Small Town; Big Future

1. Small Town; Big Future Micah 4-5

2. Small Town; Big Future • ‘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.’ Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor gives birth and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites. 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. And he will be their peace (Mic 5.2-5a).

3. Small Town; Big Future • ‘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… (Mic 5.2). • “But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart’” (1 Sam 16.6b-7).

4. Small Town; Big Future • ‘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.’ (Mic 5.2). • “the Ancient of Days [who] took his seat” on the heavenly throne (7.9a). • “‘Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever’” (2 Sam 7.16).

5. Small Town; Big Future • 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. And he will be their peace (Mic 5.4-5a). • Peace “(šālōm) means ‘well-being’, specifically security from threat to the wholeness and prosperity of the nation” (Mays 1976: 119).

6. Projecting into the New Testament

7. Is Jesus from Bethlehem? • “On hearing his words, some of the people said, ‘Surely this man is the Prophet.’ Others said, ‘He is the Christ.’ Still others asked, ‘How can the Christ come from Galilee? Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David’s family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?’ Thus the people were divided because of Jesus” (John 7.40-43).

8. Is Jesus from Bethlehem? • In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. …And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son (Luke 2.1, 3-7a).

9. Jesus is from Bethlehem! • King Herod “called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. ‘In Bethlehem in Judea,’ they replied, ‘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 be the shepherd of my people Israel”’ (Matthew 2.4-6).

10. Jesus is from Bethlehem! • Gabriel to Mary: “You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end’” (Lk 1.31-33).

11. Messiah Jesus as King • Jesus: “‘But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God’” (Luke 22.69). • Stephen: “‘Look,’ he said, ‘I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God’” (Acts 7.56).

12. Messiah Jesus as Shepherd • “‘shepherd’ (cf. 5.5; 7.14) as a name for the office and work of a ruler was an established feature of language about the king across the entire Near East from earliest times” (Mays 1976: 117). • “As a shepherd, the ruler accomplishes three functions: he will lead his people, protect them, and provide for them” (Wolff 1990: 146). • Same commission Jesus gave to Peter: “‘Feed my lambs’”; “‘Take care of my sheep’”; “‘Feed my sheep’” (John 21.15, 16, 17).

13. Jesus is the Shepherd; we are his sheep • Jesus is the King; we are his subjects • Jesus is the Savior; we are his redeemed