O Little Town Of Bethlehem

 Micah 5:2-4

Our Scripture today, for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, gives the prophecy of where the Messiah was to be born.  Micah was a prophet from the southern Kingdom of Judah, and his ministry was from approximately 737 to 696 B.C., during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

With Christmas just days away, we hear Christmas carols on the radio, and they are sung in church.  One favorite of many is O Little Town of Bethlehem, reminding us all of where the Lord Jesus was born.  This was something that was prophesied at least 700 years before he was born (vs. 2).  God worked the details of this out just perfectly, and in His own perfect time.  The Virgin Mary, His mother, was not from Bethlehem, but rather lived in the village of Nazareth, about 70 miles to the north of Bethlehem.  How was she, a young woman in Nazareth, going to have her baby born in Bethlehem?  In those days people didn’t just move to a new village on a whim, nor travel around to have their babies born in one town rather than another.  Yet God worked this out perfectly by having Caesar, over 2,000 miles away, issue a decree in his empire, that everyone was to return to their ancestral home for a census.  Mary, newly married to Joseph, went with him to Bethlehem, the home of his ancestor, David.  It was while there for the census, that she gave birth to Jesus, thus fulfilling the ancient prophecy (Luke 2:1-7).

God worked it out that the Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus in Bethlehem, and not in Nazareth, or even anywhere along the way there, as she was fully 9 months pregnant, and could easily have gone into labor at any time.  Yet God ensured that she was definitely in Bethlehem when Jesus was born, thus fulfilling the prophecy.  Since He worked that out, we can surely trust that He can work out any seemingly difficult or complicated problems that we might face in our own lives.

As we look further at verse 2, we read of the One who is to be Ruler in Israel, and that His “goings forth are from of old, from everlasting”.  This verse shows that Jesus was not a created being that came into existence at the time of His birth in Bethlehem.  Jesus has always existed as One with the Father, since before time began.  Jesus the Messiah is the eternal God.  He testified to this in John 8:58.  “I Am” is the Name that God gave Himself when talking to Moses (Exodus 3:13-14), showing that He has always, and will always exist for all eternity.  Jesus told the Pharisees that He existed before Abraham, and called Himself by the same Name, “I Am”, as God did.  As Micah testified here, Jesus was not a created being.  Jesus is God, and has existed for all eternity.

Micah continues, describing the coming Messiah as a shepherd (vs. 4), as One who will feed His flock.  Jesus is called the Good Shepherd (John 10:11-15).  That is perhaps one of people’s favorite titles for Him, certainly one of the most well known.  We love to see pictures of Jesus as a Shepherd, cradling a lamb in His arms.

Let’s take a quick look at shepherds.   A shepherd has several tasks he has to perform as he cares for the sheep.  They guide the sheep from one field to another.  They watch over them, making sure they don’t wander off or get into danger.  The shepherd protects the sheep from any predatory animals.  He also will give medical treatment, restoring them to health when ill or injured.  And lastly, the shepherd will naturally feed his flock.  As our Good Shepherd, we can see and testify that Jesus does each of these for His children, the sheep of His flock.

In closing, as we sing the Christmas carols that speak of the town of Bethlehem, as we look at the manger scenes that remind us of where Jesus was born, let’s remember this special prophecy, spoken many hundreds of years before Jesus, and know that God can, and will, work everything out according to His good purposes.