Micah 4:1-8 New Jerusalem exalted over the nations

The Mountain of the Lord

4:1 It shall come to pass in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and it shall be lifted up above the hills;
and peoples shall flow to it,
2 and many nations shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law, [1]
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
3 He shall judge between many peoples,
and shall decide for strong nations far away;
and 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;
4 but they shall sit every man 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.
5 For all the peoples walk
each in the name of its god,
but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God
forever and ever.

The Lord Shall Rescue Zion

6 In that day, declares the Lord,
I will assemble the lame
and gather those who have been driven away
and those whom I have afflicted;
7 and the lame I will make the remnant,
and those who were cast off, a strong nation;
and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion
from this time forth and forevermore.

8 And you, O tower of the flock,
hill of the daughter of Zion,
to you shall it come,
the former dominion shall come,
kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem.

The next four oracles refer to renewed Zion (cf. vs 7, 20, 8, 10-11). As old Jerusalem fell because of corrupt leaders, the new Jerusalem will triumph because it will be ruled by the Messiah over the saved remnant.
   
4:1-5 General threats. (Cf. Is. 2:2-4). 1 The promises in chs. 4-5 will be fulfilled in the last days (better ‘in days to come’) commencing with the restoration of the remnant from Babylon (6-7), fulfilled in the church today (Acts 2:17; Heb. [p. 826] 1:2), and consummated in the new heavens and earth at the end of time (2 Pet. 3:12; Rev. 21-22). In a breathtaking shift, Micah moves from the destruction of ‘the temple hill’ (Heb. haœr) (3:12) to the exaltation of the mountain (Heb. haœr) of the LORD’S temple, the earthly replica of heaven itself (cf. Ex. 25:9; Heb. 9:23-24) as chief (the same Hebrew word as ‘leaders’ in 3:1, 9) among the mountains (the pagan, political and religious centres). Restricted to the language and society of his own age, Micah exaggerates the OT imagery to predict the glorious future when all nations will worship Israel’s God in heavenly Jerusalem through Jesus Christ (cf. Heb. 12:22). Whereas peoples used to stream along the Euphrates to worship Bel in Babylon (cf. Je. 51:44), now they will stream to heavenly Jerusalem. 2 Whereas formerly only Israelites went to worship at Jerusalem, in this glorious Messianic kingdom, many (or ‘great’) nations will go up to heavenly Jerusalem to worship in spirit and truth (Jn. 4:21-24). They will go so that God through true ‘priests’ might teach them his ways (cf. Mt. 5:17; 28:18-20; 1 Pet. 2:9). When the law and the prophetic word of the Lord  will go forth from heavenly Jerusalem, the benefits of vs 3-4 will follow.
    3 God will judge (see 3:11) through gifted individuals ministering his word and so settle disputes among many (better, ‘great’) and strong peoples.
4 With no need for instruments of war, the pacified peoples will beat their swords into ploughshares (better, ‘hoes’).
4 No longer filled with covetousness (see 2:2) nor living by the sword (cf. Mt. 26:52), the converted person (cf. Je. 31:31-34) will live without fear of reprisal and will be content to sit under his own vine. The concluding formula, for the Lord Almighty has spoken, guarantees that the vision will be fulfilled. Today the church consists of true believers from all nations, who know it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35), have the law writen on their hearts and experience the promised grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
    5 Waiting upon God to fulfil this promise, the faithful remnant pledge to walk in the name of the LORD (i.e. in conformity to his covenant) for ever and ever (cf. Is. 40:31). They are the heralds of the future peace.
   
4:6-7 The lame remnant becomes strong. 6 In that day refers to ‘the last days’ of v 1. Declares the LORD guarantees the divine inspiration of this prophecy, and so its authority and truth. The Shepherd–King will again gather the lame and assemble the exiles (better, ‘scattered’), looking forward to the afflicted Judahites restored from Babylon.
    7 After restoring them to Jerusalem God will make (better, ‘transform’) them into a remnant, which now becomes the goal of sacred history. Other nations of Micah’s world did not survive the upheavals of history because God did not preserve a remnant from them (cf. Am. 1:8; Rom. 11). Those driven away on account of their sin, now restored and purified, will become a strong nation (1 Pet. 2:9). Micah then reflects upon this figurative oracle. When the LORD sets up his rule over the restored remnant through the Messiah from his heavenly throne on Mount Zion (cf. 5:2-4; Nu 2:32-36), their kingdom will endure from that day and forever (cf. Is. 9:6-7).
    4:8 Jerusalem’s dominion restored.
God addresses his third prophecy about Zion directly to her. He calls the restored capital a watchtower (i.e. a fortified tower in a vineyard from which shepherds kept an eye out for beasts and poachers) of (‘for the sake of’) the flock (the subjects of his kingdom; cf. vs 6-7). The old rulers plundered them (ch. 3), but in the new era God will protect them through the Messiah (see 5:1-6). He addresses her also as stronghold (‘hill’; 2 Ki. 5:24), the strongly defended eastern hill of Jerusalem (originally called ‘Ophel’). This old title, associated with David’s greatness, gives the remnant a vision of its future glory when its former dominion will be restored, ‘a kingdom belonging to the Daughter of Jerusalem’.