“He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” 2 Samuel 7:13
God has been faithful to His people from the beginning. He promised the Jewish patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that He would create a people for Himself, provide them their own land, and use them to bless the world (Genesis 12:1-3; 26:3-4; 28:13-15). Not only did God fulfill these promises but He gave His people king David. The importance of Bethlehem grew for God’s people with the birth of David, who was born there (1 Samuel16:1). As a youth, he composed many of his psalms while in the fields and meadows around Bethlehem, watching over his father’s sheep. These fields would later find the heavenly host singing praises to God (Luke 2:8-15).
It was in Bethlehem that the prophet Samuel anointed David to be king (1 Samuel 16:4-13). This was God’s way of making good on His pledge to watch over His people; He was sending them a man after His own heart (13:14; Acts 13:22). Not only did God place David on his throne but He promised him that “Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever” (2 Samuel 7:16). There would always be a “son of David” ruling Israel. The designation of a king as the “anointed one” became the foundation for the importance of the term Messiah (from the Hebrew mashiah). The Messiah was God’s chosen one to protect and rule over a free Israel. This title took on significance and urgency in the time of Jesus since Israel had been without a Jewish king for over six hundred years and was presently under the rule of Rome.
Matthew is clear to point out that the Messiah is the Son of David (Matthew 22.42). Furthermore, he emphasized Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem as proof that God fulfills His promise to save Israel when in 2:6 he quotes Micah 5:2:
“But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people, Israel.”
Christians understood that the Messiah (or the Christ) was to be born in Bethlehem, the “city of David.” As God had acted in Bethlehem a thousand years earlier when David was born and later anointed king, so He had proven faithful with the birth of another king whose first crib was a manger.
God proves faithful in lives of His people today even when situations are difficult or end up a different way than we hoped. Perhaps this is where some of us find ourselves as we read this. Are we looking for a great miracle only to miss His presence and plan in the ordinary blessings of life? When the wisemen (Magi) came to Israel seeking the newborn king of the Jews, they went to Jerusalem instead of Bethlehem (Matthew 2:1-8). Had they not ended up in Bethlehem (2:9-14), they would have missed the Son of David sent to save His people from their sins (1:21).
by Dr. Rich Menninger
Prayer
May the mention of Bethlehem remind us that “The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.” Amen.