“Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah; We found it in the fields of the woods.
Let us go into His tabernacle; let us worship at His footstool. Arise, O LORD,
to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength.” (Ps 132:6-8)
The previous teaching pointed out that God is not only a God of the meta-narrative, but also a God immensely involved in the detailed elements of all things. It also pointed out that the physical always precedes the spiritual (1 Cor 15:46) as a type of prophetic dress rehearsal. In Ps 132, when David pleads before God for the “place” he wants to find for the Almighty, a “resting place”, he makes this profound statement – “For Your servant David’s sake, do not turn away the face of Your Anointed.” The Anointed that is referred to here is indeed “Mâshîyach”, the anointed Messiah! So we find David listening in on God in nature, on the plains of Ephrathah he hears of God’s plan for this land, and finds out that it is here where the Messiah will be born in the far off future.
On these fields surrounding Bethlehem, “Bethlehem Ephrathah” (Gen 35:16 & 19; Micah 5:2), also called “Bethlehem-Judah” (1 Sam 17:12), David looked after his sheep. In this place he was born, and here he was anointed as king by Samuel (1 Sam 16:4-13). Despite the fact that it is named the “city of David” (Luke 2:4), Scripture also states that Hur and Salma (Hur’s son) were known as “the father of Bethlehem” (1 Chr 2:51; 4:4). Hur is the father of Uri, in turn the father of Bezalel (1 Chr 2:20; Ex 31: 2-11).
It is traditionally understood that Jesse, David’s father, weaved the veil of the ark of the covenant, and probably inherited this craft from his fathers, as was the Biblical tradition, who under Moses’ guidance made works of art for the temple and were “filled … with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and understanding, in knowledge and all manner of workmanship, to design artistic works, to work in gold and silver and bronze, in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of artistic workmanship.” (Ex 35:31-33). Thus it is not strange that when David’s triumph over Goliath is documented we find four instances where the Scripture states that Goliath’s spear was “like a weaver’s beam” (1 Sam 17:7, amongst others)!
This was the terminology this family was familiar with. We can thus see that the area surrounding Bethlehem was inhabited by an earlier generation of God-fearing men, skilled in art and war, two of the outstanding characteristics of the Messiah (Rev 19:13-17; Ps 139:13 & 15) who would come from their genealogical line and who would be proud of the resulting ties with the land and with God. One can only imagine how God must have spoken to Jesse and Bezalel in lacing prophetic insight while they were weaving, that the body of the Son who would eventually be born from their seed, would be torn like the veil they were producing (Heb 10:20), so that God could reconcile man to Him.
In Jeremiah’s time the Chimham caravanserai was the official manner of trekking to Egypt (2 Sam 19:37-40; Jer 41:17). At the starting point of the route in Bethlehem there was often temporary accommodation, usually with the animals used to transport the cargo. It is very possibly here that the Jesus Child was born, and from this place that Joseph and his family fled to Egypt. In this rich tapestry of history and land and grace God wrapped his Son, the Ark of his Strength.
- Sela: Ask God to illuminate elements of your Godly genealogy.
- Read: 2 Chr 24; Job 22; Isa 3
- Memorise: Job 22:23-27
