Oh Little Town of Bethlehem – With a Big Awesome King
1 Now muster your troops, O daughter of troops;siege is laid against us;with a rod they strike the judge of Israelon the cheek.2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,from you shall come forth for meone who is to be ruler in Israel,whose coming forth is from of old,from ancient days.3 Therefore he shall give them up until the timewhen she who is in labor has given birth;then the rest of his brothers shall returnto the people of Israel.4 And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord,in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be greatto the ends of the earth.5 And he shall be their peace.
Micah 5:1–5 ESV
Israel was in its heyday when Micah spoke to them. People were rich, without a care in the world or towards God, and from a worldly perspective everything was good. Except Assyria was coming. The northern kingdom fell in Micah’s lifetime and the rest would come soon after. This is one of those kinds of statements that a teen or a kid hears and doesn’t listen until 20 years later when they remember it.
Get ready, Israel. Some bad stuff is going to go down – a siege! But the real suffering that you have always endured will someday be remedied. There will be a ruler from the smallest of towns that is a ruler from old – ancient. Isaiah said that “unto us a child is born, a son is given.” He didn’t say “a son is born” because Jesus, the Son, already existed eternally. It is on Christmas that He submitted and was given to us as a child.
Once that child came, all of the rules of engagement between God and the Devil were taken to a new level. Instead of God being upon or with His people here and there in a general way, Jesus would be God with us and never leaving. Instead of the gates of Hell being a feared, impenetrable symbol of hopelessness, they would become something for the Church to wipe their feet on as they showed their authority on the face of the earth.
Isaiah said it and the other prophets pointed to it: there is a worse thing than being carried off by Assyria, and that is to be carried away from the Lord. This ruler-messiah that is coming, He will not just bring peace, He will be your peace. He will not just be a shepherd to care for you, but a shepherd with a sword to protect you.
The the New Testament writers quoted a passage from the Prophets, they had all of the context of that verse in their heads. This Christmas, when you sing about the town of Bethlehem, when you see a nativity scene in a front yard or read your kids the Christmas story from Luke 1&2, think about Bethlehem like Micah though of Bethlehem. Too little to be considered for anything, but out of which would come a king who will stand and shepherd His flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord His God.
You can get the Daily Bible Readings via email every day by visiting Feedburner and clicking ‘Get Daily Bible Readings delivered by email’ over on the right side of the screen. You can also see them on Facebook or Twitter.