The Coming of Christ (Micah 5:2-5)

This sermon was preached on 25/12/2011

As we know, there are many prophecies in the Old Testament about Jesus. Most probably refer to his reign as universal Lord; others refer to his sacrificial death; and a few refer to his unusual birth. It is interesting that Isaiah and Micah, who ministered about the same time, both have predictions about the birth of Jesus. Isaiah predicts that Jesus will be born of a virgin (Isa. 7:14) and later mentions that ‘a child will be born to us’, a child who will be the Wonderful Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Father of eternity and the Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6-7). Micah here refers to the place where Jesus would be born, mentions several details about him, and informs his listeners of several blessings he can give them.

As many of us also know, this passage in Micah was the one that Herod’s religious advisors turned to in response to his question concerning the birthplace of the Messiah (Matt. 2:5-6). They knew where to find the information, but there is no record that they acted upon the information. These religious officials did not join the wise men in their search for the new-born King. They are a reminder to us that it is possible to know the details of the Bible and not get any profit from our knowledge. What a sad situation it is to know a lot about Jesus but not to know Jesus!

In considering the way Matthew uses this text, we can see that he adjusts it because by the time he wrote his Gospel Jesus had been born. The prophecy in Micah had said that Bethlehem was insignificant (‘too little to be among the clans of Judah’); Matthew says that with the coming of Christ it was no longer the least because he had been born there. This is a picture of the difference that Christ makes in the lives of nobodies – he makes them into important persons because he indwells them by his Holy Spirit.

It is also the case that Micah’s prophecy here further defines previous information given by God about the birth of the Messiah. Since Eden, details had been given, with each adding to his description. In Eden, it was announced that he would be a human; later we are told that he would be a descendant of Abraham through Isaac, Jacob and Judah; later still, that he would belong to the royal line of David. Micah now identifies the place where he will be born, Bethlehem.

1. The state of the people

The background to this prophecy is a time when Israel was being humiliated by her enemies, with the likelihood that the Assyrian empire would overwhelm them. This humiliation is depicted in their enemy’s treatment of their king (v. 1). Things were looking black as far as the prospects of the people of God were concerned. If they were to judge things by what they could see happening or anticipate coming, then they would conclude that there was no hope. To his people, therefore, the Lord gave this detailed prediction concerning the coming of the Messiah. This is a reminder to us that we should consider the Lord’s promises concerning his kingdom when we live in dark times. But what were his people like at that time?

Many of the people who heard Micah did not like his message of delayed salvation, of saying that they would have to wait for the birth of a special child. In verses 5 and 6 we read their response to Micah’s message: ‘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; 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.’ Their response was one of resort to worldly alliances, of getting help from other nations to defeat the Assyrians. They were marked by confidence in men and not trust in God, of brave words with no possibility of success.

2. The place of his birth

The first thing that may strike us regarding this prophecy is its precision. This identification of Bethlehem as the place of the birth of Jesus is a reminder of the supernatural nature of the word of God. There were two Bethlehems in Israel, the other was in the territory of Zebulon. Ephratah was added to indicate which one Micah was referring to. Of course, many prophecies were fulfilled in the life of Jesus, one clear evidence of many that the Bible is true.

Secondly, we may note that God selects an insignificant place to begin his work. Although Bethlehem is famous today, it was not even big enough to be recorded among the towns and villages of Judah. This raises an important point for us who live in a locality that many people have not even heard of. But while we may not have much influence on the important people of this world, we are not unimportant to God. He has commenced many important works in obscure places.

3. The purpose of his coming

God tells his people that the coming Messiah would be the Ruler that he had predicted would come. What Israel longed for was a King who would deliver them from the various enemies that they faced. Yet, as time went by, their kings seemed increasingly incapable of defeating the powerful rulers that were arising. They wanted a deliverer immediately, and why would God not give them one?

So, through Micah, God informs the listeners (and readers) that this coming King would be the servant of God because he is to come forth ‘for God’. This is an important aspect of the person and work of the Saviour that we should always keep in mind, that he came primarily as the servant of God. (Of course, we may not find it difficult to think of Jesus as a servant in the days of his humiliation. But we must always recall that everything he does in the plan of salvation is as a servant.)

Everything Jesus did was done to please the one who sent him, the Father. He served him in a general sense in that he delighted to obey the commandments of God. He also served his Father in a gracious sense because in everything he did he revealed the Father. Jesus was careful in all that he said or did to reveal the kindness and mercy of the one who sent him. And he served God in a gratifying manner as can be deduced from the way that his Father was pleased with him, revealed in the joyful shout from heaven to declare that delight. Yet he also served God in a costly way, because he had to lay down his life. On his shoulders the Father placed a load – the sin of his people – that he had to carry away from the sight of God.

But he is also the servant of God in his exaltation. He reigns today in Heaven on God’s behalf. Possessing all power, he remains the Servant of the Throne, yet he is on the Throne. As the exalted King he governs from Zion and rules the world on behalf of his Father.

4. The pre-existence of the Messiah

But having described this coming King as his servant, God now declares that he is also an eternal person whose goings forth have been from everlasting. There is not much that can be said about this because we struggle to find words to explain it. The servant of the Lord, the future Messiah, possesses the attributes of God. He has eternally existed.

Not only has he always existed, he has always been active (‘goings forth’). These activities include what he did before the universe existed and what he did in human history. What are some of those deeds?

One of them is his involvement in the work of creation. He shared in this wonderful project with the Father and the Holy Spirit. With mutual delight and joy they produced a grand edifice filled with marvels, a structure that displayed their wisdom, power and goodness.

His goings forth also involved him in visiting earth on numerous occasions. The Old Testament contains many such visits, such as when he appeared to Abraham, Hagar, Moses, Joshua and Isaiah. These visits were kind of foretastes of his eventual longer visit.

So one day he made a different journey and appeared in Bethlehem. This visit was not a short one; rather he was to live here for over thirty years. In each of the previous journeys his visit ended with his return to the Father. But on this new visit he met his Father in different places, one of which was Calvary. Micah does not mention the death of the Messiah, but it occurred on the cross when the Father caused him to pay the penalty of sin.

5. The people will be gathered

In this next detail of his prediction, Micah mentions that Israel would be given up by God until a woman gives birth to the Messiah (v. 3). This does not mean that there would not be partial restorations before this birth would occur – there was the partial return of some from the Babylonian captivity. But the people of God as a whole would not be regathered to Zion until the Messiah appeared.

Earlier we noted that Jesus was the servant King. This next statement of the prophecy tells us that he is also the shepherd King because he will begin to gather together his flock. At Bethlehem, the place where shepherds dwelt, the Great Shepherd came with the aim of creating a wonderful family – Micah says the sheep are the brothers of the Messiah, and in this we have the roots of the wonderful doctrine of adoption, revealed more fully in the New Testament where Paul tells the Roman Christians that they are joint-heirs with Christ of his inheritance.

We mentioned that the Messiah would, at the end of each of his goings forth, return to his heavenly Father. This is what he did at the end of this journey when he ascended up to heaven. And it is from heaven that he engages in the work of regathering Israel to Zion, not to an earthly country but to a heavenly one. This leads us on to the next detail.

6. The prosperity of his kingdom

Micah depicts the Messiah as standing. This posture is associated with conquerors. Job looked forward to seeing his Redeemer stand on the earth, the conqueror of death (Job 19). Here in Micah there is a reminder that the promised King will possess the strength of God as he gathers his sheep from all over the world. Wherever they are, he will have the strength to find them. And he will recover them in a glorious manner, suitable to the majesty of God, and lead them to glory in a splendid style. His sheep don’t often realise it, but their Shepherd is transforming them as he leads them to heaven.

7. The peace of his subjects

The outcome of this is that they are entirely secure. Nothing can separate them from the Shepherd. He will always be in total control and his kingdom will spread over all the earth. The Old Testament anticipates with great longing the day when the Messiah will be known all over the world. We are nearer that day than they were, we see his greatness in the spread of his gospel, in bringing his sheep to himself. The security they have will last as long as he is King. Throughout the days of his kingdom, there will be peace within their souls because he himself will be the source of their peace as he sends the Spirit of peace into their hearts.

Today, our society has imagined it is giving honour to the Christ child. Sadly, most of them have no idea who he is, what he did, or where he is now. Therefore they do not know about the peace that he can give – the peace of reconciliation with God, the peace of God in one’s heart, and the peace of the Spirit throughout his people. But we know where he is and therefore we should come to him, no longer in Bethlehem, for this wonderful security and serenity that he alone can give.