There on the mountain that you have climbed you will die and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people. – Deuteronomy 32:50

Today's Scripture Reading (December 24, 2022): Deuteronomy 32

Bethlehem. Established 3400 years ago, the town once existed at the emotional heart of the nation. Situated just a few kilometers south of Jerusalem, Bethlehem is the burial place of Rachel, the favorite wife of Jacob. Her tomb is located at the northern entrance of the city. Bethlehem is the birthplace of David, Israel's most celebrated king, and it is the birthplace of Jesus.

Philips Brooks visited the town of Bethlehem on Christmas Eve in 1865; at that time, the town was part of the Ottoman Empire. Depressed and on a leave of absence from his church, Brooks had come upon the town. That moment made such an impression on him that a few years later, when he was back in the United States, he used the memory of that Christmas Eve visit as he wrote the lyrics to the Christmas Carol we now know as "O Little Town of Bethlehem."

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.

Brooks then asked his church organist, Lewis Radner, to put music to the words of the poem so that it could be sung for the 1868 Christmas service. He did, and years later, Radner admitted that neither he nor Brooks believed that the song would ever be sung past that 1868 service.

Once existing at the heart of Israel, Bethlehem now symbolizes the divided nature of the area. While Jerusalem exists on the border of Israel, Bethlehem is solidly within Palestinian-held territory, and to go from Jerusalem to Bethlehem involves crossing a border checkpoint.

Moses, the lawgiver of Israel, died before his people stepped into the land that had been promised to them. Moses had faithfully guided them to the edge of the land, but Moses never stepped into Canaan. Instead, his body was abandoned on the other side of the Jordan River.

But Moses's death contrasts with the birth of Jesus, who came to fulfill the law. Moses died on the outskirts of the nation, while Jesus was born in the nation's heartland. Moses gave his life so that Israel could inherit the Promised Land. Jesus would give his life so Israel could truly live in the land they had been given. While Moses taught of endless sacrifices that had to be made in the Tabernacle for Israel to live in peace with God, Jesus would become the perfect sacrifice and the one who would render the sacrifices of Moses irrelevant.

And while Deuteronomy 32 mourns the death of a great man, today we welcome God who steps down into our existence; the one who was born in Bethlehem and the one who came to forgive all of our sins.

(This post was originally published on December 25, 2018)

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Luke 1