Advent - Prophesied Messiah

 

"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come forth for Me One to be ruler over Israel—One whose origins are of old, from the days of eternity." Micah 5:2
- Prophet Micah circa 700 BC

Aside from keeping meticulous records (as we have read in the previous message), the Jews of old had people who prophesied future events and they kept records of those as well.

One of those prophets was the lesser known Micah, who lived around 700 years before Jesus.

He foretold that out of Bethlehem, a tiny insignificant town, will come out the Messiah. One whose origins are from the days of old (from the ancient of days).

Longshot

Bethlehem was a little village where shepherds tend their flock. In fact, it is still a place where shepherds can be seen caring for their sheep to this day.

The small town of Bethlehem is just south of Jerusalem where the temple is located, a mere 5 miles away.

Back in Jesus time, it was the place where the sacrificial lambs were born and taken cared of until they can be brought to Jerusalem to be offered to the Lord at the temple.

It wasn't a coincidence that the angel appeared to shepherds in Bethlehem telling them that: 

"there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”

These shepherds are familiar with mangers and swaddling cloths as they use them all the time from taking care of livestock. They also would have used pieces of cloths to swaddle newborn lambs.

They would have also placed newborn sacrificial lambs in mangers, swaddled up so as to keep them calm and prevent them from panicking or trashing about, preventing blemishes and injuries that would exclude them as worthy to be offered at the temple.

So when the angel told them, those signs, they would know exactly what he meant.

Savior Born

When Jesus was born, there was no inn for Mary and Joseph to spend the night in. The only place that was available was where the animals stayed. So there would have been no place to put the baby down but a manger, the feeding trough where the animals would eat from. There would have been pieces of cloth, the same kind they would use to swaddle newborn lambs.

And indeed those signs were what the shepherds saw when they found the newborn Messiah, the One who will be the final and ultimate, first born (sinless and spotless) Lamb who will soon take away the sins of the world.

The Shepherd, Pilot Episode of The Chosen

Advent Series