"But you, Bethlehem Ephratah, though you be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall He come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel." (Micah 5:2)
If we compare this verse with the rendering that is given in the quotation in the Gospel of Matthew, we shall learn something of what God means by a ruler, and how He rules: "And you Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the princes of Judah; for out of you shall come forth a Governor that shall rule my people Israel." (Matthew 2:6)
The margin has "feed," and the Revision has "be shepherd of," as an equivalent. These two are the same; for the shepherd feeds the sheep; and one or the other of those means must be used here, since the Greek word cannot be rendered "rule." It must be rendered, "He shall feed," or, "He shall shepherd" them.
The translators of our common version evidently had the original passage in Micah in mind, and feared that if they translated Matthew 2:6 literally, it would seem like a contradiction; so they gave us "rule." But there is no need to be afraid to take God's Word just as it reads. There is no contradiction between the text in Micah and the quotation in Matthew; we simply learn that God's idea of ruling is that of feeding.
God is Ruler of the universe; He is King over all; yet: "Jehovah is my Shepherd." (Psalm 23:1)
Christ is "that great Shepherd of the sheep." (Hebrews 13:20)
Earthly rulers expect to be supported by those over whom they rule; God himself supports all His subjects; indeed, His rule consists in feeding them, acting as Shepherd, leading them by still waters and in green pastures. "He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside still waters." (Psalm 23:2)
He does not rule them and feed them, but His feeding of them is His ruling. Jesus said: "I am the good Shepherd; the good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep." (John 10:11)
So the Ruler feeds His people with His own body. What a foolish choice Israel made when they rejected God as their Ruler, and desired a king like the heathen round them! God warned them, saying, "He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. ... And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your olive yards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your sheep: and you shall be his servants." (1 Samuel 8:11,13-17)
Contrast this with Christ, "Who gave himself for us." (Titus 2:14)
The earthly king took of his subjects for himself; the heavenly King gives himself for His subjects. It is a poor exchange that men have made; but there is still opportunity for us to change back, and to accept as our Ruler the One who gave himself for us, and who rules only by virtue of His life in us, upon which we are to feed that we may live. For our king is: "The Bread of Life." (John 6:35)
He came forth out of Bethlehem--the "house of bread."
What wonderful fitness! He is the corn that fell into the earth to die, that He might bear much fruit. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone: but if it die, it brings forth much fruit." (John 12:24)
He was bruised and crushed for us. As the Bread of Life, His body was and is broken for us, that we may eat, and be "filled with all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:19) "This is the Bread which came down from heaven, not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead; he that eats of this bread shall live for ever." (John 6:58)
Yet the manna was bread from heaven. "Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. ... And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they knew not what it was." (Exodus 16:4,15)
Spiritual meat, even Christ's body, which is the true food "For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed." (John 6:55), was given to the children of Israel in the wilderness, and eaten by them. "And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ." (1 Corinthians 10:3-4)
Nevertheless they died. "With many of them God was not well pleased; for they were overthrown in the wilderness." (Hebrews 3:17)
Wherefore? Because they did not eat in faith. It was because of unbelief, that they could not enter the promised land, but died in the wilderness. "And to whom swore He that they should not enter into His rest, but to them that believed not? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief." (Hebrews 3:18-19) "They believed not in God, and trusted not in His salvation; Though He had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven, And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven. Man did eat angels' food." (Psalm 78:22-25)
This Bread of Life is given to us, that we may eat, and not die: "This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die." (John 6:50)
Yet if the man who eats of Him does not believe, he will certainly die. "And he that doubts is damned if he eat, because he eats not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin." (Romans 14:23) "For he that eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep." (1 Corinthians 11:29-30) "He that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (John 3:18)
So he who does not eat of Christ in faith, discerning His body, is the same as though he did not eat. It is therefore only by faith that we really and truly eat of the Bread of Life; and: "The just shall live by faith." (Romans 1:17)
So he who truly eats the Bread of life will live for ever. The children of Israel died because they lusted after evil things. "But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted." (1 Corinthians 10:5-6)
They said, "There is nothing at all, beside this manna before our eyes," (Numbers 11:6) and, "Our soul loathes this light bread." (Numbers 21:5)
That shows that they did not believe that the manna was the body of Christ,--bread from heaven,--for if they had believed it, they would have been satisfied with it. "[Men are] abundantly satisfied with the fatness of God's house." (Psalm 36:8)
But it can never be taken except by faith. If one does not discern the Lord's body, he gets no real and lasting benefit from it.
Three different events are set before us in the Scriptures, to enable us to discern the body of Christ:
1. We have read of the manna in the desert, and are told that it was bread form heaven--spiritual food.
2. The same night that Jesus was betrayed, He took bread,--the pure, unleavened bread that was upon the table at the Passover meal,--and, after giving thanks, said, "This is my body." (1 Corinthians 11:24)
3. Here we have Christ's testimony to the effect that pure food is His own body, and that in eating it we are feeding upon Him.
On at least two occasions he had miraculously fed some thousands of hungry people with a very small portion of good. There was not bread enough for all to get a crumb, yet all were filled. Where did the bread come from? Evidently from His own body. He did not at that time say anything (although He did the next day); yet no words would have made it clearer, that it was from the body of Christ that the multitude ate that day; for they saw it demonstrated.
God gave the children of Israel manna in the desert, in order that they might "know that man does not live by bread only, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord does man live." (Deuteronomy 8:3)
In eating it, therefore, they were eating the Word of God. Why does God feed us? What is the real object of eating? "That we may live," someone will say.
That is true; but in saying that, we must not forget that: "God is our life and the length of our days." (Deuteronomy 30:20) "[Only] in Him do we live." (Acts 17:28)
It would be possible, as has been proved on occasion, for God to keep us alive without our eating; but if that were done, we should have no visible proof that we do not have life in ourselves. In taking food, however, which we are obliged to do regularly, we have the proof constantly before us, that we have no life in ourselves, but must receive it daily from God, who feeds His flock with His own life. Food is given to us in order that we may know God, and not forget His benefits.
The rulers of the Jews--the princes of this world--crucified the Lord of glory, because they did not know Him. "Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." (1 Corinthians 2:8)
They did not discern, under the veil of human flesh, the body of Christ. If they had, they could not have crucified Him. Their ignorance was their sin, but there was forgiveness for it if they repented, and accepted Him.
Can we be guilty of the same sin? Certainly. How? By not discerning Christ's body, under the veil of the food that he provides for us daily. "Whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. ... For he that eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body." (1 Corinthians 11:27,29)
Whoever eats bread, not simply on the set occasions when the Lord's Supper is formally eaten, but at any time, and does not discern the Lord's body--His life in it, given to us that we may have life with which to serve Him, is guilty of the death of Christ just as certainly as were the rulers of the Jews.
Just a moment's thought will make this clear. For example: If I am seen taking a man into my house, and the house is watched, but the man is never seen to come out again, I shall be charged with murdering him. There will be strong presumptive evidence of it, and the finding of his body will prove it.
Well now, when we eat the daily bread that God provides us, we take His body, His life. That is plainly to be seen. That puts us under obligation to let His life appear in our bodies, and to control us; for He alone has the right and power to live His own life.
But if we do not discern the fact that we are taking His life in the food that He gives us, we shall not yield ourselves to it. We shall assume that the life that we have is our own, to use as we please. Thus we take Christ in, but He is not seen again. We take His life, and bury Him. We are thus guilty of His death. That is a terrible thing.
Let us not do so anymore. We do not need to. Christ lives. He may be, and should be, and is, crucified in us: but if we confess Him--if we confess that: "Christ is come in the flesh," (1 John 4:2) and then, "believe in our heart that God has raised Him from the dead," (Romans 10:9) and so allow Him to live in us by the power of the resurrection, we shall continually eat righteousness and life and salvation. "[He] is made unto us ... righteousness." (1 Corinthians 1:30)
And, "They who hunger and thirst after righteousness ... shall be filled." (Matthew 5:6)
Oh, "Receive not the grace of God in vain!" (2 Corinthians 6:1)--Present Truth, November 30, 1899--Original title: Front Page--Timeline: I-5 (Visit of the Magi)--Matthew 2:6.