Micah 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.”

It has always been of interest that when asked by Herod, the scribes in the 1st century could quote this passage without much hesitation, (Matthew 2:4-6) but they seem to have had no driving impulse to follow up on it on their own. This verse was accepted unquestionably as Messianic, but for those scribes, at least, that acceptance was strictly academic. Someone who really took this prophecy seriously would have had regular contact to keep up with the goings on in Bethlehem, and possibly even lived there themselves to be sure they didn’t miss the Messiah. It’s not that God doesn’t tell His people what He’s going to do, it’s that they misinterpret or fail to hear for any number of reasons. We get things fixed in our minds to the point that we can’t perceive anything that contradicts our preconceptions. For example, over the past 20 years I’ve been exposed to so much premillenial teaching that when I read something recently from someone I respect that contradicted that mindset, it seemed very strange. There are factions of all sorts in the Church today, many over fairly absurd hair splitting. There’s a reason Paul told Titus to “avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless!” (Titus 3:9) Our focus as a Church needs to be on our Lord Jesus Christ and on the task He set for us to do, which is to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey every­thing I have commanded you.”(Matthew 28:19-20) If that is our focus, we will be able to recognize what He has said and is saying to us, and won’t miss any of the blessings He intends.

I recognize the tendency to get set in certain ways of thinking in myself, and I must not run around pointing fingers at others. That’s not to say I’m not to know what I believe, and be assured of my posi­tions on various issues, but it is to say that I must always remember that God alone knows everything, and keep my ears open to Him. (1 Corinthians 13:9-12) I can hardly say I have fully discharged every task He has set for me! My focus needs to be on trust and obedience, and letting God be God.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Recently I’ve been getting ads for books on various theological disputes, and it all seems like such a distraction. Help me, help us all, focus on Jesus Christ our Lord, so that we have the unity You desire and the devil fears, advancing strongly against the gates of hell itself, (Matthew 16:18) to set the captives free for a massive in-gathering into Your kingdom, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!