Digging Deeper Days
Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!
Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
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The Questions
1) Why is Bethlehem so important in this passage?
2) Why are there so many references to shepherds?
3) How would the Promised One be our “peace”?
Micah 5:1-6
1 Now, daughter who is under attack,
you slash yourself in grief;
a siege is set against us!
They are striking the judge of Israel
on the cheek with a rod.
2 Bethlehem Ephrathah,
you are small among the clans of Judah;
one will come from you
to be ruler over Israel for me.
His origin is from antiquity,
from ancient times.
3 Therefore, Israel will be abandoned until the time
when she who is in labor has given birth;
then the rest of the ruler’s brothers will return
to the people of Israel.
4 He will stand and shepherd them
in the strength of the Lord,
in the majestic name of the Lord his God.
They will live securely,
for then his greatness will extend
to the ends of the earth.
5 He will be their peace.
When Assyria invades our land,
when it marches against our fortresses,
we will raise against it seven shepherds,
even eight leaders of men.
6 They will shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword,
the land of Nimrod with a drawn blade.
So he will rescue us from Assyria
when it invades our land,
when it marches against our territory.
Original Intent
1) Why is Bethlehem so important in this passage?
Micah was delivering this prophecy from God 700 years before the birth of the Messiah. Bethlehem was a relatively small village with only about 300 people during a high season, yet we see that a great and glorious event would take place sometime in Bethlehem’s future. That is the thing with a prophecy; it could take place the next day, a week later, or even several hundred years from that point. Scripture reminds that a prophet is known if he is false or true by whether their prophecies come true. (Deuteronomy 18:22) The true prophets of Yahweh were known for prophesying correctly, because Yahweh, our God, is completely trustworthy. The reliability of God’s prophets even made King Herod Herod (of the New Testament) fearful because he felt his throne would certainly be threatened by a “new king”. When wise men, the Magi from the East, came to Herod as they were following the star, the King told them to go to Bethlehem, find the Messiah, and report back to him. (Matthew 2:8) It’s also interesting to note that though Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph later fled to Nazareth for his growing up years Matthew 2:20-23. So, some later dismissed Jesus as being the Messiah because they only knew Him as a Nazarene.
2) Why so many references to shepherds?
Throughout the Bible, shepherds were plentiful as tenders of livestock. Culturally, it was a major occupation, but it was also one of the lowliest, humble, and “least of these” types of occupations. It was also a role everyone understood and had a mental image of; everyone knew what a shepherd did, how they smelled, and how impoverished they were. Standing in contrast, we read in Luke that shepherds were highly esteemed by God to be the first to hear of the birth of the Messiah Luke 2:8-14. In this passage in Micah, verse 4 and verse 6 utilize “shepherd” as a verb giving the image of delivering, protecting, and actively bringing into the sheepfold. This depiction speaks of God as He actively shepherds His people.There are several names and character traits of God, one of which is Yahweh Roi, meaning the Lord is My Shepherd. (See King David’s imagery of Yahweh Roi in Psalm 23!) Micah’s prophecy to the Southern Kingdom of Israel, called Judah, told them that while their sins were many (corruption and evil had infiltrated every level of society), and they would have to face God’s judgement, God wouldn’t leave them. He would return as the Shepherd-King, deliver His people from their enemies, and gather them as a remnant, and bring them back into His sheepfold.
3) How would the Promised One be our “peace”?
The people of Micah’s time were constantly in bondage to sin and continually attacked by enemies. Conflict and invasion from enemy nations were regular, ongoing occurrences that God allowed because of their perpetual sin against Him. Israel continued to choose their sin over the Savior, running from Him, even as He held out life and hope and redemption to them. They did not deserve peace, nor did they deserve God’s kindness towards them, but they did longingly ache for the day when they would live in peace. While they knew that God, Jehovah, was Yahweh Shalom (God of Peace) they neither saw nor experienced that peace because of the rightly deserved consequences for their sin. The peace Micah talks about in verse 5, however, is more than simply having freedom from invading neighbors and the violence those enemies perpetrated. This peace means wholeness, completeness, and signifies an eternal peace that could come only from Yahweh Shalom as the God of all peace restores the brokenness existing between Himself and His people.
Everyday Application
1) Why is Bethlehem so important in this passage?
We often think of small towns and villages as places where nothing happens. We treat the towns themselves, and the people from them, as having little to no value or worth. Rarely are great or famous people from a small town. We generally hear most often about the great and glorious things that a large metropolis has to offer. Like so much of the Christmas story, God chose the small, insignificant, and seemingly unimportant to bear the greatness of the arrival of God the Son. Shepherds. Peasant parents. Aging prophets in the temple. A town that barely made the map. These are the delight of God to use as He showcases His glory! In the same way, He continues to do the same with the people of His kingdom. Paul writes, “For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.” (1 Corinthians 1:26-27) If you are feeling weak and insignificant, let the story of Bethlehem remind you that God loves to use the “least” to declare the greatest story ever told to a world desperate for His love!
2)Why are there so many references to shepherds?
Because the visual image was so clear for shepherds in Jesus’ time and culture, He used the role often to help make His point as He explained Who He was to His followers. Jesus even referred to Himself as the Good Shepherd John 10:11-18. In this reference He wasn’t just saying He was really great at tending physical sheep, He was saying He was THE shepherd who was coming in fulfillment of Micah’s prophecy. Since Jesus is the Good Shepherd, we are given free access to know and experience Him as our Shepherding Savior where He actively cares for us and provides for us. He lovingly shepherds us, as His people. We, as His sheep, can run to Him for protection, for nurturing, and deliverance. We also have the eternal, assured Hope of being included in His new sheepfold when He returns. Where do you see evidence of the Good Shepherd in your life? Celebrate and praise Him for shepherding you! If you are feeling bereft and alone, know that your Good Shepherd is here, simply draw near to Him! (James 4:8)
3) How would the Promised One be our “peace”?
We often think of “peace” as the cease fire after a military battle, that moment when striving between two people or parties has stopped. Or maybe it’s simply trading the chaos of the everyday hustle and bustle of life for a vacation to a cabin in the woods or a quiet beach. The peace Micah was prophesying about, however, is much deeper than outward circumstance, it’s about peace with God. This peace can only be found when we wholly submit our lives to Jesus by accepting what He did on our behalf by dying the death we deserve because of our sin. Israel’s sin separated them from God, and ours does too. There is only one way back to having peace with God, and that’s through the blood Jesus spilled on our behalf. When we admit to God that we are indeed sinners deserving eternal death apart from Him and His holiness, and ask Him to forgive us, and give us His own righteousness in place of our filthiness, Yahweh Shalom gives us His Peace! Jesus is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6) and He came to bring peace to us. The peace Jesus offers isn’t necessarily going to stop the outside chaos that often surrounds us, but it will anchor us amid that chaos. Cling to the unshakeable peace of Jesus!
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Digging Deeper is for Everyone!
1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!
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Why Dig Deeper?
Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.
In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!
Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.
Study Tools
We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.
Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!
Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))
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