Jesus in Micah
July 16, 2025
A Birth Announcement—700 Years Early
Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem; that’s a historical fact. Micah picked this location 700 years before Jesus was born, and it shocked everyone. There was little likelihood that one in the line of David could be born there. The odds were against it, because by this time none of David’s family still lived in Bethlehem—they were scattered by the captivity. Yet this prophecy was the sole reason the scribes directed the wise men to the small town. The scribes quoted Micah 5:2 because they believed Bethlehem would be the place; they just didn’t believe it was being fulfilled at that time.
King David’s line faced near extermination at the time of the Babylonian captivity. Most thought it was the end of his line. Yet Micah 5:2 says there would be born one in the line of David in Bethlehem. The New Testament picks up that story in both the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. They tell how Bethlehem was the place that Jesus, who was of the line and lineage of David, was born.
“Out of you [Bethlehem] shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, fromeverlasting.” -Micah 5:2
To those coming out of the captivity, Bethlehem probably looked dark and dreary. But Micah’s prophecy stirred their hope that it would still be possible for the Messiah to come. There was nothing unusual about Bethlehem except that Mary’s donkey carried her into that little town right on time, a time set from eternity. “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law” (Galatians 4:4).
Jesus clothed Himself with humanity in Bethlehem. Micah said, “…whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.” He existed before His birth. Jesus told the Pharisees, “Before Abraham was, I AM” (John 8:58). When God came to Bethlehem, He got something He never had before—the name of Jesus. He received humanity. He was Jehovah (deity), but now He’s Jesus and He’s a Savior. He came out of Bethlehem to save. You remember the angels said to the shepherds, “There is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). Matthew says His name would be Emmanuel, God with us (see Matthew 1:23). But you’re going to call His name Jesus. And He can’t be Jesus unless He’s Emmanuel, which means “God with us.” He must be a man to take our place, to be our representative, to die a substitutionary death. And it would begin in Bethlehem, Micah said.
