Micah 5:2

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.

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Under the threat of Assyrian oppression, Micah prophesied against the injustice and unfaithfulness of Judah’s leaders. But he also prophesied about the day the Lord would restore His people by raising up a new shepherd to lead them. Instead of hailing from a “significant” city like Bethel, where Jacob met the Lord in a dream, or Shiloh, where Joshua renewed the people’s covenant with God, or Jerusalem, where Solomon built the magnificent temple, this leader would come from a lowly village. Located a day’s walk from Jerusalem, the small town of Bethlehem was the ancestral home of David, and that connection suggested the new ruler would have royal roots. But it was more than that. Not only would the shepherd rule over the southern kingdom of Judah, but he would be “ruler in Israel” — once again uniting the
kingdom that had been divided due to human sin.

When the oppressed Jews were looking for this Messiah centuries later, it was no secret from where He would come, at least to those who took seriously the study of God’s Word. When King Herod heard that a new king had been born, he quickly tried to assess the potential threat to his own throne. “Assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, [Herod] inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet …’” (Matthew 2:4–5).

For Herod, the problem was not recognition, but acceptance. He could recognize that the one revealed to the magi might be the Messiah if He were born in Bethlehem (which He was), but Herod could not accept that someone could have greater authority than he had. Despite his disbelief and subsequent killing of the male children in Bethlehem, Herod could not prevent the prophecy from being fulfilled. Jesus, the new King “whose coming forth is from old” was destined from all eternity to bring light and life to God’s people — not only to Israel, but to the entire world! May we not lose sight of how God uses the smallest details to bring about His perfect will in our lives.

– Dr. Matthew Byrd