Sermon on Micah 5:2-5a, for the 4th Sunday in Advent, "Shepherd-King"

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Last week we listened to the words of the prophet Zephaniah, who spoke about God’s joy and how He sings over His redeemed. Today, we rewind the clock even further, another 100-150 years at least, to the words of the prophet Micah, who anticipates the birth of the promised Savior. All the prophets “sang in harmony,” pointing to the Messiah or Christ, along with their various individual concerns. For most of them, the threat of surrounding superpowers like Assyria and Babylon, and the invasion of Israel loomed large. No less for Micah. Micah lived alongside Isaiah, the greatest of the writing prophets. Together, Micah and Isaiah gave great witness to the coming birth of the Savior. Some of Isaiah’s most famous prophecies are of the Virgin Birth (7:14), and the child born to be the Prince of Peace (9:6). This passage in Micah 5, echoes many words of Isaiah.

God’s Old Testament people longed for a Savior, a Deliverer. Not always with equal enthusiasm or attention, but the promises God made were there all along, back to Adam and Eve. Listen to Micah 5:2, “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 origin is from of old, from ancient days.” Bethlehem means “house of bread” and is the birthplace of both David and Jesus—both shepherd-kings of Israel. Ephrathah is the name of a clan of Judah, and sets this Bethlehem apart from another Bethlehem in the tribe of Zebulun.

But notice the status of Bethlehem: you “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. The prophet knows this little backwater town is going to be the birthplace of a great ruler. But it sounds like no one else would guess it, from the insignificance of Bethlehem. All through the Bible we find God working mighty things from “underdogs.” By the underestimated, the outnumbered, the insignificant, God proves that it is His power and His might that saves, not human strength or power. Let’s run through a few examples: there’s Gideon’s 300 unarmed men, who by God’s power defeat an overwhelming army of the Midianites. There’s the anointing of David as king, when the prophet Samuel called his father Jesse to line up all his sons, no one thought to include David, the “runt of the litter”—the youngest. But nevertheless, God chose him to be king. And guess where David was born? Bethlehem! A shepherd king!

Then there’s David and Goliath, and Naaman the Syrian, who despises the washing of water in the Jordan, to be cleansed of leprosy—but who eventually is healed when he humbles himself and obeys. And the same pattern continues in the life of Jesus. Born in Bethlehem, but raised in Nazareth, another backwater town, the villagers of Nazareth scoffed that Jesus, the son of the carpenter could be a great miracle worker and teacher. Nathaniel, when first called to be a disciple of Jesus of Nazareth, said, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Or the 5 loaves and 2 fishes which were scorned as too small to feed a multitude of 5,000 men, plus women and children.

Again and again as St. Paul tell us, God was pleased to choose “what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; ²⁸ God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, ²⁹ so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. ³⁰ And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, ³¹ so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:27–31). God has this thing against human boasting. He won’t have it! So God chooses a little town of Bethlehem, or 300 unarmed men, or the youngest son of the brood, or the humble washing of water, or a prophet raised in Nazareth, to dumbfound and put to shame our man-made wisdom and boasting. He chooses the low and despised to bring to nothing the things that are.

None of the scorning, scoffing, or overlooking in anyway hindered God’s plan. Bethlehem was not only the birthplace of one great shepherd-king, David—it was the birthplace of two—Jesus, the Son of David, whose origin is from of old, from ancient times. These words of Micah hint at what Jesus said (John 8:58), “Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” Jesus speaks of His ancient origin, of His preexisting Abraham. This blankly declares that Jesus is more than mere human. And to declare I AM was to directly identify Himself with God, which is why they picked up stones to stone Jesus, but He escaped. Micah clues us in on the eternity of the Messiah.

Vs.  3 continues: “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.” A chapter before, Micah 4:9-10, we read that while Israel waits for her deliverer, she would be delivered up into the hand of her enemies. She would “groan…like a woman in labor”. Like a woman in labor pains, they would suffer. From the time of Micah till the time of Jesus, there would be much groaning from the Israelites, under the heavy hand and burden of foreign domination. “Until the time when she who is in labor has given birth,” he continues in chapter 3. The image of Israel groaning in labor seems to blend with the literal birth of the Messiah, Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary. Israel’s figurative birth pains, from enemy oppression, would be relieved in the literal birth of Jesus of Bethlehem.

And vs. 3 also describes “the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel.” Who are “the rest of his brothers?” Two other verses—one Old Testament, the other in the New—come to mind. The Old Testament one is Isaiah 49:6. If the people of Israel thought Bethlehem was too little to be of any significance, then God thinks that it’s too light a thing for His chosen servant, the Messiah, to only rescue the tribes of Jacob and the preserved of Israel. God says this is too light a thing—so “I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” So Jesus is commissioned by God to shine the light of His salvation to the ends of the earth, rescuing Jew and Gentile. The New Testament verse that comes to mind is when Jesus the Good Shepherd says that He has “other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd” (John 10:16). God’s glory would not be shortened by a small redemption, but Jesus would  make disciples of all nations. God magnified and increased His glory thru Jesus, and enlarged His salvation to the grandest scope.

Micah 5:4-5 describes Jesus, this second Shepherd-King of Bethlehem: “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.” Many prophecies describe the Messiah as a shepherd, and God’s people like sheep that had been abused, mistreated, and led astray. God Himself will step in to shepherd the people, the prophets warn. God will deal with the wicked shepherds, the leaders of Israel who were not faithful to their duty. So Micah describes Jesus coming to shepherd in the strength of the Lord and the majesty of the name of God. Again, not by human might, but by the Lord’s strength and the power of His Name, so that we would have no reason for boasting, except in the Lord.

And He shall be great to the ends of the earth. How would it come about that a ruler born from a town of no account in a tiny land that’s no bigger than the total land area of Hawaii, would become renowned and known to all the ends of the earth? Fame of that kind usually comes by great empire expansions, like Alexander the Great or Genghis Khan, or the longevity of  great dynasties like the Chinese, or the great monuments of the Egyptians or Romans or Incans. But all of these powers and rulers have risen and fallen, and most of their rulers names are lost to the dust of time. And none equals the fame or greatness of the Shepherd-King Jesus. With no earthly empire, no monuments, no armies or wars to His name, He has followers who worship and praise His name in every nation on earth. Jesus’ “kingdom still stands and grows forever” (LSB 886:5). New disciples are added to His kingdom every day, all around the globe. It was once said the sun never set on the British Empire—because it circled the globe. But now that is only true of Jesus’ kingdom, the church, which day or night is always at prayer or worshipping His great name. What a marvelous fulfillment of the prophecies of Micah and Isaiah!

Two hanging phrases remain: they shall dwell secure…and he shall be their peace. Peace and security are found in this Shepherd King. Not an Enforcer, with a sword to slaughter His enemies, but the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep. As God ever confounds the wisdom of the world by reversing things from the weak and lowly to confound the strong and mighty, so God did in the death of Jesus, the Good Shepherd King. No mere earthly peace that can be won by the sword of an enforcer, but He speaks peace, as the prophet Zechariah adds: 9:10 “I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.” The Word of Jesus is the weapon that brings about peace, because it slays the evil in men’s hearts, and turns them to God. His Truth is more powerful than any sword, as it brings the light of salvation to men’s hearts, and turns them from evil to good. He shall be their peace.

For those who cling to Jesus, our Shepherd-King, no sword can steal our peace or security. Our security is knowing that not even death can separate us from the love of Jesus Christ our Lord. We are guarded by His Shepherd staff;  the One who laid down His life for us, that we might rise to life forever with Him, where there is no enemy to destroy or thief to break in and steal. Amen! Come Lord Jesus!

Sermon Talking Points

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1. Read Micah 5:2-5a. What sort of skepticism attaches to the town of Bethlehem? What other examples of such skepticism are found for those of lowly status or lacking earthly might?  Judges 7; 1 Samuel 16-17; 2 Kings 5; Mark 6:1-6; John 1:45-46; 6:9. Why does God so often choose to work through and among such lowly and despised people and things? 1 Corinthians 1:27-31.
2. What does Micah 5:2 imply about Jesus, the Messiah’s, origin? Cf. John 8:58. What did Jesus directly state about His existence?
3. Micah 5:3 uses the image of a woman in labor to describe the duration of the time that Israel would be given up to the hand of their enemies. Compare to ch. 4:9-10 and surrounding verses. How does this metaphor of suffering translate into the actual birth of a child to deliver them from their enemies? Isaiah 7:14; 9:1-6.
4. Who are the “rest of his brothers” that the Messiah will return to Israel? Cf. Isaiah 49:6; 2:2; 25:6-7. John 10:16; Matthew 28:19-20.
5. Look at the passages that prophesy the Messiah as being a shepherd: Isaiah 40:11; Jeremiah 31:10; Ezekiel 34; cf. Zechariah 10:2 & ch. 11. By whose might would this Shepherd-King rule? Micah 5:4
6. What is the greatness and fame of Jesus? Why would the little town of Bethlehem and the small nation of Israel become world-renowned? How far does His kingdom extend? By what power does it spread?
7. How do we have peace and security in Jesus? How does He bring peace differently than an “enforcer” or “warrior”? What is the origin of His peace? Zechariah 9:10; Hebrews 4:12; Ephesians 2:11-16.