1Now you shall gather yourself in troops,
daughter of troops.
He has laid siege against us.
They will strike the judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek.
2But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
being small among the clans of Judah,
out of you one will come out to me who is to be ruler in Israel;
whose goings out are from of old, from ancient times.
3Therefore he will abandon them until the time that she who is in labor gives birth.
Then the rest of his brothers will return to the children of Israel.
4He shall stand, and shall shepherd in the strength of Yahweh,
in the majesty of the name of Yahweh his God.
They will live, for then he will be great to the ends of the earth.
5He will be our peace when Assyria invades our land
and when he marches through our fortresses,
then we will raise against him seven shepherds,
and eight leaders of men.
6They will rule the land of Assyria with the sword,
and the land of Nimrod in its gates.
He will deliver us from the Assyrian,
when he invades our land,
and when he marches within our border.
7The remnant of Jacob will be among many peoples
like dew from Yahweh,
like showers on the grass,
that don’t wait for man
nor wait for the sons of men.
8The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations,
among many peoples,
like a lion among the animals of the forest,
like a young lion among the flocks of sheep;
who, if he goes through, treads down and tears in pieces,
and there is no one to deliver.
9Let your hand be lifted up above your adversaries,
and let all of your enemies be cut off.
10“It will happen in that day”, says Yahweh,
“that I will cut off your horses from among you
and will destroy your chariots.
11I will cut off the cities of your land
and will tear down all your strongholds.
12I will destroy witchcraft from your hand.
You shall have no soothsayers.
13I will cut off your engraved images and your pillars from among you;
and you shall no more worship the work of your hands.
14I will uproot your Asherah poles from among you;
and I will destroy your cities.
15I will execute vengeance in anger
and wrath on the nations that didn’t listen.”
Get ready for the enemy is at the door and they are about to lay siege to Jerusalem! They are words that would strike fear into even the bravest heart, no one wants to wake up to find the enemy on the doorstep. Yet in life sometimes that’s exactly how we feel. The enemy is advancing and we are under threat from every direction. At times it feels like a spiritual siege when our hearts and lives are in turmoil and our resources are low.
In the original Hebrew text verse 1 of chapter five is the last verse of chapter 4 (4:14) and chapter 5 actually begins with these words: - ‘But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah …….’ The chapter does not start with the enemy it starts with Bethlehem. For the readers of Micah’s day God is urging them to look forward to a day when the promised one will come and the enemy will be defeated. There will be a day when a woman gives birth to the Messiah and he will be both shepherd and king.
As I read this I was overwhelmed that I too need to begin with Bethlehem and not the enemy. Even when I feel like the enemy is at the door, my first look should be to God and not my surrounding situation. Today we have been reminded to look back to Bethlehem the place where God himself showed up to be right here where we are. As we look at Bethlehem we are compelled to look forward to the place where God the son allowed himself to die in our place and as he rose again he defeated the enemy forever. Now he reigns at the right hand of the father God and we await his glorious return.
Let’s remember to recall the majesty and wonder of Bethlehem before we look at who is on the doorstep.