12 "I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob; I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel. I will bring them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture; the place will throng with people.
13 One who breaks open the way will go up before them; they will break through the gate and go out. Their king will pass through before them, the Lord at their head."
The Goal of Yahweh’s Action: The book of Micah is never content to rest with the message of one historical period or with one manifestation of Yahweh’s action. (See the introduction and the comment on 1:2–5b). The preceding oracles have dealt with the fall of Samaria (1:5c–7), with the Assyrian conquest of the Judean towns to the west of Jerusalem (1:10–16), with the threatened fall of Jerusalem (2:1–3, 10), and with the postexilic reversal of the fortunes of the oppressors and the oppressed (2:4–5).
But what is the goal of this history of some two hundred years? Its goal is Yahweh’s salvation of his chosen people. Yahweh’s intervention, his judgment on the northern and southern kingdoms, his dispossession of the oppressing Jerusalem leaders—all have one purpose: to make a new covenant peop…
Micah indicates in 1:1 that his prophecy concerns both Jerusalem and Samaria, the respective capitals of the southern kingdom, Judah, and the northern kingdom, Israel. In 1:2–7 Micah opens his prophecy by declaring that Judah and Israel are guilty of idolatry; God himself bears testimony against them and comes in judgment. The next unit (1:8–16) uses repeated wordplays to convey the message of coming judgment. Micah mentions numerous cities, using judgment words that either sound similar to the city or that play on the meaning of the city (like saying, “I will deal with Dallas, cleave Cleveland, and pound Little Rock into pebbles”).
In 2:1–5 Micah proclaims colorfully that just as people are planning to extort and steal land from others (land was God’s gift of inheritance, remember), so God…
12 "I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob; I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel. I will bring them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture; the place will throng with people.
13 One who breaks open the way will go up before them; they will break through the gate and go out. Their king will pass through before them, the Lord at their head."
Suddenly the prophet speaks in positive tones (2:12–13). This abrupt transition has caused many to question the plain meaning or originality of this short oracle. However, we know so little about the prophecy’s structure or history of development that it…
The Goal of Yahweh’s Action: The book of Micah is never content to rest with the message of one historical period or with one manifestation of Yahweh’s action. (See the introduction and the comment on 1:2–5b). The preceding oracles have dealt with the fall of Samaria (1:5c–7), with the Assyrian conquest of the Judean towns to the west of Jerusalem (1:10–16), with the threatened fall of Jerusalem (2:1–3, 10), and with the postexilic reversal of the fortunes of the oppressors and the oppressed (2:4–5).
But what is the goal of this history of some two hundred years? Its goal is Yahweh’s salvation of his chosen people. Yahweh’s intervention, his judgment on the northern and southern kingdoms, his dispossession of the oppressing Jerusalem leaders—all have one purpose: to make a new covenant peop…
(1) A city in northern Edom (Gen. 36:33; 1 Chron. 1:44), located thirty miles north of Petra at modern Buseirah. It controlled the traffic on the King’s Highway. The city was protected by cliffs on three sides, making it almost unconquerable. It was periodically the capital of Edom. Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Amos prophesied that it would fall pending God’s judgment on Edom (Isa. 34:6; 63:1; Jer. 49:13, 22; Amos 1:12). (2) A city in Moab mentioned in Jer. 48:24. Jeremiah prophesied that it would fall when Moab did. It is most likely the same place as Bezer, although its exact location is unknown.
A controlled point of entry into an otherwise enclosed area such as a city (Gen. 34:24; Ps. 122:2; Acts 9:24), camp (Exod. 32:26 27), tabernacle court (Exod. 35:17), palace (2 Kings 11:19), temple area (Jer. 36:10; Ezek. 40), prison (Acts 12:10), or house (Acts 10:17).
In the OT, the city gate has a central role in that city’s military, economic, judicial, political, and religious aspects of life. A key component of the defense system of a city, the gate consists of doors fortified with bars (Judg. 16:3; Ps. 107:16; Nah. 3:13) and keeps invading armies out while also serving as the point of departure and return for the city’s army (2 Sam. 18:4; cf. God the warrior entering in Ps. 24:7–8). The gate also may serve as the location where news of the battle is delivered (1 Sam. 4:18; 2 Sam. 18:24). The destruction of the city gate usually means the destruction of the city (Isa. 24:12).
In the economic life of the city, the gate functions as a place of commerce (Gen. 23; 2 Kings 7:1) and music (Lam. 5:14). At the entrance to the city gate, the city elders assembled daily to hear cases and render judgment (Job 29:7; Prov. 24:7). Along with the elders, there might be additional witnesses (Ruth 4:1–11; Ps. 69:12). For criminal cases, the gate may also be the location where punishment is enacted (Deut. 17:5; 22:24). Thus, the gate is to be a place where all people can come to obtain justice (2 Sam. 15:2–4; Isa. 29:21; Amos 5:15). The gate may hold a seat reserved for the king (2 Sam. 19:8) as well as the king’s officials (Esther 2:19–21; 3:2–3). The city gate might also contain shrines to various gods (2 Kings 23:8; cf. Acts 14:13).
Some references to gates refer to those of the temple area (Ezek. 44; 46; Pss. 100:4; 118:19–20). In Ezek. 48 the temple area is to have twelve gates, each named after a tribe of Israel (Ezek. 48:30–35; cf. Rev. 21:12–25). The prophet Jeremiah proclaims the word of the Lord from both the city gate(s) (Jer. 17:19–27) and the temple gate(s) (7:1–4).
In the NT, Jesus raises the dead son of a widow at the town gate (Luke 7:11–17) and heals a lame man near the Sheep Gate (John 5:1–15). Peter heals a crippled man near the temple gate (Acts 3:1–10). Jesus mentions gates in his teaching, including a call to enter through the narrow gate of life (Matt. 7:13–14), and his parable of the sheep and the gate, in which Jesus refers to himself as the gate (John 10:1–18). See also City Gates.
Renamed “Israel” by God (Gen. 32:28), he was the son of Isaac and Rebekah and was the father of twelve sons, whose descendants became the twelve tribes. Half the book of Genesis (25:19 49:33) narrates his story and that of his sons. The middle chapters of Genesis focus on his struggles with his brother, Esau, and with his uncle Laban, and the later chapters focus on his children Dinah, Judah, and particularly Joseph during his time in Egypt.
A kingdom signifies the reality and extent of a king’s dominion or rule (Gen. 10:10; 20:9; Num. 32:33; 2 Kings 20:13; Esther 1:22). Some kingdoms were relatively small; others were concerted attempts to gain the whole world.
A kingdom presupposes monarchy, rule by an individual, human authority. Although kings only have as much authority as their armies and the general populace allow, they nevertheless exercise an almost absolute power, which invites either profound humility or hubris. Royal arrogance, unfortunately, is the primary motif characterizing kings in the Bible (e.g., Dan. 3).
God originally intended Israel to be governed as a theocracy, ruled by the one, true, living God (but see Gen. 17:6; Deut. 17:14 20). Israel was to be a “kingdom of priests” (Exod. 19:6), but the people demanded a king (1 Sam. 8:1–22). However, even when God granted their request, God remained King over the king and even retained ownership of the land (Lev. 25:23, 42, 55). The Israelite king was nothing more than God’s viceroy, with delegated authority. With few exceptions, most of the kings of Israel and Judah were corrupted by authority and wealth and forgot God (1 Sam. 13:13–14; 15:28; Matt. 14:6–11). But God made a covenant with David, so that one of his descendants would become a coregent in a restored theocracy, the kingdom of God (2 Sam. 7:1–29; Pss. 89:3; 132:11). In contrast to David’s more immediate descendants, this coming king would return to Jerusalem humble and mounted on a donkey (Zech. 9:9; cf. Isa. 62:11). The Gospels present Jesus Christ as this king (Matt. 21:1–9 pars.). Those who are likewise humble will inherit the land with him (Matt. 5:5).
The central idea of the remnant concept or remnant theology is that in the midst of seemingly total apostasy and the consequential terrible judgment and/or destruction, God always has a small, faithful group that he delivers and works through to bring blessing.
Early allusions to the idea of a remnant are introduced in the book of Genesis. Noah and his family (Gen. 6 9) are the remnant that is saved during the flood, when all other people are destroyed in judgment. The remnant theme surfaces in several other places in the OT. For example, when Elijah complains to God that he is the only faithful one left, God corrects him by pointing out that he has maintained a remnant of seven thousand faithful ones in the midst of national apostasy (1 Kings 19:10–18).
However, it is in the OT prophets that the remnant theme flowers into full blossom. The Hebrew words for “remnant” (she’ar, she’erit) occur over one hundred times in the prophetic books. The prophets proclaim that since Israel/Judah has broken the covenant and refuses to repent and turn back to God, judgment is coming. This judgment takes the form of terrible foreign invasions and destruction, followed by exile from the land. Thus, the northern kingdom, Israel, is destroyed and exiled by the Assyrians in 722 BC, and the southern kingdom, Judah, is destroyed and exiled by the Babylonians in 587/586 BC. Yet the prophets also prophesy hope and restoration beyond the judgment. They declare that many will be destroyed in the judgment, but not all. They prophesy that a remnant will survive, and that God will work through the remnant to bring blessings and restoration. Usually the remnant is identified as those who go into exile but who likewise hope to return to the land. The reestablishment of the remnant is often connected with the inauguration of the messianic age.
The remnant theme continues into the NT, but it is not nearly as prominent in the NT as it is in the OT prophets. The term “remnant” does not occur in the Gospels, although the idea is implied in several texts. Thus, in Matt. 7:13–14 Jesus states, “For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Likewise, in Matt. 22:14 Jesus summarizes his preceding parable by stating, “Many are invited, but few are chosen.”
A sheepfold is an enclosure used to confine livestock, either near inhabited areas (Num. 32:16) or in the open country (1 Sam. 24:3). Several Greek and Hebrew words describe such enclosures and may be translated as “sheepfold.” Depending on context, these words can also be translated “wall,” “pasture,” “courtyard,” or simply “habitation.” The use of the English word “sheepfold” is therefore a matter of context rather than of specific terminology in the original biblical languages.
Referring to the protective function of sheepfolds, Jesus refers to himself as the gate of a sheepfold (John 10:1, 9, 16), who keeps his flock from bandits. Shepherds may have used sheepfolds particularly at night. On several occasions, the OT prophets speak of Israel as a flock, and of the land of Israel as its “fold” or “pasture,” so that the gathering of exiled Israelites is likened to the shepherd’s ingathering of animals into their pen (see Jer. 23:3; Mic. 2:12).
