Micah the prophet lived approximately 700 years before Jesus was born. We have a book of his writings and prophecies preserved in our Old Testament today.
Micah 5:2 says:
You, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for Me [God] one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.
Here we have the “ruler of Israel” who would yet come (future tense). But He is said to be “from old, from ancient days” (in the past). So you have reference to an eternal figure (of sorts) who would be ruler over Israel.
Micah 5:2 shows that the passage is referring to the, “RULER OF ISRAEL, WHOSE GOINGS FORTH ARE FROM OLD, FROM EVERLASTING.”
In addition to Jesus’ genealogy proving his kingship over Israel, Matthew 27:37 shows Jesus to be labeled, “THE KING OF THE JEWS,” (Jesus being a king also fulfills the messianic prophecy of Psalm 2:6-9).
In regards to the Messiah having his, “GOINGS FORTH…FROM EVERLASTING,” Colossians 1:17 states that Jesus was, “BEFORE ALL THINGS.”
Thus, Micah 5:2 is talking about the Christ (which points, so far, to Jesus).
The first part of Micah 5:2 says that from, “BETHLEHEM EPHRATHAH,” the Messiah will come. The Jews of Jesus’ day likewise affirm Messiah would come from Bethlehem (Matt. 2:5; John 7:42).
So…what do we know about Bethlehem and was Jesus born there?
In speaking of Herod’s slaughter at Bethlehem, John Mcray comments on Bethlehem’s size by saying, “First, Bethlehem was probably no bigger than Nazareth, so how many babies of that age would there be in a village of five hundred or six hundred people? Not thousands, not hundreds, although certainly a few,” (as cited in Strobel’s, Case for Christ). Thus Bethelehem was not very large in Jesus’ day.
That said, Luke 2:4-7 (along with Matt. 2:1, 4) independently affirm that Jesus was indeed born in Bethlehem.
Thus, Jesus’ very birthplace (a town composed of only a few hundred people) was known 700 years before he was born!
Only God could have written such a book. Praise His name!
Brian
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