To Read: Isaiah 11:1-6
There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.
Here Isaiah describes Israel as a stump – a once mighty tree that has been cut down due to their unfaithfulness. And yet, there will be a remnant always that remains for God’s people, and from this remnant will come a shoot – new life. This shoot is to come from the stump of Jesse, and Jesse is the father of David. This further points to Jesus, who was said to come from the line of David (2 Sam. 7). This one particular branch – will be a “him” and the Spirit of the Lord will be upon him. Unlike the unfaithful Israelites, this one man will delight in the “fear of the Lord”, fully trusting in him.
This speaks clearly to our spiritual situation. We are the unfaithful ones, unable to keep the law of God, and falling short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). Yet we have a representative, one who would stand in for us in Jesus Christ – and if he is the promised one of the line of David – then his kingdom shall have no end. All those who are part of the kingdom, those who walk in the train of his robe (Eph. 4:8), will inherit that very same kingdom.
This king will judge the poor with equity – caring deeply for the meek and the outcasts – he embodies mercy, which is certainly not like earthly kings! Because this king will also be the Prince of Peace, Isaiah can give these beautiful pictures of reconciliation in the prophecy: such dramatic peace that it will be like a wolf lying with a lamb, and a leopard with a young goat, the lion and the calf, along with the cow and the bear (v.7)! This little child shall lead them, all of God’s creatures into peace and reconciliation! This brings to mind Psalm 23, where King David says, ‘the Lord is my shepherd – he makes me lie down in green pastures.’ It’s a little known fact about sheep – they rarely lie down, because they always have to be ready to flee from predators. But here in Psalm 23 we’re told that we are in such safety because of the Great Shepherd, that we can lie down, we have nothing to fear – though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death – we will fear no evil.
This is true because Jesus came as a baby and would declare victory over the only forces that could defeat us – our sin and its result, our death. They are foes no more – they are conquered and we too will inherit all that the king has.
Song to Sing: Do You Hear What I Hear?
It’s a song that takes a while to get around to the point – but it gets there! The child, sleeping in the night, he will bring us goodness and light!
Echoes of Eden: Christmas Trees! Made popular in Germany, the idea is that lights would be put on a tree to be a reminder that Christ comes as light into the darkness; the first Christmas trees had actual candles on them – not sure how that worked, but it did! The evergreen was chosen to symbolize everlasting life.