Honey From The Rock

www.poeministries.org

Honey From The Rock
Psalm 81:16

"Sweet Stuff From God's Word"

A daily Bible study with Victor Knowles
Copyright 2007

BORN IN BETHLEHEM

This entry was posted on 12-21-2009 and is filed under MESSIANIC PROPHECY.

Star #10 in "Stars of Hope in the Old Testament Sky." Today we begin our "countdown to Christmas." I hope you will enjoy these special studies at this special time of the year.

"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you be 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 have been from of old, from everlasting" (Micah 5:2 NKJV).

Here is a remarkable prophecy. For God now eliminates all the cities in the world, and all the cities in Judah, to just one ~ that now famous "O little town of Bethlehem" that we sing about each Christmas. Sometimes Micah is called "the Bethlehem birth prophet" because of this prediction that he made 700 years before Christ was born. There were two Bethlehems and so Micah adds "Ephrathah" meaning "fruitful." Bethlehem, of course, means "House of Bread." (No, I do not believe this is the origin of fruitcake!) No members of the house of David were living in Bethlehem. But a government tax program moved Mary out of Nazareth and into Bethlehem, temporarily, just long enough to give birth to Messiah and fulfill this prophecy! The announcing angel told the shepherds, "For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:13). The shepherds needed no interpretation of "the city of David" for they straightway made their way to Bethlehem. When Herod gathered the chief priests and scribes and asked them where Messiah was to be born they answered him without hesitation, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet..." (Matt. 2:5). Then they quoted the passage in Micah to Herod.

Notice that God says, "Out of you shall come forth to Me." The purpose for which Christ came was to do the will of His Father. The beneficiary of His work would be Israel (and, ultimately, the world, including you and me). Note also that Messiah origins were "from of old, from everlasting." Christ existed before time (Prov. 8:22-31; John 1:3; John 8:58; Col. 1:16)/ His birth has to do with His humanity. Isaiah said, "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given" (Isa. 9:6). "Unto us a Child is born" - that proves His humanity. "Unto us a Son is given" - that proves His divinity. Jesus was born in Bethlehem but as the Son of God, He was "from everlasting."

Prayer/Hymn: "O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray. Cast our our sin, and enter in ~ be born in us today. We hear the holy angels the great, glad tidings tell; O come to us, abide with us, Our Lord Emmanuel!" (Philips Brooks)