Explore the latest teachings on Through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee as he navigates the intricate connection between biblical prophecy and the realities of today’s world. With a focus on the book of Micah, discover how Bethlehem’s significance goes beyond Israel’s history, symbolizing hope and redemption. This episode also highlights testimonials from listeners worldwide who find their faith strengthened through the power of understanding scripture.
The foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in God.
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When Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem, it was in the exact time and space prophesied by Micah some 700 years before. Welcome to Through the Bible. I’m your host, Steve Schwartz. And our teacher, Dr. J. Vernon McGee, shares that Mary’s arrival in Bethlehem was actually more punctual and precise than any jet plane arrival could be. But before we get to this interesting story, let’s continue Dr. McGee’s introduction on prophecy in the United States.
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We’re afraid to walk on our streets at night. The White House has become an armed arsenal. And there is corruption. There is corruption everywhere today, in high places. It’s almost a joke about politics. And there’s bribery today that takes place. Judges are being bought. Politicians are being bought. The moral corruption of our nation has reached a new low at this time. May I say to you, men are beginning actually to live like animals, or they live in luxury. But they live in luxury like the animals of the woods, sleeping together. In Hollywood, they asked a movie star the other day, who are you sleeping with now? What a breakdown there has been. May I say to you, we’re going to bring down the judgment of God upon our nation. Pride today. Pride is seeped into the church. I suppose the greatest sin of the church is ignorance of the Word of God. And the second is pride. They’re so proud of themselves. And we’re told by psychology to think well of ourselves. However, I think some psychologists are getting away from that foolish approach. May I say to you, Paul didn’t go down that way. Paul says, I’m the chief of sinners. And he says, and I am what I am by the grace of God. What we need today is a humiliation that is certainly today not to be seen in the church. That’s the great sin of the ministry. Not sex, however, that’s running at a close second now, but pride today. May I say to you that there’s very little preaching today of repentance. The Lord Jesus Christ is not really being presented as a savior from sin. He can help you with your marriage. He can give you a great deal of moxie that makes you, you know, a much better person. May I say to you, friends, we need to be humbled by the mighty hand of our God.
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Well, those are wise words. As we pray, let’s ask God to use his word to humble us all. And let’s also remember to pray for those who are listening in our country and all over the world, like this listener in Indonesia. We are a group of listeners who gather in a home to listen to your programs. We are grateful that you teach us and instruct us. It is a joy to understand the scriptures. There are so many things that we didn’t know before. Recently, you helped us understand that we should not practice black magic. We inherited these things from our ancestors, but now we know that to honor God, we must refrain. There are not many Christians here. We want to glorify God, so our neighbors will come to love Him as well. Thank you for helping us become stronger in Christ. Well, with more than 200 million followers of Islam, Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim nation. A lot of people don’t realize that. But did you also know that the number of Christians there has been growing steadily, now to more than 30 million? Well, to encourage these brothers and sisters and help equip them to reach out to others, Through the Bible broadcasts in four major languages throughout Indonesia. Listeners in Sudan also need our prayers. Here’s what Rahal recently wrote. We thank the Lord for his love and your love for us here in Sudan. We are going through a lot of hardships here, and we need prayers. We are praying for real peace for Sudan, Jesus’ peace. Thank you for helping us in spreading the Lord’s word here through your program. I’ve been spreading the good news, although it is risky. But it is time for everyone to know Jesus, and your teaching is helping me answer many questions. I’m asked from people in different ethnicities and religions. Keep it up, please, and bear with me if I ask many questions, for I am myself still new in my faith. Bless your efforts in serving the Lord. With that, let’s pray. Heavenly Father, would you humble us through your word, and no matter where we live, Lord, help us to reflect your goodness and mercy to everyone that we meet. In Jesus’ name, amen. Amen. Now here’s Through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.
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Now, friends, we saw last time that in the fifth chapter of Micah, and that’s where we begin today, Micah 5, and I’m going to back up to tie up a few strings here. Verse 1, we said, actually belongs to chapter 4. And in the Hebrew text, that’s where it is, in chapter 4. But it reveals the condition of the line of David, At the time of the Babylonian captivity, they had gone into captivity and even Zedekiah, who was in the line, but he was an uncle actually of King Jehoiachin, who had been taken into captivity. And Zedekiah had his eyes put out and all of his sons were killed. Somebody might come to the conclusion then that this ends the line of David, but it didn’t end the line of David. And we found out in verse 2 that in Bethlehem, there would be born one in the line of David. And the New Testament, of course, picks up that story. Both Matthew and Luke tell the story of how Bethlehem was the place that Jesus, who was of the line and lineage of David, was born there. And I read again verse 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. Now, I want to come back and cover some ground that I did not cover because I did not have time last time. The place that Jesus is to be born is Bethlehem. And we look back at it as history, but it probably looked rather dark and dreary to those who went into Babylonian captivity. It’d be possible now for the Messiah to come. And so Micah, speaking into that picture, says, yes, he’ll be born in Bethlehem. That is the place. There’s nothing unusual about that. But the very fact that he was born there, the circumstances which led up to the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, they’re familiar to us. But very frankly, it’s remarkable that considering what had happened over the intervening years, from the time of the Babylonian captivity for 500 years, how could it be possible for one to be born? Well, if that little donkey on which Mary rode down from Nazareth to Bethlehem had stumbled and Mary had fallen, Jesus would probably have been born somewhere along the route. But I say this very carefully, that little donkey could not stumble. In fact, that was the safest mode of travel that’s imaginable because that little donkey could not stumble. And I hope that doesn’t lead anyone to take a fanatic viewpoint as, One man came to me. He knows my reluctance at flying by plane. I do it. I’ve flown actually equal to around the world several times, but I still am never comfortable. As I’ve said before, I’ve never put my full weight down on any plane yet. And this brother came to me and he said, now, I don’t want you to worry about this flight. I was making the London from here to London. He said, I don’t want you to worry because as I prayed and I want you to know that the Lord has shown me that the jet cannot fall. Well, may I say to you, I dismiss that because that’s pious nonsense. He didn’t know it, and I didn’t know it. And it didn’t fall, thank the Lord for that. But this is different. The Lord Jesus is going to be born in Bethlehem according to prophecy. And the donkey on which Mary was riding was safe. And he had to arrive on schedule. In fact, it was split second. And it was timed from eternity. It was in the fullness of time that God sent forth his son, born of a woman, made under the law, born under the law. It was more punctual and precise than any jet plane could possibly be today. And now, as we saw last time, Micah says two things. Out of thee shall he come forth, little humble Bethlehem. This is his birth. The incarnation has to do with his humanity. He clothed himself with humanity in Bethlehem. And it also says whose goings forth have been from of old, even from everlasting. And his existence was before his birth. And this is the pre-incarnation that we’re talking about, the deity of Christ. And we have already looked at the fact that a child is born. That is what Isaiah said. That’s Bethlehem. A son is given, and that’s from heaven. And the Lord Jesus said, I have come forth from the Father, and I’m coming to the world again. I leave the world, and I go to the Father. Now, notice the pre-incarnation, the deity of Christ, his goings forth from of old. He’s the everlasting Father. He told the Pharisees before Abraham was, I am. And he appeared many times in the Old Testament. And go back to the creation. All things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made. He’s the creator. For by him were all things made, created. Colossians 1, 16 says, And in the Garden of Eden, he was the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. He was the articulation of God. He was the word of God. He was the communication to man from God. And you find him in pursuit of man through the Old Testament. He appeared to Moses at the burning bush and said, I’ve come down to deliver you. He was a redeemer. And we have, therefore, the fact he was from everlasting to everlasting. But he came to Bethlehem, born in Bethlehem. As it is said of the little baby, where did you come from, baby dear? Out of the everywhere into the here. Well, this little baby came out of the everywhere, out of the everlasting into the here. But you can’t say that of your baby or mine. Now as to his humanity, his incarnation, out of thee shall he come forth. And when God came to Bethlehem, he got something he never had before. He got the name of Jesus, and he received humanity. He was Jehovah. That’s the name of deity. But he’s Jesus now, and he’s a savior. He came out of Bethlehem to save. You remember the angel said to the shepherds, there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior who’s Christ the Lord. Matthew says his name would be Emmanuel, God with us. But you’re going to call his name Jesus. And he can’t be Jesus unless he’s Emmanuel, which means God with us. He must be a man to take our place, to be our representative, to die a substitutionary death. And maybe this far away from Christmas, without all of the jingle bells and the ho, ho, ho of Santa Claus, we can get a viewpoint of him that we couldn’t get because we were so busy Christmas shopping. Jesus did not come to shop. He came to save. And there are those that are trying to take Christ out of Christmas. And it looks like the Lord’s been taking Christmas out of mankind today. The world didn’t do so well this past Christmas. My friend, may I say to you that this is a very wonderful verse here. And I have merely stayed on the surface of it. Now we begin to move out. And as we move out here, we come to an interval. that takes place between the time he was born or the time of his rejection until he returns as the king to rule on this earth. And now I’m reading verse 3. Therefore will he give them up until the time that she who travaileth hath brought forth. Then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. And I think this is a very marvelous verse. Someone says it still has reference to the birth of Christ. It’s true that it speaks here of the fact that Mary travailed, but you can’t read this passage without realizing that it’s also talking about the nation Israel, and it Speaks of the fact of their worldwide dispersion. And they were scattered by the judgment of God. But they are to be regathered. But before they’re regathered, the nation is to travail. And that travail is the great tribulation period that they’ll go through. Because we’re told here that she who travaileth hath brought forth. Then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. Verse 4, “…and he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God, and they shall abide, for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.” And he’s depicted here as the shepherd that feeds them. You see, he’s the shepherd to the church, and he’s also the shepherd to the nation Israel. And he is the one, by the way, that is to bring to this earth the thing that this world needs. And you talk about a Christmas gift when he comes to this earth. He’s going to bring a Christmas gift. And here from verse 4, we find that he’s the shepherd, the one that was rejected, the one that was born in Bethlehem, And he’s going to feed his flock. And I can’t think of anything that sets him forth so wonderfully as the fact that he’s the shepherd of his flock. Remember, he said that he had other sheep, which are not of this flock, but of this foal. And it speaks of his care, his protection, and of his salvation. Actually, he is the good shepherd that laid down his life for the sheep at Psalm 22. And he is the great shepherd that keeps his sheep today. That’s Psalm 23. And he’s the chief shepherd that’s coming someday. And his entire ministry is set forth under the office of a shepherd and God’s rulers. have all been men that were trained as shepherds, that is, the great ones. You take, for instance, Moses. Moses was a shepherd before God made him the shepherd of his people. David was a shepherd boy, became the great king that he was. Now, what is it that he’s going to bring as the great Christmas gift? Well, we’ll have to keep reading here. Verse 5, “…and this man shall be the peace.” when the Assyrian shall come into our land, and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds and eight principal men. Now, there are several things here I think that we should note. I think the Assyrian, as we found it in Isaiah, sets forth the enemy that’s coming in the last days. And I probably should use the plural instead of singular. The enemies that will come up against them is set forth by the Assyrian. He was so brutal, and he did take the northern kingdom into captivity. And it says he’ll raise up seven shepherds and eight principal men. I don’t care about going into mathematics, but it is quite interesting that You find as you get into the Word of God, the emphasis that is sometimes put on the numbers in Scripture, and especially these two numbers. You have, for instance, in the book of Proverbs, in verse 16 of chapter 6, it says, “…these six things doth the Lord hate, yea, seven are an abomination unto him.” And that is, I think, quite interesting how that is developed. And we find that also used again in Ecclesiastes. And it denotes actually the fullness of the fact that God is going to deliver them. in a full deliverance. I should turn to Ecclesiastes 11, 2, and look at that for a moment. He says, give a portion to seven and also to eight, for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth. In other words, that denotes God makes adequate provision. And I think that that is the thought that is suggested here. And when the enemy comes down, God will be ready to take care of his own. Now, will you notice verse 6? And they shall waste the land of Assyria with a sword and the land of Nimrod in the entrances of it. Thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian when he cometh into our land and when he treadeth within our borders. Now, this looks ahead, as you can see, to the one who is the shepherd, the one born in Bethlehem. He came before in humility. And we need to note that, that it said he humbled himself. We don’t do that. Sometimes other people humble us. But he humbled himself. And there was an emptying on the part of Christ. It says he emptied himself. What did he empty himself of? Not of his deity. That little baby reclining so helpless on the bosom of Mary could have spoken this universe out of existence. He’s God of very God. And he’s man of very man. But he limited himself. And that was a self-limitation. It’s that which he took willingly. We do not limit ourselves willingly. In fact, we extend ourselves. We are aggressive. We want to win. We want to be on top. Man is self-assertive. He’s self-centered. He’s selfish. But this one is the shepherd. He came to Bethlehem. That wasn’t a royal city. That wasn’t the capital. He’s born in a stable. That’s no place for a king to be born. He came, though, and humbled himself. And he came that way. And he’s the shepherd. He came as a shepherd to die for his sheep. Came as a shepherd today to watch over his sheep, and he’s coming again as the chief shepherd, but this time in might and power and glory. Now, we have here in verse 7, as you can see, he’s going to defend his own. He’s going to protect them. And now in verse 7, “…and the remnant of Jacob,” and I’ve already talked about the remnant before, “…and the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people like dew from the Lord, like the showers upon the grass that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of man.” You see that he’s going to also not only protect them, but going to be a blessing to them and bring strength to them. Listen at verse 8, “…and the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations in the midst of many people, like a lion among the beasts of the forest.” like a young lion among the flocks of sheep, who, if he go through, both treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver. Well, Israel is certainly not that today. Israel has been in a precarious position now for many years. But God says, I’m going to make you the head of the nations, not the tail of the nations. And that’s where they are today. They’re at the wrong end, by the way. And now verse 9, Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off. Now, he’s going here to give them victory over their enemies. Now, he says in verse 10, “…and it shall come to pass in that day.” Now, just in case some amillennialist dropped back and is applying this to something else, Michael wants you to know it’s in that day, and that day looks forward to the future. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots. I’ll cut off the cities of thy land and throw down all thy strongholds. Why will he do that? Well, because they won’t need these instruments of war anymore. He’s bringing peace. to this earth. Verse 12, And I’ll cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand, and thou shalt have no more soothsayers. I wish I had time to develop that, but we’ll be back to that later on. And he’s going to get rid of idolatry, false religion. Verse 13, Thy carved images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee, and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands. They’re going to worship now the living God. And I will pluck up thine idols out of the midst of thee, so will I destroy thy cities. And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the nations such as they have not heard. We’re definitely now talking about the great tribulation period that is coming. And this is the blessing that will come to this nation under the Messiah and then those others, and it’s only the remnant understand, and then the remnant out of the other nations of the world that turn to him. This is a very glorious chapter, as you’ve seen. Next time we begin with chapter 6. Until then, may God richly bless you, my beloved.
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If you love these studies in Micah and you want to share them with a friend, why don’t you direct them to download our app or listen online at ttb.org. Now as we go, I want to say a quick thank you to those who faithfully pray and those who financially invest in this fruitful ministry. It’s our sincere pleasure to partner with you as together we watch God work in millions of hearts all around the world. If you feel God is maybe nudging you to join this group that prays and financially provides to keep the Bible bus running in your neighborhood and all over the world, just call us. 1-800-65-BIBLE is the number. Or visit ttb.org and click on Donate in the app. Again, that’s 1-800-65-BIBLE. Or you can write to us at Box 7100, Pasadena, California, 91109. In Canada, Box 25325, London, Ontario, N6C 6B1. Dr. McGee has more great truths for us in Micah Chapter 6. I’m Steve Schwetz, praying that God’s great grace, mercy, and peace will be with you until we meet again.
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Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe. Sin had left the crimson stain, he washed it white as snow.
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