O Little Town of Bethlehem!

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But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times (Micah 5:2, NIV).

Micah prophecies that Bethlehem would be the birthplace of Jesus 700 years before Mary became pregnant. Some doubting scholars claim that the early church (like putting together a jigsaw puzzle) pulled prophetic verses from the Old Testament and then matched these prophecies to real events in the life of Jesus.

Question: Do we really believe, even though Mary knew of her virgin birth, that she and Joseph woke up one morning and said, “Hey, the scroll of Micah was read in the synagogue last Sabbath, and it said that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. It’s been eight and a half months since Gabriel the angel told us about this pregnancy; we’d better get there quickly.”

No, something else occurred that made the trip to Bethlehem a necessity, causing Joseph and Mary to take a ten-day donkey-riding journey to Bethlehem, which, during the timeframe of Mary’s pregnancy, made no practical or medical sense.

What happened?

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And 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, ESV).

When the emperor summoned inhabitants of the Roman Empire, they had to obey. Though Mary was pregnant, the only choice Mary and Joseph had was how to get there, not whether to go. Micah knew nothing of a Caesar, a Roman tax, or even Mary and Joseph, and yet he had incredible accuracy with this prophecy about Bethlehem.

Let’s not doubt Biblical prophecy, authored by the all-knowing Spirit, who sees all events in history, and, from this omniscience, knows that Caesar would issue his edict at just the right time, causing the necessity of Mary and Joseph, leaving a comfortable home during the final stages of pregnancy, to travel to Bethlehem for Jesus to be born.

Throughout the Bible, God inserts historical markers of significance, such as why it was so important for Jesus to be born in Bethlehem. And studying Scripture, we note that …

Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons (1 Samuel 17:12a).

Bethlehem was the hometown and birthplace of King David and Jesus was prophesied to be of the lineage of David (Isaiah 11:1). Bethlehem … David … Jesus: a prophetic bundle of historical events, not coincidences or made-up imaginations from the early church, but our mighty God working all things for our salvation — while giving us proof (for those with eyes to see) of His existence and love for us.

Amen. Take a moment to listen to my favorite version of the Christmas song, O Little Town of Bethlehem!