The Hope of Bethlehem - Part 1

This is Darren Kuhn with the Masculine Journey Podcast, where we search the ancient paths to find ways that God brings light into a dark world and helps set men free from the struggles that we all face on a day-to-day basis. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just a few seconds. Enjoy it.

Share it. But most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing the Truth Podcast Network. This is the Truth Network. Do you feel like you're on a religious treadmill? Do you feel like Christianity is just a system of rules and regulations?

I can do this, but I can't do that. Do you feel like your efforts to reach God, find God, and please God are futile? Do you feel like your faith is dead or alive? Today, Pastor Russ Andrews will walk us through Scripture to answer these questions. Join us on Finding Purpose, a local triangle ministry glorifying God by helping men find their purpose for living.

For more information and to connect with Russ Andrews and Finding Purpose, you can visit us online at findingpurpose.net or connect with us on Facebook. Now let's listen to Russ Andrews as he teaches us how to be a Christian without being religious. Good morning.

I'm really excited to be here this morning. I give the opportunity to teach and preach on Tuesday nights, but my favorite time to preach is on Sunday morning, so I'm thankful that Grant is willing to open up his pulpit and allow me to stand before you this morning. Grant and I were talking this morning before we came here in his office that, you know, we don't have perfect faith. We sometimes wonder, Lord, is Your Word really going to accomplish the purpose for what You intend? Are conversions going to take place?

Are people going to be drawn into a deeper relationship with You? And so we basically agreed with each other that we pray like the man in one of the Gospels who said, Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. But we do believe, Grant and I, in the Word of God.

It's inerrant. It's infallible, every word of it. And we believe that what Isaiah said that like the water that nourishes the ground, the Word of God goes forth.

It does not return void, and it will accomplish the purpose for which He intends. And I believe He is going to fulfill that promise this morning to those of you who are here and to those who are listening via live stream. And so I want to welcome all of you here this morning. And since Grant has already prayed such a wonderful prayer, I'm not going to open up in prayer again. And so I want to go ahead and dig into God's Word.

By the way, you're going to need to be Jack B. Nimble, Jack B. Quick this morning because we're going to go from Genesis to Revelation. So I hope you know your Bible.

But we're going to start in Micah chapter 5 verse 2, and I've entitled this, The Hope of Bethlehem. During the eighth century B.C., the nation of Israel was unfortunately a lot like our nation today, the United States of America. The culture was growing more and more immoral. The Israelites were consumed with materialism. In defiance of the Mosaic law, people were actually buying up large tracts of land, and this was creating serious problems for the poor as the disparity between the haves and the have-nots widened. Does that sound like us today? Bribery, injustice, lying and murder were commonplace. Israel was being torn apart by internal strife and political dissension.

Sound familiar? These were very egregious sins. However, the most egregious offense before God was the sin of idolatry. Idolatry is the worship of something or someone other than God.

Paul gives us a very clear picture of idolatry in Romans chapter 1 verses 21 through 24, where he writes, For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools in exchange of the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore, and it says this three times in Romans chapter 1, God gave them over. First, He gave them over to natural sin.

This is all in Romans 1. Then He gave them over to unnatural sin. And then He gave them over to a depraved mind. And that's a mind that can no longer distinguish between right and wrong, between good and evil.

And that's an indictment against our country right now, because our nation has a depraved mind. Now, what exactly is Paul saying here? He's accusing us of exchanging the Creator for the Creator. He's accusing us of turning away from devotion to God and becoming devoted to things that God has given us. So let me ask you a personal question.

Does this describe you? As we approach Christmas, who or what do you find yourself really worshiping? Warren Wiersbe, who's a great commentator, writes, When the nation of Israel was divided after Solomon's death, the northern kingdom established its own religious system in competition with the Mosaic worship in the temple at Jerusalem. But the people of Judah, the southern kingdom, had secretly begun to worship the false gods of Canaan, and their hearts were not true to Jehovah, even when they stood in the temple courts and offered their sacrifices. The prophet Isaiah described their worship like this in Isaiah chapter 29 verse 13. He says, These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. Does not this describe the modern church in America? So many friends of ours and people that we know go to church every Sunday, and they recite the Apostles' Creed habitually, and they say the Lord's Prayer. And then they leave thinking that they're okay because the minister has told them we're all God's children. But listen, they're not okay if they don't know the Lord. And I'm afraid that their hearts are still very far from God, even though they say all the right words.

You can say the right words. You can sit in a church and be further from God than the thief on the cross. Because Israel had abandoned God, God was about to abandon them. God was preparing to send an army from the north, the Assyrians, to destroy them. Thus, the nation of Israel was facing a very dark period in their history.

However, this is what I want you to note. It's important to know that God never fully abandons His people, and He never leaves Himself without a witness. And so it was at this time that God raised up a prophet from a tiny little village. That prophet's name was Micah. Micah's name means one who is like Jehovah. Wouldn't you like for your name to mean that, and actually it really means it based on your character, that you're one like Jehovah? May that be said about each one of us by the time we come to our deathbed.

Maybe that could even be put on your tombstone. He lived, she lived as one who was like God. Micah was a contemporary of the prophet Isaiah, so I think it's great that this is sandwiched in here in between Isaiah 9 that Grant preached about last week and that he'll preach about next week. Micah came from a very humble family that lived in a little town called Morashath, which is about 25 miles southwest of Jerusalem. God raised up Micah for one purpose, to take a message of warning and judgment to the nation of Israel. But listen, but in the midst of this message of judgment was a ray of hope. In fact, it was a brilliant ray of hope. And this brilliant ray of hope is found for us in Micah chapter 5 in this one verse, verse 2. But you, O Bethlehem, Apaphrotha, 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. And so with these words, Micah offered hope to a nation that was facing total destruction.

In fact, in 722 B.C. during Micah's lifetime, the Assyrian army invaded and totally annihilated Israel. And then most of the Israelites were deported back to Assyria where they died.

Can you imagine that? This dark period in Israel's history really gives us a picture of the world ever since the fall back in the garden when mankind sinned against God. See, darkness describes a world without hope. And there's so many people right now all around the world, but I'm going to focus on our nation, our country today, who are living without hope and they're living in a world of darkness.

That's why suicide is so rampant. And so Micah spoke these words over 2,700 years ago, and yet here we are reading them this morning. Why are these words so important? What was in Micah's message that brought such hope? What was he trying to convey to his countrymen? Micah wanted the Israelites to know that God would not permanently forsake them. He wanted them to know that God had a plan for their future. He wanted them to know that even in the midst of darkness, there's hope.

Do you have this hope this morning? About 100 years after Micah died, God raised up another prophet. In fact, he's my favorite prophet in the Old Testament. Anybody want to guess his name, Jim? Jeremiah.

I knew Jim would know. I love Jeremiah. In fact, when I was in seminary, gosh, I can't remember his name, great Old Testament professor, I took an elective from him on the book of Jeremiah.

And all we did was come in there every day and basically just preached through Jeremiah, and it was incredible. But anyway, God raised up Jeremiah to speak a very similar message of warning and judgment to the southern kingdom, Judah. And just like Micah's message, Jeremiah's message contained a word of hope from a few verses that are some of my favorite verses in the Bible. It's actually hard for me to find verses that aren't my favorite verses, in case you listen to me long enough.

Jeremiah 29, 11 through 14, who's familiar with that? For you know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you.

Plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you do what? When you seek me with all your heart. He says, I will be found by you, declares the Lord.

All anyone has to do is seek the Lord with all their heart, and God promises that you will find Him. Do you need a message of hope this morning? Who needs some hope?

Just raise your hand, nothing wrong. We all need hope, don't we? I need hope.

I have to be honest with you. I've had sort of a heaviness over my heart, and I keep thinking, what is it? And I think it's the same heaviness that Micah and Jeremiah felt. They loved their country. I love my country, but I'm sad for what is happening and what I believe is going to happen to our nation. I want you to know this. God has offered hope to the world, and this is what Christmas is all about.

Hope. A message of hope has been God's message to the world from the very beginning. God knew, even before He created the world, that we would rebel against Him and go our own way. And listen, if we're all honest, we have to all admit that at one time or another, every one of us has rebelled against God and gone our own way. I know I have. I've rebelled against Him so much it's ridiculous.

Just ask my wife. But Crecy knows more than anyone else that I'm a picture of the grace of God. That's why I can stand before you here this morning and preach. You see, sin really is nothing more than living your life independent of God. You just go your own way. You say, God, I want to do things my way.

I don't really need you. And a lot of people just don't even give God any attention. They don't really care. That's what sin is. And if not for the plan of God to save us, we would all be hopelessly lost, but God did have a plan. Michael chapter 5 verse 2 is one of the verses in the Bible that lifts the veil so that we can see God's plan for the world.

Michael chapter 5 verse 2, I believe, is one of the greatest prophecies to be found in the Old Testament. And in this one verse, we discover what God's plan is. So what was God's plan? And how was God going to unfold His plan? Well, on this side of the cross and with the completed Word of God, we know that before time began, God planned to send a Savior into the world to save us, to rescue us. First Peter chapter 1 verses 18 through 20 says, For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers. But with the precious blood of Christ, a Lamb without blemish or defect, He was chosen when? Before the creation of the world. But He has been revealed to us in these last times for your sake, for my sake.

And we can see this looking backwards. But how about all of the men and women who lived in the days of the Old Testament? And how were they to know what God's plan was to save them? And how about the people who actually lived during the time of Christ? How were they to know who this Savior would be?

Well, they had the Word of God too, just like we do. All throughout the Bible beginning with Genesis, God foretold of the coming of the Messiah, the anointed one, the Savior of the world. But here's the big question was, back then, who would this Savior be? How would people recognize Him? And when would He appear? All throughout the Old Testament, the prophets tried to figure out who this Savior was. And when He was coming. 1 Peter 1, verses 10 and 11 says, concerning this salvation, the prophets who spoke of the grace that was to come to you searched intently.

What were they doing? They were reading the Old Testament intently, searching. Do you search the Bible like that, intently? That's the book that can save you. It's the book that can guide you through life. And yet so often we'd rather look at People magazine than read the Bible. Concerning this salvation, the prophets who spoke of the grace that was to come to you searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. Now listen, right there you see two strands, don't you? Sufferings and glories.

Hold on to that thought. At the beginning of the first century, the people believed the time was near. There was an expectancy in the air. In Luke chapter 2, I think Grant mentioned this last week, we learned about a man by the name of Simeon who was essentially waiting in the temple for the Messiah to appear.

Why? Because God had told him, Simeon you're not going to die until your eyes have be beheld your Savior, the Messiah, the promised one. Luke 3, verse 15 says, the people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John the Baptist might possibly be the Christ. But we know he wasn't and John told them clearly, I'm not the one.

There's one coming after me whose sandals I'm not worthy to untie. He is the one and He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit, whereas I only baptize with the water. You know this expectancy also explains why the magi came from the east in search of the Messiah.

There was an expectancy and an excitement in the air. In Matthew chapter 2, verse 2, the magi asked, where's the one who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him. Have you all heard about that star that's going to appear?

Listen, I didn't put it up there. And I don't know whether it has anything to do with this, but I'm going to be looking. See, I have a very good feeling these magi were familiar with Micah's prophecy. And that might help explain why they just happened to be in Bethlehem. Not only they had followed His star from the east, but they were following God's Word, and it led them to where? Bethlehem. So, what clues did Micah provide that would help identify the Messiah?

Well, let me offer three very clear clues here in this text. First, Micah said the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem Apathath, that's a hard word to pronounce. I was pronouncing it, um, Ephrathah, but then you pronounce it Apathra. So, I'm gonna go with you, okay? Luke, look at chapter, I look at Micah 5, verse 2 again, but you, O Bethlehem, now I'm getting confused how to pronounce it, Apathathah, that's hard for a guy from Bethlehem to pronounce, okay?

I'm struggling with it. My mouth just, you know, but you, O Bethlehem, Apathathah, whatever it is how you pronounce it, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth from me one who is to be rule in Israel. Did you know, you know why Apathathah is there? Did you know that during the time of Micah there were two Bethlehems, one in the, uh, in Zebulun, near the Sea of Galilee?

We went there, didn't we? Sandin van, beautiful place, and the other one in Judah, which was just five miles from Jerusalem. Micah is so specific that he specifies that it was the latter Bethlehem, the one whose ancient name was Ephrath, Ephrath, y'all try to pronounce it. Genesis 35, verse 19 and 20 says, so Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath, that is Bethlehem. Over her tomb Jacob set up a pillar, and to this day that pillar marks Rachel's tomb. And why did God choose this Bethlehem as the birthplace for the Savior of the world?

Let me give you three reasons. I'll come back to the other two clues in a minute, but let me now give you three reasons why He chose Bethlehem. First, Bethlehem means house of bread.

Think about it. Bread sustains us and gives us life, and that is what the Messiah would offer to the world, abundant life, even eternal life. In John chapter 6, verses 47 through 51, Jesus said, I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. Did y'all know I'm from Bethel? I think that's why I like bread so much. That just dawned on me while I was up here. That was not in my plan to share that with you.

Only my family would understand that. See, God chose Bethlehem, the house of bread, to give us the bread of life. Secondly, Bethlehem was chosen because of a history that links it to the Messiah. Again, going back to Rachel, Jacob's wife died in Bethlehem while giving birth to Benjamin. And we know that the Messiah came from the line of Jacob and Rachel. Ruth and Naomi came to Bethlehem.

It was there in Bethlehem that Boaz fell in love with Ruth and married her. Ruth gave birth to Obed, who was the father of Jesse, who was the father of King David. So David, King David became Bethlehem's greatest son until another son was born. And it was through David's family line that the promised Messiah would be born. Samuel tells us in 2 Samuel chapter 7 verses 12 and 13, the Lord spoke to King David and said, when your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring, your seed from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. That is the seed's kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of His kingdom forever.

See, if you're in Christ, that's the kingdom to which you belong. This promised Messiah would come from the line of David who was born in Bethlehem. Third, Bethlehem was chosen. This is probably my favorite reason because she was small and insignificant. Don't you find it interesting that God chose the little town of Bethlehem as the birthplace of the Messiah rather than a great city like Jerusalem or Athens?

Why? Because God delights in using insignificant places and insignificant people to accomplish His will. First Corinthians chapter 1 verses 27 through 29 says, But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things and the things that are not to nullify the things that are so that no one may boast before Him. I cannot ever read that verse without mentioning David Selhammer, who was Dr. John Selhammer, who was my favorite professor at Southeastern. It was his son who was born down syndrome, and David saved a place for me in chapel every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

In fact, there was one time I have to share this, some of you have heard it before. I was sitting in the library, and David worked in the library. His job was to go around and pick up trash and line up the books so that they would look good. And David and I became like just best buddies. And so after chapel, I had Dr. Selhammer's Hebrew exam. And so I was going to skip chapel, which you weren't really supposed to do, but it wasn't required, and go into a dorm somewhere and study. And so, but David came and he said, do you want me to save a seat? No, he said, I'm gonna save you a seat in chapel today. And he wasn't that easy to understand, but I knew what he was saying. I said, well David, I thought he'd understand this. I've got your father's Hebrew exam after chapel, and I need to go study that.

He looked at me like I'd stabbed him in the back. He said, don't you want to hear what God has to say today? Where do you think I was at chapel? I was in there, and you know what? God used David to get me that chapel service because the minister said something that I wrote down in my journal.

I don't remember exactly what it was, but God spoke to me because David, who is insignificant in the eyes of the world, in fact the world would say he should have been aborted, and yet his greatest desire when he grew up was to be a preacher. And for his birthdays and Christmas, all he wanted was commentaries and books about the Bible. What do you want for Christmas? I had to throw that in there. What do I want for Christmas?

So let me ask you something. How do you see yourself? Do you see yourself as wise and significant, or do you see yourself as lowly and perhaps not so wise?

Be careful how you see yourself because God has a habit of choosing the lowly and the insignificant. So the first clue that Micah gave concerning the coming Messiah was this. He would be born in the little town of Bethlehem, and guess what?

He was. Here's the second clue. The Messiah would be the ruler of a kingdom. Verse 2 says, out of you will come from me one who will be ruler over Israel. This clue is the one that caused nearly everyone at the time of Christ to miss Him. The Jews were expecting what? A conquering king. They were expecting someone like Moses who would deliver them from the Roman occupation that they were under.

But see, here lies the problem. You cannot take one verse or one truth from God's Word and focus on it to the exclusion of the rest of the Bible. All throughout the Old Testament, there were two strands of prophecies that describe this coming Messiah. One depicted Him as a ruling king, and the other depicted Him as a suffering servant. What the religious leaders of Jesus' time were guilty of was focusing on one strand of truth to the exclusion of the other.

Make sure you never make that mistake. Yes, this coming Messiah would be a king. And yes, He would rule over His kingdom.

But at the same time, He would be a suffering servant. When I was in Israel, this friend of mine, Mike Waldrop, had a client from Israel, and he brought him to dinner one night, and I got to meet him. And he was very open and transparent, and so I just said, you know, can I ask you, you know, have you read the, do you read the Bible? Of course, he's talking about the, oh, he said yes. I said, well, have you ever really read Isaiah 53? He said, I said, would you, next time you read that, see if you don't see Jesus in that, because Jews who don't believe in Christ have a very hard time explaining Isaiah chapter 53, which goes like this. Isaiah, looking into the future, at the coming Messiah said, but He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray. Each of us has turned to His own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Yet it was the Lord's will to crush Him and cause Him to suffer.

Y'all hear all that? So He was numbered with the transgressors for our sake. The promised Messiah would rule over kingdom, but not before He suffered as a lowly servant. When Jesus stood before Pilate, Pilate asked Him if He was the King of the Jews, to which Jesus replied, My kingdom is not of this world.

If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews, but now my kingdom is from another place. You are king then, said Pilate. And Jesus answered, You are right in saying, I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to who?

Jesus. Being a Christian is not about being religious, but about having a dynamic, alive relationship with Jesus Christ. You've been listening to Finding Purpose with Pastor Russ Andrews, a local triangle ministry glorifying God by helping men find their purpose for living. You can discover more about finding your purpose in life by checking out the resources at findingpurpose.net or connect to Finding Purpose on Facebook. Pastor Russ would also like to extend a special invitation for you to join him and over 300 other local triangle men to study God's Word together every Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in downtown Raleigh. Find out more at findingpurpose.net. This is the Truth Network.