Micah 5:1–6
The Ruler to Be Born in Bethlehem
5:1 Now muster your troops, O daughter of troops;
siege is laid against us;
with a rod they strike the judge of Israel
on the cheek.
2 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,
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.
5 And he shall be their peace.
When the Assyrian comes into our land
and treads in our palaces,
then we will raise against him seven shepherds
and eight princes of men;
6 they shall shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword,
and the land of Nimrod at its entrances;
and he shall deliver us from the Assyrian
when he comes into our land
and treads within our border.
(ESV)
From You Shall Come Forth
Last month many of us watched the live boxing match (when the video wasn’t buffering) between YouTuber Jake Paul and boxing legend Mike Tyson. Conveniently forgetting or overlooking Tyson’s past iniquities that make him one of the least sympathetic sports stars, most of us were pulling for the 58 year old to put this internet celebrity kid in his place. It was not to be. Iron Mike no longer had it in him.
So too in Micah 5 the might of Israel’s military and political power has been defanged and deflated. God’s people face an overwhelming enemy, and they look to their impotent leader in despair.
That’s when Micah announces that another king is coming who will defend and rescue them. Micah doesn’t tell us who this king is, but note these three points he makes about him. First, he shares his place of origin with the great King David of old. Second, like David, he will be immensely successful and victorious in the face of devastating defeat. Third, like David, he will come from practically nowhere all that important. Bethlehem, David’s hometown, was the kind of small town people move away from rather than move to. Great kings are supposed to come from the big city not the backwoods, but David and this future king will buck that trend.
Who is this future king? The New Testament is very clear that this can only be Jesus Christ. He was born in Bethlehem, same as his descendant. He is the true King who comes to claim his rule and defend his people. He will be utterly victorious, the King of Creation, the absolute center of the universe, before whom every tongue will confess that he is Lord.
And not only was Jesus born in an out of the way, insignificant place, he was born in an overcrowded room in the poor side of that place. The rest of his life on earth followed this trend. Raised in Nazareth, an even more obscure town than Bethlehem; impoverished and anonymous prior to his public ministry.
His death on the cross capitalized this theme of his nothingness and insignificance in the eyes of the world. Fleming Rutledge writes, “Crucifixion as a means of execution in the Roman Empire had as its express purpose the elimination of victims from consideration as members of the human race. It cannot be said too strongly: that was its function. It was meant to indicate to all who might be toying with subversive ideas that crucified persons were not of the same species as either the executioners or the spectators and were therefore not only expendable but also deserving of ritualized extermination.”
Born, lived, and died in obscurity, shame, and weakness; raised in power and glory. That is the power of God. Untouchable strength through profound weakness. May all who would follow him boast in their weakness so that they may be strong in their King.
Kyle Edwards