Bethlehem

             When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” (Matthew 2:4-6)

          “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)

          This is one of the prophecies about which I’ve heard derision from some. Jesus was born in Bethlehem because Caesar Augustus declared that a census be taken. Detractors chortle and proclaim, “That’s not the way Rome did censuses!” Of course it wasn’t the way Rome did things. Rome controlled far too large a territory. That doesn’t mean that it’s not the way Jews conducted censuses. If you read through Exodus and Numbers, you’ll find that the Jews organized themselves by their ancestors: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Naphtali, Ashe, Issachar, Zebulon, Benjamin, Dan, Gad, and Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh.) They travelled by tribe, settled by tribe, warred by tribe and took their censuses by tribe. Having the Jews go to their ancestral area would have been far easier for them than to try to keep record of which tribe each person belonged to. It makes sense that such would be the way the Jews did things, no matter what the Romans may have had in mind. In the two thousand years since then, things have changed.

          Do I have documentary proof that this was the way things were done in the 10BC to 10AD range? No. but I have evidence of the established custom and those who mock have presented no documentary evidence of the custom being something else among the Jews.

          But what does this fulfillment of prophecy do for us? No doubt, lots of people were born in Bethlehem. For one thing, even though lots of people have been born in Bethlehem, of the world’s population, a tiny fraction were born there. Combine that with other prophecies, like being a descendant of David (though, there were undoubtedly many of these in Israel,) spending part of his life in Egypt, the virgin birth, and the time frame based on Cyrus’ proclamation, and the field becomes very narrow. It can, in short, provide reason for our faith, though those who oppose it will blindly claim that our faith is blind.

          In addition, these prophecies show that God can and does bring together that, by themselves, don’t make sense. I hate to use the analogy, but He is sort of like a cross between a Hallmark movie and a good mystery. All the stuff comes together but you can’t predict how it’ll end, and even if you know the end, how it all comes together is amazing to watch.