Micah 4:1
In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and peoples will stream to it.
Here at the start of chapter 4 we get another of the abrupt changes in focus that we saw at the end of chapter 2. One minute everything is darkness and judgement, and the next minute there’s a startlingly unexpected injection of hope. At least, that’s how it seems when we read it. But in practice, there’s going to be quite a long gap between the desolation described at the end of chapter 3 and the glorious future that’s described in today’s verse. In fact, we’ll need to wait until ‘the last days’ to see it happen. But when are ‘the last days’? The phrase is used a handful of times in the Old Testament, by prophets including Isaiah, Micah and Hosea. Each of them announces to their own generation that judgement is coming because the nation has turned away from God. But beyond the destruction, they can see the faint outlines of better things to come, when the people return to the Lord. That far-off time is the ‘last days’ - it’s not so much a calendar entry that marks a precise date that they can count down to, but more a destination to set their sights on to help them to persevere through the hard times. Because the ‘last days’ that these prophets speak about are filled with joy and delight. They are the time when everything is put to rights - God is once more the focus of his people’s delight and worship.
And so the fact that the Lord’s mountain will be the highest of the mountains isn’t an observation about geography. Rather, it’s an expression of the fact that God will once again be exalted in the midst of his people. Of course, he always is and always has been the Almighty - the one who is far above any other power or authority. But you wouldn’t know that from looking at the way his people have treated him. But in the last days he will finally be given all the glory and honour he rightly deserves. Instead of turning away, his people will flock to be near him. What a privilege it is that when that day comes, and every knee finally bows to worship the Lord Jesus, we will be there as children of that mighty king, welcomed to draw near to him because of his death in our place. Let’s praise him for that today.
