Micah 4:9

God says to the people in *Israel, ‘Now you are crying very loudly.’ God trusted *Israel. He trusted the *remnant. He trusted those people to bring about his purposes in the world. But they have not obeyed God. In this verse, he blames the people that are in *Israel. God blames them because they do not believe him. So now he is sending them into Babylon.

‘You think that you have no king’ This shows why they are crying. The *Assyrians will defeat *Israel in war. Afterwards, God will send *Judah’s people into Babylon. The people in the ‘Daughter of Jerusalem’ have every reason to be in pain. But these people must not forget their real King. They must not forget their Helper. It is the *LORD himself. He has not left them. He is still alive. They will spend a long period of time in Babylon. But God will be with them during that time. In the end, the message is a message that brings hope. These troubles will end. Afterwards something better, something new will come.

God the Helper has a secret plan. The ‘Daughter of Jerusalem’ (its people) must not forget their King, who is also their Helper. ‘Wise helper’ in *Hebrew also means ‘Adviser’, another name for God. The people’s pains will be like the ones when a woman gives birth. There is a reason for these pains. God plans to free Zion’s (Jerusalem’s) people by means of the exile (verses 9-10). (The exile is when God will send them out of their country.) The *Assyrians have attacked Jerusalem. But God has planned the defeat of the *Assyrians (verses 11-13). Certainly God will punish his people. But the punishment will not damage them for always. That is not God’s intention. He wants the punishment to help them. Punishment has a purpose. It will provide a way to bring the people back to God. Another *prophet, Jeremiah, also refers to a woman’s pains when she is having a baby. He does that to make his message clear (Jeremiah 4:31).

Jesus, too, used the same example (John 16:21). He was leaving this Earth to be with his Father. Because of that, his disciples (friends and helpers) would be sad for a while. So Jesus encouraged them. He promised to give the Helper (the Holy Spirit) to them as a gift. Then they would not be sad any longer (John 16:16-22). It is the same for us today. It may seem that people continue to suffer. It may seem that troubles never end. It may seem not to mean anything. But our King, Jesus, is with us. Our Helper, God’s Holy Spirit, brings strength and help to us. He supports us at the times when we need his help.

v10 ‘Daughter of Zion’ (Jerusalem), feel the pain. It is as if you must give birth to your baby. Now you must go out of this city. You will camp in the open field. I mean that you will go to Babylon. But I will save you from that place. The *LORD will go there and he will rescue you. There he will buy you back from your enemies.