You’ve probably heard of Bethlehem. Whether from singing the
famous Christmas hymn “O Little Town of Bethlehem” or from hearing the story of
Jesus’ birth, chances are if you grew up in America or in a Christian
community, you’ve at least heard of the place. But how much do you really know
about it? Have you ever wondered why of all the places Jesus could have been
born, He was born there? If you know your Bible, you might think, “Well, He was
born there because that’s where it was prophesied that He would be born.” True,
but why was Bethlehem the place that was prophesied? Was it just some random
town?
Like many of you, I’ve known of Bethlehem’s existence for
practically my whole life, but in 2019 I finally got to visit, and now I’m
living a mere 14 miles from there, as the crow flies. Living in the Holy Land
somehow makes things in Scripture jump out more—“little” things that we tend to
glance over because of our unfamiliarity with their meaning or context, things
like where various events happened. After visiting Capernaum in 2019, I
realized just how many of the familiar New Testament accounts happened there.
Similarly, this Christmas season, I’ve been noticing a lot about Bethlehem.
For instance, did you realize that Ruth met Boaz in
Bethlehem? That fact just sunk in for me earlier this month as I was reading
the book of Ruth for the who-knows-how-many-th time. And that fact, which is
super cool for reasons I’d be getting ahead of myself to explain here, started
me on a hunt to see what else happened in Bethlehem. As it turns out, a lot did.
My first discovery is actually thanks to one of our pastor’s
recent sermons in which he mentioned that the name Bethlehem in Hebrew is the
combination of the words beth + lechem, which literally means “house
of bread.” Names typically were significant in ancient times and weren’t just
randomly assigned, so it is reasonable to assume that Bethlehem was known for
or at least associated with bread in some way. Thus, we can say, out of
Bethlehem came bread.
The first time we hear of Bethlehem in the Bible is in
Genesis 35 when Jacob’s beloved wife Rachel, the mother of Joseph and Benjamin
(who would represent three of the twelve tribes of Israel), dies in childbirth and
is buried “on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem)” (v. 19, ESV). Thus,
with the very first mention of Bethlehem, we find that it is a place associated
with grief, a very particular kind of grief that is tied to the Fall: death
from difficulty in childbirth.
The next reference to “Bethlehem” comes in Joshua 19, when
the land is being divided among the tribes. The Bethlehem mentioned here,
however, is a different place. It’s not the Ephrath Bethlehem, it’s a Bethlehem
in Galilee (the north) which was part of the tribe of Zebulun’s allotment. The
next mention of Bethlehem is also believed to refer to the Bethlehem of Zebulun
rather than of Judah. This occurs in Judges 12 when it is identified as the
hometown of the judge Ibzan.
The Bethlehem of Jesus’ birth shows up again, though, in
Judges 17 as the origin of the Levite who became a priest for a man named Micah
who had made a shrine for an idol. The Levites were the one tribe who were
scattered throughout the other tribes of Israel to serve as priests of the
Lord, so it’s not unusual that this Levite was coming from the territory of the
tribe of Judah. What is unusual, though, is that he had left Judah and was
“sojourning” in Ephraim, a central tribe, for some unknown reason. Furthermore,
he ends up disobeying God’s commandment two-fold. First, he becomes an
accessory to possessing graven images, disobeying God’s general command not to
worship idols. But he also forsakes God’s specific calling on his life as a
Levite to facilitate worship of the one, true God and instead starts serving a
false god and facilitating worship of it. Thus, out of Bethlehem came an
unfaithful priest.
A couple of chapters later, in Judges 19, we’re met with
another disturbing account related to Bethlehem. The Levite in this chapter is
described in much the same way as the one in chapter 17, although it is unclear
whether or not they are the same person. Regardless, the Levite takes a
wife/concubine from Bethlehem in Judah and brings her to where he is sojourning
in Ephraim. She becomes unfaithful and leaves him to return to Bethlehem, at
which point, after a few months, he goes “to speak kindly to her and bring her
back.” He is welcomed into his father-in-law’s home and stays for several days
before leaving with his wife to journey back to Ephraim. On the way, they stop
to spend the night in a town called Gibeah where, long story short, the woman
is raped and murdered while her husband does nothing to stop it. Upon finding
her dead in the morning, he carries her body back to Ephraim where he proceeds
to cut it in twelve pieces to send throughout the nation to make it known what
a terrible thing the people of Gibeah had done, leading to their punishment. Thus,
out of Bethlehem came an unfaithful wife, an unprotective husband, and another
story of grief.
Then comes Ruth. Bethlehem in Judah is identified as the
hometown of yet another man who sojourns elsewhere, Elimelech, the husband of
Naomi. When Elimelech and his two sons die in Moab (modern-day Jordan), Naomi
and one daughter-in-law Ruth return to Bethlehem where Boaz, the family’s
kinsman redeemer, is also from. He marries Ruth to carry on the family name,
and at the end of the book we learn that Ruth and Boaz of Bethlehem become the
great-grandparents of David. David is introduced in 1 Samuel 16 as the youngest
son of his father who is working as a shepherd and who is chosen by the Lord to
be king of Israel. Thus, out of Bethlehem came a shepherd king.
The next several mentions of Bethlehem are not specified as
the Bethlehem in Judah, although it is likely that the Judean town is the one
referenced. Asahel, who is David’s nephew, the brother of David’s army
commander Joab, and one of David’s mighty men himself, is killed by an enemy of
David’s and is buried in his father’s tomb in Bethlehem (1 Chronicles 2:16; 2
Samuel 2). Two men named Elhanan who were also among David’s most valiant
military supporters are tied to Bethlehem as well (2 Samuel 23:24; 2 Samuel
21:19). Thus, out of Bethlehem came strong warriors.
In 2 Samuel 23 and 1 Chronicles 11, we find the account of
David in conflict with the ancient Canaanite people, the Philistines, who had a
garrison at Bethlehem. David yearns for water from the well in Bethlehem
(presumably, the one in Judah that is his hometown), and three of his mighty
men break through the Philistine lines and get the water for him, which he then
pours out before the Lord out of respect for the lives of his men. Thus, out
of Bethlehem came water from a well.
When David’s grandson Rehoboam became king, leading to a
split in the kingdom with Judah and Benjamin on one side and the rest of the tribes
on the other, he built fortifications at several existing towns, one of which
was Bethlehem. These weren’t just minor enhancements; 2 Chronicles 11:11 says, “He
made the fortresses strong, and put commanders in them, and stores of food,
oil, and wine.” Thus, Bethlehem became a strong fortress.
But all the fortresses in Judah weren’t strong enough to
keep Babylon from conquering the kingdom. After a few hundred years of
progressive rebelliousness against God, the people of Judah were conquered by the
Babylonians and many were taken into exile, where they remained for several
decades. In the meantime, the remnant who was left in the land became afraid of
retribution from Babylon after someone killed the Babylonian-appointed governor
and those with him. They decided to flee to Egypt, but before they went, they
stopped at a village by Bethlehem to inquire of the Lord through the prophet
Jeremiah (Jeremiah 41:17). After being commanded by God not to go to Egypt, the
people blatantly disobeyed and went anyway, setting themselves up for
destruction. Thus, near Bethlehem the people rebelled against God.
When a group of the exiles was allowed to return from Babylon,
Nehemiah made a point to list the different groups of people who made the
journey home. Among those who returned were “The men of Bethlehem” (Nehemiah
7:26). Thus, Bethlehem’s population returned, showing God’s mercy even in judgment
and setting up the conditions for the fulfilment of a prophecy that had been made
by Micah (a different Micah from the one mentioned earlier) a couple of
hundred years before the exiles’ return.
That prophecy was specifically concerning Bethlehem: “But
you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming
forth is from of old, from ancient days. […] And he shall stand and shepherd
his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD
his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of
the earth. And he shall be their peace.” (Micah 5:2, 4-5a, ESV). Thus,
out of Bethlehem was to come a strong shepherd king who would be a strong fortress
and put an end to war and destruction, bringing peace.
Some four hundred years would pass after the exiles returned
to Judah before the town of Bethlehem would show up again. Luke tells us that,
because Joseph was a descendant of David, Bethlehem of Judah was his and Mary’s
destination when the emperor called for a census. It was there that Mary gave birth
to Jesus, there that the shepherds visited Him, there that the magi from the east
found Him, and there that Herod went on his jealous, murderous rampage against
all boys two-years-old and younger trying to kill Him (Luke 2 and Matthew 2).
Throughout Scripture, Bethlehem is shown as a microcosm of
all that is wrong with the world as a result of the Fall, and from rebellion to
restoration, it tells the story of the relationship between man and God. It begins
as a place of death, of unfaithfulness, of neglect, of war, of exile, of fear,
of rebellion, of covetousness, of murder. But it also a microcosm of all the Fall-reversing
promises that are fulfilled in the Promised One, Jesus. From the house of bread,
came the Bread of Life. From the town with a desirable well, came the Living
Water. From the hometown of warriors came the Mighty Victor. From the home of a
shepherd king came the King of Kings who is our Good Shepherd. From the strong fortress
came the strongest Fortress of all. Instead of an unfaithful priest came the Great
High Priest, Faithful and True. Instead of an unprotective husband came the Bridegroom,
protective and loving.
Because of Jesus there will be no more murder, no
more covetousness, no more rebellion, no more fear, no more exile, no more war,
no more neglect, no more unfaithfulness, no more death. Because of Him, the process
of reversing the Fall has started and one day will be fully complete. The One
born in Bethlehem has lived the perfect life no one else could; He has broken
the curse; He has defeated the Enemy; He has conquered death. Out of
Bethlehem has come the Savior of the world.
And that, my friends, makes for a very Merry Christmas!
