The Promise of a King

This Promise has a place

Bethlehem. The promise is delivered in Bethlehem. Now, for us when we hear the word Bethlehem we automatically think Jesus. When think of the manger and the shepherds, wisemen, and the star. We see a beautiful nativity scene. But that is because we are looking backward in time- we see what we know has happened in Bethlehem.

The same can be said for Micah’s audience too, they most likely had some images of Bethlehem as well, but they were likely very different than ours.

It is important to remember that Bethlehem is a real place- a real citiy- trust me, I have been there- Bethlehem is very much real. So they thought of a real place- and the place they thought about was not very attractive.

The village of Bethlehem is located about 5 miles south of Jerusalem. So many people traveled through Bethlehem to get to Jerusalem for worship, business, or other things. At the time of the birth of Jesus Bethlehem only had a population of a few hundred people- it was not a budding metropolis. In fact, Bethlehem was probably a lot like Linville. In fact, the latest census data tells us that around 1,400 people live in Linville- which is likely more- maybe significantly more- than the population of Bethlehem.

So when we hear there was no room in the Inn, of course not! We are not talking about a large town and all of a sudden hundreds of people have descended into the area for a census.

Imagine for a moment that you heard that the greatest president of all time would be born in Linville. Or that the quarterback that would one day break Tom Brady’s passing touchdown records attends Linville Edom school right now; or if someone told you that the next Elon Musk or Bill Gates lived on Hollar School Road- wouldn’t that be a little hard to believe?

After all, we are just a humble, small little place here in Linville. We are a simple people. Famous people and world changers come from big cities and large schools- could there really be such a person in our midst? No way! We don’t even have a grocery store or a gas station in Linville. In fact, our church might be the biggest building in the entire place! Now imagine that someone told you that the Messiah- the promised son of God would come from an area like ours.

Bethlehem was not royal or special; it was not big or esteemed; it was not well known or memorable. It was just a small, simple, humble little town. It was not a place for a royal King- which is why it was the perfect place for Jesus.

But there was a second image that might have come into their minds as well- one that looked backwards. Because there was a King who had come from Bethlehem before, and he was pretty well known- 1 Samuel 17:12 tells us:

English Standard Version Chapter 17

Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons.

King David traced his roots to quiet, quaint Bethlehem. The king after God’s own heart. No doubt this provided some hope for the people that Micah’s prophecy was indeed valid. After all, if the last King who redeemed Israel came from there, it would make sense that the next redeemer might come from there, too, right?

This Promise has a plan

Every good promise needs a plan- and God’s promise had a perfect plan. It is important for us to remember that Christmas is no accident. The events of Christmas had been set into motion long before Mary’s conception by the Holy Spirit. In fact, they were set into motion in Genesis 3. God told Satan after the fall:

Genesis 3:14–15 ESV

The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

In fact, if we follow the Biblical genealogies we will find that there were 76 generations from Adam to Jesus. We can find this clear genealogy in Luke 3.

The earliest explicit prophecy of Jesus’ birth came years later sometime around 725BC in Isiah’s prophecy. In Isiah 7:14 we read “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

Christmas is a BIG DEAL at the Prater house. We love Christmas- especially Jess. We prepare early; Jess begins listening to Christmas around Halloween; and the Christmas decorating normally begins a week or 2 into November. We decorate inside the house, we have multiple trees most years, we decorate outside the house; I even put a wreath on my Jeep! Why? Because Christmas is coming and it feels us with joy and hope; we want to celebrate because Jesus is born and brought freedom from sin!

Anyone else get really jacked up about Christmas? Now, imagine God; this plan was set into motion thousands of years before; and here it comes! If we get excited about Christmas- imagine God’s heart knowing that his plan for delivering us from sin is at hand!

We must remember, friends, that Christmas- Jesus’ birth- was no happenstance or a coincidence; and it was not a last result or a calculated risk by God. No, this was all at his direction and command.

This Promise has a person

There is a person in this promise- and that person is Jesus! Micah says that he is going to shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord.

What do we know about the shepherd's life? It's a full time commitment. Sheep are helpless to defend themselves against attack from their natural enemies: lions, bears, wolves, hyenas and foxes which can come in both the day and night so there is never a moment a shepherd can relax. Sheep must be led to green grass and cool water, groomed when they get parasites in their nose and eyes and leeches in their throats from the water. Sheep must always be on the move because if not, they will overgraze the hill. Sheep need a shepherd.

Jesus arrives on the scene for us sheep, to protect us, to guide us, and to care for us. That is not a small task.

In John 10:11 Jesus said “I am the good shepherd. The shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.”

Think about this for a moment- first Jesus laid down his everything in Heaven. He stepped from the eternal throne room to come and make a way for us to be bought back. He left the continual praise of angels; he left a perfect place with no sin or sickness; he stepped out of eternity; and he came here to us.

And once he came to Earth he laid down his life AGAIN, he was beaten and tortured on a cross and suffered a gruesome and embarrassing death for crimes he did not commit.

Jesus- the shepherd- laid down his life for his sheep; multiple times.

This promise had power

I bet if we were to ask folks what their main issue is with politicians is they would probably tell you that they over sell and under deliver. They make promises they cannot keep! They run off on the campaign trail and say all of these amazingly grand things they are going to do while in office, and many times little to none of it actually gets done. Why? Because in reality no one politician has that much unilateral power. There is congress, and the Senate, and the Supreme Court, and the President and his cabinet. Let’s face it; there is little to nothing that 1 person can do to change a lot in the government so many of us are conditioned to doubt promises by our leaders.

But that is not the case in our God. Our God is omnipotent- which is a fancy way of saying ALL POWERFUL- he can do what he wants, when he wants, however he wants, and he does not need anyone’s help or permission.

Promises have power when we believe in the person who makes the promises. When someone makes good on a promise it gives us more power to believe them the next time.

Well, check this out. There are no less than 300 prophecies that are explicitly about Jesus that were fulfilled in his birth, life, death, or resurrection. That means hundred to thousands of years before his birth some of these predictions were made and all of them- EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM came true in Christ.