World Peace

This blog will take a quick look at one of the signature Old Testament passages on WORLD PEACE, Micah 4:

1 And it will come about in the last days
That the mountain of the house of the Lord
Will be established as the chief of the mountains.
It will be raised above the hills,
And the peoples will stream to it.
2 Many nations will come and say,
“Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord
And to the house of the God of Jacob,
That He may teach us about His ways
And that we may walk in His paths.”
For from Zion will go forth the law,
Even the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
3 And He will judge between many peoples
And render decisions for mighty, distant nations.
Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation will not lift up sword against nation,
And never again will they train for war.
4 Each of them will sit under his vine
And under his fig tree,
With no one to make them afraid,
For the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.
5 Though all the peoples walk
Each in the name of his god,
As for us, we will walk
In the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.

In order to clarify the above wording, it’s important to get the historical background. So, in verse 1 the phrase “the last days” is a prophetic saying that means “in the future when God concludes human political history”. And the phrase “chief of mountains” is a reference to the prestige and authority of the capitol city as the center of world governance. The underlying idea is that the higher the physical setting, the more noble, authoritative and important it is.

During ancient times, the worship of gods typically occurred at the ‘high places’. For Israel, some scholars say this originated with their receiving the 10 Commandments on the height of Mt. Sinai. The idea of ‘high places’ was common among all the nations from ancient times. It’s important to know that the ancient temples were the seats of government, much like our capitol cities are today. I say this because in the nations where ‘separation of church and state’ is a reality, most people don’t associate temples with state capitols. So when you read the word TEMPLE,  you should think SEAT OF GOVERNMENT or CAPITOL.

Here are some ‘authorities’ on the meaning of the phrase “high place”:

Because the Israelites had associated the divine presence with elevated places (e.g., Mount Sinai), they used Canaanite high places to worship their own God, Yahweh. (Britannica, high place, shrine)

Martin J. Selman, director of postgraduate studies and deputy principal at Spurgeon’s College, London, says, “The essential feature of a bamah [Hebrew: high place] was, therefore, not its location or height, though it usually consisted of at least a [human-formed] platform, sometimes with an associated building or buildings (2 Kings 17:29, 23:19), but its function as a site for religious purposes.”… [According to Ellen White, Ph.D.] It may then be easiest to understand high places not as a reference to temporal space, but to a “higher” theological place….It is the general consensus that before the Temple was built in Jerusalem, the people legitimately worshiped at the bamot. (Biblical Archeology Society, Bible History Daily, High Places, Alters and the Bama)

In greater favor is another theory ascribing the origin of the bamot to the prevalent notion that the gods have their abodes “on the heights” (see Baudissin, “Studien zur Semitischen Religionsgesch.” ii. 232 et seq.). Deuteronomy (xii. 2, 3, 12; comp. xiv. 23-25; xv. 20; xvi. 2, 6, 15, 16; xvii. 8; xviii. 6) orders their destruction and the centralization of the cult at Jerusalem. (Jewish Encyclopedia, HIGH PLACE (Hebrew, “bamah”; plural, “bamot”), Emil G. Hirsch) (emphasis added)

The bold text in the above quote explains the origin of the spiritual and political ideology that Jerusalem will be the high place for all nations in the future, as we see in Mica 4. The point is that YHWH will setup and establish His Kingdom on earth at some future time. The prophets, according to the NT authors, see Jesus Christ as the world’s highest government authority at that time. That means all nations will give their allegiance and obedience solely to YHWH in His future kingdom under Christ’s rule. That will be YHWH’s requirement for the world when He is ‘the big boss’.

So, the idea of the highest mountain refers to the place where YHWH establishes His seat of government as the world’s supreme authority.

Verse 2 identifies YHWH’s capitol as the source of law for the world’s nations. It’s clearly stated in this verse, so needs no further elaboration. Note that this is not a religious matter, but instead it’s political (re., ‘law’).

The beginning of verse 3 identifies YHWH as the source of judgment for the world’s nations. The verse’s wording is self-explanatory. To reiterate, this is not a religious matter, but instead it’s political.  The rest of the verse is a reference to YHWH settling disputes between the world’s nations so they do not resort to warfare. Instead they learn to peacefully coexist.

Verse 4 has an ancient expression that means ‘the peoples of the world will live peaceful lives’. The phrase, “For the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken” means that nobody will overrule YHWH’s judgments. Whatever decision YHWH makes will be binding on all the nations that come to His court for arbitration of their disputes.

Finally, verse 5 identifies the kind of people who will be part of YHWH’s government in the future. It’s those who “will walk in the name of YHWH our God forever and ever”, that is, every person who obeys God’s laws (“walk”) and believes in Jesus. Everyone else around the world will “walk each in the name of his god”, that is, follow the national laws and customs of their ancestors. In other words, they will not obey the same laws and customs as God’s people, that is, those who will live and work in the future Jerusalem as part of Jesus’ government. Jesus said the same thing in different words in Matthew 5, his ‘sermon on the mount’.

Note that verse 2 identifies the origin of God’s capitol city as JERUSALEM. It’s a continuation of His former intention for Jerusalem, which the Israelites and Jews ruined by their disobedience. It’s important to note that this prophecy was given to ancient Israel when they were in exile. Obviously it was heeded by only those Israelites who kept their faith in and obedience to YHWH while living in a foreign land full of idolaters (lawless people, with respect to YHWH’s laws).

According to the Apostle Paul’s NT letters, Jesus Christ’s redemptive work established a New covenant. And that new covenant merged all of the ‘redeemed’ Gentiles into the same community as the Israelites. The Apostle Paul discusses this in Romans 9-11. So effectively this prophecy also applies to all gentiles who become God’s people. But that does not mean it applies to all church people or all ‘Jews’! It only applies to the people who give God their allegiance through acknowledging Jesus as basis of their redemption and obeying His laws.

Here’s my rendering of the above passage based on my comments in this blog:

1 In the future when God ends the nations’ control of world politics,
And the quality of life of their citizens,
YHWH’s New Jerusalem Temple will be the world’s seat of government,
And all the nations will seek its counsel.
2 Many nations will come and say,
“Come and let us inquire of Jesus Christ and his public officials,
That they may teach us about God’s ways
And that we may obey His laws.”
Because it will be from Zion that YHWH’s law will emanate,
That is, the Word of God will originate at the New Jerusalem.
3 And He will judge between many peoples
And render decisions for mighty, distant nations.
So that they will cease from their political intrigue and devastating wars,
And all the hardships and pains that come upon their people as a result.
4 Instead, all the nations’ citizens will live in peace,
Enjoying their lives as they should,
With no one to make them afraid,
For YHWH [the God] of Armies has so ordered,
And nobody can over-rule Him or tell Him what to do.
5 Although all the nations of the world follow the laws and customs
Of their ancestors who denied YHWH’s law and Jesus’ authority,
As for those of us who believe in God and His Christ,
We will follow the laws and customs of YHWH our God forever and ever.

Thanks for stopping by and seeing what the Bible says about World Peace.

See you in the next blog!