THE SHEPHERD-KING 347
" From him," must be understood of Judah the sense being equivalent to " out of himself? with a probable allusion to Deut. xviii. 15-19, where the promised great prophet like unto Moses, but who should yet be greater than Moses, is spoken of as coming forth "from the midst of thee, of thy brethren"; and Jer. xxx. 25, where we read: "And their Prince (literally, their glorious one ) shall be of themselves, and their ruler shall proceed from the midst of them" It is partly in explanation how, and through whom, the promise in the 3rd verse shall be fulfilled, namely, that when Jehovah visits " the house of Judah " they shall suddenly be transformed from a flock of scattered, troubled sheep, into His stately irresistible war-horse.
It is also in harmony with the whole testimony of prophetic scripture that the family of David, of the tribe of Judah, should be the human stock, and Bethlehem Ephratha in the portion of Judah, the place on earth where He should come forth " that is, to be Ruler in Israel" though we are at the same time reminded that, according to His Divine nature, " His goings forth are from of old from the days of eternity," as the passage in Mic. v. 2 reads literally.
I. The Corner-stone
Out of Judah then shall come forth " the corner " (H3Q, pliinnah, the corner-stone}. The allusion is doubtless to Isa. xxviii. 1 6, where, contrasting the sure refuge which He Himself provides for His people with the refuges of lies which men make for themselves, which shall be swept away by the hailstorms of His judgments, the Lord says, " Behold, I lay in Z ion for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation ( a foundation well founded } ; he that believeth shall not make haste " a scripture which has always been regarded as Messianic by both Jews and Christians. The Christian cannot also forget the fact that in the New Testament the figure of the foundation stone, and head-stone of the corner, is applied to our Lord Jesus
