| From
the Church on the Hill
by D. Eric Williams Pastor, Cottonwood Community Church pastor@cottonwoodcommunitychurch.org Micah who wrote concerning little Bethlehem and the everlasting ruler who would come from that town, was a prophet who spoke the word of the Lord in the days of "Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem" (Micah 1:1). And Micah said that out of Bethlehem would come an everlasting ruler in Israel. The history of the founding of this town is unclear but it seems that it was established as an Israelite town by either Caleb or a son of Caleb named Salma. He is described as a father of Bethlehem. Also Hur - a contemporary of Moses and in fact a craftsman of Moses who worked on the tabernacle - is also described as a father of Bethlehem. It seems that Hur is the forefather of those who established Bethlehem as an Israelite town. Nevertheless, Bethlehem Ephratha (Bethlehem means "House of Bread" and Ephratha means "place of fruitfulness"), has a long history which predates the Israelite occupation of Canaan. We read about Jacob and his burial of Rachel after she died a little distance from Ephrath when he "buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is Bethlehem)" (Genesis 48:7). Yet it is not until the time of David that Bethlehem looms large in the history of Israel. Bethlehem is the genesis point for the Davidic line. It is in Bethlehem that the love story of Ruth and Boaz takes place - the parents of Obed, grandparents of Jesse and great grandparents of King David. It is also where Samuel anointed David as King. Of course it is the region wherein David practiced his trade as a shepherd. One interesting point concerning the town of Bethlehem is that tradition tells us that the descendants of Hur pursued the trade of weavers. As you recall Hur was a chief craftsman of Moses who was skilled in metal work, embroidery and indeed almost every type of handiwork. Well, the ancient tradition suggests that his descendants - including Jesse - were weavers. This gives a bit of color - if you will - to the description of Goliath's spear as being as large as a weavers beam. The reason David wasn't a weaver was because the older sons would have taken over the family business and left David with the dregs, thus leaving him with the unenviable position of caring for the sheep. During the reign of Saul, Bethlehem was occupied by a Philistine garrison. As you recall, it was during this time that David longed for a drink of water from the well of Bethlehem. In response, three of the mighty men - Adino, Eleazar and Shammah - broke through the Philistine lines and brought the water back to David. He refused to drink it however because it represented (so to speak), the blood of the men who had gone to get the water at the risk of their lives. I don't know about you, but I would have been insistent that David drink the water. After all if I risked my life to get someone a particular cup of well water I would be pleased as punch if they actually enjoyed the gift. Later, Bethlehem was fortified by Rehoboam son of Solomon. Nonetheless the city remained very small. Indeed, after the exile there only 123 to 188 "children of Bethlehem" returned (Ezra 2:21, Nehemiah 7:26). In the days of Constantine a church was founded on the spot where Jesus was supposedly born. This took place in about A.D. 330. And apparently Bethlehem remains largely Christian to this day. Of course it is the place where the wise men found Jesus - as a toddler - in a house. It is also the site of the massacre of the innocents perpetuated by King Herod in his zeal to eliminate any claimant to the throne of Israel. We assume that this resulted in the death of probably 25 to 50 baby boys from birth to two years of age based upon the supposed size of the town. So, out of little Bethlehem... |
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