Old Testament Prophecies Regarding the Messiah - Part Nine (Micah 5:2)

"But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."

One of my favorite places in the world is a little town in West Texas called Bronte. And while it was named after the sisters of literature, it is not a town of high art. It is a place where people look you in the eye and a handshake is better than a contract. Bronte is not a very big dot on the map but it is a place where honesty is a valuable commodity, Friday night football is king, and everyone knows your business - both the good and bad.

Bethlehem at the time of Messiah Jesus was a lot like Bronte. A small town that had not produced a lot of noise until one night when a child was born in a manger. For from this town, came the Messiah that the Jewish people had been waiting for over 700 years. But who would have thought the Messiah would come from Bethlehem. The prophet Micah for one and the scribes called before Herod in about 4 BC (Matthew 2:6).

And while this is indeed a prophecy regarding the birthplace of the Messiah, this verse of Scripture from a minor prophet offers so much more insight into just who and how great this Messiah was, is, and would be. First, he would be a ruler. And while Jesus was not a prince or a king in the human understanding of power. Jesus did lead a group of men who not only followed him while He was on earth but also followed him to their own deaths as martyrs. In addition, the power of Jesus' Kingdom can be seen in Acts 17:6 when the followers of the Messiah were described as those who had turned the world upside down.

But more than the role of a ruler, Micah perhaps reveals a hint as to the pre-existent role of Messiah Jesus when he writes, "whose goings forth have been from old, from everlasting." The word for everlasting (transliterated as olam) literally means from days of old. Which illustrates that this ruler did not just arrive as a baby born in Bethlehem but that his presence and influence existed from antiquity. Therefore, one could see that this verse is not only evidence of a remarkable birth from a fairly unremarkable town, Micah also provides us with an early, albeit subtle, indication of one of the most important of doctrines - the incarnational nature of Jesus.

Bethlehem is significant for its role in history but what is of most importance is not the where but the who. The who provides hope for eternity and salvation for all those who believe - both Jew and Gentile. What joy and promise and all from a town that was even smaller than Bronte, Texas.

Next Week ... Psalm 22