FROM: SUNDAY’S OPEN Q & A Could you please explain this verse: Micah 4:10 Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies. I was wondering if this is talking about the great tribulation when the elect were to flee from the church to the world (Babylon). ANSWER God is using the figure of a woman giving birth---and she delivers in Babylon. The womans birth (her delivery) is tied to redemption in Babylon: there the Lord shall redeem thee. Lets think about how God views the coming together of His elect people as the body of Christ. God has predestinated them to salvation. In a sense Gods choosing of the elect, and Christs dying for them from the foundation of the world (when as yet there were none of them) is akin to conception of a child. In order for this child (all of Gods elect) to be brought forth in birth all of Gods elect must first be found and saved at some point in their life. God addresses this idea in Psalm 139:13 Psalm 139:13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mothers womb. 14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. 15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. This idea is also picked up in the gospel of John, in chapter 16:20 John 16:20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.21 A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. We can understand Micah 4:10 this way: at the time when the Lord was about to complete the spiritual knitting together of the body of Christ (His elect) there was a need for them to come out of the city (the churches) and go to Babylon (the world). In Babylon (the world) God would save a great multitude and complete His salvation program thereby making the child ready for delivery at birth. In a way, God is saying that May 21, 2011 brought forth delivery of the elect child, the entire company of all those God determined to saved. In Micah 4 we also find language of threshing as in harvest: Micah 4:12 But they know not the thoughts of the LORD, neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor. 13 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. This is actually another passage linking together Babylon with harvest time.
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 11:55:01 +0000
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