It shall come to pass in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the LORD
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and it shall be lifted up above the hills;
and peoples shall flow to it,
and many nations shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
—Micah 4:1–2
What does this mean? Should we expect Zion to literally tower over Everest and the temple to be restored? Oddly, I’ve don’t think I’ve ever heard the advocates of a “literal” interpretation argue for a Mount Zion with an elevation of 30,000 feet. Even so, when does help answer what. But this is not going to end the way you might think.
What does this mean? When is the mountain of the house of Yahweh to be established as the highest of the mountains? “In the latter days.” The LSB, NAS, CSB, and KJV all have “in the last days.” When are these last days? Acts 2:17 us that the last days have already arrived in the wake of Jesus’ resurrection. Peter explained to the crowds on Pentecost, “But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh…’” (Acts 2:16–17). Joel goes on to speak of what we normally think of last days stuff—stuff like the sun turning to darkness and the moon to blood (Joel 2:32). But this passage in Joel ends by telling us, “And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls” (Joel 2:32).
The last days have been inaugurated but not yet consummated. They are here now, but not fully here yet. The future is breaking into the present. This began with Jesus’ resurrection as the firstfruits of the harvest to come. It swells as men are born again, a new creation in Christ, strangers to this world, belonging to the world to come. This is why Hebrews opens telling us, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” (Hebrews 1:1).
That’s when and it helps you understand what. What does it mean that the mountain of the house of Yahweh lifted up above all the hills? It is lifted up in Christ, who is Himself the temple of the LORD. In Him we most fully and may truly exclaim, “Yahweh is in the midst of us! No disaster shall come upon us.” John records that He told the Jews “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:18). And John also tells us, “I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb” (Revelation 21:22). The temple was a shadow. Jesus is the substance. How is the mountain of the house lifted above all hills? It happens as that stone not cut by human hands strikes the kingdoms of this world as fine as dust so that they are carried away. It happens, Daniel tells us, as “the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth” (Daniel 2:35). It happens as God highly exalts Christ and bestows on him the name that is above every name (Philippians 2:9). It happens in He who is is called Emmanuel, “God with us.”
This happens supremely in Christ, but because it happens in Christ, it happens in His people—the true Israel of God, His church. Peter tells us that we are “being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5). Paul asks us, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16). This is true of each member of the church and it is true of the church corporately. The world cannot see it, but the church has been raised up with Christ and seated with him in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). The kingdoms of this world will pass away, but the kingdom of God will endure forever and thus the gates of hell do not prevail against the church. She, as the temple of Yahweh, is exalted above all the other mountains and hills—all the kingdoms of this world.
How does this happen? Don’t look for a restored temple in Jerusalem. Listen to how Hebrews says it has happened in these last days inaugurated by our Lord Jesus Christ.“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel” (Hebrews 12:22–24).
Can you see why then John Trapp would say, “These last days are Gospel-days”?
No Other Boast 