*

See Millennial Contexts3, section (5) The Rod of Iron.

Finally Micah exclaims:

'Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by

the transgression of the remnant of His heritage?  He retaineth not His

anger for ever, because He delighteth in mercy' (Mic. 7:18).

The apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost quoted from the prophet Joel,

chapter 2, verses 28 to 32, but made one necessary alteration.  Instead of

saying, 'and it shall come to pass afterward' as Joel 2:28 reads, he

accommodated the passage to read, 'and it shall come to pass in the last

days' Acts 2:17.  Those who mocked at the gift of tongues said, 'these are

full of new wine'.  Peter immediately took them up on this, saying, 'these

are not drunken ... this is that ... spoken by the prophet Joel', the

intention of the apostle being plainly to rebuke such mocking, by saying in

effect, 'if the present limited gift of tongues causes such ribaldry, what

will you say when the great outpouring of supernatural gifts takes place in

the last days'.  He did not quote Joel's words, 'It shall come to pass

afterward' for 'afterward' means 'after the restoration' promised in the

earlier verses.  That restoration had not come in Acts 2.  It was future in

Acts 3:21.  We include this prophecy of Joel 2, because once again the

remnant is in view:

'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 ultimate glory of this remnant is given in Zechariah 8:12,13:

'I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things.

And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O

house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall

be a blessing'.

This slender thread, this remnant according to the election of grace,

ensures the fulfilment of God's promises to the fathers, and to their seed.

This remnant will enter into blessing, and become a blessing to the nations,

after the great tribulation has been endured, after they have been made a

'spoil' and a 'prey' and a 'curse'.  This return will coincide with the

smiting of the oppressor (see 2 Thess. 2), the spread of the knowledge of the

Lord, the gathering of the dispersed of Israel and Judah, the features that

characterize Isaiah 11, and a repeat on a grand scale of the Exodus from

Egypt.  The return of the remnant coincides with the reign of Christ, 'from

henceforth and for ever' when it shall be as 'dew' and become a 'blessing'

and when this remnant shall 'possess all these things'.

We have already noted that the day of Israel's restoration will be like

the day when they were delivered out of Egypt:

'According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I

shew unto him marvellous things' (Micah 7:15).

This seems to refer back to the covenant made in Exodus 34:10, of

marvels such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation.