Micah 5:5 And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces… In some crystals that coat, as with shining frost work, the sides of a vessel, we have all the salts that give perpetual freshness to the ocean, their life to the weeds that clothe its rocks, and their energy to the fish that swim its depths and hollows. In some drops of oil distilled from rose leaves of Indian lands, and valued at many times their weight in gold, we have enclosed within one small phial the perfume of a whole field of roses, that which, diffused through ten thousand leaves, gave every flower its fragrance. Like these our text contains the essence of the Gospel; peace to a world at. enmity against God; peace to a race of sinners at variance with God; peace and joy in believing. Peace. I. WHO IS HERE SPOKEN OF? The Man; the Christ. He stands alone as the Man. This is His distinguishing feature. Micah has just uttered a prediction fixing the birthplace of the promised Messiah. He is called "the Man," because He is — 1. The Divine Man. God manifest in the flesh. He is in the Father, and the Father is in Him. 2. As the sinless Man. "He knew no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth." A Lamb for sacrifice, "without blemish and without spot." II. WHAT IS HE TO BE TO US? Christ our peace. In Him God provides for the destruction of all causes of enmity and disorder. This work of destruction was to be the foundation for peace between God and man. For peace between God and man as a sinner, and as a saint. Peace He brings for the sinner. The true peace is in Christ, through His precious bloodshedding, and by His atoning death. Peace He brings for the believer. It is built upon His own promise and Word, and is compatible with the most calm and considerate view of all truth. God's peace is with one's self, with our conscience, with God, in fact, through the blood of Jesus. It is that we want. III. HOW IS HE TO BE PEACE TO US? 1. He satisfied Jehovah. By bearing our sins in His own body on the tree; by making peace through the blood of His Cross; by dying the just for the unjust to bring us to God; by making reconciliation for iniquity, and bringing in everlasting righteousness. 2. He overcame the enmity of the human heart. This peace is purchased for us by His Divinely efficacious bloodshedding, but it is bestowed upon us by the mysterious communication of His Spirit. The source of true peace is faith, realising and resting on the faithful and unchanging promises of God. IV. WHEN MAY CHRIST BE SAID TO BE OUR PEACE? "When the Assyrian cometh into our land." The allusion is to the invasion of Judaea by Sennacherib, in the reign of Hezekiah. Some think that Hezekiah is the man here referred to. But note that this Man was born at Bethlehem; and He was a Man whose goings forth have been of old from everlasting. This must be the Son of God. It is in the very presence of the Assyrian that the child of God has peace. We do not say that the consequences of our sins are taken away. And yet there is peace; Christ works it by destroying the painful sense of the corruption of the spirit's purity, and the deadly evil poisoning of all the springs of being. He is our peace, able and willing to hush every storm, and fill us with all peace and joy. Apply both to our corruption and to our affliction. Then, if there is no true peace in time or eternity but what comes from God in Christ, then let the believer live near to God. Let him, through the aids of the Holy Spirit, maintain a conscience void of offence towards God and man. (William Adamson.) Parallel Verses KJV: And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men. |
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