Micah 5:7 And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the middle of many people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers on the grass… It must be evident to every thoughtful man that we are all apt to judge unfairly of moral force. We are so much more familiar with the sphere of sense than with the sphere of spirit that we constantly transfer ideas gained from the former into the latter, although its nature is quite different. We judge of matter by its bulk, we judge of machinery by its clever adaptations, and we carry these criteria from the physical into the spiritual sphere. Because we see great effects produced by the movement of mighty bodies, we argue that it must be so everywhere, and that what the world requires is a Niagara-like Church, which will make itself felt by noise and impetus and quantity. Hence we get very depressed if, in connection with a religious society, we see small numbers and hear of diminished funds, while we congratulate ourselves all round if, in regard to these, we hear a good report. This false method of judgment asserts itself in various directions. Many of us trust to majorities, instead of to conscience. We are very respectable to public opinion, and wait cautiously to see which way the wind blows before we commit ourselves to a policy. Power and victory were our Lord's, not because He won the majority over to His way of thinking, not because He devised complex ecclesiastical machinery cleverly adapted to the times, not because He had on His side the weight of money bags and the prestige of social respectability, but because His followers, though few and unlearned, were inspired by Him with an enthusiasm of faith which proved resistless. I say, then, that the real strength of a moral system does not lie in its mass; but in its truth and goodness, and in the faith and zeal of its advocates. Even in the physical world there are not wanting examples of quality overmatching quantity. The heaviest sword made of poor material cannot do what even a light rapier would do, in attack and defence, if the rapier be of well-tempered steel. A handful of men, trained and brave, have often held out victoriously against the impact of a vast horde of undisciplined savages. And this is equally true of a Church. Its fellowship may not be numerous, its members may not be individually influential, but if it be distinguished for piety and prayerfulness, it does more for the cause of Christ than far larger Churches not so rich in them. The influence which the world's wiseacres contemn is mighty through God, to the pulling down of strongholds. Now, it is in the light of these truths you can most clearly see the meaning of our text. It compares God's people not to a mighty storm or to a resistless sea, but to the silent dew and the gentle showers, which are mighty, not because of the stir they make, but because of what they themselves are. And this analogy is accordant with all the parables of our Lord, on the nature of His kingdom, in which He likened it to the mustard seed, and to the leaven hidden in three measures of meal. Every one knows that dew is absolutely essential to the continued life of nature in the lands to which this prophet referred. From the beginning of April to the end of October — in other words, from the close of the "latter" to the beginning of the "former rains" — during all the hot summer months, the life of herbage depends there on dew alone. That dew is transparent, beautiful, glistening with light, gentle and silent, weak in itself, yet mighty in its aggregate effect, refreshing and cooling beyond power of description, and preserving the life it touches, while it is itself consumed in giving the blessing. Then as for the "showers." Often, after a long period of drought, and of dry, searching winds, the face of the sky has been covered with clouds, and showers have fallen on every field and garden throughout the land, descending without effort, yet penetrating deeply to nourish forgotten seeds and parched roots, and though no one drop of rain was of any great value in itself yet the aggregate of drops which we call a "shower" has proved of Divine and incalculable worth. It is to these two means — showers and dew — which God employs to bless the natural world, that Micah likens "the remnant of Jacob," the handful of people which alone would represent God among the heathen; and the Christian Churches, who represent the same God, may fairly regard the description as applicable to themselves. 1. Our attention is called here first to the Church's insignificance. It is referred to as a "remnant." It has seldom been otherwise. Insignificance, in the scale of the world's judgment, is its normal condition. Earnest, religious men have never been a majority at any time in the world's history. Once the Church consisted of a single family called from idolatry in Ur of the Chaldees. Indeed, even now, what is the Christian Church but a "remnant"? Compare the number even of professing Christians — with the teeming millions of those who follow Mahomet, Confucius, or Buddha — and your heart will sink in hopelessness, if you do not believe that on your side is the living God — the Eternal Truth — the Almighty Saviour! God does His work by despised agencies, and this He does also in the moral enlightenment of the world and in its regeneration, choosing the weak things" and the things which are despised, that the excellency of the power may be of God "and not of us." Do not suppose, then, that you are on the losing side because you hold a religious faith which as yet only the minority of the race accepts. 2. But we are also reminded by our text of the Church's association. It is in contact with the world. The remnant of Jacob is "in the midst of the people." The dew and the showers are blessings, because they actually touch the earth. There have been times when Christian people have sought to have it otherwise. They have retired to cells in the desert, and to monasteries and convents. We are followers of Jesus Christ, brethren, and He went to eat with publicans and sinners, and talked to folk the Pharisees would have had nothing to do with. Now, you perhaps are thrown by God's providence, as a Christian man, into business. You cannot help yourself. There you see people of all sorts — men sensual and men spiritual; men avaricious and men open handed; men saint-like and men worldly; men who believe in Christ and men who scorn Him. Do not, I beseech you, resent that position; do not go about your daily work as if you were ashamed of it. Do not give the cold shoulder to everybody who differs from you. You are put there as God's representative to the worldly, as well as to the pious. 3. The Church's beneficence, i.e., its capacity for doing good, is suggested in the figures of the dew and the showers. These powers in nature are the gifts of God. We cannot create them by any of our scientific appliances, nor can we foretell them with any approach to accuracy. Has not the apostle said, "We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath ordained before that we should walk in them"? And Jehovah Himself declared, "This people have I formed for Myself; they shall show forth My praise." In other words, God has given you such religious life as you have. You are a Christian because He has made you a new creature in Christ. And He has done this, not that you may complacently congratulate yourself on your own salvation, and contentedly but selfishly enjoy your religious privileges, but that you may bless others, and that you may serve Him. Do your own part faithfully and prayerfully, and you will do much more than you think, and perhaps the results you did not aim at will prove greater than those you did. 4. The fourth and final suggestion which this verse aroused in my mind was one respecting the Church's independence of mere human planning. Of the dew and of the showers, to which Micah likens the Church, he says, "They tarry not for man, nor wait for the sons of men." The Church of Jesus Christ did not depend for its existence on man's permission. It originated in God's free gift of His only Son. If you have some God-given indication of your work, do not hesitate for a moment to follow it up. Just throw yourself right into it at once, for you are amongst those who are not to tarry for man nor to wait for the sons of men. Do not give up the idea of it because your friends would dissuade you. Depend upon it, if we go out in God's strength and at His call; if, in the name of our God, we set up our banners, success is certain. If you would be a blessing to others you need yourself to receive a fuller blessing. The morning dew only appears when there is a certain relation between heaven and earth, and if there be not that, no power we know of can create the dew. The earth must give off its own heat, under an open heaven, when the air is still, and then the dew will be deposited abundantly. There is something you have to give forth — namely, your own love and longing; and if these rise heavenward in the stillness of thought and prayer, and there be no cloud of doubt between you and heaven, you, too, may become as the dew, pure in itself and as a means of blessing to others. Therefore, let us pray for the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. (A. Rowland, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men. |
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