Micah 5:1-15
1 Marshal your troops now, city of troops,
for a siege is laid against us.
They will strike Israel’s ruler
on the cheek with a rod.
2 “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 of old,
from ancient times.”
3 Therefore Israel will be abandoned
until the time when she who is in labor bears a son,
and the rest of his brothers return
to join the Israelites.
4 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 securely, for then his greatness
will reach to the ends of the earth.
5 And he will be our peace
when the Assyrians invade our land
and march through our fortresses.
We will raise against them seven shepherds,
even eight commanders,
6 who will rule the land of Assyria with the sword,
the land of Nimrod with drawn sword.
He will deliver us from the Assyrians
when they invade our land
and march across our borders.
7 The remnant of Jacob will be
in the midst of many peoples
like dew from the Lord,
like showers on the grass,
which do not wait for anyone
or depend on man.
8 The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations,
in the midst of many peoples,
like a lion among the beasts of the forest,
like a young lion among flocks of sheep,
which mauls and mangles as it goes,
and no one can rescue.
9 Your hand will be lifted up in triumph over your enemies,
and all your foes will be destroyed.
10 “In that day,” declares the Lord,
“I will destroy your horses from among you
and demolish your chariots.
11 I will destroy the cities of your land
and tear down all your strongholds.
12 I will destroy your witchcraft
and you will no longer cast spells.
13 I will destroy your idols
and your sacred stones from among you;
you will no longer bow down
to the work of your hands.
14 I will uproot from among you your Asherah poles
when I demolish your cities.
15 I will take vengeance in anger and wrath
on the nations that have not obeyed me.”
1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
We are told by the Prophet Micah that in the small village of Bethlehem would come the Messiah...Micah writes, "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 of old, from ancient times."...The people of Israel, especially those who knew the Old Testament Scripture knew that the Messiah would come out of this small village...
The people of Israel, however, did not know when the Messiah would arrive...But somehow the wise men from the east saw a star, and knew when the Messiah would arrive...The wise men were Gentiles...And because these men saw His Star, this Star out of Bethlehem, they came to worship Him...These wise men knew there would be something special about this Child...But the Star led them only so far...It led them only to the town of Jerusalem...Then the wise men had to stop and ask for directions...The wise men knew that the time of the Messiah's birth, but not His exact location...So when they stopped in Jerusalem for further directions they immediately were told that the Messiah would come out of the land of Judah, and be from the small village of Bethlehem...And the people of Jerusalem and King Herod were unaware of the Star, His Star...So the wise men must have had knowledge in astronomy, and saw this Special Star...The wise men would go to Bethlehem and give Him gifts and worship Him...They gave Him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh...And having been warned in a dream by God not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route...
And St. Matthew puts all this into better context of a place and a time (of when the Messiah was born) by writing that after Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem (to find the Messiah)...St. Matthew gives us a time, the period when King Herod was reigning...And the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law were asked where the Messiah was to be born...And they answered that the prophet Micah has written that it would be in the land of Judah and the town of Bethlehem...We know of the place and time of Jesus' birth...
We are told by St. Matthew that the wise men came after Jesus' birth...That they came to Jesus' house, and they call Him a child...We might assume that Jesus is a little older now, and is out of the manger He was born in and in a house in Bethlehem for a period of time...