oleh : Pdt. Budi Asali M.Div.

NATAL 2003

MIKHA 5:1-4a

Mikha 5:1-4a - “(1) Tetapi engkau, hai Betlehem Efrata, hai yang terkecil di antara kaum-kaum Yehuda, dari padamu akan bangkit bagiKu seorang yang akan memerintah Israel, yang permulaannya sudah sejak purbakala, sejak dahulu kala. (2) Sebab itu ia akan membiarkan mereka sampai waktu perempuan yang akan melahirkan telah melahirkan; lalu selebihnya dari saudara-saudaranya akan kembali kepada orang Israel. (3) Maka ia akan bertindak dan akan menggembalakan mereka dalam kekuatan TUHAN, dalam kemegahan nama TUHAN Allahnya; mereka akan tinggal tetap, sebab sekarang ia menjadi besar sampai ke ujung bumi, (4a) dan dia menjadi damai sejahtera”.

KJV: ‘(2) But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. (3) Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. (4) And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.’ (= ).

NIV: ‘(2) But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, 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 of old, from ancient times.’ (3) Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor gives birth and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites. (4) He will stand 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. (5a) And he will be their peace’ (= ).

NASB: ‘(2) But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity. (3) Therefore, He will give them up until the time when she who is in labor has borne a child. Then the remainder of His brethren will return to the sons of Israel. (4) And He will arise and shepherd His flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD His God. And they will remain, because at that time He will be great to the ends of the earth. (5) And this One will be our peace’ (= ).

Mikha 5:1 - “Tetapi engkau, hai Betlehem Efrata, hai yang terkecil di antara kaum-kaum Yehuda, dari padamu akan bangkit bagiKu seorang yang akan memerintah Israel, yang permulaannya sudah sejak purbakala, sejak dahulu kala”.

1) Calvin mengatakan (hal 296) bahwa Daud dilahirkan di Betlehem Efrata ini. Dan Calvin mengatakan bahwa pada jaman Daudpun kota ini adalah kota kecil, dan tak seorangpun akan menyangka bahwa dari kota kecil ini akan muncul Daud, yang menjadi raja Israel. Karena itu bukanlah merupakan sesuatu yang aneh kalau sekarang Tuhan mau memunculkan Mesias dari kota kecil ini, untuk menjadi Raja atas mereka.

Calvin: “There is then no reason why your present miseries should over-much distress you; for God can again from the same place bring forth a king to you, and he will do so. The Prophet doubtless intended here that the faithful should consider of what kind was the beginning of that most perfect state, when David was chosen king. David was a shepherd, a man in humble life, without reputation, without influence, and even the humblest among his brethren. Since then God had drawn light out of darkness, there was no cause for the faithful to despair of a future restoration, considering what had been the beginning of the previous happy condition of the people” (= ) - hal 297.

2) Bandingkan Mikha 5:1 ini dengan Mat 2:6.

Mat 2:6 - “Dan engkau Betlehem, tanah Yehuda, engkau sekali-kali bukanlah yang terkecil di antara mereka yang memerintah Yehuda, karena dari padamulah akan bangkit seorang pemimpin, yang akan menggembalakan umatKu Israel.’”.

a) ‘Betlehem Efrata’ atau ‘Betlehem di tanah Yudea’.

1. Mikha mengatakan ‘Betlehem Efrata’.

Kelihatannya ‘Betlehem’ dan ‘Efrata’ dicampur-adukkan. Kej 48:7 - “Kalau aku, pada waktu perjalananku dari Padan, aku kematian Rahel di tanah Kanaan di jalan, ketika kami tidak berapa jauh lagi dari Efrata, dan aku menguburkannya di sana, di sisi jalan ke Efrata’ - yaitu Betlehem”.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown: “Bethlehem means the house of bread; Ephratah means fruitful: both names referring to the fertility of the region” (= ).

Wycliffe Bible Commentary: “‘Bethlehem.’ ... in the district of Ephratah” (= ).

Keil & Delitzsch: “The names ‘Bethlehem Ephratah’ ('Ephrâth and 'Ephrâthâh, i. e., the fertile ones, or the fruit-fields, being the earlier name; by the side of which Beeth-lechem, bread-house, had arisen even in the patriarchal times: see Gen. 35:19; 48:7; Ruth 4:11) are connected together to give greater solemnity to the address” (= ).

Pulpit Commentary: “Ephratah ..., fruitfulness,’ is another name for Bethlehem, ‘House of bread’” (= ) - hal 67.

2. Matius mengatakan ‘Betlehem di tanah Yudea’; ini dimaksudkan untuk membedakan dengan Betlehem yang lain yang ada di daerah Zebulon (Yos 19:15-16).

Sekalipun kata-kata Mikha dan Matius berbeda, tetapi artinya sama.

b) Matius mengganti ‘yang terkecil’ dengan ‘sekali-sekali bukanlah yang terkecil’ untuk menunjukkan bahwa karena kasih karunia Allah yang sudah menjadikan kota itu sebagai kota kelahiran Yesus, maka ‘yang terkecil’ berubah menjadi ‘sekali-sekali bukanlah yang terkecil’.

Barnes’ Notes: “Both words are true here. Micah speaks of Bethlehem, as it was in the sight of men; the chief priests, whose words Matthew approves, speak of it as it was in the sight of God, and as, by the Birth of Christ, it should become” (= ).

Barnes mengutip kata-kata Gregory of Nazianzus: “Nothing hindered that Bethlehem should be at once a small village and the Mother-city of the whole earth, as being the mother and nurse of Christ who made the world and conquered it” (= ).

Matthew Henry: “It was little among the thousands of Judah, not considerable either for the number of the inhabitants or the figure they made; it had nothing in it worthy to have this honour put upon it; but God in that, as in other instances, chose to exalt those of low degree, Lu. 1:52. Christ would give honour to the place of his birth, and not derive honour from it: Though thou be little, yet this shall make thee great, and, as St. Matthew reads it, Thou art not the least among the princes of Judah, but upon this account art really honourable above any of them. A relation to Christ will magnify those that are little in the world” (= ).

c) Micah 5:2 (KJV): ‘(2) But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting’ (= ).

Mat 2:6 (KJV): ‘And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel’ (= ).

Adam Clarke tentang Mat 2:6: “‘Among the princes of Juda’. In Micah 5:2, it is, ‘the thousands of Judah’. There is much reason to believe that each tribe was divided into small portions called thousands, as in England certain small divisions of counties are called hundreds. For the proof of the first, the reader is referred to Judg. 6:15, where, instead of my FAMILY is poor in Manasseh, the Hebrew is, my THOUSAND is the meanest in Manasseh: and to 1 Sam. 10:19, Present yourselves before the Lord by your TRIBES and by your THOUSANDS: and to 1 Chr. 12:20, Captains of the THOUSANDS of Manasseh. Now these THOUSANDS being petty governments, Matthew renders them by the word heegemosin, because the word ‘princes’ or ‘governors’ was more intelligible in the Greek tongue than ‘thousands,’ though, in this case, they both signify the same” (= ).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown: “‘The thousands.’ - each tribe was divided into clans, or ‘thousands’ (each thousand containing a thousand families, like our old English division of counties into hundreds), which had their several heads or ‘princes;’ hence, in Matt. 2:6 it is quoted ‘princes,’ substantially the same as in Micah, and authoritatively explained in Matthew. ... Moses divided the people into thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, with their respective ‘rulers’ (Exo. 18:25: cf. 1 Sam. 10:19).” (= ).

Kel 18:25 - “Dari seluruh orang Israel Musa memilih orang-orang cakap dan mengangkat mereka menjadi kepala atas bangsa itu, menjadi pemimpin seribu orang, pemimpin seratus orang, pemimpin lima puluh orang dan pemimpin sepuluh orang”.

1Sam 10:19 - “Tetapi sekarang kamu menolak Allahmu yang menyelamatkan kamu dari segala malapetaka dan kesusahanmu, dengan berkata: Tidak, angkatlah seorang raja atas kami. Maka sebab itu, berdirilah kamu di hadapan TUHAN, menurut sukumu dan menurut kaummu.’”.

KJV: ‘by your tribes, and by your thousands’ (= ).

3) Mikha 5:1 - “Tetapi engkau, hai Betlehem Efrata, hai yang terkecil di antara kaum-kaum Yehuda, dari padamu akan bangkit bagiKu seorang yang akan memerintah Israel, yang permulaannya sudah sejak purbakala, sejak dahulu kala”.

Calvin: “He intimates here, that it would not be a sudden thing, that a prince should arise to govern the people; for it had been already long ago determined by God. ... God had from the beginning determined to give his people an eternal king. ... he was destined by the eternal counsel of God to be ... the Head of the Church, that he might restore a fallen world by his grace and power” (= ) - hal 299,300.

Calvin: “The Prophet ... reminds us, that his goings forth have been from eternity, that they have been already decreed, even from the beginning; for with God there is nothing new, so that he should stand in need of holding any unlooked for consultation; as is the case with us when any thing happens which we in no degree apprehended; we then find it necessary to devise some new measures. The Prophet shows that nothing of this kind can happen to God; but all this, that people are reduced to nothing, - and that they are again restores by Christ, - all this is overruled by his secret and incomprehensible providence” (= ) - hal 300-301.

Calvin: “‘His going forth’ then ‘are from the beginning.’ But others bring a new refinement, - that the Prophet uses plural number, ‘his goings forth,’ to designate the twofold nature of Christ: but there is in this an absurdity; for the Prophet could not properly nor wisely mention the human nature of Christ with the divine, with reference to eternity. The Word of God, we know, was eternal; and we know, that when the fulness of time came, as Paul says, Christ put on our nature, (Gal. 4:4.) Hence the beginning of Christ as to the flesh was not so old, if his existence be spoken of: to set them together then would have been absurd. It is a common thing in Hebrew to use the plural for the singular number” (= ) - hal 299.

RSV: ‘origin’ (= ).

KJV/NASB: ‘goings forth’ (= ).

NIV: ‘origins’ (= ).

Footnote NIV: ‘goings out’ (= ).

Catatan:

Kata-kata yang saya garis bawahi itu rasanya aneh, tetapi kelihatannya Editor dari Calvin’s Commentary menyetujui hal itu.

Kata-kata ‘goings forth’ memang ada dalam bentuk jamak, tetapi editor dari Calvin’s Commentary mengatakan bahwa ada 2 manuscripts yang menuliskannya dalam bentuk tunggal.

Barnes’ Notes: “The plural, ‘goings forth,’ may here be used, ... because the Generation of the Son from the Father is an Eternal Generation, before all time, and now, though not in time, yet in eternity still” (= ).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown: “‘Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.’ - literally, from the days of eternity, or the days of the ages. The plain antithesis of this clause, ‘come forth out of thee’ (from Bethlehem), shows that the eternal generation of the Son is meant. The terms convey the strongest assertion of infinite duration of which the Hebrew language is capable (cf. Ps. 90:2; Prov. 8:22-23; John 1:1). Messiah’s generation as man, coming forth unto God, to do His will on earth, is from Bethlehem; but as Son of God His goings forth are from everlasting” (= ).

Pulpit Commentary: “In this case the plural form of the word is a plural of majesty, or an abstract expression (comp. Ps. 114:2, ‘dominions;’ Isa. 54:2, ‘habitations’)” (= ) - hal 67.

Pulpit Commentary: “To Christians, who believe in the mystery of the Holy Trinity, the plural would express the continual generation of the Son from the Father from everlasting and to ever lasting, never beginning and never ending” (= ) - hal 67.

4) Mikha menubuatkan tempat kelahiran Kristus di kota Betlehem.

Barnes’ Notes: “The Jews understood, as we do now, that Micah foretold that the Christ was to be born at Bethlehem, until they rejected Him, and were pressed by the argument. Not only did the chief priests formally give the answer, but, supposing our Lord to be of Nazareth, some who rejected Him, employed the argument against Him. ‘Some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee? Hath not the Scripture said, that Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?’ (John 7:41-42). They knew of two distinct things: that Christ was: (1) to be of the seed of David; and (2) out of the town of Bethlehem” (= ).

Yoh 7:40-42 - “(40) Beberapa orang di antara orang banyak, yang mendengarkan perkataan-perkataan itu, berkata: ‘Dia ini benar-benar nabi yang akan datang.’ (41) Yang lain berkata: ‘Ia ini Mesias.’ Tetapi yang lain lagi berkata: ‘Bukan, Mesias tidak datang dari Galilea! (42) Karena Kitab Suci mengatakan, bahwa Mesias berasal dari keturunan Daud dan dari kampung Betlehem, tempat Daud dahulu tinggal.’”.

Matthew Henry: “Beth-lehem signifies the house of bread, the fittest place for him to be born in who is the bread of life. And, because it was the city of David, by a special providence it was ordered that he should be born there who was to be the Son of David, and his heir and successor for ever” (= ).

Barnes’ Notes: “Christians urged them with the fact, that the prophecy could be fulfilled in no other than in Christ” (= ).

Barnes lalu mengutip kata-kata Tertullian: “If He is not yet born, who is to go forth as a Ruler out of the tribe of Judah, from Bethlehem, (for He must needs come forth out of the tribe of Judah, and from Bethlehem, but we see that now no one of the race of Israel has remained in the city of of Bethlehem, and thenceforth it has been interdicted” (= ).

Barnes mengutip kata-kata Hadrian: “how then shall a Ruler be born from Judaea, and how shall he come forth out of Bethlehem, as the divine volumes of the prophets announce, when to this day there is no one whatever left there of Israel, from whose race Christ could be born?” (= ).

Tetapi ini orang-orang kuno, dan mereka tak tahu bahwa tahun 1947 Israel kembali bersatu, dan sekarang Betlehem kembali merupakan kota Israel. Barnes sendiri hidup pada abad 19.

Encyclopedia Britannica 2000: “In modern times, Bethlehem was in the Palestine mandate (1923-48); after the Arab-Israeli War of 1948-49, it was in the territory annexed by Jordan in 1950 and placed in al-Quds (Jerusalem) muhafazah (governorate). Since the Six-Day War (1967), it has been in the West Bank (Judaea and Samaria) territory under Israeli administration” (= ).

Barnes’ Notes: “the Jews had either to receive Christ, or to give up the belief that He was to be born at Bethlehem. So they explained it, ‘The Messiah shall go forth thence, because he shall be of the seed of David who was out of Bethlehem.’ But this would have been misleading language. Never did man so speak, that one should be born in a place, when only a remote ancestor had been born there. Micah does not say merely, that His family came out of Bethlehem, but that He Himself should thereafter come forth thence” (= ).

5) Penggenapan nubuat ini.

Luk 2:1-7 - “(1) Pada waktu itu Kaisar Agustus mengeluarkan suatu perintah, menyuruh mendaftarkan semua orang di seluruh dunia. (2) Inilah pendaftaran yang pertama kali diadakan sewaktu Kirenius menjadi wali negeri di Siria. (3) Maka pergilah semua orang mendaftarkan diri, masing-masing di kotanya sendiri. (4) Demikian juga Yusuf pergi dari kota Nazaret di Galilea ke Yudea, ke kota Daud yang bernama Betlehem, - karena ia berasal dari keluarga dan keturunan Daud - (5) supaya didaftarkan bersama-sama dengan Maria, tunangannya, yang sedang mengandung. (6) Ketika mereka di situ tibalah waktunya bagi Maria untuk bersalin, (7) dan ia melahirkan seorang anak laki-laki, anaknya yang sulung, lalu dibungkusnya dengan lampin dan dibaringkannya di dalam palungan, karena tidak ada tempat bagi mereka di rumah penginapan”.

Dengan adanya sensus ini Yusuf dan Maria, yang jelas sudah hamil besar, terpaksa pergi ke Betlehem (ay 3-5) sehingga akhirnya Yesus lahir di Betlehem (ay 6-7), menggenapi nubuat nabi Mikha dalam Mikha 5:1 ini.

Sensus ini diperintahkan oleh kaisar Agustus (ay 1), dan semua penafsir berpendapat bahwa sensus ini dilakukan untuk kepentingan pajak. Tanpa ia sadari, kaisar kafir ini melakukan sesuatu yang menyebabkan tergenapinya nubuat Firman Tuhan. Ini bukan sekedar merupakan suatu kebetulan, tetapi Tuhan menguasai dan mengarahkan kaisar kafir tersebut untuk melaksanakan RencanaNya! Bandingkan dengan Amsal 21:1 yang berbunyi: “Hati raja seperti batang air dalam tangan TUHAN, dialirkannya ke mana Ia ingini”.

Pulpit Commentary: “The emperor, in issuing the decree, thought only of his imperial authority and the glory of the empire; but God was working through all, and making the earthly kingdom to serve the heavenly, and bringing about the fulfilment of the prophecy that in Bethlehem the Christ should appear. So, earthly princes and potentates, statesmen and diplomatists, are ever at work, thinking only of the interest of their own nations; but above all is the God of nations, the supreme Ruler, sitting on the throne of his majesty in perfect repose, and overruling all the accomplishment of his purposes of love and mercy towards the whole race” (= ) - ‘the Book of Micah’, hal 71.

6) Ay 1b ini menubuatkan bahwa Mesias itu akan menjadi Raja.

Matthew Henry: “he was to be ruler in Israel, king of his church; he was to reign over the house of Jacob for ever, Lu. 1:32-33. The Jews object that our Lord Jesus could not be the Messiah, for he was so far from being ruler in Israel that Israel ruled over him, and put him to death, and would not have him to reign over them; but he answered that himself when he said, My kingdom is not of this world, Jn. 18:36. And it is a spiritual Israel that he reigns over, the children of promise, all the followers of believing Abraham and praying Jacob. In the hearts of these he reigns by his Spirit and grace, and in the society of these by his word and ordinances. And was not he ruler in Israel whom winds and seas obeyed, to whom legions of devils were forced to submit, and who commanded away diseases from the sick and called the dead out of their graves? None but he whose goings forth were from of old, from everlasting, was fit to be ruler in Israel, to be head of the church, and head over all things to the church” (= ).

Mikha 5:2 - “Sebab itu ia akan membiarkan mereka sampai waktu perempuan yang akan melahirkan telah melahirkan; lalu selebihnya dari saudara-saudaranya akan kembali kepada orang Israel”.

KJV: ‘Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel’ (= ).

Kalau tadi dalam ay 1 Mikha memberikan penghiburan, supaya mereka tidak hancur dalam keputus-asaan karena penderitaan mereka, maka sekarang dalam ay 2 ia mengatakan bahwa penderitaan itu masih akan berlangsung, sampai Mesias itu dilahirkan.

Banyak penafsir yang beranggapan bahwa kata-kata ini menunjuk pada kelahiran Yesus dari Maria, tetapi Calvin tak setuju dengan penafsiran ini. Menurut Calvin artinya adalah: Israel akan seperti perempuan yang mau melahirkan. Jadi mereka akan menderita suatu penderitaan yang hebat, tetapi akhirnya akan menyenangkan.

Calvin: “the end of all their evils would be the happy restoration of the people, as when a woman receives a compensation for all her sorrow, when she sees that a child is born” (= ) - hal 302.

Bdk. kata-kata Yesus dalam Yoh 16:21 - “Seorang perempuan berdukacita pada saat ia melahirkan, tetapi sesudah ia melahirkan anaknya, ia tidak ingat lagi akan penderitaannya, karena kegembiraan bahwa seorang manusia telah dilahirkan ke dunia”.

Editor dari Calvin’s Commentary untuk kitab Mikha ini, yaitu John Owen, mengatakan bahwa baik pandangan kebanyakan penafsir, yang menerapkan ayat ini pada kelahiran Yesus dari Maria, maupun pandangan Calvin, sama-sama mempunyai problem. Tetapi ia sendiri setuju pada pandangan dari kebanyakan penafsir.

Barnes’ Notes: “The context requires, that the mother here spoken of should be the nother of the Messiah. For the Birth is spoken of before (Mic. 5:2) and his brethren, in this verse can be no other than the brethren of Him who is so born” (= ).

Ay 2b menunjukkan bahwa ada ‘remnant’ (KJV) / ‘sisa’ yang diselamatkan melalui belas kasihan Allah.

Barnes mengatakan bahwa ‘saudara-saudaranya’ menunjuk kepada orang-orang kristen yang sungguh-sungguh, dan ‘orang Israel’ menunjuk kepada Israel yang sejati.

Barnes’ Notes: “This has been fulfilled in each generation since our Lord came, and shall be yet further in the end, when they shall haste and pour into the Church, and so ‘all Israel shall be saved’ (Rom. 11:26)” (= ).

Matthew Henry: “The remnant of the Jewish nation shall return to the spirit of the true genuine children of Israel, a people in covenant with God; the hearts of the children shall be turned to the fathers, Mal. 4:6. Some understand it of all believers, Gentiles as well as Jews; they shall all be incorporated into the commonwealth of Israel; and, as they are all brethren to one another, so he is not ashamed to call them brethren, Heb. 2:11” (= ).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown: “‘And they shall abide.’ - the Israelites (‘they’ - namely, the returning remnant and ‘the children of Israel’ previously in Canaan) shall dwell in permanent security and prosperity (Mic. 4:4; Isa. 14:30).” (= ).

Mikha 5:3 - “Maka ia akan bertindak dan akan menggembalakan mereka dalam kekuatan TUHAN, dalam kemegahan nama TUHAN Allahnya; mereka akan tinggal tetap, sebab sekarang ia menjadi besar sampai ke ujung bumi”.

KJV: ‘And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.’ (= ).

NIV: ‘He will stand 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’ (= ).

Calvin: “The Prophet shows here that the kingdom of Christ would be durable and permanent” (= ) - hal 304.

Gereja memang akan selalu dimusuhi dan diserang oleh setan, tetapi Kristus mempunyai kekuatan yang cukup untuk mengalahkannya.

Calvin: “The Church, we know, is in this world subject to various troubles, for it is never without enemies; for Satan always finds those whom he induces, and whose fury he employs to harass the children of God” (= ) - hal 304.

Calvin: “there would be sufficient power in Christ to defend his Church. ... as much power as there is in God, so much protection will there be in Christ, whenever it will be necessary to defend and protect the Church against her enemies” (= ) - hal 304,305.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown: “‘And he shall stand.’ - i. e., persevere: implying the endurance of His kingdom (Calvin). Rather, His sedulous care and pastoral circumspection, as a shepherd stands erect to survey and guard on every side his flock (Isa. 61:5)” [= ].

Yes 61:5 (KJV): ‘And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers’ (= ).

Calvin: “As to the word, ‘feed,’ it no doubt expresses what Christ is to his people, to the flock committed to him and to his care. Christ then rules not in his Church as a dreaded tyrant, who distresses his subjects with fear; but he is a Shepherd who gently deals with his flock” (= ) - hal 304.

Bahwa dalam ayat ini dikatakan bahwa Kristus menggunakan kekuatan dari YAHWEH bukan sesuatu yang aneh, karena Kristusnya ditinjau sebagai manusia.

Ay 3 bagian akhir: “sebab sekarang ia menjadi besar sampai ke ujung bumi”.

Ini menunjukkan bahwa Kristus akan ditinggikan di seluruh dunia.

Barnes’ Notes: “To David God says, ‘I have made thee a great name, like the name of the great that are in the earth’ (2 Sam. 7:9). Of Uzziah it is said, ‘His name went forth far; for he was marvelously helped, until he was strong’ (2 Chr. 26:15, add 26:8); but of the Messiah alone it is said, that His power should reach to the ends of the earth; as God prophesies of Himself, that His ‘Name should be great among the pagan’ (Mal. 1:11,14)” (= ).

Mikha 5:4a - “dan dia menjadi damai sejahtera”.

Kristus disebut demikian, karena Ia mendamaikan kita dengan Allah, dan memberi damai dalam hati kita.

Ef 2:14 - “Karena Dialah damai sejahtera kita, yang telah mempersatukan kedua pihak dan yang telah merubuhkan tembok pemisah, yaitu perseteruan”.

Yes 9:5 - “Sebab seorang anak telah lahir untuk kita, seorang putera telah diberikan untuk kita; lambang pemerintahan ada di atas bahunya, dan namanya disebutkan orang: Penasihat Ajaib, Allah yang Perkasa, Bapa yang Kekal, Raja Damai”.

Calvin: “what would it avail us to be safe from earthly annoyances, if we were not certain that God is reconciled to us? Except then our minds acquiesce in the paternal benevolence of God, we must necessarily tremble at all times, though no one were to cause us any trouble: nay, were all men our friends, and were all to applaud us, miserable still would be our condition, and we should toil with disquietude, except our consciences were pacified with the sure confidence that God is our Father. Christ then can be our peace in no other way than by reconciling God to us” (= ) - hal 307.

Ay 4a ini juga menunjukkan bahwa kita aman dan tak perlu takut kepada apapun / siapapun kalau kita dilindungi oleh Kristus.

Calvin: “we shall lie safely under the shadow of Christ, and that no evil ought to be feared, - that though Satan should furiously assail us, and the whole world become mad against us, we ought yet to fear nothing, if Christ keeps and protects us under his wings” (= ) - hal 307.

-AMIN-

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