Mensa Otabil - The Birthplace of Christ
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The story of Christmas touches so many aspects of our lives; it touches our genealogies, our parentage, our birthplace, our culture-so many parts of our lives. Today we’re looking at the birthplace of Jesus Christ and reading an old prophecy from Micah, in Micah chapter 5, verse 2: «But you, Bethlehem Ephrata, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to me the One to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.»
This prophecy talks about a ruler who would come to rule Israel, but there is a quality about this ruler: it says that he’s an everlasting person; he’s from old. In other words, he’s an eternal being. This isn’t just talking about a normal ruler of Israel, but a peculiar one who would be divine because his goings forth are from of old, from everlasting. The place that this ruler will emerge from or be born at is Bethlehem Ephrata. Bethlehem, the word, means «house of bread» or «house of meat»; it indicates a place where there is supply, where there is abundance. Ephrata means fruitfulness or double fruit-something that is really fruitful.
So if you put it together, Bethlehem Ephrata indicates a place that is flourishing, robust; it’s supposed to be a big town. But Bethlehem Ephrata is not a big town; it’s a small town. It’s a town with a big name but a very small presence. The passage says it is a little town and that it is among the thousands of Judah. It’s in the tribe of Judah, but it’s a little town in the tribe of Judah. So if you’re going to choose a king, he would not come from Bethlehem Ephrata because Bethlehem is not a very prominent town. Yet, that is the place where God chose for Christ to be born.
The promise of God to Bethlehem Ephrata is that though it is small, out of it will come forth a ruler. Something that is small but inside it will give birth to something great. That’s another aspect of the Christmas story, which tells us that not only is God able to redeem our generations and genealogies, he’s able to pick us out of nowhere and do great things with us. He can come to us from the time we were born, from the families we came from, and from our own estimation of ourselves.
Sometimes you may look at yourself and say, «You know what? I don’t think I can do much in this world. I can’t amount to much. Look at who my father is, look at who my mother is, look at the village I came from, look at my story, look at my education. I don’t have much education, I don’t have much money.» You can talk about all the things you lack. Yes, Bethlehem Ephrata also did not have anything; it was just a tiny town- the kind of village you would pass by very easily with just a few hearts. Yet God caused the events of history to collide in Bethlehem so that the Messiah would be born.
God is also telling you today that he can make the events of history collide in your life, that out of you shall come forth something significant, something magnificent, and something awesome. Some of us can look at our lives and see where God picked us from and see where he has brought us to, and we can almost say our lives were like Bethlehem Ephrata.
Look what the Lord has done for us! If I look at my own life, it was a Bethlehem Ephrata, but look what God has done. If you haven’t experienced it yet, God is about to visit you; greatness is coming to you, and out of you shall come something that will influence the whole world. May the Lord take your life, as simple as it is, as common as you think it is, as remote as it may be, and do great things with you. May what he does through you expand his kingdom and bring his glory to humanity. May the world be blessed because of you.
In Jesus' name, let’s pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, you have shown that you raise greatness from unexpected places. Let greatness come out of me. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.» Well, I’ll catch you again tomorrow. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom. Peace and life to you.