Advent 2014 Part 2 Series

Last week we took a look at the 2nd chapter of Daniel and saw that:

- the “stone cut out from the mountain without human hands” was a prophecy about the virgin birth of Jesus

- the “kingdom that will never be destroyed or conquered, that will crush all these kingdoms into nothingness, and it will stand forever” is the kingdom of God which was ushered in by Jesus Himself, and,

- the “stone cut out from the mountain without human hands” will “become a mountain that one day covers the entire earth!”

Aren’t you glad to know Jesus?

Aren’t you glad that God didn’t spend thousands of years trying to figure out what He was going to do about our sin problem but He knew from the very beginning?

Aren’t you glad that we are part of the kingdom of God that will never be destroyed or conquered and will stand forever?

Let’s take a look at another Old Testament prophecy. This one is a prophecy given to Micah by the Lord.

Micah 5:2 (ISV)

“As for you, Bethlehem of Ephrathah, even though you remain least among the clans of Judah, nevertheless, the One who rules in Israel for Me will emerge from you. His existence has been from antiquity, even from eternity.”

So, the One who will rule Israel will emerge from Bethlehem in the future but His existence has been from eternity past!

Now, this is a truth that caused the religious leaders at the time of Christ to want to kill Him. They even attempted to do so!

In John chapter 8 Jesus is having an argument with the Jewish leaders. Lets take a look at John 8:56-59 - Jesus is speaking …

“’Your father Abraham rejoiced as he looked forward to My coming. He saw it and was glad.’ The people said, ‘You aren’t even fifty years old. How can You say You have seen Abraham?’

“Jesus answered, ‘I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I am!’ At that point they picked up stones to throw at Him. But Jesus was hidden from them and left the Temple.”

Exodus 3:13-14 (NKJV)

“Then Moses said to God, ‘See, I am going to the people of Israel, and I will say to them, “The God of your fathers has sent me to you.” Now they might say to me, “What is His name?” What should I say to them?’

“And God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.’”

In the Jewish educational system boys between the ages of 5 and 10 would be required to memorize what we know as the first five books of the Bible. MEMORIZE!!

So, when Jesus said, “Before Abraham was even born, I AM”

There was an immediate connection made to the quote from Exodus!

And the Word of the Lord through the prophet Micah confirms this when he writes in Micah 5:2b (HCSB)

“His (the Messiah’s) origin is from antiquity, from eternity.”

So, we know that the existence of Jesus the Messiah predates Bethlehem, Micah, Moses, Abraham and even the world itself.

For those of us who use the internet, you know that often websites that use security will ask you to put in the answer to some questions that only you would know the answer and one of the most common questions is, “In what town were you born?”

In the same way that a security question on the internet identifies you as who you really claim to be so the Lord, through Micah, was answering the security question of where the Messiah would be born.

If Jesus was not born in Bethlehem we could immediately dismiss Him as an imposter. But, He is not! He WAS born in Bethlehem through an incredible sequence of events and timing!

That is awesome! But, what else is in this verse?

Micah 5:2 (ISV)

“As for you, Bethlehem of Ephrathah, even though you remain least among the clans of Judah, nevertheless, the One who rules in Israel for Me will emerge from you. His existence has been from antiquity, even from eternity.”

The name Bethlehem means “house of bread”.

Is that significant? It certainly was if Jesus was to be the Messiah!

Bread was THE main source of food for the common person at the time of Christ.

Food for the average person was as follows: bread (this was the most important food of all), olive oil (this took the place of butter), milk and cheese from the flocks, and fruits and vegetables from the orchards and gardens. On special occasions you might have meat.

Of course there was the occasional person who would wear clothing made from camel hair and eat locust and wild honey, but not the normal commoner.