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DECEMBER 13 8 "You, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler of Israel ..." —Micah 5:2 O ver the centuries, Bethlehem witnessed the worst and the best of history. At a time when there was no king in Israel, a Levite took a concubine from Bethlehem and gave her to sinful men who abused her to the point of death. During the same era, Bethlehem experienced a famine so severe that Elimelech, Naomi, and their sons left in search of food in Moab. Over the centuries, Bethlehem became a place of grief and mourning. Rachel, Izban, Asahel, and many others were buried in Bethlehem. However, during the time of the united monarchy, God began to redeem the reputation of Bethlehem. He sent the prophet Samuel to Jesse of Bethlehem to find the young man who would become king over His people: David. This king, identified as a man after God's own heart, became an important link in the lineage of the Messiah. In the eighth century BC, the prophet Micah declared, "You, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler of Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times. Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor bears a son. … He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God" (Mic. 5:2–4). Matthew and John both refer to this prophecy and confirm that the divine Ruler and Shepherd of Israel indeed came down from heaven to this little town of Bethlehem. Bethlehem, a place once known for its dark history, witnessed the glory of God through the advent of a celestial choir of angels, the visit of curious shepherds from surrounding fields, the love of a young Jewish couple who believed God's promise, and most of all, through the birth of the divine child, Jesus. Two thousand years later, we still remember the little town of Bethlehem, that special place God chose to send His Son, Jesus, as the Redeemer and Savior of humanity. Bethlehem was never the same after the birth of Jesus. To this day, multitudes from all nations gather in Bethlehem to see the golden star in the Church of the Nativity, the traditional place of the birth of Jesus. God sure knows how to turn small and insignificant places into great and important places. With Jesus in our lives, we also have been transformed from small and insignificant into great and important—we are now the temples of the Living God. May His glory shine out of our lives increasingly every day, especially as we remember His coming to the little town of Bethlehem. Hélène Dallaire, PhD Professor of Old Testament and Director of Messianic Judaism Program O Little Town of Bethlehem