“O little town of Bethlehem,
How still we see thee lie;
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep,
The silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight.”
Little Bethlehem. Rachel was buried there. Ruth met Boaz there. David was anointed there. And Micah prophesied that “though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times . . .. He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. And he will be their peace.” [Micah 5;1-5]
Little Bethlehem. The hopes and fears of all the years were brought together one night in little Bethlehem. The words of the prophet were fulfilled when a young woman gave birth to a son, a son whose origins are from old, from ancient times. She would call Him Jesus, and He would become the apex of time and eternity.
Little Bethlehem. To this little town would come the King of all the ages, the Everlasting One who would sit on David’s throne to rule the nations, the Son of God, Son of Man. All that had come before looked forward to this King; all that would come after would look back to Him.
“Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light. The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.”
