From Humiliation to Exaltation: The Bethlehem Mandate Text: Micah 5:1-6
Introduction: The Logic of the Gospel
The prophet Micah has been taking us through a series of covenant lawsuits. God has a controversy with His people. He has laid out the charges of corruption, idolatry, and rank injustice. The rulers devour the people they are supposed to protect, the priests teach for hire, and the prophets see visions for a fee. The whole head is sick. And because of this, judgment is coming. Zion will be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins. This is the bad news, and it is very bad indeed.
But our God is a God who delights in gospel reversals. He is a God who brings life out of death, light out of darkness, and glory out of humiliation. After the searing diagnosis of sin and the terrible promise of judgment, Micah pivots to a section of glorious consolation. And the heart of this consolation, the engine of this great reversal, is found right here in our text. This is one of the most remarkable and explicit prophecies of the Messiah in all the Old Testament. It tells us where our hope comes from. It is not a hope that we invent, not a sunny optimism that whistles past the graveyard. It is a hope that is born, quite literally, in a particular place, at a particular time, to accomplish a particular mission.
This passage gives us the divine logic of the gospel. The pattern is always the same: humiliation, then exaltation. We see it in the life of Christ, who descended before He ascended. We see it in the life of the Christian, who must die to himself in order to live. And we see it in the life of the world, as the kingdom of God advances not through the methods of Caesar, but through the weakness of a crucified and risen King. Micah shows us that the path to global dominion runs through a small, insignificant town, and the path to victory runs through an apparent defeat.
We are in a time of great shaking. The nations rage, and our own civilization appears to be coming apart at the seams. It is easy to look at the siege engines of the enemy and to despair. But this passage calls us to look in a different direction. It calls us to look to the little town of Bethlehem and to the ruler who came from there. His rule is not fragile. His purposes will not be thwarted. And His peace is the only true peace there is.
The Text
"Now muster yourselves in troops, daughter of troops; They have laid siege against us; With a rod they will strike the judge of Israel on the cheek. But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from everlasting, From the ancient days. Therefore He will give them up until the time When she who is in childbirth has borne a child. Then the remainder of His brothers Will return to the sons of Israel. And He will stand and shepherd His flock In the strength of Yahweh, In the majesty of the name of Yahweh His God. And they will remain Because at that time He will be great To the ends of the earth. And this One will be peace. When the Assyrian enters our land, When he treads on our citadels, Then we will raise against him Seven shepherds and eight princes of men. And they will shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword, The land of Nimrod at its entrances; And He will deliver us from the Assyrian When he enters our land And when he treads within our borders."
(Micah 5:1-6 LSB)
Humiliation Before Glory (v. 1)
The prophecy begins in a place of crisis and shame.
"Now muster yourselves in troops, daughter of troops; They have laid siege against us; With a rod they will strike the judge of Israel on the cheek." (Micah 5:1)
The scene is one of military disaster. The "daughter of troops" is Jerusalem, a city now defined by its frantic, failing military preparations. A siege has been laid. The enemy is at the gates, and the situation is dire. But the ultimate indignity is not the siege itself, but the personal humiliation of Israel's leader. The "judge of Israel," their king, will be struck on the cheek with a rod. This is not just an act of violence; it is an act of supreme contempt. It is a backhanded slap of utter disdain. This was the fate of King Zedekiah at the hands of the Babylonians, and it was a picture of the nation's complete and utter disgrace.
But this verse does more than predict a historical event. It sets the stage for the coming of a greater King who would also be struck. The ultimate fulfillment of this humiliation was when the true Judge of Israel, Jesus Christ, stood before Caiaphas and the Roman soldiers. They struck Him, they spit on Him, they mocked Him. He endured the ultimate rod on the cheek for us. The path to the crown runs directly through the cross. The way up is the way down. God's pattern is to bring His people to the end of their own strength, to the point of total humiliation, before He brings His promised deliverance. We must never forget this. When we think our situation is hopeless, when we feel the sting of the enemy's contempt, we are on holy ground. We are right where God begins His greatest work.
The Unlikely King from the Unlikely Town (v. 2)
From the depths of that humiliation, God points to the source of true hope, and it is not where anyone would expect to find it.
"But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from everlasting, From the ancient days." (Micah 5:2)
This is a direct, frontal assault on all human systems of power and prestige. God does not choose Rome, or Babylon, or even the great city of Jerusalem. He chooses Bethlehem. Micah emphasizes its smallness, its insignificance. It was "too little to be among the clans of Judah." It was a backwater town, a place you passed through on your way to somewhere important. And yet, this is God's chosen stage. God loves to use the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
From this humble place, a Ruler will "go forth for Me." Notice the divine initiative. This is God's plan, for God's glory. This Ruler is not a product of political maneuvering or popular acclaim. He is God's gift, sent on God's mission. And His task is "to be ruler in Israel." This is the restoration of the Davidic monarchy, but on an infinitely grander scale. David was from Bethlehem, and this new ruler will be David's greater son.
But then Micah gives us a stunning revelation about the nature of this Ruler. "His goings forth are from everlasting, from the ancient days." This is no mere mortal king. His origins are not in Bethlehem, but in eternity. The Hebrew speaks of origins from of old, from the days of eternity. This is a clear statement of the preexistence and deity of the Messiah. The baby born in a manger is the eternal Son of God, the one through whom the worlds were made. John tells us that in the beginning was the Word. Micah tells us that the Ruler's goings forth were from the beginning. The little baby in Mary's arms was older than Mary, older than Abraham, older than time itself. This is the great mystery of the incarnation: the eternal God breaking into history in a particular place, as a particular man.
The Appointed Time and the Gathered Remnant (v. 3)
But this glorious arrival has a set timing, and it is preceded by a period of apparent abandonment.
"Therefore He will give them up until the time When she who is in childbirth has borne a child. Then the remainder of His brothers Will return to the sons of Israel." (Micah 5:3)
Because of their sin, God "will give them up." There will be a period of exile and silence. God will seem to have abandoned His people. The heavens will be brass. But this abandonment is not final. It has a terminus point: "until the time when she who is in childbirth has borne a child." This is a direct reference to the virgin birth, prophesied in Isaiah 7:14. The sign that God's silence is broken, the sign that the new era has dawned, is the birth of this specific child.
The birth of Jesus is the hinge of all history. It marks the end of the waiting and the beginning of the fulfillment. And what happens after this birth? "Then the remainder of His brothers will return to the sons of Israel." The coming of the Messiah is the great catalyst for the gathering of God's people. This began with the Jewish remnant who believed in Jesus at His first coming, but it extends to all of God's elect, Jew and Gentile, who are brought into the commonwealth of Israel through faith in their elder Brother, Jesus. He is the great unifier, the one who breaks down the dividing wall and creates one new man in Himself.
The Shepherd-King's Reign (v. 4)
Micah then describes the nature of this Ruler's reign.
"And He will stand and shepherd His flock In the strength of Yahweh, In the majesty of the name of Yahweh His God. And they will remain Because at that time He will be great To the ends of the earth." (Micah 5:4)
This King is a Shepherd. He doesn't rule by brute force, but with pastoral care. He stands, indicating His readiness and authority, and He feeds, protects, and guides His flock. But notice the source of His power. He does this "in the strength of Yahweh." As the Son, He operates in perfect unity with the Father. His authority is the Father's authority. He rules "in the majesty of the name of Yahweh His God." The name of God represents His character and His power, and Jesus wields this power perfectly.
And what is the result of this shepherd-reign? "And they will remain." The word means to dwell securely, to be safe. Under the care of this Shepherd-King, the people of God are eternally secure. Nothing can snatch them from His hand. Why? "Because at that time He will be great to the ends of the earth." This is a glorious, postmillennial promise. The fame, the authority, and the greatness of Jesus Christ will not be a private affair, confined to a few hearts. It will extend to the ends of the earth. The Great Commission will be successful. The knowledge of the glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. This is not a description of a frantic, last-minute rescue from a world gone completely to pot. It is a description of a victorious, progressive, global reign that brings security and peace to His people everywhere.
Peace and Victory (v. 5-6)
The chapter concludes by identifying this ruler and the nature of the victory He brings.
"And this One will be peace. When the Assyrian enters our land...we will raise against him Seven shepherds and eight princes of men. And they will shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword...And He will deliver us from the Assyrian..." (Micah 5:5-6)
"This One will be peace." He doesn't just bring peace; He is our peace. The peace is a person. He is the one who reconciles us to God and to one another. But this peace is not a fragile, passive thing. It is a robust, conquering peace. Micah uses the contemporary enemy, Assyria, as a type for all the enemies of God's people throughout history. The "Assyrian" represents the godless, militaristic, pagan state that seeks to devour the church.
When this enemy invades, what is the response? Under the leadership of the great Shepherd, God's people will "raise against him seven shepherds and eight princes of men." This is a Hebrew idiom for a complete and super-abundant supply of leadership. The church will not be lacking in delegated authorities, in godly men who will lead the fight. And the fight is not defensive. They will "shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword." This is the language of holy war, of conquest. It is the Great Commission in militant terms. We are to take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and conquer the nations, discipling them and bringing them under the Lordship of Christ. The land of Nimrod, the archetypal pagan kingdom, will be brought under the shepherding rule of King Jesus.
The promise is explicit: "He will deliver us from the Assyrian." Christ is our deliverer. No matter how fierce the enemy, no matter how desperate the siege, the victory is assured. He has already won the decisive battle at the cross and the empty tomb. The rest of history is simply the mopping-up operation.
Conclusion: Our Bethlehem Mandate
So what does this mean for us? It means that our confidence must not be in our own strength, our political savvy, or our cultural influence. Our confidence must be in the Shepherd-King from Bethlehem. It means we must embrace the logic of the gospel: the way up is the way down. God has chosen the foolish things to confound the wise.
We are called to be a Bethlehem people. We are not to be discouraged by our smallness or our apparent insignificance in the eyes of the world. The power is not in us; it is in the eternal Son who became small for our sake. Our task is to follow this Shepherd-King, to wield the sword of the Spirit, and to be His instruments in extending His greatness to the ends of the earth. The Assyrian is in our land. He is treading in our citadels. But we do not fear, because the One who is our peace has promised to deliver us. He is great, and His name will be great, from the rising of the sun to its setting.