Micah 5:1-15

Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek. ² But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. ³ Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. ⁴ And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth. ⁵ And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men. ⁶ And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders. ⁷ And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the Lord, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men. ⁸ And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver. ⁹ Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off. ¹⁰ And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots: ¹¹ And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strong holds: ¹² And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers: ¹³ Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands. ¹⁴ And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee: so will I destroy thy cities. ¹⁵ And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard.

Every year at Christmas, millions of people celebrate a holiday filled all forms of pageantry, consumerism, and busyness. It is a time spent with friends and family and so many things, both wonderful and taxing. What seems to be lost more and more each year is what Christmas is truly about. In Micah 5 is found one of the greatest promises contained in Scripture and it is an Old Testament prophecy about what took place at Christmas. Micah prophesied to a disobedient people in a gloomy and seemingly hopeless situation, but laced throughout his prophecies of judgment are found the most profound words of hope. To a disobedient people, God promises to send a King that will lead His people out of their sin into His righteous will for them. Into a world filled with the darkness of sin, Jesus came as the Light. This is what Christmas is all about. This is where Micah calls the people of God to place their hope, in a King who will come and save His people from sin. In Micah 5, we find that this great King would be born in the humble town of Bethlehem and, nearly 700 years later, that promise came to pass. What is the meaning of Christmas? It is a celebration of the reality that God’s Savior-King has come and His name His Jesus. Micah 5 teaches us three things about this King and what He will accomplish.

First, He is the promised King who saves His people. Micah 5:1 promises a coming time of embarrassment for Israel’s king to be struck with a rod on the cheek (a sign of disrespect). While Hezekiah would be brought to the brink of defeat and just over 100 years later Judah would eventually be taken into captivity, that would not be the end for Israel. In fact, the humiliation of Israel’s king actually serves to be a foreshadowing of Christ who would be humiliated by those mocking Him (Matthew 26:67-68). The word, “But…” is often a very important word in the Bible because it often serves to transition us from bad news to good news (i.e. Ephesians 2:4).  Here it transitions us from the defeated kings of Israel and Judah to a future King who will lead God’s people into absolute victory. Micah 5:2 tells us that this King will be born in Bethlehem Ephratah. Bethlehem is the hometown of David and Ephratah was the wife of Caleb and grandmother of Bethlehem (1 Chronicles 2:19, 50; 4:4). Put together the names mean “Fruitful House of Bread.” This small town, that was otherwise insignificant, would be the place where God would fulfill His great promise of the ages that dated all the way back to Genesis 3:15 where He promised to send a “seed” of Eve that would crush the head of the serpent. The Messiah is King who is promised throughout the Old Testament to come and deliver God’s people. Jesus fulfilled all of the promises concerning the Messiah. This King would not be like other kings. Firstly, He would be One “whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” This King steps out of eternity into our world. This is Jesus Christ, “the Word” who “was made flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Micah 5:3 describes Israel like a woman in labor pangs. Throughout Israel’s history and the world’s history, there has been groaning, awaiting the time when God will make all things new (Romans 8:18-25). We sing about it in the old hymn O Holy Night in the line “Long lay the world in sin and error pining till He appeared and the soul felt it’s worth.” When Christ came in Bethlehem nearly 2,000 years ago, that hope became reality. The One through whom God would make all things new came and was born in a manger by the virgin Mary. The promise of Micah 2:4-5 is that He would gather God’s people to Himself like a “good Shepherd” (John 10:10) and deliver God’s people from their enemies. Micah speaks of God’s deliverance of Jerusalem from the hands of the Assyrians under Hezekiah in verse five, but this prefigures God’s deliverance of His people from their great enemies of sin and death (Hebrews 2:14-15). “When the fullness of time was come (Galatians 4:4), Jesus came to “save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

Next, we learn that He is the powerful King who overcomes through His people. Here, Micah sees the Assyrian and Babylonian (“Nimrod”) armies destroyed and the “remnant” of God’s people made a victorious blessing to the world. The “remnant of Jacob” being described as “a dew from the Lord” and “showers upon the grass” is describing His people being a refreshing blessing to the whole world. This picture foreshadows the Church being saved and gathered to Christ and being sent out into the world with the good news of the gospel of peace (Romans 10:14-17) that brings the blessing of salvation. This remnant will not only be a blessing but they are also described “as a lion among the beasts of the forest.” A lion rules and overcomes all of the animals in the animal kingdom. Micah 5:1 begins with a humiliated, dejected people, but transitions to a powerful victorious people. How? The answer is that the King that God has promised will empower His people. He will lead them from victory to victory. The believing remnant, and by extension the Church, will overcome every obstacle because “we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us” (Romans 8:37). We are called to “be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might” as we “wrestle…against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:10, 12). Believers overcome the devil and his world system “by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony” (Revelation 12:11). Jesus, God’s powerful King will overcome through His people.

Lastly, we learn that He is the purifying King who sanctifies His people. Here, God promises to remove the “horses,” “chariots,” “cities,” and “strong holds” from Israel. Why? Is it to weaken them? The answer is that Israel had come to trust in their armies, military strength, and their beautiful and fortified cities for refuge and defense instead of trusting in the Lord. Deuteronomy 17:16 actually forbid them from amassing large numbers of chariots and horses so that they would not fall into this trap (Psalm 20:7). God delivered Jerusalem under Hezekiah’s reign from Assyria by sending just one angel (2 Kings 19:37). Our salvation cannot be found in anything else but Christ. The answer for the world’s sin problem is found in no one else (Acts 4:12). God not only promises to remove Israel’s miliary securities, but their religious substitutes. Their “witchcrafts…soothsayers…graven images…standing images…the work of thine hands…groves…cities” will all be removed. God promised a coming time when Israel will no longer worship other gods. Instead, He promises to remove all of these things and purify their worship. Jesus does the same work in the people of God today. He comes in as Lord of our lives and begins a sanctifying work in our hearts the very moment we believe. We are set apart for His purposes and He sets us apart from sin so that we might be His holy people (1 Peter 1:15-16). His will is our sanctification (1 Thessalonians 4:3) and He is conforming us into His image (Romans 8:29). What area of my life is not surrendered to the purifying King who is sanctifying His people? What things in my life do not belong as I seek to worship Him?

Christmas is about celebrating the reality that our King has come. He was promised and He came just as God promised to die on a cross for the sin of the world and rise again to give eternal life to all who believe. He has overcome the world (John 16:33), sin, and death (Hebrews 2:14-15) and He empowers His people in our battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil. He is purifying His Church and setting us apart from sin to mold us into His image (Romans 8:29). The question for us this Christmas is, “Is He doing these works in my life? Have you bowed the knee to Him as King, Lord, and Savior? Is there evidence of His life-changing power in your life as a new creature in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17)?