of his god, But we will walk in the name of the LORD our God Forever and ever. “In that day,” says the LORD, “I will assemble the lame, I will gather the outcast And those whom I have afflicted; I will make the lame a remnant, And the outcast a strong nation; So the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion From now on, even forever. And you, O tower of the flock, The stronghold of the daughter of Zion, To you shall it come, Even the former dominion shall come, The kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.”
From Micah’s time the term in the latter days refers to a future time of the fulfilment of the coming of God’s kingdom on earth. This is intricately linked to the coming of the King.
As there is no separation between the king and His kingdom, the kingdom reflects His character. His kingdom will be the highest kingdom the world has ever seen. The ways of the LORD will be there. His word will go forth from the place where He rules and reigns. His justice will be amongst those who are His.
His kingdom is a place of peace. Where there is no war. For it is stated in the text that nation shall not lift up sword against nation. In fact weapons of war will be turned into useful tools.
In the latter days, God’s kingdom on earth, is a safe place, where fear has no place. Those of Jewish lineage who have received the king of God’s kingdom and His right to rule and reign, will have their own dwelling place. A safe place of peace and fruitfulness. Living in God’s kingdom of equality and respect, together with each other and all those of non Jewish lineage who have received the King.
Upon receiving the king of God’s kingdom, and His right to rule and reign, there will be a restoration of the former dominion of those of Jewish lineage upon the earth. However until that time, there will be a time of exile, wars and humbling.
Micah 4:9 - 5:1 Now why do you cry aloud? Is there no king in your midst? Has your counselor perished? For pangs have seized you like a woman in labor. Be in pain, and labor to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, Like a woman in birth pangs. For now you shall go forth from the city, You shall dwell in the field, And to Babylon you shall go. There you shall be delivered; There the LORD will redeem you From the hand of your enemies. Now also many nations have gathered against you, Who say, “Let her be defiled, And let our eye look upon Zion.” But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD, Nor do they understand His counsel; For He will gather them like sheaves to the threshing floor. “Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion; For I will make your horn iron, And I will make your hooves bronze; You shall beat in pieces many peoples; I will consecrate their gain to the LORD, And their substance to the Lord of the whole earth.” Now gather yourself in troops, O daughter of troops; He has laid siege against us; They will strike the judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek.
God’s heart breaks for the Ancient Israelites. For they rejected God’s heart desire to be their king to serve them and be with them. In God’s love He wanted to lead them, guide the, provide for them and protect them. To be their good shepherd. Yet they chose the way of humanity instead of God’s ways. They wanted to be like the surrounding waring nations. Have a human king to rule over them. God explained to them if they chose that pathway they are effectively choosing a violent pathway. They will be oppressed by kings and be at war with surrounding nations.
History testifies that the Ancient Israelites were taken captive by the Babylonian empire. But for God’s prophet Micah and the Ancient Israelites at the time of writing, that invasion would be many years later. Yet in amongst it all, God through His prophet Micah continues to bring hope and healing, with the promise of the coming of the king.
Micah 5:2-15 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.” Therefore He shall give them up, Until the time that she who is in labor has given birth; Then the remnant of His brethren Shall return to the children of Israel. And He shall stand and feed His flock In the strength of the LORD, In the majesty of the name of the LORD His God; And they shall abide, For now He shall be great To the ends of the earth; And this One shall be peace. Judgment on Israel’s Enemies When the Assyrian comes into our land, And when he treads in our palaces, Then we will raise against him Seven shepherds and eight princely men. They shall waste with the sword the land of Assyria, And the land of Nimrod at its entrances; Thus He shall deliver us from the Assyrian, When he comes into our land And when he treads within our borders. Then the remnant of Jacob Shall be in the midst of many peoples, Like dew from the LORD, Like showers on the grass, That tarry for no man Nor wait for the sons of men. And the remnant of Jacob Shall be among the Gentiles, In the midst of many peoples, Like a lion among the beasts of the forest, Like a young lion among flocks of sheep, Who, if he passes through, Both treads down and tears in pieces, And none can deliver. Your hand shall be lifted against your adversaries, And all your enemies shall be cut off. “And it shall be in that day,” says the LORD, “That I will cut off your horses from your midst And destroy your chariots. I will cut off the cities of your land And throw down all your strongholds. I will cut off sorceries from your hand, And you shall have no soothsayers. Your carved images I will also cut off, And your sacred pillars from your midst; You shall no more worship the work of your hands; I will pluck your wooden images from your midst; Thus I will destroy your cities. And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury On the nations that have not heard.”
History proves that centuries after Micah prophesied, the king of God’s kingdom, born into the lineage of king David did come. He is the eternal one who came from everlasting and became a finite man. The eternal one who created the heavens and the earth, came from His dwelling place of eternity to ours. He stepped down into our darkness and shame, to bring light and honour. Into our finite hurt and pain He came, to bring healing and life everlasting.
Out of God’s great love, the eternal one chose to experience the full human condition. That is from birth to life and from life to death. He came as a vulnerable baby. Born of the seed of the Holy Spirit, through a woman, the eternal one chose to be born in a little town called Bethlehem. A town whose name meant bread. For He was and is and always will be the bread from heaven.
Bethlehem was the birth place of king David, the shepherd boy who became the second king of the Ancient Israelites. God said of David that he served his generation well. He was a man after God’s own heart. A king who chose to give his total allegiance to the one true God.
God promised the Ancient Israelites that the king of God’s kingdom would come from the line of David and be born in the town of Bethlehem. The town of king David.
In the majesty of the name of the LORD His God the king shall come. The king of God’s kingdom will care for His people. In strength of the divine, He will bring peace and harmony, salvation and healing, restoration and renewal. For the fullness of salvation to be complete, judgement of evil must take place.
The total fulfilment of the latter days is coming. God has fulfilled His holy covenant toward the house of Jacob and David, in Jesus. They will be saved from their enemies. In receiving their king in Jesus, they will be able to serve the LORD without fear. For in His righteousness and holiness live with Him all the days of their life. For the prophet Micah concluded with this.
Micah 7:14-20 Shepherd Your people with Your staff, The flock of Your heritage, Who dwell solitarily in a woodland, In the midst of Carmel; Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, As in days of old. “As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, I will show them wonders.” The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might; They shall put their hand over their mouth; Their ears shall be deaf. They shall lick the dust like a serpent; They shall crawl from their holes like snakes of the earth. They shall be afraid of the LORD our God, And shall fear because of You. Who is a God like You, And passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in mercy. He will again have compassion on us, And will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea. You will give truth to Jacob And mercy to Abraham, Which You have sworn to our fathers From days of old.
God’s character is reflected in His kingdom. His kingdom of love and truth, compassion and healing, deliverance and authority. God is faithful and will fulfil all of His promises. Both to the Jew and non Jew, everything is summed up as one in Christ Jesus. The King and His kingdom is coming!
19:40 Outro music and voice over.
For more information and free resources visit our website jesuslovestheworld.info Be blessed empowered and transformed in Jesus’ name!