3 minute read
THE HOUSE OF BREAD
ADEVTINOO
Picture if you will imagine a world before modern technology took over this present time.
It was a world where people traveled by horses, mules, camels, or foot. It was a world where a husband and his wife left the family who loved them and friends who shunned them all because the wife was pregnant out of wedlock.
Do we know this story very well from the Gospels?
As a child, this Christmas story always left a deep impression on my mind and heart. It was a story that I saw with the eyes of a child.
The angels singing praises of Jesus coming into the world, the shepherds hearing the angelic message of the Messiah being born. Wise men from the east coming to acknowledge that they have seen the Messiah and bearing gifts of Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh that was fitting for royalty. All this was from my mind's eye as a child growing up in my church.
Numerous verses in the Old Testament foreshadow Jesus' birth, life, death, burial, and resurrection story.
Yet, one prophetic verse stood out for me today. It is taken from Micah 5:2 “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.”
This verse pointed to His birth in a small, obscure town known as Bethlehem. What is very interesting is the name of the town where Jesus was born. Bethlehem was a town where it was known for herding sheep and making bread. Hence Bethlehem in Hebrew meant "House of Bread." What's more interesting is that in Hebrew, it also had a deeper meaning as a "House of War." What a powerful visual thought of what was to come for our Lord and Savior of this World. Born in a town that will have significant meaning for His life. Jesus was the Bread of Life in the wilderness for Israel and the greatest conqueror for us in the war on sin. Christmas is not just about family gatherings. It's about who made it possible to be united with families. The war ended when Jesus came into this world. Romans 8:1-2 gives us the reality of how Jesus united families:
He faced the war on sin by giving Himself to each one of us today. Is this your desire to follow Jesus today? A child born for this mission to feed the hungry as the Bread of Life and to conquer and vanquish our basest sinful nature. My brothers and sisters in Christ, I encourage every one of us to remember the blessing we have today to worship Jesus freely because He gave His life for us to be free from our sins.
By Toby Wong -Pastor, Sedgewick/Stettler Adventist Churches
