“But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall come forth unto Me that is to be a ruler in Israel: whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” Micah 5:2
In Martin Luther’s great hymn, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, he speaks of “the Prince of Darkness grim.” He goes on to say that, “We tremble not at him. His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure.” But then Luther adds a most extraordinary phrase revealing God’s ways in dealing with the enemy of our souls. He writes: “One little word shall fell him.” What does Luther mean by this? It is a declaration of the omnipotent power of God, His supreme authority, and the revelation of Himself to men by the words of His mouth. God deals with creation by speaking, for He spoke and it was done. He speaks of redemption also by the word of His power, “It is finished.” It is in the active speaking of God by the Spirit according to His word, that His power and authority are exercised in a very precise manner. And so it is with the revealing of His will, and His ways. He unveils to men by the power of that life-giving word, a knowledge of His will and an understanding of His person, so that man can in response, by the grace of God, believe Him and “see the glory of God.” So, why speak of “little” things, of things that in the eyes of the world are “foolish,” “weak,” “base, or “lowly,” and things, “which are not,” or nothing? It has to do with the truth of who God is, and the limits which He has imposed upon men concerning His glory.
God is a God of truth, and thus cannot deny Himself for what He is. He is also holy, and the only author and essence of that which is acceptably good and holy. We forget that when Jesus died on Calvary, God revealed to men not only His love, grace, and mercy, but His absolute opposition and rejection of all that is of sin, Satan, and this world’s system of faithlesness. The Son of man of necessity had to be crucified because the sinner, all that he is in Adam as a sinner, had to be crucified with Christ. All that is of sin had to be put to death, buried, and removed forever from the sight of God, and man. What does this mean with regard to man that walks on this earth, seeking to know God, walk with Him, and above all, have communion with Him? It means that for God there is nothing that really differentiates between that which is big, or mountainous, or that which is small, for all are the same to Him, as His power and authority addresses both in like manner, and completely. However, for man, there is a great difference, and it has to do with his perception of his ability to address “his” resouces to meet the need at hand, either great or small. The basic problem with the sinner is that he has a selfish, innate tendency to relate all things to himself. God cannot accept sin, nor the sinner’s favorable attitude towards sin, especially with regard to who gets the glory, or praise, for something said, thought, or accomplished. It is for this reason that God deals with men concerning that which is “little in his own eyes.” In the Old Testament, King Saul was successful as king, and ruled well, Samuel the prophet basically at his side to guide him. However, there came a time when Saul’s heart departed from God, and he became “big” in his own eyes, thinking himself to be something when he was nothing, ceasing to be dependently obedient to God. That attitude of mind led to a deliberate, decisive, disobedience to God, a seeking of his own glory. God could not bless Saul because he had become too big in his own eyes.
Dear Father, Be Thou praised alone. In Jesus’ name, Amen.