 In chapter 5, if you haven't turned there, we're going to be looking at verses 1 and 2. Normally, I've been going through the entire chapter, but last time we were together, I shared with you that I wanted to take you into Ezekiel last week in it. And I said, you know, it'd probably take at least 20 minutes to do that and seeing that we didn't have the time. I thought, well, you know what? I'm going to introduce our study today by including a brief look into a few verses there in the book of Ezekiel. And we will, in a moment, be turning our Bibles to Ezekiel 38. So you may want to be aware of that as we're about to look into this passage tonight. But we'll begin by reading verses 1 and 2, and then I'm going to give to you a prolonged reminder and introduction, and then move into those verses. And the next time we get together, we'll pick up at verse 3 and continue and conclude the study of chapter 5. But we're just introducing chapter 5 today with a reminder of some of the things that we've already looked at in chapter 4. I'll begin reading at verse 1, reading verse 1 and 2, and get into our study. Now gather yourself in troops, O daughter of troops. He has laid siege against us. They will strike the judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek. But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to me the one to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Now when last together, we were looking at Micah's prophecy concerning future judgments. And he had given us a picture of what we today would refer to as a near judgment, because he spoke of a judgment that was quickly approaching. And the judgment that he was referring to was Babylonian captivity. We saw that in chapter 4, verse 10, where it said, Be in pain and labor to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in birth pangs, for now you shall go forth from the city, you shall dwell in the field, and you shall go even to Babylon, there you shall be delivered, there the Lord will redeem you from the hand of your enemies. And so he had prophesied near judgment, he was speaking of the fact that the nation was going to go into what is called Babylonian captivity. Now we know the historic figure of King Nebuchadnezzar. And when you study your Bible, you'll see that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded Israel on three separate occasions, 605, 597, and 586 BC. And with each successive wave of invasion, Judah was more and more devastated. When you look in the Old Testament book of Second Chronicles, for example, chapter 36, verses 17 through 20, we read, The Lord brought the King of Babylon against them. The Babylonians killed Judah's young men, even chasing after them into the temple. They had no pity on the people killing both young and old, men and women, healthy and sick. God handed them all over to Nebuchadnezzar. The king also took home to Babylon all the utensils, large and small, used in the temple of God, and the treasures from both the Lord's temple and the royal palace. He also took with him all the royal princes. When his army set fire on the temple of God, broke down the walls of Jerusalem, burned all the palaces, and completely destroyed everything of value. The few who survived were taken away to Babylon. They became servants to the king and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power. And so Second Chronicles records how that took place in the invasion and ultimate dispersion of the children of Israel. Now it had said in verse 10 of chapter 4 that they would be in captivity, but they would be released from captivity. It said, There the Lord will redeem you from the hand of your enemies. And so the prophecy that he is giving is that they will be taken into captivity, but they will also be released from that. So again in Second Chronicles in chapter 36, verses 22 and 23, it says, In the first year of Cyrus, King of Persia, that the word of the Lord came by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled. The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, King of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing saying, Thus is Cyrus, King of Persia, all the kingdoms of the earth, the Lord God of heaven has given me. And he has commanded me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who among you of all his people? Who is among you of all his people? May the Lord his God be with him and let him go up. And so God had stated that they would return, that they would be taken out of captivity, and all of this was near future. Now when we looked at verses 11 through 13 of chapter 4 in those verses, that refers to the final war that will occur, and it also speaks of the help that will come from the Lord. There are going to be many nations that unite, he says, and they will come against Israel, but God will be their help in that day. He said in verse 11, now also many nations have gathered against you who say, Let her be defiled and let her eye look upon Zion. But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord, nor do they understand his counsel, for he will gather them like sheaves to the threshing floor. Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion, for I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hooves bronze. You shall be in pieces many peoples, I will consecrate their gain to the Lord, their substance to the Lord of the whole earth. And so on the one hand you had near prophecy, a near future prophecy, which related to Babylonian captivity, but on the second hand, you have a picture of what's going to be taking place in the end days. Now in Zechariah, in the Old Testament, chapter 12, verse 2, God said, Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. I want to take you to Ezekiel for a moment and look at this with a little more detail. Ezekiel, chapter 38, where's Ezekiel, seek and ye shall find, turn to the left. Ezekiel 38, verses 2 through 8, son of man, set your face against Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshach and Tubal, prophesy against him and say, Thus says the Lord God, Behold I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshach and Tubal. I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out with all your army horses and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords. Persia, Ethiopia and Libya are with them, all of them with shield and helmet, Gomer and all its troops, the house of Tagarmah from the far north and all its troops. Many people are with you, prepare yourself and be ready, you and all your companies that are gathered about you, and be a guard for them. After many days you will be visited, in the latter years you will come into the land of those brought back from the sword and gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They were brought out of the nations and now all of them dwell safely. I actually was tempted just to give a study in chapters 38 and 39, I'm giving you a brief look by looking at these few verses here, because this is speaking about what is going to take place in the last days, and I wanted to share with you because there is a reference to the final war that's going to occur and the help that comes from the Lord, and Ezekiel gives to us some of the nations that will rise up against Israel, and what is interesting about this is the fact that we see these nations in existence today in opposition to Israel, even as I'm reading these verses to you. You see, there's a coalition, there's going to be a coalition that invades Israel, and this coalition intends to both destroy as well as to plunder the nation. In verse 12, it speaks about the people that are gathered from all the nations, speaking of the people that are gathered from worldwide, and this is something that will take place in what is called the latter times. It occurs when they're living in a time of security with no fear of deportation, and so that's one of the reasons why when Ezekiel is riding in, there are those who are combining on this and interpreting this passage. That is one of the reasons why we understand that the events that you look at here in Ezekiel 38, we're not near events, but we're rather events that are prophetically speaking of in the last days, and what the period of time is that is referred to as Jacob's trouble or the tribulation. You see, this is going to take place during the tribulation. You see, Israel has signed a peace treaty, and Israel will be at that time living securely. At the moment, Israel is not living securely, but there will be a time when Israel will have a false security. When you compare this, and you look in Daniel chapter 9 verse 27, you'll see that Daniel 9.27 prophesies a time when the antichrist is going to confirm a covenant with many, it says, for one week, and when we've looked at Daniel 9.27, we've seen how Daniel 9.27 is referring to not seven day week, but is referring to a period of time that is actually a week of years. It's speaking of a time of seven years, and so the antichrist, prophetically, is going to sign a peace treaty with the nation of Israel. The nation of Israel is going to dwell securely for a short time, for the first three and a half years or so of the tribulation. They're going to live in relative security. You see, they're going to be signing a peace treaty with the antichrist, and it would appear that a portion of, at least of that treaty, is going to be for them to have the ability to once again be worshiping in the temple, and once again to live in a sense of security. And so there is going to be a time when there is security in the nation of Israel in the prophetic sense. It will take place in the last days during the seven-year period called the tribulation and Ezekiel is speaking concerning the invasion and the invasion of Israel in these last days, speaking of those last seven-year period called the tribulation. Ezekiel is speaking concerning that as they are going to be there, and the nation of Israel is going to be living in relative security. You see in Ezekiel 38, 11 it says, you will say, I will go up against a land of unwalled villages. I will go to a peaceful people who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls and having neither bars nor gates. Speaking of a time of security, there's going to be a false security, and it's going to take place in the last days after the signing of that peace treaty with the antichrist. But these nations are going to gather together and these nations are going to invade. And if you're wondering what the reason or motivation behind the invasion will be, the reasoning is going to be two things. One is going to be that they want the land, they want all that it has, they want its silver, its gold, its livestock, all of its goods. But they also will come with a mentality, and this is what we're going to say, and I'll develop this with you for those who perhaps might have some questions about this. But the motivation, prophetically, I think we see even now being fulfilled in the mentality of Jihad. And you'll see this in a moment. I'll show you why I believe that. You see, they're going to want to wipe these people, the Jews, off the face of the earth. And they're going to want to take all that they have. Now, why are they going to want to come into the land? And why are they going to want to take all that they possess? Something we need to remember is that Muslims believe that any land that was once occupied by Muslims is permanently theirs. That, by the way, helps us to understand what's taking place right now in Europe. Because there are great portions of Europe all the way to France and into great Britain now that are heavily influenced by Islam. We're seeing this at this moment, even as I'm speaking, this mentality that Islam does have that that people don't seem to understand, especially Americans don't seem to understand, that when when Islam has taken, when members of Islam have taken a portion of land, have occupied it, that according to the way that they think that land belongs to them. And all the way back when in Islam began its existence, began to march across the Middle East and into Europe, everywhere that Islam put its foot, everywhere that Muslims inhabited, they believed that those portions of land are theirs permanently. So one of the reasons why you have problems right now in the nation of Israel, where there are those who will not recognize the reality and right for the nation of Israel to exist, and they say it's because they own that land. Anywhere Islam put its foot and occupied belongs to Muslims. That took place in history, I mean if you took time I didn't prepare this so I'm just going to say it briefly outside, give you more dates and facts and figures, but when you go into places like Spain, and you can go into places like the city of Granada, and in Granada there is a large contingency of Moors, of Muslims who continue to this day to live there, and they believe that that particular city is really in reality owned by the Muslims. They went all the way into France and it was at the Battle of Tours with Charles Martel that stopped the march of Islam into taking the entire European continent. Had Charles Martel not stopped Islam from its march, then today we very well might be practicing Islam ourselves. And so it is something that historically people who read history and study and teach it can point out that when Islam enters into a land Islam believes that they own that land if they occupied it. And so this idea that Israel really belongs to to Muslims if you will, it's really something that is not that has no right to exist. This idea is accepted by almost every Islamic nation in the Middle East. They believe that they're only regaining what in fact actually already belongs to them. And so when Ezekiel here in chapter 38 is giving a list of nations that line up against Israel in those days it's interesting to note these nations in and I'll share a little bit about them. You see the nation as it says in verse 2, son of man set your face against Gog of the land of Magog. And so Ezekiel is giving a list of nations that line up against Israel in those days. Gog is actually a title. The word Gog means high or exalted one. He's of the land of Magog. When you look in the ancient geography Magog is what is called Central Asia or Scythia. It's a southern part of ancient Russia. When you look at Rosh, Rosh can be translated chief. Some consider the word Rosh to refer to Russia. There are many who believe it is Russia because verses 6 and 15 refer to the far north which would be or could be Russia. When you see the word Meshach, Meshach and Tubal were sons of Noah, son Japheth. But today that's modern Turkey. This is speaking of southern Russia as well as northern Iran. It speaks of Persia. It was called Persia until 1935 and then its name was changed to Iran. But in 1979 it became the Islamic Republic of Iran. Now we know to this day that Iran is the arch enemy of Israel and of the West and we know that Iran works actively to cause other Arab nations to no longer cooperate with the United States, Israel or any of our allies. Then you have Ethiopia, Libya and Togharmah. Ethiopia is Kush. Libya was put. Gomer and Togharmah. Ethiopia is the land just south of Egypt on the Nile. It's the Sudan. The Sudan is the home of the National Islamic Front. The National Islamic Front were strong supporters of Osama bin Laden when he lived there from 91 to 96. The word put is modern Libya. Modern Libya openly refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist. Gomer was ancient southern Russia and is modern Turkey in an area called Armenia. Togharmah is a name for Turkey. So what you have here is a coalition of enemies of Israel that have one thing in common. They are nations that have a Muslim majority. Now Turkey, Meshach, Tubal, Gomer, well somebody said this makes a pretty strong argument for Turkey being part of the invasion of Israel. Current circumstances in that country also land this view some credibility. Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, Turkey has been gaining inroads into Central Asia. May God. It is also linked to Central Asia both ethnically and linguistically and has a growing number of political parties that support opposition to Israel, the establishment of a Turkish Islamic Republic and the worldwide rule of Islam. Now whenever it got saved, back in 1970 I started reading books like The Lake Great, Planet Earth, some of you have heard of that ancient literature now, but it was new then. There was a big question. There was a big question at that time and the question was this. How can Russia, which is an avowed at that time the USSR, how can Russia, an avowed atheistic government, how can they in any way shape or form actually unite with Islam? How is that possible when Islam calls itself the worshipper of the one true God? How could a group of people who kill infidels, how can they actually be part of a confederation from Russia coming from the north into Israel in those last days when Russia is an avowed atheistic government? How does that happen? You see the former USSR was led by atheistic communism. So how could these nations, all of these nations that would be hotbeds of Islam, how could they ever be allies of Russia? Well it's interesting, but Islam is currently the second most widely professed religion in the Russian Federation. According to recent estimates, while there are six million genuine followers of Islam in Russia, there are more than 20 million officially self-identified Muslims. And so the way that that would happen is when you come to realize that you're dealing with a large population of Muslims that are living there in Russia. Now Ezekiel 383 states, I am against you oh God, oh God the Prince of Rosh Meshach and Tabal. So this coalition's invasion against Israel is regarded as an attack on God himself because it says thus says the Lord God I am against you oh God. So this is regarded as when they invade, not simply an attack on the nation of Israel, but God says this is really in fact an attack on me. So the conflict as Ezekiel is prophesying here, the conflict is really going to be between them and God. And it is God who's going to defend Israel. The huge odds against Israel will be nullified because God is on their side. That's why the psalmist in Psalm 5611 that verse there could speak so loudly where it says in God I have put my trust. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? So God is saying I am against you. So what's not as if the nation of Israel is going to have the ability to defend itself against the invasion. What God is saying is when this invasion takes place, when these many nations unite against you and enter in against you, which we're seeing the formation of that coalition even as I'm speaking now and we've been seeing it now for a number of years, we see that this this book here Ezekiel being written hundreds of years before the fact is a prophetic book speaking of things that are going to take place in the far distant future. Yet we see that these things that are being spoken of here in chapter 38 as well as chapter 39 are actually taking place in our day. It's been stated that though there be many books that purport to be religious in context and religious in in subject matter there's only one book that has prophecy. That's the Bible and the Bible is prophesying several hundred years before Christ that these countries that we're seeing right now uniting together in an invasion attempt and it's and we see it all you got to do is watch the news. Many people in our in our fellowship really don't watch the news too much but if you do you will see it almost every day that there is some kind of incursion there's some kind of problem there's something forming there's some opposition. Why the nation of Israel this small country this tiny country small population surrounded by hundreds millions of of people why are they so in opposition we're seeing it happen right now even as I speak Iran Libya Russia we're seeing it even as I speak is taking place now there is going to be ultimately an invasion it will be a coalition against Israel but God will take that as an attack on himself and he will defend Israel now Micah had said arise and Thresh O daughter of Zion I will make you a an iron horn in other words in that day when all of this is happening the help will come but it's not going to come from the mighty United States military or any coalition from Europe it's going to be coming from God himself Ezekiel says in in verse four here in chapter 38 I will turn you around put hooks into your jaws lead you out with all your army horses and horsemen all splendidly clothed a great company with bucklers and shields all of them handling swords Persia Ethiopia Libya are with them all of them with shield and helmet Gomer and all his troops the house of Takarma from the far north and all its troops many people are with you prepare yourself be ready you and all your companies that are gathered about you and be a guard to them and so notice how it says that he's going to put put hooks in your jaws it's like an animal that's going to be caught the invaders will not be successful in their plans against Israel God allows them to enter Israel so that he can visit them with judgment they will come in fully confident they will be coming in prepared to conquer but they will be defeated so God makes it very clear that these nations will rise up these nations will have a coalition these nations will have one thing in common what we're seeing today is these nations that are a coalition that are in opposition to Israel that are ready to invade at a moment's notice but in the tribulation period sometime during that period these nations will unite they will come against Israel but they will be defeated that's what the Lord says back in Micah chapter four when he said in verse 13 arise and threshold daughter of Zion I will make your horn iron I will make your hooves bronze they're not going to defeat you because if God is for you who can be against you and so that's one of the reasons why as I see these end days things taking place and you can turn on back to Micah as I as I see these things take place you know I used to say this more often than I do now I read the last page of the book I know who wins I know who wins I remember as you're turning back to Micah I remember having a knock on the door I was a young believer I was maybe 23 years old 24th at the time it's hard to believe five years have passed but yeah but I I do remember I was living at my parents' house and there was a knock on the door and I opened the door and there were two women members of the Jehovah's Witness organization and they had their watchtower magazines and their awake magazine and they they began to read to me out of the gospels and and began to share with me that we're living in the last times and and began to say a bunch of things to me that came out of their their theology and I was a new believer but even as I was listening to them I knew that they were off base on this and and I remember saying you know you're forgetting what Jesus said he said when you see all these things come to pass look up for your redemption draws nigh I said instead of you wanting me to be afraid these are things that ought to cause me to be excited and to rejoice because the coming of the Lord is even closer so instead of being afraid I rejoice and I look up because the Lord's return is soon even he's even at the door but getting into our study now in verse one of chapter five that was your introduction to an introduction in verse one gather yourself in troops oh daughter of oh daughter of troops he has laid siege against us they will strike the judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek so when it says in verse one gather yourself in troops oh daughter of troops he has laid siege against us and all bible commentators believe that Micah is at this point returning to what would be called the near future judgment the time that Babylon will invade so it's speaking of a siege a siege that would be referring to Nebuchadnezzar's invasion of Israel when he uses the term smiting the judge that would be a reference to a ruler so that would be king Zedekiah king Zedekiah was taken captive in 2 Kings 25 7 it says they killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes put out the eyes of Zedekiah bound him with bronze fetters and took him to Babylon and so that's what happened to king Zedekiah one thing every time I read that verse where it says they killed his sons in front of him and then put out his eyes can you imagine the barbarity of something like that and the last thing that that man saw was the death of his sons that would be the last thing that he saw that would be registered in his heart for the rest of his life he saw his sons killed and then they blinded him and so that shows you the cruelty cruelty is not new cruelty is as old as man when Cain rose up the scripture says and and killed his brother Abel all the way back in the book of Genesis the word killed when it says he killed his brother Abel is butchered he slaughtered it's an act of violence that's being portrayed to us not not a simple clean word like kill but a barbaric action of of murder and that's what it speaks about and and to this day once again we see cruelty I was reading today and I'm not going to go into this other than say one thing um just today about Christian young young boys that were taken by ISIS ISIS soldiers and they got um saws the kinds of saws that you use to cut down trees and slice these children in half for being Christians for being Christians cruelty is not a new thing cruelty is as old as man and so that's what's going to be taken place there it's going to be cruelty and and so we're speaking concerning this and he's saying smite the judge it's a reference to king Zedekiah who is taking captive well in the midst of all of that and by the way uh in in uh from what I understand in in the Jewish or Hebrew Bible uh verse one of chapter five is normally associated with chapter four you come into verse two and this you'll see why in a moment I'm going to stay in verse two but notice verse two after all of this judgment and prophecy that he's speaking about here's hope this is our wonderful future you Bethlehem Ifratha though you are little among the thousands of Judah yet out of you shall come forth to me the one to be ruler in Israel whose goings forth have been from of old from everlasting in the darkness comes the light and I wanted to spend time with you in the light tonight after speaking about judgment for so long so that's why we're staying at verse two and then I'll pick up at verse three so here we go notice in verse two you Bethlehem Ifratha though you are little among the thousands of Judah in spite of what happened to Judah and the kings of Judah God has a plan now what's interesting I'll develop this with you it's interesting when you read your bible you see the name Bethlehem you normally associate just one city but the fact is there are two cities called Bethlehem in the scriptures you have one city referred to as Bethlehem that's in the north it's found in the book of Joshua chapter 19 verses 10 through 15 it was in the northwest area in Israel northwest of of the city of Nazareth so it's in the north here you have the southern city and that's why it's referred to as Ifratha because Bethlehem Ifratha is actually just outside of the city of Jerusalem and so it's referred to as Bethlehem Ifratha the word Ifratha means fruitful now in spite of the judgment and exile God is going to provide Messiah and he'll do so through David's line 700 years before the fact God stated that he would provide a deliverer who would be a savior and though the odds would be against an heir of David being born in Bethlehem God said that the savior would be he's saying there will be descendants living in Nazareth and that they are going to go to Bethlehem now when you read your New Testament you know exactly how this took place because Caesar Augustus issued a decree a census and we know that two of the descendants of David went down to Bethlehem these two descendants are Joseph and Mary and so they were compelled to go down and as they arrived into the city they came at the exact right moment and when they entered in at the right moment Messiah was born now in Galatians in chapter four verses four and five it's interesting now Paul put that he said when the right time came God sent his son born of a woman subject to the law God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law so that he could adopt us as his very own children at the right time when the right time came God's timing is always perfect one of the things to keep in mind is that you have Mary and Mary's on the back of this animal more than likely a donkey of some sort or something like that carrying her she's a very very pregnant young woman very pregnant and she's coming down on a long trip now someone said you know you know the donkey could have stumbled over a rock on the road and could have caused her to to bring forth her child but but then again they said no of course that couldn't happen because God had a plan God's plans are always specific and they're always fulfilled to the letter to the letter and so God was saying seven hundred years before the birth of Christ that this small inconsequential city called Bethlehem and we'll look at that in a moment a little bit more it was going to be the birthplace of the Messiah a descendant of king David even though David's descendants had been taken captive into Babylon they were going to be released there were going to be those who are part of his lineage who ultimately it would just so work out that that there would be a descendant some a Mary as one and Joseph as the other who would be living in a place called Nazareth and then at the right moment in history when roads had been built and the pathway was safer because of the Roman invasion and and the army that that was occupying at that time providing actually safe travel for many people that these people were going to get on this donkey we're going to take this journey she was going to make it all the way to Bethlehem and when she's there she's going to give birth to Messiah now this is the prophecy that was actually explained to the Magi remember the Magi these men who were actually from Babylon who had come and approached Herod and had said to him where is he who has been born king we've seen his star and we've come to worship him and it troubled Herod greatly because Herod was not a Jewish man Herod was was was not the the legal rightful occupier of a throne in that fashion and so when Herod heard that there was one who was born king he was upset and and we know when we look in our stories through our not stories the events as they're revealed to us in Matthew how that he called his his religious leaders over and said this is what I'm being told tell me what's going on and they're the ones who quoted Micah they're the ones who said oh it is it's prophesied by the prophet Micah and he's quoting this verse here verse two you Bethlehem have fought that though you are little among the thousands of Judah yet out of you shall come forth to me the one who is ruler in Israel whose goings forth have been from evolved from everlasting they said the Messiah is going to be born in Bethlehem and that's how Herod knew so that the scripture itself was quoted so that Herod would know where this one would be born now it says here though you are little among the thousands of Judah from what might seem insignificant comes the one who is the most significant we see that in the Lord I want to make practical application and move on but seems to be insignificant to man is made most significant by God there's a young boy he's a shepherd he tends the sheep there's a battle going on and he's one of the he's just you're small he's young and there's a battle going on and so his father says I want you to take these supplies to your brothers are on the front lines they're fighting so this young boy takes the cheese and all in takes it to his brothers and and sees that there's a commotion going on he's interested in what's happening so we asked what's going on and the people say well there's a warrior over there who keeps challenging us he's been saying that he'd fight any one of us because nobody's nobody's taken him up you're crazy that guy's nine foot nine who is this uncircumcised Philistine who am I talking about David David and Goliath David insignificant is his older brother very handsome very powerful you naughty boy he calls him naughty he came here to spy out what's going on what have I done to you is his response you know little David insignificant runt in the eyes of the brother runt in the eyes of Goliath all of us are runts in the eyes of Goliath can imagine him playing on the Lakers we could use his height nine foot nine he just would dunk like that God has a way of taking that which is least and using it to his glory so that no flesh can brag in his presence he has a way of doing that if if if I think I'm something I'm nothing he's everything when you understand that he's everything and you are nothing he can use you but when you think that you are quite the prize much superior to the rest of the people around me and you're not usable and I see this as a principle in scripture that I can repeat over and over again just by looking at people and seeing how people who had really an insignificance there aren't many wise they're not very many powerful there are not very many rich who are called by God both Jeremiah and Paul say that so that no flesh will glory in his presence so that when God does the work nobody will say well of course he did a work for you look how big you are look how strong you are look how well equipped you are look how eloquent you are look how intelligent you are look how educated you are look how handsome you are you know when you want to look at somebody who is who should have had all the attributes of greatness and you look at King Saul you don't look at King David David was handsome and ruddy but King Saul was head and shoulders above everybody he came from a good family and he was wealthy he was a good looking kind of guy he was a big guy bigger than everybody else everybody say surely the Lord's anointed stands before us this is the king but this is a man disqualified because you had another one a young one by the name of David who couldn't help himself he'd go out into a field and he'd look at the stars and he'd say when I consider the stars the heavens these are worse if your hand he says what is man that thou art mindful of him the son of man that thou should consider him he worshiped God he's a worship of God he was the sweet psalmist of Israel he would write songs and sing praise to God that's the man God can use the one who was sold out to him was he perfect no does God have a way of using even the imperfect absolutely absolutely because when God spoke of David he said this is a man after my own heart Saul's heart was far away from him but not David's this man's heart is after me and that's what God to this day is looking for the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the earth looking for one man whose heart is completely his that he might show himself strong on his behalf God is looking even to this day for people he can use what qualifies you insignificance I am nothing but you are everything I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me in my weakness then I am made strong it's not in my own strength I don't rise up in the strength of mine I rise up in the strength of the Lord and if God before us who can be against us you see so he's looking for that person Jesus himself came from an insignificant Bethlehem now that are little amongst the thousands of Judah it's not that you're exceptionally significant it's that you're insignificant but isn't that the Lord isn't that like the Lord and what's interesting is the word Bethlehem on top of this the word Bethlehem means house of bread that's what Bethlehem means house of bread so from the house of bread comes the bread of life that's the point Jesus in John 651 said I am the living bread which came down from heaven if anyone eats of this bread he will live forever and the bread that I shall give is my flesh which I shall give for the life of the world Jesus the bread of life Jesus is the only source of spiritual nourishment and he is the only way that we can have life so he's saying when you come to me you will never hunger when you come to me you will never thirst again why because Jesus the bread of life will satisfy your every every inner longing he will have you discovered that have you discovered if you haven't you need to have you discovered a lot of Christians haven't that's the reason I'm saying it like this they haven't discovered that Jesus himself satisfies your hunger they haven't discovered that it's Jesus plus in their mind no it's Jesus only Jesus alone Jesus the bread of life the one who nourishes us from the inside if you eat of my flesh and you drink of my blood you will have life within you you will never hunger again and you will never thirst again Jesus said you see that's why when I got saved I don't know what it was like with you but when I got saved I didn't get saved and then two weeks later go out to hear what Buddha had to say I wasn't interested that's why I never went in and looked into Islam I wasn't interested that's why I never visited other religious belief systems to see what they had to contribute wasn't interested why because in Jesus I have everything that I need and that's what Jesus taught us when you come to him you never hunger or thirst again in John 17 verse 3 he said Jesus said this is eternal life that they may know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent in Colossians 2 9 and 10 it says in him in Jesus dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily and you are complete in him who is the head of all principality and power so from the house of bread comes the bread of life notice in verse 2 how he continues and says yet out of you shall come forth to me the one to be ruler in Israel come forth to me gives us the understanding that Messiah was to fulfill God's plan come to me in John 6 48 Jesus said it like this he said I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me in Hebrews 10 verse 7 it reads I said behold I have come in the volume of the book it is written of me to do your will oh God so come forth to me gives us the understanding Messiah comes to fulfill the plan of God he goes on in verse 2 and he says whose goings forth have been from of old from everlasting whose goings forth have come have been from of old his incarnation speaks of his humanity he took upon himself human flesh when he was born in John 1 verse 1 John said in the beginning was the word the word was with God the word was God John 1 14 the word became flesh and dwelt among us we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth beginning was the word and the word became flesh again in Colossians 2 9 once again in Christ the fullness of God lives in human in a human body so he's speaking concerning the fact that Jesus Christ not only is incarnated but he's speaking of his divinity Jesus Christ is God in the flesh in Isaiah 7 14 it reads behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel Emmanuel means God with us or with us God Isaiah 9 6 unto us a child is born unto us a son is given the government will be upon his shoulder his name will be called wonderful counselor mighty God everlasting father and prince of peace so a son is given when it says a son is given that gives us insight into his divinity the child is born speaking of his humanity but the son is given because he's from eternity and that's what he's saying here he said the one to be ruler in Israel who is going forth have been from of old from everlasting Jesus Christ was born took upon himself human flesh but he is God in the flesh and it speaks concerning his goings forth from of old from everlasting now in Psalm 90 verse 2 it reads before the mountains were brought forth or ever you had formed the earth and the world even from everlasting to everlasting you are God now from everlasting to everlasting is an interesting phrase it literally says from the vanishing point in the past to the vanishing point in the future the vanishing point in the past to the vanishing point in the future it's another way of saying you are God with no beginning and with no end J. Vernon McGee said it like this he said just as far back as you can go in your thinking he is God he came out of eternity he is the eternal son of God and that's what Micah is prophesying the one who is to be the ruler is God in the flesh that's what he's saying Jesus in John 16 28 said I came forth from the father and have come into the world again I leave the world and go to the father there was a time when the Lord Jesus Christ was having a conversation a dispute really with some Pharisees some religious leaders and it's recorded in John 8 verses 56 through 59 Jesus said your father Abraham rejoices see my day and he saw it and was glad that you said to him you are not yet 50 years old and have you seen Abraham so they thought he was kind of crazy come on now you're not even 50 years old you're talking about Abraham centuries ago please but Jesus said to them listen to this most assuredly I say to you before Abraham was I am oh they took up stones to throw at him but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple going through the midst of them and so passed by now I've had conversations in the past with uh Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Jesus Christ is the first creation of God you've spoken to Jehovah's Witnesses and if you do they will tell you that they will say to you that Jesus Christ is the first creation of God and so I I will use this scripture before Abraham was I am because when he says I am Ego Emi in Greek he is speaking of the self-existing one this is the identification that Christ this is the identification that we find when God was speaking to Moses when God spoke to Moses and said I am that I am it's the same thing when you look in the in the Old Testament the Old Testament has the Hebrew but it also has what is called the Greek translation also referred to as the Septuagint version when you look in the Septuagint version and you look into the words in the Greek of what is being spoken of there in the book of Exodus chapter three it says Ego Emi it says I am which is the same word that you find in John 8 58 when Jesus says before Abraham was I am what Jesus was doing was declaring himself to be God the God of Abraham and these people understood it that's why they picked up stones to stone him now and when I'm speaking to Jehovah's Witness I'll say Jesus they'll say Jesus is not God I'll say Jesus called himself God no he didn't where do you do that John 8 58 before Abraham was I am they said oh no no no no no he's not claiming to be God I said indeed he is you find that both in the Septuagint you see it in the Greek in the in the New Testament that's exactly what he's saying and I've said this to them I said listen when you look in the law of Moses there are what are called capital offenses and there are various laws in the Old Testament that are capital offenses meaning that the death penalty is enacted when you violate these laws so you can be put to death I say to him for idolatry or for false prophecy you can be put to death for even breaking the Sabbath you can be put to death for for adultery for murder for bestiality for a variety of sins which one of those laws did Jesus violate I said why they wanted to put him to death was because they called him blasphemer earlier in John they said oh we're going to stone you because you being a man made yourself out to be God they made it very clear they said what you are doing is you are claiming to be God himself but guess what that's exactly who Jesus is God in the flesh so Micah is revealing that though he was born in Bethlehem his goings forth are from everlasting he is God who in the beginning created the heavens and the earth you see in John 1 3 speaking of Jesus it says all things were made by him without him was not anything made that was made yeah we know in the first verse when you look in the scriptures in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth the Bible makes it very clear that Jesus is God in the flesh in Colossians 1 16 by him were all things created that are in heaven that are in earth visible and invisible whether they're thrones dominions principalities or powers all things were created by him and for him so Jesus Christ God in the flesh and in this incarnation whose goings forth have been from a volt from everlasting in this God with us we have a savior who is present with us for God took upon himself human flesh and he took upon himself the penalty of my sin Jesus took upon himself my penalty when he went to that cross and he gave up his life for me he said even the Son of man didn't come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many that's what Jesus did for us and so when we're looking here in Micah chapter 5 it is that beautiful prophecy that out of the tartness of judgment that he's speaking where he's speaking of the near judgment when they'll go into Babylonian captivity the yet future judgment when the Lord is dealing with their sin and then when the nations are to attempt to invade Israel and destroy it he's speaking of those things but in the midst of that this light just shines brightly we're saying but all is not lost because God loves you and God will be sending a savior in his name will be Jesus he will be God with you and this is the one whose goings forth are from evolved from everlasting your God loves you so much that he took upon himself human flesh that he might suffer in the way that you suffer that he might die on your behalf so that you could have a relationship with him so in the darkness of judgment a light shines brightly Jesus Christ the true light who lighted every man but a blessing to have a savior named Jesus