I am always on the lookout for obscure paintings of shepherds to illustrate the Christmas story.

Thanks to someone who posted it on another site, here is The Shepherds and The Angel, oil on copper, which the Danish artist Carl H Bloch painted in 1879:

Shepherds and the Angel Carl H Bloch Denmark

That painting was posted in the comments to an excellent post elsewhere about a place called Migdal Eder, which translates to ‘tower of the flock’.

The post refers to the original article, ‘The Tower of the Flock’, by Dr. Juergen Buehler. He wrote it in 2012.

Excerpts follow, emphases mine.

We are all familiar with the angels’ and the shepherds’ role in the Christmas story, as detailed in Luke 2. An angel, followed by many more, appeared to the shepherds to say:

“Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:10-12)

It was a first declaration of the euangelion, the Good News of the redemptive Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is remarkable to see that this first declaration made to Israelites outside the immediate family of Jesus was not given to the religious or political rulers of Israel but to shepherds keeping their flocks.

The shepherds’ fields outside Bethlehem, to this day, play a central role in the Christmas celebrations in the Holy Land.

How did Jesus describe Himself during His earthly ministry? As the Good Shepherd.

The Bible makes many references to the Lord’s elevation of the lowly. This was a great manifestation of it, to be sure.

Dr Buehler writes that one of the earliest historians of the Church and great Bible scholar, Eusebius, linked the fields just outside of Bethlehem that the shepherds were in to a biblical location, Migdal Eder:

The church historian Eusebius linked these fields to a unique biblical location called Migdal Eder, which translated means the “tower of the flock”.

The first time Migdal Eder is mentioned in the Bible is in the account of Rachel, who died after giving birth to Benjamin, the youngest son of Jacob. “Then Israel [Jacob] journeyed and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder”, records Genesis 35:21.

This area on the outskirts of Bethlehem is also mentioned in the Talmudic writings. According to the Talmud, all cattle found in the area surrounding Jerusalem “as far as Migdal Eder” were deemed to be holy and consecrated and could only be used for sacrifices in the Temple, in particular for the peace and Passover sacrifices. There was thus a special, consecrated circle around the city of Jerusalem.

This means the shepherds in the fields of Bethlehem who first heard the Good News from the angels were not ordinary shepherds but served the sacrificial system of the Temple. These men served the Mosaic covenant, a foreshadowing of the new covenant. And these men were now confronted with the reality of the eternal light to which their ministry had been pointing all these centuries. It was declaring a new era of salvation!

There is another mention of Migdal Eder in the Bible:

The Hebrew prophet Micah also refers to Migdal Eder. “And you, O tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, to you shall it come, even the former dominion shall come, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.” (Micah 4:8)

Long ago, Jewish scholars wrote learned studies of Scripture, creating what is known as the Midrash. Based on Micah’s prophecy, the Migdal Eder would figure significantly in the story of the Messiah:

Based on that prophecy, prominent Jewish writers concluded in the Midrash that from all of the places in Israel, it would be the Migdal Eder where the arrival of the Messiah would be declared first.

That means when the angels appeared that night to the shepherds in the fields outside Bethlehem, it was not just a declaration of the Good News to simple shepherds. It was a powerful prophetic sign to all of Israel. The news of that night must have spread like wildfire through the surrounding villages.

This is why people in the vicinity marvelled at the news:

Luke records: “Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.” (Luke 2:17-18)

Buehler gives us several lessons from this regarding Christ’s earthly birth:

1) First, it is always beneficial for the Church to see that Jesus did not arrive into a vacuum, but was born into an entirely Jewish context. When Christ came in the flesh, he was born first-and-foremost to the Jewish people but would then also bring his favour and good pleasure to all men. Even though the celebration of Christ’s birth has become a feast marked almost exclusively by the gentile Church, it is important for us to see it in its historic and biblical context – as a message intended to give hope to Israel. As Zacharias prophesies at the birth of John the Baptist, this all happened to “perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant, the oath which He swore to our father Abraham…” (Luke 1:72f).

2) Second, already from the moment Jesus entered the world the ultimate reason for his arrival was alluded to. These were the shepherds who took care of the sheep and cattle offered in the Temple – in particular the Passover sacrifices. And it was they who were confronted with the announcement that the ultimate sacrifice, which would carry away not only the sins of Israel but of the whole world, was born. Just thirty three years later, no further sacrifice was to be needed, as all those who believe in him have been “sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10).

3) The angelic announcement gave these simple shepherds a profound revelation of who this Messiah would be. He was proclaimed to be both King (born in the city of David) and Priest. That he was both Christ and Lord, the son of man but also the son of God. He would be the saviour of humanity but also the shepherd of all those who would follow his voice.

The shepherds visited the Christ Child then proclaimed the Good News:

… the mere knowledge of this news is not enough. They needed to act upon it and they did. They went personally to see that child and then proclaimed his birth wherever they could.

We should carry forth that same enthusiasm in proclaiming the same Good News today. Let us evangelise in whatever way we can, not only during the Christmas season but beyond:

Let us follow the example of the shepherds of Bethlehem and rededicate our lives afresh to that great saviour who was born in Bethlehem. He is the shepherd of our souls (1 Peter 2:25) who died for our sins and who redeems us to reign and rule with him for eternity! This is Good News indeed!

Migdal Eder is yet another scriptural and historical key pointing the way to the Messiah, our blessed Saviour, the Good Shepherd: Jesus Christ.

Forbidden Bible Verses will appear next Sunday.