Bethlehem, the Unimportant Town

Read Micah 5:2-4 and Matthew 2:4-6

“The Lord says,’Bethlehem Ephrathah, you might not be an important town in the nation of Judah. But out of you will come for me a ruler over Israel.'” (Micah 5:2a NIrV)

Today we get to see Jesus in the minor prophet of Micah. We then see this prophesy fulfilled in Matthew. The Messiah would be born in the town of Bethlehem. But why did God choose Bethlehem as the birthplace of His son? Does it really matter where the Messiah was born?

God always meets us where we are. Where we come from is important to us. It tells stories about us before our story even begins. I grew up in Milwaukee, but I was born in Texas. That’s where my parents came from. That’s why random, southern words come out of my mouth occasionally. That’s why I was very confused as a kid the first time I heard someone ask for the “bubbler.”

God was setting up the scene from the beginning to help us understand who He is and that this Savior is for everyone.

In Micah, the Lord says this about Bethlehem:“you might not be an important town in the nation of Judah” (Micah 5:2 NIrV). That’s where He chose for His son to be born, in an unimportant town.

We know that Bethlehem became the home of Ruth the moabite widow, who married Boaz (Ruth 4:11). We know that King David was from Bethlehem, a shepherd boy anointed to be King of Israel (1 Samuel 16). And we know that Bethlehem is the ancestral home of Joseph the carpenter, the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Each one of these people are part of the line of Jesus.

God shows us through this town and its inhabitants that He wasn’t com- ing to just save those with a great resume, or those who are financially stable, or the Jews, but everyone. So He came, God with us, Immanuel: Jesus our Savior, born in Bethlehem.

• How do you better understand the love of God because He chose His son to be born in an unimportant town?
  Do you view people or think about people differently based on where they were born? How can you grow in the ability to see them the way God does?