But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days.
Therefore he shall give them up until the time
when she who is in labor has given birth;
then the rest of his brothers shall return
to the people of Israel.
And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD,
in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.
And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great
to the ends of the earth.
And he shall be their peace.
Micah 5:2–5
“Joy to the world the Lord has come,
Let earth receive her King,
Let every heart, prepare him room
And heaven and nature sing…
He rules the world with truth and grace…”
The celebratory hymn that Christians sing was written by hymnist Isaac Watts based on a Christian interpretation of Psalm 98 and was first published in 1719. Growing up in the Anglican church, it was one of the popular hymns that we sang during Christmas. It is significant, as it welcomes the birth of Jesus the Messiah and His Kingship on earth. What is important is the depiction of Jesus as Lord, King, and Ruler, and a call to prepare the heart for Him. The depictions of Jesus are significant and point to who He is in both the physical and spiritual realities of believers.
He is the “ruler over Israel,” who rules in truth and grace. It is important for all of us, embracing faith and hope in this season, to know and give Him room to rule in our hearts as the Truth and full of grace to carry us through the storms of life.
Our text, Micah 5:2 — “But you Bethlehem, Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be the ruler over Israel, whose origins are of old, from ancient times.”
This is a prophecy about the birth of Jesus. The passage prophecies that the Messiah would be a shepherd king. Bethlehem as a small city among the clans was despised, but that is where the Messiah came from. We see this prophecy cited in Matthew 2:5–6. The prophecy shows that the small city of Bethlehem will be greater than its size because of the ruler who will be born there and will “shepherd” the people. When Jesus finally came, he said, “I am the Good Shepherd” (John 10:11). We rest assured that in whatever situation, as we labor in faith and keep hope because He came for us, He is our Lord and Ruler, who rules in righteousness, restores us, heals us, and shepherds our souls.
Jesus is referred to as the Ancient of days. In John 17:5, when Jesus prayed for his disciples, He had this to say; “And now O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” Whatever challenge, tribulations, or adversity we might be facing this Christmas, we put our faith and hope in Jesus the King, Ruler, and Shepherd, who comes in a humble manner, from the “despised” through his birth into this world, but who became glorified King and Ruler, who existed before the foundations of the world, who can rule in our hearts and shepherd our souls because he is the Ancient of Days. He existed before coming into the world. Hence, heaven and all nature can sing in joy.
We are assured: He is the King of Glory. The question we might ask is, can I celebrate with all the challenges around me? Human nature forces us to question, doubt, and at times lose faith because we live in a troubled world. In the midst of storms of life, let us open our hearts to Him, let Him rule in our hearts and be Lord, King, and Ruler, as we continue in the spirit of celebration.
May Jesus manifest his Lordship to all of us as we celebrate His coming into the world for us, being assured that He came into the world “to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8) and restore us and that He will give birth to many glorious things in our lives as we keep the faith and hope.
Dr. Kudzai Biri is an associate professor of religion at Hope College.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.