Celebrate With The Prophets Series

“CELEBRATE WITH THE PROPHETS” Micah 5:2

FBCF – 12/2/23

Jon Daniels

INTRO – A lot of people have a lot of reasons to celebrate these days:

- Just celebrated T’giving

- TCA Rebels won state football championship for 6th time.

- OM fans celebrating their Egg Bowl victory.

- Tate Reeves supporters celebrating his election to a 2nd term as our governor.

- As a church, we can celebrate that we are going to end the year having baptized nearly 100 people.

So, what does it mean to celebrate? It means to honor, praise, proclaim, bless, commend, rejoice, revere, revel, party, have a ball, live it up! And of all people in the world who have reason to do all those things, we Christians should celebrate the strongest, the loudest, the longest, the greatest! Kool & the Gang ain’t got nothing on us! We need to celebrate!

Begin series today: “Come Celebrate Jesus!”

- Today, we are going to “Celebrate w/ the Prophets”

- Next week, “Celebrate w/ Joseph & Mary”

- The next week, “Celebrate w/ the Shepherds & Angels”

- Christmas Eve: “Celebrate w/ the Church” (Lord’s Supper)

- Last Sunday of the year is the last day of the year,12/31. We began the year on Sunday, Jan.1 w/ Genesis 1:1. End the year, on Revelation 22:20-21 - “Come, Lord Jesus!”

PRAY

EXPLANATION

I love how the story of Jesus is woven throughout the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. This whole book is HIS story.

- The deliverance of God’s children out of captivity is a picture of the salvation that came through Him.

- The OT sacrifices all point toward the ultimate “once-for-all” sacrifice of Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

- Many of the Psalms foreshadow the coming of the Good Shepherd, the Lord & King, the Son of God, the Messiah who would come for all people.

- Isaiah 53 graphically describes Jesus as the Suffering Servant.

- Many of the prophets not only talk about His first advent into the world, but also foretell His Second Coming at the end of time. John MacArthur: “Of the forty-six Old Testament prophets, less than ten speak of His first coming. Thirty-six speak of His second coming.” (https://withallwisdom.org/2021/11/10/the-second-coming-of-christ/)

Look at these that point us toward the first coming of Jesus, our reason for celebrating Christmas:

- Genesis 3:15 – “I will put enmity between you & the woman, & between your offspring & her offspring; he shall bruise your head, & you shall bruise his heel.”

- Genesis 22:17-18 – “I will surely bless you, & I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven & as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, & in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”

- Numbers 24:17 – “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, & a scepter shall rise out of Israel…”

- Isaiah 7:14 – “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive & bear a son, & shall call his name Immanuel.”

- Isaiah 9:6-7 – “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given;

& the government shall be upon his shoulder, & his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government & of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David & over his kingdom, to establish it & to uphold it with justice & with righteousness from this time forth & forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”

- Jeremiah 31:15 – “Thus says the Lord: ‘A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation & bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.’” (Herod killing baby boys under 2)

- Hosea 11:1 – “When Israel was a child, I loved him, & out of Egypt I called my son.”

And then there’s Micah’s prophecy, written 700-735 yrs before Christ came – 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 coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.” (“…only a small village among all the people of Judah…” – NLT)

APPLICATION – The Savior from a small town wants to do big things in our lives.

So, what’s the big deal about such a little place? Micah’s prophecy tells us 3 things. His prophecy: