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,
whose origins are from of old,
from ancient times.
Micah 5:2 NIV
From Bethlehem
Moments after baby Danny let out his first cries, his mother, Maxine Medford, saw fireworks popping in the sky through the hospital window. It was New Year’s Day, 1967 — four minutes after midnight — at the Royal Canadian Air Force base in Zweibrücken, Germany. After the birth, the nurses called around to all the other Canadian bases and embassies in Europe to ask if any other babies had arrived earlier that night. Before long, a nurse returned to Maxine’s bedside with exciting news: as far as they could tell, Danny was the first Canadian citizen to be born in Canada’s Centennial year.
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Bethlehem was a sleepy village at the time of Jesus’ birth. It had a population of a few hundred, a thousand at best. It is not far from Jerusalem and the shepherd’s field that once produced the sheep used for the Temple sacrifices still exists today. If it wasn’t that Jesus was born there, most people in the world would never have heard about this little village. The presence of Jesus makes everything different. The Jewish prophet knew this was to be so. In Micah 5:2 we read, “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, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” Long before the birth of Jesus, God had chosen Bethlehem as the place where the Messiah would come into the world. That’s what would put it on the map – the presence of Jesus. Jesus’ arrival changed all of history. His arrival in your life changes your eternity.
These have been words from the heart.
Bob Beasley