Now muster your troops, O daughter of troops; siege is laid against us;
with a rod they strike the judge of Israel on the cheek.
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.
Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel.
And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.
When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
“‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
Comment: Herod, the king when Jesus was born, wanted himself to be the head of an enduring dynasty. When the wise men turned up in Jerusalem having followed the star, probably months or even a year after Jesus was born, looking for the baby born ‘King of the Jews’, Herod was determined to do something about this challenge to his position. Herod turned to the priests and they recognized that this was referring to the long promised Messiah (Christ). They knew the Old Testament very well and immediately turned to Micah and told Herod ‘Bethlehem is the place!’ That brought a great injustice and much weeping to the people of Bethlehem as Herod thought that he would kill the pretender to his throne! It led to the slaughter of the innocents.
Prayer: I would, like the Wise Men come and worship You, Lord Jesus.
As I read it! 