8 And you, O tower of the flock, hill of the daughter of Zion, to you shall it come, the former dominion shall come, kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem. ~ Micah 4:8
One of the biggest questions that I’ve never seen anyone answer is, “How did the shepherds know where to look for the baby Jesus?” Now, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that there were many, many stables in Bethlehem at the time. But what if Jesus was not born in a nasty, stinky stable full of animals, as the Christmas tradition indicates? What I mean is this, Micah prophecies that the Messiah would be in the Tower of the Flock, which in Hebrew is miḡ·dǎl-·ʿē·ḏěr.
Now, apparently, Migal Eder, the Tower of the Flock, was in Bethlehem or just outside the city limits. It was the place where these same shepherds, the Levitical Shepherds, would take their ewes (female sheep) who were about to give birth, and there they would deliver the sacrificial lambs. They would wrap the little lambs in swaddling clothes so that they would not hurt themselves and lay them in a manager until they had stopped thrashing around.
The swaddling clothes were to ensure that the newborn lambs would not hurt themselves in any way, or that they would not break any bones, or cause anything to happen that would make them an unacceptable temple offering. That is why they knew where to go.
Migdal Eder, apparently, was a 2-story building where the shepherd could look out over the lambs that would be used in the Temple sacrifice, and downstairs was where the ewes gave birth to their young. The manager was sterile and clean. Not some stinky stable with animals all around, but, nevertheless, I still love that Christmas Carole Away In A Manager a verse says, the cattle are lowing the poor baby awakes. Still love it. After all, it’s tradition.
So, the manger there was very familiar to these shepherds. They didn’t have to wonder where to look. They didn’t have to knock on doors; they remembered the Scriptures. So many of us are searching for the Truth and knocking on every door, but never searching the Scriptures that show us the exact location of the Truth and what that Truth is.
Dear LORD, please help me to know Your Truth. Help me to have a desire to learn only Your Truth and to seek only Your Truth. Fill me with the spirit of discernment that I might recognize the sign of Truth and the sign of Error. Please direct my path and help me not to stray from all of the good plans that You have for my life. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.
Similar Content
