Episode Transcript
WEBVTT
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Here we find the words that are
echoed in Matthew Chapter Two, Matthew five
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versus one through six. Now Muster
your troops, oh daughter of troops.
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Siege is laid against us with a
Rod. They strike the judge of Israel
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on the cheek, but you will
Bethlehem, Ephratha, you are who are
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too little to be among the clans
of Judah. From you shall come forth
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for me one who is to be
ruler in Israel, who's coming forth is
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from of old, from ancient days. Therefore, he shall give them up
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until the time when she who is
in Labor has given birth. Then the
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rest of his brothers shall return to
the people of Israel and he shall stand
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and shepherd his flock and the strength
of the Lord, in The Majesty of
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the name of the Lord, his
God, and they shall dwell secure.
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For now, he shall be great
to the ends of the Earth and he
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shall be their peace. When Assyrian, when the Assyrian comes into our land
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and treads in our places, then
we will raise against him seven shepherds and
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eight princes of men, and they
shall shepherd the land of Assyria with the
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sword and the land of Nimrod at
its entrances and he shall deliver us from
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the Assyrian when he comes into our
land and treads within our border. Let
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us pray, our heavenly father,
we thank you for your word that has
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been given to us. We thank
you for the word incarnate and the word
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here in scripture. We thank you
and praise you for the spirit whom you
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have given that we might have this
word, that we might hear it with
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faith. Please help us to understand, please help us to believe. We
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we thank you for these things and
we pray for your blessing and Jesus name.
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Amen. You may be seated after
the sermon and like to sing with
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you him. Two hundred and one
a little town of Bethlehem will sing it
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in response to of these texts that
were considering this evening to see how the
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words of this Christmas carols him express
these biblical truths and give words that we
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might pray to the Lord and praise
his name, to remember his wondrous works,
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to consider his glorious deeds, to
proclaim them in all the nations.
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We consider them in light of these
texts. Here it was written in light
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of these texts and Micah Chapter Five
and Matthew a chapter two. The history
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of Jesus is birth. In this
chapter in Matthew Two versus one through twelve
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swirls around the city Bethlehem, and
sometimes stories are situated around an object,
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around a person. There's various ways
in which writers will bring something to our
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attention. I'm here. Of course
the primary story is about Jesus, right.
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This is the Gospel about Jesus,
but there's a lot of focus here
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on the place of his birth.
Now, for some of you the place
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of your birth doesn't mean a whole
lot. Maybe some of you don't even
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know the exact place of your birth. I'm for others of you it's very
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significant. It holds a lot of
meaning to you where you came from.
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In scripture, when we're thinking about
Jesus, we see that there is a
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lot of weight that is placed on
this little city. Bethlehem, which means
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house of bread, was a small
village in the territory of Judah, about
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five miles south southwest of Jerusalem,
not a hugely important city, and we
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know that for several reasons. One, it's spoken of that way, as
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we've seen some of the passages we've
read. Also, when we see a
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various lists of cities within the clans. It's often not even mentioned, sort
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of like if you were going to
draw a map of Arizona, there might
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be places you just leave off.
Seems to have happened here with Bethlehem,
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but it's an important city in scripture. I'm beginning not just with Jesus's birth
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and not even just with this prophecy
in Mica Five. One of the most
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important places in the earliest places we
see is with another couple, another couple
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in love, not Mary and Joseph, but ruth and Boaz, all the
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way back, all the way back
in the time of the judges. You
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may remember that story. Ruth was
a gentile. She came into Israel through
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her motherin law. I'm escaping judgment. Naomi and her husband left. They
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left the people of God. They
they left out under his judgment and tried
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to find greener pastors and other places. And while they were gone their sons
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married married gentile women. One of
them was ruth. But Naomi's husband died,
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her son's died and she was left
with these two daughters in law and
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she said go back to your people, go back to your God's I don't
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have anything for you, even if
I could bear another son in my old
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age. What are you going to
do? Wait until he's an adult?
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Your time is over with me.
We need to move on. But Ruth
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loved her mother in law and seems
to have loved her God. But she
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because she says to Naomi, your
people will be my people, your God
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will be my God. And Ruth
moves to Bethlehem where actually she meets a
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man named Bo as and through a
series of events they end up having a
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child and and being promised that one
day, through them, God would bring
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about something good. We read a
genie Ology there that eventually King David himself,
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this great King of Israel, I, came from this place, from
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Ruth and bow as. David also
came from Bethlehem in another way. When
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Israel needed a king after Saul's a
great failure, the Prophet Samuel was sent
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out to look for another king,
the king that God would have, and
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he goes and he finds him in
Bethlehem. He goes to Jesse, this
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great, great, great and so
on, grandson of Ruth and bow as,
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and Jesse brings out a bunch of
sons says here are my son's in
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this little town of Bethlehem, kind
of nobody family in a way, but
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he brings out the best. He
brings out his sons and Samuel goes to
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each of them and the Lord tells
them, no, not this one,
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not this one, not this one, not this one, and so well,
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do you have anyone else? He's
like well, yeah, there's David
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back forty working on the sheep.
It's like, well, bring him.
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And the smallest, the youngest,
this is the one whom God chooses.
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This this is the background before or
Mica Five, of of Bethlehem from the
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early, early days that we of
God's people in this city. We always
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have the sense that it's small,
that it's unimportant, but that God seems
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to choose it for that particular reason. Because it's small, because it's unimportant,
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he chooses it to do great things. That brings us to Mike a
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five. When the wise men go
to Herod and ask him here we are
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in Jerusalem, the place we would
expect this Christ to be born. Where
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is he here? It doesn't know. He goes to his counselors as scribes,
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and he says, don't we know
something about this? Isn't Christ supposed
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to be born somewhere. One of
the things I love about this is they
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are able to answer his question,
not by some miracle or some sort of
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active divination, but they're the exact
same way. You could find this out
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Bible study. They just go to
their bold testaments, they go to Mica
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and they say, yeah, it
says right here, Bethlehem, that's where
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we're expecting him from. This is
a very this is perhaps a side note,
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but I think it's important to mention
this. There's something that's always really
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sad about this to me. Herod
seems to have enough confidence in the scripture
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to ask questions about it, to
trust it. He trusts it so much
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that he decides to eradicate all the
children in that place that are, I
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believe it was said, five and
under. Sorry if I'm wrong about that,
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these young children, all of these
boys. He murders them. No
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doubt an unpopular decision, but he
does it anyway on the basis of his
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confidence of the word of God.
Right, he trusts that what it says
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is true, that these wise men
are reacting to a thing that God is
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doing. And yet, despite trusting
it in this way, for this kind
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of accuracy. He fails to trust
it in the message that we have in
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Micafive, not just this point,
this data point, about where this great
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one is to come from, but
in the larger message that's here. Let's
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consider it mica five, versus one
through six. It starts out with a
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problem. In Verse One, Assyria
is gaining victory over God's people. Siege
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is laid against us. With a
Rod, they strike the judge of Israel
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on the cheek. Bam, that
power that is a Symboli is there as
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this one nation strikes the other and
they receive this great blow at the end
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of verse six, or at the
end of these verses. In verse six,
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we realize that this victory, however, ultimately will end in defeat.
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Let me read to you it to
you actually begins in verse five, when
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the Assyrian comes into our land and
treads in our places. Then we will
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raise against him seven shepherds and eight
princes of men. They shall shepherd the
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land of Assyria with the sword.
Is One of those ironic ways of speaking.
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Right. Well, shepherd, you
imagine the shepherd there with his staff
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and then all of a sudden he's
got a sword in his hand and the
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land of Nimroditts's entrances, and he
shall deliver us from Assyrian, from the
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Assyrian when he comes into our lands
and treads within our borders. The shepherd
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language that's used here in the prophets
and as used throughout the Old Testament,
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often speaks not only of the shepherd
in the fields, but the shepherd imagery
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is carried into the role of the
king. The kings are called the shepherd
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of Israel. They are seen as
protectors, as keepers, as guards.
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So something happens between verse one and
verse six which changes of the situation for
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Israel. What is it? Will
begins in verse two. But you,
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oh Bethlehem, Frith, who who
are too little to be among the clans
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of Judah, or maybe you could
translate it to insignificant from You, shall
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come forth for me one who is
to be ruler in Israel. This one
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will come not only through Bethlehem,
but we read in verse three that he
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will be born out of this this
people, this nation, even a community,
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personified in a woman who gives Labor
that, we read, is ultimately
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not just personified literarily, but actually
is a woman as well, Mary,
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who gives birth in Labor to this
great son and this one who comes brings
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his brothers, the people of Israel. In Bend Verse Three, and then
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in verse four he stands, he's
strong, he is the shepherd of his
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flock and the strength of the Lord, and this describes Jesus exactly. When
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Jesus came, he came with humility
and to rule over his people, but
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he came in the name of the
God, his father, The majesty of
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the name of Yahwey, as God. When Jesus came, he came to
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shepherds people and he did so with
strength. Often that strength was demonstrated in
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his miraculous healings and his casting out
of demons, in bringing people from even
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from death, to life. The
Majesty and strength of the Lord was already
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always there, and yet there was
something that always was small about it.
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The crowds were there, but then
they would depart. His disciples would follow
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him, but then they would not. He would be strong and and and
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influential and and then he would be
hung on across he was often mocked for
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the places that he was from.
Later on, growing up in Nazareth,
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what good comes from these places?
Who is this guy we know his brothers,
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we know his mother. WHO.
Why is he important? The smallness
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of Bethlehem and the significance that it
has is mirrored in the very person of
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Jesus, this one who comes forth
from Bethlehem, the one who is quiet
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and meek, the one who's struck
on one cheek and then turns the other
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to receive yet another strike, the
one who dies, the one who suffers,
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the one who is meek and yet
significant, yet of such huge and
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awesome and worldly importance that Mike a
five doesn't just talk about the end of
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the Assyrians, which eventually did happen, but it puts it in these kind
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of, I'm losing my words,
but much grander terms, and they shall
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what dwell secure for now. He
shall be great to the ends of the
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Earth. Forget about Assyria for a
moment. He says to Israel these one
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who is coming will establish a kingdom
that's far surpasses anything that you can imagine.
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Why didn't Herod Trust in that?
I didn't Herod Listen To that?
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Why did Herod Style himself after these
kings in Assyria who can rule with an
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iron fist and who are powerful to
issue edicts and command people and trick and
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mock and all the rest. Why
did it? Herod not bow before God,
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the God of Israel, the one
that he was to serve? Even
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Jesus himself, as he rules of
King over his people, is serving for
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God. We read in verse two, when he stands on the human side
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of the Covenant and stands as one
and who is our ruler in in our
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king. He does so because of
the will of the father. Jesus does
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that. And if Jesus does that, why not Herod and why not me?
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Why do I and why do you
trust God and his word in some
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ways but not others? Why do
we trust certain data points and certain aspects
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of his character but then refuse others? His sovereignty over our lives, his
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promise of salvation, the goodness of
His grace, this message about God doing
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great things through small things, is
the message here of Mica Five. It's
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the point in part of Matthew Chapter
Two, and it's expressed in this hymn
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a little town of Bethlehem. I
want to finish by pointing out a few
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things here. The first verse of
this Hymn sets the picture. A little
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town of Bethlehem, how still we
see thee lie above the deep and thy
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deep and dreamless sleep. The silent
stars go by. You can picture,
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sure, a kind of quiet town, you know, off the interstate,
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where all the bright lights are.
It's just dark, just dark, except
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for the stars up above. It's
quiet. Yet in thy dark streets shineth.
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Something else is shining, the everlasting
light. The hopes, in fears
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of all the years are met in
thee tonight. The picture that this first
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verse paints is the very picture that
we see in Micafive, this insignificant town.
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It's it's a sleepy town right,
nothing's happening. This is likely historically
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what was going on when. But
even if the town was very busy that
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night with activity, the theological picture
that's painted here is exactly right. Little
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Bethlehem, little insignificant Bethlehem that doesn't
even begin to compare to the other cities.
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Even in Judah, something amazing is
happening. The everlasting light is shining
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in her the second verse explains what
that Light Is. The Christ is born
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of Mary and gathered all above.
While mortal sleep, the angels key up
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their watch of wondering love. Oh
morning stars together proclaim THY holy birth and
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praises, Sing to God, the
king, and peace on men to Earth.
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In the psalms you'll often get these
these expressions in which those who are
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singing, the human singers, who
are singing praises to God, will call
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out to various aspects of the creation, be they inanimate things like trees or
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stars, or or living things like
angels, and will say Praise God,
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Oh you heavenly host, praise him, you stars in the heavens. That's
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what's going on here. It sort
of sees the hymn recognizes that there's this
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perspective that, even as the world
is not yet recognizing the significance of what's
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happening and sleepy little Bethlehem, others
are starting to see it the very first
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stars that appear in the morning,
the angels who have long awaited and inquired
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into this thing are now having their
questions answered. And then, verse three,
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it returns to the stillness and quietness. How silently, how silently,
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the wondrous gift is given. And
then the point so or there, for
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God imparts. In the same way
God imparts to human hearts the blessings of
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his heaven. No ear may hear
his coming, but in this world of
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sin, where meek souls will receive
him. The dear Lord enters in.
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And then it makes it even more
personal. In verse for O Holy Child
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of Bethlehem descend to a US.
We pray, cast out our sin and
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enter in, be born in us. Today we hear the Christmas Angels,
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the Great Glad Tidings, tell oh, come to us, abide with us.
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Our Lord, Emanuel Manuel, you
remember from this morning, means God
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with us. What we are saying
in the human other words, is this
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this miraculous thing that God does,
geographically on the map, in this sleepy
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little town of Bethlehem, this unimportant
town of Bethlehem, and which he's bringing
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about the great salvation of the world
and peace to the ends of the Earth.
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We're asking him make me a part
of that. I want to belong
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to that story. Make Christ not
just abide in general, but abide in
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me. And this is what the
Lord does in us as well. We
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are not some great and marvelous thing. I and you cannot be compared to
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a glorious, marvelous city in which
great things are happening. We look at
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our lives and we see mistakes and
failures and regrets and all kinds of things
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like that. We find messes and
problems, dreams that are hoped for that
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aren't accomplished, things were trying that
don't come to pass. We look in
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the mirror and we see our bodies
changing. We feel aches and breaks,
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we suffer and relationships and on and
on and on. We are not glorious.
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And yet God promises to do this
glorious work in inglorious people, in
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ungodly people and unholy people, in
small, sleepy, quiet, unimportant people.
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God says that he will come to
all those who will receive him and
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do something wonderful. In Him.
We will become important, glorious, wonderful,
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powerful, full of peace and holiness. We will be those that are
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shepherded by this great king, and
indeed we are. There was a time
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when little town of Bethlehem was extremely
insignificant. Now millions, I don't know,
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hundreds of thousands, go look it
up. I don't know. People
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travel to Bethlehem every year. Everyone
knows Bethlehem's name right. Everyone knows Bethlehem's
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name when the Lord Jesus comes and
he returns and he lifts up his saints
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into the heavenly places and his glory
and His light and all of His Majesty
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is on display, even as it
is in the stars, in the heavens,
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but now in the bodies and in
the lives of the people that he
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is saved. Through his incarnation and
his death and his resurrection, the Great
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Shepherd and the great king will be
shown to have done a marvelous work.
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The Lord's glory is shown all the
more brightly when he uses humble things to
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do his holy will. We can
praise God for that, can't we?
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We can thank him for it,
remember it and tell of these wondrous works,
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even that of our own salvation.
Let us pray
