“The Root of Jesse and the Peaceable Kingdom”
Isaiah 11:1-10
[cf. Psalm 72:1-7,18-19; Roman 15:4-13]
One of the things that I so appreciate about the season of Advent - this waiting period in the Christian calendar which encompasses the four weeks leading up to the season of Christmas - is that it teaches us to be a waiting people — an “already but not yet” people — it teaches us in our waiting to be a people of hope. It teaches us to be patient as we wait to celebrate the second coming of Jesus Christ and the coming of true peace.
Waiting.
Hope.
The Second Coming of Christ.
Peace.
It’s interesting that the Christian year begins with Advent. This is the season that teaches us to wait for what is beyond the obvious. Advent trains us to see what is beyond the apparent. Advent makes us look for God in all the places we have until now ignored.” [1]
Advent (in many ways) is the seasonal and ecclesial equivalent of that familiar phrase….”wait for it”….”wait for it”…”wait for it”…
And in today’s text in Isaiah, we are reminded that we can wait, just like those people in Isaiah’s day who were so desperately waiting for a King and a kingdom that would be committed to righteousness, justice, and peace. We can wait - even though it is often quite difficult to live in the time of waiting - especially if we’re experiencing suffering or pain or grief. We’re just not used to having to wait for those things we desire the most. We’re not used to having to wait for relief.
But Advent reminds us that…if we will just wait…and if we will just trust…and in the trusting and the waiting be faithful to God and be prepared for his return - then our hope will be rewarded. God will not let us down. He will come and fulfill all the promises He has made.
So our story today (our text in Isaiah) begins with waiting…and with a seemingly dead stump. What’s that all about? Well, it might be hard to appreciate in light of Isaiah’s (glorious dual) prophecies here, but to live within the Kingdom of Judah at the time when this text was written, was to live under just about the worst political rule possible — there was a Davidic king on the throne, that’s true, but unfortunately he was nothing like the better parts of King David.
It was a time…(to put it in a Tolkien-esque way)…it was a time when the line of kings had been broken. It was a time of dead, lifeless politics. It was a time of war and economic despair (so bad that even the northern Kingdom of Israel was attacking Judah). It was a time when the land you loved and lived upon was ravaged because of war. It was a time when your children had been carried off into slavery by the wars. It was a time when there seemed to be no end of suffering in sight and no hope on the horizon. It was a time when the religious life of Judah was at an all time low. It was a time when the king did not place his trust fully in God — YHWH who should have been the surest source of Judah’s salvation.
And so the text begins with a stump - a dead and seemingly lifeless thing - because the one hope which had buoyed Judah’s heart had been the line of kings from the throne of David. Isaiah’s text begins with a vision of a dead stump of Jesse (which was David’s father by the way)…because it reflected the deep failure of the leadership and kings in the lineage of King David’s dynasty — failure to bring justice, and peace, and righteousness to the kingdom of Judah.
Much of the source for the dark times that lay on the land fall squarely on the shoulders of the king at the time — King Ahaz. Listen to the record of King Ahaz from 2 Chronicles 28:
Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign; he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. He did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord, as his ancestor David had done, but he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. He even made cast images for the Baals; and he made offerings in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and made his sons pass through fire, according to the abominable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. He sacrificed and made offerings on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.
Therefore the Lord his God gave him into the hand of the king of Aram, who defeated him and took captive a great number of his people and brought them to Damascus. He was also given into the hand of the king of Israel, who defeated him with great slaughter. Pekah son of Remaliah killed one hundred twenty thousand in Judah in one day, all of them valiant warriors, because they had abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors. And Zichri, a mighty warrior of Ephraim, killed the king’s son Maaseiah, Azrikam the commander of the palace, and Elkanah the next in authority to the king.
The people of Israel took captive two hundred thousand of their kin, women, sons, and daughters; they also took much booty from them and brought the booty to Samaria. But a prophet of the Lord was there, whose name was Oded; he went out to meet the army that came to Samaria, and said to them, “Because the Lord, the God of your ancestors, was angry with Judah, he gave them into your hand, but you have killed them in a rage that has reached up to heaven. Now you intend to subjugate the people of Judah and Jerusalem, male and female, as your slaves. But what have you except sins against the Lord your God? Now hear me, and send back the captives whom you have taken from your kindred, for the fierce wrath of the Lord is upon you.” Moreover, certain chiefs of the Ephraimites, Azariah son of Johanan, Berechiah son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai, stood up against those who were coming from the war, and said to them, “You shall not bring the captives in here, for you propose to bring on us guilt against the Lord in addition to our present sins and guilt. For our guilt is already great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel.” So the warriors left the captives and the booty before the officials and all the assembly. Then those who were mentioned by name got up and took the captives, and with the booty they clothed all that were naked among them; they clothed them, gave them sandals, provided them with food and drink, and anointed them; and carrying all the feeble among them on donkeys, they brought them to their kindred at Jericho, the city of palm trees. Then they returned to Samaria.
At that time King Ahaz sent to the king of Assyria for help. For the Edomites had again invaded and defeated Judah, and carried away captives. And the Philistines had made raids on the cities in the Shephelah and the Negeb of Judah, and had taken Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages; and they settled there. For the Lord brought Judah low because of King Ahaz of Israel, for he had behaved without restraint in Judah and had been faithless to the Lord. So King Tilgath-pilneser of Assyria came against him, and oppressed him instead of strengthening him. For Ahaz plundered the house of the Lord and the houses of the king and of the officials, and gave tribute to the king of Assyria; but it did not help him.
In the time of his distress he became yet more faithless to the Lord—this same King Ahaz. For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, which had defeated him, and said, “Because the gods of the kings of Aram helped them, I will sacrifice to them so that they may help me.” But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel. Ahaz gathered together the utensils of the house of God, and cut in pieces the utensils of the house of God. He shut up the doors of the house of the Lord and made himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem. In every city of Judah he made high places to make offerings to other gods, provoking to anger the Lord, the God of his ancestors. Now the rest of his acts and all his ways, from first to last, are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. Ahaz slept with his ancestors, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem; but they did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of Israel. His son Hezekiah succeeded him.
There is a record in the very next chapter of 2 Chronicles that it took King Hezekiah’s workers sixteen days to clean out and repair the damage done to the temple by Ahaz, so fully had it been defiled.
It was a time of darkness.
It was a time of deadness.
It was a time of very difficult waiting if you still were even capable of holding out hope.
Do have a picture in your mind now of the time in which our text today is being delivered?
If so, imagine then the reception of these words:
A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide by what his ears hear;
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 kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
or decide by what his ears hear;
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 kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
This text is a wonderful prophecy that reminds us that in the war between dead stumpy things and the Spirit of God — the Spirit of God always wins. Some of us need to hear that this morning because we have our own dead, stumpy things to face in this season of Advent, don’t we?
The renewal of the people (and a time of hope, peace, and justice) will not be merely a human possibility — as if humans could create such a thing — but a divine gift, because this will be effected by the spirit of YHWH.
Isaiah tells us that one who is greater than the world is coming to reign. The one who is coming is a Spirit-filled leader the likes of which the world has never seen. A king will emerge (we know now from Bethlehem) who will lead his people with “wisdom and understanding,” “counsel and might,” “knowledge and the fear of the LORD” (v. 2). His gifts are endowed by YHWH. The coming one, the promised prince of peace, will be the bearer of the spirit of YHWH.
In the coming one resides the salvation toward which the children of Israel look. The hope of the people is expressed in Psalm 72:1–2: “Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to a king’s son. May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice.” Like Solomon the new leader will be skilled in knowledge and the gift of discernment (1 Kgs. 3:9).
The promise that the king of peace will embody and make possible is one in which the whole creation will participate. The sign and signal of the new day will be the appearance of this new king who will restore the Davidic line, ushering in the end time realm in which God’s knowledge will cover the earth “as the waters cover the sea” (v. 9). In this wonderful vision of peace inaugurated by the Messiah, the entire creation participates. The place of peace will be the holy mountain of God, and the land will be filled with the knowledge of God. [2]
Listen to the second part of Isaiah’s prophecy:
The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
They will not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
They will not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.
In the church during the Advent season we observe a time of waiting with great expectation before the coming of one who is greater than this world.
The promise of Advent - and the choice to believe that one is coming who is greater than this world - gives me the power to go into the corners of my heart where sin dwells - and say “I believe” the the Prince of Peace and the Spirit of God is greater than my sin
The promise of Advent helps me go into that corner of my heart where the fear of death dwells and say - “I believe” there is someone who is coming who is greater than the power of death.
To go into that corner of my heart which has lost faith in the power of prayer and say - “I believe” there is one who is coming who is greater than my doubt.
To go into that corner of my heart where there is deadness and fear that “this” is all there is in this life and say instead - “I believe” that there is something greater than this world. A Someone who will bring true meaning and satisfaction to my heart.
Isaiah’s declaration stands in direct contrast to the terror and brutality that pervades our world and informs our decisions today.
In our world today, we are acquainted with fear and violence, aren’t we? News of terrorism, war, economic collapse, and climate catastrophe instill a deep sense of anxiety within us.
In this very room, there is grief, suffering, and fear. What lions have ravaged those in this congregation? What snakes coil hidden in your lives, threatening to strike? In what way has the security of your life already been stolen?
According to Isaiah, the transformation from a culture of fear to a world at peace begins with a stump. Out of something that appears finished, lifeless, left behind, comes the sign of new life—a green sprig.
This is how hope gets its start—it emerges as a tiny tendril in an unexpected place [3]. As a baby in a manger. As a helpless babe who will take away the sins of the world.
Where do you feel cut off like some dead stump this morning?
Can you imagine or believe that in this season of Advent, even now, God might be nurturing the growth of something new and good from your old, dead dreams?
Which areas of your life most needs the promise of new life this morning?
Isaiah’s promise is not just a future one; even now there are tiny signs of hope and life in places that look dead and discarded. The text in Isaiah is God’s word to us as Christians that we can believe that one is coming who is the fulfillment of a great promise — who is the fulfillment of a great prophecy — who will usher in a new day when our lives will be caught up and entwined with the very presence of God — fully and without any barriers. One is coming who will bring peace.
Waiting.
Hope.
The Second Coming of Christ.
Peace.
In today’s text in Isaiah, we are reminded that we can wait, just like those people in Isaiah’s day who were so desperately waiting for a King and a kingdom that would be committed to righteousness, justice, and peace. We can wait - even though it is often quite difficult to live in the time of waiting - especially if we’re experiencing suffering or pain or grief. We’re just not used to having to wait for those things we desire the most. We’re not used to having to wait for relief.
But Advent reminds us that…if we will just wait…and if we will just trust…and in the trusting and the waiting be faithful to God and be prepared for his return - then our hope will be rewarded. God will not let us down. He will come and fulfill all the promises He has made. In fact, he already has.
But Advent reminds us that…if we will just wait…and if we will just trust…and in the trusting and the waiting be faithful to God and be prepared for his return - then our hope will be rewarded. God will not let us down. He will come and fulfill all the promises He has made. In fact, he already has.
Let us pray.
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[1] Thoughts inspired by Joan Chittister, The Liturgical Year: The Spiraling Adventure of the Spiritual Life, 59.
[2] These paragraphs are inspired and sometimes quoted directly from David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor. Feasting on the Word: Year A, Volume 1, Advent through Transfiguration (Kindle Locations 1077-1091). Westminster John Knox Press. Kindle Edition.
[3] Quoted from David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor. Feasting on the Word: Year A, Volume 1, Advent through Transfiguration (Kindle Locations 1144-1145). Westminster John Knox Press. Kindle Edition.
