flock to whom Jesus Christ made manifest the name of his Holy Father must therefore be the Christian witnesses of Jehovah. (Isa. 43:10-12, AS; Yg; Da; NW) Out of respect for his own name Jehovah, the Holy Father has watched over them down till now and has brought them into the unity for which Jesus Christ prayed. In them we find today’s exhibition of unity in a split-up world.

Unity of All Men of Good Will Promised

1. (a) How was Micah specially marked as a prophet of Jehovah? (b) What prophecy did Micah utter respecting Jehovah’s flock and His shepherd for it?

ONE of Jehovah’s prophets before Christ was Micah of Moresheth in the tribal territory of Judah. Micah’s very name means “Who Is Like Jehovah?” Micah is marked especially for foretelling the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem-judah. (Mic. 5:2) After foretelling Jesus’ birth there, Micah added: “And he will certainly stand and do shepherding in the strength of Jehovah, in the superiority of the name of Jehovah his God. And they will certainly keep dwelling, for now he will be great as far as the ends of the earth. And this one must become peace.” (Mic. 5:4, 5) In foretelling the experiences of the remnant of the little flock of Jesus’ spiritual sheep Micah, as spokesman for Jehovah, said: “I shall positively gather Jacob, all of you; I shall without fail collect the remaining ones of Israel together. In unity I shall set them, like a flock in the pen, like a drove in the midst of its pasture; they will be noisy because of men.”—Mic. 2:12.

2. (a) In what special regard were the remaining ones of Jacob or Israel to be collected and set in unity? (b) To whom, then, must this prophecy of Micah concerning unity really apply?

² To understand this prophecy, we must remember that Jacob and Israel are the names of one and the same organization, since Jehovah God surnamed the patriarch Jacob Israel. “Israel” means “Contender (Perseverer) with God.” (Gen. 32:28, footnote) It is plain that the remaining ones of Jacob or Israel whom Jehovah God promised to gather and to collect like a flock of sheep in a pen were to be set in unity in favor of the Ruler who was to be born in Bethlehem-judah and who was to become “ruler in Israel, whose origin is from early times, from the days of time indefinite.” It is in behalf of all this remnant of Jacob or Israel that he must “stand and do shepherding in the strength of Jehovah, in the superiority of the name of Jehovah his God.” Consequently, this prophecy of Micah 2:12 concerning unity must really apply to the Christian congregation of the “Israel of God,” spiritual Israel.—Gal. 6:16.

3. What prophecy of Isaiah identifies more plainly who this “Israel of God” is?

³ Another fact identifying more plainly who this “Israel of God” really is we find in Isaiah 43:1, 10, where God addresses Jacob or Israel and says: “Thus saith Jehovah