“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, although you are small among the tribes of Judah, from you will come forth for Me one who will be ruler over Israel. His origins are from of old, from ancient days.”

— Micah 5:2

Before Jesus was born, there were hundreds of texts found in the Old Testament describing His birth and life and ministry and passion and death and resurrection. There is nothing vaguely like this anywhere else in the world.

We find many of these prophecies in Isaiah; so much so, that some have called it the Gospel of Isaiah. And yet it was written seven hundred and some years before Jesus Christ was born. Absolutely phenomenal! This is proof positive the Scriptures were inspired by Almighty God, who alone knows the end from the beginning and all things that will come to pass.

The Bible tells us the name of the very town where Jesus would be born, as we see in Micah 5:2. There were two Bethlehems. This particular one is spelled out: Ephrathah.

Some might say, “Jesus lived there for only a couple of years, at most. What about the fact that He grew up in Nazareth, and, furthermore, that He did most of His ministry out of Capernaum on the coast of the Sea of Galilee, and not in Bethlehem? Why doesn’t the Old Testament say anything about Nazareth?” There is one good reason: No such city existed when Isaiah lived and didn’t for several hundred more years.

God of heaven and earth, we thank You for the prophecies that show us so clearly Your foreknowledge and omniscience. Thank You for sending Your only Son, and telling us about it, hundreds of years before it came to pass…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN
SEE AND KNOW THE TRUTH.