A Little Town With a Big ImpactParaugs

The light seemed to be fading in Judah. The enemy had attacked, and without the Lord on their side as in the past, tiny Judah was no match for the mighty Babylonians. Darkness seemed all but inevitable.

But then, the promise came from God through the prophet Micah. A king would come. Not just any king, but One Who would be everlasting.

Only a few pages from where we read Micah’s prophecy in Scripture, we find a man named Joseph in Luke 2:4. Due to the decree from Caesar, he was heading to his hometown to be taxed. Accompanied by his very pregnant wife, Mary, he journeyed to the City of David, Bethlehem Ephratah.

Interestingly enough, there was a town called Bethlehem only six miles to the north of where Joseph lived in Nazareth. Bethlehem Zebulon was in a small but fruitful region of northern Israel. This was the Bethlehem of the northern kingdom of Israel, Bethlehem in the Galilee.

Micah had predicted that Messiah would come through the southern Bethlehem, the Bethlehem of Judah, the home of King David.

A small town with no crossroads, no resources, and not strategic by any means.

Overlooked in the list of cities.

Just a small, quiet, shepherding community.

To this small, unassuming town traveled a weary couple—one couple among hundreds returning for Caesar’s census and taxation. What seemed like an enormous burden at the moment was actually a turning point in history. God was using a government decree to move Joseph and Mary to the very town where Jesus, the Messiah, was predicted to be born—and would be born.

Perhaps this Christmas season, changes are taking place in your life, and you cannot understand why. Know that nothing can happen to you that has not passed through the loving hands of your Almighty Father. He will never leave you or forsake you.