Micah - Chapter 8: Bethlehem

The promise of the coming Kingdom would be nothing without the arrival of the King Himself. This is pictured in terms of childbirth, which includes travail before deliverance. Micah 5 enlarges upon the birth of the Messiah in very specific terms. But before this prophecy, Micah 5:1 provides a transition from 4:13.

¹ Now muster yourselves in troops, daughter of troops; they have laid siege against us; with a rod they will smite the Judge of Israel on the cheek.

4:13 says to “arise and thresh” the opposing nations on the prophetic threshing floor. This does not necessarily speak of war and destruction, as many think. Recall that it is the work of the Holy Spirit to separate the wheat from the chaff. John speaks of Christ in Matt. 3:12, saying,

¹² His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

While this is certainly part of divine judgment, it is mostly God’s way of separating friends from enemies, as well as removing chaff from us as individuals. The point is that the work of the threshing floor is accomplished by the Holy Spirit. By removing chaff from us as individuals, we qualify as “wheat” that is gathered into his barn.

It is noteworthy that John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, would speak of God’s threshing floor and refer to the verse preceding the revelation of Christ’s birth in Bethlehem. John provides us with a certain level of interpretation and puts the prophecy in terms of the Holy Spirit rather than making it about physical warfare per se.

Bethlehem Ephrathah’s Calling

Micah 5:2 then tells us,

² But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago [qedem], from the days of eternity [olam, “obscurity, unknown origins”].”

Bethlehem means “house of bread.” Ephrathah means “fruitful.” This “little” town was to bear fruit in a special way, bringing forth the Messiah, the “ruler in Israel.” So Jesus was placed in a manger (Luke 2:12), as if to say that He was the Bread of Life to feed God’s sheep.

In Micah 5:2, each 49th letter beginning with the fourth yood spells “Yeshua.” Furthermore, if you look at every 48th letter, it spells “Mary” and “Joseph.” Thus, on the surface of the verse, it is apparent that the Messiah would come of the tribe of Judah and be born in Bethlehem. But by counting every 48 or 49 letters in what is known as Equidistant Letter Spacing, the same verse also spells out His name (Yeshua) and the names of his mother and father, Mary and Joseph.

The prophecy, then, is remarkably specific and defies all odds. It is not likely that Micah himself knew these details. He was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write the words in a specific way that would reveal the Messiah, His birthplace, and His parents. It is only recently that Equidistant Letter Spacing was discovered. In fact, if these details had been known at the time of His birth, the priests probably would have told King Herod (Matt. 2:6) when they quoted Micah 5:2. Hence, God obscured the names of Joseph and Mary for their own protection.

Furthermore, the Messiah’s “goings forth are from long ago.” He did not come into existence at the time of His birth in Bethlehem. This sets forth Christ’s pre-existence and His incarnation, if not His deity.

Reconciling Judah with Israel

Micah 5:3 says,

³ Therefore He will give them up until the time when she who is in labor has borne a child. Then the remainder of His brethren [i.e., Judah] will return to the sons of Israel.

God “will give them up until the time…” This is somewhat obscure, but it seems apparent that this is a prophecy about Judah as a whole, which had been separated from Israel since the death of Solomon. The implication is that the Messiah will unite the tribes once again. Micah does not tell us how this will occur, but other prophets confirm this reunification. Isaiah 58:12 says,

¹² Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins, You will raise up the age-old foundations; and You will be called the repairer of the breach [between Israel and Judah], the restorer of the streets in which to dwell.

Micah 5:4, 5 continues,

⁴ And He will arise and shepherd His flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord His God. And they will remain, because at that time He will be great to the ends of the earth. ⁵ This One will be our peace…

Christ is called “the good shepherd” (John 10:11) as well as “the great shepherd” (Heb. 13:20). Heb. 13:20, 21 tells us,

²⁰ Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, ²¹ equip you in every good thing to do His will working in us that which is pleasing in His sight…

The author of Hebrews was probably referring to Micah 5:4, 5, which sets forth Christ as the shepherd and the God of peace who reconciles adversaries. Micah says, “they will remain, because at that time He will be great,” i.e., well known “to the ends of the earth.” Micah does not tell us who “they” are, but this is explained in Heb. 13:21, where believers are being equipped “to do His will.” Most often, God works through His people to bring heaven to earth through the power of the double witness.

As we will see shortly, not only do we have a great Shepherd, but we are also being equipped to be shepherds as well.

Jonah and Nineveh as Prophetic Types

Nineveh speaks on two levels. First, as the “City of Fish” (nun is the Hebrew word for fish), they worshiped the fish god. The Wikipedia says,

The origin of the name Nineveh is obscure. Possibly it meant originally the seat of Ishtar, since Nina was one of the Babylonian names of that goddess. The ideogram means “house or place of fish,” and was perhaps due to popular etymology (comp. Aramaic “nuna,” denoting “fish”).

Jonah was swallowed up by the great fish, prophesying the fact that Israel would soon be swallowed up by the beast system—Fish City. In this way, Jonah represented the house of Israel and foretold the time of Israel’s dispersion among the nations. The resurrection of the lost tribes of Israel is something that Paul foresaw as well. In Rom. 11:15 he referred to this event as “life from the dead.” In verse 26 he says, “all Israel will be saved.”

This is a reference to the revealing of true Israel to the world on the third day—that is, the third millennium in which we now live. If we must date this from Christ’s death, rather than from His birth, then the third millennium will begin in 2033.

Jonah was a type of Christ in both His first and second coming. By this view, Jonah was Christ, and Nineveh was the earth, where Jesus was buried and from which He rose again. When Jonah received his first calling (1:2) to preach to Nineveh, he ended up in the belly of the whale and was later vomited out. This prophesied of Christ’s death and resurrection.

When Jonah was called the second time (3:1), he preached the Word boldly, and Nineveh turned to God. So also, the second coming of Christ is not designed to destroy the world, represented by Nineveh, but to preach repentance and see success.

The Church is the City of Fish

On still another level, we know that the Church is also the City of Fish, for the sign of the fish was applied to the Church from the earliest days of the Church. In this regard, Jonah is not only a type of Christ, but also a type of the overcomer company, which is swallowed up by the Church. When they emerge as in resurrection, the overcomers are called to preach the Word to the Church, because they cannot comprehend the difference between their left and right hand (judgment and mercy).

The Church needs to understand the love and compassion of God, not merely for the other nations, but also for “God's enemies.” God intends to save them, not destroy them. He intends to destroy His enemies by turning them into friends.

The question is this: Does this make us angry? Do we have a right to be angry at the love of God? Jonah’s patriotism got him into trouble, because he put the interests of Israel above the interests of God. He did not want the whale of Assyria to “swallow up” the house of Israel. Hosea 8:8, 9 says,

⁸ Israel is swallowed up; they are now among the nations like a vessel in which no one delights. ⁹ For they have gone up to Assyria….

In effect, Jonah tried to protect Israel from divine judgment. He became angry with God when he understood that God had spared Nineveh in order to bring judgment upon his nation.

So likewise, the Church, carrying the sign of the fish, finds it difficult to accept divine judgment upon itself. As with Israel of old, most of the people do not comprehend the mind of God, nor do they believe they are doing anything wrong.

The Gospel of the Stars

In the Bible, God takes credit for naming the stars and constellations. Psalm 147:4 says,

⁴ He counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them.

Gen. 1:14 says, “let them be for signs and for seasons,” and Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens are telling of the glory of God.” The Gospel of the Stars was the original Bible given to mankind, as Moses said in Deut. 4:19. He told Israel not to worship the stars of heaven, “those which the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.” The injunction was against the misuse of the stars, not the message that they originally conveyed.

God had given all nations the truth written in the heavens, so they are, as Paul said, “without excuse.” The stars prophesied of the birth of Christ to a virgin (Virgo), foretold His death on the cross (Crux) as the Passover Lamb (Aries, the Ram).

The names of the stars prophesied of Christ’s dual nature as the Son of God and Son of Man (Centaurus), the crown that was his (Corona), and His fight with the serpent (Serpens) which appears to assault His heel. He is pictured as Orion, the coming Prince, in whose constellation is a bright star named Rigel, “the foot of him that crushes.” This is a reference to Gen. 3:15.

We see pictured His victory (Hydra), the cup of wrath poured out (Crater), and even the birds of prey sent to devour in Rev. 19:17, 18. Pegasus pictures His second coming on the White Horse (Rev. 19:11); Aquarius prophesies the outpouring of the Holy Spirit into the mouth of the fish (Pisces).

Finally, Andromeda pictures the captive woman, the Bride of Christ, in danger of being swallowed up by Cetus, the sea monster, which is a prophetic picture of Nineveh. Christ (Perseus) comes to save her and release her as Cassiopeia, the enthroned Bride. The coming one (Bootes) is finally pictured in strength and majesty as the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Leo).

God also placed two fish in the heavens called Pisces. They were bound together by a band. Zech. 11:7 pictures the two fish as “sticks” held together by “bands.” They are Israel and Judah, whose two sticks were eventually to be reunited under one Head, Jesus Christ (Ezekiel 37:19).

The two fish, Israel and Judah, were bound together as brethren and yet had been separated into two nations. One fish faced North, symbolically looking to heaven, while the other swam horizontally to represent their location and ministry on the earth.

The Church and the Overcomers

The distinction between the Church and the overcomers is pictured in the two sheepfolds, commonly known as the Big and Little Dipper (Ursa Major and Ursa Minor).

In a New Testament sense, the fish also represent the Church and the overcomers. As I explained in my book, Who is a Jew? the Church is Judah, because they consist of those who believe that Jesus Christ came to die on the cross and be raised from the dead. This was the mission of Christ in His first appearance when He was born from the tribe of Judah to be its King.

The other fish, who looks heavenward, depicts the overcomers who have faith in Christ’s second work as Joseph-Israel. This is the work of Sonship, for Gen. 49:22 says, “Joseph is a fruitful bough.” The Hebrew word for “bough” is ben, that is, “a son.”

Joseph received the birthright when Reuben was disqualified (1 Chron. 5:1, 2), even though Reuben’s name means “Behold, a son.”

He comes the second time to bring about the manifestation of the sons of God (Rom. 8:19), an event which all creation awaits. It is as if the whole city of Nineveh was awaiting the manifestation of Jonah in His resurrected state. To accomplish this, God has been training believers to be conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29), so that they do not become angry with God when they learn of the divine plan for Nineveh and the world.

Love never fails.