‘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 be the shepherd of My people Israel.’”‘You Bethlehem, land of Judah, are in no way least among the princes of Judah; for out of you shall come a governor who shall shepherd my people, Israel.’”And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.And thou Bethlehem, land of Judah, Art in no wise least among the princes of Judah: For out of thee shall come forth a governor, Who shall be shepherd of my people Israel.
6 sermons cite this verse
I'd like you to have a seat. So I grew up, this is the, here we are, the last Sunday in Christmas season. It reminds me of this, this is the whole thing. I grew up in Brainerd, Minnesota, which is the vacation area of, one of the vacation areas of Minnesota. and one of the things we have, our claim to fame is that Brainerd is the quote-unquote birthplace or the home of Paul Bunyan. So if you know the tall tale of Paul Bunyan, tall tale, we recognized that we had a thing called Paul Bunyan Amusement Park and it was in my hometown, in town basically, kind of right on the outskirts of town, Paul Bunyan Amusement Park and we begged our parents to be able to, that we could go to Paul Bunyan. They never took us, never, the only time we ever got to go to Paul Bunyan amusement park was when the cousins came to visit, which was relatively rare. And they would say, okay, now we can go to the amusement park. It was one of those situations where I'm like, but we live here. We should be able to go here all the time. Now, obviously, if you've ever been to Paul Bunyan amusement park, you know that it's not, as an adult, it's not that big. It's kind of a small thing. But as a kid, it was the place I wanted to go more than anything. But it seemed like one of those situations where it was so, so close to home that it was too close to home, …
… and the scribes of the people, and he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They said, well, dummy in Bethlehem of Judea, for so it's written by the Old Testament prophet Micah, the Christ child will be born in Bethlehem. Now, there's a profound symbolism at work in this also. Stars and signs and spiritual questions are never in themselves enough to bring you fully to God. They can get you looking the right direction, but only the scriptures can complete your journey. This book, friend, this, this is the gateway to God. And that is why at this church every single week, somebody like me stands up here, opens this book, reads from it and teaches straight out of it. I am not up here telling you about my relationship with God or giving you my insights into spiritual life. I am attempting to open up to you the scriptures week by week, which are God's guide to salvation, regardless of who you are or where you're coming from. …
… And they said to him in Bethlehem of Judea, for it is written by the prophet, But you, Bethlehem, the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah. For out of you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people, Israel. Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem to go search carefully for the young child. And when you have found him, bring back word to me that I may come and worship him also. When they heard the king, they departed. Listen, and behold the star. There it is again. Keeps showing up. Which they had seen in the east went before them. Till it came and stood over where the young child was. And when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. Notice this. That was outside. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and fell down and worshiped him. …
… Quoting from Micah chapter 5, they say, 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. Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me so that I too may go and worship him. After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star that they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warmed in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. …
… 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. Then Herod called the magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared he sent them to Bethlehem and said go and search carefully for the child as soon as you find him report to me so that I too may go and worship him after they heard the king they went on their way and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was when they saw the star they were overjoyed on coming to the house they saw the child with his mother Mary and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they were turned to their country by another route. You may be seated in God's presence. I want to put a tag on this text and for a few moments with your prayers, I want to raise the question, do you need directions? Do you need directions? …
… It's like a legal verse for me to read. Isn't that great? Here's this prophetic word. It's in Matthew 2.6. he says but you Bethlehem in the land of Judah are not the least among rulers of Judah for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel I didn't read that well so listen to it again but you Bethlehem in the land of Judah are not the least among the rulers of Judah out of you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people what is he saying here what does a shepherd do Shepherd protects, feeds. And in this passage, this prophetic passage, the Lord equates a ruler with a shepherd. A shepherd is there for the sake of the sheep. The shepherd is not there for the sake of himself. and that is a biblical definition of ruler I don't have time for it now, but in the subject of Scripture, in the New Testament, there are positions of rule and there are positions of service. …