Like our eyes are too quickly focused on Washington D.C. or on Wall Street, or Austin, Texas, on London or the Hague, the eyes in the first century focused on Rome and on Jerusalem. The real action took place where no one expected it would. Listen to a single verse from the Old Testament, from the voice of the prophet, Micah. He writes, But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. The name seems to have been given because it is located in a fertile and fruitful place where hard work and its good soil produce food and good harvest.
Good grains grow there and fruit.
There once was an abundance of water. C a suburb to Jerusalem, perhaps five miles away from the great capital, the center of religious life, the place of the holy Temple of God, the place of great influence and history. Surely Jerusalem would be place where the pivotal things of the millennium would take place. And it was certainly located a long way from Rome, the Washington, D.C. of the day. Bethlehem was merely a modest village with sentimental value For those with an eye on the past.