(2) 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.
It's one thing to make prophecies that are general. Nostradamus' work sometimes takes a little mental gymnastics to fit into what seem to be fulfillments. Then you have the work of St. Malachy, who is hopefully right that the Papacy is winding up. Either way, his work takes some mental gymnastics too. If you squint just right you can see where he has been right through the years.
While there is some prophecy like that in Scripture, this verse is not one of them and it shows us just how incredible the Bible is as an inspired text. Plus, it's hard for us to imagine just how small Bethlehem was. We may sing "O Little Town of Bethlehem" at Christmas, but the smallness is almost inconceivable to us now. Think of the smallest little country town you can think of. In today's terms, Bethlehem might have had a blinking light to mark the town center, but certainly would not have had a full-fledged traffic light. It would have been just a few hundred people at best.
What would be the chances of two kings coming from that town? I'd say pretty small. Yet that is what happened. David was born there and ended up being Israel's most faithful king. Then Jesus was born there to a virgin girl. What humble beginnings for the earthly ministry of the king of the Jews! This is especially remarkable when you consider that He has existed with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit through all eternity past. To go from being part of the creation of the universe to a baby in a tiny backwater town is humility indeed. This helps to give me some context for Philippians 2 as well.
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