Church of Christ - Micah 4:1-2

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Micah 4:1-2: "But in the last 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. 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."
Problem:: The Church of Christ places stress upon the use of "last days". It is noted that Peter said that Joel's prophecy concerning the "last days" was being fulfilled at Pentecost. (Acts 2:15-17). It is then inferred that what Micah records was likewise fulfilled at Pentecost and hence the kingdom must have been set up at this time, i.e., the "church".
Solution:

The following is proof that Micah 4 was not fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost:
1. There is no indication in Scripture that those assembled at Pentecost said, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob . . ." (Micah 4:2).
2. The prophecy in Micah indicates that "many nations shall come" (vs. 2), but on the day of Pentecost, "Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven" (Acts 2:5) gathered for the celebrations. The descriptions are different. Micah indicates "many nations" is the subject of reference, but in Acts it is recorded that only Jews were present, and these came out of every nation.
3. Micah states that "in that day . . . the LORD shall reign over them [the halt, and cast off] in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever" (vs. 7), but this has never been fulfilled. Many wars have since been fought in Palestine and elsewhere. About one hundred years after Pentecost, Hadrian, the Roman Emperor plowed Jerusalem and sowed it with salt.¹ (Cf. Micah 3:12 - "therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field").
Peter did not state that Joel's prophecy was completely fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. He said, "this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel" (Acts 2:16) - i.e., this is an example of what Joel prophesied. That this is the correct interpretation is indicated by the fact that Peter did not quote the words: "for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call". (Joel 2:32). The reason for the omission of this section is that it was not even partially fulfilled on Pentecost, but rather awaits fulfillment when Christ returns to the earth to set up his kingdom. But if the kingdom were, in fact, established on the day of Pentecost, then this is just the section one would have expected to have been cited.
Many prophecies in Scripture have more than one application. Jesus said that John the Baptist was Elijah, Malachi 4:5 - "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD". (Cf. Matt. 11:14; Luke 1:17), and yet an examination of the context of Malachi 4 indicates that the work of John the Baptist was only a partial fulfillment.²
"Last days" is used for two different time periods in Scripture:
1. The "last days" of Judah's Commonwealth which was overthrown in A.D. 70 (Cf. Heb. 1:2; 9:26; 1 Pet. 1:20).
2. The last day (or latter days) which refers to the gathering of the nations to the battle of Armageddon and the raising of the dead. (Ezek. 38:8,16; cf. Dan. 11:40; 12:1,2; Jn. 6:39, 40, 44, 54:11-24).
Micah refers to b) as the previous points indicate.

Footnotes:

See, The Bible Today and You, (London: "The Dawn" Book Supply, 1962), p. 72, and William Smith (ed.), A Dictionary of the Bible, (London: John Murray, 1863), p. 1015. Return
John the Baptist came in the "Spirit and power" of Elijah. (Luke 1:17). He categorically stated that he was not Elijah: "And they asked him [John], What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No." (Jn. 1:21). Return