The Littlest Town.

Our thoughts this week are all centered round the Nativity. And although the festival of Christmas has been commercialised and embellished beyond all recognition there are still certain bits of the story that remain constant.

One such reference is to the town of Bethlehem. It would have been a small sleepy town where the Bible tells us that the shepherds kept watch over their flocks of sheep.

But I decided to do a bit more reading on the place. And there is another side to Bethlehem’s story. A pre-history, if you will. Bethlehem. Wow, what a place. So steeped in biblical history.

In one book that I enjoy reading (Sketches of Jewish Social Life by Alfred Edersheim) the writer mentions an area called  Migdal Eder. It translates into The Tower Of The Flock and it suggests that the shepherds who watched over their flocks by night were sitting in watchtowers. Luke ch2 v8 tells us that the shepherds were abiding the in the fields. But a quick look onto the internet maps and we can see that where Bethlehem is located as a very hilly area. So it would have made sense that the shepherds were in some sort of towers to allow them to see further over the fields.

Also, some people believe that these were priestly shepherds who were watching over sheep and lambs that would be used in levitical sacrifices by the priests.

But this sleepy town of Bethlehem has been a very important place over the centuries of God’s plans. In ancient O.T. times it was known as Elphrath. In Genesis we read of the account of Jacob and Rachel’s journey across Canaan. In the Book of Genesis we read that Rachel died in childbirth and was buried at Bethlehem…

Genesis ch48 (7)And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when yet there was but a little way to come unto Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath; the same is Bethlehem.

After building a memorial pillar to Rachel Jacob journeyed to a place called Eder. This is the first mention of Migdal-Eder in Scripture. It was also here that God changed Jacob’s name to Israel

The next reference to Bethlehem will be found in the book of Ruth. As I have shared in a previous blog Ruth was a very important figure in the lineage of Christ, her being the daughter-in-law of Rahab and also the great grandmother of King David. It was in this area that Ruth gleaned in the fields for Naomi and where she met Boaz. (See my blog titled “Big Doors Swing On Wee Hinges”).

Ruth ch4 (11)And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem:

A few generations later we find that the prophet Samuel has journeyed to Bethlehem. 1st Samuel 16 tells us that while there he met Jesse and his sons and God had commanded Samuel to anoint the next King if Israel from the sons of Jesse…

1st Samuel 16 (1)Now the LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the  Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons." …..

(4)So Samuel did what the LORD said, and went to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, "Do you come peaceably?" (5)And he said, "Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice." Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons, and invited them to the sacrifice.

Our next mention is not of Bethlehem itself but of a valley that is 10 miles to the east of the town. The Valley of Elah. It was here that David fought and killed Goliath….

1st Samuel 17: (1)Now the Philistines gathered their armies together to battle, and were gathered at Sochoh, which  belongs to Judah; they encamped between Sochoh and Azekah, in Ephes Dammim. (2)And  Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and they encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in battle array against the Philistines.

 The locations mentioned in that passage are all surrounding the Valley and within a few hours walk from Bethlehem.

There are several more recordings of events around Bethlehem through the Books of Samuel, The Books of the Chronicles and in Jeremiah. But the next part of Bethlehem’s amazing history is mentioned in the Book of Micah. It will announce the next major event in God’s plan…

Micah ch5 (2)But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

It would be a few more centuries before this event would take place. Then in 63BC, The Roman Empire invaded Israel!!

This was to bring all of the prophecies into a new light. No longer did the Prophets, Priests and Kings rule Israel. And a massacre would have been brought only for the intervention of the family of one man. Herod.

You see, it’s a little known fact that Herod was of Jewish ancestry. He was an Edomite who were descended from Esau. (Source:- www.britannica.com/biography/Herod-king-of-Judaea)

And it was to Bethlehem where Joseph and Mary, who were of the lineage of Jacob, were to go to a small town that was governed by Herod - who was of the lineage of Esau.

Luke ch2 (4)Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,…

Oh how Biblical history has come full circle.

However, while Joseph and Mary were together at the Inn something else was happening outside the town - close to Migdal Eder.

Luke ch2 (8)Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night....

(13)And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and  saying, (14)"Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!" (15)So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, "Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us."

And so, the story of Bethlehem stops there. There is no more records of Jesus or his disciples ever going back to Bethlehem again. The little town has gone quiet again.

 Over the years I have sat quietly in churches and looked around me at the other people who join in our services. We are all like that little town of Bethlehem in some ways. We each sit there quietly worshipping and praising God, but we each have our histories. We have all had our battles. I think of someone whose child took their own life. I look at someone who is nursing the hurts and pains of a broken marriage. I look at someone else who sits and laments his terrorist offences and the hurts they caused. And we all quietly sit in God’s presence and worship Him.

So, we are all like that little quiet town in Israel. We all have our place in God’s plan. But, more importantly – He has a plan for us all. Amen.

O little town of Bethlehem. How still we see Thee lie.
Above Thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light.
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in Thee tonight.

 
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