December 17
Ornament with town of Bethlehem
We will begin with our reading for today, which is from Micah 5, verses 1-5a:
1“Now muster yourselves in troops, daughter of troops;
They have laid siege against us;
With a rod they will smite the judge of Israel on the cheek.
They have laid siege against us;
With a rod they will smite the judge of Israel on the cheek.
2 “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.
His goings forth are from long ago,
From the days of eternity.”
Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.
His goings forth are from long ago,
From the days of eternity.”
3 Therefore He will give them up until the time
When she who is in labor has borne a child.
Then the remainder of His brethren
Will return to the sons of Israel.
When she who is in labor has borne a child.
Then the remainder of His brethren
Will return to the sons of Israel.
4 And He will arise and shepherd His flock
In the strength of the Lord,
In the majesty of the name of the Lord His God.
And they will remain,
Because at that time He will be great
To the ends of the earth.
In the strength of the Lord,
In the majesty of the name of the Lord His God.
And they will remain,
Because at that time He will be great
To the ends of the earth.
5 This One will be our peace.
Yesterday we talked about the prophets pointing us to the coming of Christ. Micah is another prophet who prophesied about Jesus, and he tells us in this passage that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. It also points us to Jesus as our Shepherd, just like we discussed a few days ago! It ends with Micah telling us that Christ will be our peace, and we know that the righteousness of Christ is the only way we will ever have peace.
After Jesus was born and the three wise men were searching for him, they came to Herod and asked where they could find the newborn King of the Jews. This made Herod nervous and angry, and the book of Matthew tells us,
4 Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he (Herod) inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet: 6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
Are by no means least among the leaders of Judah; For out of you shall come forth a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.’”
Are by no means least among the leaders of Judah; For out of you shall come forth a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.’”
The chief priests and scribes were summarizing Micah 5! They knew how to search the scriptures and look for prophecies pointing to the coming of the Savior, but they still only had shadows and pictures and an incomplete understanding of how things would work together. We have the blessing of having both the Old Testament and the New Testament; Christ has come, and we have the privilege of seeing things much more clearly than the prophets.
We can get to know Christ through his word and by searching the scripture, just like those chief priests and scribes! As things get busy this Christmas season, let’s remember and take time to search the scriptures so that our hearts will be ready to celebrate the coming of our Savior!
We will finish our devotion today with the first and last stanzas of a Christmas hymn that talks about the town of Bethlehem. (#176)
O Little town of Bethlehem town of Bethlehem
How still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark street shineth
The everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight.
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 Immanuel.
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