Text: Micah 4:6-8
Title:  “The Tower of the Flock”
Thesis: That Jesus was born in this tower

Intro:  The Bible says, “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He (Messiah) come forth unto Me (God) that is to be Ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2)
     “And Joseph also went up…unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem…” “And she (Mary) brought forth her firstborn Son (Jesus), and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger; because there was no room for Them in the inn.  And there were in the same country (“a space lying between two places”) shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.” (Lk. 2:4, 7, 8)
     We are all familiar with the place of Jesus’ birth as Bethlehem or the “House of Bread”.  This was a very small village some 5 miles from Jerusalem.
     We are also familiar with the picture of the Christ child being laid in a manger or a crib meant for feeding animals, because there was no room for them in the inn or “lodging place”.  In the Mid-Eastern manner of doing things, the “inn” was likely a home turned into an open lodging place meant to provide hospitality and extra income during this census. There were no actual “inns” in Bethlehem, because of its size and the fact that it was not on any trade routes.
     The layout of these homes was such that the animals would be brought into the house at night, for warmth and safety. They were removed every morning and the place was cleaned. The family lived on an elevated platform higher than the animals.  The mangers or feeding troughs were actually built into the elevated floor of the raised terrace where the family lived. Remember this was an agrarian society living in close proximity to their animals.
The Bible says, “And she (Mary) brought forth her firstborn Son (Jesus), and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger; because there was no room for Them in the inn.”
     In the West, we assume that the manger means a stable outside the crowded “inn.”  This is very unlikely. Though it would have been a matter of significant inhospitality in that culture, and because of the superintending of God, there was another place that God provided for Joseph and Mary to find refuge for the birth of the Christ-child.

Text: Micah 4:6-8 – “The Tower of the Flock” – prayer

First the context: We are in the O.T., where God is dealing with His chosen people, the Nation of Israel. The prophet Micah (“who is like Jehovah”), a Judean, is prophesying to the common people of Judah, the location of Jerusalem and Bethlehem.  This was written in 700 B.C.

I. THE FUTURE REFERED TO
     A. In the Last Days (4:1-5)
          1. This is the millennial or 1000 yr. reign of Christ in Jerusalem

     B. In That Day (v6)
          1. A reference to the time right after the Tribulation Period and the entering into the millennial kingdom

II. THE GOD WHO DIRECTS THE FUTURE (v6-7)
     A. Jehovah, the eternal, ever-present God of His people
          1. The 6 “I wills” of Jehovah (a surety of the future)
              a. I will assemble (“gather, collect”) her that halts (“is lame”)
              b. I will gather [“together”] her that is driven out (“thrust out”)
              c. I will gather her that I have afflicted (“done injury too”)

Note: “Limping” denotes the miserable condition into which the dispersed Jews have been brought. And this misery was inflicted by God because of the Nations of Israel’s sins. But when the Nation of Israel changes to be obedient to God, then God will change and regather them.

              d. I will make her that halted a [godly] remnant (“that which is left”)
              e. I will make her that was cast off (“removed”) a strong (“mighty, numerous”) nation
              f. I will reign over them in Mt Zion (“the mtn. that Jerusalem sits on”) forever

Note: This tells us 2 important things: 1) That God is not through with the Jews, 2) That the Jews are an earthly people. God reigns over them now, on this earth; God will reign over them during the millennial kingdom, on this earth; and God will reign over them on the future new earth.  Forever!!

III. THE TOWER OF THE FLOCK (v8)
       A. It is a Particular Tower (v8a)
            1. Gen. 35:19, “And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.  And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave unto this day.  And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower (“Migdol”) of Edar.”
                a. Literally, “as far as Migdol-Edar,” the Tower of the Flock—probably a turret, or watch-tower, erected for the convenience of shepherds in guarding their flocks.

Note: This is an allusion to a shepherd's cottage, called a tower, where the shepherds watch, and into which they bring the sick and lame, and take care of them. And it is supposed to be the place where the shepherds were watching their flocks, when the angel reported to them the birth of Christ (Gill).
     There is an interesting twist to this tower’s purpose that is held by some and dismissed by others.  It is thought that this tower was the central location of the flock of sacrificial lambs that were raised here, during this time-period, until they made their journey of death to the Temple altar in Jerusalem. Remember that thousands of lambs were required to fulfill the needs of the sacrificial system.
     It was also the place of safety where ewes were brought to give birth to their lambs. In this sheltered building the shepherds would bring in the ewes which were about to lamb for protection.
     This whole process was watched over by shepherds who were specifically trained for this royal task. They were educated in what constituted an animal that was fit to become a sacrifice on the altar of God. It was their job to make sure that none of the animals were hurt, damaged, or blemished. Being themselves under special Rabbinical care, the shepherds would strictly maintain a ceremonially clean stable as a birthing place.
     It is also said that the young lambs were wrapped in "swaddling cloths" to protect them from injury.

                b. This tower goes back to 1700 B.C., or at least its location goes back that far.

     B. It was a Strong Hold (“raised place of safety”) of the Daughter of Zion (Nation of Israel) (v8b)
          1. Jotham, a good king of Judah, “…he built cities in the mountains of Judah, and in the forests he built castles and towers.”
              a. There is no stronger, strong-hold than being in Christ for the born-again believer.

IV.  IT WAS A PLACE OF PROMISE (v8c, d)
      A. The Promise of a King (v8c)
           1. Unto thee (the tower or the tower and Israel) shall it (“a certain time”) come.  God was promising them a future time of redemption.
“But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Gal. 4:4-5).
               a. The first (“primary”) dominion
                   1) This was the reign of Kings David & Solomon
                   2) This was the continued reign that Jesus Christ came in the flesh to establish, known as the Throne of David.
“Of the increase of His (Messiah’s) government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this” (Isa. 9:7).

Note: Pretty remarkable are the words added here in the Targum of Jonathan (Jewish writings), "This is the place from whence the King Messiah will be revealed in the end of days." (Gill)

    B. The Promise of a Kingdom (v8d)
         1. The millennial kingdom shall come
         2. And it shall come to the Nation of Israel

“And thou, O tower of the flock (Migdal Edar), the strong hold of the daughter (Nation of Israel) of Zion (Jerusalem), unto thee (the tower) shall it (Christ as representing the future millennial kingdom) come, even the first dominion [of David/Solomon]; the [millennial] kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem (Nation of Israel).”

V. IT WAS A PLACE OF PRAISE  (Lk. 2:8-14)
“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And, lo, the Angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.  And the Angel said unto them, ‘Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.  And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger’.  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men’.  And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, ‘Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.  And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.”

Notice that the shepherds were only told 4 things about the birth of Christ: 1) Unto you (lowly shepherds) is born a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord (fulfillment of all the O.T. prophecies & hopes and dreams of the Jewish people); 2) the birth of the Christ shall be a sign unto you, 3) you will find the Christ wrapped in swaddling clothes, 4) you will find the Christ lying in an animal’s manger.  The Bible says that they went straight to Christ’s location, because they already knew where it was, “the tower of the flock.”
     If this interpretation is correct, and I believe it is, then the Lord Jesus Christ was born in the very place set aside to raise sacrificial lambs.  This certainly fulfills O.T. prophecy and the words of John the Baptist when he identified Jesus as “the [perfect, unblemished] Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world.”
     And just as those thousands of lambs were born in the “tower of the flock” to die, so the Lamb of God was born to die a sacrificial death for the sins of mankind.  Thirty years later when Jesus said, on the cross of Calvary, “It is finished” that ended the necessity for the shedding of blood for the remission of sins.

Now what is the application for us living 2000 yrs. after the cross?
1. In 70 A.D. Jerusalem and the Jewish Temple were destroyed, and so we think that the temple sacrifices are brought to a standstill, but,
2. Christ’s death, 37 yrs. earlier, did not end the need for sacrifice.
     Listen to these verses out of the church age epistles:
     a. We think there is no more temple:
1Cor. 6:19.  “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?“
         1) And so we still have a great responsibility
     b. We think that there are no more sheep to sacrifice, but:
Rom. 8:36  “As it is written, For Thy (Christ’s) sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
         1) And so we still have a Shepherd to sacrifice our lives for
     c. We think that there is no more sacrifice to offer, but:
Rom. 12:1-2  “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
        1) And so we still have a great obligation to fulfill

Concl:  During his season of Christ’s Birth, I trust we will pause and think of that lonely tower on a Judean hillside that provided shelter for the Lamb who came to be the sacrifice for our sins, and not for our sins only, but for the sins of the whole world!  And that His birth fulfilled every O.T. promise and prophecy of His coming, perhaps, even including His birth in the “tower of the flock.”
     As our bodies became His temple may we be reminded that this season is for the purpose of drawing men/women, boys/girls into that peace that only Christ offers.
     As we realize that we are the sheep of His pasture, may we realize this season is not about gifts, but about the gift of God.
     As we realize that Christ became our sacrifice, let us remember that we are called to become a sacrifice for Him. A life of sacrifice is never easy nor appreciated, except by Him who ruleth in the Heavens.
      In actuality, Christmas is not about a baby born in a manger, but about the King of Kings and Lord of Lords coming in human flesh to redeem mankind.