For the next few weeks, I will center our devotions around the Advent season. Some of the texts are familiar but it is always good for us to return to what we know or what we think we know.
Now muster your troops, O daughter[b] of troops;
siege is laid against us;
with a rod they strike the judge of Israel
on the cheek.
2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days.
3 Therefore he shall give them up until the time
when she who is in labor has given birth;
then the rest of his brothers shall return
to the people of Israel.
4 And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great
to the ends of the earth.
5 And he shall be their peace.
When the Assyrian comes into our land
and treads in our palaces,
then we will raise against him seven shepherds
and eight princes of men;
6 they shall shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword,
and the land of Nimrod at its entrances;
and he shall deliver us from the Assyrian
when he comes into our land
and treads within our border.
In my entire life, much to the chagrin of my son-in-law Reuben, I think I have watched only one hockey game from beginning to end. But if you are around my age, this might be true for you as well. I wasn’t even 20 years old, never been on ice, never thought much of the game.
But I can say when the USA beat Russia in the semi-finals of the Olympics in 1980…I was glued to my television. Only months before the same USA team had been beaten by the Russians in an exhibition badly, I think it was like 7-0. But in the Winter Olympics, they pulled what is arguably the greatest sports upset in history… and against the Russians!
I have always pulled for the underdog and always relished the upsets. I will beat many of you remember when App State beat Michigan in 2007, or when Boise State upset Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. I always rooted against the Chicago Bulls, even while being in awe of Michael Jordan. We like underdog stories. We like it when the little beats the big, or the few tackle the many.
Well…God loves underdog stories as well. He is always coming in at the last minute, using Gideon’s 300 men, or the young David, and the teenage Mary. Over and over again we are shown that it is the Lord who saves and He can save by many or by few…but He seems to love doing it with few.
Our beginning passage this Advent season is well known…well that is not exactly true. Verse 2 is well known but I would guess most folks couldn’t give the context for the prophecy that the Christ would be born in Bethlehem. So, let’s walk through the text so that we can understand what is going on in the context of Micah’s prophecy.
The background for the promise of God’s coming to the rescue is set in the then present distress of God’s people, in this case it is the Assyrian invasion of 701 BC. The people are in deep trouble…with none to save.
“Strike Israel’s ruler on the cheek” in verse one is an image of Israel’s king, Hezekiah, being totally humiliated. Hezekiah is so defenseless he cannot even protect his face. He cannot defend his people; they are as if they had no king at all. You may remember the public taunting of Hezekiah by the Assyrian supreme commander or chief officer in 2 Kings 18 and in Isaiah 36.
King Hezekiah, is just as helpless for the protection and hope that is desired as are the people themselves. Help must come from outside of themselves, and it will not be from other nations…they have already tried that and it didn’t work…in fact it only made things worse.
In spite of that, in spite of what it looks like and what it feels like, look at verse 1; Marshal your troops. What? We are small in number and our adversary is great, and it is obvious to everyone that we are outmatched and can do nothing to save ourselves…and you tell us to go ahead and marshal our troops? Get ready for battle, are you kidding?
This is a call not to lose hope, to not give up, not to be overwhelmed by what things look like, but rather, to put faith into action. Yahweh sees…Yahweh hears…the Lord will be heard from…He will come…so…Marshall your troops…get ready…the Lord is coming.
This is a great Advent summons! We are in a period of waiting on and for the Lord. Circumstances are a bit unnerving. Everywhere we look things are shaking.
Where is our hope…to whom should we look…upon what promise are we building our lives? The Lord would say to us, Marshal your troops! Get ready…be steadfast…don’t be hopeless rather, be hope-Full for the Lord sees…He hears…He knows…and…He is coming!
To hear from the prophet that the Lord is one our side, when there doesn’t seem to be much going for us circumstantially, is a word of great hope…if…if we believe Him…If we trust Him… And this is the context for the famous verse 2, about Bethlehem, comes.
So, it is in the context of Israel’s humiliation and the demonstration of her powerlessness against her enemies that the great promise of Messiah is given. Hope will come from where you don’t expect it…easy to miss if you are not paying attention. Not from Assyria or Babylon, not from Egypt, not ever from Jerusalem…but from Bethlehem. And although Bethlehem was a well-known town, Ruth was from Bethlehem as was David, it was small, too small.
One scholar said that this is in reference to the fact that most towns were asked to give a certain number of troops for the defense of the nation and Bethlehem was so small that it could not contribute the minimum number of soldiers. It is from this small, backwater seemingly insignificant town that the One who will restore hope to God’s people will come. But of course, if we know anything about the Lord, we would expect such.
Humility is his garment and hope is His trumpet. But we must see the deep need that is ours…we must see the truth about ourselves, we must face our impotence and inability and from that, comes the conquering humility of our Savior.
In verse three we are given the duration of this distress. God’s people will find all kinds of problems, distresses and difficulties, until the Messiah comes.
To be continued…
Prayer: Father, the compromises of the world, the flesh and the devil are all about me and I confess that my head is often turned, but I pray that my heart would not be. Keep me, preserve me, and fix my eyes on the glories and love of Christ my Savior, my Lord, my King. May I go to Him, this Advent season and embrace Him in all circumstances. I know He is my life, my identity and my hope. Give me strength this day to so live. In Jesus name, Amen.
Hymn: I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say
I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“Come unto Me, and rest;
Lay down, thou weary one, lay down
Thy head upon My breast.”
I came to Jesus as I was,
Weary, and worn, and sad;
I found in Him a resting-place,
And He has made me glad.
I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“Behold, I freely give
The living water: thirsty one,
Stoop down, and drink, and live.”
I came to Jesus, and I drank
Of that life-giving stream;
My thirst was quenched, my soul revived,
And now I live in Him.
I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“I am this dark world’s Light;
Look unto Me, thy morn shall rise,
And all thy day be bright.”
I looked to Jesus, and I found
In Him my Star, my Sun;
And in that Light of life I’ll walk
Till trav’lling days are done.