0:01 hear me
0:04 carefully in the contrast of death and
0:07 life is the picture of redemption that
0:10 is proclaimed in the birth of Jesus our
0:12 God was not responsible for the massacre
0:15 of those children but he was responsible
0:17 for sending one into the world who could
0:20 by his own life and death make it
0:22 possible for those who die physically to
0:25 live eternally in the death of the
0:27 babies and the birth of Jesus is the
0:30 picture of why Jesus had to come into
0:32 the world in the first place until we
0:34 see our Lord's birth against the
0:37 backdrop of the massacre in Bethlehem we
0:39 will never realize why it is so
0:42 important for him to come he came to rid
0:46 us of the ugliness of sin and there is
0:48 no picture of the ugliness of sin like
0:52 the infanticide at Bethlehem even today
0:55 in our culture when we read of little
0:57 children being tortured our hearts
0:59 become angry and we are filled with sadness
1:00 sadness
1:02 because it represents the ugliness of
1:05 the world of sin in which we live and
1:08 here is this picture of Bethlehem and
1:09 the birth of the baby who would put an
1:12 end to all of that ugliness the birth of
1:15 the Lord Jesus Christ what a wonderful
1:18 promise it is concerning Jesus that one
1:20 day he will make it possible for God to
1:24 wipe away every tear from our eyes and
1:25 there will be no more death nor sorrow
1:28 nor crying and there shall be no more
1:30 pain for the former thing will have
1:34 passed away in Jesus you find life in
1:37 the world of sin it is the tale of death
1:39 and the story of Christmas highlights
1:42 that as it's centered in the little city of
1:43 of
1:46 Bethlehem I want to read to you a very
1:48 familiar portion of scripture but it's
1:50 important that you have this in mind as
1:53 I speak today it's Luke Chapter 2 and
1:56 verse one and it came to pass in those
1:59 days that a decree went out from Caesar
2:02 Augustus that all the world should be
2:04 registered this census first took place
2:06 when cinius was governing
2:09 Syria so all went to be registered
2:13 everyone to his own City Joseph also
2:15 went up From Galilee out of the city of
2:19 Nazareth into Judea to the city of David
2:22 which is called Bethlehem because he was
2:25 of the house and lineage of David to be
2:28 registered with Mary his betrothed wife
2:30 who was with child
2:33 and so it was that while they were there
2:35 the days were completed for her to be
2:38 delivered and she brought forth her
2:40 firstborn son and wrapped him in
2:43 swaddling clothes and laid him in a
2:46 Manger because there was no room for
2:47 them in the
2:50 in I want to talk with you today about
2:52 the importance of the village of
2:55 Bethlehem in the story of
2:58 Christmas on December 24th
3:01 1865 Phil Philips Brooks attended a
3:04 5-hour Christmas Eve service at the
3:06 church of the Nativity in
3:08 Bethlehem he said every Christmas song
3:10 that had ever been written for Christmas
3:12 was sung that night and was a wonderful
3:15 time that deeply moved him later he
3:16 wrote in his journal about that
3:18 experience he said I remember standing
3:20 in the old church in Bethlehem close to
3:23 the spot where Jesus was born where the
3:26 whole church was ringing hour after hour
3:29 with Splendid hymns of praise to God how
3:31 it seemed as if I could hear voices I
3:34 knew well telling each other of the
3:37 wonderful night of the savior's
3:40 birth 3 years later thinking about that
3:42 experience he was asked to write a song
3:45 for children to help them celebrate the
3:48 Christmas season he began to think back
3:50 to that wonderful night in Bethlehem and
3:52 before he was finished reflecting on it
3:55 he wrote the words to the hym oh little
3:58 town of Bethlehem oh little town of
4:01 Bethlehem how still we see thee lie
4:03 above the deep and dreamless sleep the
4:06 silent stars go by yet in thy dark
4:10 Street shineth the Everlasting Light the
4:13 hopes and fears of all the years are met
4:18 in thee tonight the question is why
4:21 Bethlehem why out of all the cities that
4:23 could have been chosen for the birth of
4:26 our savior was Bethlehem chosen I mean
4:28 it seems like Jerusalem would have made
4:30 a much better choice
4:33 for Jesus to be born but Bethlehem I I
4:35 know the name has got a kind of a ring
4:37 to it but why would this unpretentious
4:40 Village play host to a scene that had
4:42 such Eternal
4:45 consequences The Book of Luke tells us
4:47 Mary and Joseph were in Bethlehem where
4:50 Jesus was born because of Caesar
4:52 Augustus the emperor had decreed that a
4:55 census needed to be taken every person
4:57 in the Roman world had to go to his own
5:00 town to register and don't get confuse
5:01 this with his desire to know how many
5:03 people there were he didn't want to miss
5:07 any taxes that's why that was done and
5:08 he had them all go to their place to
5:10 register and of course Joseph and Mary
5:13 made the 90m Trek from Nazareth to
5:16 Bethlehem that first Christmas and the
5:17 story as you know is told in Luke
5:21 Chapter 2 the famous story of
5:24 Christmas but to understand why that
5:26 city was so significant you have to
5:28 reach deep into the pages of the Old
5:31 Testament and discover how the history
5:34 of Bethlehem made it just the right
5:39 place for Jesus to be born first of all
5:42 Bethlehem was prepared historically the
5:44 city of Bethlehem is mentioned in the
5:46 Old Testament men and women 41 different
5:49 times in 12 different books over a
5:53 period of, 1300 years and we discover
5:55 first of all as we read from the
5:58 beginning that it was a place of Sorrow
6:00 one of the most important women in the
6:03 Old Testament was the woman Rachel the
6:05 record of Rachel's death is the longest
6:08 obituary for a woman in the Bible and
6:11 it's recorded primarily in the 35th
6:13 chapter of Genesis and there you read
6:15 the story of what happened to one of the
6:18 scriptures most beloved women as she was
6:20 giving birth to her second son here's
6:23 what the scripture says and they
6:25 journeyed from bethl and when there was
6:28 but a little distance to go the
6:31 scripture says Rachel labored in
6:36 childbirth and she had hard labor now it
6:38 came to pass that as she had hard labor
6:41 the Midwife said to Hero not fear you
6:44 will have this son also and it was as
6:47 his name became Ben Oni that his father
6:49 called him
6:51 Benjamin so Rachel died and was buried
6:53 on the way to ephrath that is Bethlehem
6:56 and Jacob set a pillar on her grave
6:58 which is the pillar of Rachel's grave to
7:03 this day Rachel died in 1700 BC but
7:06 Jacob never forgot the death of Rachel
7:08 in all the rest of his life in fact
7:10 before he finally died some 30 years
7:13 later he recalled with Vivid detail the
7:17 moment of sorrow in bethleem Genesis 48
7:20 and: 7 but as for me when I came from
7:23 pedan Rachel died beside me in the land
7:26 of Canaan on the way when there was but
7:28 a little distance to go to ephra and I
7:30 buried her there on the way to ephra
7:34 that is Bethlehem but the story
7:38 continues 1,00 years after Rachel's
7:42 death a Prophet by the name of Jeremiah
7:44 a wonderful Old Testament Prophet by the
7:50 Jeremiah wrote these
7:53 words Jeremiah wrote a voice was heard
7:57 in Rama lamentation and bitter weeping
8:01 Rachel weeping for her children refusing
8:03 to be comforted for her children because
8:05 they are no
8:08 more now that's a really kind of obscure
8:09 passage until you come to the Book of
8:12 Matthew in the New Testament and Matthew
8:15 connects the words of Jeremiah with
8:17 another time of great sorrow in
8:21 Bethlehem here's what we read then Herod
8:23 when he saw that he was deceived by the
8:26 wise men was exceedingly angry and he
8:29 sent forth and put to death all the male
8:31 children who were in Bethlehem and in
8:34 all of its districts from 2 years old
8:37 and under according to the time which he
8:41 had determined from the wise men then
8:43 was fulfilled what was spoken by
8:46 Jeremiah the prophet saying a voice was
8:49 heard in Rama lamentation weeping in a
8:52 great morning Rachel weeping for her
8:54 children refusing to be comforted
8:57 because they are no more some ancient
9:00 Christian traditions claim that the
9:02 massacre of the Innocents in the
9:05 Christmas story involved thousands of
9:07 children but based on the population of
9:10 the small village of Bethlehem the
9:12 annual birth rate and the high infant
9:15 death rate at the time most honest
9:18 historians and demographers estimate
9:20 that the total number of male children
9:22 under the age of two would have been no
9:23 more than
9:26 50 and the lower number makes the crime
9:28 no less of an atrocity because the death
9:29 of even one child
9:32 is a tragedy Matthew connects the birth
9:36 of Jesus with the death of Rachel's son
9:40 Matthew look back to Jeremiah and
9:42 Jeremiah takes us all the way back to
9:44 Genesis it's almost as if you start in
9:46 the book of Genesis and you have a
9:48 thread and you connect that thread all
9:50 the way through the scripture from
9:51 Genesis all the way to the story of the
9:54 birth of Christ and the historic city of
9:56 Bethlehem but the question that we have
9:58 to ask when we read this account is how
10:01 in the world does one ever reconcile the
10:03 Glorious birth of our savior with the
10:05 bloody massacre of all the male children
10:08 under 2 years of age who were killed at
10:10 the direction of
10:12 Herod hear me
10:14 carefully in the contrast of death and
10:17 life is the picture of redemption that
10:20 is proclaimed in the birth of Jesus our
10:22 God was not responsible for the massacre
10:25 of those children but he was responsible
10:28 for sending one into the world who could
10:31 by his own life and death make it
10:33 possible for those who die physically to
10:36 live eternally and here is the birth of
10:38 the baby who would put an end to all of
10:40 that ugliness the birth of the Lord
10:43 Jesus Christ what a wonderful promise it
10:46 is concerning Jesus that one day he will
10:49 make it possible for God to wipe away
10:51 every tear from our eyes and there will
10:54 be no more death nor sorrow nor crying
10:56 and there shall be no more pain for the
10:59 former things will have passed away in
11:03 Jesus you find life in the world of sin
11:05 it is the tale of death and the story of
11:08 Christmas highlights that as it centered
11:11 in the little city of Bethlehem so
11:14 Bethlehem was a place of Sorrow the
11:15 death of
11:18 Rachel the massacre of the
11:21 children but it's also a place of
11:23 selection Bethlehem is not just an
11:25 accident it's not just incidental it's
11:28 all part of the Sovereign plan of God
11:30 watch carefully how the story continues
11:33 in the book of 1 Samuel we read a story
11:36 that's very familiar to most of us it's
11:38 the story of the selection of David to
11:40 be the king of
11:43 Israel little Bethlehem provided Israel
11:45 with its most enduring
11:48 hero Samuel the prophet was sent by God
11:50 to Bethlehem where he selected David who
11:53 would replace King Saul as the king of
11:56 Israel Saul you see was man's selection
11:59 to be king and David would be God 's
12:02 selection to be king 1st Samuel 16
12:05 records how the prophet came to the
12:07 house of Jesse in Bethlehem and he
12:09 carefully sized up all of the young men
12:12 of the household Samuel's Godly eye
12:15 finally fell upon David and the Lord
12:19 said to Samuel arise anoint him for this
12:22 is the one and David became the anointed
12:26 king of Israel here stood one who was
12:28 destined to be known as the man after
12:31 God God's Own Heart and from Shepherd in
12:34 Bethlehem to the king of Israel what an
12:37 amazing story that was in Bethlehem the
12:40 king of Israel was selected now watch
12:43 carefully Bethlehem became known as the
12:44 city of
12:48 David Jesus is called the son of David
12:50 through the city of Bethlehem flowed the
12:52 lineage and Descent of our savior and
12:55 the night that Jesus was born in
12:57 Bethlehem another king was selected that
12:59 night he was not to be just the king of
13:02 Israel he would be the King of Kings and
13:04 the Lord of lords and the king of the
13:07 earth amen so Bethlehem was a place of
13:08 sorrow and
13:11 selection but if you stop reading here
13:14 you won't get the rest of the story is
13:15 interesting that after the story of
13:17 David there's a long period of time
13:19 where nothing is mentioned about
13:21 Bethlehem and we discover a little bit
13:25 later that Bethlehem was also a place of
13:27 Salvation watch one of the wonderful
13:30 stories of the oldest Testament is the
13:31 story that is found in the fourth
13:34 chapter book called
13:36 Ruth from the time that Jacob spoke of
13:39 Bethlehem as he was about to die there's
13:41 no important reference to the city for
13:42 many years and then you come to the Book
13:45 of Ruth and all of a sudden you open
13:47 this book and in this little Book of
13:49 Ruth in four chapters the word Bethlehem
13:53 is mentioned seven times Bethlehem is
13:56 alive again it's come back and the Book
13:57 of Ruth presents to us one of the most
13:59 perfect pictures of all the Old
14:01 Testament of the redeeming work of the
14:05 Lord Jesus Christ you remember the story
14:08 trusting Naomi's God Ruth insisted on
14:10 leaving Moab and following her
14:12 mother-in-law back to
14:15 Bethlehem but Naomi and Ruth arrived at
14:17 Bethlehem and they had nothing they were
14:21 pitously poor and according to custom
14:23 they needed a relative to redeem or
14:25 provide for them and their family and
14:29 Boaz stepped up rescuing naom and Ruth
14:33 from poverty and ultimately taking Ruth
14:36 as his wife near the end of the book we
14:40 read this blessing upon Ruth's life and
14:42 all the people who were at the gate and
14:44 the elders said we Are Witnesses the
14:46 Lord make Ruth who is coming to your
14:49 house like Rachel and Leah the two who
14:51 built the house of Israel and may you
14:55 prosper in EA and be famous in Bethlehem
14:59 Ruth became famous in Bethlehem
15:01 now interestingly enough if you follow
15:03 this story further Ruth is only
15:06 mentioned one time in all of the New
15:08 Testament only one time and you'd be
15:11 surprised where it is it's in the very
15:13 beginning of the New Testament in the
15:15 first chapter of Matthew and what we
15:17 call the
15:20 genealogies Matthew 1: 15 and 6 salmon
15:25 begot Boaz by Rahab Boaz begat OED by
15:28 Ruth OED begat Jesse and Jesse beg got
15:30 David the king so what do you say what
15:32 is that all about well the whole story
15:34 of the Old Testament leads us right to
15:36 the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem was the
15:39 story of Jacob and Rachel in the story
15:42 of the selection of David comes David
15:44 and Jesus is called the son of David and
15:46 in the story of Ruth we meet the woman
15:49 who was ultimately mentioned as being in
15:52 the line of descent of our savior did
15:54 you see that she's in genealogy one of
15:57 the women in the genealogies of Jesus
15:59 and the one thing that connects all of
16:03 these stories together is Bethlehem the
16:06 little village of Bethlehem and just as
16:08 Ruth found her Redeemer in Bethlehem we
16:11 find ours there as well for there is
16:13 born to you this day in the city of
16:16 David in Bethlehem a savior who is
16:19 Christ the Lord amen Bethlehem was
16:22 prepared historically let me suggest one
16:25 another thing Bethlehem was prepared
16:27 symbolically do you know what the word
16:31 Bethlehem means the word Bethlehem means
16:36 House of Bread and the word ephra means
16:38 fruitfulness so the city of Bethlehem
16:41 was the House of Bread that is what
16:44 caused the Lord Jesus to say on one
16:48 occasion in John I am the bread of life
16:51 he who comes to me shall never hunger
16:53 the bread of life was born in the House of
16:54 of
16:58 Bread and the fruitfulness oh Jesus
17:00 Jesus said by this my father is
17:03 glorified that you bear fruit and you
17:04 will be my
17:07 disciples to a hungry time in a
17:09 thirsting world came the bread of life
17:11 who teaches us to have a fruitful life
17:14 in his behalf you see our savior was
17:17 born for the hungry as their bread of
17:19 life he was born for the helpless and
17:23 now he comes to us as our savior and
17:27 then finally Bethlehem was prepared
17:29 prophetically I want to take you back to
17:31 the Old Testament and one of the Minor
17:33 Prophets whose name was
17:38 Micah and in Micah 5 verse 2 he made
17:42 this amazing prophecy he said but you
17:45 Bethlehem EPA though you are little
17:48 among the thousands of Judah yet out of
17:50 you shall come forth to me the one to be
17:53 ruler in Israel whose goings forth are
17:56 from old from Everlasting now listen
17:59 carefully the prophet Micah wrote this
18:03 in 722 BC critics have tried to remove
18:05 this Prophecy from the Bible but they
18:08 have been unable to undermine his
18:11 identification of the birthplace of Our
18:14 Lord to make this really work in our
18:16 hearts and help us understand the
18:19 miracle of it we need to comprehend that
18:21 the prediction of where Jesus was born
18:25 was made centuries before he was born I
18:27 don't know if you understand how amazing
18:29 this is but consider this
18:31 Micah put his finger on one of the
18:34 smallest countries in the world and in
18:36 that country he put his finger on the 12
18:38 provinces in which the Messiah was to be
18:41 born and he selected Judah from among
18:44 those provinces and in that Province he
18:46 put his finger on one small little
18:48 village called Bethlehem that had less
18:51 than a thousand people living in it and
18:54 he said in that place Jesus will be born
18:57 you could never have guessed that in a
18:59 million years and if you were to have
19:00 guessed where a king would be born you
19:03 would have certainly guessed Jerusalem
19:05 but you had never suggested that the
19:06 king the Messiah would be born in
19:09 Bethlehem but you see Micah wasn't
19:12 guessing Micah was prophesying through
19:14 the power of the Holy Spirit he was
19:18 saying what would happen centuries later
19:19 at the time of our Lord's birth when
19:21 Herod gathered the whole Jewish
19:23 Sanhedrin together and inquired where
19:27 Jesus was be born they said in Bethlehem
19:30 of Judea they they knew they had read
19:32 Micah and thus it is written by the
19:34 prophet but you Bethlehem in the land of
19:36 Judah are not the least among the rulers
19:38 of Judah for out of you shall come a
19:41 ruler who will Shepherd My People Israel
19:43 here are the wise men quoting Micah from
19:46 the Old Testament and 30 years after the
19:49 birth of Jesus the Jews were still
19:51 willing to admit that Micah spoke of the
19:54 coming of the Messiah John 7:42 says
19:57 this has not the scripture said that the
19:59 Christ comes from the seat of David and
20:03 from the town of Bethlehem where David
20:06 was you can't take Bethlehem out of the
20:08 Bible you can't take Micah out of the
20:11 scenario they are part of the historic
20:15 wonderful miraculous prophetic
20:17 announcement of the coming of our
20:19 Messiah amen for those who read the
20:22 ancient writings those who thought about
20:24 the Eternal workings of God the clues
20:28 were always there as we know in history
20:30 the names and the surprising ways of God
20:33 himself Bethlehem was a village that bore
20:34 bore
20:37 watching so as the years went by the
20:39 rabbis remembered and the scholars kept
20:41 an eye on the little village everyone
20:43 else passed it by and when Joseph and
20:46 Mary Come to Bethlehem for the
20:49 registration they walk into a busy town
20:51 everybody doing their own thing nobody
20:53 even aware that anything miraculous is
20:55 going to happen while they went their
20:57 way and did their business and didn't
20:59 care at all all who was there the
21:03 Messiah of the world was born among them
21:06 according to the prophet right on time
21:10 in the right place now some of us we
21:12 hear all of this and we say Dr Jeremiah
21:13 that was all really interesting
21:16 information but so what what does that
21:17 mean to us
21:20 today I think Philip Brooks captured it
21:23 for us in the last few words of his hymn
21:27 he said this the hopes and fears of all
21:29 the years
21:31 are met in Bethlehem
21:34 tonight that night when Jesus was
21:38 born it was a watershed in world
21:40 history from that moment on even the
21:42 calendar is
21:45 changed Jesus came and he didn't just
21:48 show up incidentally he came as
21:52 prophesied by Micah where he came from
21:54 is an interesting fact but that he came
21:55 is an exciting
21:58 truth Jesus stepped out of the Court
22:00 borders of Heaven the book of
22:02 Philippians tells us that he humbled
22:05 himself came to this earth became a Man
22:08 became obedient even unto death and died
22:10 on the cross so that you and I might be
22:13 forgiven the wages of sin is death
22:17 somebody had to die and Jesus came as
22:19 the infinite Son of God to die an
22:22 infinite death for you and me so that we
22:24 would not have to die literally
22:27 Christmas is phase one of the Redemption
22:31 story the coming of Jesus into Humanity
22:34 I celebrate Christmas and I celebrate
22:37 Bethlehem because I've been to Calvary
22:39 and I celebrate the Cradle because I
22:41 stood beneath the cross one day and
22:43 accepted Christ I celebrate the coming
22:46 of Christ because if he had not come I
22:49 would be Unforgiven but because he came
22:53 my sins are forgiven and I am now going
22:56 to heaven as many of you and the
22:57 wonderful message of Christmas for all
23:00 all of us is not about the details
23:01 they're interesting I'm glad I could
23:05 share some of these backstories with you
23:07 but the important thing is to know that
23:11 Jesus came for a specific reason and the
23:14 most famous verse in all the Bible puts
23:17 it better than any other for God so
23:20 loved the world that he gave his only
23:23 begotten son that whosoever believes in
23:26 Him should not perish but have
23:28 everlasting life have you believed in
23:30 him have you put your trust in the one
23:33 who came for you he didn't have to come
23:34 he could have stayed in heaven but he
23:37 did not he came here to be one of us in
23:39 obedience to his
23:42 father and then paid the penalty that we
23:44 deserve to pay do you know why most
23:47 people don't become Christians because
23:49 they are unwilling to admit that they
23:51 need Jesus they're unwilling to admit
23:53 that they're Sinners they come up with a
23:55 long list of why they are so much better
23:58 than other people they know and and yet
24:00 the the sad story is as I've told you
24:02 many times God does not grade on the
24:06 curve he grades 100% you either get them
24:08 all right or you don't get any credit
24:10 for any of them the Bible says if you
24:13 break one law you're guilty of all and
24:15 Perfection is not in our vocabulary the
24:17 Bible says all have sinned and come
24:20 short of the glory of God how do you get
24:22 to heaven you have to be willing to
24:24 humble yourself and admit that you're a
24:27 sinner and that you need Jesus Christ
24:29 until you do that you will always be
24:31 fighting what Jesus wants to but what a
24:34 joy it is when you finally acknowledge
24:37 okay Lord I'm a sinner and I have failed
24:40 you and Lord I'm sorry for my sin but I
24:41 want to be included in your Plan of
24:44 Redemption I bow before you so that I
24:48 may enter the door of Heaven that's how
24:49 you become a Christian and that's why
24:53 Jesus came he came to make Heaven
24:56 possible for everyone if they will just
24:58 put their trust in him [Music]
25:05 [Music]
25:07 thank you for joining us for this
25:09 special Christmas edition of Turning
25:12 Point as Dr Jeremiah explored the why
25:15 Behind The Wonder of Christmas this
25:18 season reminds us that Jesus Christ was
25:21 God's great gift to you if you have
25:23 never accepted that gift Dr Jeremiah
25:26 would like to send you two resources to
25:28 encourage you to do so the first is a
25:31 booklet called your greatest turning
25:33 point which will help you begin your
25:36 relationship with Christ and the second
25:38 is our monthly devotional magazine
25:41 turning points to give you encouragement
25:44 and inspiration each month these
25:48 resources are yours completely free when
25:55 today next time on turning
25:58 point God could have gone to J Jerusalem
26:00 and picked out Caiaphas daughter who was
26:02 rich and fair and dressed in gold but
26:06 God preferred a lowly maid from a mean
26:09 Town God preferred this because his Plan
26:12 of Salvation required Jesus to Humble
26:16 himself and and then be glorified what
26:17 better way to show what he had come to
26:20 do than for him to be born to a woman
26:23 like Mary from a town like
26:26 Nazareth join Dr Jeremiah next time for
26:28 his message why
26:29 why
26:31 Mary here on turning [Music]
26:54 [Music] point
