Oh, little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie,

Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by....

Is this, and that it was known as ‘David’s City’, just about all we know of the Lord’s birth place? Something to sing about in a lovely, but perhaps slightly sentimental carol? It could be that busy Bethlehem, full of visitors, may have been in a chaotic state that night! But even if not, to explore the ‘cities’ where Jesus lived, and increase our knowledge of their history, geography and the symbolic meaning of their names, as always with Scripture, is spiritually valu­able. After all, the cities recorded in the Scriptures are part of the “all the things concerning Him.”

There are two towns in Palestine named Bethlehem; Bethlehem in Judah, known as Bethlehem Ephratha, and Bethlehem in Ze­bulun, which is close to and slightly S.E. of Mt Carmel, 6 km west of Nazareth. In the 19^th century both were called Beit-Lahm, and today Bayt-Lahm (Arabic), although of course, in English always Bethlehem. The Zebulun Bethlehem does not concern us here, although a recent Time magazine article purported to prove from archaeology that it was in the Zebulun Bethlehem that Jesus was born, an article that seemed to assert that the Judah Bethlehem scarcely existed in His day. This is one reason that Christians should take an interest in learning as much as possible about the times and places of the Bible, to combat teaching that attempts to cast doubt on the Word of God. If this were true, how is it that the history of this little town goes right back to pre-Jacob times?

The Bethlehem we are interested in, the Saviour’s birth place, is about 6 miles (approx. 9 km) S.W. of Jerusalem. This town already was existing when Jacob returned to Palestine from Paddan. It was then called Ephrath or Ephrathah, meaning fertile, or fruitful. Rachel’s tomb was near Bethlehem. (Gen. 35:16, 19; 48: 7. Both names are used.)

Bethlehem in the Old Testament⤒🔗

Mention of Bethlehem in the Old Testament is found more frequently than we often re­alise. It occurs, e.g., in 1 Chronicles 2:51, 4:4, where it is associated with descend­ants of Caleb, a son of Judah.

Salma is called the Father of Bethlehem, a term that it seems is not fully understood, but thought probably to mean leader or chief. This Salma in at least one reliable encyclopaedia, is equated with Salmon, who married Rahab. This is not unlikely, for Salmon’s descendants, who led to the royal line, lived there. To our ears, some Biblical genealogies may be difficult to follow, but this need not be a matter of undue concern. The Hebrew approach was different from ours. As you will know, the Hebrew method frequently skipped a generation or two, sometimes several, as when Jesus was referred to as the son of David. (This does not apply, of course, to the pre-flood lineage where the ages of Adam’s descendants are also given.) Realising this helps us to understand why sometimes there seem so few generations in the length of time given between one prominent person and his descendants. Salma is recorded as the son of Hur, whose name does not appear at all in the lineage of Matthew’s Gospel.

Over a thousand years before Jesus was born, one of Salmon’s descendants, a man named Jesse, in Jewish tradition a weaver, lived in Bethlehem, with his wife and eight sons. The youngest of these brothers was to become Israel’s most famous king. He was also destined to be­come the ancestor of our Lord Jesus. King David, second King of Israel and founder of its royal line, became the monarch in 1040 BC. So although as King, David did not make Bethlehem his capital, as his birthplace it is called the city of David in Luke 2:4. In John 7:42 the word ‘town’ is used (Greek ‘village’). It was certainly not a city in our sense of the word. Just a small village perched on the slope of a hill, it was strategically placed en route to Egypt. King Rehoboam, while fortifying the nation of Judah, built up towns for defence, including Bethlehem (2 Chron. 11:6.) On the return from exile in Babylon, 123 men of Bethlehem accompanied Zerubabel back to Israel (Ezra 2:21). Zerubabel, you may recall, was of the family of David, and were it not for the curse put on the royal line, would likely have been the next king. (See Matt. 1:11, cf. Jer. 36:30, 37:1.)

Jeremiah speaks of Gerath Kimham (Chimham) near Bethlehem as a stopping place for the soldiers escaping to Egypt from the Babylonians. A suggestion has been made that the caravanserai built at this place was the usual starting point for Egypt, and that it was similar to, or even may have been the same inn, as the inn where there was no place for Jesus.

King David’s Royal Line←⤒🔗

Two people in the life of Jesus could trace their ancestry through the 10 centuries, right back in direct line to King David. These were Joseph, chosen to care for the baby as his foster father, and Mary, his mother. The Romans who were ruling Palestine then, wanted to have a record of all the inhabitants of the country for tax purposes, (a much more difficult and complex task than faces the Department of Inland Revenue today, and no doubt just as unpopular!) They ordered all the Jews to return to their ancestral homes to be registered. Christian historians see behind this action, God’s hand setting the world in motion, so that His Son would be born in Bethlehem Ephratha, as prophesied in Micah. So it was that Joseph and Mary set off from their home in Nazareth, near the Sea of Galilee, to travel by foot to Bethlehem. Mary is often pictured riding on a donkey. But the Bible does not say how they travelled, and as they were poor, as evidenced by their poor man’s offering of a dove in the temple, they probably would not be able to afford to purchase one. It is much more likely that they walked the long, exhausting journey to Bethlehem, a terrible trip for both of them, but especially for Mary.

You know the story well – there was no room for them in the inn, but they were able to find shelter in the stable, and there the baby Jesus was born and put to sleep in the manger – the feed box of the cattle. And there, sent by angels, came shepherds, looking for the newborn baby. The birth in Bethlehem was a fulfilment of the prophecy mentioned, Micah 5: 2, several hundred years before Jesus’ birth: But you Bethlehem Ephratha, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from old, from ancient times (or “from days of eternity.”)

The strategic position of Bethlehem was important in our Lord’s early life. God led Joseph to remain in Bethlehem in Judah for anything up to two years after the birth of the Lord, finding for his family a house to live in. Here came the Eastern astrologers, known as the Wise Men. The wisdom of the sojourn in Bethlehem then became apparent. Imagine if the escape to Egypt had had to begin from the region of Galilee, bringing the family en route to Egypt, close to Jerusalem where Herod waited to pounce. As the starting place to Egypt, already situated on the escape route, Joseph and his wife were well on the way from Jerusalem with the Child, to the safety of the country of which prophecy said, Out of Egypt have I called my Son.

The Christian Era←⤒🔗

The Roman emperor Hadrian devastated Bethlehem in the 2^nd century. This meant that the site of the nativity was lost for two centuries. Then the mother of the emperor Constantine, who evidently had a penchant for ‘discovering’ lost sites, and certainly had one for building churches, had the Church of the Nativity erected over what she presumed was the Lord’s birthplace, the spot that she credited as being the site. (She also is said to have claimed knowledge of the site of Mt Sinai.) The New Bible Dictionary makes the wry comment. ‘This may, or may not, be the site.’

Another suggestion is that the stable was a cave. It seems to me that there is more justification for this. Justin Martyr, in the 2^nd century, declared it a cave close to the village, and some think close to burial caves. This would be symbolically appropriate for the Child who was born to die. One commentator even suggested that the swaddling clothes used by Mary to wrap the baby might have been burial cloths left in nearby caves for the purpose of use during funerals. Be this as it may, we will never know the truth.

Justinian erected a more sumptuous church, grey limestone columns and roof of cedar wood, later replaced with English oak presented by Edward IV of England. Now it is a rich structure; the Grotto of the Nativity is a crypt hewn out of rock and lined with marble, a silver star and white marble ‘manger’. This I cannot describe from personal knowledge, and although it would be a privilege to have visited Israel, in some ways it seems to me that modern commercialism would spoil such an event. Perhaps those of us who have not experi­enced it are the privileged ones?

The Name Bethlehem←⤒🔗

Finally let us consider the meaning of the name, and its significance to us as Christians. Bethlehem = House of Bread. (Beth in Hebrew means “House.”) It was given this name because in and around Bethlehem, much good food grew. The area in which Bethlehem was built was called Ephrathah, and this name means ‘fertile’ or ‘fruitful’. The hill slopes abound with vines, figs, almonds, and olive palms. Abundant grass meant the region could well support herds, such as the flocks of sheep cared for by the shepherds. The traditional scene of the angels’ visit is to the North East, but even this is not conclusively determined. Fausset’s Dictionary declares the hills as more likely. When Fausset produced his learned encyclopaedia, (19^th century), there was one chief street and a wholly Christian population of 3000, but this is far from the case, as you will be aware, in the 21^st century.

Returning to the Birth of the Lord Jesus←⤒🔗

Bread was a staple diet for the Jews of that time. Bread represented food, food for life. How appropriate, then that Jesus came down from heaven to Bethlehem, the House of Bread. One of the names Jesus later gave to himself was the Bread of Life. He told the people, I am the bread of life. Then he went on to say, The bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. So it was a very good name for Bethlehem, the place Jesus came down to when he came from heaven, as a little baby.

‘I am the Bread of Life.’←⤒🔗

In John 6:32, 33, recalling the manna in the wilderness, and contrasting that with His own coming, Jesus said,

'It is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread from God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world... I am the bread of life.’ This was His purpose in coming – to give life, spiritual life to you and to me.

I cannot but see the inspiration of God in all Scripture, even to the very name of the village to which Jesus came at His birth. How breathtaking is the hand of the Lord in every tiny detail in the outworking of His plan for our salvation.

So, as we celebrate the remembrance of His coming, may we rejoice to take this Bread of Life, and so partake of the Eternal Life that He brings. May each and every one of us say, in the words of the hymn,

Thou didst leave Thy Throne and Thy Kingly Crown
When Thou camest to earth for me;
But in Bethlehem’s town there was found no room
For Thy Holy Nativity.
Oh come to my heart, Lord Jesus,
There is room in my heart for Thee.