“But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.
Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return
to the people of Israel. And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth.” Micah 5:2-4
Eight centuries before the birth of Christ the prophet Micah lived. His name means “who is like Jehovah?”. Micah lived in Moresheth, a small but important town in Judah near the Philistine territory. God called Micah to give Israel a message from Him. Micah’s message was one that gave an important and specific piece of information about the coming of the Messiah. In Micah 5 he prophecies that Christ will be born in a small hamlet,
Bethlehem. In Micah’s time there were two Bethlehems so God has him record specifically that the Bethlehem where the Messiah would be born is the Bethlehem located in Judah. Bethlehem Ephrathath was a small, insignificant town. Its mild climate and plentiful rainfall made it a fertile land. The name of the city means “house
of bread.” reflecting that fruitfulness.
Why did God chose Bethlehem? We will never fully know the answer to that question. Part of the reason is the humility of our Lord. When He “humbled Himself and took on the form of a man” God put His Son in the humble city of Bethlehem rather than the capital city of
Jerusalem. The second reason for Bethlehem is the story of Naomi and Ruth. After her husband died, Naomi returned to Bethlehem. There Ruth found the Kinsman-Redeemer, Boaz. As people thought of the birth of the Messiah they would realize He is the Kinsman-
Redeemer of all mankind. Third, Bethlehem is the birthplace of King David, the man after God’s own heart and who would become the King of Israel. People would think of this place and think of the Messiah who would show people God’s own heart and who was the
King of Israel. (Remember the wise men’s comment to King Herod? “Where is the One who has been born King of the Jews?” Finally, people would remember that Bethlehem was where the sacrificial temple lambs were born and raised. People would remember that
the true sacrificial lamb that takes away the sins of the world was born in this very place.
What can we learn? For Jesus to be born in Bethlehem took a miracle of God. Mary and Joseph were in Nazareth where Mary was very near the time of her delivery. There was no way they would travel 80 miles by donkey at this precarious time unless God moved heaven and earth. And He did! The Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus decided
to collect taxes so He could transform Rome from a brick and mortar city to a marble empire. God had a more important reason for him making that decision. People were required to travel to their home town to be be registered for the census. Did Mary and Joseph grumble over the inconvenience of having to move for such a ridiculous government action? Or did they realize this was the hand of God moving in their lives to fulfill a prophecy of the birth of His Son? God is in control!