Matthew Chapters 20 and 21

Matthew Chapters 20 and 21 - 2011-07-22

There is one aspect of Matthew chapter 19, verses 27 and 28, which I did not discuss last week. That is where Peter says to Christ: “Look, we have left everything and have followed You! What then is there for us?” 28 And Yahshua said to them: “Truly I say to you that you are those who shall be following Me in the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit upon the throne of His honor, and you also shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel!” Note that there is never any mention in any of these eschatalogical sayings of Christ about “Israel and the beasts of the field” or “Israel and the Chinese” or “Israel and the Africans”. That is because it is simply not true, and whoever teaches such a thing deceives himself. Yahshua said in John chapter 3 that “unless a man should be born from above, he is not able to see the Kingdom of Yahweh.” Only the Adamic Man has that Spirit of Yahweh which makes him born from above, and in the image and likeness of God. In 1 John chapter 4 that same apostle tells us that we are born of God, as Adam our father also was, and the others are born of the world. We are from above, and all who are not of us are from below. Therefore none of the others shall ever see the Kingdom of Heaven when it is instituted on earth! How can one claim to be a Christian Israelite faithful in the Scriptures, and pronounce otherwise? He is a liar and a fraud!

XX “1 For the kingdom of the heavens is like a man, a master of a house, who has gone out while it is early [before sunrise, or before 6am] to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 And agreeing with the workers for a denarion a day he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And having gone out about the third hour [or 9am] he saw others standing idle in the market. 4 And he said to them: ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever would be just I shall give to you.’ 5 And they went out. Then again having gone out about the sixth and the ninth hour [or Noon and 3pm], he had done likewise. 6 Then about the eleventh [5pm, the traditional end of the day was 6pm], having gone out he found others standing and he says to them: ‘Why have you stood here idle all day?’ 7 They say to him: ‘Because no one has hired us!’ Ha says to them: ‘You also go into the vineyard!’ 8 And upon its becoming late the master of the vineyard says to his foreman: ‘Call the workers and pay the salary to them, beginning from the last unto the first.’ 9 And those having come about the eleventh hour each receive a denarion. 10 And those having come first supposed that they would receive more, and they also each received a denarion. 11 But receiving it they muttered against the master of the house, 12 saying ‘These last had done one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the burning heat of the day!’ 13 But responding he said to one of them: ‘Friend, I do not wrong you! Have you not agreed with me for a denarion? 14 Take that which is yours and go! Now I desire to give to this last man as also to you, 15 so is it not lawful for me to do that which I desire with mine own? Or is your eye evil because I am good?’ 16 Thusly the last shall be first and the first last!”

We must not despise our brethren who awaken at the last hour. Neither do we despise those who come after us, with the attitude that they are beneath us. The fool says in his heart “I have been doing this for 30 years, and you can't tell me anything.” Out of pride he assumes that he is justified. You do not know what favor Yahweh has bestowed upon babes until you hear them with an honest heart.

To take the example a step further, neither do you really know the man who in his sleep may have been subconsciously doing that which Yahweh has willed, even though you in your state of wakefulness and with eyes open to the truth may not be. So we accept our Israelite brethren in Christ as equals and peers, as fellow-workmen in the vineyard of His kingdom. We are all brethren, and we have only one master and teacher, which is Christ. Matthew 23:10: “Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.”

Now for exemplary purposes, let us see why the workers were even paid that very evening. For all of these people who want to hold their brethren to the letter of the Hebrew law, as both James and Paul state, they had better keep the whole law. Leviticus 19:13 states thus: “Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.” You who would boast in the law had better pay all of your bills each evening, or you have failed to keep the law. And if you think about this law carefully, if you owe any debt for any service or goods you have received, you have failed to keep the law. Therefore, seeking righteousness by striving to keep the law, you are a hypocrite. Yahweh's moral laws which are reflected in the ten commandments are eternal, and if we love Christ we shall keep them. But do not seek to rule over your brother as a Pharisee with the Levitical law as their use has been interpreted, and their words have been corrupted, by men.

17 And going up to Jerusalem Yahshua took the twelve students by themselves in the road and said to them: 18 "Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be given over to the high priests and scribes, and they shall condemn Him to death, 19 and they shall hand Him over to the heathens for which to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and in the third day He shall be resurrected."

(These verses are wanting in the hard copy of the CNT version 1.0. This was an editorial error.)

In my translation I preferred the literal translation student above the word disciple, because not only is the word disciple generally abused, like a lot of words that lazy people have allowed the enemies of definite meanings in language to pervert. Here is an example of that, from a website called reference.com:

–noun

1. Religion . a. one of the 12 personal followers of Christ. b. one of the 70 followers sent forth by Christ. Luke 10:1. c. any other professed follower of Christ in His lifetime.
2. any follower of Christ.
3. (initial capital letter) a member of the Disciples of Christ.
4. a person who is a pupil or an adherent of the doctrines of another; follower: a disciple of Freud.

–verb (used with object)

1. Archaic . to convert into a disciple.
2. Obsolete . to teach; train.

While other dictionaries do better, the first three definitions here obscure the fact that μαθητὴς was a very common Greek word, used of those who were learning all sorts of disciplines. The Greek word μαθητὴς is simply, according to Liddell & Scott, a learner or a pupil, and without all of the dogma attached to the word, the rendering student is a perfect reflection of the literal meaning of μαθητὴς. Even though traditionalists may hate me for it, I would rather have a Bible that conveyed the plain meanings of words rather than a Bible which keeps the traditions of men.

20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedaios had come forth to Him with her sons, making obeisance and asking something from Him. 21 And He said to her “What do you wish?” She says to Him: “Say that these my two sons shall sit, one at Your right hand and one at Your left hand in Your kingdom!” 22 Then replying Yahshua said “You know not what you ask! Are you able to drink the cup which I am about to drink?” They say to Him: “We are able!” 23 He says to them: “Indeed, for you to drink My cup, and to sit at My right hand and left hand is not Mine to give, but for whom it has been arranged by My Father!” 24 And hearing it the ten had been irritated by the two brothers.

Well, don't mothers often seem to do things that embarrass young men? And the other apostles despised the two men for the forwardness of their mother. Yet the answer of Christ tells us explicitly what we see elsewhere, that the Children of Israel are indeed predestined by Yahweh for that position which they shall have in His Kingdom. Paul in his epistle to the Galatians says of his own ministry that “it pleased Yahweh, Who selected me from my mother’s womb and called me through His favor to reveal His Son by me that I announce Him among the Nations”.

But we do not know by what method we obtain that position. Yahweh knows ahead of time, those of us which shall say “So then, if my position is predestined, I need not do anything.” Do not think that you will outsmart God. As James said, faith without works is dead, and as Paul said in Hebrews chapter 10, “we should hold fast the profession of the expectation without wavering; for He making the promise is trustworthy. 24 And we should consider one another, in regard to stimulation of love and of good deeds”, and at Titus 3:14, “And let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful.” If you are the type of person who says in his heart “So then, if my position is predestined, I need not do anything”, then your predestined position is probably not a very good one n the first place! You cannot outsmart God!

25 Then summoning them Yahshua said: “You know that the rulers of the Nations lord over them and the nobles exercise their authority. 26 But it is not thusly among you. Rather, he who would desire to become great among you shall be your servant, 27 and he who would desire to be first among you shall be your slave, 28 just as the Son of Man has not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many!”

Hosea 13:14: “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.”

Psalm 49:7,15: “7 None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him... 15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me.”

We should follow the example of Christ. Those who seek the first position, those who seek to rule among us and be served by others, they are not following the example of Christ, but rather the examples of the popes and kings of this world. Even Paul told the Corinthians that he was happy for their submission to the Gospel “Not because we lord over your faith, rather we are colleagues of your joy: for you are established in the faith” (2 Corinthians 1:24).Paul was writing to the Corinthians in this manner, because they at the assembly in Corinth had chosen to forgive a fornicator – ostensibly a repentant fornicator – whom Paul advised them to eject from the assembly. Therefore Paul told them also “Now to anyone whom you are obliging (in other words, with forgiveness, the word is the verbal form of χάρις , or favor, grace, to bestow such grace infers an act of forgiveness), likewise I am; and for my part whomever I oblige, if anyone I oblige, it is for your sakes, in the presence of Christ; in order that we are not taken advantage of by the Adversary, for we are not ignorant of his designs.”

We do not rule over one another. Rather, we serve one another, and we serve one another whether we like each other or not. Throughout his letters, Paul saw himself as a servant to the assemblies of God, following this same example which we see in Christ. At Philippians 2:6-7, Paul says describing Christ: “6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” Those who want to rule over their brethren do not make themselves to be obedient servants, but rather they attempt to make themselves to be God, our only legitimate ruler.

At this point it may be fitting to read the 116th Psalm, since at verse 22 here we saw that Yahshua asked “Are you able to drink the cup which I am about to drink?” In this Psalm we see that this too was related to a Messianic prophecy. All of this helps us to see the consistency of the Bible:

KJV Psalm 116:1 I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. 2 Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. 3 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. 4 Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. 5 Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. 6 The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me.[Remember that Paul said that Christ was made low, and He was exalted.] 7 Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee. 8 For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. [The example of the resurrection.] 9 I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living. 10 I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted: 11 I said in my haste, All men are liars. 12 What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me? 13 I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD. [The cup Yahshua was to drink from.] 14 I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people. [His vow was to die on our behalf.] 15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. [We follow His example when it is demanded of us.] 16 O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds. [We are free only by serving Him.] 17 I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD. 18 I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people, 19 In the courts of the LORD'S house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. [Just as Christ did.] Praise ye the LORD.

29 And upon their going out from Iericho a great crowd followed Him. 30 And behold! Two blind men sitting by the road, hearing that Yahshua passes by, cried out saying “Have mercy on us, Prince, Son of David!” 31 But the crowd admonished them that they should be silent. Then they cried louder, saying “Have mercy on us, Prince, Son of David!” 32 And stopping Yahshua called them and said “What do you wish that I shall do for you?” 33 They say to Him “Prince, that You would open our eyes!” 34 And Yahshua being deeply moved touched their eyes, and immediately their sight was restored and they followed Him.

Just like today, the crowd of people despised men of low estate, even though we see that the truth proceeded from their mouths. Christ honored them because they spoke the truth, and He lifted them up from their estate. Christians should learn from these examples. Here the men were blind, but the crowd was blinder!

XXI 1 And when they had come near to Jerusalem and they came into Bethphage to the Mount of Olives, then Yahshua sent out two students, 2 saying to them: “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you shall find a leashed ass, and a colt with it. Releasing it bring it to Me. 3 And if anyone should say something to you, say that ‘The Prince has need of them!’ Then at once he shall send them.”

Here we see the prescience of Christ which only God Himself can have, and which only God can impart. As Yahweh pronounced in Isaiah chapter 41: “Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods”.

4 Now this happened in order that that which was spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled, saying: “Speak to the daughter of Sion [discuss the pronunciation of this word]: Behold, your King comes to you, meek and mounted upon an ass, even upon a colt – son of a beast of burden!” 6 And the students going and doing just as Yahshua prescribed to them, 7 they brought the ass and the foal and placed garments upon them and He sat atop of them.

Zechariah 9:9: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.”

8 Then most of the crowd had spread their own garments in the road, but others cut off branches from the trees and spread them in the road. 9 Then the crowds leading Him and those following cried out saying: “O salvation is with the Son of David! Blessed is He coming in the Name of Yahweh! O salvation in the heights!”

2 Kings 9:13 Then they hasted, and took every man his garment, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew with trumpets, saying, Jehu is king.

10 And upon His coming into Jerusalem all the city had been agitated, saying “Who is this man?” 11 And the crowds said: “This is Yahshua the prophet, who is from Nazareth of Galilaia!”

12 And Yahshua had entered into the temple, and He cast out all the dealers and buyers in the temple, and overturned the tables of the bankers and the seats of those selling doves, 13 and He says to them: “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’, but you make it a den of robbers!”

Isaiah 56:7 refers to the house of Yahweh as a house of prayer. At Jeremiah 7:11 Yahweh states: “Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD.” In the context of Jeremiah 7, the spoiling of the temple in this manner was the direct result of the sin of the children of Israel. The presence of the bankers and those selling doves, ostensibly for sacrifice, also shows that the religion of the Judaeans had become a business, much like the business-religions of today. No doubt, the doves cost two or three times in the temple what they did in the common markets of the surrounding towns. And no doubt the money-changers also exacted a much higher fee for their services, because they were in the temple.

This event is also recorded in Mark chapter 11 and Luke chapter 19. There is another event, not found in the first three gospels, but recorded in John chapter 2, which reads thus:

12 After this He went down into Kapharnaoum, and His mother and brethren and His students, and they abode there for not many days. 13 And it was near the Passover of the Judaeans, and Yahshua went up to Jerusalem. 14 And He found seated in the temple those selling cattle and sheep and doves and the bankers, 15 and having made a whip of ropes He cast them all out of the temple, and the sheep and the cattle, and He spilled out the coins of the bankers and overturned the tables, 16 and to those selling doves He said: “Take these things from here! Do not make the house of My Father a house of merchandise!” 17 His students remembered that it is written: “The zeal for Your house consumes Me!”

This event recorded in John must be a distinct event, since John's gospel is quite chronological in its construction, where John is seen to recount feasts and Passovers as they pass. While the event in John is similar, it is also different, and the circumstances that surround it are far different. Therefore Yahshua must have done this very thing twice, once at the commencement of His ministry, and again towards the end of his ministry.

14 And they brought to Him in the temple the blind and the lame, and He healed them. 15 And seeing the wonders which He did, and the children who were in the temple crying out and saying “O salvation is with the Son of David!”, the high priests and the scribes were irritated 16 and said to Him: “Do You hear what things they say?” Then Yahshua says to them: “Yes. Have you never read that ‘From the mouths of babes and infants You have restored praise’?” 17 And leaving them He departed out of the city to Bethania and lodged there.

They were upset with him because His abilities challenged their perceived ecclesiastical authority. If they were really ever interested in the things of God, they would have perceived that when the blind were made to see and the lame to walk, that God was indeed with them! But they knew not God, because they were not of God, as John said in his first epistle. Yahshua quoted Psalm 8:2, and it is interesting to read the entire passage: “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.” In the Septuagint it reads: “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou perfected praise, because of thine enemies; that thou mightest put down the enemy and avenger.”

18 Then at dawn going back to the city He hungered. 19 And seeing one fig tree by the road He came upon it and found nothing in it except leaves only, and He says to it: “No longer shall there be fruit from you forever!” And immediately the fig tree withered.

While there are some similar verses in the Old Testament about trees, including figs, which bear no fruit, the only passage which seems to be pertinent is found in Jeremiah chapter 24:

Jeremiah 24:1 The LORD shewed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of the LORD, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon. 2 One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad. 3 Then said the LORD unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil. 4 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 5 Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good. 6 For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up. 7 And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart. 8 And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; surely thus saith the LORD, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt: 9 And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them. 10 And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers.

We see in Luke 21:24 that the enemies of Christ “shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” This fig tree in Matthew must be representative of the people of Jerusalem, that there would be no fruit from it forever, because these are the bad figs of Jeremiah! While there were good figs in Judaea, they were already for the most part disciples of Christ and would be converts to Christianity. All of those who were not converts by the destruction of Jerusalem, there would be no fruit from forever, and therefore Christians are obliged to reject all jews without exception!

Another clue as to the identity of the fig tree is found at Matthew 24:32: “Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh.” When we cover that chapter here in a couple of weeks, we will postulate that the time is now that the withered fig-tree has shot forth its branches, and that is an indication to us that the harvest is near.

20 And seeing it the students marveled, saying: “How could the fig tree have withered immediately?” 21 Then responding Yahshua said to them: “Truly I say to you, if you would have faith and not doubt, you would not only do such of the fig tree, but should you also say to this mountain: ‘Be raised and cast into the sea’, it will be! 22 And all things whatever you should ask in prayer, believing you shall receive.”

But we must ask ourselves first what our motives are for that which we pray for:

James 1: 5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

James 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

23 And upon His having come into the temple, while teaching the high priests and the elders of the people came forth to Him saying: “By what authority do You do these things? And who has given to You this authority?” 24 Then replying Yahshua said to them: “I shall also ask you one question, which if you should tell Me, I also shall tell you by what authority I do these things: [From here we can see that it is not improper to answer a question with a question.] 25 From where was the immersion of Iohannes, from of heaven or from of men?” Then they disputed among themselves, saying: “If we should say “From of heaven’, He shall say to us ‘For what reason then had you not believed him?’ 26 But if we should say ‘From of men’, we fear the crowd, for they all esteem Iohannes as a prophet!” 27 And replying to Yahshua they said “We do not know!” And He said to them: “Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things! [The Pharisees could not properly answer Him, so He did not have to answer them!]

“28 Now what do you suppose? A man had two sons, and having come forth to the first he said: ‘Son, go, today you must work in the vineyard.’ 29 But he responding said ‘I do not want to’, but regretting it later he went. 30 Then coming forth to the other he spoke likewise. And responding he said “I shall, master’, yet he had not gone. 31 Who out of the two sons has done the will of the father?” They say “the first!” Yahshua says to them: “Truly I say to you that the tax-collectors and the whores shall go into the kingdom of Yahweh before you! 32 For Iohannes came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax-collectors and the whores believed him! And you seeing it have not later repented for which to believe him!

Those who claim to keep the Word, and do not uphold it, they will be least in the kingdom of heaven! The coming of John was foretold in the prophets. Here, by the word of Yahweh, even whores enter the Kingdom of Heaven, quite contrary to what the modern-day Pharisees are claiming of late.

“33 Hear another parable. There was a man, a master of a house, who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a trough in it and built a tower and let it out to husbandmen, and he traveled abroad. 34 Then when the time for the fruits approached, he sent his servants to the husbandmen to receive of its fruits. 35 And the husbandmen taking his servants then had cudgeled one, and killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them. 37 Then later he sent to them his son, saying ‘They shall respect my son.’ 38 But the husbandmen seeing the son said among themselves ‘He is the heir! Come, we should kill him that we would have his inheritance!’ 39 And taking him they cast him outside of the vineyard and killed him. 40 So when the master of the vineyard should come, what shall he do to those husbandmen?” 41 They say to Him: “He shall destroy the wicked one horribly and let the vineyard out to other husbandmen, who shall render to him the fruits in their seasons!”

If the people in power in Judaea were truly the Children of God, if they were Israelites, they too would have been heirs to the kingdom, and they would have heard the voice of their master. Being tenants, they were merely allowed to run the vineyard by its rightful owner, Yahweh. So we have the Edomite rulers of Judaea. While many of the leaders were Israelites, according to the apostle John at 12:42-43 we see that: “42 Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: 43 For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” Additionally,the high priests themselves at the time were of the Sadducees, a group much more hateful of Christ and Christians than the Pharisees were, and a group so vile that they were rarely even mentioned by the apostles! That they were Edomites is fully evident in the Greek of Acts 4, in verses 6 and 23.

42 Yahshua says to them: “Have you not ever read in the writings: ‘The stone which the builders have rejected, this has come to be for the head cornerstone.

A verbatim quote of Psalm 118:22, “The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.” Of course, visions of the Great Pyramid which is without its capstone since the most ancient times cannot be neglected. There is a story here, even if we do not know it perfectly.

By Yahweh has this been done, and it is a wonder in our eyes’? 43 For this reason I say to you that the kingdom of Yahweh shall be taken from you and given to a Nation producing its fruits!

Micah 4:1-8 speaks of the children of Israel of the dispersion: “1 But in the last [last being a Hebrew metaphor for future] days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. 2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. 4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it. 5 For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever. 6 In that day, saith the LORD, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted; 7 And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever. 8 And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.”

Speaking of the old world empires of Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome, Daniel writes at 2:44: ”And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.”

Micah 4 and Daniel 2 can only be describing the Germanic tribes that destroyed the old empires, and eventually formed the Saxon nations of Western Europe and America. In them all of the prophecies in the Old Testament concerning the people of God are fulfilled.

Micah 4:5 seems on its surface to support a universalist outlook of a sort, until one asks the question, Where are the false gods, the idols of the nations? They are not! And those peoples will follow.

44 And he falling upon this stone shall be broken in pieces, and upon whom it may fall, he shall be scattered like chaff!” I must remark, that Matthew 21:44 sounds a lot like Daniel 2:44, and strikingly, even the NA27 cross-references Daniel 2:44 here!

45 And hearing His parables the high priests and the Pharisees knew that He speaks concerning them. 46 And seeking to seize Him they feared the crowds, since they esteemed Him to be a prophet.

Again, if they would have known the Scripture, they would have known that for Him to be king, that they would rule forever with Him. The common people of Jerusalem did indeed know that, and they anticipated His becoming King. They even wanted to make Him king, as we see at John 6: “14 Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world. 15 When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.” It is clear that their anticipation also betrays the relief they sought from their current Edomite rulers. Yet that promise to rule with Him cannot be spoken on behalf of Edomite usurpers!