The future Ruler will be born in Bethlehem
5
📚Now gather yourself in troops, O daughter of troops.
He has laid siege against us.
They will strike the judge of Israel 📖
on the cheek with a rod.
5:1 The scene in this verse seems to be the city of Jerusalem.⚜
2 📚“But you, Bethlehem Ephratah,
though you are little among
the thousands of Judah,
yet out of you will come forth
to me the one who is to be
ruler in Israel.
His goings forth 📖 are
from of old, from everlasting”.
5:2 God speaks through the prophet. “Ephratah” was the area where Bethlehem was located – Ruth 1:2; 4:11; 1 Sam 17:12. Bethlehem was a small town about 10 kilometers south of Jerusalem.⚜
3 📚Therefore he will give them up 📖,
until the time that
she who travails has given birth.
Then the remnant of his brethren
will return to the children of Israel.
4 📚And 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 remain,
for now he will be great to the ends
of the earth 📖.
5 📚And this man will be
our peace 📖.
When the Assyrian 📖 comes
into our land,
and when he treads in our palaces,
then we will raise against him
seven shepherds,
and eight leaders of men.
6 📚And they will waste the land
of Assyria 📖 with the sword,
and the land of Nimrod 📖
at its entrances.
And he will deliver 📖 us
from the Assyrian,
when he comes into our land,
and when he treads within
our borders.
Israel, delivered from idolatry, will conquer its enemies
7 📚And the remnant of Jacob 📖 will be
in the midst of many peoples
like a dew 📖 from the LORD,
like showers on the grass,
which do not delay for man,
or wait for the sons of men.
8 📚And the remnant of Jacob will be
among the Gentiles in the midst
of many peoples,
like a lion among the beasts
of the forest,
like a young lion among the flocks
of sheep, which, passing through,
both tramples down and tears in pieces,
with no one to rescue.
9 📚Your hand will be lifted up against
your foes, and all your enemies
will be cut off.
5:8-9 These verses signify a victory of the people of Israel not yet seen on earth.⚜
10 📚“And it will come to pass in that day”,
says the LORD,
“that I will cut off your horses
from among you, and destroy
your chariots,
11 📚And I will destroy the cities
of your land, and tear down
all your strongholds.
12 📚And I will destroy witchcraft
from your hand, and you will have
no more soothsayers.
13 📚I will also destroy your carved
images, and your sacred pillars
from your midst,
and you will no longer worship
the work of your hands.
14 And I will uproot your sacred groves 📖
from your midst, and destroy
your cities.
5:10-14 These are all things in which Israel trusted after forsaking God. God will destroy all these things so that Israel might trust in Him alone.⚜
15 📚And I will execute vengeance 📖
in anger and fury on the nations
which have not obeyed me”.