Bethlehem

“But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” Micah 5:2

Micah’s prophecy was written roughly seven hundred years before Christ was born. The prophecy acknowledges that Bethlehem is a small town. Historians tell us that the population of Bethlehem when Jesus was born was under a thousand, perhaps as low as three hundred people. Micah prophesied that a ruler of Israel would be born in Bethlehem, “whose goings forth have been of old, from everlasting.” Only one person could fulfill that prophecy, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah, who prophesied at about the same time as Micah, prophesied that a child would be born whose name would be “Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). This child would be God incarnate. He would be the everlasting Father. In John chapter 1, the “Word” is introduced as the one who made everything in the beginning and yet became flesh and dwelt among us. Christ was not only an infant Who was born in Bethlehem; He was the Creator Who spoke the world into existence. Micah’s prophecy encapsulates this truth and underscores the importance of the incarnation. Jesus was not just a good man with a few interesting stories and some moral principles. He was the Son of God Who came to die for the sins of the world!