For all people will walk everyone in the name of his god,.... Till those times come before described; when many nations and people shall flock to the church, and there shall be such general peace and tranquillity as here promised; till then the nations of the earth shall retain their former religion, and the profession of it, with constancy, till they are otherwise instructed, as Aben Ezra; or till the Messiah shall turn them into the right way, as Kimchi; till that time comes, the Pagans will worship their idols, and continue in the idolatry of their ancestors; the Papists will retain their image worship, and hold to their lord god the pope, as they call him; the Mahometans will cleave to their prophet, and walk according to the rules he has left them to observe. Jarchi's note is,

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It will not be through any general humanitarian ideas and efforts, however, that the human race will reach this goal, but solely through the omnipotence and faithfulness of the Lord. The reason assigned for the promise points to this. Micah 4:5. "For all nations walk every man in the name of his God, but we walk in the name of Jehovah our God for ever and ever." This verse does not contain an exhortation, or a resolution to walk in the name of God, which involves an exhortation, in the sense of "if all nations walk, etc., then we will," etc.; for an admonition or a resolution neither suits the connection, in the midst of simple promises, nor the words themselves, since we should at any rate expect נלכה instead of נלך. The sameness in the form of the verbs ילכוּ and נלך requires that they should be understood in the same way. Walking in the name of God does not mean regulating the conduct according to the name of a God, i.e., according to the nature which expresses itself in the name, or worshipping him in a manner corresponding to his nature (Caspari), but walking in the strength of God, in which the nature of this God is displayed. This is the meaning of the phrase in 1 Samuel 17:45 and Zechariah 10:12, where "I strengthen them in Jehovah" forms the basis of "and in His name will they walk" (compare Proverbs 18:10, "The name of the Lord is a strong tower"). But the gods of all the nations, i.e., of all the heathen, are worthless beings, without life, without strength. Jehovah, on the contrary, is the only true God, the almighty Creator and Governor of the world. And the heathen, with their worthless gods, can do nothing to Him and the nation which walks in His name, his strength. If, therefore, Israel rejoices for ever and ever in the strength of its God, the heathen nations cannot disturb the peace which He will create for Israel and all who accept His word. In this way is the promise in Micah 4:3 and Micah 4:4 explained in Micah 4:5. But this explanation assumes that, even at the time when many nations stream to the mountain of the Lord, there will still be nations that do not seek Jehovah and His word, - a thought which is still further expanded in v. Micah 5:4., and involves this consolation, that such opponents of the people of God as shall be still in existence will not be able to interfere with the salvation which has been prepared for it by its God.

For all people well walk, every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God - Hitherto unsteadfastness had been the very characteristic sin of Israel. It was , "constant only in its inconstancy," ever "falling away like their forefathers, starting aside like a broken bow" Psalm 78:57. The pagan persevered in their worship, because it was evil or had evil in it, not checking but feeding their passions. Israel did not persevere in his, because it required him to deny himself things unlawful. "Hath a nation changed their gods which are yet no gods? But My people have changed their glow for that which doth not profit" Jeremiah 2:11. Henceforth, the prophet professeth for his people, the true Israel, that he will be as steadfast in good, as the pagan in evil; so our Lord sets forth "the children of this world in their generation" Luke 16:8, as an example of wisdom to the children of light.

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Every one in the name of his god - This shall be the state of the Gentile world; but after the captivity, the Jews walked in the name of Jehovah alone; and acknowledge no other object of religious worship to the present day.

For all people will walk {g} every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.

(g) He shows that the people of God ought to remain constant in their religion, even if all the world should give themselves to their superstition and idolatry.

4:5 All people will walk - It is the practice of all nations, to serve their gods. Will walk - Seek the Lord, embrace his law and worship.

5. For-rather, Though it be that all people walk after their several gods, yet we (the Jews in the dispersion) will walk in the name of the Lord. So the Hebrew particle means in the Margin, Ge 8:21; Ex 13:17; Jos 17:18. The resolution of the exile Jews is: As Jehovah gives us hope of so glorious a restoration, notwithstanding the overthrow of our temple and nation, we must in confident reliance on His promise persevere in the true worship of Him, however the nations around, our superiors now in strength and numbers, walk after their gods [Rosenmuller]. As the Jews were thoroughly weaned from idols by the Babylonian captivity, so they shall be completely cured of unbelief by their present long dispersion (Zec 10:8-12).

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