June 3

JESUS WILL BE BORN IN BETHLEHEM

(Old Testament Prophecy - Micah 5:2)

“But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village in Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel will come from you, one whose origins are from the distant past.”

(Fulfilled in Jesus - Matthew 2:4-6)

“He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law. ‘Where did the prophets say the Messiah would be born?’ He asked them. ‘In Bethlehem,” they said, ‘for this is what the prophet wrote’: ‘O Bethlehem of Judah, you are not just a lowly village in Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’”

Thought:

Bethlehem, the birthplace of King David, would not have surprised Micah’s listeners as the place where the Ruler would be born; but centuries later when the prophecy is fulfilled, Bethlehem is only a community of several dozen families. God fulfilled His promise that Bethlehem would be the birthplace of the shepherd of His people.

Prayer:

Oh Father, thank You for Your Word and for revealing long before it happened that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. My faith is strengthened through this revelation. Encourage my heart today because You know the end from the beginning, and I trust You with every detail of my life. Amen.