Advent Day 1 – O’ Little Town
O’ Little Town
Micah 5:2
Ryan B.
When you read the Bible, it does not take long for humanity to make a mess of things. By the third chapter of Genesis, our first parents had turned their backs to God, wanting to do things their way. The remainder of Scripture, up to the last chapter of the last book of Revelation, is the unfolding of God’s plan to restore humanity back to the One who created them through the coming of Christ.
There are many places in the Old Testament that point ahead to the coming of Jesus Christ. One of them is by the prophet Micah. Although not as well-known as other Old Testament books, Micah utters one of the most explicitly detailed and recognized prophecies concerning Christ centuries before it happens. Specifically, Jesus is to be born in “little” Bethlehem; it is one of hundreds of prophecies that will come to pass throughout the lifetime of Jesus.
During this advent season, I reflect on the wonder of God’s Word to us in the Bible. The Bible is unlike any other religious text. It is where the supernatural, spiritual realm of God – the true reality – contacts our physical world. Bethlehem is as real a place now as it was then. In its Gospel setting, it was a backwater, insignificant village unworthy of notice. That the Savior of the world was to be born in such a place is crazy enough, but also being born to a couple on the bottom rung of the social ladder in Israel. That is about as humbling as it gets. It shows that while our God is all-powerful and infinite, He takes delight in displays of unexpected humility.
This speaks to many things about our world’s values, such as money, power, beauty, popularity, Instagram followers – the list is endless! The incarnate Christ possessed none of that. He had neither nobility nor pedigree when he came into the world, in a backwater village called Bethlehem, which was “too little to be among the clans of Judah,” as foretold by Micah.
The circumstances of His birth teach us an important lesson: that God loves everyone, even those the world labels “unimpressive.” He does not show partiality or favoritism like the world does because he is the one who gives everything to everyone. Everything is from him and will return to him, no matter how great or “little” they are.
Drawing by Asher, 4th grade.