5:5,6
“And he shall be their peace”. Jesus is our peace. In the near future Assyria was going to invade and conquer Israel, the northern kingdom. She would invade much of Judah, but would be stopped at the gates of Jerusalem. It seems that Micah here is looking far ahead. The formula seven and eight, is similar to the “three even four”, found several times in Amos. Assyria would be powerful, but even greater power would be raised against him. As noted, this did happen with Assyria failing to take Jerusalem, but an even greater event is looked forward to. We should note that the analogy implies that the enemy will seem to be very successful, and almost on the brink of absolute success (as was Assyria), but she will in fact not succeed. The enemy will be shepherded with the sword. Violence will be used against her. So even though the enemy “treads within our border”, he will not win.
5:7
We then get a picture of the remnant, which shall be among many peoples. Jews have been dispersed throughout the world, and if we take this as referring specifically to the Jews, then we can expect Jews in many parts of the world to turn to Christ. Alternatively, it could refer to the Gentiles who get saved, who are indeed from all peoples. Whatever the case, the key point is that all this is in God’s hands, under His control. It seemed at the time as if Assyria, and later Babylon, were in control. Today we see many forces that seem to be in control, but all this is an illusion, for it is God alone who is in control.
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