Knowing the thoughts of the Lord (Mic 4:11-13)

When my husband and I first started thinking about moving from the UK to New Zealand, we wanted to settle in the city where his parents lived. It made sense to us since we had family there, but as we explored the possibilities on a visit to NZ, the doors seemed to shut in our face. We were ready to shelve the question and stay on in England for the time being when, unexpectedly, a job opportunity came up for me in Auckland. This was not in our plans but it was hard to ignore the signs of God’s hand and so we ended up moving after all, even if not to the city of our choice. So often we plan one thing, and the Lord transforms it into something else. Similarly in our reading the nations have a specific aim, but they do not realise that God has other intentions. They follow their own plans when they assemble and do not know that the Lord gathers them; their purpose is to destroy, but they will be threshed and destroyed; they want to desecrate God’s holy city (Jerusalem), but all they have will be consecrated to God instead (Mic 4:11-13).[1]

Once again, it is difficult to be certain of the historic background, though the intended Assyrian siege on Jerusalem in 701 BC is a paradigm for the way God can reverse the conceited plans of the ungodly. It shares some parallels with the description here, although the details are not an exact match. Thus, just as in our passage where the nations gather, Isaiah mentions other peoples as part of the Assyrian attack in 701 BC (Mic 4:11; Isa 8:7-8, 9-10). Likewise, the pride evident in the intent to desecrate Jerusalem is matched by the Assyrian arrogance against God in the intimidating speech before the siege against Jerusalem was to begin (v.11; Isa 36:18-20). On the other hand, our reading speaks of God’s people being involved in the elimination of the enemies, but in 701 BC it was God who miraculously saved the city and routed the Assyrians (Isa 37:36-38).

The fact that the historic details are left so vague in our passage warns against an attempt to pin down an exact setting. As so often, this prophecy may have a progressive fulfilment in which certain aspects are recognised in past events, while a fuller expression of it awaits the future. The point is that in every age God’s people face enemies who threaten and gloat, whether it be human persecutors or spiritual powers that intimidate and dishearten. The principle Scripture highlights is that we think we are masters of our fate, but God is the one who is sovereign over all. This is a warning to all who are overly confident in their abilities to control their lives, a particularly strong temptation for us in a Western context because our cultures encourage such beliefs. Moreover, they reinforce the conviction that it is our inalienable right to do what we set our minds to and to follow our dream. Yet, illness, the loss of loved ones, financial collapse, or a pandemic like Covid can alter our circumstances dramatically. Being responsible, planning ahead, and doing our best where God has placed us are important, but our trust, as Christians, should not be in our abilities to manage our lives but in our God and King.

Secondly, this passage gives us hope. Although the world we live in is corrupt and God does not choose to eliminate evil just yet, He is sovereign, whether He incorporates that evil to work good in us (as He did when He allowed His people to go into exile) or whether He reverses arrogant plans (as He did when Assyria attacked Jerusalem). Thus, when darkness threatens to overwhelm us, when our circumstances shout discouragement that we are lost and incapable, God’s answer is that if we allow ourselves to be beaten by such a perspective then we do not know His thoughts or understand His purposes. He is able not only to turn disaster into deliverance, but even to allow us a part in the process of overcoming. This is the God we trust.

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[1] Parallels noted by J.L. Mays, Micah, OTL (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1976), 107.

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