Dr. Barclay with Something to Think About - BETHLEHEM

 BETHLEHEM

    The town of Bethlehem has become an inherent part of the Christmas story, and has become immortalized in the carol O Little Town of Bethlehem. But its history goes back much farther than the time of Christmas. For it was back in the time of Jacob and Rachel that the place is first mentioned in the Bible, although it was called by a different name in those days.

So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath 
(that is, Bethlehem) 
(Genesis 35:19) 

It was from Bethlehem that one came to judge Israel in the time of the Judges

After him, Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. 
(Judges 12:8)

    And of course, it was from Bethlehem that Elimelech and his wife Naomi set forth to Moab when a famine swept through Judah. It was to Bethlehem that Naomi would return with Ruth after the death of her husband and sons and where Ruth would meet and marry Boaz beginning the line from which David, and later Jesus, would come.

    It is interesting that Bethlehem literally means “House of Bread” and perhaps this is significant in that Jesus later became known as the “Bread of Life.” Of course, the best known way in which the town became acknowledged is in the prophecy of Micah.

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
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 old,
From everlasting. 
(Micah 5:2)

    Now, Micah lived and prophesied around 720 to 698 BC, approximately 700 years before the birth of Christ. Since there were 12 tribes of Israel and about 2000 villages and towns in Judah at the time this was written, the chance that this prophecy would be true was at least 1 in 2500*. And yet, we are told that Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea at the appointed time; centuries after Micah gave this prophecy. At the same time, this is only one of about 300 passages that refer to the coming Messiah and are fulfilled by the birth of Jesus. Still, we tend to ignore the fact that He came because we get so wrapped up in details over which people want to dispute and disagree. 

    The main point is that He was born according to the prophecies and died according to what had been prophesied; fulfilling much more that could ever be done by mere chance alone. If we don’t know the exact time of His coming, or the location of the true stable or cave in which He was born makes little overall difference. What is important is that He was born in or around the location that the prophets foretold and that He came in fulfillment of multiple Old Testament prophesies. 

    The fact that He came is what we should be thinking about.

*The Signature of God by Grant Jeffrey, p.g.,172-173