The Forgotten Story of Christmas

God has a way of using lasting images to make a point – Isaac saved from the blade of Abraham; 5,000 people fed by the gift of a young boy; the Gift of Heaven hanging on a cross for you and me.  Christmas is certainly filled with those awe-inspiring images we know and love.  Lowly shepherds pointed to the manger by an angelic messenger; wise men following a star to offer gifts for the newly-born Priest-King; and that Little Baby Boy napping in a place made for animals instead of the King of Glory.[i]

While we sing tales of that night in Bethlehem, there is a little-known prophecy that makes the realities of Jesus’ birth that much more amazing.  The prophet, Micah, foretold the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem in this passage:

“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 are from of old, From everlasting.”  (Micah 5:2)

Yet a few verses earlier, Micah shared a truth that I doubt you’ve ever heard:

…So the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion From now on, even forever.  And you, O tower of the flock (Migdal Eder) [זה מגדל in Hebrew], the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, to you shall it come, even the former dominion shall come, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.”  (Micah 4:7-8)

Bethlehem was a special place because the lambs raised in the hills north of there were destined for sacrifice in the temple in Jerusalem.  Migdal Eder was a watchtower just north of Bethlehem that allowed the shepherds to keep an eye out for threats to the flock.  When lambs were to be born, the ewes were brought in from the fields and kept in the cave at the tower’s base, which essentially became a birthing station for sacrificial lambs.  After inspecting the lambs to assure they were unblemished and fit for sacrifice, shepherds, like those in our Christmas story, would bind the newborn lambs with rags, or swaddling cloths, and place them in a manger to keep them calm and free from harm. 

If you re-read Luke 2, you’ll notice the angel only instructed the shepherds: “You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”  God offered the magi a star; He only gave the shepherds a general location!  While they likely wondered WHY Jesus would be born in a place and manner reserved for sacrificial lambs, they didn’t have to think very hard about WHERE to find Him.  Because there was only one manger where sacrificial lambs were laid – the cave under the Tower of Eder.

Those blessed shepherds found the Baby where they expected, and discovered more than they had ever hoped.  They beheld the Lamb of God who would take away their sin.[ii]  They were awed by the Star of Jacob.[iii]  That’s what happens when we seek after Jesus.  We encounter all the love and light and hope and life we could ever imagine.  All found in the lovely face of that precious Child.  The One is the manger at Migdal Eder.

May you find what you really seek this Christmas.

Jacob

---

[i] Psalm 24

[ii] John 1:29

[iii] Numbers 24:17