In
Micah 5:2 the seer writes the following concerning the Christ that is to come:
“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.”
In
this text, when the English has “everlasting” it means “from eternity.”
According to the prophet Micah, then, this Ruler that was to be born in
Bethlehem was from “everlasting.” Here Micah is speaking of the
Incarnation of the eternal God into a child that would be born in Bethlehem.
According to Micah, the Christ was going to be the Eternal One. Now, there is
only one Eternal One. All of creation had a beginning. There is only one Uncaused
First Cause – and that is the Almighty God, from Whom all life
proceeds. According to the prophet Micah, this Antecedent for all things
was going to be the Christ. (Jerry Hayes, Godhead Theology: Modalism, The
Original Orthodoxy [Texas City, Tex.: Seventh Millennium Publications,
2015], 240-41, italics in original)
“Whose goings forth have been of old, from everlasting.”
A
review of our text shows the coming Messiah to have two sources of origin: 1. A
temporal, earthly origin, i.e. Bethlehem, and 2. From of old, from everlasting,
i.e. a Heavenly origin; here, the Hebrew reads “from days of eternity,”
the RSV has, “from ancient days.” That this is referencing the eternity
past, and not just from a long time ago, is obvious since Daniel calls Yahweh,
the Ancient of Days (Dan. 7:9). This, Micah passage, shows the
pre-existence of Jesus to be an eternal pre-existence; moving Him effectively
beyond the realm of created beings. Thusly, Micah demonstrates the human and
Deity origins of the Messiah. So, that, both Peter and Paul would be able to
speak of Jesus’ birth with such terms as “according to the flesh;” as
well as “according to the Spirit” (Acts 2:30; Rom 1:3-4). Thus,
demonstrating that there was much more to Jesus’ genesis than just His flesh
(humanity).
Jesus
did not have a pre-existence as the Christ, for the term ‘Christ’
references the Incarnation: anointed man; but, He did have pre-existence as
God. In His pre-existence He was not called “Jesus”—Jesus is the New Covenant
name of YHWH. Jesus is true God from true God. He is Light from Light. Not as
one would light one torch from another, btu as the sunlight proceeds from the sun.
Throughout the Old Testament, the visible manifestation of the invisible
God (Col. 1;15 i.e. Jesus) was called the Angel of the LORD. The
Angel of the LORD was not another person/being from the LORD (YHWH), but was
His tabernacled presence (Gen 16:7, 13; 48:15-16; Ex 3:2-14; 23:20-23;
Josh 5:13-15; Jud 13:15-22; Isa 63:9). “From of old” is a Hebrew
idiom meaning from eternity as the very next clause states: “From
everlasting.” i.e. eternity past.
According
to the prophet Micah, the Messiah (Who would be born in Bethlehem) would be
God. For Who else would have existence from eternity past? There can be but One
Eternal! (Ibid., 335-36)
