CHAPTER 2

From Micah.

(341) Of the Place of the Birth of the God fore-announced, and how He will come forth from Bethlehem, a Town of Palestine, being from Eternity, as Governor of the Race of the Holy, and how it is foretold that the Lord will feed them that have believed in Him unto the Ends of the Earth.

[Passage quoted, Micah v. 2-6.]

EMMANUEL, which is interpreted God with us, has been clearly shewn in the passages quoted to have been born of (b) the Virgin, and the Angel of Great Counsel to have become a child. But the place of His Birth had also to be pointed out. It was therefore prophesied that a ruler would come forth from Bethlehem, whose goings forth were from eternity. And this could not be referred to a human being, but only to the nature of Emmanuel and the Angel of Great Counsel.

For eternal existence can be assumed only of God. A person who exists from eternity, then, is predicted as about to come forth from Bethlehem, a Jewish town not far from (c) Jerusalem. And we find that the only famous man who was born there was David, and then later our Lord and Saviour, Jesus the Christ of God, and besides them no other. But David, who came before the date of the prophecy, was dead many years before the prediction: nor were his goings forth from the days of eternity. It only remains that the words were fulfilled in Him that was born afterwards from Bethlehem, the true Emmanuel, God the Word going forth before the whole creation, and called (d) "God with us," especially as His Birth at Bethlehem undoubtedly shewed God's Presence, by the wonders connected with it: for St. Luke writes its record thus:

[Passage quoted, Luke ii. 1-18.]

So Luke writes. And Matthew tells the story of our Saviour's birth as follows: 

[Matt. ii. 1-12.] - 79 - 

I have quoted these passages in full to shew that what happened at Bethlehem at the Birth of our Saviour furnishes adequate evidence that He was the Person meant by the prophecy. And to this day the inhabitants of the place, who have received the tradition from their fathers, confirm the truth of the story by shewing to those who visit Bethlehem because of its history the cave in which the (c) Virgin bare and laid her infant, as the prophecy says:

"Therefore he shall give them until the time of her that brings forth: She shall bring forth, and the rest of their brethren shall turn to them."

And by "her that brings forth "he means accordingly her that in the former prophecies was called a Virgin, and the prophetess who was delivered of Emmanuel and the Angel of Great Counsel. For until her day and that of Him she bare the old conditions of the nation were unaltered, the prescription being laid down until the time of "her that (d) brings forth, "that is, until the miraculous Birth of Him that was born of the Virgin; but after His day their kingdom was taken away, and the remnant of their brethren, those, that is to say, who believed in the Christ of God, became apostles and disciples and evangelists of our Saviour, whom, when they turn to Him, the Lord Himself is said to feed, not as before by angels or men that served him, but by Himself personally, so that thus they might be glorified to the ends of the earth. For they were glorified when "their voice went into all the earth, and their words to the end of the world." It is clear what a great flock of spiritual human sheep has been won for the Lord throughout the whole world by the apostles: and this flock the Lord Himself is (314) said personally to look after and feed with His strength, being both Shepherd and Lord of the flock, so that the sheep are protected by the strong hand and mighty arm of their Master and Shepherd, from danger of attack from wild and savage beasts.

Such is the character of the events at Bethlehem, and of the Coming of the God that was fore-announced. But the account of the Coming from Heaven to men of the Lord and (b) - 80 - Shepherd Himself I have already quoted from the prophecy we have before us, in which it is said:

"Hear all peoples, and let the earth attend, and all that are therein, and the Lord shall he a witness to you, the Lord from his holy house. Wherefore behold the Lord, the Lord comes forth from his place, and shall descend,"

(and that which follows); to which he adds, "For the sin of Jacob is all this done, and for the transgression of the house of Israel." But it is clear, from what the same prophet goes (c) on to say, that it was not only because of the sin of the Jews, that the Lord came down, but also for the salvation and calling of all nations. For he proceeds to say:

"And the mountain of the Lord shall be visible to the end of the days, and many peoples shall haste to it, and many nations shall come and say, Come, let us go up to the Mount of the Lord."

And therefore, after the proclamation that the Eternal shall come forth from Bethlehem, he says that he will no more rule only over Israel, but over all men together even unto the ends of the earth; for he says:

(d) "And he shall stand and see, and shall feed his flock with the strength of the Lord, and they shall live in the glory of the name of the Lord God: wherefore now they shall be glorified even unto the ends of the earth, and this shall be peace."

Who shall have this peace, but the earth, in which the flocks of the Lord shall be glorified? And it is plain to all that this was fulfilled after the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ.

For before Him there was great variety of government, all nations being under tyrannical or democratic constitutions, as for instance, Egypt was ruled by its own king, (345) and so were the Arabs, the Idumueans, the Phoenicians, the Syrians and the other nations; there were risings of nations against nations and cities against cities, there were countless sieges and enslavements carried through in every place and country, until the Lord and Saviour came, and concurrently with His coming, the first Roman Emperor, (b) Augustus, conquered the nations, variety of government was almost completely ended, and peace was spread through all the world, according to the prophecy before us which - 81 - expressly says of Christ's disciples: "Wherefore they shall be glorified to the ends of the earth, and this shall be peace."

And the oracle in the Psalms, which says about Christ, "There shall rise in his days justice and peace," is in agreement with this. And I think that is why He is called "Prince of Peace" in the prophecy that I quoted before this. And I would ask you to notice that the prophet we are considering says at the outset that the Lord will come from heaven, and that the subject of the prophecy will only pasture his flock after His birth at Bethlehem. And (c) the Evangelist, whose words I have cited, furnishes the evidence that this was the case with regard to our Lord and Saviour.

The Christ is called the governor and shepherd of Israel, in accord with the custom of Holy Scripture to give the name of the true Israel figuratively to all who see God and live according to His Will: just as contrariwise it calls the Jews, when they sin, by names that suit their ways, Canaanites, and seed of Canaan not Judah, Rulers of Sodom, and people of Gomorrah. Though, of course, (d) also, all our Saviour's life was literally passed with the Jewish race, and He was the Leader of many gathered out of Israel, as many of the Jews as knew Him and believed in Him.

Such, then, was the fulfilment of the prophecy quoted. But one must start fresh in considering that which succeeds it, which runs thus:

"When the Assyrian shall attack your land, and come against your country, there shall be raised up against him seven shepherds, and eight 'bites' of men,"

with that which follows, whose meaning we are not now called upon to unfold.

Now it might be said that after the expedition of the Assyrians into Judaea, when they overcame the Jews, the number of rebellions against them is shewn by the seven shepherds and the eight "bites": and that historians of (346) Assyria would know this, and at the end of their rule the one foretold was born at Bethlehem, after the seven shepherds and the eight "bites" had happened to the - 82 - Assyrians in the period after their expedition against Judaea. But we must not now devote more time to what would entail a long inquiry.

From Psalm cxxxi.

To David, inquiring where should be the Birthplace of the Predicted God, Ephratha, which is Bethlehem, is made known by the Holy Spirit.

(c) [Passages quoted, Ps. cxxxi. 1-7, 10, 11, 17.]

This prophecy agrees with the preceding in stating that the God about whom the prophecy is made will come forth from Bethlehem. And it is about this place that David first prays God to teach him, since he does not know it, (347) and then after his prayer he is taught. For when he has received the oracle addressed to him in the Psalm which said: "Of the fruit of thy body I will set upon thy seat," and, "There will I raise up a horn for David, I have prepared a lantern for my Christ," he rightly falls down before God, and there fallen to the earth worships, and with yet greater intensity of prayer swears that he will not enter the tabernacle of his house, nor allow his eyes to sleep, nor his eyelids to slumber, nor ascend the couch of his bed, (b) but will lie on the ground worshipping and adoring, until he finds a place for the Lord, and a tabernacle for the God of Jacob—that is, until he learns by the Lord's revelation to him the birthplace of the Christ.

So having prayed and desired to learn it, not long after he beholds by the Holy Spirit what will be in the future; for God has promised to His people that he will hear them even while they speak. So his prayer being heard he (c) is favoured with an oracle which cries "Bethlehem," that being the place of the Lord, and the tabernacle of the God of Jacob. And so when the Holy Spirit prophesied that this was within him, he, listening to his inner voice, adds: "Lo, we heard of it in Ephratha." And Ephratha is the same as Bethlehem, as is clear from Genesis, where it is said of Rachel, "And they buried her in the Hippodrome of Ephratha,'' and this is Bethlehem. And the previous prophecy ran: "And thou, Bethlehem, house of Ephratha." - 83 - "Behold," he says, "we have heard it! "—evidently (d) meaning the birth of Christ and the entering of the God of Jacob into His tabernacle. For what else could the tabernacle of the God of Jacob be but the Body of Christ, which was born at Bethlehem, in which, as in a tabernacle, the divinity of the Only-begotten dwelt? And the habitation is not said to be simply of God, but is qualified as of the God of Jacob, that we may know that it is the God that dwells therein, Who was seen by Jacob in human form and shape, wherefore he was deemed worthy of the name, Seer of God, f6r such is the translation of his name. And I have established in the early part of this work that He that was seen by Jacob was none other than the Word of God. Bethlehem was therefore revealed to David when he prayed and desired to know the place and the habitation of the Lord and God of Jacob, wherefore he said: "Behold, we heard it at Ephiatha," and added: "Let us worship at (348) the place where his feet stood." Therefore in these words the Lord God of Jacob Himself foretold that His own place and habitation would be in Ephratha, which is Bethlehem, agreeing with the prophecy of Micah, which said: "And thou, Bethlehem, house of Ephratha, out of thee shall come a governor, and his goings forth are from eternity," which, when we lately examined, we found could only apply to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Who was born at Bethlehem according to the predictions. For (b) it is certain that no one else can be shewn to have come forth from there with glory after the date of the prophecy: there was no king, or prophet, or any other Hebrew saint who can be shewn to have been of David's seed, and also born at Bethlehem, except our Lord and Saviour, the Christ of God. We must, therefore, own that He, and no one else, is the subject of this prophecy, and (c) for the additional reason that further on the same Psalm proves it, calling Him Christ by name, where it says: "For the sake of David thy servant, turn not away the face of thy Christ." And again: "There will I raise up a horn for David, I have prepared a lantern for my Christ, his enemies I will clothe with shame, but upon him my holiness shall flower." Where else does he say: "I will raise up a horn for David," but in Bethlehem—Ephratha? (d) For it was there the horn of David, the Christ according - 84 - to the flesh, arose like a great light, and there the God of the Universe prepared the lantern of the Christ. And the human tabernacle was the lantern as it were of his spiritual light, through which, like an earthen vessel, as if through a lantern, He poured forth the rays of His own light on all who were oppressed by ignorance of God and thick darkness.

Yes, indeed, I think that it was clearly revealed here that the God of Jacob, from the beginning the Eternal, would dwell among men, and that He would be born nowhere else but in the place at Bethlehem, near Jerusalem, in the spot that is even now pointed out, for there no one is witnessed to by all the inhabitants as having been (349) born there in accordance with the Gospel story, no one remarkable or famous among all men, except Jesus Christ. And Bethlehem is translated, "House of Bread," bearing the name of Him Who came forth from it, our Saviour, the true Word of God, and nourisher of spiritual souls, which He Himself shews by saying: "I am the Bread that came down from heaven." And since it was David's mother-town as well, the Son of David according to the (b) flesh rightly made His entrance from it according to the predictions of the prophets, so that the reason is clear why He chose Bethlehem for His mother-town.

But He is said to have been brought up at Nazara, and also to have been called a Nazarene We know that the Hebrew word "Naziraion" occurs in Leviticus in connection with the ointment which they used for unction. And the ruler there was a kind of image of the great and (c) true High Priest, the Christ of God, being a shadowy type of Christ. So there it is said about the High Priest according to the Septuagint: "And he shall not defile him that is sanctified to his God, because the holy oil of his God hath anointed him": where the Hebrew has nazer for oil. And Aquila reads: "Because the separation, the oil of God's unction, is on him"; and Symmachus: "Because the pure oil of his God's anointing is on him ": and Theodotion: "Because the oil nazer anointed by his God is upon him." So that nazer according to the Septuagint is "holy," according to Aquila "separation," according to Symmachus "pure," and the name Nazarene will therefore mean either holy, or separate, or pure. But the ancient - 85 - priests, who were anointed with prepared oil, which Moses (d) called Nazer, were called for that reason Nazarenes; while our Lord and Saviour having naturally holiness, purity, and separation from sin, needed no human unguent, yet received the name of Nazarene among men, not because He was a Nazarene in the sense of being anointed with the oil called Nazer, but because He naturally had the qualities it symbolized, and also because He was called Nazarene from Nazara, where He was brought up by His parents according to the flesh and passed His childhood. And so it is said (350) in Matthew:

"Being warned of God in a dream [Joseph is referred to] he departed into the regions of Galilee, and came and lived in a city called Nazara, that the saying of the prophets might be fulfilled, He shall be called a Nazarene."

For it was altogether necessary that He Who was a Nazarene naturally and truly, that is holy, and pure and separate from men, should be called by the name. But since, needing no human unction, He did not receive the name from the oil nazer, He acquired it from the place named (b) Nazara.

This proof being thus complete, let us now investigate from what race, and from which Hebrew tribe, it was foretold that the Saviour of our souls, the Christ of God, should come. And I will first quote the Gospel passages about it, and then add the prophets' evidence to theirs, like seals that agree together. Matthew thus gives the genealogy of Christ according to the flesh: - 86 -

"The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham begat Isaac, and Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob begat Juda," and that which follows.

And the apostle agrees with this, when he says:

"Separated to the gospel of God, which he had before promised by his prophets in the holy scriptures concerning his son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh."

These words would agree with the corresponding predictions.