12.16.21 Micah 5:2–5
2 But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, from you, will go out the one who will be the ruler for me in Israel. His goings forth are from the beginning, from the days of eternity. 3 Therefore the LORD will give them up, until the time when the woman who is in labor bears a child. Then the remaining survivors from his brothers will return to the people of Israel. 4 He will stand and shepherd with the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. They will dwell securely, for at that time he will be great to the ends of the earth. 5 This one will be their peace.
Bethlehem: Back Where He Comes From for You
Kenny Chesney is a country singer, and years ago he sang a song called, “Back Where I Come From.” The first few verses go -
In the town where I was raised
The clock ticks and the cattle graze
Time passed with amazing grace
Back where I come from
You can lie on a riverbank
Or paint your name on a water tank
Or miscount all the beers you drank
Back where I come from
Back where I come from
Where I'll be when it's said and done
And I'm proud as anyone
That's where I come from
With the lyrics and music he clearly pictured the small country town he grew up in Tennessee. It reminds me of the town I received my first call to in Norton, KS. Most of the people were pretty country in that town, so it affected the way they dressed and spoke, along with their interests. Things were different here. I noticed a much higher interest in baseball, camping, and hunting. You can’t help but most often take on the nature of where you’re from, and sometimes they stick for life. It’s kind of like an accent. We had a neighbor in Topeka who still had a heavy southern accent after twenty years of having been away from Tennessee. She was proud of her heritage. It went with her wherever she lived.
Sometimes the opposite happens, where a city or a church takes pride in one of her sons or daughters and finds her identity in a child of the city or the church. French Lick, Indiana, is a popular place because it is the hometown of Larry Bird. Green Bay names certain streets after her most popular coaches and players.
In today’s text Micah spoke of a little town of Bethlehem, Ephrathah. There was another Bethlehem just north of Nazareth. This Bethlehem of Ephrathah was only about five miles from Jerusalem, on the next hill over. It wasn’t even listed among the 100 cities belonging to the clans of Judah in Joshua 15:20 and following. Yet God gave this little town renown, first of all by having Rachel be buried there. Then, years later, Ruth was married to Boaz and lived there, through whom King David would be born and rise to power in the third generation. Today Micah talks about the greatest honor of all that she would receive.
Micah expounds on this in vs. 2 and 4. But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, from you, will go out the one who will be the ruler for me in Israel. His goings forth are from the beginning, from the days of eternity. . . . 4 He will stand and shepherd with the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. . . . he will be great to the ends of the earth.
Bethlehem would “give birth” to someone with ancient origins, from days of eternity. This could be nobody else but God in the flesh. Who else exists from eternity? What would He do? He would rule and He would shepherd with the strength of the LORD and the NAME of the LORD. God would decide to step into our world through a womb of a woman in Bethlehem. This would be God’s portal through which to enter humanity.
The especially neat thing about it is how small of a podunk little town Bethlehem is. It lives in the shadow of Jerusalem. It is dwarfed by Jerusalem, nothing but a suburb at best. But here, through the birth of Jesus, God permanently plants it on the map and gives it fame. And it still is famous today. Surrounded by huge walls, sequestered from Israel, visitors from all around the world pass through the gates to go and visit the Church of the Nativity and see where they say Jesus was born. They don’t go there for David. They don’t go there to tour the city streets. They go there for Jesus. Bethlehem did nothing to deserve such status, but nonetheless, God decided to give her the honor of being the birthplace of Jesus.
You have to especially take this prophecy in context in order to understand what it would have meant to the Israelites. Micah was on the scene from about 740 to 700 B.C. He prophesied, Therefore the LORD will give them up, until the time when the woman who is in labor bears a child. Why would the LORD “give them up?” It was a consequence of her evil behavior and kings. Ahab was one of the most evil, well renowned for being married to Jezebel, the Baal worshiper. He tried to hunt down the prophets and kill them. The Southern Kingdom wasn’t much better. 2 Kings 21 mentions especially Manassah, 3 He erected altars to Baal and made an Asherah pole . . . He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them. 4 He built altars in the temple of the LORD. . . In both courts of the temple of the LORD, he built altars to all the starry hosts. 6 He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the LORD, provoking him to anger. So Micah was sent on the scene during the Assyrian Captivity in 722 B.C., and he also foresaw the Babylonian Captivity in 586 B.C. as well.
Even after the Israelites returned seventy years later, things didn’t get much better. Antiochus Epiphanes had a pig slaughtered on the altar at Jerusalem. The Persians and the Romans ruled over Jerusalem. The Ark of the Covenant was captured and gone. The sacrifices were no longer being made. They didn’t have their own genuine king, and the king they did have was actually a political Edomite named Herod, put on the Jewish throne by Rome. And it’s an unfortunate thing, because the Israelites could have had so much more success and happiness if they had just lived by God’s mandates and laws and worshiped Him alone. But they chose to disobey Him, so they suffered as a result.
But God had a purpose in this suffering. By the time Jesus came on the scene, everyone was looking for and hoping for the Messiah, especially since they were in such dire straits for so many years. They were beaten down and defeated. They had no national identity. They had proud moments in their past. But overall, their history was one of failure. They were desperate for a Savior, and that’s right where God wanted them to be. That’s where they deserved to be.
Are you desperate too? You should be. I think of where we are as humanity. What have we done? We’ve built airplanes and ships. We’ve invented the internet and furnaces and air conditioners. Yet we’ve managed to use some of these incredible inventions to murder millions of people. We’ve used them to sexually abuse children. We’ve invented new ways to manufacture drugs and get more and more people dependent.
Malachi addresses Israel as a nation and talks about their future, and we can’t help but think of our own nation. We have no identity to unite around. Freedom has become license to sin. We have seemingly half of our country that is still demanding for their children to be murdered in the womb. More and more are against freedom of religion and freedom of speech. Our country has abandoned natural views of gender and marriage. Our churches are becoming more and more empty and more and more people are turning to nothing. Who are we anymore? What is our purpose as a nation? We are falling apart from the inside out. We should be more desperate than we are.
Think about your own family, your children, your grandchildren. Is it as tight as it used to be? Faithful as it once was? Have you lost your love of God’s Word? Have you stopped uniting around Word and sacrament? When is the last time you have come to a Bible study? When is the last time you have read the Bible in your free time? How is the atmosphere in your house? Is it filled with prayer and song? Or is it silent? Is it filled with anger? Hatred? Have you lost your purpose in life? Lost your hope? Are you desperate? Should you be?
Think of where you personally are in your life. Have you turned out to be what you thought you’d be? Are you trying to reach your full potential as a student? A spouse? Are you the parent you thought you’d be? In the job you dreamt of having? Or have you made a mess of it all? What is your purpose in life? Are you desperate for meaning in this world? Where are you going to find it?
Go back to Bethlehem. He decided to call Himself HUMAN, with the divine name of JESUS. He decided to become my BROTHER, my Savior, and my King. How? Not just by taking on my flesh, but also by becoming my sin, my death, my hell, on His cross. If HIS NAME is on my family, on my church, on my city, on my world, then I have identity again and I have purpose again in Him ALONE. This is what Jesus planted Himself into you for as well, to give you that sense of pride and belonging, by entering into YOUR town, into your home, into your soul, and taking on YOUR name. He came here to give you a different identity, as God’s forgiven child, warts and all.
The Wise Men couldn’t find Jesus when the star disappeared. Nature failed them. It only brought them so far. Thankfully, the chief priests and the teachers of the law knew the prophecy. This is what Micah is most known for - this prophecy - pointing the Wise Men to Jesus - only five miles away. And so we know where to find Jesus, too. Our Bethlehem is right here in the Word of God. Our Bethlehem is in our baptism, where we are named as God’s children. Our Bethlehem is in the Lord’s Supper, where this God who took on flesh, uses that flesh to give us Himself for forgiveness. Yes, Jesus is here.
The King and Shepherd comes to give us two things. Security and peace. More than having a gun by the side of your bed, you know that God sends His angels to protect you. More than having the security of a job or a title, you have the security that God will not abandon you or let you starve to death. You can go to bed at night after more failures, confess your sins, and find a God who died for you. You can come to church and find a family that loves you and cares for you, regardless of your blood or your background. You can lie on your deathbed knowing that you will wake up in heaven with Jesus. This is the peace that God gives us. A peace of status and acceptance, not based on accomplishments or titles, but in Jesus. Yes, this Jesus is for your dysfunctional family too. He still lives in your house, still speaks to you. Yes, He speaks to you gently. “What are you so worried about? Why are you so angry? I’ve still got you. I’m still here. I still forgive you. You still belong right here.” Yes, this Jesus still loves you, still died for you too, who are desperate for love and acceptance. Yes, Jesus is here specifically for YOU who don’t have life all figured out.
Back where I come from . . . Watertown, WI. Home of astronaut Dan Brandenstein. Wis-pac. Luther Preparatory School. The Rock River. Zwieg’s Grill. Ok. Nothing much. What of Bay City? Hell’s Mile? Madonna? More infamy than fame perhaps. What of Trinity? The governor used to come here, so I’ve been told, to eat our sauerkraut or something like that? Back where I come from. . . where do we all come from? Sinful humans with sinful desires. The fallen human race, dying on the trash heap of history.
What will distinguish us and rise us above it all? Forget about the Bay City Madonna. Go back to the one that came through the original Bethlehem Madonna, our God in the flesh, who didn’t stay away from our stench of sin. We go to this little baby in Bethlehem. Where did He come from? He came from eternity in order to save us. He’s come to give us peace. Get on your knees, and find Jesus just where Micah foretold, born to die and rise again, to rule this world with truth and grace, and bring you peace. Amen.
