Little Bethlehem

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Micah 4:13-5:15

TO CHEW ON: "But you, Bethlehem, Ephrathah
Though you are little among the thousands of Judah
Yet out of you shall come forth to Me
The One to be Ruler in Israel,
Whose goings forth are from old
From everlasting." - Micah 5:2

This often-quoted passage from Micah is a prediction of Messiah's birthplace. The students of Scripture in Jesus' day took it as such (Matthew 2:5,6; John 7:41,42) and all Christendom since has considered Jesus' birth in Bethlehem fulfillment of it and part of the proof that He really was/is Messiah.

I wonder, did Joseph ever connect this prophecy with what the angel had told him (Matthew 1:20,21), or Mary with what Gabriel had told her about the baby she would bear ("...and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever..." - Luke 1:32,33)?

I've always imagined that they felt upset and nervous about the need to travel from Galilee to Bethlehem so close to Mary's due date. But maybe their angst was also accompanied by an undercurrent of epiphany and excitement. God had told them His secret in private and now He was engineering events so that the details would fit with prophecy!

Of course they still had to live through those uncomfortable days of travel, that panicky time of finding a place—any place—where Mary could birth her baby. No matter how they put the two together, there was still lots of room for faith to be stretched.

You know, we're in God's story too. Of course, not in the way Joseph and Mary were. But we are part of events that are playing out as Jesus and the prophets foretold. Let's live our roles, no matter how insignificant they seem, with the faith that God has all the details in hand as He did for Joseph and Mary.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for these Bible prophets and prophecies that bolster my faith in You and Your plan. Please help me to have implicit faith in You as I play my part. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

A 700-year-old prophecy

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Micah 5-7; Psalm 131

TO CHEW ON: "'But you, Bethlehem, Ephrathah
Though you are little among the thousands of Judah
Yet out of you shall come forth to Me
The One to be Ruler in Israel,
Whose goings forth are from of old,
from everlasting.'" Micah 5:2

Near the time of Jesus' birth stargazers, "wise men" from the east followed a mysterious star to Judea. They believed it was a supernatural announcement of the birth of the King of the Jews.  They stopped in Jerusalem to inquire of King Herod about the whereabouts of this baby king. He was understandably puzzled (and vexed and disturbed—as far as he knew, he was the king of the Jews)!

He summoned the Jewish religious scholars. They quoted our verse from Micah as the prophecy concerning the birthplace of such a king (Matthew 2:6). Bethlehem was also the birthplace of David, the beginning of the Davidic line, from which the Jews  believed the Messiah would come (Matthew 2:5; John 5:41,42).

The fact that Jesus was born in Bethlehem when his parents actually lived in Galilee was as flukey as some of the seemingly random things that happen to us. Who would have connected the fulfillment of a seven-hundred-year-old prophecy with a census decree by a very secular Roman ruler?

As we reflect on the accuracy of this ancient prophecy and God's use of a secular ruler to accomplish His purposes, let's be encouraged about our own lives. For no person or circumstance can stymie God's plans and purposes for us either as we seek Him and live under His direction - Jeremiah 29:11-13.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to relax in the knowledge that You have my future in Your hands and can, with great efficiency, use every life event to fulfill your plans for me and in me. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 131

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New King James Version (NKJV) Used with permission. The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

O Little Town of Bethlehem

Bethlehem City (Image: Pixabay)

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Micah 5:2-15

TO CHEW ON: “But you, Bethlehem, Ephrathah
Though you are little among the thousands of Judah
Yet out of you shall come forth to Me
The One to be Ruler in Israel
Whose goings forth are from of old
From everlasting.” Micah 5:2


Bethlehem first appears in the Bible as the spot Jacob buries his beloved Rachel when she dies suddenly on their trek through Canaan - Genesis 48:7.

Elimelek is from Bethlehem. When he takes his family to Moab to ride out a famine, he and his sons die. It is to Bethlehem that his widow Naomi returns with her daughter-in-law Ruth, also a widow, some years later - Ruth 1:19.

Boaz is from Bethlehem (Ruth 2:4). He declares his intentions to marry Ruth to the elders at the Bethlehem gate (Ruth 4:11) and their child Obed becomes the grandfather of David (Ruth 4:18-22).

David’s family lives in Bethlehem and he is anointed king there (1 Samuel 16:4, 12). He lives there, working as a shepherd while also employed at the palace (1 Samuel 17:15). He calls Bethlehem his hometown (1 Samuel 20:6) and longs for a drink from the well near the Bethlehem gate (2 Samuel 23:15).

Bethlehem becomes a town of defence under King Rehoboam (son of Solomon, grandson of David) - 2 Chronicles 11:6.

In Micah 5:2 (our passage) Bethlehem is the city out of which Micah prophesies “The One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, / From everlasting (literally, “from eternity”) will come.

Jesus is born there - Matthew 2:1. Angels announce the location of His birth to shepherds and they find Him in Bethlehem (Luke 2:11, 15,16).

My study Bible says of the present city of Bethlehem:

“Bethlehem, the city of David, lies five miles south of Jerusalem.… The Church of the Nativity was built by Helena (the mother of Emperor Constantine) in A.D. 328-330, over a site then believed to be the place of Christ’s birth…. In 1934 William Harvey carried on limited excavations, and about 18 inches under the floor of the present church he discovered portions of the mosaic floor of the original church built by Helena… At the eastern end of the chapel is a small crypt. A simple Latin inscription announces the most stupendous event in all history: ‘Here Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary’” Thompson Chain Bible, p. 2194.

I love how Phillips Brooks brings this iconic city into our personal lives in the third and fourth stanzas of  his beautiful carol “O Little Town of Bethlehem.”

3. How silently , how silently
The wondrous gift is giv’n!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of his heav’n.
No ear may hear His coming,
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him still
The dear Christ enters in.

PRAYER:

4. O Holy Child of Bethlehem!
Descend to us, we pray:
Cast out our sin, and enter in;
Be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Emmanuel. (Emphases added)

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.