After telling the “daughter
of troops” that “he has laid siege against” them,
and “they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the
cheek”, Micah the prophet continued to share concerning the
messiah. Though the messiah was to be smitten upon the cheek and cut
off during His first advent, this messiah was to be born and live
among men. In chapter five and verse two, Micah shares prophetically
exactly where the messiah was to be born as he named “Bethlehem”
as His birthplace. We read:
But
you, Bethlehem Ephratah, though you be little among the
thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall he come forth unto
me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have
been from of old, from everlasting.
The verse begins, “But
you, Bethlehem Ephratah, though you be little among
the thousands of Judah,” Micah
began by writing, “But you, Bethlehem”
which mean “house of bread or food” “Ephratah”
which in Hebrew is “Ephraath” and
means “ash-heap: place of fruitfulness” and is another name for
Bethlehem. Micah continued with a description of Bethlehem when he
wrote, “though you be little”
or “insignificant and young” “among the
thousands of Judah”
which likens them to the thousands of other places that were
scattered throughout Judah. Micah was certain to point out
Bethlehem's seeming insignificance as he began to declare great
things that were promised to them.
The
verse begins, “yet out of you shall he come
forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel;” Micah
continued, “yet out of you shall he come forth”
or “to go or come out and depart” from Bethlehem “unto
me that is to be ruler” which means “to rule, have dominion
and reign” “in Israel” or “God prevails”. This
special one chosen to be the ruler of Israel was to be born in
Bethlehem, and He was to be the messiah that Israel seeks even to
this day.
Finally
the verse says, “whose goings forth have been
from of old, from everlasting.” To
clarify exactly who this special one born in Bethlehem is, Micah
wrote, “whose goings forth”
which means “origin or place of going out from” “have
been from of old” or “east, antiquity, front, that which is
before, aforetime, ancient and earliest time”. Micah means to show
that this messiah has always been and includes the phrase “from
everlasting” which means “long duration, antiquity, futurity,
for ever, ever, evermore, perpetual, old and ancient”. This special
one who was to be born in Bethlehem has always been, is and always
will be. He is none other than the messiah of Israel, and that
special one is Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
As we meditate upon Micah's
words, we may remember that King David was from Bethlehem. King David
was promised the messiah would come through his lineage, and so it is
quite proper that the messiah be born in his city. Also, when the
wise men came to Herod to ask where the king was born, Herod called
for the religious leaders of that day who told him “Bethlehem”
was to be the birthplace. Jesus was born in Bethlehem just as Micah
prophesied and wrote, and “since the dispersion after Titus in 70
A.D., Bethlehem has not been a Jewish city and is not to the present
day.” Therefore, the messiah
cannot be born there now. Though the city of Bethlehem may have
seemed insignificant among the other cities within Judah, it was now
the focal point from which the Savior of the world would be born. Let
us always keep in mind the greatness of the promises of God as we see
once again, what God has promised, He is able to fulfill.
Next
time Micah will share about the LORD giving up His people for a time,
so read ahead, and we
shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
http://www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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