Christmas Truth - Day 3

"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from old, from days of eternity." Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor gives birth and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites. He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they will live securly, for then his greatness will reach the end of the earth. And he will be their peace." Micah 5:2-4

"In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governer of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David." Luke 2:1-5

We have seen where history is important in the prophetic scheme. Isn't it fascinating that some 700 years before the birth of Jesus, a prophet in Judah told of the new ruler of Israel being born in Bethlehem Ephrathah and that a census (the first one inacted by the governer in authority) prompted Joseph to take Mary from Nazareth to Behlehem in Judea, the precise location prescribed. So it turns out not only history is important but geography as well.

It is also important to note that the prophecy says the ruler was tapped from eternity. Again the doctrine of the Trinity is on display. The Son has eternally existed, and will come to the town of Bethlehem (and not just any Bethlehem, but the particular town in Ephrathah). The significance of this cannot be overstated as we see elsewhere in scripture (Isaiah 9:6) that the son was given, it was the child that was born. The Son of God eternally exists, the earthly manifestation was for a specific and pre-determined time. More on this another time.

Finally, even the town is of significance as the name Bethlehem means "house of bread". So the one who is called the Bread of Life in John's gospel comes from the house of bread. "I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread taht came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." John 6:48-51 Once again we see the promise in the Old Testament (namely God sustaining His people physically) fulfilled in the person of Jesus who is THE eternal sustanence for those who would seek to turn from death and accept God's offer for life.

This bread that will sustain for eternity was offered to all not just for a day or a season, but for all time as Jesus (the Bread of Life) willfully chose to "...give for the life of the world." I hope if you have read this far that you either have already partaken of this Bread, or you would consider believing on Jesus the Christ, the Messiah as the source for eternal life and in so doing receive the portion offered to each one of us by our Heavenly Father.