Micah 5:2 But you, Bethlehem Ephratah, though you be little among the thousands of Judah… But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be Ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. For the sake of continuity we here transfer thoughts on this passage which have appeared before. Our subject is Christ, and the text leads us to consider - I. HIS BIRTH AS THE SON OF MAN. Two remarks are suggested here. 1. He was born in obscurity. "But thou, Bethlehem," etc. Bethlehem Ephratah, where Jacob says, "Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when yet there was but a little way to come into Ephrath:... the same is Bethlehem" (Genesis 48:7), or Bethlehem-Judah, so called to distinguish it from Bethlehem in Zebulon. It is a few miles southwest of Jerusalem Bethlehem means "the House of bread;" Ephrath means "Fruitful;" both names referring to the fertility of the region. "Though thou be little among" - though thou be scarcely large enough to be reckoned among, etc. It was insignificant in size and population, so that in Joshua 15:21 it is not enumerated among the cities of Judah; nor in the list in Nehemiah 11:25. Under Rehoboam it became a city (2 Chronicles 11:6). He built even Bethlehem. The scribes quotation of Micah, in answer to Herod's inquiry prompted by the Wise Men of the East, who asked, "Where is he that is born King of the Jews?" (Matthew 2:6), seems to contradict Micah, thou art not the least, but the contradiction is only seeming. What is meant in Matthew is that though "thou art least in worldly importance, thou art morally greatest, inasmuch as thou art the birthplace of the Messiah." Why was this Illustrious One thus born in such obscurity? He had what no other man ever had - the power of selecting his own parentage and birthplace. He might have been born of royalty and nursed in a palace. No doubt there was the highest reason for this. It was a protest to the ages against the popular and influential opinion that human dignity consists in birth and ancestral distinctions. 2. He was born according to Divine plan. "Out of thee shall he come forth unto me." Unto whom? Jehovah. The fact of his birth, the scene of his birth, the object of his birth, were all according to a Divine plan. "He shall be called Great, and... the Son of the Highest." "Behold my Servant, whom I upheld, mine Elect, in whom my soul delighteth." "He shall come forth unto me" (1) according to my will; (2) to do my will. 3. He was born to an empire. "To be Ruler in Israel." He is the Prince of Peace, on whose shoulder the government is laid. He is a Ruler. Not a temporal ruler; temporal rule is but a shadow. He is to rule thought, intelligence, soul. He is the greatest king who governs mind; and no one has obtained such a government over mind as he who, eighteen centuries ago, "came forth out of Bethlehem Ephratah." His kingdom is increasing every day. "Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty," etc. Speed the time when the "kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ," etc. II. HIS HISTORY AS THE SON OF GOD. "Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting," or, as Delitzsch says, "whose goings forth are from olden time, from the days of eternity." Micah does not announce here the eternal generation of the Son from the Father, or of the Logos from God, the generatio Filii aeterna, as the earlier orthodox commentators suppose. Eternal generation, humanly speaking, is a theological fiction, a philosophical absurdity. He who was before all time. "I was set up from everlasting;" "In the beginning was the Word;" "He was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifested in these last times;" "Glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee; Whose goings forth have been of old, from everlasting." "Goings forth!" What for? To furnish immensity with innumerable worlds, and to people them with sentient and intelligent beings, to participate in the infinite bountihood of God. As the Son of God, he never has had a beginning and has always been active. "The Father worketh hitherto, and I work." His activity explains the origin and phenomena of the universe. "By him were all things created." "Oh, who can strive To comprehend the vast, the awful truth Of the eternity that hath gone by, And not recoil from the dismaying sense Of human impotence? The life of man Is summed in birthdays and in sepulchres; But the eternal God hath no beginning; He hath no end. Time had been with him Foreverlasting, ere the Doedal world Rose from the gulf in loveliness. Like him It knew no source; like him 'twas uncreate. What is it, then? The past eternity!" D.T. Parallel Verses KJV: But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. |
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