4:1 the latter days. Micah’s prophetic vision shifts from impending judgment in the short term to the “latter days,” when the messianic reign of God is established in Zion. The expression points to a new epoch, which, though in the hidden future, decisively alters the course of history. Here it refers to the messianic age, begun at Christ’s First Advent (Acts 2:7; Heb. 1:2) and consummated in the new heaven and earth (Rev. 21; 22).

mountain of the house of the Lord. Earthly Mount Zion prefigured the heavenly reality to which the church indeed has now come (Heb. 12:22–24). As part of the old covenant, the earthly religious center has been eclipsed by the coming new order (Heb. 8:13).

as the highest of the mountains. Pagan gods also had sacred mountains with temples. By being raised above them, God’s eternal house (here symbolized by the temple on Mount Zion) will be established among the nations as the center of true worship.