Micah 5:2-5a NLT… But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf. [3] The people of Israel will be abandoned to their enemies until the woman in labor gives birth. Then at last his fellow countrymen will return from exile to their own land. [4] And he will stand to lead his flock with the LORD’s strength, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. Then his people will live there undisturbed, for he will be highly honored around the world. [5] And he will be the source of peace.
Joy – The Wait is Over (Pulpit Manuscript/Devotional)
Joy differs from happiness, in that happiness is dependent on the happenings. The implication is that happiness attempts to work its way from the outside in. However, joy is an inside job, working its way from the inside out. Joy positively affects our surroundings in an infectious way. Despite what is occurring around us, it cannot rob us of our internal joy or of our eternal joy. This joy that I have, the world didn’t give it and the world can’t take it away!
Bethlehem of Judea is in the southern kingdom (of Galilee was in the north, about 6 miles from Nazareth where Jesus grew up) (it’s the Bethlehem of our text that’s mentioned in Matthew 2 by the magi), and it is the birth place of king David, and now the prophet Micah predicts that the anointed one will be born there. Bethlehem means house of bread. The bread of life who is joy to the world, is born in the house of bread. For me, the connection is simple to make; the world is hungry for the living bread, so we must lift the savior up for them to see (I need an old hymn singer to know what I’m talking about there). Jesus Christ is who the prophet spoke of from the family of David, and it is him who is our promised ruler and shepherd.
We can’t culminate these reflections without talking about how our joy comes from God’s peace. Our God does not merely possess peace but God is the source of according to verse 5, meaning that God is peace. Since God is peace, how does humanity receive it. Fast forward with me to Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. The wait is over!
The first Christmas brought joy to the world, because of the advent of the Lord Jesus! Jesus made God’s peace available to us all to freely receive, and that’s why we kneel down before him, worship and adore him! That’s why we offer praise and adulation; because peace gives way to our joy.
Antonie E. Walker Ministries 