Micah 5:2 – But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.
His goings forth are from long ago,
From the days of eternity.
This scripture had to baffle the people who lived during the Old Testament period. It was strange enough to have such a specific prophesy about the coming of the Messiah being born in Bethlehem, but to describe one who has lived from eternity actually being the Messiah is not even possible to comprehend. How could He be born in Bethlehem when He has lived from eternity? The only answer to that is the two natures of Christ. He is the Son of God, the only begotten from eternity. At the same time He is the Son of Man born of a virgin in Bethlehem. For us looking back it is an astonishing prophesy, for many living before it served as a stumbling block. Here is how Matthew Henry describes it.
“His existence from eternity, as God: his goings forth, or emanations, like the going forth of the rays of the sun, were, or have been, of old, from everlasting. This, according to Dr. Pocock, is so significant a description of Christ’s eternal generation, or his origin as the Son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds, that this prophecy must belong only to him and could never be used to describe any other being. It certainly speaks of an origin that was already past when the prophet spoke; it cannot be read any other way than his “outgoings have been”; the putting together of both these words — the one translated of old, and the other, from everlasting — each of which is used individually to refer to eternity, clearly shows that they must be taken in the strictest sense here — the same as Ps 90:2: From everlasting to everlasting thou art God…”
This revelation of the “Word that became flesh” is the astonishing reality of Christmas. The One whose goings forth are from the days of eternity became a human child. This is the greatest of all stories and serves as the most important moment in human history. God became a man in Bethlehem, suffered and died for our sins as a man, rose from the dead as a man, and is glorified today in heaven as a man. That’s why Christmas is such an amazing celebration, the Son of God became a man in Bethlehem.
