to walk, to make one's way…

Micah 5:2-4

² 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 origin is from of old, from ancient days.
³ Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel.
⁴ And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.  And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth.

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Most historians put Micah’s time and writing around the first third of the eight century B.C.  Ironically, most Christians don’t know much about Micah, but they are very familiar with the two times that Micah is quoted in the New Testament.

He’s quoted in Matthew 2:5-6 and in Matthew 10:35-36.  When you look at the two quotes, they seem to be from different ends of the spectrum.  One is speaking of the Christ and the salvation that He brings.  The other, speaks of a war that even divides the members of a family.

We all have a tendency to pick the piece of scripture that fits our needs and let it stand alone for our purpose.  Matthew found Micah important enough to quote twice when explaining the good news about our Lord.  My thought on this?  Maybe the whole book of Micah is worth reading this Christmas.  Oh, come on, it’s only seven chapters!

Often, Christ is personified in our minds as the meek, peace and love, hippie.  Some want to paint Jesus as a renegade warrior constantly looking towards battle.  Ironically, a prophet born several hundred years before Christ, who never met Him and had not read any of the gospels about Him, didn’t have a problem putting both of those images into one person.  Without conflicts or personal spins.  How did he do it?  Easy, he listened to God.