Bethlehem

Birth of Christ

Micah 5: “1 Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek. 2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. 3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.”

It was prophesied that the ruler of Israel woulf come from Bethlehem, and be of the tribe of Judah, and that He would be smitten. The prophecy in Micah also reveals, by necessity, that the ruler is Yahweh Himself, because it states that – while he is coming in the future – he is also one “whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting”, which can only describe God Himself.