WHOSE GOINGS FORTH

by Ivan Maddox

West End Bible Fellowship

Atlanta, GA

Micah 5:2 is often used as a “proof text” for the doctrine of the pre-existence of Christ.

Micah 5:2 (KJV):

5:2 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.

Most trinitarians read this as if it read: “…who has been going forth from of old, from everlasting.” What it actually says is something quite different.

A verse in Revelation 13 sheds some light on the meaning of this verse in Micah.

Revelation 13:8:

13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

The last phrase in verse 8 refers to Christ as “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” But this is not literally true. Jesus Christ was NOT slain at the time of the foundation of the world. He was not slain until the first century A.D.

So why was Jesus referred to as “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world?” And what does this have to do with Micah 5:2?

Revelation 13:8 refers to a single “going forth,” or act, of the Messiah: his death on the cross. But it makes it clear that this particular “going forth” was “from of old;” that is, it was established as a done deal even before Adam and Eve were created!

Micah 5:2 does not say or mean that the Messiah was alive and well and doing great things ages before his birth in Bethlehem. Rather, it means that the Messiah was no last-minute plan of Jehovah God. The future doings of the Messiah were preordained by God and known of Him back when He first created the heavens and the earth, up to and including the Messiah’s death as the Lamb of God, his resurrection from the dead, his exaltation to the right hand of God, and his return to the earth to reign in glory.