Out of Bethlehem
In the manual: Come, Follow Me lesson 49, “He Delighteth in Mercy,” on Gospel Library
Start
Bethlehem was a small town a few miles south of Jerusalem. About seven hundred years before Jesus was born, Micah named it as the birthplace of Israel’s ruler (Micah 5:2).
Read Together
Bethlehem was King David’s hometown (1 Samuel 16:1). Micah called it “little among the thousands of Judah.”
2But thou, Beth-lehem 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.
4And 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.
What It Teaches
The ruler born in Bethlehem would be someone “whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2). A baby would be born in a small town, and he had lived long before his birth. Jesus Christ is Jehovah, the God who gave Israel the law, born as a child (3 Nephi 15:5).
When wise men came to Jerusalem looking for the newborn King of the Jews, King Herod asked the chief priests where the Christ would be born. They answered, “In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,” and then quoted Micah (Matthew 2:1–6).
Micah 5:4 tells what this ruler would do. “He shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord.” He would be a shepherd king, and his greatness would reach “unto the ends of the earth.”
The name Bethlehem means house of bread in Hebrew. The child born there grew up to say, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35).
Talk About It
Micah named Bethlehem about seven hundred years before Jesus was born there. What does that tell us about the way the Lord keeps his promises?
Take to Church
Micah named little Bethlehem as the birthplace of a ruler whose goings forth were from everlasting. Jesus Christ, the God of Israel, was born there as a baby.