dwell

 This week we begin worship with:

Micah 5:1-5a

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.

And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great

    to the ends of the earth.

And he shall be their peace.

In this passage, we move from their violent past ("daughter of troops") to their future peace ("he shall be their peace").  

Normally this is done by winning a war, but there is an issue.  Bethlehem is "too little to be among the clans of Judah".  The word for "clans" ('elep̄) means thousands.  To be a clan you must be able to must a thousand fighting men.

So, instead of through a thousand soldiers, we are told that peace will come through a lone shepherd.

Normally, peace is regional.  There is always a region beyond the reach of a king where it is either lawless or where another king reigns.  But this peace will be "to the ends of the earth".

So, instead of simply a local peace, we are told that the peace will be universal.  

There will be one King, our Lord and Shepherd Jesus Christ in whose "strength" (ʿōz) we will "dwell" (yāšaḇ).  This is better said "sit" and no, the word "secure" is not present in the Hebrew.  We are not "secure" with a wall about us capable of withstanding the siege-works of the world.  We sit as any lamb would, vulnerable, yet protected, wherever we are led to graze.