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.
The Escape to Egypt
13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
18 “A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”
The Prophet Micah writes that out of a very small town, a King would be born...The Messiah, and Ruler of Israel, would come out of Bethlehem...“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.”...And over Bethlehem came a star one night and it would be shining, and shining very brightly...The Magi understood this Star's meaning, yet others did not...And the Magi took heed and noticed it and they made their way toward this Star...And it seems that King Herod did not understand the Star's meaning and was not alerted to the importance of the Star over Bethlehem Ephrathah...This Star was the symbol for the birth of this New King, who would be called King of the Jews...The Magi saw the New King's Star and wanted to go to worship this Newborn King...And this worshiping of a New King of Israel disturbed Herod...
The Star over Bethlehem was a subtle way to show us where the Son was...The earth is constantly rotating and the stars are in constant movement, but this Star, this particular Star stops and pauses over Bethlehem Ephrathah...And should we be surprised that the Star stopped over the place where this Child was?...Would we not expect something like this to happen when the Son of God is born?...The Star stopping over this particular place is a supernatural and temporary event...Do we still today, not look up to the stars in the sky and see mystery and greatness, and just wonder...This sign, this Star over Bethlehem should give us pause...
St. Matthew writes that the Magi made their way to Jesus and His Mother Mary...And the Magi found Him in a house...He had been moved by His mother and father from His original birthplace to this house...And on coming to the house, the Magi 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...And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route...We might assume Baby Jesus is less than two years old in His house, because of Herod's furious reaction to the Magi leaving Bethlehem unannounced to him and his order to kill all the baby boys of Bethlehem under the age of two...
The Bethlehem Star is our Christmas Star...Just as the Old Testament Prophets and prophecies told us a Messiah was born in Bethlehem in a miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit...Jesus is LORD and Messiah as the Prophet Micah has written...Wise men were led to Jesus by the events surrounding this Star...Wise men still follow Him today...This supernatural sign, this Star over Bethlehem would be the sign of the Son of God...