Jesus, Prophesied, Mic. 5.2

“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity” (Mic. 5:2). God does what you would never expect in places and ways you cannot anticipate. The cartographers of old did not list Bethlehem Ephrathah among the towns of Judah (Josh. 16). It was “too little to be among the clans of Judah.” Nonetheless, God makes what is worldly insignificant, eternally significant. God chose the location of Jesus’ enfleshment. The site for the introduction of the Messianic Age was not Athens, Rome or Jerusalem; it was Bethlehem Ephrathah. Ephrath, the ancient name for Bethlehem, designated the region wherein Jesse and his eight sons lived (Gen. 35:16, 19; Ru. 4:11; I Sam. 17:12). Bethlehem Ephrathah literally means, “house of fruitful bread.” Bethlehem’s notoriety is solely the result of the One born within its borders. Few people appreciate the bigness and creativeness of God. Is God big enough and creative enough to take an unknown place and make it the birthplace of the best known and best loved of all men? Nathanael, a man in whom was no guile, did not think this possible, for he said, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” (Jn. 1:46). God joins His Messiah to the household of an humble family (Isa. 11:1, 10). God brings Jesus not merely from the household of the least, but from the least within that household (I Sam. 16:11). Even Jesus’ own parents could only afford to offer in sacrifice a pair of turtledoves (Lk. 2:24). Though Jesse’s household was meager in worldly appearance, it included Israel’s mightiest warrior. From the loins of David would come the new David, the perfect David, for God makes the common noble, the weak strong and the foolish wise. Think about the industry of God in the household of His church. Joseph, the deliverer of Israel and Egypt, came from prison; Moses came forth from the ark of bulrushes; David’s cradle was the sheepfold of Bethlehem Ephrathah. The decree of the pagan king Caesar Augustus moves Joseph and Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem to Egypt and back to Nazareth in order to accomplish the fulfillment of the prophecies of God (Lk. 2:4; Mt. 2:14; Hos. 11:1). God moves heaven and earth, sparing no sacrifice, to accomplish His work, for the world that was taxed with death would now be blessed with another earthly tax in order that the eternal Messiah would be born exactly where and when God had foreordained. God plainly sets forth for whom Christ came – “for Me.” Jesus was not enfleshed principally for man, but for God Himself. God commanded Samuel to cease his grieving over Saul’s sinfulness declaring, “I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have selected a king for Myself among his sons” (I Sam. 16:1, italics mine).

Jesus came to be God’s ruler in God’s Israel (Mt. 2:6). Pilot asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus responded, “It is as you say” (Mt. 27:11). Jesus replaced the impotent judge of Micah 5:1. Even the winds, waves, diseases, death and devils obeyed Him. God’s Lord Christ commanded a Zaccheus, and he came down from his sycamore tree. God’s Savior called the sons of Zebedee from fishing and Matthew from tax-gathering, and they came forsaking all else. God wants you to appreciate Christ’s eternity. God says, “His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.” Before there was time, Jesus was committed to His kingship (Col. 1:15-17; Jn. 1:1f.; 8:58). The very rocks cry out in verification of Christ Jesus stepping into the pages of history from whence there was no history. Your Ransomer comes into your life from before the foundation of the world. The seed of the woman (Eve) has now appeared. The one who was to descend from a particular nation (Jews), a particular tribe (Judah), a particular family (loins of Jesse; Davidic line), a particular mother (Virgin), and a particular place (Bethlehem Ephrathah) has now joined His people. Can you resist the God of Christmas? Adore the fullness of Spirit-breathed Scripture. Be amazed with grace. Marvel at the revelation of God’s glory.