The Lamb of God Series
Where Jesus was Born
Information taken from Ariel Ministries, Jewish history, and scriptures.
Micah 4:8 Monte T. Brown
December 14, 2014 Sunday Night
Stapp Zoe Baptist
Prelude
Little is said about the actual place where Jesus was born, instead we accept tradition over scriptures as to the place of his birth. This evening I would like for us to go to the Word of God and see what it says about this very topic.
Scripture
Micah 4:8
And you, O tower of the flock,
The stronghold of the daughter of Zion,
To you shall it come,
Even the former dominion shall come,
The kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem."
Prayer
Introduction
A little known prophecy about MIGDAL EDAR (mig-dawl ay-der) and the Lord's first coming can be found in small book of Micah.
Before we examine where Jesus was born let us first look at Jacob and his life and see how it leads up to the coming of Jesus.
In Genesis 35:10 Jacob's name is changed
And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel. Genesis 35:10
Verse 21. As they traveled onward, Jacob pitched his tent on the other side of Migdal Edar (mig-dawl ay-der).
Then Israel journeyed and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder. Genesis 35:21
Israel moved on again and put up his tent beyond Migdal Edar. (mig-dawl ay-der) Genesis 35:21 (GW)
Migdal Edar (mig-dawl ay-der) (flock-tower) was a watch-tower built for the protection of flocks against robbers or animals or any thing that could cause a blemish (2 Kings 18:8; 2 Chronicles 26:10; 27:4) on the other side of Bethlehem, but hardly within 1000 paces of the town, where it has been placed by tradition since the time of Jerome.
8 He smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.
2 Kings 18:8
10 Also he built towers in the desert, and digged many wells: for he had much cattle, both in the low country, and in the plains: husbandmen also, and vine dressers in the mountains, and in Carmel: for he loved husbandry. 2 Chronicles 26:10
Genesis 35:16-26
Rachel, who had provided the inspiration and the love Jacob needed, came to the end of her way.
She died in giving birth to her second son, whom she named Ben-oni, [son of my sorrow], but Jacob chose the name Benjamin, [son of my right hand].
It is usually concluded that Rachel was buried in the immediate vicinity of Bethlehem. The traditional site is still pointed out to visitors to that city.
So, (Jacob) Israel settled in the Bethlehem area, where he tended his sheep.
"He spread his tent beyond Migdal Eder, (mig-dawl ay-der)” Genesis 35:21
Bethlehem is where King David tended his father’s sheep.
But David occasionally went and returned from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. 1 Samuel 17:15
The very place where the King of Kings and Lord of lords would come as the Messiah, the Christ child would be born unto this world.
The Temple sacrifices where so great that the Temple had their own herd of sheep and special shepherds assigned to take care of the flock that would produce the lamb without blemish. The Temple’s dedication, sacrificed 120,000 sheep. 1 Kings 8:63
The grazing fields where the Temple shepherds tended these flocks are in the valley south and east of this town beneath the limestone cliff.
In the middle if this grazing area was a structure known as the MIGDAL EDER or the “Tower of the Flock.”
This tower was used by the priests who oversaw the shepherds.
Every lamb had been declared by the priests to be unblemished and they were separated to be sacrificed in the Temple in Jerusalem or eaten as Passover lambs. ...
By remaining in the MIGDAL EDER the priests were able to keep themselves from becoming ritually defiled.
Micah records the first and second coming of the Messiah and he reveals to us where he shall be born.
Micah 4:1-8
Now it shall come to pass in the latter days
That the mountain of the LORD'S house
Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And peoples shall flow to it.
2Many nations shall come and say,
"Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
He will teach us His ways,
And we shall walk in His paths."
For out of Zion the law shall go forth,
And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
3He shall judge between many peoples,
And rebuke strong nations afar off;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore.
4But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree,
And no one shall make them afraid;
For the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.
5For all people walk each in the name of his god,
But we will walk in the name of the LORD our God
Forever and ever.
6"In that day," says the LORD,
"I will assemble the lame,
I will gather the outcast
And those whom I have afflicted;
7I will make the lame a remnant,
And the outcast a strong nation;
So the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion
From now on, even forever.
8And you, O tower of the flock,
The stronghold of the daughter of Zion,
To you shall it come,
Even the former dominion shall come,
The kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem."
It was here in Bethlehem that history speaks of a child named Jesus.
Luke 2:8
8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. KJV
Jewish tradition says that the announcement of the birth of the Messiah would take place at Migdal Edar (mig-dawl ay-der) on the highway leading into Jerusalem.
Migdal Edar, (mig-dawl ay-der) the tower of the flocks, shepherds would stand on top of the tower looking over there flock like the one in Bethlehem.
The oldest tradition, based upon Genesis 35:16-20; 48:7, points to a place one mile north of present day Bethlehem and 4 miles from Jerusalem.
We do not know what the bounds of ancient Bethlehem were when Christ was born there, but we know the area called Bethlehem was larger than it is today.
The references to present day Migdal Edar (mig-dawl ay-der) are in reference to the Bethlehem of biblical times, which was, certainly was greater.
Genesis 35:19 and 48:7 both state that Rachael was buried at "Ephrath, which is Bethlehem."
Ephrath or Ephrathah was the ancient name for the area that later was called Bethlehem.
According to Genesis 35:19, after Jacob buried Rachael he "moved his flocks beyond the tower of Edar" or "Migdal Edar." (mig-dawl ay-der)
This watchtower from ancient times was used by the shepherds for protection from their enemies and wild beasts.
It was the place ewes were brought to give birth to the lambs. In this sheltered building/cave the priests would bring in the ewes which were about to lamb for protection.
These special lambs came from a unique flock, which were designated for sacrifice at the temple in Jerusalem.
Thus, with the establishment of Temple worship in Jerusalem, the fields outside of Bethlehem became the place where a special group of shepherds raised the lambs that were sacrificed in the Temple.
Being themselves under special rabbinical care, they would strictly maintain a ceremonially clean stable for a birthing place.
The Tower of the Flock was used for birthing ewes, and the surround fields were where these shepherds grazed their flocks.
These shepherds customarily kept their flocks outdoors twenty-four hours a day every day of the year, but brought the ewes in to deliver their lambs where they could be carefully cared for.
It was to this place that Joseph took Mary.
It was in this special stable at “Migdal Edar” (mig-dawl ay-der) that Christ was born! How do we know?
The Micah 4:8 tells us so!
Luke 2:8-18 records that there were shepherds in the fields keeping watch over their sheep by night.
Who then were these shepherds?
Without question, these were shepherds who resided near Bethlehem
They were none other but the shepherds from “Migdal Edar” (mig-dawl ay-der) who were well aware that the Targum hinted and many of the rabbis taught that Messiah might well be announced from “Migdal Edar” (mig-dawl ay-der) at Bethlehem.
The angels only told the shepherds that they would find the Babe wrapped in "swaddling cloths and lying in a manger."
You see it was customary that new born be wrapped in swaddling clothes, which gave them a since of security.
There was no need for the angels to give these shepherds directions to the birthplace because they all ready knew.
These were the men who raised sacrificial lambs that were sacrificed in the Temple.
When they believed that they had the perfect lamb for sacrifice they would take it to the tower of the flock where the lamb gave birth and the new lamb was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger to keep it from having any blemishes.
When the angelic announcement came, they knew exactly where to go, as Luke 2 indicates, for the sign of a manger could only mean their manger at the tower of the flock!
You cannot explain the meaning or direction of the sign they were given or their response unless you have the right manger and the right shepherds!
Typically, “Migdal Edar” (mig-dawl ay-der), (the tower of the flock) at Bethlehem is the perfect place for Christ to be born.
He was born in the very birthplace where tens of thousands of lambs, which had been sacrificed to prefigure Him.
God promised it, pictured it and performed it at “Migdal Edar” (mig-dawl ay-der).
It all fits together, for that is the place the place where sacrificial lambs were born!
Jesus was not born behind an inn, in a smelly stable where the donkeys of travelers and other animals were kept.
The inn keeper according to Jewish laws found in Leviticus declared that Mary was unclean, because she was getting ready for birth and an unclean women was not welcome in a stranger’s home.
He was born in Bethlehem, at the birthing place of the sacrificial lambs that were offered in the Temple in Jerusalem, which Micah 4:8 calls the "tower of the flock."
John the Baptist in John 1:29 proclaimed of Jesus, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."
Jesus is presented in the Bible as being “in type” as a sacrificial lamb. It was not by chance but by choice, that Christ identified His death with the time of the observance of the Passover.
Peter spoke of our redemption as wrought by the "precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Peter 1:19); and Paul told us that "Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us" (1 Corinthians 5:7). Even the first fulfilled type by which Christ is to be revealed in Heaven is as the Lamb (Revelation 5:6-13)
God’s word tells us that Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, of Judah in the city of David at a place called the “tower of the flock, “
It is not important that we can go today to the exact spot where He was born.
And even if we could would that help us spiritually?
For a time I tried to imagine what it looked like during Bible times, but it proved to be a futile effort.
The significance of His birth is that in God’s time Jesus came exactly as God promised and that as sure as His past promises have been kept, so will His promises for the future. By the way, that was the promise in Micah 4:8. I rejoice and thank God for His sure promises.
Galatians 4:4-5 “ But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.”
Micah 4:8 (KJV)
8 And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.
Micah prophecies that the daughter of Jerusalem referring to the city’s inhabitants would be restored by the Messiah coming to reign from Zion.
This is the Messiah coming to be born in the Tower of the Flock in Bethlehem, the city of bread, the home place of King David.
