Text:
Micah 5:1-4
Memory Verse:
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2).
The Journey of the Magi” by T.S.Eliot, written from the point of view of the wise men who travelled from their foreign kingdoms to pay homage to the child Jesus, reads in part: “Were we led all that way for birth or death? There was a birth, certainly, We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death but had thought they were different, This birth was hard and bitter agony for us, …”
The wise men who did not know about the prophecy of Micah which came 500 years before the birth of Jesus, knew that His birth was intertwined with His death. Josephus, the historian, tells us that Bethlehem was an agricultural area and that Ephrathah had fields set up by David for sheep. The lambs used for sacrifice and atonement in the temple were raised in Ephrathah. Jesus the
ultimate Lamb for every sinner was born there – at the right spot. Every sheep born in Ephrathah was born with a single purpose – to die not by old age, but as sacrifice. Augustus Caesar conducted a census of the people in his kingdom every 14 years and this is the exact year that Joseph and Mary went to be counted. They had to move from Nazareth, which was 90 miles away, on a donkey. Thousands of people also travelled and, so, the motel was full (Luke 2:4-7). The stable was
located in the fields. His death was obvious the moment He was born. Jesus died so that we might live. Have you acknowledged that your sins have been atoned for?
Prayer Points:
1. Being born again is a must; please, Lord, save me.
2. May I not lose my position in eternity.
