The Christian needs to walk in peace so no matter what happens they will bear witness to a watching world.
Henry Blackaby
In the late 8th c. B.C. a prophet named Micah wrote a small book that includes a great messianic prophecy. One of the charms of this little book is the beautiful poetic style of the prophet:
But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are little among the thousands of Judah,
yet out of you shall come forth to Me
the One to be Ruler in Israel,
whose goings forth are from old,
from everlasting.
Eight hundred years before the birth of Christ the specific village of His birth was foretold. Tiny Bethlehem, just south of Jerusalem, was known primarily as the birthplace of David, and where Jacob’s beloved Rachel died hundreds of years earlier. But its minor status was about to change. It would be the birthplace of Messiah. And a scene of slaughter.
Sharp Focus of Truth
I try to remember that Christ’s advent is more than star and stable, manger and shepherds and animals. It is also a story of rejection and exhaustion, of the messiness of birth in dirt and darkness.
And later a story of massacre and the horrified screams of young mothers just like Mary.
To the Ends of the Earth
And yet look at Him in the following verses:
He shall stand and feed His flock
in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the Name of the Lord His God;
And they shall abide,
For now He shall be great
to the ends of the earth;
and this One shall be peace.
Messiah: standing tall as the Good Shepherd, guiding His flock, watchful and ready to defend. His strength is displayed in the care of His people. He is clothed in majesty in the name of the Lord. He reveals the power of God.
- Siege, invasion, war? He is our peace.
- Sickness, loss, uncertainty? He remains our peace.
- Chaos, tragedy, the unthinkable? He stands in the majesty of the Name of the Lord as our peace.
It is something to ponder and receive deep into our spirits at the close of this difficult year. And it should be kept before the eyes and hearts of our children and grandchildren.
Take Him. He is peace.