We read from Holy Scripture this evening in the prophecy of Micah, chapter five. Micah was a prophet in the southern kingdom of Judah, and we read that he was from the small town of Moresheth, which was about 20 miles southwest of Jerusalem, about 17 miles west of Tekoa, where Amos would come from. And we read that he prophesied during the days of Jotham and Ahaz and Hezekiah. And he did prophesy with regard to both Samaria, the capital of the 10 tribes to the north, as well as to Jerusalem. We read now chapter five. Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops. He hath laid siege against us. They shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek. But thou, Bethlehem Ephrathah, 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 and from everlasting. Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth. Then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel, and he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God, and they shall abide. For now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth, and this man shall be the peace. When the Assyrian shall come into our land, and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds and eight principal men, and they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword. and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof. Thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders. And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the Lord, as the showers upon the grass that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men. and the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people, as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep, who, if he go through, both treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver. Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots, and I will cut off the cities of thy land. and throw down all thy strongholds, and I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand, and thou shalt have no more soothsayers. Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee, and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands. And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee, so will I destroy thy cities, and I will execute vengeance and anger and fury upon the heathen such as they have not heard. We consider this evening verse two. but 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 and from everlasting. Beloved in our Lord Jesus Christ, of all the many prophecies concerning the coming Christ that are found in the Old Testament. This is the clearest prophecy that He will be born and originate, therefore, from a specific location, Bethlehem, Ephrathah, So clear is this prophecy that some five to six hundred years later, when Christ comes, it will be well known and live in the conscience of the Jewish peoples, that indeed the promised Christ will come from that specific place. And the scriptures take note of it. In the book of Matthew chapter 2, which records the wise men who come looking for the Messiah based upon the star that they have seen, Herod gathers all the scholars and demands of them where the Christ will be born. And they answer to him, Bethlehem of Judah. And then they quote this exact text as proof. whereupon Herod then sends the wise men there to Bethlehem, and later, based upon this very text, will kill the infants of Bethlehem, two years old and younger. Later on, during the ministry of Jesus, A controversy rages whether he is the Christ. And many suppose that since he comes from Nazareth, that he is born there. And since he is born, as they suppose, in Nazareth, therefore it's proof, they thought, that he could not be the Christ because everyone knew he came from Bethlehem. You could find that in John 7. So clear is this text regarding the birthplace of the Messiah that later on, When the Jews definitively take a position that Jesus is not the Messiah, even long after his death, having rejected him, they change their interpretation of this text. and say that it no longer refers to the Messiah, the Christ, but simply some unknown earthly ruler. And in fact, that interpretation still holds today in Judaism. This is therefore a remarkable prophecy that is fulfilled indeed in the birth of Jesus. Just like the prophecy that a star would come out of Jacob, so also a ruler would come out of Bethlehem. But there's more here in the passage. And that, specifically, is what relates to the fact that we have a preparatory service. For this text makes clear what kind of ruler he will be. It will also make clear what kind of rule he will rule with, namely, a rule of grace. and then also the nature of his salvation by grace, namely of sin. In other words, the passage makes clear the very reality that we celebrate in the Lord's Supper, that the Savior born in Bethlehem would be the Savior from our sin. Consider with me the ruler out of Bethlehem. First of all, the astounding origins of this ruler, then the necessary king that he is, and finally, the revelation of grace. The prophet Micah, a little-known prophet, one of the minor prophets. is given by God the privilege of giving us in Scripture the clearest prophecy as to the origins of a ruler, a ruler we know to be the Christ. And it's clear that this is the main emphasis also of the passage. And not only that, but there's something astounding when this is announced. Because as to the earthly origins of the Christ, we're told he will come from Bethlehem, a little town that is not very far at all from Jerusalem. Also in the passage, known as Ephrata. You will find other places in Scripture where Bethlehem is referred to as Ephrata. It's really exactly unknown whether this is simply another name for the little town itself or simply a name for a broader region. so that the two are closely identified in the end really doesn't matter. We might think when we read this passage, especially from our perspective, that this really is not all that astounding. In fact, it might seem very proper and natural that this great king that is announced here, and it would be assumed that this great king would proceed from the line of David, would indeed come from this city, because Bethlehem was well known Way back in the Old Testament already as the hometown, the birthplace of Jesse and David. And that, even more so, because all knew, and here you will find one of the first references to Ephrata, that this is where Ruth the Moabitess And Boaz, her husband, lived. And it's from Ruth and Boaz that David will come. And so this is how the Jews initially viewed it, too. That simply, this is where the Christ would come, quite naturally from many points of view, because this was the hometown and birthplace of the great King David. Adding credence to that also is the very reality that we know that Joseph and Mary would travel to Bethlehem exactly because of their lineage that could be traced back to David, and that is where they had to go there for purposes of taxation. But really from a natural viewpoint, We need to step back and realize that it's conceivable that the son of David would be born in any number of cities unless God is at work. As much as we might suppose how natural it would be, how many of David's natural sons were actually born in his birthplace? The answer is none really that we know of, because the capital of the great King David is Jerusalem. And that's why the wise men went there. They simply supposed that when they saw the star of the Messiah, that he would be born in Jerusalem. And that's what we might suppose. We might easily suppose, as did many of the Jews, that he would be born in Nazareth, because that's where his mother and where Joseph lived. So even in this prophecy, what's being set forth is the sovereign rule of God. It is God who makes certain that this prophecy is fulfilled and therefore gives the prophecy so that all will know He fulfilled it. Simply think now of what it would take for the Messiah to be born in Bethlehem. And we know, and we often focus this time of year about how God saw to it that Israel at this time is under Roman rule. And there is a far-off Roman Caesar who seemingly happens to make a rule about the taxation of his people at this time, or is carried out at this time, And that seemingly in the nick of time, Mary and Joseph make their way to Bethlehem for purposes of taxation, and there it happens to be, the Christ is born. An amazing, amazing reality and proof of God's sovereignty. But there's a lot more than that. Why would not the Son of David be in Jerusalem? because God had seen to it in His sovereign good pleasure to cut off the line of David, to chop it down to the ground, so that no son of David was ruling in Jerusalem. Instead, a son of Herod is on the throne, and a provincial judge, Pilate, is over Jerusalem. God sees to it that there's many, many things that must come to pass for this ruler to be born in Bethlehem. Besides that, the prophet himself points out something very peculiar about the fact that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem. And that's what's being emphasized when he adds, though thou be little, among the thousands of Judah. The point being, Bethlehem is a strange and unusual place for the king to be born, the Messiah to be born, because it is little, even among the little towns of Judah. It's numerically small compared to all the rest. The idea is that there's all sorts of little small towns with populations of a thousand or less, and that among them all, Bethlehem is the smallest and therefore also the most insignificant. It is of no account. It is of no reputation. And it remains that way. Regardless of the fact that it's the hometown or birthplace of David and Jesse, it's known for being the hometown of Ruth and Boaz, it remains the littlest among all the little towns in Judah. Even more so is then the teaching that Bethlehem Ephrathah will be the place where the Christ is born. That's the idea of the phrase, shall come forth. And when we read, out of thee, the idea of the passage is that Bethlehem Ephrathah, as it were, produces the Christ. There the Christ will be begotten. He will be born. And that, too, was the right understanding of the passage even by the Jews of old in Jesus' day. They did not interpret the passage to mean that a great king would rule there or come to power there. But the idea is that this is where he's born. In other words, the passage is teaching clearly that the Christ will be a man. And as a man, he will be born among men. He will be produced out of Judah, the tribe of Judah. More specifically, out of Bethlehem, Ephratah. He will be a man among men. But how then do we know he's the Christ? What was it that the Old Testament saints looked at and said, this is not simply referring to any ruler. This is not simply referring to a man. This is not simply referring to some son of David, but the promised Christ. And that's where we speak about and refer to what he adds, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. It's astounding that Bethlehem Ephratah is prophesied to be the birthplace of the Messiah. And we should see that in the passage. It has gospel significance. But even more astounding is that this One that shall be born there is One whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." In other words, we're talking about God. One whose origins is actually in eternity. who really has no origins at all, but is the I Am, the eternal God who has always been. Literally, we read, he shall come forth whose goings forth are from the days of eternity. Very graphic Hebrew language that is speaking quite clearly here about the pre-existence of this One that shall be born in Bethlehem. That the One who would be conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary is One who has already existed in eternity. A very, very important point about the Messiah. This is what is so astounding. This is really what caught the attention of those to whom Micah prophesied. This is what really grabbed the attention of all who knew the Scriptures and why they all knew, even when Jesus came, that the Christ, the Messiah, would be born there. What made it so unique and usual was this could not be one who was simply a man. So this is one of these passages in the Old Testament that gives us a prophetic glimpse of the Trinity. and is teaching us something about God himself. We keep in mind here what our own Belgic Confession says, which is the Old Testament taught the truth of the plurality of God, even that God is indeed a Trinity, three persons in one being, living in communion and fellowship. But admittedly, in the Old Testament, before the coming of Christ, it was not so clear. But therefore, we should also see that when there are clear prophecies of the Christ, the very Christ who would reveal this triune nature of God in all of its brilliance and glory, there would be hints, rather clear hints, of the triune nature of God. Even the language brings that out. The language doesn't mean simply that he existed in the eternal counsel of God, or that it was determined eternally by God that there would be a Christ born in Bethlehem, but the very one who is born is from everlasting. So even though he is from Bethlehem Ephrathah, even though he is out of Judah, he is also from everlasting. And his goings forth have been from of old. Everyone knew. Everyone can see, even the young children here, can see that when you talk about one whose goings forth are of old, you're talking of one who is alive, not simply exists, but is alive, who is working, who is traveling, who is going forth, going here and going there, and acting in the world. makes clear that this ruler is more than simply a man ruler, but a God ruler. If he's eternal and everlasting and his goings forth have been from an old, he himself is of old and everlasting, eternally God. Notice there's even a distinction in the passage between God the Father and this ruler, something again that is made clearer in the New Testament, for example, in John 1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. So God, but yet with God. Another beside God, as it were. That is, another person in the being of God. You have that also here. Notice, he shall come forth unto me. That is, there's a distinction here between he who comes forth, he who comes forth out of Bethlehem, Ephrathah, and me, who is God, that is speaking here. We learn later that this is the distinction between the second person and the third person. The me who is talking is God the Father, and the one about whom is being talked about is the Son. And in fact, in the light of the New Testament, we can even see the Spirit here. in the words that he comes forth, and his goings have been of old, that would refer to his work and labor as being produced by the power of the Spirit. But again, admittedly, this would not be so clear. This teaches us much about the astounding greatness, then, of this ruler. His greatness is the greatness of God himself. The authority with which he rules is the authority of God himself. The power that he exercises in his rule is the power of God himself. And we must see that this prophecy is fulfilled exactly some 600 to 700 years later in the birth of Jesus Christ, as Luke 2 makes perfectly clear. This makes clear that God sent this prophet, this little known Micah, writing one of the miter writings of Scripture, that God sent him to speak. In fact, what he speaks is God's own word, the very word of this Christ. It is Christ who sends him and speaks about him. And it shows that Jesus, is also the prophet who is speaking when he speaks to Israel when he comes. But what's especially brought out next is that he was a king. Indeed, a necessary king. That's going to be our second point in the sermon. The Messiah, as we considered this morning, will not only be a prophet, the prophet, something that comes to mind with regard to the fact that we're considering a prophecy here, and he will be a priest, something that especially will be on the foreground when we celebrate the Lord's Supper next week. but he will be king. So this dovetails very nicely with our consideration of the exaltation of Christ as king this morning. And it highlights a feature that we mentioned this morning, which was even though this is what God reveals in all his glory and wonder in the ascension and seating at his right hand, but he is king already when he's born. The point is the coming Messiah will exercise dominion and rule. and he will exercise dominion and rule over Israel. He's a ruler in Israel. That is, he rules over Israel, and he will do so in such a way that he will effect full and complete salvation of them. We're going to see that this dominion and power of Christ also means the destruction of Israel's enemies, something we considered this morning. That's also brought out when Micah said in this very chapter that he will destroy the Assyrians, verse 5, and that his hand will be lifted against Israel's adversaries so that they're cut off, verse 9. But that's not the main emphasis of the passage. The main emphasis is upon the fact that he will rule over Israel. That is, he will accomplish their welfare. And he will do that once and for all. Now, what the prophet makes clear, and especially the context and what follows, something we're going to highlight here, is that such dominion by the Messiah, that the Messiah must be this kind of ruler, was necessary. Now that's not quite so clear in the prophecy of Micah as it is in other prophets. There were times during the prophecy of Micah that things really weren't that bad. Things were declining very quickly in the northern kingdom, and he speaks about that. But he did prophesy during the rather prosperous reign of the believing king Hezekiah. To be sure, he also prophesied in evil and wicked times. But when he prophesied, especially at the end of his office, there was a good believing king that reigned over the nation of Judah. Nevertheless, if one would read through the prophecy, you're going to see that the prophet looks ahead and tells the nation that they're going to be oppressed. He prophesies about the coming Babylonian captivity. In chapter 4, he prophesies that many nations will be gathered against Judah and say, let her be defiled and be put to shame. He prophesies about the coming Assyrians and by implication of their siege and laying waste of the ten tribes and the capital of Samaria, but also what they will do to the nation of Judah. He prophesies of a day that the enemy will lay siege so that they are smitten by a rod upon the cheek. So he prophesies of many evil things that shall yet befall the people of God in Israel. That's the context. That's what surrounds this coming ruler, emphasizing the need for him. But the prophet also indicates the real cause of oppression, the real cause of misery, is not these foreign powers as such. not the destruction that they bring as such, but there's a much more powerful evil than that. And it's that from which they need deliverance. And it's that which this king shall deliver them from. If you go back to chapter 3, the prophet says the reason for their oppression is the transgression of Jacob and the sin of Israel. In verse 8 of that chapter, he says that as a prophet, who's full of the power of the Spirit of the Lord and of judgment of might, goes on to declare unto Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin. That's the issue. That's the problem. The oppression of the nations, Assyria and Babylon, and who else will come is only the result of something else. It's the chastisement they deserve because of their sin against a righteous God. This oppression is the visitation of the righteousness of God coming down upon them in the form of oppression by their enemies. In fact, one looks through and even looks at the chapter we read. The prophet indicates the specific sins. There was idolatry and covetousness. perversion of justice by their judges. There were the sins of lying and false dealings among themselves with a desire only to get more and more wealthy. And so they were guilty of robbery also. And that makes the predicament of Judah and Israel much more dire, and the need for a Messiah even the more greater. Need of the Messiah is deliverance from sin, so that indicates the true and real nature of the Messiah as ruler. He will exercise dominion and rule such that he delivers his people from their most desperate need, which is sin. In the last chapter of the prophecy, we actually have a beautiful description of how God will do that. In chapter 7, verses 18 and 19, we read that He will do that by forgiving the guilt of their sin. God, we read, that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage, he retaineth not his anger forever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again. He will have compassion upon us. He will subdue our iniquities and cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. That's in the very prophecy of the coming Messiah. The prophet also makes clear that this ruler will subdue sin. in their life. There will be an exercise of dominion over the power of sin itself. And He will banish it from the life of Israel. Quote, I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand, and thou shalt have no more soothsayers. Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thou shalt no more worship the work of thy hand. That was in the very chapter that we read. In the light of all this, it was inexcusable for the Jews not to recognize Jesus as the Messiah and to reject Him as the Messiah when He comes. Why did they do that? And how did that happen? It wasn't because the prophecy was lacking in any way. No, they did not recognize him and they rejected him as the Messiah because they were looking for a different kind of ruler. They were looking for a ruler who would deliver them yet, not from Assyria and Babylon, but Rome and any other earthly enemies. They were looking for a Messiah who would feed them with endless bread and make them rich and wealthy. They were looking for a Messiah that would make them as a nation respectable and perhaps elevate them to chief ruler over all the nations. But that was inexcusable given the clarity of the prophets. All the prophets, including this one, Micah, point out time and time and time again. Any oppression by earthly rulers was simply the result of Israel's own sin. And there could be no deliverance from earthly rulers apart from the main misery, their deliverance from sin. Oh, how this is forgotten still today. What kind of Messiah are the peoples of the world, even those who claim to be Christians and have some knowledge of the Scriptures? Who do they look to return from heaven? They don't look for a spiritual Messiah. They don't want a kingdom of heaven. but yet still a kingdom on earth. The question that faces us when we come to the Lord's table is what kind of Messiah do you desire? What kind of Messiah do you believe in and hope for? If you come to the Lord's table, Desiring a Messiah who will deliver you from all your earthly ills and problems, you need to find a different table, for you only condemn yourself and eat and drink judgment, because the table of the Lord is the table of the Messiah who delivers us from sin. That's why his body is broken. That's why his blood is shed. If he was going to establish an earthly kingdom over Rome and over Russia and China, then his body would not have been broken and his blood would not have been shed. Lastly, we consider what else is revealed in this wonderful prophecy, which is it is a revelation of grace. The great question that confronts us when we read such a prophecy is why must the Messiah come from such astounding origins? Why must he come not only from the humble place Bethlehem, smallest among the thousands of Judah, but why must he also be one who is of old, from everlasting? And the answer is, because he is a revelation of God's grace. So we have here not only a clear revelation of his rule and over what he has dominion, namely sin and death, we have here not only a clear revelation of the nature of his salvation, namely of sin and death, but now how he works that and why he works that, namely, by grace. This prophecy of the coming Messiah out of Bethlehem, Ephratah, reveals that his coming into the world is pure grace. He's the great gift of God given with his gracious attitude toward his people, Israel. If Israel's misery is her sin, then things are hopeless unless God gives this ruler because he is the only one who can deliver them. Who but another human born among men, can pay for the sins of humans. Who but another human can pay for the sins of God's people who are but men? And who but God can sustain the wrath of God? Who but God can overcome such a mighty enemy as sin? No human being can sustain the wrath of God not only, but no human being has overcome the power of sin. The point is, this is yet another prophecy showing how utterly it is impossible it is for man to redeem or save himself from his true misery. The passage also then reveals the peculiar way in which God's grace works in salvation also. We can become so familiar with those words. We're saved by grace. We do this or that only by grace. And it can become just a slogan. What does that mean? Well, it means salvation, not only that is undeserved, and as we just pointed out, impossible for the one receiving it, but it speaks to those whom God saves. God being the God of grace who saves by grace in the first place, delights in choosing the humble and lowly. How often do we read that in the Scriptures? How often do we see that? God does not choose the wise and the strong and the mighty, the things that are greatly estimated by men, those things that man looks to and expects, but God chooses the weak things, the things despised, the things that have no standing among men. That was true of little Bethlehem. God saw to it that among the thousands of Judah, not even Jerusalem, but little insignificant Bethlehem, and to see that even with regard to Nazareth, shall any good come out of Nazareth? Well, yes, there will be. The Messiah. For the Son of God, it also means He must come in the way of deep humiliation. He who is to be ruler in Israel, who will possess all glory and honor and authority and power of God, must first come into this world in that birthplace. And as if it isn't humble and lowly enough to be born in that town of Bethlehem, He's born in a manger. He whose origins are The days of eternity. He whose goings forth have been of old comes out of the womb of a woman and there too. Simply again look at Mary and Joseph. The line and lineage of David brought down to those two. But this is the people whom he saves. Look at yourselves this evening. If you imagine that this is the assembly of the mighty and the rich and the wealthy, and that we are the people whom the world looks to and respects, you have another guest coming. Or if you even imagine that that's what we should be and that's what we want to be, then you don't want this Messiah. This is who he saves. People of the little town of Bethlehem is the idea. But there's more here. The nature of God's grace and the revelation of God's grace that is brought here is God also picks the humble and the lowly, the weak and the despised, the scorned and the ridiculed in order that he might lift them to the highest glory. The distance is farther apart, as it were. He takes worms, which is how Christ saw himself, and makes him king of the creation. That's what God did with Christ. Christ goes from a little manger in this small little town, and he raises him to the highest glory in heaven with all authority and power of God. And it's brought out in the text. Did you catch that? It's why the prophet says he goes forth, not simply out of, but unto me. He's going to go, right in the passage, from this little town that no one thinks of, to me. He's going to return to me and receive all glory and honor of heaven and earth. And because it's true of Christ, it's true of all whom He comes for, and even those out of whom He comes, like the little town of Bethlehem. When this prophecy was made, no doubt it was still the littlest town in Judah, otherwise it couldn't have been said. And no doubt all the people of Judea and Israel looked and said, I can think of much better places for the Messiah to be born. But really, there's only one little town in Judah that we still sing about this time of year, isn't there? Oh, little town of Bethlehem. God puts it on our lips. That's the way He works. That's why Matthew 2, verse 6 quotes this text. Thou art not least. Go look at the book of Matthew. It's changed. Though thou art least is changed to thou art not least. Not least because indeed the Christ is born from Bethlehem in all Christians, realizing it's the revelation of God's grace. Rejoice in that. It's true of the church and the family and the person in whom he comes forth by his word and spirit. Interesting how the scriptures present that. He only comes forth for us, but he comes forth from us. who's the truly honorable and great church and family, man or woman, the world has its answer, but the grace revealed in Jesus Christ has its answer. It's the church in which he rules, the church he has redeemed, the people he has saved. And so he takes them from being the least and the smallest and the littlest and raises them to heavenly glory with him. And a reminder that the reason Christ could do it and did do it is he did it all for the glory and honor of God. Again, he comes forth out of Bethlehem unto me. Unto me. Everything comes out of God and returns back to him. That too is behind the supper. We're going to partake of him, his meat and his drink to nourish us, to strengthen us to then what? Sin that grace may abound? Use that nourishment and energy on ourselves, God forbid, but to give glory and honor to God. Amen. Let us pray. Father, which art in heaven, O Lord, we thank thee for our Savior, Jesus Christ. We celebrate not only his birth, but also his death in this coming week. Great marvel of his salvation that delivers us from sin and from death. This we pray in Jesus' name, amen.