02 | Advent 2025 | Micah 5:1-6 | Our Promised Strong Shepherd

Read Micah 5:1-5

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INTRODUCTION

Waiting as Watchmen The promise of the Messiah (King) as the prophets of old patiently waited, in order to instruct us today as we wait.

Last week, we looked considered Amos who spoke of a coming king who would restore the kingdom.

This morning we see the promise of the strong Shepherd, who would rule over the people of the kingdom.

3:00

Let us begin by considering the passage in its context in Micah as it culminates with the coming of a …

THE PROMISED RULER

The prophet Micah has spoken a word of coming destruction for people of Judah.

Micah 2:1 ESV

Woe to those who devise wickedness and work evil on their beds!

But Micah also alternates this warning of impending judgment with a message of hope: the kingdom will be restored—for the king is coming.

Micah 4:8 ESV

And you, O tower of the flock, hill of the daughter of Zion, to you shall it come, the former dominion shall come, kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem.

5:00

Now, in our passage this morning in Micah 5 …

… there are a number of time markers that help us understand what the prophet is telling us.

NOW

Muster your troops, because …

There are two references of warning: The first immediate and temporary — the second further off and decisive.

Siege is Laid

Assyrian siege of Jerusalem under Sennacherib in 701 BC (Hezekiah)

Strike the Judge

Sack of Jerusalem and Zedekiah’s humiliation in 586 BC.

2 Kings 25:7 ESV

They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains and took him to Babylon.

Micah here becomes specific about the judgement that is coming on the city of Jerusalem and the ruler of the kingdom.

The rulers of Judah have often, in pride, boasted of their security and confidence.

The Lord will bring them low in public shame.

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BUT

A ruler shall come forth.

The ruler will come from Bethlehem.

This tells us just how far the line of David will have fallen by the time this ruler emerges.

The great King David, though hearkening back to the little town of Bethlehem …

… had conquered, secured and built up Jerusalem, the city of David.

The great kings of his line would call this great city their home.

But, this Ruler will again hail from the humble roots of David himself.

Remember, David was seen as the least of his brothers.

He was chosen according to the Lord’s anointing alone.

This ruler also would be seen as the least.

But would, nonetheless, be the anointed of the Lord.

10:00

The Ruler is from “from old”

This phrase often refers back to the prior times of the rule of King David.

The prophet is telling us again, that this Ruler is from the line of David.

He is from ancient days.

While this is on the one hand a repetition of the fact that this ruler traces his roots to David …

… it may also point us even further in time.

One who is not only from old, but is ancient in origin—even he who is before David.

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Now — judgement upon the people, city and ruler of Judah.

But — A ruler is coming

This is the express purpose of the Lord.

What Micah now tells us is what the Lord is doing in history and how it will play out for all who trust in his sovereign design.

THEREFORE

First: He shall give them up

The people of Judah will not escape judgment.

The “now”, the time of judgment for sin and idolatry has come.

Second: until the time

There is a time after the time of judgement.

There is duration and end to the time of judgement.

What time?:

She who is in labor has given birth.

This is the announcement of a Messiah.

When the Ruler is born, this will mark the end of the people’s waiting.

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This is important.

It is the outline of the entire Old Testament expectation.

From it comes the whole idea of waiting for a Christ, a Messiah, and anointed king who is to come.

Have you ever wondered where this idea even comes from?

Where did we even get the idea that waiting for a Messiah?

It is this outline that is repeated throughout the prophets.

It is the reality that NOW is a season of judgement.

But there is a time that is coming in which a ruler will come …

… put an end to the season of suffering

… draw a people to himself

… and rule in security and peace forever.

This is the messianic expectation.

When the Messiah is born, now becomes until.

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What do we know about this Ruler, when he comes?

He shall stand

He will shepherd the flock (he will rule) in the strength of the Lord.

That is, his rule is dependent upon God alone.

He will shepherd the flow (he will rule) in the majesty of the name of the Lord.

That is, his rule reveals the glory of God alone.

Only the Lord, his strength and glory will establish:

Security and peace

And the greatness of his kingdom stretches to the ends of the earth.

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APPLY

Who is this Ruler that he not only rules in the strength of the Lord …

… but shares in himself shares in and radiates majestic name of the Lord … even to the ends of the earth?

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THE RULER HAS COME

Who is from …

Bethlehem

Who is from of old—from the line David?

Who is from ancient days—even before the days of old?

Remember the announcement of the shepherds in the region of Bethlehem.

Luke 2:11 ESV

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

20:00

Whose birth is announced by angels?

She who is in labor

Luke 1:30–33 ESV

And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

22:00

Who will gather the brothers out from under the long dark of judgement?

Gathering the brothers

Consider what that righteous man, Simeon, announces when he say the child, Jesus.

Luke 2:30–32 ESV

for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”

23:00

And Jesus’ own words about himself.

The Shepherd

John 10:11, 14

John 10:11 ESV

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

John 10:14 ESV

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,

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APPLY

Jesus is that Messiah, the anointed one, of the God’s own choosing …

… who makes the now (the present and pressing day of judgement)

… become the day for which the faithful are waiting (the day of redemption).

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Now, our passage in Micah is actually referenced shortly after the time of the birth of Jesus.

But, fascinatingly, it is severely misquoted.

THE ERROR OF THOSE WHO MISSED HIS COMING

King Herod hears rumors of the birth of a king.

This is obviously concerning for Herod, who currently occupies the position of power.

So, he assembles the chief priests and scribes.

These are the people whose job it is to listen to the prophets and aid the people in their waiting for the coming of the Messiah.

Let us listen in on how their misquotation of Micah gives us a glimpse into why they would ultimately fail to recognize the coming of the Messiah.

Matthew 2:5–6 ESV

They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: “ ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ”

Can you see it?

They get some of the details right.

But the stone of stumbling has already been set.

They know a king is coming.

They know the town from which he would come.

But they, reinterpret Micah to make it say exactly the opposite of what Micah actually said!

“by no means the least”

The rulers of the people, the king as well as those who were supposed to point the king and the people to the hope of Messiah …

… are blinded by wordly power and pride.

They know a king is coming, but they miss the king who comes …

… because they can’t seem to imagine his humble origin.

They will show themselves repeatedly to reject Jesus:

Often because of his association with the the humble and lowly.

They find his teaching offensive and his behavior abhorrent.

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APPLY

The details of the humble origins of Jesus are not just accidental characteristics by which to recognize the coming of the Messiah.

One thing is distinctly true from God‘s repeated choice of the humble and lesser.

The world does not save the world.

God, from outside the world, by his own powerful external and alien means …

… uses the weakest worldly things to do the greatest good in the world.

The world does not save the world.

The worlds greatness does not save the world from destruction. God alone saves.

35:00

JESUS SHEPHERDS HIS FLOCK

One more time, let us consider the narrative of Micah …

… but through the lens of a people who have witnessed the coming of the Messiah, Jesus.

Humble of the World, Majestic of the Lord

Micah speaks of the rod which strikes the ruler of Israel.

This judgement upon Israel comes because of their sin and idolatry.

Who among us have any right to escape the same judgment?

But the Lord was struck in the place of all who will submit to his rule.

He was publically shamed in the place of the people he has come to shepherd.

Again, we see that salvation is through judgement.

Unlike the King Zedekiah, who was struck for his own sin and pride …

… Jesus, the righteous shepherd, lays down his life for the flock.

38:00

There is this pattern, again.

Now — But

Waiting:

The faithful, like the prophets and Mary and Simeon …

… waited in faith for the coming of the Messiah.

But:

Galatians 4:4–5 ESV

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman … so that we might receive adoption as sons.

It is this “but”, this interruption of the long dark of judgment, that is the hope of all the faithful of every age.

40:00

The Shepherd has Come

The messiah came:

… unrecognized by the prideful and self-righteous

… but received by the humble and repentant

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, has intervened and intercepted judgment for all who will trust in him.

Jesus brings Security & Peace

Revelation 7:15–17 ESV

“Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

And yet, all who trust in the Lord, await the final rest and return of all the brothers.

We await the day in which we will dwell securely together: Final Victory

Revelation 11:15–18 ESV

Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”

This the meaning of Advent LONGING

1 Peter 5:4 ESV

And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

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APPLY

O, Little Town of Bethlehem O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray; cast out our sin and enter in; be born in us today. We hear the Christmas angels, the great glad tidings tell; O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!

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