THE  RETURN  OF  MESSIAH  AS  'THE  BREAKER'  AT  THE  SHEEPFOLDS  OF  BOZRAH.

MICAH 2:12-13

Art used by permission of
Pat Marvenko Smith, copyright 1992
Visit her 'Revelation Illustrated' website.


The player below has an audio of the Bozrah sheepfold prophecy.
Click on the "play" button if you would like to hear it.
It is narrated in KJV by Alexander Scourby.

Micah 2
King James Version

12. I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee;
I will surely gather the remnant of Israel;
I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah,
As the flock in the midst of their fold:
they shall make great noise
by reason of the multitude of men.

13. The breaker is come up before them:
they have broken up,
and have passed through the gate,
and are gone out by it:
and their king shall pass before them,
and the LORD on the head of them.
-Mic. 2:12-13 KJV

The image above shows a stone sheepfold of the type seen in biblical times. Here the sheep would be confined by their shepherd for their own protection during the hours of darkness. As the dawn approached the shepherd would come into the sheepfold among His sheep. They would gather around the shepherd as he prepared to open a way for them to be delivered from the stone enclosure. As he opened a way out for them they would crowd up alongside him pushing against the gateway with a lot of force. This is the same picture spoken of by Matthew in that difficult and problematic verse in Matthew 11:12.

"The Kingdom of God suffers (allows) violence
and the violent (are pressing in to) take it by force."
(Mat.11:12)
When the breakthrough came the whole flock would pour out of the sheepfold through the breach together with the Messiah as "the Breaker" going before them. They would follow on the heels of the Shepherd as he led them out to find pasture. This is the magnificent pastoral picture of Christ as Messiah breaking forth from Esau's bonds of the flesh and leading the "man-child company" forth into a new holy history in the coming Millennium of Messiah. This momentous action will not happen until the end of this age. But when it does come it will be spectacular. The Bozrah deliverance will change the destiny of heaven and earth. The stars and the angelic rulers will fall. And on earth Messiah will establish His Millennial Kingdom. This will not be a kingdom of the church as we know it. It will not be an existential kingdom of ecclesiastical revery under the stained glass. Nor will it be kingdom of the church in some sort of charismatic mind game. This will be reality! The Millennium of Messiah will be a kingdom here on earth. And it will last for a literal one thousand years.

This detailed picture of the deliverance of the elect by Messiah (and not the church) at the second advent is given to us in Micah chapter 2. This divine and earthly drama is laid out for us quite clearly and in detail. Note well that it is the Messiah who brings the breakthrough here. He and He alone is "the Breaker". No churchman will get Messiah's glory here even if he claims some super-anointed status as a latter day "apostle" or "prophet" in the charismatic "five-fold ministry". No religious pretenders can usurp Messiah's role. None of them. Not even if they proclaim that they are up to the task of bringing in the Kingdom Now. Neither the "apostolic/prophetic", or the Papal/Jesuit Catholic leaderships can fit the bill here. Nor can today's politically active Puritan leaders. Nor can our liberal politically savvy Ecumenical leaders of the U.N., the U.R.O. and the global scene.
None of them can bring in that final glorious breakthrough.
None of these religious champions can 'cut it'.
None of them can lay claim to be our Deliverer.

We need to leave the religious rallies and all the hype and hoopla. We need to be wary of powerful Christian Freemasons as they attempt to organize their "last crusade". And we need get back to the Bible here. Jesus Christ/Yeshua Hamashiach is "the man". He is our Savior and our Redeemer. He is also our future Deliverer. He tramples the wine press. And He tramples the grapes of wrath alone. - Isa.63

The scriptures declare unequivocally that there is one and only one intermediary between God and man.

1 TIMOTHY 2
5 "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men,
the man Christ Jesus;
6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, ...."
He and He alone is "the man".
He and He alone is "the Breaker".
No one else is capable of filling His shoes. The job of a true minister of God is to help the brethren as all of us together press in to Christ.

The Bozrah deliverance is a thrilling element of the second coming of Christ. He is the Anointed One, the Expected One and our coming Messiah. The Micah 2 scripture shows this end-time deliverance well. We also see it laid out for us in spectacular fashion in Isaiah 63.

God is obviously telling us something here in the Bozrah scriptures since they relate so clearly to the return of Messiah. This is crucial information. Micah and Isaiah are telling us of a climactic deliverance of God's Elect at the end of the age. The word 'Bozrah' is very important. It is so sad to see that the modern translations have "lost" it. It has been left out by most newer versions of the Bible. Bozrah establishes the Edomite connection. Reference to the word, "Bozrah" indicates that God's Elect will be delivered at the end of the age from an Edomite sovereignty and from an Edomite incarceration. This is a key piece of information for the end-time saints. Why has it been omitted from Bible teachings on end-time themes? This is a prophecy of a magnificent deliverance of God's covenant people. It involves his Elect, His nation, His church. It is exceedingly good and encouraging news.
Why haven't we heard this before?

The Bozrah scripture passages in God's Holy Word brings out the deliverance element of the Second Coming. This aspect of climactic rescue and salvation is exceedingly good news. It is inspiring beyond measure. Yet many Christians have not heard this. Is it because of the current emphasis of Christians being a "New Testament people"?
Is it because deliverance presupposes an imprisonment of sorts?
We have certainly been told that these dramas are "for the Jews".
This may be partly true. But is this entirely true?
Have we heard the "rest of the story".

God will surely deliver His hard pressed people from out of captivity at the end of this age.
He will deliver at Jerusalem. - Zech 12:7-13:1, Joel 2:28-32.
He will also deliver at Bozrah. - Micah 2:12-13, Isa.63
He will deliver when He comes at the Mount of Olives.
And after the Day of the Lord opens up at the end of the age He will deliver when He comes in the clouds at the Resurrection-Rapture.

The glorious Millennium of Messiah will follow. Humanity and the ecosystems will be restored, precisely as the scriptures have laid out for us.

1 "Even the wilderness will rejoice in those days.
The desert will blossom with flowers.
2 Yes, there will be an abundance of flowers and singing and joy!
The deserts will become as green as the mountains of Lebanon,
as lovely as Mount Carmel's pastures and the plain of Sharon.
There the LORD will display his glory, the splendor of our God.
3 With this news, strengthen those who have tired hands,
and encourage those who have weak knees.
4 Say to those who are afraid,
"Be strong, and do not fear,
for your God is coming to destroy your enemies.
He is coming to save you."
-Isa 35:1-4

As we survey this intriguing scriptural passage in Micah 2 we are drawn to the name, 'Bozrah'. Just what is the significance to Messiah's return at 'Bozrah' of all places? The final epic deliverance of the Elect at Bozrah is showcased not only in our scripture here in Micah 2:12-13 but also in Isaiah 63.

As we do our homework here we discover that Bozrah means "sheepfold". It was a city in Edom, the territory of Esau. What does the family of Esau have to do with the second coming of Christ? Why hasn't this question been addressed by our popular Bible teachers? Is it because they do not want to face the clear Biblical message here that God's people will be in some sort of captivity in the end-time?

Edom and the Edomites do have a significant part to play in the end-time. Daniel mentions this. - Dan.11:41 The patriarch Isaac blessed wild man Esau with a "left-over" blessing. That blessing clearly stated that Esau would eventually rise up against his nurturing brother Jacob and assume dominion over him for a time. This is an untold part of the end-time drama. It has been 'cloaked' by popular Bible teachers. They had to do this for politico-religious, socio-religious, and economico-religious reasons.
It is quite clear from this prophecy by Isaac and also from the Bozrah scriptures of the Second Coming that the sons of Esau are still with us!
Furthermore Isaac said that the Edomites would be found in the rich places of the earth. Could that be in our rich western countries? Are they the "bad guys" in our midst? The brutish and godless ones that have taken over popular culture and the silver screen and Hollywood?

Here is what the Bible says about the resurgence of Edomite power in the end-time.

GENESIS 27
39 Then Isaac his father answered and said to him:
"Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth,
And of the dew of heaven from above.
40 By your sword you shall live,
And you shall serve your brother;
And it shall come to pass, when you become restless,
That you shall break his yoke from your neck."
-Gen.27:39-40
At this point, here is the question we need to ask ourselves. Are the Edomites, those godless children of Esau still with us today? Were they scattered into the nations as the Jewish nation was in the Diaspora? And if they are going to coalesce and regroup into some sort of a power force at the end of the age in the rich nations of the earth just what will be going on? How will they come to dominate the nurturing people of Jacob? Just what role are these wild people, (who escape from the control of the Antichrist)(Dan.11:41), going to play in the end-time drama?

Here is what the scriptures are telling us. The Edomites, it seems, are indeed still with us. Obviously they have long gone from their earlier location in the Middle East. If they are all around us then they are fellow citizens in our nations. Inclined toward paganism these people may still be very sophisticated. But in their heart they haven't changed. The children of Esau today still have the same hunt you down, take you down, hustling, domineering spirit their father Esau had four millenia ago. The prophet Daniel tells us clearly that Edom as a people of freethinking independence and godlessness will be very prominent players at the end of the age. These people are restless, as the prophecy of Jacob their father states. They are out of control and beyond control.

This is a curious business. Even the Antichrist will not even bother to try to conquer the latter day descendants of Esau or even attempt to rule over them during the regime of his 666 system. (Dan. 11:41) He has more important fish to catch. He will probably just let the Edomites rule over the outer fringes of his global empire. Apparently he will not even bother to mess with them during the Great Tribulation, those final 3.5 years of this age. He will allow them to do what Edomites do. They will run wild like goats. Esau will rise up in the endtime. He will in fact shake off his yoke of civility and for a time achieve mastery over his brother Jacob precisely as Isaac prophesied that he would. This is all part of the story of the end-time Bozrah Exile.

This information is sitting there in the homes of hundreds of millions of Christians. It is there to be found in the pages of our Bible. But it is "cloaked". It seems that this is hidden information. This story of the epic end-time Flight to Bozrah and the Bozrah Deliverance is some very encouraging news for the saints. But it is being kept from them.

This religious censoring is probably being done for good reasons and with good intentions. The religious powers might well be saying, "We are hiding this away from the Christians for their own good". And they may be right. The western Church is still immature. Most Christians are still a carnal, fearful, and potentially violent people). According to Micah God will allow the incarceration of His covenant people Jacob by the bad boy Esau.

This will not be all bad. God is allowing this for a purpose. Apparently the Bozrah incarceration will provide some degree of nurturing, caring, and shelter for the covenant people of God during the Great Tribulation.

We pick up the story in Revelation 12. In this critically important passage of scripture John sees the woman of Revelation 12 given the wings of a great eagle and flying off to a place of exile for 1260 days, 3.5 years. John saw her escaping from the face of the dragon. He saw her clothed in glory. They will be exiled to a place, (or places), where they can be nurtured in the things of God. This is happening during the Great Tribulation! This is stated clearly in Rev.12:6 and retold using different time units in 12:14 (just in case we missed it the first time).

The Bozrah story apparently involves a climactic end-time gathering of the Judeo-Christian people from all around the world. This will be happening during the latter half of the 70th week. They will be gathered together like sheep in the fold. Only this time 'the fold' apparently belongs to Esau.
That is why the saints need deliverance!
Are we getting the picture yet?

Now, armed with this information, we begin to see what this drama involving a 'deliverance at Bozrah' is all about. When He returns our Messiah will be coming to take a little visit to Bozrah, (wherever that may be). He will have some business to attend to. He will be coming to break out His people! This is why the Holy Spirit, (writing through the prophet Micah), calls him 'the Breaker'. - Micah 2:13.

The Church apparently doesn't like this story very much. It is less than flattering for 'victory minded' Christians to be told that this sort of thing could happen to them. They refuse this information just as they refuse to see themselves as lost Gomer or belonging to the Church of Laodicea. It seems that Jacob is wrestling with God once again. He must go through his dark night of the soul just as he did beside the Jabbok River back in the times of the patriarchs.

Bozrah is a dynamic yet untold part of the end-time. It tells a story of incarceration. A story of exile and nurturing. Finally, it is telling us a story of a glorious deliverance played out on the stage of world history before angels and men. The Bozrah drama takes place in the final 3.5 years of this age. See the article on 'The Woman of Revelation 12.' Jeremiah clearly tells us that it will be the time of 'Jacob's trouble' but that he will be saved out of it. (Jer.30:7)

The Bozrah prophecy of the end-time, (as we can see), is too awesome for our modern church and our carnal Christian congregation to handle. So there will have to be a new congregation, a new called out 'ekklesia'. A new 'church' will go forward into the glory. There will be an end-time revival even in a time of great apostasy. The remnant church will come into confluence with remnant Israel. In exile together in the crucible of the latter days they will come together as one. They will be refined just as Hashem said that they would. (Mal.3) Out of the crucible of Bozrah the silver (of redemption) will be refined. And the gold of glory will flow forth. God will refine His people "in the furnace of affliction/tribulation". (Isa.48:10) In the following verse He tells us why it must be this way. It is to bring God's people into a place of holiness where they will no longer pollute God's Holy Name.

The prophet Zechariah tells us the same story.

ZECHARIAH 13
13:9 And I will bring the third part through the fire,
and will refine them as silver is refined,
and will try them as gold is tried:
they shall call on my name,
and I will hear them:
I will say, It is my people:
and they shall say, The LORD is my God.
Our Apostle Paul fills in the story in Romans 11.
"And so all Israel will be saved". (Rom. 11:26)

The Bozrah story must be told eventually. Because it is here at this awesome end-time spiritual place where the God of Israel will refine and nurture all 12 tribes of Israel to restore Israel as a people and as a nation.

WHERE IS END-TIME MYSTERY BOZRAH?

Right now we do not know where Bozrah might be geographically.
It may be many places. Or it may be one large remote expansive place.
But there at Bozrah the full restoration of the Commonwealth of Israel will surely happen.
Even
"...as rivers of water in a dry place,
as the shadow of a great Rock in a weary land."
(Isa.32:2)
Oh yes, the Bozrah prophecy is not just "past history". Bozrah is not just an archeological dig, a ancient ruin of a long forgotten pastoral city of Esau southeast of the Dead Sea. For those who are there at the place appointed in the latter days this place the Holy Spirit tags for us as "Bozrah" will be a very real place. Those who are "called out" to Bozrah will be confined by godless Edomites. Wives may be separated from husbands as doves cooing in the wilderness.

And yet it will be at this place that the covenant people of God will be nurtured even as Joseph fed and cared for his brothers in a strange land. They will stay there until the Day that they are delivered. The place of their exile will be 'Bozrah'.

And that is where Messiah,
Will find them at the end.
A day of wrath, deliverance;
"The Breaker" comes to rend,

He comes to make the breakthrough,
His sheep are pressing in;
He leads them out, they follow Him,
And on 'that Day' they win!

All of this will surely happen;
At the sheepfolds of Bozrah. -Mic.2:12-13

Micah 2
Hebrew Names Version of World English Bible

12.  I will surely assemble, Ya`akov, all of you;
I will surely gather the remnant of Yisra'el;
I will put them together as the sheep of Botzrah,
As a flock in the midst of their pasture;
They will throng with people.

13.  He who breaks open the way goes up before them.
They break through the gate, and go out.
And their king passes on before them,
With the LORD at their head."