Micah
Micah 5:1-6
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.
“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.”
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.
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
when the Assyrians invade our land
and march through our fortresses.
We will raise against them seven shepherds,
even eight commanders,
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.
Micah’s prophecy comes about 700 years before Jesus is born. Although Bethlehem is hometown of King David, it was a small village and by the time of Micah’s prophecy was obviously regarded as quite insignificant. Yet, God chooses this small town as the site of his incarnation into the world. In fact, many things about Jesus’ birth were quite small and ordinary. A young mother from an ordinary family, laid in a small manger in a stable, visited first by a group of simple shepherds. God doesn’t require powerful people or impressive structures to accomplish his will. God works in the small and simple.
Power and might are the way that earthly rulers work. It’s how the Assyrians were able to conquer the Israelites. But Micah reminds us that in the face of earthly power and might, God stands as our peace and our delivered. God is peace in the face of violence and fear. And God’s peace doesn’t come in dramatic ways. Rather, God’s peace comes through the birth of a child in a small town. We can thank God for using even small places and seemingly insignificant people as part of his story of redemption. Especially since that means that God is also working in the places we live through people like us.
Prayer:
Thank God for choosing seemingly small and insignificant people and places to be part of his work. Ask God to guide you and help you to see what role you have to play in God’s work in the places where you live, work and play.