Friday, December 18, 2020

Bethlehem Ephrathah

 

2 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.

3 Therefore He shall give them up, Until the time that she who is in labor has given birth; Then the remnant of His brethren Shall return to the children of Israel.

4 And He shall stand and feed His flock In the strength of the LORD, In the majesty of the name of the LORD His God; And they shall abide, For now He shall be great To the ends of the earth;

5 And this One shall be peace.

     Micah 5:2-5 (NKJV)

In this passage, Micah reassures the people that their Messiah will come and prophesies that He will be born in Bethlehem Ephrathah.  Because there is another town called Bethlehem in northern Israel, Micah specifies that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem Ephrathah (just south of Jerusalem).  And so it was, just as predicted centuries earlier.

 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

14 “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"

15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, "Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.”

     Luke 2:12-15 (NKJV)

After the angel heralded to the shepherds that their Savior had come, they were told that a Babe lying in a manger would be the sign of this miracle. This sign shows the incredible contrasts involved in God’s sovereign plan. Though Bethlehem was just a little, out-of-the-way town, the Savior was born there. Though the Davidic line was dried up at the time, the Messiah came forth from it. The eternal Son of God came as a newborn baby, the divine King was born in a lowly manger to a humble girl. The best news was given first to common shepherds. Yet we see over and over how God uses the little things to confound the wise, and chooses the humble to become greater. 

While the shepherds found their Savior in Bethlehem, others did not.  The chief priests and scribes knew this prophecy and even quoted it from Micah to tell the wise men where to find the Christ (Matthew 2:5-6), but they did not seek Him themselves.  Whatever their reason, it’s tragic.  The long-awaited Messiah was right there with them and yet the Jewish leaders missed the most wondrous gift.  We must be careful not to miss Christ either.

 Let not our hearts be hard or distracted, but meek and focused on Him. Let not our expectations cause us to miss what God has for us. Like the shepherds, let us run to Him and believe with child-like faith. Like they did, let us fall down and worship Him. Then we will truly have a Christ-filled Christmas.

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