Hello, I'm Dr. Kylie Fisher. Welcome to Heavenly Harmonies, a series designed to help you draw nearer to God's heart through the scriptural message of hymns.
You may wonder, how can we be sure the Bible is true? And how can we experience its transforming power in our lives? Stay with me to find answers to these questions in the lovely Carol. O little town of Bethlehem In our episode so far, we have been developing the gospel story, the story of salvation, and we've seen that God's plan was for human beings to experience peace and love and joy forever. Sadly, sin changed all of that.
But we found out last week that God had a plan to save human beings. And that was for Emmanuel God to be with us. He was going to come to Earth to show us what God is like and give us hope for a new life.
And our song for today, O Little Town of Bethlehem, assures us that we can experience new hope and a change of life, a change of perspective, even in this world of pain and sorrow. So let's see what this beautiful song has to say to us. O little town of Bethlehem how still we see thee lie above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight so that's the words of the first verse.
Let's go back now and look at this in small bite sized pieces so that we can understand what it's saying. So it begins with A Little Town of Bethlehem, which is, of course, the title of the song as well. So what is the significance of Bethlehem? Well, Bethlehem is a town in the land of Palestine, in the land of Israel.
And so what is its significance, though, to this story of the birth of Christ? Well, we find out something about this in Luke chapter two and verse eleven. Luke, chapter two and verse eleven. Now, this is when, as you'll recall from previous episodes, the angel had been speaking to the shepherds.
One angel appeared to the shepherds at first to tell them the wonderful news that Jesus had been born. And then, of course, the whole choir appeared to them. But this first angel was talking to the shepherds and telling them about the birth of Jesus.
And in verse eleven, this angel said unto you, is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. So here we see that Bethlehem is called the city of David, who then is David? So David was one of the greatest kings of the nation of Israel, the nation of ancient Israel. He ruled sort of around a thousand BC.
So that's this David that's being referred to. And so he was a king of Israel. And yeah, I mean, you can read more about the history of david in the Old Testament and about the town of Bethlehem in the Book of Ruth.
We won't take the time now to read it, but yeah, I would encourage you to do that. It will give you more understanding of the history behind this story. But there we find out from the Old Testament and from this verse as well, in Luke two, verse eleven, that Bethlehem is the birthplace of King David.
However, when David actually became king so David actually when he was growing up, he was from relatively poor family and he was actually a shepherd. He's described as a shepherd. But when he was made king, he decided to make Jerusalem the capital city of the land of Israel.
And so, yeah, Jerusalem being a much more effective military stronghold. So, yeah, that was a very strategic move by David, who was a great military leader. So Jerusalem became the capital of the land of Israel.
And so that's kind of reflected the fact that Bethlehem was not the capital city or anything of Israel, is reflected in the fact that it's here called a little town of Bethlehem. This also comes directly from a particular prophecy about the birth of Jesus that pinpoints this place, Bethlehem, as his birthplace. This is a Bible prophecy that was made actually hundreds of years before Jesus was born, is found in Micah, chapter five and verse two.
And so Micah five, verse two says, but thou, Bethlehem ephrata, 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. So there Bethlehem is described as little. It was not really the most significant town other than that it was the birthplace of King David.
But yes, even though it was little in terms know, it didn't sort of have the significance of Jerusalem in being the capital city. Yet this was the city chosen by God for Jesus, Emmanuel, the Son of God, to be born. And so let's have a look at the fulfilment of this prophecy, because as I say, this was a prophecy made hundreds of years, a prediction that was made hundreds of years before Jesus was born.
And we see that from the Gospel of Luke and again in chapter two, that this was perfectly fulfilled. So I'd like to mention something here about this because today many people wonder, is the Bible really true? Can we really trust it? And one of the things that gives me a lot of confidence in the Bible and gives me a lot of assurance in God's word is Bible prophecy. And this prophecy in Micah chapter five, verse two, that we've just read, this is only one of many, many prophecies in the Bible.
And there are many prophecies in the Bible about the first coming of Christ. And there's also prophecies about various other things, many, many different things. And there's prophecies that relate to times that even us today, living such a long time after when the Bible was written and when the Bible was completed, prophecies that still stretch into the future.
So they still point to future times. Those ones obviously being still in the future have not yet been fulfilled. But all the prophecies that relate to the time up till today have been fulfilled, just as the Bible says.
And so this gives me a lot of confidence, a lot of assurance in God's word. But let's have a look at how this particular prophecy was fulfilled. Luke, chapter two.
And I'll start reading at verse one. Luke, chapter two. And verse one says, it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.
And this taxing was first made when Cyreneus was governor of Syria. So we can see from this that at the time when Jesus was born, that the nation of Israel was not the ruling nation at this time. They were actually under the government of Rome, the empire of ancient Rome.
And so that was obviously where these Caesars, the nation that these Caesars belonged to. And so Caesar Augustus was the one that was actually reigning when Jesus Christ was born. And so Caesar Augustus had made this law that all the world should be taxed.
So let's have a look at how this affected Mary and Joseph, the couple that we were reading about last episode. So verse three says, all went to be taxed, everyone into his own city. And Joseph, continuing on with verse four, says and Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David to be taxed with Mary, his espoused wife, being great with child.
And so it was that while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn or today what we would say the motel. So because of this decree of this law made by Caesar Augustus, joseph and Mary came to Bethlehem at just the very time that Mary was to give birth.
And so it was that while they were actually in Bethlehem, mary had the baby. And so it was that this prophecy made hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus Christ was perfectly fulfilled. So that's one fulfilment of one prophecy.
But as I say, there's many other prophecies in the Bible, and all of these things strengthen our faith and show us that the Bible is true, that God's word can be trusted and we can have that assurance and trust in him. So that's really a wonderful thing. So that is a little bit about Bethlehem and the significance of Bethlehem.
So let's continue on then with the next part of this verse. So, O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by. Now, the Bible does not tell us the exact time of day that Jesus was born.
However, there is maybe a little bit of a clue in the next verse in Luke, chapter two, and that is verse eight, because there where it's talking about the shepherds, it says that they were abiding in the field and keeping watch over their flock by night. So it seems like possibly Jesus was born, as many babies are in the night know later in the day. But look, whether he was born actually at night or even if he was born early in the morning or sometime during the day when the sun was up, the angels actually appeared to the shepherds at night.
And so evidently there was this first night when Christ was on earth no matter what time he was born. But in this song, A Little Town of Bethlehem, the scene that's painted for us is a nighttime scene. So we've been talking about having that scene in your mind as you're performing, as you're singing this song.
So that's the picture that's there for us. There's this picture of night. And it's a beautiful, starry night.
It seems really, really nice and peaceful. But we have a contrast, there's a contrast drawn in this first verse between this darkness of night and then the poet goes on to continue with this idea of darkness, but now it's used with reference to something else. The next line says, in thy dark streets shineth.
Now, evidently, according to the story this is talking about the story in this song, I mean, the story that this song is portraying, because songs do portray a story as well as scenes, the scenes in a song are portraying a story. They fit together into a story. So here this idea of darkness is picked up.
And so to match in with the story, it makes sense if the streets are dark when it's at night. But there's also, I would suggest to you another sense in which there is darkness. And I think we can see this from the next line which says, well, to just make it make sense, yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light.
And so this idea of the everlasting light is an idea that's very prevalent in the writings of the apostle John. And so looking in actually the next book in the Bible, the book after Luke is John, the Gospel of John. And this referring to Christ, speaks about him as light.
So John, chapter one and verse four says, in him that is Christ was life, and the life was the light of men. And verse nine says, that was the true light which lighteth every man. That cometh into the world.
And then a bit later in Jesus life when he was grown up. I mean that's sort of the prelude to the book of John and it's kind of talking about Jesus birth and when he first came to earth. John chapter eight and verse twelve, then spake Jesus again unto them saying so this particular verse is spoken like when Jesus is an adult and here he says I am the light of the world, he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
So here Christ is described as light and I would suggest that well in heaven God is described as being light and he is very bright. So I guess there is a sense in which it's physically true. But I would suggest also that this is probably more referring to spiritually.
Christ came to bring spiritual light into a world that was dark through misunderstanding of God. And so that's really the thought that's encapsulated right at the end of this first verse where it says the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight. Christ was the hope of all people.
Actually haggai, chapter two and verse seven describes him as the desire of all nations. And actually our free book offer is the desire of ages. And so yeah, ages, years, these are sort of synonymous terms.
Christ was the one that people had longed for ever since the time, 4000 years earlier when Adam and Eve had turned their sorrowing steps from that beautiful garden of Eden, that beautiful garden home that God had made for them. And so Christ came to bring hope, he came to dispel fears, he came to dispel the fear of death, the fear that sin brought, the guilt and the pain and so forth. This was what Christ, this little tiny baby that was born in Bethlehem, came to bring to us.
So let's go on to our next verse which talks about this. Verse two says for Christ is born of Mary. So this is the baby that was born as we've said, was Jesus Christ Emmanuel, son of God, all names.
For the one being who the Bible describes as God being in human flesh. A tremendous mystery. So for Christ is born of Mary and gathered all above.
While mortals sleep, the angels keep their watch of wandering love. So this verse is beautifully describing these angels that we've discussed before, how they sang to the shepherds. But here we see them doing something else.
And what I really like or a particular word that I would really like to highlight in this part is how the angels keep their watch of wondering. We were speaking just before about Christ being the hope of all nations, the hope of all ages, the desire of all ages. So the Bible speaks about how prophets longed to see the day when Jesus would be born on earth.
Prophets longed to see Christ himself. But it was not only prophets and humans that were wanting and longing and looking for that day. The Bible also says that angels were wondering about this glorious plan.
So let's just have a look at a verse about this. And so let's have a look in actually first Peter, chapter one and verse twelve and verse ten says of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently. So this is clearly talking about salvation.
It's talking about the Gospel, which is the story that we've been tracing. But in verse twelve it says actually. So let's just look at the end of verse twelve which says that the Gospel has been preached unto you which things the angels desire to look into.
So we can see from this verse that the angels had wondered about this glorious plan of redemption. And then the second part of this verse which says o morning stars together morning stars is another word that's used there to refer to angels. It's a term that's sometimes used in the Bible to refer to angels is this idea of stars borning stars together proclaim the holy birth and praise and sing to God the King and peace to men on earth.
So evidently this is talking about the angels and them actually singing to the shepherds. That's what's described there in that second part of the verse. So let's go on to the third verse, the third verse which says how silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given.
As we read through the account of Jesus birth on earth, there's no mention that he was greeted by many people. There was no trumpet fanfares or anything like this, like what you might expect at the birth of a king. And so yeah, how silently, how silently the wondrous gift he's given.
In fact, he was born of a poor family. It seems that he was born in a stable because there wasn't any room for them at the motel. So how silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given.
And then the song goes on and it makes a personal application of this and it shows a personal application and a spiritual application of what happened at the birth of Christ and shows how that actually has deep spiritual meaning. So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his heaven. No ear may hear his coming, but in this world of sin where meek souls will receive Him still the dear Christ enters in.
So God speaks in the Bible about that he will come and dwell in our hearts. In Ezekiel 36 and verse 26 he says a new heart will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you. That's a wonderful promise.
This is part of God's plan that our lives can be changed. Right now of course we're still living here on earth, but we can experience the joy of heaven in our hearts even today. This is just a wonderful blessing.
And there might not be any outward sign apart from maybe a change of expression on the face and different actions in the life, but we can experience this wonderful gift. And so then the final verse is actually a prayer. O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us we pray, cast out our sin and enter in be born in us today.
You know, John, chapter three, verse three jesus said unless a man is born again or a person is born again, they cannot see the kingdom of God. So this new life in Christ is spoken of as a birth. And that's what this song is talking about.
Here we hear the herald angels, the great glad tidings tell oh come to us, abide with us our Lord Emmanuel. So let's just speak briefly about how would we express these things when know performing this. So the first verse is really a description, the whole song.
This is a very soft and gentle song. So you've got to look for those places where you can make things louder, make things a bit of a contrast. I think in this first verse.
In thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light. That's a real proclamation there. And then the second verse, o morning stars together proclaim the holy birth.
Because that's speaking about the angels singing. The third verse I think would be the most quiet. You'd really have to articulate on that third verse.
And then the last verse is a beautiful prayer. So let's listen to this song. We have Barry and Cecily Harker to sing this song for us today.
A little town of Bethlehem how still we see the light above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silence does go by yet in thy dark street shin light the hopes and fears of all the years are met in the tonight and praise the sing to God the King and peace to men on earth. All Christ is born of Mary and gathered all sleep the angel keep the watch of wondering love sandro gift is give so God in God for human heart the blessings of his hand. Now we may hear his coming, but in this world of sin where Mixels will receive him still.
Dear Christ, enter was we pray. I start off in time before graceless I need love with us al. What a wonderful hope this tiny baby Christ Emmanuel, this holy Child of Bethlehem can bring into our lives.
Let's say a brief prayer about this. Dear Lord, we're so grateful for Christ coming to be born as a tiny baby in Bethlehem. We see from this that we can have assurance that your word is true and we can experience new hope and new life even in this world today.
So please, may that be our experience. I pray in Jesus name. Amen.
Thank you so much for joining me today on Heavenly Harmonies. Remember, you can email us at
[email protected] join me again next time to discuss another beautiful hymn. But until then, goodbye and God bless.
