Year of Prophecy – Episode 7: Tucked within an unassuming prophet’s book, we find a prophecy that shines the light on an unassuming place being the birthplace for the Messiah. Discover how God likes to shine the spotlight on the ordinary when the ordinary has been built on the foundation of His purpose and His plan.
Read the transcript:
As we move forward in our year looking at Old Testament prophecies that point forward to Jesus, we come to one that draws our attention onto the place where Jesus would be born. In a fascinating way, from one of the least assuming prophets in the Old Testament, we find a prophecy about the Messiah coming from one of the least significant locations in all of Israel and Judah.
This prophecy is found in the book of Micah, in chapter 5, and we will read it using the New American Standard Bible translation. Starting in verse 2, Micah writes prophetically:
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.”3 Therefore He will give them up until the timeWhen she who is in labor has borne a child.Then the remainder of His brethrenWill return to the sons of Israel.4 And He will arise and shepherd His flockIn 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 greatTo the ends of the earth.
In these few verses, we discover how it seems as though God chose Bethlehem because it was small to be the birthplace for the Messiah. From the way Micah describes the Messiah’s birthplace, I get the picture that God likes to draw focus onto places and people that others could easily overlook.
However, in an even more amazing turn of events, more than just Bethlehem, the place prophesied to be the birth location of the Messiah, turns out to be God drawing attention to the otherwise non-glamorous.
Jumping forward into the New Testament, to the time of Jesus’ birth as recorded in Luke’s gospel, chapter 2, we read a short summary of Jesus’ birth. Staring in verse 4, Luke tells us that:
4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, 5 in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. 6 While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth.
From the way Luke describes Mary and Joseph, I don’t get the impression that anything about this young couple was special or significant on the surface. While Mary plays a key role in Jesus’ entry into this world, had she not been chosen for this task, I doubt anyone would have even remembered her beyond a generation or two outside of her family tree.
However, because God chose to use this couple when deciding to step into history, Mary and Joseph are forever remembered in the timeline of history. God likes to elevate the otherwise unknown, and place them in His spotlight.
Moving to Jesus’ birth event in Matthew’s gospel, we discover how this prophecy was known by those at the highest levels of the Jewish faith, because as we will read in a minute, the religious leaders in Jerusalem voluntarily provide the information to Herod about where the Messiah would be born.
Reading from Matthew, chapter 2, starting in verse 1, we learn that:
1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, 2 “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he 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 RulerWho will shepherd My people Israel.’”
In this amazing event, not only do we find travelers from the east, possibly from Babylon or somewhere in that region coming to celebrate the birth of the Messiah, but we also have the religious elite of that generation appearing to be completely unaware that anything significant was happening.
The reason this is significant in my mind is that these religious leaders openly, willingly, and without any hesitation tell Herod the location of the Messiah’s birthplace. If these religious leaders believed the time of the Messiah’s birth to be imminent, then I would suspect that they would have been a little less open sharing this information with someone who was known for openly killing any potential opposition. Herod had the reputation for killing first and then asking questions later, and as we will uncover in a later prophecy and podcast episode, what begins in this portion of Matthew ends with a miracle tucked within a tragedy.
However, stepping back to the big themes of this prophecy, I cannot escape the truth that God likes to use and draw attention to people, places, ideas, and things that are easily overlooked by others. While the logical location for the Messiah’s birth would be in Jerusalem, the capital city of Israel and Judea, this is not what happened.
The wise men who came looking for Jesus may have suspected that Jesus would be born in Jerusalem, or they may have traveled there simply because they didn’t know exactly where the star they were following would take them. In their minds, I suspect that since the star appeared to be taking them towards Jerusalem, they may have believed that Jerusalem would either be the place they would find the Messiah, or that Jerusalem would be the place where they would learn where they could ultimately find the Messiah.
Everything in Jesus’ birth story shines the light on what otherwise would be normal and insignificant. In our own lives and stories, while God is capable of using us for great things, more often than not, any and every great thing He uses us for will be built on the foundation of the simple, ordinary, not-glamorous habits that simply draw us into connection with Him.
However, just because our lives might not be spectacular, and our spiritual habits may at times won’t feel significant or special, we can trust that God has not forgotten us, and that His timing is best from eternity’s perspective. God loves to shine the spotlight on the ordinary when the ordinary has been laid on a foundation He can use!
As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:
As I always open these challenges by saying, intentionally seek God first in your life and choose to focus on growing closer to Him using the simple, not glamorous habits of prayer, reading your Bible, and listening. While sometimes it may feel as though God’s silence means He is also absent, this could not be further from the truth. God is always with us whether we feel like He is or not, and we open our hearts to His when we open our lives to His Word.
Also, as I regularly challenge you to do, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself, because God wants a personal relationship with you. For your relationship with God to be personal, don’t let others step into the role of middle-men. Instead, let other people share ideas with you, then bring these ideas to God in prayer and study and allow Him to lead you into His truth.
And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or give up on where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!
Read this article on the web on it's official page: Making the Insignificant Significant: Micah 5:2-4
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