You would think that the Messiah would have been destined to be born in Jerusalem.

At Mount Zion, in the Holy City, the place that David had established,

it's the Central Sanctuary and the capital of the whole nation.

Instead, it's Bethlehem.

It was a tale of no consequence.

No one famous lived there and no one famous was from there.

Yet Bethlehem was the small village that God chose to be the birthplace of the long-promised Messiah.

Welcome to Renewing Your Mind on this Friday, Thighly Web.

Today, R.C. Sproul will take us on a guided tour through Scripture to introduce us to this inconspicuous place that became the host to a great king.

We've been looking at some of the more famous Old Testament prophecies that look forward to the birth of the Messiah,

and thinking about them as we rapidly approach the celebration of Christmas itself.

And one of my favorite Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah is one that's found in a somewhat obscure portion of one of the lesser known of the Messiah.

It's found in the book of Micah.

Let's turn to Micah now today to the 5th chapter beginning at verse 1, the book of Micah, chapter 5, verse 1.

We read these words.

Now gather yourself in troops, O daughter of troops, he has laid siege against us, and they will strike the judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek.

Here this chapter opens with an announcement of doom, an announcement of judgment that is coming upon the land where the land will be attacked and afflicted by the Messiah.

It's an announcement of judgment and afflicted and smitten.

But in the midst of this prophecy of judgment comes a clause that is an accepted clause that is it pronounces a kind of however a little breath of fresh air and a brief statement of good moods.

It says, but you Bethlehem Ephraedah.

So you be 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 are from of old from everlasting.

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