Christmas Prophecies | The Little Town of Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a stage that tells a powerful story of change through twelve different scenes: (1) grief, (2) worldliness, (3) idolatry, (4) wickedness, (5) hopelessness, (6) surrender, (7) grace, (8) strength, (9) hope, (10) trials, (11) praise, and (12) persecution. This sermon is part 2 of Bryan Craddock’s “Christmas Prophecies” series.
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When I was growing up, my dad worked in construction. He had his own business for a while, building homes and doing various small projects. So, he took me along one time when he was pouring a short concrete walkway with some steps. My job was to shovel sand, gravel, and cement into a mixer. He sprayed in the water then dumped out the gray slop to work it into shape. He told me that within a few hours it would begin to firm up, and over time it would continue to cure and harden.
A lot of us view life that way. Once you have been molded into a certain shape, it can feel permanent. You may give up any hope of ever changing. But Jesus said that all things are possible with God (Mk 10:27).
We began our study of Christmas prophecies by looking at the ultimate change, the defeat of Satan and the removal of evil from the world. Genesis 3:15 promised that the woman’s offspring would bruise the serpent's head. We traced the development of that prophetic thread through the birth of Jesus to its final fulfillment in the final chapters of Revelation. If God can change the world, he can certainly change your life!
That hope is confirmed by a second prophetic thread. Around 700 years before the time of Jesus, the Prophet Micah revealed that the Messiah would be born in the little town of Bethlehem. This detail may seem relatively insignificant, but Bethlehem is the setting for several events in biblical history. So, we need to see Micah's prophecy and its fulfillment in this context.
Places seem even more resistant to change than people. Once a town gets a reputation, it sets like concrete. For good or bad, its people develop a culture--habits and ways of thinking about life that are passed down from one generation to the next. But Bethlehem is a stage that tells a powerful story of change through twelve different scenes.
As we take a brief glimpse at each one, consider how it compares with your personal story. May the Lord use this journey through Scripture to move you forward in your spiritual life!
A Scene of Grief
Speaking of concrete, if you visit Bethlehem today, you will find a massive 15-foot-high wall on the northern edge of town. It separates Israeli controlled land from the West Bank. A domed building behind that wall commemorates the birth of a different child: the Patriarch Jacob's youngest son, Benjamin. But it is not a happy spot now, and neither was it then.
Bethlehem is introduced to us as a scene of grief. Jacob’s beloved wife, Rachel, died while giving birth to Benjamin. Genesis 35:19-20 tells us,
So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), and Jacob set up a pillar over her tomb. It is the pillar of Rachel's tomb, which is there to this day.
Ephrath means fruitful. This was rich agricultural land. So, it was a fitting place for the birth of Jacob’s twelfth son. Jacob had two wives and two concubines, but the descendants of his twelve sons would become the twelve tribes of Israel. Jacob was Abraham’s grandson, so as complicated and troubled as his family was, God used it to fulfill his promise of blessing.
As we saw last time that promise will ultimately lead to the defeat of death. But for now, we live in a fallen world where we continue to experience grief as Jacob did. So, our first sad glimpse of Bethlehem reminds us that we need to be rescued from the curse of death. Jacob’s complicated family situation prefigures a second scene many years later.
A Scene of Worldliness
From the beginning of creation, God’s design was for marriage to be a lifelong exclusive relationship between one man and one woman. But the world has always been quick to violate that pattern to satisfy their sexual desires. A lot of people today avoid marriage because they fear commitment. People in the ancient world had other motives. So, even though the Scripture records many instances of such behavior, it does not approve it.
Our next glimpse of Bethlehem reveals a scene of this kind of worldliness. Judges 12:8-10 tells us,
After him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. He had thirty sons, and thirty daughters he gave in marriage outside his clan, and thirty daughters he brought in from outside for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years. Then Ibzan died and was buried at Bethlehem.
The judge who led Israel before Ibzan was Jephthah. He made a foolish vow and ended up sacrificing his own daughter. Judges 13-16 then tells the convoluted story of Samson who kept having affairs with women from Israel’s enemies. Ibzan of Bethlehem was just one step in the nation’s overall downward spiral. He was relatively restrained compared with Jephthah and Samson but worldly, nonetheless.
Apparently, his scheme for leading Israel was to marry lots of women, have lots of children, and then make lots of marriage alliances. Bethlehem was not really a prominent city, but this strategy enabled him to exert influence for a few years. King Solomon would later use the same strategy on an international level, even though Deuteronomy 17:17 explicitly prohibited it and warned that it would turn his heart away from the Lord.
Perhaps both men had good goals in mind, but God’s work is inevitably undermined and distorted when it is done in worldly ways. We are all tempted to follow the world rather than the Lord, and the next three scenes show us where that trajectory leads.
A Scene of Idolatry
Every Christmas people pull out their cookie cutters, molding dough into festive shapes. In a way, that's what the world does to us. It forces its mold down upon us. If we give in and conform, then we will either turn away from religion, or we will try to find a way to fit it into our worldly outlook. We turn around and make a cookie cutter god shaped by our preferences and desires.
In ancient times, people would literally make a statue that they could use in religious rituals in the futile hope of gaining the blessings that they wanted. Bethlehem stands in the background of a scene of this kind of idolatry. Judges 17 introduces a man named Micah (different from the prophet by that name) who ignored God’s command and made himself an image. Then verses 8-10 introduce another man, saying,
And the man departed from the town of Bethlehem in Judah to sojourn where he could find a place. And as he journeyed, he came to the hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah. And Micah said to him, "Where do you come from?" And he said to him, "I am a Levite of Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to sojourn where I may find a place." And Micah said to him, "Stay with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year and a suit of clothes and your living." And the Levite went in.
The families of the tribe of Levi were assigned to different cities where they probably had some responsibility for teaching the Law. But for some reason, this Levite gives up and leaves Bethlehem. The author could have told this story without mentioning the town, but he identifies it twice and does not bother to mention the Levite’s name. Perhaps his eagerness to join in Micah’s idolatry says something about the influence he had on Bethlehem.
Now you don’t have to worship a statue to be guilty of idolatry. It happens whenever we set ourselves and our desires above God’s will. Are you just trying to fit him into your mold? Idolatry is all about taking control, but the next scene shows that our sense of control over our lives is an illusion.
A Scene of Wickedness
The Manhattan Project to develop atomic weapons during World War II enlisted many of the brightest minds in America. That pooling of intelligence, however, unleashed a frightening new type of power in the world. Human nature never escapes its destructive inclination, and that impulse affects us spiritually as well. Our depravity always pulls us toward wickedness.
In Judges 19, little Bethlehem is brought up in connection with a horrendous scene of wickedness. Verses 1 and 2 introduce the incident by saying,
In those days, when there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite was sojourning in the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, who took to himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. And his concubine was unfaithful to him, and she went away from him to her father's house at Bethlehem in Judah, and was there some four months.
Concubinage was like marriage, but the woman did not have the full status of a wife. Most concubines were slaves. This violates God’s design, but in this case, we find another Levite involved. It seems that this woman’s father sold her into this life. So, even though she runs away, her father welcomes the Levite and sends her back with him. As awful as that seems, it gets worse.
On their way home they stop to spend the night in a town called Gibeah. A group of men come to the door of the home where they are staying, demanding to have sex with this Levite. Instead, he sends out his concubine. They rape her and leave her for dead, and things just keep spiraling out of control as the story continues.
We are surprised by stories of wickedness in the world today, but we shouldn’t be. It is the natural inclination of our sinful hearts. That leads us to a fifth scene.
A Scene of Hopelessness
In our society, we often think of moving to a new place as something positive. But some people move because they have no other option. In the Old Testament, moving even had spiritual significance. God moved his people out of Egypt to the promised land. So, staying put there through hard times was an expression of faith.
But with its downward spiral from worldliness to idolatry to wickedness, Bethlehem became a scene of hopelessness. Ruth 1:1 tells us,
In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.
Moab was one of Israel’s enemies. Numbers 22-25 tells us that as the Israelites prepared to enter the land, the Moabites enlisted the help of the false prophet Balaam to curse the people of Israel. It did not work, so the Moabites sent their daughters to seduce the Israelite men and draw them into idolatry. The Lord responded by bringing a plague upon his people.
This family from Bethlehem must have felt truly hopeless to move to Moab. They should have stayed put and trusted the Lord, but we can understand their desperation. Sadly, things did not get much better for them. The two sons married Moabite women, but then they and their father died, leaving their mother, Naomi, alone with her daughters-in-law.
Sometimes we must hit rock bottom before we finally lift our eyes to the Lord. Thankfully, the next scene marks a turning point for Bethlehem.
A Scene of Surrender
We assume that the way to change is to take control of our life. We like to think that with a little more effort we can make things better. But in all the scenes from Bethlehem thus far, people took control and things got worse. Genuine spiritual change starts with giving up.
For Ruth, going to Bethlehem was a matter of surrender. She had been married to one of Naomi’s sons. After he died, Naomi decided to return to Bethlehem. She told her Moabite daughters-in-law to return to their families, but Ruth 1:16 tells us,
But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.
Ruth left her old life behind. She and Naomi arrived in Bethlehem with nothing. Ruth gleaned leftover barley from fields during the harvest to provide for them, and a man named Boaz showed her kindness. That’s when Naomi remembered the provision in God’s law that a relative could marry a widow like Ruth to preserve the family line and its inheritance in the land. She instructed Ruth to humbly cast herself at Boaz’s feet, pleading for him to be her kinsman redeemer. She did, and Boaz agreed.
God had promised to bless the nations through the descendants of Abraham. But the humble faith of this woman from one of the nations is the first positive scene in the story of Bethlehem. Her example of surrendering to God blessed the town and all of us as we read her story today. It paves the way for another positive scene a few generations later.
A Scene of Grace
You might be surprised if someone gives you a particularly expensive gift for Christmas. But it is not really surprising. You probably knew that the person would give you something. The real surprise is when you receive something that you did not expect and did not deserve. That is how the grace of God works, and that is what we find in our next scene from Bethlehem.
The Prophet Samuel is the transitional figure between the period of the judges and that of the kings. Saul, the first king, had begun to disobey the Lord. So, 1 Samuel 16:1, tells us
The LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons."
So, Samuel goes to Bethlehem and the elders of the town are so surprised that they ask him if he has come in peace. Perhaps they felt guilty over their town’s spiritual condition. Samuel has a feast with Jesse where his sons are brought in one by one, and he is then surprised because the first six are not who God has chosen. It is Jesse’s seventh son who has to be called in from watching sheep out in the field. In his sovereign grace, God commands Samuel to anoint David, the great grandson of Boaz and Ruth.
God likes to surprise us with his grace. He works in unexpected ways in and through unexpected people, even you and me. Believe in his grace! Doing so is what makes the next scene possible.
A Scene of Strength
After David was anointed, he went on to serve God in mighty ways. His first heroic act was going out to fight against the Philistine giant, Goliath, with a sling and five stones. He also inspired others to trust in the strength of the Lord.
Second Samuel 23 recounts the deeds of David’s mighty men, and Bethlehem is the scene of one of those exploits. The Philistines had taken control of the town, but David was stuck hiding out in a cave, since King Saul wanted to kill him. Verses 15-16 tell us,
And David said longingly, "Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!" Then the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and carried and brought it to David. But he would not drink of it. He poured it out to the LORD
David valued the lives of his men too much to simply quench his thirst. He pours out the water as a sacrifice to God. This is both an act of worship for him and a lesson for his men to devote their efforts to serving the Lord. We can all draw upon the Lord’s strength to serve him, no matter how difficult our circumstances may be. Be strong in his grace!
A Scene of Hope
David left behind Bethlehem and his flock of sheep in his journey to becoming king of Israel. He established Jerusalem as his capital, and it became a city of major importance. Perhaps it’s not surprising, then, that his royal descendants who grew up there failed to reflect the same shepherd’s heart for people that David had. Some of them wandered far from the Lord, and their flock paid a steep price.
So, God raised up prophets like Micah both to warn the nation and to give it hope. Micah’s ministry overlapped with that of Isaiah at the end of the eighth century B.C. One of his prophecies specifically addresses the town of Bethlehem. In Micah 5:2, he says,
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.
The mention of Bethlehem harkens back to David’s roots there. But how can a ruler come in the future who is from ancient days? From a New Testament perspective, we recognize that Micah is referring to the incarnation of the eternal Son of God.
What hope does his coming give? In verses 3-4, Micah says,
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.
He will gather his people and lead them in the strength and majesty of God. He will bring true security. Isaiah calls him the Prince of Peace. We will look at that prophecy next time. For now, it is enough to recognize that Bethlehem is the source of true hope. With that we fast forward around 700 years to a tenth scene in Bethlehem.
A Scene of Trials
Trials come in many forms. Take travel, for instance. Difficulties along the way can test your patience when you are otherwise excited about the trip. But there are also times when you would rather not go anywhere, and travel itself might be worrisome or uncomfortable.
For Mary and Joseph, everything about the trip to Bethlehem was difficult. So, the town was a scene of great personal trials for them. Luke 2:1-7 tells us,
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
Taking the most direct path through the mountains, the distance from Nazareth to Bethlehem is about 90 miles. According to Google Maps, you can cover it in 35 hours on foot. So, it would probably be at least four days of walking if not more. But that is the last thing that a woman who is nine months pregnant would want to do, particularly when it is forced upon you by some foreign bureaucracy that just wants more tax money. It only makes things worse that the inn is full, but with Bethlehem’s history, who knows what you would find there.
We are not told how the young couple responded, but their previous interactions with the angelic messengers suggest that they humbly trusted the Lord. Perhaps they recalled Micah’s prophecy and drew comfort from understanding God’s purpose. Aside from the great prophetic and theological significance of this event, the story of Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem reminds us that God is at work in our trials. We may not know exactly what God is doing, but we can still trust him, and that leads us to an eleventh scene in Bethlehem.
A Scene of Praise
The modern world is compartmentalized and specialized. It tells us to keep religion separate from work and to leave certain topics to the experts. So, a lot of people only think about spiritual things at church on a Sunday morning. But God will not be confined to a box. He wants to shape everything about us all the time, and this next story shows how he breaks down those walls.
A field outside of Bethlehem becomes a scene of praise in the middle of the night as an angel of the Lord appears to some shepherds. Luke 2:10-15 tells us,
And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!" When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us."
God could have sent these angels to the Jewish religious experts in Jerusalem. They could have appeared to powerful Caesar Augustus in Rome. Instead, they came to normal men, lowly shepherds out doing their work. They accepted this great news and responded to it. They found the baby, shared what they had heard with Mary and Joseph, and praised and glorified God for it.
We are not told anything more about these shepherds from Bethlehem, but their initial response sets an example for us. We should all be filled with praise and glory for God over the good news of Christ’s coming. It should shape everything we do, but some people may not like that. That leads us to the last glimpse of Bethlehem in the Bible.
A Scene of Persecution
You might assume that the world would applaud the positive spiritual responses that we have seen in Bethlehem’s history: surrender, grace, strength, hope, perseverance through trials, and praising God. But those who resist that relationship with God feel threatened by all of that. It contradicts their concept of their place in the world and convicts them of their sin.
Jesus told his followers to expect persecution. He faced it soon after his birth in Bethlehem. Matthew 2:16-18 tells us,
Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: "A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more."
Herod was not a king by birth. He was a governor appointed by the Romans, who convinced them to give him the title of king. He kept up a religious facade to impress the Jews. He even initiated a massive renovation of the Temple. But he did not hesitate to use brutality when it served his purpose even against his own family. So, when the wise men came asking about someone born as king of the Jews, he lashed out.
Matthew saw Herod’s slaughter of children as a fulfillment of Jeremiah 31:15. That verse does not refer to Bethlehem. Ramah was north of Jerusalem. It was where the people of Jerusalem were gathered before they were led away into exile by the Babylonians. So, I think that Matthew’s point was that Bethlehem’s grief stemmed from the same pattern of hostility and persecution that God’s people have faced throughout the history of this fallen world.
But as Micah prophesied, there is hope! God’s people can persevere because the ruler from ancient days will one day return to bring us true security. We will return to that thought next time.
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So, this is the story of Bethlehem. It starts with scenes of grief, worldliness, idolatry, and wickedness, but it then shifts to offer scenes of surrender, grace, strength, and hope. There are trials and persecution, but there is also praise.
How do those scenes compare with your life? Does one of them capture where you are at or how you need to change? True spiritual change starts with surrender. We must come to the place where we recognize our sin and entrust ourselves to the Lord and his grace. He has sent his Son to save us from our sin. If you would like to learn more about God’s saving plan, Luke 2 would be a good place to read.
If you are trusting in Christ, have you slipped back into one of those sinful scenes? If so, repent of your sin and renew your commitment to Christ. In God’s grace there is strength to change. Perhaps you are at a point where you just need to express your faith by being strong, hopeful, and filled with praise. Let’s live for the glory of God!
Reflect
How does this study change your view of Bethlehem and the Christmas story?
How have some of these scenes played out in your life?
Which scene represents a way that you currently need to grow? What steps can you take to do so?