Sermon: Sunday, 7th December, 2025
Speaker: John Johnstone
Scripture: Micah 5:1-5
Many of our Christmas carols stress the fact that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Today we are singing ‘O Little town of Bethlehem.’ Another well-known carol,‘O come all ye faithful’ invites us to consider the importance of what happened in that place: ‘O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem.’ And then, of course, there is the carol ‘Once in royal David’s City’, and that too is a reference to Bethlehem. I would like to zoom in on Bethlehem this morning, using a passage often read at carol services, Micah chapter 5:1-5. We will consider why the true King was born in Bethlehem, and why the birth of this King is so relevant for us, and indeed for the whole world, including those who don’t realise they need him.
Micah was a minor prophet. Minor just means small in size. It does not mean unimportant! He prophesied about 700 years before the birth of Jesus. Chapter 5 not only predicts the surprising location of this special king’s birth, but it also highlights many wonderful things which this King is able to provide for those who will submit to his good and wise rule. Have you submitted to his rule yet? Or are you still your own boss? I hope this morning we can see that there is no better King to rule over us than Jesus.
Micah was a prophet in Jerusalem in Judah. Remember that Israel split in two, with Israel in the north and Judah in the south. He prophesised during the reigns of kings such as Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. What was Micah’s main message? His message contained both good news and bad news. Most of us like hearing the bad news first, so we will consider the bad news first. Also, the good news does not make sense until we understand the bad news.
1. The bad news: a message of judgment
Why did Micah come to the people with a message of judgment? This is not boring history. Actually, Judah back then sounds a bit like Scotland today. Judah was doing very well in many respects. Economically, things were going well. The harvests were good and business was brisk. The army was strong and so they enjoyed days of peace and prosperity. The UK in 2025 is rich by global standards: its economy is large, and living standards are high compared to the global average. We are in times of peace on our own shores.
However, there is one measure of a country far more important than financial or military strength, and that is how they were doing spiritually. Were they listening to the voice of God? Was God and what God wants in their thinking? Let’s hear a few verses from earlier chapters of Micah.
‘They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them. They defraud people of their homes, they rob them of their inheritance.’ (Micah 2:2)
‘Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they look for the Lord’s support and say, ‘Is not the Lord among us? No disaster will come upon us.’ (Micah 3:11)
Here we have a prosperous people who are oppressing the poor and seizing fields from the weak, just because they want them. I don’t think we appreciate just how much the LORD detests the oppression of the poor and the vulnerable and the foreigner. And they wrongly think God is like a benign grandfather figure in the sky who will just ignore all their wrongdoings and still support them no matter what they do. As if God is a lucky mascot. They are so naïve about God saying, ‘No disaster will come upon us.’ As if God will just ignore what they are doing. Here’s the truth: God did not ignore what they did and will not ignore what we do either. He is a just God who sees and acts.
What will God do to his covenant people? They had been warned so clearly how to treat the poor and needy and had been told that God looks to our hearts and wants us to trust and obey him. ‘Therefore because of you, Zion will be ploughed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.’ ( Micah 3:12)
So, by the time we reach our passage in chapter 5, the first verse will make more sense to us: ‘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.’ (Micah 5:1) This is probably a prediction of those in Judah being captured by the Babylonians, as a punishment for their ungodliness and greed. They are under siege, and their ruler is struck in the face, unable to defend himself. Their king is totally humiliated, and it looks like the David’s dynasty of kings in Judah is coming to an end. The rod which should have been a symbol of the king of Judah’s authority is snatched from him and used to beat him.
This is the bad part of Micah’s prophecy. Today in Scotland in 2025, we would do well to understand that God is paying close attention to how we live our lives and will hold us accountable, just as he did back then. If we in our wealth care little for the poor and if we exploit or mistreat others, the LORD sees. If we treat God like an idiot, as if we can live largely ignoring him and doing what we want and wrongly assuming no disaster will come upon us, then our thinking is as wrong-headed as those in Judah all those years ago. God will not be mocked. We will reap what we sow.
2. The good news: the birth of the true King
‘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.’ (Micah 5:2)
After their time of judgment is over, God in his love and mercy promises to send a Deliverer to restore his people and bring in a new Kingdom – the Kingdom of God. This is such a beautiful and significant prophecy for us today because this King promises to bring unity, security and provision, not just for Israel, but the whole world. He is the King who is also the good shepherd (verse 4). And most of all (verse 5) he will bring peace. Don’t you want to be led by a King who can bring you unity and peace and who can shepherd you in this life and in the life to come? That’s what the one born in Bethlehem can do.
Let’s enjoy some of the details of this prophecy. We should see just how surprising it is that the Messiah, this shepherd-king, would be born in such an insignificant place as Bethlehem. You expect prime ministers to go to Eton or Fettes and then Oxford or Cambridge. You expect great kings to be born in Jerusalem. Bethlehem is pretty obscure. It would not even make the top 115 towns of Israel mentioned in Joshua chapter 15. What is God saying through this? God does not usually choose the gifted and well-known people or places to accomplish his will. Again and again, he chooses the weak and insignificant. ‘But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.’ (1 Corinthians 1:27-29) Bethlehem’s significance is her insignificance!
For us in Kirkcaldy Free Church, our numbers and small and we are not a well-known church. In the eyes of the world, we are totally insignificant. Let me ask you a question. Can God use ordinary people like us to do extraordinary things? Can he answer the prayers in our small and seemingly insignificant prayer meetings? Can he use our stumbling words and explanations as we tell others about Jesus. Not only can he use us in our weakness, but he is more likely to use us in our weakness, if we depend on him and ask for his strength.
What does Bethlehem mean? It means house of bread. What does Ephrathah mean (verse 2)? It means fruitful. Surely God is telling us that the one born King will be the bread of life and his body will be broken on the cross. He will be fruitful like a fruitful vine. His blood shed on the cross will save as many as the stars in the sky. His loving death on our behalf will be wonderfully fruitful.
Bethlehem does have one claim to fame, however. It is significant as the place King David was born. And so, Jesus being born in Bethlehem links him to King David. Why is that link important? Because God promised way back in the days of King David that a king would come from David’s line whose rule would last forever. The prophet Nathan said to David in, ‘Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’ (2 Samuel 7:16)
When those in Judah were punished by God and taken into exile, it would have seemed that God’s promise in 2 Samuel 7 would be a promise God could no longer keep. But God always keeps his promises. This one in the line of David, born in the city of David, Bethlehem, would fulfil the promises of God in every way. In Jesus, there is an endless dynasty of love and peace. ‘Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness — and I will not lie to David — that his line will continue forever and his throne endure before me like the sun.’ (Psalm 89:35-36) The true and better David will deliver the things which ordinary people like us need: forgiveness, eternal security and the power to be our true selves.
What qualifies King Jesus to meet our deepest human needs? This one to be born is mysteriously described in verse 2 as one ‘whose origins are from of old, from ancient times…’ I believe this is more than a hint for us that this baby is a supernatural figure. In fact, ‘from ancient times’ can also be translated ‘from eternity’. Jesus is qualified to meet our needs as he is God-come-in-the-flesh. Jesus, who is God, leaves Heaven in order to come and rescue us.
Although Israel will be abandoned for a time in their deserved time of judgment, it will just be for a time: ‘Therefore, Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labour bears a son, and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites.’ (Micah 5:3) The brothers returning speaks of Israel being unified once more. And this will include people from all the ends of the earth. (Verse 4) Jesus will be a king who will unite people and bring reconciliation amongst the people of the world. This is our future. Heaven will be a renewed earth where there will be no broken relationships.
What king of Ruler will Jesus be? ‘He will stand and shepherd his flock…’ (Micah 5:4) Jesus says,‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.’ (John 10:11) Let’s relish the picture of Jesus as our Shepherd. It means he will protect and guide and provide for us all the days of our lives and into eternity. He is a shepherd who wants to look after us.
Dane Ortlund: ‘Consider Jesus in Revelation 3. There, he says to a group of Christians who are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked, ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door…’ what will Jesus do? ‘I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.’ (Revelation 3:20). Jesus wants to be with you. He wants to come in to you — wretched, pitiable, poor you – and enjoy meals together. Spend time with you. Deepen the relationship. He enjoys your presence, as you are. In Jesus Christ, we are given a friend who will always enjoy rather than refuse our presence.’
That’s the kind of Ruler I want and need!
Listen to how good this King’s eternal reign will be: ‘And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. And he will be our peace…’ (Micah 5:4-5) What a glorious promise. Without Jesus, there is no true peace with God. There is no security or hope beyond the grave. But if we trust he died for us and give him his rightful place as the King over our lives, if we bow before him, he promises us peace and security forever. This is our Christmas hope. This is the true significance of the one born in insignificant Bethlehem.
How should you respond to Jesus? O Little Town of Bethlehem tell us: ‘No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin, where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in.’ Are you willing to receive Jesus as your king?