By Neil Watkinson, serving Bible teachers around the world.
2 “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.”
3 Therefore Israel will be abandoned
until the time when she who is in labor bears a son,
and the rest of his brothers return
to join the Israelites.
4 He will stand and shepherd his flock
in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they will live securely, for then his greatness
will reach to the ends of the earth.
5 And he will be our peace
when the Assyrians invade our land
and march through our fortresses.
We will raise against them seven shepherds,
even eight commanders.
Micah 5:2-5
The world seems a fragile place, with political instability and nations at war. But Micah 5:2-5 gives us good reasons for hope. In 701 BC, Jerusalem was surrounded by an invading army, with increasing international uncertainty from Assyria, an emerging superpower nearby.
Into that situation, God speaks through Micah about God’s chosen ruler from an unlikely place (v2), Bethlehem. Bethlehem was ‘small’ because it was insignificant; it’s not mentioned in the book of Joshua, as part of Judah’s inheritance. It only became significant when God chose David from there, to be the shepherd-ruler of God’s people. Micah’s words therefore reaffirm God’s promise of a king ruling an everlasting kingdom (2 Samuel 7:12-13) – not through a fallible democratic election, but God’s good and trustworthy choice of ruler. Each Christmas, Micah 5:2-5 is included in carol services along with Matthew 2, which quotes it. Jesus is this ruler – appearing insignificant yet shattering our illusions of what makes a strong leader.
Jesus is also God’s powerful shepherd with an unlimited kingdom (v4-5a). Jesus deliberately refers to himself as ‘the good shepherd’ (John 10:11); and the expressions ‘in the strength of the LORD’ and ‘in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God’ show that his shepherding comes from his relationship with God. Jesus towers above everyone else in history – every king of Israel, every other religious leader there’s ever been. Those who belong to him live in the most secure kingdom. The global reach of his ‘greatness… to the ends of the earth’ implies that his government is completely unlimited, providing global security and well-being. Our hope, our peace and our security lie not in the government of the country we live in, but in this chosen shepherd-ruler of God’s kingdom.