The prophecy
"And thou, Bethlehem Ephrata, art a little one among the thousands of Juda: out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be the ruler in Israel: and his going forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity."
Micheas (Micah) 5:2 · around 700 BC
Bethlehem was a little one. Micah says so himself. Not Jerusalem, not a royal city. A farming village a few miles south.
And look at the last line. This ruler's "going forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity." He is born in a village, but he existed before time.
Even Herod's priests knew
When the wise men arrived asking for the newborn king, King Herod called in the experts:
"And assembling together all the chief priests, and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where Christ should be born. But they said to him: In Bethlehem of Juda: For so it is written by the prophet."
Matthew 2:4 to 5
They didn't need to look it up. Everyone knew where the Messiah would come from.
How he got there
Mary and Joseph didn't live in Bethlehem. They lived in Nazareth, in Galilee, several days away on foot.
"And it came to pass, that in those days there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that the whole world should be enrolled... And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem."
Luke 2:1 and 4
The most powerful man in the world signed an order for a census. Without knowing it, he sent a pregnant girl to the one town on earth where her son had to be born.
Why this is a big deal
You cannot choose where you are born. Micah named the village seven centuries in advance, and a Roman emperor made sure the family got there in time.