O Little Town of Bethlehem
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| "Bethlehem" by Vasily Polenov |
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 origin is from of old,
from ancient days.
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.
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.
And He shall be their peace. (Micah 5:2-5a).
Grace
to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!
“A special memory from
a pilgrimage to Palestine by one of the great American preachers of the
nineteenth century led to the writing of this beloved Christmas carol. In 1865,
Episcopal clergyman Philips Brooks (1835-93) took an extended leave from his
congregation in Philadelphia to travel to the Holy Land. On December 24, a
Sunday that year, Brooks traveled on horseback from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. The
journey made a great impression on the thirty-year-old, as he later reflected:
Before dark, we rode out of town to the field where they say
the shepherds saw the star. It is a fenced piece of ground with a cave in it
(all the Holy Places are caves here), in which, strangely enough, they put the
shepherds… As we passed, the shepherds were still “keeping watch over their
flocks,” or leading them home to the fold.[i]
“His observance of
Christmas Eve was completed at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, where
the service ‘began about ten o’clock and lasted until three.’[ii]
“Three years after his
Bethlehem visit, Brooks wrote the carol about the “little town” he had
previously visited and included it in a Christmas program for the children of
his Sunday School at Holy Trinity Church in Philadelphia. The organist at Holy
Trinity, Lewis Redner (1831-1908), set the words to a new tune just in time for
the hymn to be sung for a rehearsal on Sunday, December 27.
“The text of this carol
combines a verbal picture of the night of Jesus’ birth with reflections on the
importance of the holy birth itself and its singular association with the town
of Bethlehem” (Micah 5:2).[iii]
O little town of
Bethlehem,
How still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by;
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting light.
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight.[iv]
Today we will take a
closer look at this passage from Micah that celebrates this little town, a
relatively insignificant village in a relatively insignificant nation.
Micah
provides the historical context for this passage in the opening verse of chapter
5: “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” (v. 1). The prophet
calls upon his people to prepare for an attack and a siege, the impending siege
of Jerusalem by Sennacherib in 701 B.C. The enemy would “strike Israel’s ruler
on the cheek,” that is, humiliate him in his office. King Hezekiah was forced
to pay tribute to the Assyrians. In the near future, other kings of Judah were
humiliated by the enemy. Manasseh, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah were all hauled off
to Babylon in shackles. The shameful and painful exile followed as they were
all led a thousand miles away from home.
Conditions did not
improve much after the return from Babylon. Over the centuries, the people of Judah
had to submit to the power of Persia, then to Alexander and the Greeks, and
finally to Rome. The scepter of ruling power had departed from Judah. All that
was left of a once great nation was a stump of Jesse, the royal family of King
David (Isaiah 11:1).
That had all been prophesied,
but the prophecy was not all gloom and doom. Through Micah, the Lord announced
that in such a time of deep humiliation and degradation, the Messiah would come!
His birthplace would be Bethlehem of the clan of Ephrathah, to distinguish it
from the other Bethlehem in Zebulun, up near Nazareth (Joshua 19:15).
Bethlehem had a notable
history. Benjamin, the youngest son of Jacob, was born near the town. His
mother, Rachel, who had died giving him birth was buried there. Ruth gleaned
the fields of Boaz at Bethlehem. Here David was born, tended his father’s sheep,
and was chosen by God and anointed to be the next king of Israel. Yet Bethlehem
had remained a small town, too small to be numbered among the more than one
hundred cities belonging to the clans of Judah (Joshua 15:20-62).
In God’s eyes, however,
Bethlehem was anything but small. In this little village, One would be born who
would “come for Me,” that is, who would come to carry out the Father’s saving
will.
Micah does not use the
term “king” for the one promised in verse 2, instead, He uses another word, “Ruler.”
Micah differentiates this promised figure from all the kings who have come
before Him, or at least from the kings of Micah’s day. He would rule “over” Israel
as her spiritual King, not just “in” Israel as her earthly king. His purpose was
to establish in place of the fallen former kingdom of David (Micah 4:8) the new
Kingdom of David’s descendant, the Messiah. Therefore, He would be born in
Bethlehem, the city of David. Unlike David, however, this promised King would
have no beginning, because His “origins are from of old,” in the timelessness
of eternity.
Micah summarizes what
he had been saying: “Israel will be given up to foreign rule. Not until then
will the Savior be born.” Some Bible scholars refer to “she who is in labor” to
the Israelites in exile (Micah 4:9-10) and there is a certain merit to such an interpretation.
But a better reference is to Christ’s virgin birth (Isaiah 7:14). The “return”
of “the rest of His brothers” refers again to the return of the spiritual
remnant to join the New Testament Church.
As Micah mentioned
already in 2:12, the Messiah will rule over the Church as a shepherd tends his
flock. His “strength” will be that of the Lord because He is almighty God
(Isaiah 9:6). His “majesty” will be found in the name of the Lord because He is
the eternal Son of God.
We know that in the end
it will be Jesus Christ who titles Himself “Good Shepherd” and who thus
fulfills these old prophecies. As the Good Shepherd, He knows His sheep by
name, gives His life for them, and tenderly cares for them all, young and old
(John 10). Therefore, “they will live securely” with Him since there is none
greater than He in all the earth. With His almighty power the Messiah will
defend His Church and provide for it in every way.
The phrase, “He shall
be great to the ends of the earth,” is fulfilled when Jesus is raised onto the
cross (cf. John 12:32). This is when Christ is glorified. This is when His
greatness is on display, though hidden in the shame and curse of the cross. Now
it is true that “all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to [Him] (Matthew
28:18b). Therefore His people dwell securely; nothing can separate them from
the love of God that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:38-39), and nobody can snatch
them out of His hand, for He and the Father are one (John 10:29).
Our text closes with “and
He will be their peace.” Only three short words in the Hebrew, but what a grand
and glorious message they proclaim! Millions of words cannot exhaust their full
meaning. Nor can the lifetime of a child experience their full joy. He will be
our Peace, our Shalom, the One through Whom we have a relationship of complete
unity, perfect harmony, and peace with our heavenly Father. The Savior’s
atoning death made peace between God and us guilty sinners (Ephesians 2:14).
His daily intercession with the Father gives us peace of conscience (Romans
8:33-34). His shepherd’s love and guardian care allow us to live in peace in
this vale of tears (Psalm 23; Romans 8:35-39). His death and resurrection will
provide peace in the hour of our death (John 11:25-26). No wonder the angels
outside Bethlehem announced His birth with their heavenly chorus: “Glory to God
in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased!” (Luke
2:14).
Jesus Christ is peace!
He is the Resurrection and the Life! He is your peace, your resurrection, and
your life! His precious blood was shed for you; His innocent suffering and
death was for you and in your place. It reminds us of our immortality. We will
not die but live forever with our Savior. And minds and hearts that have grown
weary with anxiety are strengthened with the peace that only Jesus can give.
Divine peace. It comes
from knowing that Jesus has done everything for our salvation. It comes from
knowing that our heavenly Father not only forgives our sins, but He forgets
them as well. It comes from knowing that our suffering and dying is but a
momentary affliction that isn’t worth comparing to the glory of eternal life
that awaits all who trust in Jesus Christ.
As we approach the
Festival of our Savior’s birth, may we do so with hearts and minds filled with
peace. May our prayer be that of the closing verse of our hymn.
O holy
Child of Bethlehem,
Descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in,
Be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Immanuel![v]
Amen
Unless otherwise
indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard
Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good
News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[i] Phillip Brooks, letter to his father,
December 30, 1865, in Phillips Brooks, Letters of Travel (New York,
1893), 69.
[ii] Phillip Brooks, letter
to his father, December 30, 1865, in Phillips Brooks, Letters of Travel (New
York, 1893), 69.
[iii] Lutheran Service Book:
Companions to the Hymns, Volume 1. Edited by Joseph Herl, Peter C. Reske, Jon
D. Vieker. Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, p. 84-86.
[iv] Lutheran Service
Book. Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, #361
[v] Lutheran Service
Book. Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, #361
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