This Sunday evening we did the entire book of Micah. It was written about 700 BC or so. It has a couple of very famous verses:
5:2 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.
This turns out to be the only place in the Old Testament where the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem is prophesied. For some reason, I was under the impression that it appeared several places. It is quoted in multiple Gospels. I confess to being a little disappointed that the prophecy of Bethlehem is not repeated elsewhere in the Old Testament.
6:8 And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
What a wonderfully concise statement about what God really wants from His people. Micah was rejecting the law-based route to pleasing God, and re-stating what God has so many times told His people.
We had an interesting discussion about how the Jewish culture and religion has lasted over 3000 years despite many invasions, exiles, and other hardships. What other great cultures have a similar record? The Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Persians, Vikings, Ottomans, and many other empires have come and gone, but the Jewish identity has survived.
