Isaiah Day 38 - He's Coming...

11:

1

There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse,

And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.

2 

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 of the fear of the Lord.

3 

His delight is in the fear of the Lord,

And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes,

Nor decide by the hearing of His ears;

4 

But with righteousness He shall judge the poor,

And decide with equity for the meek of the earth;

He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,

And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.

5 

Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins,

And faithfulness the belt of His waist.

You can't go far in Isaiah without good news. Who is Jesse but the father of king David, the greatest king Judah/Israel had ever had. (They were still one nation then). David is the stem from Jesse and from David will come a Rod. A branch will grow from his roots. Whether it's the roots of David or Jesse the message is the same. Our roots in this context are our ancestors. How can our offspring come from our ancestors? Easy. God is our Creator and the Offspring, the Rod, the Branch is coming from Him. 

Think of the consistent imagery so far in Isaiah. Judah is a like an oak tree that is about to be cut down but the stump will remain. There will be a remnant and from those roots beneath that stump Another will arise. He shall be called Immanuel, Wonderful Counselor, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of His reign and kingdom there will be no end. The glory of David and Solomon will pale into forgotten insignificance in comparison. Justice will be restored. The poor and marginalized will flourish then. 

My favourite part is that He won't judge by what He sees or hears. Man judges the outside appearance but God judges the heart. God is not fooled by lies, cover-ups, or the fancy arguments of slick lawyers. He sees past everything that is less than truth and judges with righteousness. Imagine a day when lie or liar will succeed. A day when only truth will triumph. 

When Jesus was here the lawyers, priests, and scribes did their very best to trick Him, to twist His words, to catch Him in a trap. None of it worked. He was way ahead of them. He gave their own words back to them, often in question form and they were silenced. It was all just a taste of a future kingdom where the nonsense and trickery of those who desire to oppression others for personal gain will no longer have a place to practice their foolishness.

What a day, glorious day that will be.