Micah 5:2, 4, 5a
“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.
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.
And he will be our peace.”
1. The book of Micah starts with God pronouncing judgement on Israel.
a. You shall have no other gods before Me – Micah 1:7
b. You shall not make idols. - Micah 1:7
c. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain. – (Micah 2:11)
d. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
e. Honor your father and your mother. (Micah 7:6)
f. You shall not murder. (Micah 7:2)
g. You shall not commit adultery. (Micah 1: 7)
h. You shall not steal. (Micah 2:2)
i. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. (Micah 2:11)
j. You shall not covet. (Micah 2:2)
k. Not one upright person (Micah 2:2)
Romans 3:10-18
As it is written: 10 “There is no one righteous, not even one;
11
there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
12
All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.”
13
“Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit.”
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”
14
“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
15
“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16
ruin and misery mark their ways,
17
and the way of peace they do not know.”
18
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
2. You see diamonds are usually kept in front of a black backdrop. If you look at a
diamond in a white backdrop it doesn’t look all that impressive. But when you place it
in on a back velvet cloth, you can see the light hitting from a hundred different ways.
It the same with the gospel – Unless we see the Gods solution to the sin problem with
the backdrop of man’s utter depravity, we will not fully appreciate what God has
done.
3. God’s solution to the sin problem. God did not come up with the plan on the go.
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her
offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Gen. 3:15).
4. Thousands of years later God is reiterating his promise through Micah the prophet. out of
you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from
ancient times. We heard this morning of the eternality of the Word, the second person of
the trinity.
5. So we see the preincarnate son
a) At the creation (Genesis 1:26)
b) The Son appears as the “The angel of the Lord” in the Old Testament (The burning bush
(Exodus 3), on Sinai (Exodus 33:16), Hagar(Genesis 16:13), Abraham before he sacrifices
Isaac (Gen 22:11,12))
c) Before Abraham was I AM
d) Son of Man (Daniel)
6. This ruler will be a shepherd
a) Stand and Shepherd his flock – In the strength of God and in the majesty of the Name of
God. We will live securely. This ruler is not someone who will just order things around
but it will be someone who will be intimately involved in the lives of his people.
b) His greatness will reach the ends of the earth – This ruler will not be limited to the land
of Israel but will reach the ends of the earth.
c) He will be our peace - And lastly He is our peace. There is not just a ceasefire between us
and God (Israel – Hamas). But this peace is everlasting. Such a peace will be the reality in
the lives of His flock.
So that was the prophecy. Some 700 years later
Bethlehem, though you are small among the clans of Judah…700 years later (Matthew 2:1-6)
2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi[a] 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:
“‘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.’[b]”
6
1. 700 years later, we see this scripture fulfilled when Jesus is born. And right from the
beginning of his ministry he has been shepherding his flock.
The Shepherd – the flock is secure.
“My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch
them out of the Father’s hand.” (John 10:29)
And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should
lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. (John 6:39)
a) His sheep are very secure under the care of this shepherd. One – We are secure
because Jesus does the will of the Father perfectly and two Jesus has taken care of
the sin problem.
b) (Romans 8:31-34) - If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not
spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with
him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those
whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who
condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to
life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
c) Thirdly We are secure because there is no one who can bring a charge against his
sheep.
2. This shepherd is standing over his flock - The shepherd who knows his flock intimately. “I
am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me
and I know the Father…” (10:14-15)
How much does the Father know Jesus? 5%, 10%? No the Father knows the son and
the Son knows the Father completely.
It is to that extent that Jesus Christ knows you!
Christ knows your temperament, your moods.
He knows what lifts you up, and he knows what gets you down.
There is nothing you could ever tell Jesus about yourself that he does not already
know completely.
This “Knowing” is not mere information that Jesus has of you, but it is a love that he
has placed on you from eternity past.
There may be times when you may think the no one knows what you are going
through. Let this be an encouragement to you – Jesus knows you and your
circumstance as much as the father knows the Son and the Son knows the Father.
Here is the joy of following Jesus Christ. Because he knows you completely, he is
able to lead you effectively. The good shepherd knows what you need, and he is
able to give you what you need at precisely the time that you need it.
3. The shepherd who gave his life - “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd
lays down his life for the sheep.…I lay down my life for the sheep.” (John 10:11,
15)
He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf
coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
(John 10:12)
Here is something very wonderful: The good shepherd lays down his life for the
sheep. Everything Jesus endured in his passion was for you.
When he gave himself into the hands of the arresting party in the Garden of
Gethsemane, it was for you. When he was scourged and beaten, it was for you. And
when he was condemned to death, it was for you. When he hung on that cross in
agony, it was for you.
This Christmas season lets remember this God who created the whole earth, came down in
a lowly manger, took the form of a servant. And is now our shepherd leading us. He is the
King sitting at the right hand of God and he is the High priest interceding for the flock for
which he sacrificed himself.