Day 3 House of Bread or War
Micah 5:2 ESV
Focal Scripture: “But you O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are you too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days”
According to Spuergeon: Bethlehem has two meanings: “house of bread” and “house of war.” Jesus was born in Bethlehem. It is fitting that Jesus be born in the “house of bread” since he is our bread. We live on Him. The world is not fit to feed us so instead we have Jesus to feed us. His bruised body was “baked in the furnace of his agonies” in this “we find a blessed food.” The most despondent soul as well as the strongest saint both need Jesus.
To the wicked Jesus is the “house of war” We see this when He says “Think not that I am come to send peace on Earth; I am not come to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.”-Matthew 10:34-35 If you do not know Jesus as a house of Bread, then you will know him as a house of war. To the righteous He is bread and to the wicked He is destruction. We want to know Him as our bread and pray that those that see Him as destruction can turn their ears to Him and be changed.
“Ephrathah is the name of the place the Jews retained and loved. It means “fruitfulness” or “abundance.” Where does this fruitfulness come from? Bethlehem, that is to say Jesus. Without Him our hearts were barren. But then Jesus comes and waters our heart with his blood, renewing life to a once lifeless soul.
The Incarnation and Birth of Christ-Sermon delivered Dec. 23, 1855
My Thoughts: Jesus is the bread of life. To those who know and love him, He brings abundance and fruitfulness. To those who do not know Him or oppose Him, He is a house of war, causing destruction onto their souls. For indeed those that do not know Him are destined for eternal death. From the strongest saint to the most hopeless soul, we all go to Jesus to be fed. We all seek the bread of life. The house of war is seen in Matthew 10:34-35 where it states that Jesus did not come to bring peace but rather a sword. Son will be against his father, daughter against her mother and so on.
There is a spiritual war between those that love and follow Jesus and those that don’t. The righteous, holy, set apart for Christ against the wicked. We were all wicked once, when we were apart from Christ. In this war we are called to pray for those that don’t know God. We want them to hear His word, to have an encounter with Jesus and be transformed, renewed, a new creature. In Bethlehem Ephrathah we see abundance and fruitfulness. Likewise with Jesus we experience this. What once was barren has become fruitful. Our hearts that were full of sorrow rejoice now. Our hearts that were broken are healed. Our hearts that were hardened by life have been softened by Jesus. This is possible because of Jesus' ultimate sacrifice on the cross. Because he spilled his blood on the cross we can enter into this spiritual fruitful abundance.
Prayer Note:
Thanksgiving over God restoring our hearts and lives, bringing abundance and fruitfulness to it.
Strength to fight our spiritual wars
Continue to pray for our loved ones that don’t know Christ