Daily Devotions
Micah
"Be in pain, and labour to bring forth"
Text: Micah 4:10
MICAH’S RESPONSE
Micah was not being insensitive or harsh in his response to the cries of the people. He had ministered to them for many years. He knew only too well how wicked their hearts were.
“Be in pain, and labour to bring forth,
O daughter of Zion,
Like a woman in birth pangs.
For now you shall go forth from the city,
You shall dwell in the field,
And to Babylon you shall go.
There you shall be delivered;
There the LORD will redeem you
From the hand of your enemies.”
Micah 4:10
1. “Like a woman in birth pangs”
a) There is unavoidable intense pain.
b) There was no relief possible in those days.
c) Labour was sometimes terribly difficult.
This would be Judah’s lot in the time of its travail.
2. “O daughter of Zion”
a) This was a tender term of affection.
b) The Lord still loved His people and addressed them as “Zion”.
3. A terrible journey described
a) “For now you shall go forth from the city”
i) The residents would be dragged out of the city of Jerusalem.
ii) It will be as prisoners of war that they will march along.
b) “You shall dwell in the field”
i) The journey to Babylon would take months.
ii) They will stop along the way… in the open fields.
c) “And to Babylon you shall go”
i) Their final stop would be Babylon.
ii) Some would die along the way.
Those who make it would have experienced great hardship and suffering.