The Birth of Jesus Christ: Born in Bethlehem

Five hundred years before the birth of the Messiah, prophet Micah had prophesied the place of His birth. Probably only few people realised the Messiah would be born in a place called Bethlehem. Though the city of Bethlehem was a very small city, the Lord had chosen it to be the place of birth of the King of kings and Lord of lords, the Messiah. Truly this is “another instance of the perfect planning of God is seen in the way the place of our Lord’s Birth, as well as its time, are pinpointed in prophecy. How precise He is in His arrangements! He never leaves anything to chance.” The priests and scribes who studied the Scriptures must have known what the Scriptures said about the birth of the Messiah. Nevertheless the New Testament writers tell us that in the time of the birth of Jesus, there was none that knew about His birth. One may ask, what was the reason for the priests and the scribes neglecting the city of Bethlehem as a possible place for the birth of the Messiah? The answer probably is because in their minds the Messiah would come from Jerusalem and not Bethlehem, the small city.

When the priests and scribes failed to believe that Bethlehem was the place of birth of the Messiah, they actually failed to know that the city of David was Bethlehem. They did not know that David was not originally from the city of Jerusalem but from Bethlehem, the smallest city in Judea. Nevertheless, the Lord had kept His promise. Prophet Micah on this matter had recorded for us precisely that He would be born in the Bethlehem Ephratah. It was necessary for this name to be written in this way in order to distinguish it from the Bethlehem which was in Zebulon. The Lord had told us what would happen hundreds of years before hand. This city of Bethlehem had also been called the city of David. As Calvin said, "There is indeed a reason, according to the perception of the flesh, why the faithful should despond; for whence does their confidence arise, except from the kingdom of David? And from what place is David to arise? Even from Bethlehem; for Bethlehem has been called the city of David; and yet it is an obscure and a small town, and can hardly be considered a common province. Since it is so, the minds of the faithful may be depressed; but this smallness shall be no hindrance to the Lord, that he should not bring forth from thence a new king."

The writers of the gospels of Luke and Matthew clearly declared that Bethlehem was the city of David. Bethlehem was not the place where Joseph and Mary were living but it was because of the census conducted in Judea that every family must go back to their own city. Thus Joseph and Mary went back to Bethlehem because they were of the house and lineage of David (Luke 2:4). It was during this time that the new King, who is called Jesus, was born in Bethlehem. Thus, the believers in the Old Testament time, knew and believed what had been written in the Scriptures about the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. They were looking forward for the coming of Messiah, the Saviour of the world.

The life of the Lord Jesus Christ could be seen in the Old Testament through the prophecy given to the chosen people of God. New Testament believers in our generation look back at all the events related to the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and look forward for the events leading to the Second Coming of the Messiah. In conclusion, the Old Testament believers did not only know the promise of the first coming of Christ and His lineage and position but were also able to know the manner and the place of the birth of Jesus Christ.