[Pictured: Mount of Olives Hebrew Cemetery]

I have developed such a desire to dig into Old Testament scripture in my study of eschatology, this year I'm going to limit my Christmas readings to the Old Testament only. How is that possible? Easy - God is completely amazing: telling his prophets Isaiah and Micah what will transpire seven centuries BEFORE it happens is nothing to Him. If you're not a Christian, my prayer is that you would wrestle with this scripture and begin to ask some serious questions about who Christ is. How you answer those questions is the single most important duty of man. Christ is coming again. God is fulfilling prophesy today by gathering nations around little, seemingly insignificant Israel. Keep an eye on Israel, but most importantly make sure you're right with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Only Jesus Christ can justify you in the sight of God.

Micah 5

A Promised Ruler From Bethlehem

1 Marshal your troops, O city of troops,
for a siege is laid against us.
They will strike Israel's ruler
on the cheek with a rod.

2 "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
from ancient times. "

3 Therefore Israel will be abandoned
until the time when she who is in labor gives birth
and the rest of his brothers return
to join the Israelites.

4 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 live securely, for then his greatness
will reach to the ends of the earth.

5 And he will be their peace.

Isaiah 53

1 Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.

6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.