A Ruler
Coming Out Of Bethlehem
One
of the most famous towns mentioned in the Bible is the town of Bethlehem. Ironically, this very famous town was also
one of the smallest towns within the borders of Israel. How could it be that this small town is so
well-known for over 2000 years?
According to the Old Testament prophecies, it would be in this town that
the promised Messiah would be born.
THE
SCRIPTURES:
Mic 5:1-3
1) Now gather thyself
in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall
smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.
2)
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.
3)
Therefore
will he give them up, until the time [that]
she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall
return unto the children of Israel.
Matt 2:3-8
3) When Herod the king had heard [these things], he was troubled, and all
Jerusalem with him.
4)
And
when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together,
he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
5)
And
they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the
prophet,
6)
And
thou Bethlehem, [in] the land of
Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a
Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.
7)
Then
Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently
what time the star appeared.
8)
And
he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young
child; and when ye have found [him],
bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
Luke 2:1-7
1) And it came to pass in those days, that
there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be
taxed.
2)
([And] this taxing was first made when
Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
3)
And
all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
4)
And
Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea,
unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house
and lineage of David:)
5)
To
be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
6)
And
so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she
should be delivered.
7)
And
she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and
laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
John 7:40-43
40) Many of the people therefore, when they
heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet.
41)
Others
said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee?
42)
Hath
not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the
town of Bethlehem, where David was?
43)
So
there was a division among the people because of him.
THE
STUDY:
If you recall in our past studies we have seen OT
promises that the Messiah’s boyhood would be associated with the country of
Egypt (part 8) and the city of Nazareth (part 6). Now, to further complicate the issue, we are
told that the young Messiah would also be linked to the small town of
Bethlehem. What started as two apparently contradictory texts, now has a third
text added to their group. Let’s see if
we can come to an understanding of how this third text fits into the teachings
of the other two without contradiction.
THE
PROPHECY:
Mic 5:1-3
In the midst of a prophecy of coming judgment upon
the land of Israel (due to their disobedience) we find Jehovah giving them a
promise of assurance and hope.
Assurance, that their nation will not be totally, permanently destroyed;
and hope, that He would send His promised eternal Messiah through the town of
Bethlehem to offer leadership and victory to His people. “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.”
The Hebrew title
translated “Bethlehem” is a title meaning “house of bread”, which teaches us
that this town would become known as the house of the Messiah, who would be
“bread of life” (John 6:33-51).
Also, the title
“Ephratah” was a secondary title given to this town located in Judah,
distinguishing it from another “Bethlehem” located in the land area of Zebulun. “Ephratah”’s Hebrew root means “to bear
fruit”. This helps us to understand
that the coming of the Messiah to the earth would bear much fruit (speaking of
His teachings, miracles and the salvation He supplied through His death and resurrection)
THE
FULFILLMENT:
Matt 2:3-8
In this NT text, we find the prophecy from Micah 5:
being quoted as applying to the “Christ”, the Greek word for “Messiah”… “And
when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together,
he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And
they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the
prophet, And thou Bethlehem,
[in] the land of Juda, art not the
least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that
shall rule my people Israel.”
Luke 2:1-7
Due to the taxation levied by Caesar Augustus,
Joseph and Mary travel to Bethlehem.
During their stay, Mary gives birth to Jesus… And
all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.) And Joseph also went up
from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David,
which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)… the
days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And
she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and
laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.”
This is clear evidence
that Jesus fulfilled this prophecy of Micah, being born in Bethlehem located in
the land of Judah.
John 7:40-43
In this text, we can see the importance of the OT
prophecies concerning the Messiah’s birthplace.
These prophecies were used in Jesus’s day to validate His identity as
the genuine Messiah (or “Christ”) promised in the OT Scriptures…. Others said, This is the
Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee? Hath
not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the
town of Bethlehem, where David was? So there was a
division among the people because of him.
Please notice that many of the “common” people were
unfamiliar with Jesus’ birthplace of Bethlehem.
He was known among the general public as “Jesus of Nazareth” (in the
land area of Galillee) (Matt 21:11, Matt 26:71, Mark 1:9, Mark 1:24, Luke
18:37, John 18:5-7 etc ) Because of this, the false assumption was made that
Nazareth was His birthplace.
PRACTICAL
APPLICATION:
So far in this series:
We have seen that Jesus was associated with “Nazareth”
as the city of His boyhood and the location in which He grew from a boy into a
young man.
We have seen that “Egypt” was the country to which, as a
baby, Jesus was taken to avoid being murdered by the Roman government.
And, finally, today we have seen that the town of
“Bethlehem” was the birthplace of Jesus.
Folks, as we stop and think about these three OT
promises grouped together as a unit, how many other men could be said to
fulfill all three of these prophecies?
As our brief look at the OT promises of the Messiah
continues, it becomes clearer and clearer that Jesus not only fulfills all
these prophecies, but He is the ONLY One that can be considered the promised
Messiah sent from the Father to be our Savior, Lord and King.
May the Lord bless our study of His Word.
If you have any questions about salvation you are
welcome to email me at settledinheaven@gmail.com. I’ll be more than happy to answer any
question you may have.
Also, if you look at my blog page “How To Have A
Relationship With God”. On this page,
you will find several blog entries explaining the way of salvation and
important truths about salvation.
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