“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
from ancient times.” Micah 5:2
Last week we saw Simeon, recognising a lot of significance in the baby Jesus he held in his arms at the temple.
This week we’re going back another three quarters of a millennium from Simeon to hear from someone else – from the prophet Micah - who spoke prophetic words about Jesus too.
The Prophecy
Micah was a pre-exilic prophet between the years 750 and 686BC - so, a contemporary of Isaiah. And though he was before the exile of either the northern or southern kingdom, Israel was, nonetheless, at his time, characterised by idol worship. Her priests were corrupt and her rulers were unjust.
The longer they had lived amongst the nations around them, the more they had become Godless like the nations around them.
And so the book of Micah is a book of prophecy that alternatesbetween warnings of judgment coming on the nation in the near future because of their Godless ways, but also promises. Promises of amazing restoration in the distant future.
And we have a bit of both here in the first six verses of chapter five. Verse 1 is a warning: ‘Marshal your troops now, city of troops, for a siege is laid against us. They will strike Israel’s ruler on the cheek with a rod.’
Here’s the warning of what is about to happen to Israel. The call is to ‘marshal the troops’. But the very word ‘troops’ indicates how terriblethe situation is for Israel. There is no army to marshal. There is a number that Micah can only describe as mere ‘troops’.
The siege of Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, is coming, and Israel has nothing to defend herself with. Impoverished, wretched, poor and rejected, in his humiliation the ruler of Israel will be helpless in the face of his enemies.
He will be struck on the cheek with a rod and carried off into captivity by his enemies. And Israel will go with him. This is the condition of Israel - wayward, sinful, depleted, owned and helpless.
But then, verses 2 and 3 come galloping in - bursting with hope and promise. Verse 2 starts with the word ‘But’ and that tips-us-off that there’s something here that contrasts what was just said in verse 1.
‘But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.’
By the end of verse 2 it’s not clear how verse 2 will be hopeful for Israel in contrast to verse 1, but verse 3 will make that clear. What is clear from verse 2 is that Micah foresees a ruler - a king - coming in the future.
What is also clear is that the ruler will be an Israelite from the Israelite town of Bethlehem. And there are three reasons why it’s not a disappointment that the new king will come from little Bethlehem, even though Bethlehem was ‘small among the clans of Judah’ (v.2).
One, the king will be ‘for me’ – that is, for God. That’s a very hopeful sign of restoration. Two, the king will be from the town where the greatest king of Israel had been from - David. That’s hopeful. And three, the king has unusual and very promising qualities. He has origins that seem to predate Micah’s prophecy. His origins are ancient; ‘from of old’. In short, they are eternal origins. And what could be more hopeful than an enduring king?
Verse 3 makes things clearer and even more hopeful for Israel. Despite verse 1 - which will happen; ‘Israel will be abandoned’ verse 3 says - nevertheless that abandonment will not last forever.
There comes a time when the king of verse two is born - when ‘she who is in labour bears a son’.
That’s counterintuitive because, his origins are ‘ancient’ and yet he’s going to be born. That tips-us-off even further that this is not a normalperson in view - he’s going to be unique; different to other kings who have gone before. Great - in the mould of David - but greater thanDavid even.
Connected with the arrival of the king, born to a woman (v.3) - morethan connected, in fact, through this kingly ruler - restoration happens. Israelites who are in exile return to join their brothers. So, hope is realised - in and through this king!
Verses 4, 5 & 6 give us the details of what that looks like. The kingly ruler takes his stand - that means he takes his rightful kingly place. And then he cares for the Israelites, like a shepherd cares for his flock.
And as a result of his kingly oversight and his God-like strength (v.4), and because of his greatness, which reaches to the ends for the earth, the people live securely under him. He is their peace, verse 5 says.
Even when enemies come against the Israelites as they did before, they are well supplied with armies, headed up by commanders (v.5), who raise a formidable resistance. So formidable in fact, that they overcome their enemies and take their territory, ruling where they previously had not (v.6).
And all this is owing to the mighty deliverance at the hands of this unequalled king, who couples perfect strength with perfect affection.
Jesus Is The Son
That’s how Micah sees the future as God had shown it to him. And the reason why it should mean so much to us is because of what the gospel writer Matthew, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, records in the second chapter of his gospel.
There we read that king Herod was disturbed by the question from the Magi who had come from the east, when they asked, ‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.’
So, Herod called together the chief priests and teachers of the law and asked them where the Messiah was to be born. And they replied like this, ‘in Bethlehem in Judea…for this is what the prophet [Micah] has written: “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel”’.
All of which, pins Micah’s prophecy squarely on Jesus. Especially, when you consider that Matthew started chapter two saying: ‘After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of king Herod…’ So, there is no doubt that the kingly ruler Micah foresaw in his prophecy 750 years before Jesus, was Jesus.
The one who was in labour in Micah’s prophecy, is Mary. And she birthed a son, whose origins were from of old, from ancient times! ‘The virgin will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel (which means God with us)’ Matthew 1:23 says.
So, the eternal Son of God who has always existed and will alwaysexist, took on flesh and was born of a woman in real time. And he isking!
Christmas is about the arrival into our world of the eternal God-king, and I want to show you, from Micah, what the implications are for us that he has come into our world.
And that means so much to us because Christ did not come into the world for Israelites only. He came into the world for the people of God made up of all kinds of people - even people like us! Especially people like us!
Transposing the Prophecy
If you know me, you know I am not musical, but my wife is. And one of the musical things she likes is the transpose button on her digital piano because it allows her to play the same tune in a different key.
It allows her to play in a key which suits her vocal range. It means she can sing more comfortably, and it means she can hit all the notes - low and high - when the range is made right for her. She tells me that she is playing the same keys on the keyboard, but they are sounding in a different range.
That’s the kind of thing we want to do with this prophecy in Micah. We want to hit the transpose button and move out of the key of nationalIsrael and into the key of spiritual Israel.
Now, I’m not saying that Micah’s prophecy doesn’t have a fulfilment for national Israel - it may well do. I think it probably does in some way, based on Romans 9-11, but that’s for another time.
But so far as we are concerned - who are the people of God but not in the old national sense - we need to transpose the key of Micah’s prophecy into a spiritual key that applies to anybody who comes toJesus, by faith in Jesus.
So let me show you five glorious Christmas realities that shine through the darkness of who we are by nature. We’re moving from gloom to glory here in five Christmas realities.
The Gloom Of The Human Condition
Verse 1 just tells it exactly how it really is. We are by nature defeated. Our sins have created an untraversable chasm between us and God.
Satan has laid siege to our lives and we, with no spiritual power whatsoever, have been struck on the cheek with his rod. He has carried us off into his domain with astonishing ease.
We are, by nature his slaves through death. And if we have eyes to see, then we know we are in bondage to Satan, and held captive in the dominion of darkness, and slaves to our own sin.
In that condition there is no hope. There is only the prospect of this temporary condition running its course through to death and becoming, in the moment that our eye lids close for the last time, our permanentcondition.
Just as the Israelites were taken away into captivity, so our expectation, in this condition, is that we too will be taken away into the spiritual equivalent of captivity - namely taken away to hell forever. The wages of sin are death – eternal death.
Hope Kindled
But then! Verses 2 to 6 are pregnant with the hope of better things - stupendously better things! Here are the 5 glorious Christmas realities Micah serves up for us in the birth of Jesus. They are: Hope; Deliverance; Care; Assurance; and Victory.
The first is hope - hope where there is no hope. I’m getting hope from all the verses between 2 and 6 obviously, but so far as these verses speak into our immediate gloom, verses 2 and 3 are especiallyhopeful.
Our problem is an eternal problem not just a temporal problem. Which is why the news that there is a conquering king who has eternal qualities is so good.
But not just that. Our captivity is also at the hands of no merehuman being. Satan has blinded the minds of unbelievers to keep them from seeing the glory of God, 2 Corinthians says.
Our foe is a bitter enemy, but he is also a spiritual one - far more powerful than an earthly enemy. And so, it is very hope-full that Micah’s words, in verse 2, hold the promise of a spiritual king.
Verse 4 says he takes his stand in the ‘strength of the Lord’ – that is in the strength of God. If God be God, there is no one more powerful than him - not even Satan. So, Micah’s ruler from of old - Jesus Christ - is more than capable of making the difference.
That is mightily hope building. Christmas then, carries the hope of deliverance. Matthew 4:16 says, ‘the people living in darkness have seen a great light’. We lived in darkness, and we have seen a great light in Jesus.
Deliverance Realised
But then hope gives way to reality in the form of deliverance. This is the moment the bondage is broken; the chains are severed; and the captives are set free.
Micah sees the arrival of Jesus, but he also sees the kingship of Jesus. It’s in Jesus’ kingship that our foes are vanquished. He defeats our enemies by his kingly dominion, and he sets us free by his kingly power.
What Micah doesn’t see is how he accomplishes it. But Colossians 1 fills the detail in for us. It says in verse 19, ‘For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him [that is in Jesus, through the incarnation], and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace [how?] through his blood, shed on the cross.’
So, the kingly ruler comes in time, born of a woman and he achieves ransom for his people who have been held captive by their sin to Satan their whole lives. And he does it by laying down his own life for them. Colossians says, by ‘shedding his blood on the cross’ for them. We might say he was born to die for them.
And that makes verse 2 even more significant because that would be such a weak story - if death could have the victory. But Hebrews says, his power is that of an indestructible life. Death could not win over against Jesus because ‘his origins are of old, from ancient times’.
He is a high priest forever! Making intercession between us and God forever! The chasm that was fixed between us and him - he destroys forever! And we have peace with God! Is it any wonder we celebrate Christmas!
A Caring King
But there’s more! If, the first Christmas reality was hope, and the second deliverance, then the third is care. We do not have a strong king only; we have a shepherd-King also.
We have a king who cares about us. Deliverance was an event - it was an event in Jesus’ life when he went to the cross; it was an event in our lives when we came to faith in ‘Jesus on the cross for us’.
But Christ’s care for us is a minute by minute - even second by second - reality that continues our whole lives.
Right now, he is caring for us - is that not amazing? Right now, we live securely under his shepherd-like care. He will not allow us to return to captivity. He will not abandon us to our enemies again.
He will keep us. He will feed us; He will protect us; He will providefor us; He will lead us. His strength is God-strength and so he will accomplish this.
And his motive guarantees it too. His motive is the majesty of the name of the Lord his God (v.4).
In other words, the work he has wrought on the cross by the power of his indestructible life would not honour the kingly majesty of God Almighty over the whole universe, if a single one of his sheep were to be lost.
John 10:27. Jesus is speaking: ‘My sheep listen to my voice; I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me, is greater than all…’
Jesus knows each one of us personally and he has made it his personal charge to care for us as a shepherd would care for his sheep? Not one of us will be lost!
Christmas Assurance
The fourth glorious Christmas truth here in Micah is assurance. Assurance is the confidence that things hoped for will come to fruition.
Assurance in this Christian life is that the race will be completed. That the crown will be won. That the glory of heaven will be entered. That sin will be overcome. That death will be conquered. That this body will be resurrected. That relationships will be mended. That faith willgive way to sight. That the church will be unified and completed.
And as far as I can see, assurance comes in two ways and Jesusmakes sure of both. It comes by what he, Jesus, sovereignly does - without our input. And it comes by what he, Jesus, sovereignly enables us to do - with our input.
Assurance – Christ Alone
So, Micah promises in verse 3 the completeness of the people of God. All the brothers and sisters gathered together.
Then in verse 4 he promises that Jesus’ reign will reach to the ends of the earth. In other words, he promises that Jesus’ dominion will be over all the earth.
In verse 5 he promises that Jesus himself will be our peace. Which of course he is now, but I think he sees a time when that peace comes to fullest consummation. When all the church gathered enjoys perfect interaction with God - where the peace that Jesus brings about between us and God is manifest in the midst of his people as he dwells with them.
So, the completion of the church, the completion of Christ’s kingdom, and the peace that comes to us from him residing with us are all promises.
And the confidence that we have, derived from his incarnation, from his power, from his care for us and from his eternality, give us assurancethat we will inherit these promises.
Assurance – Christ At Work In Us
That’s one way we get assurance. The other way is through his enabling us to overcome in this life. Micah promises the ability to raise a resistance against those familiar enemies who come to assault our lives all over again.
That is happening now. Our lives are the target of Satan and his devices every day, and it is his express intention to place us back under his captivity if he possibly can. But Micah says we will raise against him seven shepherds, even eight commanders.
When a biblical writer does that with the number seven and eight, he means for us to understand the fixed and complete nature of what he is saying.
We will, by the power of Christ worked in us, raise a resistance against every foe that comes against us. We will, with our eyes wide open, draw the sword of the Spirit and put on the armour of God.
And we will not only stand our ground, but we will make advancesupon our enemy.
This is what our Christian life will look like because Christ has empowered us with spiritual awareness, and confidence, and ability.
Every scrap of ground we gain in this spiritual warfare will serve to bolster our faith and strengthen our resolve. It will give us the assurance that our ‘Christian life’ is not in vain. That Christ is real. That our Christianity is real.
We must do our part faithfully through the strength of God that Christ so powerfully works in us, or else we will not sense the reality of the kingdom of darkness, nor the work of Christ’s Spirit in us. And then we will have only a half-baked assurance.
We need full assurance, and it comes by the promises of God, guaranteed by the person of Christ. And it comes by the power of Christ working in us to overcome.
Victory
And the fifth glorious Christmas reality that Micah shows us is that the fight will end in victory. Micah simply says in verse 6, ‘he [that is the king] will deliver us from the Assyrians’.
Final victory for the people of God is an inevitability because of Christ. In short, he is so powerful, so kingly, so devoted to the majesty of the name of God, so committed to our good and lasting pleasure in God, sodesirous of his consummated union with his bride the church, so at one with God’s purpose for himself - namely that he should reign whereverthe sun rises and sets that, from manger to new creation he cannotfail to achieve all that he has come into the world to do.
His victory and our victory are wrapped up together. If he is victorious, we will be victorious. And he simply will be victorious. There is no doubt about it. ‘Thanks be to God! He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ’ 1 Corinthians 15:57 says.
Conclusion
So, Micah sets this whole thing out like a domino run. And the domino run starts with the birth of a son whose ‘origins are of old from ancient times’. Micah starts the domino run with the incarnation of the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
Because of his incarnation, Jesus is to us hope. He is to us deliverance. He is to us care. He is to us assurance. And he is to us victory.
How could we fail to love him even more this Christmas? How could we fail to thank him for coming into our sinful world and making all this happen for us? How could we fail to see Jesus this Christmas when we have been shown so much of what it is that he has come to do for us?
Micah helps us to see him better this Christmas. I trust it will be so for all of us this coming week as we count down to next Wednesday.