And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David). Luke 2:4
As a child, I always wanted to visit the town of Bethlehem. It seemed like such a wonderful place. If you sing the song, named after this peaceful town, I bet you would want to go too!
Who wouldn’t want to go to a town that is quiet with beautiful stars lighting up the sky? The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.
What else happened in the Bible in Bethlehem? Well, actually a lot! We first hear about Bethlehem in the book of Ruth. It is a sad story that turned out to have a very happy ending. Naomi had a husband and two sons. He husband died and then both of her sons died and she was left with two daughter in laws and no men to take care of them. Naomi was from Bethlehem and she told the daughter in laws, Ruth and Oprah, to go back to their people. She was going to Bethlehem. Oprah went back to her family, but Ruth stayed with Naomi. In a beautiful song, Ruth told Naomi that where Naomi goes, Ruth will follow. Don’t worry, everything turns out okay. Ruth meets Boaz, a very wealthy landowner and they fall in love. Naomi and Ruth were saved from poverty in the little town of Bethlehem. You have to read the book of Ruth in the Old Testament. It is one of my favorites!
King David was anointed by the prophet Samuel in, you guessed it, Bethlehem! David was Ruth and Boaz’s great grandson, so he was born in Bethlehem. He watched over his father, Jesse’s flocks of sheep just outside of town. One day, God told Samuel that one of Jesse’s sons was going to rule over Israel, so Samuel called Jesse and his sons to see which one God had chosen for this very important job. Jesse presented his sons one at a time, and each time, God said no. Finally Samuel asked Jesse if he had any more sons and Jesse said yes. His youngest son was watching his sheep. Samual said, bring him to me right now. When David was presented to Samuel, God said, that’s the one, anoint him right now. So David was anointed in Bethlehem and became a great ruler. He had his problems, but God was still able to use him. Read the books of Samuel to find out more about this exciting time in the Old Testament.
Then we sweep over to the New Testament and find a baby born in a stable because there was no room in the Inn. That stable was in Bethlehem. Joseph had to go to Bethlehem to be counted in the census. Basically to be taxed, because Joseph was related to David.
The birth of Jesus happened in the little town of Bethlehem
The Christmas story of the baby born in the little town of Bethlehem is just the beginning. This little baby was sent to die for our sins…he did nothing wrong! It is so fitting that he was born in a little town, in a stable, without a lot of pomp. He was a humble savior, God’s only son. Today we give thanks to God for this little baby and for Bethlehem. What a wonderful little town!
The beautiful story of the birth of Jesus can be found in Luke 2 and Matthew 1&2 . Happy second week of Advent!