This pericope continues the emphasis on future peace.
5:5b Assyria was the main threat to the Israelites in Micah's day, but this prophecy predicts their victory over the Assyrians. This did not happen in the history of Israel; Assyria defeated the Northern Kingdom and most of the Southern Kingdom. Thus this prophecy must continue the vision of the distant future that God gave Micah (4:1-5:5a). When future Assyrians, representative of Israel's enemies (cf. 7:12; Isa. 11:11; Zech. 10:10), again invade the Promised Land and brake down its mansions (cf. Zech. 12:9; 14:2-3), the Israelites will rise up against them. The expression "seven . . . and eight"means the same as "three . . . and four,"a phrase that occurs often in Amos (cf. Amos 1:3; et al.). The Israelites will have more than enough leaders to defeat their enemy then.
5:6 Israel's leaders will then lead and care for the land of Assyria with the sword; they will bring it under Israelite control. The "land of Nimrod"is a synonym for Assyria (cf. Gen. 10:8-9; 1 Chron. 1:10), and its entrances imply the strategic areas of its territory. The Redeemer, and Yahweh behind Him, would deliver the Israelites from the Assyrian-like enemy that they would face in that day (cf. Zech. 14:3).
