OnFire 171 O Little Town of Bethlehem

Hi Folks:

Only 8 more days to go until Christmas. We had our Sunday school concert last Sunday and my mother and step-father came over to visit. That’s one of the beauties of our move this year. We are within an hour-and-a-half of both sets of parents. Mark’s class did a drama and he was a grandfather. Ian’s class sang. Both classes did a good job. The practice is always a little scary, but on the night of the performance it always seems to come together.

Please continue to pray for our friend Dwayne. He was diagnosed this Fall with a brain tumour and treatment is proving difficult. He is married to Sandra and they have two children.

This week we look at Bethlehem as we look into the message of Christmas.

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This week I went digging into the details of Bethlehem. This little town is at the centre of the Christmas events, but how much do we know? Some of the details about this little town help us to understand the Christmas events and their significance for us.

Bethlehem was one of the oldest towns of the Bible. We see it first in Genesis 35, and discover that Rachel was buried while travelling there. Rachel was one of Jacob’s wives, and died after giving birth to Benjamin. There is actually a place in Bethlehem that pilgrims have visited for hundreds of years which many believe is the site of her grave. Search “Rachel’s Tomb” on the internet to find out more.

Imagine if you were Joseph and Mary and you had heard that story from the time you were children. Were they nervous about what might happen as she went into labour? We can only speculate. But we are reminded that past events do not always predict future events. We often worry unnecessarily because of what has happened to us in the past.

Bethlehem was only five or six miles from Jerusalem. Because it was so close to the city, and there was good pasture land nearby, many of the temple’s sheep were kept there until they were taken for sacrifice. In fact, the rabbis taught that any sheep found in the area had to be assumed to be for the temple.

It is important, then, that the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (as John the Baptist called him in John 1:29) was born among the sheep in Bethlehem. When the sheep went to the feeding trough in the morning, they saw the Lamb. The site of Bethlehem was no accident.

Bethlehem was the place where God promised the Messiah would be born. In Micah 5:2 we can read the prediction for ourselves. There was about 700 years between the prophecy and the fulfillment. This tells us that God keeps his word and never forgets.

We tend to think God forgets us. In this way, we think God is like us, only much bigger. But His memory is not like mine. I like to think mine is OK, but it is not perfect, and sometimes I forget things. In fact, I rely heavily on my electronic devices to keep my appointments. No, God is not like us. He never forgets us, even though we might be tempted to think we have been forgotten.

Finally, there is the census that brought Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem. Normally a census was held every 14 years. Somehow the census did not happen when it should have. We do not know the historical reasons for this. Perhaps Herod had some flexibility to conduct it. In any case, Mary and Joseph travelled from their home in Nazareth at the right time so that Jesus would be born in the place of the prophecy.

We are tempted to think that the events of our day have no meaning or purpose. We look at the news and we wonder what is going on. We look at our circumstances and ponder why things are happening as they are.

Bethlehem reminds us that God has power over history. Where we see nothing but worry and trouble, God may be working to bring something of much more value and significance. We only see our little part of the picture. God sees the whole canvass, and we need to trust that God knows what He is doing.

Hope this helps. Be on fire.

Troy

OnFire is a weekly letter on faith and character written by Troy Dennis. This letter published Dec 17, 2008. To subscribe or reply, email him at onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com