Or, Everything That Is Wrong with the Flock
Scripture: Micah 5:2-5
Date: December 18, 2022
Speaker: Sean Higgins
Peter wrote that the Old Testament prophets carefully searched what they had written in order to figure out what was in what they had written (1 Peter 1:10-11). There were clues about the Christ, who He would be, when He would come, what sufferings and glories would be His. God’s Spirit moved them to write just as wind fills a sail (2 Peter 1:21), but they didn’t have the entire map; they were making it.
One of the tiny details the Spirit revealed was about a city which didn’t make more than a small dot on the map. Now it’s a different story. You can’t turn two pages in the Advent/Christmas section of the Cantus without singing a lyric about it, sometimes even reading the title. “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” A king’s birth put it on the map.
It’s actually two kings, one just more famous, though they are both related. King David was born in Bethlehem Ephrathah. For a while David was known as the son of Jesse who lived there (1 Samuel 16:1), but David’s victories against a lion and a giant and nations, plus his forty years on the throne, turned his hometown into the what the angels dubbed the “city of David” (Luke 2:4, 11), even though the OT historical books refer to the city of David as Jerusalem. I’m sure the Bethlehemians posted a special sign in David’s honor at the city limits.
The city wasn’t big, yet a warrior-king came from there and led the nation toward its golden age. It was the stuff of legends, and became the stuff of prophecy. Around 300 years after David the prophet Micah saw the birth of a new ruler in David’s line who would be born in Bethlehem, and we know that birth happened another 700 years later, with some of the results still to come. And as significant as the detail about Bethlehem bringing a king, the emphasis in Micah 5 is on the character of that king. God sent a shepherd.
Similar to Isaiah’s light after darkness and peace after pain, so Micah shows security after a scattering, coming home after exile, glory after groaning. Like a woman in travail, a child would be born who would tend his sheep.
God’s flock—Zion/Jerusalem/Israel—had been:
The Lord continues to speak, but turns from Jerusalem as representing the nation to “you,” Bethlehem Ephrathah, names that mean house of bread in a place of fruitfulness.
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 ESV)
Bethlehem was too little to be among the clans of Judah, with “clans” a word referring to 1,000, the typical number for a unit of soldiers; they weren’t even big enough to muster a serious number of troops (compare to verse 1).
Though small, big things would come from her (not entirely unrelated to what Queen Lucy says in The Last Battle, “Yes, in our world too, a stable once had something inside it that was bigger than our whole world.”). From you will come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel.
The next phrase has to be the bigger surprise: whose origin is from old, from ancient days. The context argues that this means more than a long time ago, three centuries since David. Micah might not have grasped how ancient, though the word “old” (qeḏem) is sometimes translated “everlasting” and can describe God’s purposes (Isaiah 37:26) and God’s counsels (Isaiah 45:21), the time before Creation (Proverbs 8:22), and God Himself (Deuteronomy 33:27; Habakkuk 1:12)(see Thomas E. McComiskey). This ruler’s origins are supernatural, eternal.
Verse 3 has three parts: 1) an abandoning, 2) a birth, 3) a return.
Who is the he that gives up the them and who is the she who births a his? He is the LORD, she is Israel from whom the Messiah would come, and the them/brothers are also Israel, considered individually.
When the Lord “gives them up” it’s letting them have the judgement they deserved. Assyria conquered northern Israel, Babylon took Judah captive, the Romans eventually ruled over the land, and the nation persisted in her disobedience to the Mosaic Covenant.
The key change is a birth. The she is not Mary. Isaiah’s vision of a virgin birth is an individual woman (Isaiah 7:14), known to us as Mary, as Matthew leaves no doubt (Matthew 1:22-23). This “she” in labor in Micah 5:3 is more than Bethlehem, it is the covenant nation. In Micah 4:9-10 she is as a woman in labor pains, writhing and groaning. As Eve was promised a deliverer, so Israel is waiting for her rescue and redemption.
When she’s given birth—related to the coming forth of a ruler—then his brothers shall return to the people of Israel. Their “return” is because they had been a part. And we know now that this is still waiting for full fulfillment. John said Jesus “came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him” (John 1:11). A remnant believed, but the rest were hardened until “all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:25-26).
It may not be surprising to us, less of a “wow,” but it’s still good, and part of our hope.
He shall stand and (feed) his flock. He is not a hireling who runs; He “will assume His post” NET). And He “feeds,” He “pastures” in that He guides and manages for their food. The ESV translates the metaphor as “shepherds,” the one who takes care of. “His flock” is assumed from the text, and the way an Eastern king would relate to his people; as David was called from being a shepherd to shepherd the people (Psalm 78:70-72). God sent a Shepherd.
The shepherd tends in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. This overlaps with Isaiah’s view of the King as “Mighty God” (Isaiah 9:6). The majesty of the name is in the excellence of everything the name brings to mind, all the associations. “Democrats” = death, “Republicans” = spineless. Trump and spray tan. The name of the LORD = majesty, eminence. His name is life and strength and truth.
And they (his flock) shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. We’ve only begun to see this, as the good news of Jesus Christ makes new men and families and peoples wherever God’s Spirit gives faith. But there will still be a great, more visible coming of His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven, and He will reign forever and ever. The earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as water covers the sea.
For the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea.
(Habakkuk 2:14 ESV, and 2:20 “let all the earth keep silence before Him”)
This king-shepherd has been born. He is coming again. And he shall be their peace. He is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). He gives peace. He makes peace.
Caesar Augustus decreed it was time to find out how many taxpayers he could fleece, so around 6-4 BC he called for an enrollment, and citizens returned to their hometowns to be registered. “Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David” (Luke 2:1-4).
Outside of Bethlehem, the first group to hear of the birth of the Shepherd were shepherds. “In the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night….” Of all those on earth, God sent His angelic host to fellow shepherds.
the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:10–11 ESV)
“Shepherds, why this jubilee? … Come to Bethlehem and see” (“Hark, the Herald Angels Sing”)
Matthew quotes Micah 5:2 in Matthew 2:6 in the words of the chief priests and scribes who knew Micah. They knew Bethlehem was the center, even if they didn’t believe it. “So it is written by the prophet.” So God fulfilled His Word.
Israel, and we like her, are like a flock of sheep (Isaiah 53:6) that need a shepherd.
God sent a Shepherd. He is the Good Shepherd (John 10:11), the Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4). The Lord is our Shepherd (Psalm 23:1).
More than Santa knowing if you’ve been bad or good, more than Google tracking your keystrokes, the Shepherd knows His sheep and gave His blood for the sheep. He is the Lamb-Shepherd (Revelation 7:17), the Shepherd-King.
The smallness of origin is no limitation, neither is the length of wait time, or how it matches the expectations of men. God’s promise was for Christmas and then for Consummation. The second advent of our Shepherd will be worth waiting for.
The incarnation is not an imperative, it is a true story, foretold and for us and forever. Believe in the baby born in Bethlehem. And also, listen to the voice of your Shepherd in the Word, and trust Him to put you into a condition to function well, to “equip” (καταρτίσαι) you with all the good you need.
Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20–21, ESV)