Listen up, little ones
Listen for the words ruler and Bethlehem.
Reading
Micah 5:1-5—A Ruler from Bethlehem
Keys for kids
- Micah preached a warning to God’s people.
- They eventually listened.
- Micah promised a Shepherd-King who is Jesus.
Questions
- How do we know the Ruler from Bethlehem is Jesus?
- What blessings come with Jesus’s reign?
- What warnings come with the announcement of His rule?
Notes
(See Saturday for authors.)
Micah is a prophet primarily to Judah, a generation after Amos. His ministry was one of warning, yet unlike most of the prophets, his warnings were heeded. Jeremiah 26:17–19 tells us, some 100 years after Micah, that the people listened and repented, and God spared Judah for a time. But it was not until Hezekiah’s reign that repentance came, so Micah preached many years during the reigns of Jotham and Ahaz before the message was heeded during Hezekiah’s reign.
As with many of the prophets, his message was a mixture of warning and hope. This chapter begins with warning of defeat. The nation is under siege (perhaps Sennacherib king of Assyria is in mind—2 Kings 18). Yet hope is coming!
From an unexpected place, little Bethlehem, will come this promised hope – God’s appointed ruler. We know from the New Testament that Jesus is this promised ruler. We also know it from Micah’s portrayal of this eternal God-man—one who would be born of a woman yet whose origin is from eternity.
Yet even this glorious, promised hope comes with a warning. God will abandon His people until this one is born (3a). Micah writes some 700 years before Jesus. God’s people will go up and down, but mostly down, until Jesus comes to empower them (and us!) to faithfully serve Him.
Swedish Method questions
Praise
Psalm 23b, 88a
Prayer
- Give thanks that Jesus is the faithful Shepherd-King.
- Give thanks for something from last Lord’s Day’s sermons.
- Pray for a member of our church, for your family, and for a non-Christian friend/family member.