Beth Lechem

Micah 5:2–5a NRSV

But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has brought forth; then the rest of his kindred shall return to the people of Israel. 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 live secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth; and he shall be the one of peace. If the Assyrians come into our land and tread upon our soil, we will raise against them seven shepherds and eight installed as rulers.

MIcah 5:2-5a

If you have noticed there is a common theme that has run through the prophets. Judgement redemption. Wesley commented once that we would not know grace if there was no judgement. In fact you can’t have grace without judgement. If there is no judgement then there is no need for grace. That’s where universalism breaks down. But we are not going down that rabbit trail this morning.

But what we have seen is a Hebrew Christmas. That is we have seen God coming into the world to forgive the Judeans of their sin, bring them back from exile, and place them back in the promised land under a new covenant. While it seemed to them God had abandoned them, God never forgot them and kept working in human events to redeem and restore them.

And God kept working through the oppression of Alexander the Great, Antiochus, and the Romans, and even Hitler. God kept working, God is with us and he came to us that night in Bet Lechem. Hebrew for hose of bread. Bet is house lechem or lehem, means grain or food. בֵּית לֶ֫חֶם

Micah’s name is an affirmation of sorts, it means “who is like YHWH.” he preached during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, some 55 years and was a contemporary of Isaiah. Jotham and Ahaz are apostate Kings, they didn’t follow Torah or YHWH. Hezekiah was a great reforming King bringing his subjects back to the true faith. He accuses the people and the Kings of living an apostate lifestyle, perverting worship, and promoting injustice towards others. the rich were becoming richer, the poor poorer. The merchants were taking advantage of pole by unscrupulous business practices. the poor, the widow, the orphan, the alien, were all but forgotten and the political and religious leaders were ignoring it all. In the text that Micah preached for us just a mont ago, he claims that one is coming, a great ruler who will correct all this.

This ruler will be born in Bethlehem. Matthew understands this to be a prophecy of the Christ.

Matthew 2:1-

Matthew 2:1–6 NRSV

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.’ ”

When Joshua divided the land among the 12 tribes, Bethlehem was such an insignificant town at the time it i snot included in the list of cities for that parcel. In fact in Micah’s time it probably held only a couple of hundred residents. it’s claim to family, however, is that Jesse David’s ftaher lived there and David resided there as King until he moved his throne to Jerusalem.

This is a bold prophecy Micah makes. He claims that a strong ruler, the messiah will come from Bethlehem, just like David did. God always uses the humble places and people to partner with. It’s never the high brow and rich. Just as Jesus who resided and grew up in the insignificant town of Nazareth, the Messiah will be born in another insignificant town, save for David’s history there. He also claims that this has been God’s plan for a long, long time.

Micah does say that Judah will continue to under go calamity for a while and these will be like birth pangs of a woman in labor. But when the “kindred” or exiles return to Israel this Davidic leader will lead them like a shepherd.

And it is verse 4and 5a we will take a look at. If you noticed Matthew combines verse 2 with this verse.

Micah 5:4 NRSV

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 live secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth;

Micah 5:4–5a NRSV

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 live secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth; and he shall be the one of peace. If the Assyrians come into our land and tread upon our soil, we will raise against them seven shepherds and eight installed as rulers.

1 The New Revised Standard Version The Ruler from Bethlehem

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 live secure, for now he shall be great

to the ends of the earth;

5 and he shall be the one of peace.

Micah 5:4-5a

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 live secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth; and he shall be the one of peace.

It was common in the ANE to compare kings to shepherds and Israel was no exception. David, a shepherd and great King, will be followed by this Great Messianic King who will be a good shepherd as well. This shepherd will depend totally on YHWH. he will be YHWH’s agent feeding his flock in the strength of the Lord

in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.

And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth; and he shall be the one of peace.

to the ends of the earth; and he shall be the one of peace.

5 and he shall be the one of peace.

It was common in the ANE to compare kings to shepherds and Israel was no exception. David, a shepherd and great King, will be followed by this Great Messianic King who will be a good shepherd as well. This shepherd will depend totally on YHWH. he will be YHWH’s agent feeding his flock in the strength of the Lord. he shall be know the world over as the great King. he will be a King of peace, not of war. The people shall live secure . . .

What is security? Were the Judeans secure? No, not in what they thought brought security. The were being attacked by the Assyrians. They had already taken some 40 towns in North Judah and reduced the Northern Kingdom Israel to nothing. The were besieging Jerusalem and things looked bleak. But here is Micah talking about a day to come when they could really live secure because of this new ruler to come a Davidic ruler of peace who will come in the name and glory of God. Micah tells them to face this crisis in light of the big picture he is painting. Redemption is coming God is working.

This is the message for us as well. Our security comes form God and understanding that God is with us although current events in our lives may not indicate that. Problem is we don’t really trust in that. Security is an important issue to us, isn’t it? I ran a google search on the word security and got over 5 billion, yep you heard me, 5 billion hits! On the first page it showed, jobs in it security, gave me several definitions of security, directed me to a page about financial security, several adds about home security. I am surprised it did not say something about social security. Politicians have been using that as a political football for years, making us well feel insecure, as if money really provides security anyway.

I mean we all know that there is no real security in our savings and checking accounts, our pensions or 401k’s right? Nothing is secure that is temporal. Politicians, insurance salesmen, military recruiters, all prey on our insecurities, because in the end we are all insecure. Deep down we know that security doesn’t reside in us and our decisions. in other words we cannot really make ourselves secure. The writer of Ecclesiastes says this by remarking all is vanity. Kansas meant this when they sang:

Now, don't hang on, nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky It slips away And all your money won't another minute buy Dust in the wind All we are is dust in the wind All we are is dust in the wind Dust in the wind Everything is dust in the wind Everything is dust in the wind

Adam, know what the literally means? Dust. We are all dust, because this is all temporary. it’s cliche, but you can’t take any of it with you. So where does our security lie? In the shepherd who comes in the name of the Lord. In the one born in Bet lehem.

In those days when the Assyrians are at the walls, seize on to this promise of God. Our 401k’s are not salvation, nor are our jobs, our military, or our first responders, although I thank God for all of them! Our security comes from the eternal God. Nothing temporary can be secure. It’s very nature means it is temporary. You cannot ultimately put your trust in dust.

Video

I don’t know the religious background of this man. But it would be hard to do that if you did not realize that life goes much deeper than stuff. Whether he was a Christ follower or not he did something that is very Christ like. I am reminded of this story:

Mark 10:17–27 NRSV

As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’ ” He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”

Mark 10:17-

Mark 10:17–26 NRSV

As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’ ” He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?”

Mark 10:17-

You see there is nothing we can do to save ourselves, except follow the one who gave it all: the good shepherd born in Bet Lehem

Beth Lechem

Scripture

Introduction

Background

Exegesis

Application