God's Christmas Plan Included a Decision Before Reaching Bethlehem

According to Genesis, Jacob’s wife Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin near Bethlehem. Thus, the area is associated with sorrow. Generations later, Bethlehem is the place of a special barley harvest where Boaz, a descendant of Jacob’s son Judah, fell in love with Ruth. 

Their grandson Jesse also made Bethlehem home, and in that same place the prophet Samuel anointed the youngest son of Jesse – David – as king. 

 

Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld: "Ruth in Boaz's Field,"/Photo: Wikipedia

In the Book of Micah, the prophet predicted that another King would one day come from Bethlehem:

“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 of old, from everlasting”  (Micah 5:2).

Only one Person could fulfill this prophecy: Jesus, the Seed of a Woman promised in the Garden of Eden. The land of sorrow, the land of a specific harvest time, and the land where a young shepherd was anointed king, became the birthplace of Jesus the Messiah, as Micah foretold.

This phrase in Micah’s prophecy, “Whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting,” strikes lovely notes. The words underscore God’s intentional movements of prophetic destiny. God isn’t a man who lies, and He isn’t someone who fails to deliver. He completes His promises. This is no clearer than when we trace how God prophesied the arrival of His precious Seed over and over. Should not the reliable character of God inspire us to follow Him with our whole heart?

In the first chapter of the Book of Ruth, the story is told that after Naomi’s husband and sons died, she decided to return to her homeland in Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, because “the LORD had visited his people and given them food” (1:6). 

Naomi was en route with her Moabite daughter-in-laws Orpah and Ruth when she urged them to return to Moab and go on with their lives. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law and went back, but Ruth refused. Ruth clung to Naomi and said:

“For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge” (Ruth 1:16, ESV).

For Ruth, Naomi represented an unknown future. Ruth was transitioning into a major life change, which would include being part of God’s awesome Christmas plan. While she embraced her mother-in-law, God was behind the scenes, preparing a specific field where she would glean. The field would be owned by Boaz, the man she would one day marry. From their union would come Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of King David, the ancestor of Jesus, the King of all Kings forever. 

Next: God’s promise that Jesus would be born of a virgin and be called Immanuel