The Hope of Bethlehem - Part 2

This is Hans Schile from the Finishing Well Podcast. On Finishing Well, we help you make godly choices about Medicare, long-term care, and your money. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just seconds. Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening and 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. I look at Michael 5 verse 2 again, but you, O Bethlehem, now I'm getting confused how to pronounce it. Apathratha. 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, Apathratha, whatever it is how you pronounce it, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth from the one who is to be rule in Israel. Did you know, you know why Apathratha is there? Did you know that during the time of Michael, there were two Bethlehems? One in the, uh, in Zebulun, near the Sea of Galilee. We went there, didn't we?

Sandy and 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 you 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 to despise 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, even though some of you have heard it before. I was sitting in chapel. 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, you know, look good. And David and I became like just best buddies. And so I had, 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 going to 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 the 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, 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.

Did 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're right in saying I'm 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. Pilate heard what Jesus said that day, but he did not understand, because the man without the Spirit does not understand the things of the Spirit, because they have foolishness to Him. So let me ask you, do you understand? Did you know that Jesus is King? In fact, He is the King, and He rules over His kingdom, which will last forever. And the only way, listen, that you can be on the path to His kingdom, or actually enter His kingdom, is by faith.

You must believe in Him. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, it was the inauguration of His kingdom. When He comes back in the future, He will complete the fulfillment of His kingdom. And so His kingdom is here, but His kingdom is also coming.

It is both now, and it will be. And this is why we pray, Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done where?

On earth as it is in heaven. And listen, nothing about politics or education or religion can solve the problems we face as a nation. In fact, Jesus is the only one who can give us peace. He is the only one who can give us hope, and we will not have real peace in this world until He returns.

And that is the hope by which we live. From Micah, we learned that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. From Micah, we learned that the Messiah would rule over a kingdom. And from Micah, we learned that the Messiah would have ancient origins. Look at verse 2 again, 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. Now I want to take you now back all the way to Genesis.

Genesis 3 15 is the first mention of the gospel in the Bible. It is a very interesting verse. At this point in the narrative, Satan has tempted both Adam and Eve. And of course, you know, they both gave in and they ate from the forbidden tree. And so the Lord has now appeared on the scene.

And He's there for one reason, to pronounce judgment. And I want you to listen to what the Lord said to the serpent. And by the way, I believe this is the pre-incarnate Christ. He says to the servant, I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He, that is the Messiah, will bruise you on the head, and you, the serpent, will bruise him on the hill.

I know a lot of you are familiar with this, but it doesn't hurt to reveal it. What did God mean by this judgment? And who is the he who would bruise the head of the serpent?

Well first, I want you to see this. In the midst of this judgment, there's another brilliant ray of hope. Though veiled from this side of the cross and with the completion of God's Word, we can clearly see that this verse is a reference to the Messiah and to the cross. The Messiah would come from the seed of the woman. Micah said, whose coming forth is from of old from ancient days. And so the seed of the woman can be traced through Scripture all the way to Bethlehem. This path through Scripture traces the lineage of the Messiah, and it's been recorded for us in both Matthew chapter 1 and Luke chapter 3.

Follow me. The seed of the woman passed from Adam and Eve through Seth, later through Noah, and still later through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And Jacob had how many sons?

Twelve. And one of those sons was named Judah. And it's right before Jacob's death, he gathered all twelve of his sons, one at a time to come and stand before him so that he could bless them. And then that blessing was prophecy. And I want you to hear what Jacob says, who by the way his name was changed to Israel, what he says to Judah when Judah comes in to stand before him. Judah must have been going, what are you talking about? You are a lion's cub, O Judah. You return from the prey, my son. Like a lion, he crouches and lies down like a lioness.

Who dares to rouse him? The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes, to whom it belongs. And the obedience of the nations is his.

Now, catch this. He will tether will tether his donkey to a vine, his coat to the choice's branch. He will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes. See, Jacob was prophesying that the Messiah would come from the land of Judah. This descendant would be a king like a lion who would take up his royal scepter. However, in humility, he would come riding on a donkey and he would shed his blood by offering his life.

Do you see all that? That's all in Genesis 3 verse 15. In all of these prophecies, God was trying to show to the people back then who the Messiah would be so that we would not miss Him. And so the seed of the woman passed through Judah, and then centuries later through David, and then after even more centuries through Joseph's wife, Mary. Biologically speaking, we know that the seed always passes through who? The man or the woman?

The man. So why does it say the seed of the woman? Well, this is my opinion because it points to the virgin birth. Isaiah 7 14 says, Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a son. The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son and will call him what? Immanuel. Y'all follow me? In Luke chapter...

I'm not finished. In Luke chapter 1, we learn that the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and said to her, Do not be afraid Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end. Can y'all imagine being in Mary's shoes?

How would this be? She asked the angel, Since I'm a virgin, and the angel answered, The Holy Spirit will come upon you. The power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God. Samuel prophesied that the Messiah would come from the line of David. Jesus did. Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah would be born of a virgin. Jesus was. Micah prophesied that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem Ephrathah. Jesus was. Micah also prophesied that the Messiah would have ancient origins. Jesus did. We have traced those origins all the way back to Genesis but in reality they go back much further than that.

In reality they go back to eternity past. So Micah was telling the world that the one who would be born in Bethlehem who would rule over Israel would be the eternal God who created the world. In John chapter 8 you may remember when Jesus was confronted by the religious leaders and he was accused of being demon possessed. You may remember what Jesus said. He said, My Father whom you claim as your God is the one who glorifies me though you do not know him. Isn't that interesting? He said that to the religious leaders.

It's so true of today. Though you do not know him, I know him. Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of sin in my day. He saw it and was glad. This shocked them. They said, You're not 50 years old and you have seen Abraham?

And I'm sure they were thinking, I'm sure they were thinking, you were crazy. And he said, I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born I am. And we know that I am was the name that God told Moses to tell the Israelites is the one who is sending Moses to the Israelites into Pharaoh.

He said, I am has sent me to you. When Jesus said these words, I am, He was laying down the gauntlet. He was declaring Himself to be God.

And this is the reason why the religious leaders nailed Him to the cross. Paul writes in Colossians 1 verses 15 through 17, He, that is Jesus, is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities, all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things and in Him all things hold together.

Listen, this is like numero uno. As we approach Christmas, make sure you truly understand that Jesus is claiming to be God. He is God incarnate.

He is Emmanuel, God with us. If you want to know for sure that you're headed for heaven, you must both believe and acknowledge that Jesus is God and listen, then you must repent and follow Him as one of His disciples. That's what it means to be a Christian. The best thing to say is not I'm a Christian because everybody thinks that, you know, all Americans are Christians. Just say when someone says, are you a Christian? Well, I'm a follower of Jesus Christ.

That's what I am. 700 years before Christ was born, the nation of Israel faced a very dark period in her history. It was during that dark time that God raised up a man by the name of Micah to bring a message of hope.

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's to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old from ancient days. Two thousand years ago, Israel faced yet another dark time in our history. For over 400 years, there had been no word from God.

God seemed to be silent. The Jews were living under Roman occupation. There seemed to be no hope and yet they had the word of God then, just like we do, that promised that a savior was coming.

There was an expectancy in the air. People were hoping for God to send this promised Messiah and they were looking for Him. Two thousand years ago, on that first Christmas morning, God fulfilled His promise to Micah.

For in the little town of Bethlehem, a savior was born and His name was and is Jesus. Today, we live in a very dark period of history. At times, God seems to be silent. However, we too have His word and His word promises that one day Jesus is coming back and we as His children should live with the same expectancy that that time may be near. This is our hope. This is the hope to which we cling.

We should live with the same excitement that a young child has on the night before Christmas. Do y'all remember when you were about 10 and you were we go to bed on Christmas Eve? I remember one night when I still believed in you know who. I thought I'd been so bad that I was going to get a bag of switches and my mother had me in my bedroom on her knees saying, it's going to be okay. I said, I know, mom, I've been so bad.

You don't understand. Joan could probably vouch for that. Remember the excitement day? You were thinking about running into the den and seeing all those presents that had your name on it. I remember in Bethel, which is about an hour, 15 minutes east of here on Christmas morning, I would usually be the first one to wake up and I would run down the hall and I would wake up my two sisters, Joan and Catherine, and then we would run in and wake up mom and dad. They had told us the night before, don't you dare go in that living room.

Don't you dare or you will get some switches. And of course they had the doors to the living room shut tight except there's a little bitty crack in that door and the three of us would be like this. You know, one head on top of the other, trying to look in there and see if we could see anything. But we would be standing outside those doors waiting for mom and dad to get up, wash their faces and then go into the living room and get the movie camera ready. We were standing there with great hope and expectancy. We stood behind those doors like the horses stand behind the gates of the Kentucky Derby waiting for the gun to sound. And when they said we could come in, we burst through that door. I was like George Costanza when they yield fire in that apartment with all those children having a birthday party and all those ladies. And he was knocking down, old ladies were flying and children were flying.

I was knocking down Joan and Catherine busting through that door. This is the way we should live every day, like secretariat behind the gate waiting for the sound of the trumpet. We should live with great hope and with great expectancy because Jesus, listen, He is coming back.

And so we need to quit looking down and look up. He has promised to take us to heaven. He's given us His word and He's faithful to keep His promises.

In John chapter 14 verses 1 through 4, Jesus said, Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God. Trust also in Me. In My Father's house are many rooms.

If it were not so, I would have told you. I'm going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am.

You know the way to the place where I'm going? Jesus is coming back and perhaps soon. And we who are in Christ have been given the gift of eternal life and we've been given the promise of heaven.

This is our hope. Do you have this hope this morning? You see, as we approach Christmas, we should be living with great expectancy for the Lord is coming back.

Are you ready for this? If the trumpet were to sound today, are you prepared to meet Him? I heard Billy Graham preaching on the radio this morning. I don't remember what year it was, but he was preaching somewhere like Chicago and he was talking about being in the kingdom in Seattle. And he said that he gave the invitation. There were two boys sitting out there and he was trying to get, he was, you know, sharing the gospel hoping that people would say yes to Christ.

Just say yes to Christ. And these boys were talking to each other, you think we should go forward? And one said yes and one said no. They talked a little bit more than they both said yes and went forward. A few weeks later Billy Graham said those two boys were on a plane and the plane crashed and they died. He said I'll see them again one day because they said yes to Christ.

Have you said yes? If you don't know today that that you are truly saved, here's all you have to do. Confess your sins.

You can but you can do it right now. Just confess your sins. But then you have to repent. That means you turn away from them and listen, the Lord will help you to turn away from them if you lean on Him. And then you must place your trust in your heart. Believe in your heart in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation. And then listen, you commit to follow Him the rest of your life and guess what? He'll help you with that because He who began a good work in us will be faithful to complete it.

I'm almost done. But I have to close with my two favorite verses in Micah and that God has used these in my own life to give me hope. Micah chapter 7 verses 18 and 19 says, Who is a God like you who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us.

You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. Do you have this hope this morning? I have this hope. You know why? Because I placed my trust in Jesus when I was young.

I've been following Him on a crooked path ever since. But my family can tell you this, for the last 40 plus years I have been looking forward to the second coming of Jesus. And whenever I'm driving I'm always looking at the clouds, particularly on a cloudy day when the sun is behind the cloud and the rays are coming down, I'm thinking, gosh is today the day?

Is that cloud going to part? Am I going to hear the trumpet today? I'll wait for that day with the same excitement I had on Christmas Eve in the little town of Bethel. For unto us a Savior has been born. His name is Jesus. And here are His last words in the Bible. Revelation 22 says, He who testifies to these things says, Yes, I am coming soon.

Amen. Come, Lord 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.