Well, we read together this evening
in the Prophecy of Micah in Chapter 5. And it's not an easy chapter. There's many things in there
which are difficult to understand and explain, and I don't propose
to go through it this evening. But I thought it was worth reading
because I think it's a chapter possibly that isn't read very
often in public. And of course, the second verse
is the verse which is particularly well known and which we think
about at this time of year. thou Bethlehem Ephrata, 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. And here we have the clear prophecy
that it would be in Bethlehem that the Savior would be born
that it would be there that the hope of the world would come
forth. Him who would be the ruler in Israel. Him who is from everlasting. Why was Jesus born in Bethlehem? Why was Jesus born in Bethlehem? Here we have the clear prophecy,
but what is there in Bethlehem which is significant? And I want
to really trace that through in the brief time we have tonight,
the teaching about Bethlehem and the place and its importance
and its culmination in the birth of Christ. Why was Jesus born
in Bethlehem? Well, the simple answer on the
surface is because there was a census Caesar Augustus made
a decree that the world, or the Roman world, should be taxed,
or registered. And because of that decree, Joseph,
having been of the line of David, had to go to his hometown, had
to go to Bethlehem to register. And of course, through the course
of events, Mary, heavily pregnant at the time, it so happened that
whilst they were there, she gave birth, and Jesus was born. On the surface, that's the reason
why Jesus was born in Bethlehem. But of course, that is only on
the surface. God's hand, we know, was over
all of it. It was in complete control, and
his sovereign plan was over all of those events. And we know
that because of this prophecy. which tells us so many years
before the events, before Caesar Augustus was even thought of,
that it would be in Bethlehem that a ruler would come forth
for Israel. So it's not just simply for that
simple reason of the census, the decree from Caesar Augustus. Where do we first read of Bethlehem?
Well, as far as I can see, the first time we read of Bethlehem
is in the book of Genesis. And we read there in Genesis
35 of Rachel. Rachel, Jacob's wife, died and
was buried, we read, at Bethlehem. Who was Rachel? Well, we know
she was the mother of Joseph and of Benjamin. She was Jacob's
particular favorite wife, and brought forth these two wonderful
characters, Joseph and Benjamin. And I don't want to stretch the
point too far, but I felt it was interesting to note, of course,
Rachel is the mother of Joseph. And we often think of Joseph
in the sense of a savior, don't we? Him who had gone down into
Egypt, He has used, by God, to save the family, that they might
come out of the famine in Canaan and down into the prosperity,
the food that had been preserved in Egypt. He's seen as a savior
of the family and, of course, ongoing the savior of the children
of Israel and, of course, through them would come the line of Christ. of the Saviour, as it were, is
buried in Bethlehem. Now, as I say, I don't want to
labour the point and maybe trying to read too much into it, but
here, buried there is Rachel. And here, so many years later,
comes the mother of the true Saviour. Mary comes to Bethlehem. And Mary comes that the true
saviour of the world might be born. He, like Joseph, would
go down into Egypt, but then would come out again. He would
go ultimately to Jerusalem and to Calvary, the great saviour
of sinners. So in the first time we read
of Bethlehem, we have a hint there of a savior, a link with
Rachel and of Christ. Another time we read of Bethlehem
as we work our way through the Old Testament is in the book
of Ruth. Here, of course, is a well-known
account of how Ruth came from Moab with her mother-in-law,
and they came to Bethlehem. She was a stranger to the people
of Israel. She was an outcast. She was an
idol worshipper in her previous life and her days in Moab. And
she came into Bethlehem the time of barley harvest. And what did
she find in Bethlehem? Well, she found food, didn't
she? She found plenty as she gleaned
in the harvest at that time. And she was provided for in the
natural way of her food. But she found more than just
food in Bethlehem, because she found love, she found the Redeemer,
she found Boaz. And there she found one who was
willing to take her to himself, willing to marry her, and willing
to pay the price that she might be his bride, to redeem her from
the kinsman who was nearer than he was. Coming to Bethlehem,
we know Bethlehem, the name Bethlehem means house of bread. And of
course, Naomi and Ruth, they found it, didn't they, to be
a house of bread, a place of provision, a place of feeding,
but as I say, a place of love and of redemption as well. So the place of Bethlehem, as
well as having the link with a savior, has this link with
a redeemer as well in Boaz. Well, here again we have the
great Redeemer. Jesus Christ came out of Bethlehem. And like Boaz, he would be the
bread of life. He would be the one who feeds
his people, who provides for his people, who gives abundance
and plenty of blessing for his people. He would be the lover
of the souls of his people, who would welcome them to himself,
though they were outcasts as it were in Moab and in the world,
and idle worshippers outside of God, he would welcome them
to himself. And here is the Redeemer, who
would buy them and purchase them with his own blood, that they
might be made his bride. So in Bethlehem we have a saviour. And in Bethlehem we have the
bread of life and the Redeemer. Another time we read of Bethlehem
in the Old Testament, moving on, is when we come to the book
of Samuel and we read of David. David was born in Bethlehem. He grew up in Bethlehem and shepherded
the sheep on the hills outside Bethlehem. And David was anointed
in Bethlehem. It was Bethlehem where Samuel
went, commissioned by God to anoint David to be king. And,
as we know the account, the other brothers were looked, the Lord
passed them by and called David, the youngest, who everyone else
had forgotten about, to be king. And David was arguably the greatest
king, the greatest blessing to the children of Israel in his
reign. But more than a king, he was the psalmist, wasn't he? And we read so many wonderful
psalms of praise and of prayer. as well as psalms of anguish
and of confession in the scriptures. David is a great comfort, a great
friend of God's people when we read his life and we read his
writings. So here we have the king, the
anointed one, coming forth out of Bethlehem. And of course we
see the link immediately. Out of Bethlehem comes the king
of kings. comes the one anointed by God,
separated by God, prepared by God, to come and rule. To rule in majesty and in glory,
but to rule in love. Yes, with authority. Yes, with
sovereignty. But to rule with a love for his
people. Like David had a concern for
the people who he ruled over. So the Lord Jesus Christ comes
as the great king out of Bethlehem and comes to rule with a loving
heart. Remember all these things are
linked. He rules with a heart of a redeemer. He rules with
a heart of one who is willing to purchase his people. So we
have a king coming forth from Bethlehem. Moving on through
David's life, we read of Bethlehem again in the second book of Samuel,
and here we read of the occasion when the Philistines had overrun
the town of Bethlehem. And we read of how David longed
for water from the well of Bethlehem. And three of the strong men from
the army ran through the troops of the Philistines and got that
water for him. David said, oh, that one would
give me a drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which
is by the gate. And the three mighty men broke
through the host of the Philistines and drew water out of the well
of Bethlehem that was by the gate and took it. and brought
it to David. Nevertheless, he would not drink
thereof, but poured it out unto the Lord. And he said, far be
it from me, O Lord, that I should do this. It's not this the blood
of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives." David had this
longing for water from the well at Bethlehem. And naturally,
it was a water of refreshing. Water is refreshing. It's a necessity
in life. But David longed that through
there, in that place might be, it was a place that was overrun,
it was a place which was encamped by the Philistines, by the enemies. And David's longing that the
enemies might be driven out of such a place of blessing that
he might receive some water, he might receive something from
that wonderful place of Bethlehem. Well, Christ is the one who came
forth who said, I am living water, who is refreshing for the souls
of his people. Bethlehem is where we are refreshed. You see, at this time of year,
as David prayed, many people celebrate Christmas. Many people
sing the carols and remember so-called those days and those
events. But really, Christmas is so full
of the world. Christmas has been overrun by
the world. It's as if Bethlehem is full
of the Philistines. The place is full of the enemy.
It's been overrun by the Philistines. And I wonder if this year we
might be like David, who says, amongst it all, and amongst everything
that's been taken over, and amongst all the world in it, oh, that
I might have something from the well from Bethlehem, that I might
see the Lord Jesus Christ, that I might be refreshed from Him,
that I might be able to see the true essence of the season, that
our time this year might be Christ-centered, that we might receive something
from the true well of Bethlehem. So it's a place of refreshing
as well. So you see we have the Savior
in Joseph. We have the Redeemer and the
bread in Boaz and Ruth. We have the great King and the
loving heart of David. And we have the well of refreshing
all from Bethlehem. Finally this evening, one other
reference to Bethlehem. After the Lord Jesus Christ had
been born, Bethlehem became a place of great sorrow. Bethlehem was
the place of the slaughter of many children. Herod, having
found that the wise men had left Bethlehem and had gone back,
having not told him where Jesus was, he takes action. and sends his troops into Bethlehem,
commanding that all children under two years old would be
destroyed. Joseph, having been warned in
a dream, removes the family down into Egypt, but still Bethlehem
becomes a place of great terror, a place of great sadness. And it's interesting to note
that the link which we read in Matthew's gospel takes us back
to Rachel, who, as we mentioned a moment ago, is the first reference
to Bethlehem. Matthew tells us, when Herod
saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wrath
and sent forth and slew all the children who were in Bethlehem,
and did all the coast thereof from two years old and under,
according to the time which had diligently inquired of the wise
men, that was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the
prophet, saying, In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation
and weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children
and would not be comforted because they are not. So you see Bethlehem
is a great place of blessing, but Bethlehem is also a place
of suffering. It's a place of great evil and
of great sadness. Well, isn't there an indication
here that the one who came out of Bethlehem would be one who
suffers, whose end would be suffering. The anger and the hatred of Herod
would not stop there. It spread into the society. It
spread to the Pharisees. It spread to the people who cried,
ultimately, crucify him, crucify him. The hatred of men did not
stop in Bethlehem. and ultimately it will pursue
him to the cross, a place of suffering. But you see, all of this, all
of these events in the Old Testament, and then all of the time of the
Lord's coming, and the Lord's life, and then the Lord's suffering
and death, all of that was in God's hand. You see here, Bethlehem,
Ephrata, out of thee shall he come forth unto me, that is,
to be ruler in Israel. And that suffering which would
come would bring the greatest blessing and the greatest joy
to God's people. Here, out of Bethlehem, we see
the Savior. We see our food. We see our lover. We see our Redeemer. We see our
King. We see our place of refreshing
and we see our sacrifice and our substitute as we come rapidly
to Christmas Day. And to this time, this week,
may we be able to worship the Lord, the true centre and essence
of all that we think about. And may we find him to be all
that we need as we by faith, with God's help, go even unto
Bethlehem and find him. Well, may God add his blessing
to our thoughts this evening. Amen.