The Child Who Was Promised: The King Is Coming
“But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”
Micah 5:2
There is something beautiful about the way Scripture tells the story of Jesus long before Bethlehem ever became the place where He would be born. Before Mary held Him in her arms, before shepherds heard angels announce His birth, before wise men followed a star, God had already spoken.
The King was coming.
And He would not come from the place people might have expected. He would come from Bethlehem, a small and seemingly insignificant town in Judah. Micah even points out how little Bethlehem was among the thousands of Judah. Yet from this little place would come a Ruler whose existence did not begin in Bethlehem. His “goings forth” were “from of old, from everlasting.”
That is the mystery we begin to see more clearly as we follow these echoes through the Old Testament. Jesus did not simply appear in history. His coming had been woven into God's story from the beginning.
The suffering Servant we saw in Isaiah 53 was not the end of the story. The One who would be rejected, wounded and led like a lamb to the slaughter was also the promised King.
The cross was coming, but so was the crown.
And long before either one stood before our eyes, God was telling us that the King was coming.
A King unlike any other
Isaiah gives us another glimpse of this promised Child:
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder.”
Isaiah 9:6
Think about that for a moment.
A child would be born.
A Son would be given.
And the government would rest upon His shoulders.
God was not merely promising the birth of another ruler who would sit on an earthly throne for a limited number of years. He was pointing toward a King whose authority would be completely different from every earthly kingdom.
Isaiah continues:
“And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”
These names reveal something about the Child who was coming. He would not simply bring wisdom. He would be Wonderful Counselor. He would not merely represent God. He would be called Mighty God. He would not simply rule over people. He would bring peace.
And then Isaiah tells us something else about His kingdom:
“Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.”
No end.
Earthly kingdoms rise and fall. Leaders come and go. Crowns are passed from one generation to another. Nations change. Governments change. What seems permanent today can disappear tomorrow.
But the kingdom of Jesus is not temporary.
His reign does not depend upon the strength of an army, the size of a nation, or the approval of people. His kingdom does not rise and fall with the changing circumstances of the world.
The King is coming, and His kingdom will have no end.
God chose what looked small
I love that God chose Bethlehem.
It reminds me that God has never needed something to look impressive before He can use it.
Bethlehem was little. It was not the center of political power. It was not Jerusalem. It was not a place that would have seemed significant enough to become the birthplace of the Messiah.
But God saw what others could not see.
And isn't that often how He works?
We tend to look at what is visible. God looks at what He is accomplishing.
We look at size. God looks at surrender.
We look at influence. God looks at obedience.
We look at what seems insignificant. God sees what He has already purposed.
Bethlehem may have looked small, but God's promise was anything but small.
Sometimes we can feel a little like Bethlehem. We may wonder whether our lives matter, whether the things we do in quiet places count, or whether God could really bring something significant out of something that feels ordinary.
But Bethlehem reminds us that significance is not determined by appearance.
God can place eternity inside what looks small.
The promise was bigger than the manger
When we think about the birth of Jesus, it is easy to become captivated by the manger.
There is something tender about the picture. A young mother. A newborn baby. Shepherds coming to see Him. Angels announcing His arrival.
But the manger was never the destination.
The baby in the manger was the promised King.
That changes the way we see Christmas.
Jesus did not come simply to make a beautiful entrance into the world. He came with a purpose. He came because God had made a promise. He came because humanity needed a Savior. He came because the kingdom of God was breaking into our world.
The Child was born, but He was also the Son who was given.
And that word matters.
Given.
God gave His Son.
The One who would eventually stretch His hands toward a cross first came into the world through the helplessness of a baby.
The King who would one day be crowned with thorns first lay in a manger.
The One whose kingdom would have no end entered the world quietly, humbly and without earthly recognition.
There is something about the way Jesus came that confronts our ideas of greatness.
He did not arrive with earthly power on display.
He came low.
He came humble.
He came near.
The King brings peace
Isaiah called Him the Prince of Peace.
Not simply someone who talks about peace. Not someone who encourages us to find peace within ourselves. He is the Prince of Peace.
And we desperately need the kind of peace only He can give.
The world can offer temporary relief. Circumstances can change. Problems can resolve. A good day can make us feel peaceful for a little while.
But the peace Jesus brings reaches deeper than circumstances.
It is peace with God.
It is peace for the heart that has been carrying fear.
It is peace for the person who does not know what tomorrow will hold.
It is peace when the answer has not come yet.
It is peace when life does not look anything like we thought it would.
Jesus never promised that following Him would mean we would never face trouble. In fact, He told His disciples plainly that they would have trouble in this world. But He also told them, “Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33
That is the peace of the King.
Not the promise that nothing will ever go wrong.
The promise that nothing is outside His authority.
His kingdom begins differently
Jesus would eventually tell Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world.”
John 18:36
And that is exactly what Isaiah's prophecy helps us understand.
Jesus came as King, but His kingdom does not operate according to the rules of earthly kingdoms.
Earthly kingdoms often measure greatness by power, position and influence.
Jesus taught His followers that greatness looks different.
He told them that whoever would be great among them must become a servant.
That is the King we see in Jesus.
The King who kneels.
The King who washes feet.
The King who welcomes children.
The King who touches the untouchable.
The King who eats with sinners.
The King who forgives.
The King who lays down His life.
The King who conquers not by destroying His enemies, but by giving Himself for them.
And suddenly Isaiah 9 and Isaiah 53 begin to stand beside each other.
The promised Child is the suffering Servant.
The King is the One who would be pierced.
The One who would reign is the One who would first lay down His life.
The crown and the cross were never separate stories.
They were always part of the same promise.
The King is still coming
There is another beautiful layer to this promise.
Jesus came once as a baby in Bethlehem.
He came to live among us, to reveal the Father, to fulfill Scripture, to give His life and to rise again.
But Scripture also points us toward a day when the King will come again.
The first time, He came in humility.
One day, He will come in glory.
The first time, He was laid in a manger.
One day, every knee will bow before Him.
The first time, there was no room for Him.
One day, all creation will acknowledge His reign.
The story did not end in Bethlehem.
And it did not end at the cross.
The King is coming.
That is why our hope is not anchored in what we see around us. Our hope is anchored in the One who was promised, the One who came, the One who conquered death, and the One whose kingdom will never end.
What does this mean for us?
It means we can trust God's promises even when we cannot yet see how they will unfold.
Micah spoke of Bethlehem long before Mary and Joseph traveled there. Isaiah spoke of the Child long before shepherds gathered around Him. Generation after generation waited for what God had promised.
And then, in the fullness of time, Jesus came.
God had not forgotten.
He had not changed His mind.
He had not lost control of the story.
He was working all along.
Maybe you are waiting on something right now.
Maybe you have prayed the same prayer more times than you can count. Maybe you are wondering why God has not answered yet. Maybe the promise seems impossible from where you are standing.
The story of Bethlehem reminds us that God's silence is not the same thing as God's absence.
His promises do not become less true simply because we are still waiting to see them fulfilled.
Bethlehem teaches us to trust the God who sees the whole story when we can only see one page.
The Child was promised.
The Child came.
The King is Jesus.
And His kingdom will have no end.
That is the echo ringing through the pages of Scripture.
From Bethlehem to Calvary, from the manger to the empty tomb, we see the faithfulness of a God who keeps His promises.
The King came exactly as God said He would.
And that gives us reason to trust Him with everything He has promised us still.
Prayer
Father, thank You for being a God who keeps Your promises. Thank You that long before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, You had already declared that the King was coming. Thank You for the Child who was given, the Savior who came near, and the King whose kingdom will never end.
Help us trust You when we are waiting. When Your promises seem far away and we cannot see what You are doing, remind us that You are never late and You are never absent. Give us the faith to trust what You have spoken even when we cannot yet see the fulfillment.
Jesus, You are our Wonderful Counselor, our Mighty God, our Prince of Peace. Teach us to recognize Your kingdom in our lives and to surrender every part of ourselves to Your rule.
Thank You that the story did not end in Bethlehem. Thank You that it did not end at the cross. Thank You that Jesus came, that He conquered death, and that one day He will come again.
Until that day, help us live with our eyes fixed on You.
Amen.
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