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.
3 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.
4 And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD,
“O Little Town Of Bethlehem” is the name of a Christmas carol that explains what Micah is talking about here. He had just been talking about Jerusalem with its great size and magnificent temple, then turned our attention to little Bethlehem, like us talking about New York City and Schenectady. As Vicki pointed out in Bible study though, Luke called Bethlehem “The City of David” when the other 40 times, Jerusalem earns that title. Therefore we must pay attention to MIcah’s words here, as he wished the people then would. There will be a ruler and he will not be born in any of the major power centers of the known world, but in the little town of Bethlehem.
It would have been easy to miss the significance of the event of the birth of a baby to a poor couple staying in a barn. Many are missing it now. Big time history was made in a small town and God can do big things in your small town, that is if you see the significance of what he did in your short life.
Dear Lord, thank you for using small towns and insignificant people to do your extraordinary will. May we be your broken vessels today. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church