Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain unto the LORD, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth.
Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion - destroy thy foes "gathered" by Yahweh as "sheaves" (Isaiah 41:15-16).
For I will make thine horn iron. Zion being compared to an ox treading corn, and an ox's strength lying in the horns, her strength is implied by giving her a horn of iron (cf. 1 Kings 22:11, "Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron, and he said, Thus saith the Lord, With these shalt thou push the Syrians until thou have consumed them").
And I will make thy hoofs brass; and thou shalt beat in pieces many people - (Daniel 2:44). And I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord. God subjects the nations to Zion, not for her own selfish aggrandizement, but for His glory (Isaiah 60:6; Isaiah 60:9, "The multitude of camels shall cover thee ... all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall show forth the praises of the Lord ... Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the Lord thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee:" Zechariah 14:20, "In that day shall there be upon the bells of my horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the Lord's house, etc: yea, every pot in Jerusalem shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts;" with which cf. Isaiah 23:18, "Her (Tyre's) merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the Lord; it shall not be treasured, nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the Lord") and for their ultimate good; therefore He is here called, not merely God of Israel, but "Lord of the whole earth."
Remarks:
(1) Here is a prediction which certainly has not yet been fully accomplished either to the Jewish or to the Gentile Church. Jerusalem, as the seat of God's kingdom, is to be raised to a spiritual elevation far above that of the most exalted nations. From dooming Mount Zion to become soon like a wild forest height (Micah 3:12), because of the nation's sins, the prophet suddenly transports us to "the last days," when "the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains." The suddenness of the transition teaches us that the coming blessedness of Israel is an act wholly of sovereign grace, not for the people's merits, past, present, or future. Similarly, in the case of spiritual Israel, salvation is solely gratuitous, not of works; thus, "where sin abounded, grass did much more abound." (Romans 5:20).
(2) The result of the Lord's marvelous grace to Zion (Micah 4:2), on the Gentiles, shall be, to attract them, through the all subduing Spirit, to seek to be partakers of Israel's grace. Godliness, when it is manifested fully in the saints, has a power over others, constraining them to say, "Come, let us go up to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths."
(3) There is an order in God's ways of grace, as in His ways of Providence. That order is, that "the law should go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem" (Micah 4:2). Let us fall in with the mind and the order of God, by placing the Jews in that prominent place in our affections, efforts, and prophetic views which God has intended that they should occupy.
(4) Judgment on the hostile world-powers shall precede the mercy about to be shown to the Jews (Micah 4:3). Then shall follow the reign of peace, wherein "nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore." The prophetic command (Joel 3:10, "Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears") shall then be reversed; because "they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks." How blessed a contrast shall that period of undisturbed tranquillity form to the suspicion, fear, and insecurity of the present order of things, even in comparatively well-governed states!
(5) As the Babylonian captivity weaned the Jews of their former proneness to idolatry, so their present long-continued dispersion will at last lead them, by the special grace of God, to cast away their unbelief, and in the strength of His Spirit to resolve, "We will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever" (Micah 4:5). Let this be our resolution also, and we shall experience that "the name of the Lord is a strong tower" (Proverbs 18:10), ensuring our safety forever and ever.
(6) As the Lord's elect people "walk in the name of the Lord forever and ever," so in the coming day the Lord shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth forever" (Micah 4:7). Those who once "halted,'' and whom God "afflicted" (Micah 4:6), shall then be made "strong." This promise, which primarily, belongs to Israel, belongs also to the present Church. Affliction is the discipline appointed to train the believer for coming glory. "Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees (Hebrews 12:12).
(7) Jerusalem is in God's purposes the "tower of the flock" (Micah 4:8). "The kingdom shall come to her" with a glory far exceeding her former greatness. The Church also is designed by God to be a tower of spiritual strength and elevation. Each believer ought to be raised above the world in aims, temper, and whole conversation. In proportion as we realize this lofty standard hath the kingdom of God come to us with power.
(8) Sorrow and pain were appointed in Israel's case to precede her deliverance from the Babylonian captivity (Micah 4:9-10), and her redemption by the Lord from the hand of her enemies. The very scene of her sufferings was to be the scene of her vindication from wrong. As the joy at the birth of a man-child makes the mother to forget her past labour-pangs, so the present sorrow of the Lord's people shall be followed by a heartfelt joy which no man taketh from them (John 16:22).
(9) The enemies of Israel, literal and spiritual, little know the thoughts of love and unsearchable wisdom which God entertains toward His people. The very trials which He permits them to endure at the hands of their enemies are being overruled to the ultimate salvation of His people, and to the destruction of their enemies. When the latter gather themselves against the Church, to feast their eyes insultingly on her calamities, they are unconsciously being gathered together to be trodden under foot by her (Micah 4:13; Revelation 2:26-27).
(10) Yet even then "mercy rejoiceth against judgment" (James 2:13); because a remnant of the Gentiles shall be spared, whose "gain shall be" henceforth "consecrated unto the Lord, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth" (Micah 4:13). Israel is to be restored, not for her own selfish aggrandizement, but in order to be the instrument of blessing to the nations in "the whole earth." Our happiness is in proportion to our Christian usefulness. Israel shall be then most blessed when she shall be a blessing to others. And the nations shall thou be most blessed in their gains when, instead of hoarding them up for selfish ends, they shall "consecrate them to the Lord of the whole earth." The Lord grant us grace to find our happiness already in living for His glory and for the good of others, with all we have and all we are!