On this second Sunday of Advent, we light the second purple candle on the wreath—the Bethlehem Candle. While the first week focused on hope, this week turns our hearts toward Peace.
But today, we want to take a different view of "Peace". A view which was stated by Micah the prophet. Micah was known as the "blue-collar prophet" because, unlike Isaiah, who was an advisor in the royal courts, Micah came from a small, rural town called Moresheth. Yet he stated one of the most profound messages - found in Micah Chapter 5 verse 5 -
The verse explicitly states:
"And he shall be their peace." (ESV)
While verse 2 is the famous prophecy about Jesus being born in Bethlehem, it is verse 5 that reveals the nature of His leadership. Here is why this specific line is so powerful for the second Sunday of Advent:
1. Peace is a Person, Not a Policy
Micah doesn't say that the Messiah will negotiate peace or bring peace like a politician. He says the Messiah will be our peace. In the original Hebrew, this implies that His very presence constitutes the state of peace (Shalom). When He arrives, peace arrives because they are one and the same.
2. Peace in the Midst of the "Assyrian"
The context of Micah 5:5 is wartime. Micah says, "And he shall be their peace when the Assyrian comes into our land..." At the time, Assyria was the terrifying superpower threatening to destroy Judah.
The radical point Micah is making is that divine peace does not require the absence of an enemy. You can have the "Assyrian" (which can be your illness, your debt, your anxiety etc.,) marching through your heart and mind, and yet, because of the Messiah, you can still possess a peace that the enemy cannot touch.
3. The Bridge to the New Testament
This specific Old Testament verse is the direct "ancestor" to the famous New Testament claim in Ephesians 2:14:
"For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility."
When you light the candle of peace this Sunday, you are celebrating the fact that Jesus didn't just come to give us a "quiet feeling"—He came to be the fortress that stands between us and the chaos of the world.
Most of us wait for our circumstances to settle down so we can finally have peace. Micah 5:5 tells us the opposite: Peace has a name, and He stands firm even when the land is under siege. You don't have to wait for the war to end to be at peace; you only have to invite the Prince in.
