House of Bread
Today's Advent Prophecy is the one that alerted Herod to the fact that the child the wise men from the East were visiting could pose a real threat. He had not taken Bethlehem seriously even though the bright star had settled above it. The prophecy clinched the issue. Fortunately Joseph had been warned in a dream before Herod acted on his fears in the most horrific way - the slaughter of the babies in Bethlehem.Bethlehem means "House of Bread." It is the city where Rachel was buried, where Ruth gleaned in Boaz's field and where David was anointed as King. It is also called the city of David and it is very appropriate that the Messiah who is the seed of David would be born here.
The story of Ruth is ironic because the story begins with a famine which forced Naomi and her family to leave Bethlehem. There was no bread in the house of bread. The birth of Jesus in Bethlehem is significant too: The house of bread would be the birthplace of the One who fed the 5000 with fish and bread, who called Himself the Bread of Life, and offered His body as the bread of the new covenant and the bread of heaven.
Jesus is the Lord of a kingdom that is not an earthly kingdom. Eugene Peterson calls it a subversive kingdom: Jesus was the King of a kingdom He described as the yeast that spreads throughout the whole batch of dough.
Naomi and her family left Bethlehem because there was no bread. Bread was the staple food they needed to survive. More than a 1000 years later came a king who would be the endless source of spiritual sustenance and provision. Our relationship with Christ is the bread we need.
The prophecy ends with the promise that He will be their shepherd and their peace.
| But you Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah Out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel. 3 Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labour gives birth and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites. 4 He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. 5 And he will be their peace. (Micah5:2-5) |
