What Micah prophesied 700 years before the birth of Christ

I am preaching from Micah 5 this morning.  So, I was especially pleased yesterday to see that Phil Johnson has a post on the Gospel in Micah 5:2.

One of the most famous and important Old Testament messianic prophecies is also a Christmas text. It foretold that Christ would be born in Bethlehem: "But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days" (Micah 5:2).

That promise loomed large in the minds of expectant first-century Jewish leaders—so much so that many of them were prepared to reject Him because they did not know His birthplace and assumed, naturally, that he had been born in the region of his parents’ home: "Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee" (John 7:52).

But I think the most amazing thing about Micah’s prophecy is the way the deity of Christ is expressed in the verse’s final phrase. Israel’s Messiah would be One "whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days." . . .

The rest here.