At the LCMS Advent service this week, the pastor preached about Micah
5:2: “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the
thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is
to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from
everlasting” (KJV).
The pastor talked about how many want to get “back to basics.”
Judahites in Micah’s day longed for someone like David. The problem is
that many romanticize the past, when the past was pretty scary and bad
when they were experiencing it. And even if the past was good, we cannot
go home again. According to the pastor, Micah calls the Judahites to
look prior to David, towards one whose going forth has been of old: the
promised seed who would crush the head of the serpent, as he is hurt by
him (Genesis 3:15). King Ahaz of Judah is called to rest in God rather
than power politics. Although Micah encourages his audience to look
beyond David, the pastor said, David was still relevant to what he was
saying. David was the least of his brothers, and Micah 5:2 affirms that
his town, Bethlehem, was little among the thousands of Judah. Yet, God
brought forth David from what is small. Similarly, God has worked in
unexpected ways, using Jesus’s crucifixion to save us.