The return of the Prince of Peace will mean no more Aleppos

Dec 18, 2016 by

by Julian Mann, TCW:

I am notorious in our family for getting my predictions wrong. On one occasion about 12 or so years ago, our then young sons were watching a football match on the television and Dad came in and pronounced that Wayne Rooney had lost a yard of pace. Five seconds later he scored.

The prophets of the Old Testament who predicted the coming of the Christ, the King from God who would one day come to save the people of God, got their predictions right. The prophet Micah, who preached in Israel about 700 years before the birth of Jesus Christ, predicted that from Bethlehem, a city in ancient Israel which had been the birthplace of David, Israel’s greatest King, a ruler would come.

This ruler would be a great ruler of God’s people and a good ruler over them and would gain international acclaim. ‘He will stand,’ Micah predicted, ‘and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. And he will be their peace’ (Micah 5v4-5a – NIV).

A ruler who will be a shepherd of God’s people. Only last week I read a review of a book by a working shepherd, James Rebanks, called The Shepherd’s Life, A tale of the Lake District and the reviewer quotes the author as follows: ‘My job is simple: get around the fields and feed and shepherd the different flocks of ewes – dealing with any issues that arise. First rule of shepherding: it’s not about you, it’s about the sheep and the land’ (Oak Hill Commentary, Winter 2016-2017, p46).

A shepherd: this is a ruler who looks after people. He is not in it for the power kick or to make money for himself by piling up non-executive directorships or fiddling his expenses. He will be a caring, loving ruler of God’s people.

‘And he will be their peace.’

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