The Prophet Now Pleads with YHWH To Feed His People Like A Shepherd (Micah 7:14).
In Micah 5:4 the coming King was to ‘stand and feed in the strength of YHWH'. Here Micah looks forward to that day. He calls on YHWH to feed His people with His rod. The rod indicates the shepherd's rod with which He will act as their protector while the sheep are feeding so that they can feed securely (compare Psalms 23:4). Alternately it may have in mind ‘the rod who will arise out of Israel' (see Numbers 24:17), the coming Messiah who is to feed His people (Micah 5:2-4). Either way the future time of blessing is in mind.
The flock, who are YHWH's heritage, are pictured as gathered in the forest on Mount Carmel and dwelling alone. This may have in mind a known remnant of the northern kingdom who had taken refuge there and as a tiny remnant were a picture of the pressed in people of God, or may simply be a way of emphasising the solitariness in the world of God's people (compare Numbers 23:9; Deuteronomy 33:28). Either way the prayer is for the extension of their pasturage into a land of fruitfulness.
‘Feed your people with your rod,
The flock of your heritage, who dwell solitarily,
In the forest in the midst of Carmel.
Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead,
As in the days of old.'
The cry is that God would feed His people with His rod, by leading them into good pastures under His protection, and that His hemmed in people might be granted widespread pastures in places of great fruitfulness. The idea may be that they might be restored to the boundaries of old, with Carmel on the west and Bashan and Gilead on the east, as in the days of old. Bashan and Gilead were famous for having good pasturage for flocks and being places of fruitfulness.
‘The flock of your heritage, who dwell solitarily, in the forest in the midst of Carmel.' This may suggest that it was here that refugees from the destruction of Israel and Samaria had found safety, and that he was now pleading that they might be able to expand throughout the land as in the days of old. But certainly the general idea is that YHWH will once again be the Shepherd of His people and lead them forth so that they might spread throughout the whole country that had once been theirs. In other words, it is a prayer for fulfilment of the promises for the good times to come.