Micah 5

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Though you are little among the thousands of Judah,
Yet out of you shall come forth to Me
The One to be Ruler in Israel,
Whose goings forth are from of old,
From everlasting.” v.2

Read chapter 5.
Here we find a prophesy of Jesus, that He has to be born in Bethlehem.  After talk in the previous chapters of the remnant saved this gives more hope and assurance of how the house of David would be brought and the Messiah they were waiting for.  This verse is quoted in Matthew 2:6 showing the fulfillment of it in Jesus being born by Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem.  Thus it was universally known by all the Jews that was where to expect the Messiah to come from, as we see the wise men and Herod ask the Jews about this (Matthew 2).   The two names Bethlehem and Ephrathah are one in the same as we see from Genesis 35:19: "So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem)." This verse not only says where the Christ was to be born but shows that He didn't just come into being at His birth into a man but "from everlasting," He has no beginning.  How do you grasp Jesus being from eternity past to eternity future?