Isaiah
Together
Isaiah
Together
Week Two: Peace
Isaiah 11:1-10
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.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
9 They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
10 In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.
How to Read Messianic Prophecy
Biblical prophecy is often ‘bifocal’. That means when prophetic words talk about two things at once: a near term focus and a long term focus.
You can usually tell when prophecy has this dual view by a dramatic difference between the subject of the passage and how it is described. Isaiah 11:1-10 is speaking about an earthly king descended from the line of Jesse, David’s father. But no human king could bring about any of the things described: a perfect society ruled by a king who is always right, stronger than all enemies, and will have the very wisdom of God in his mind. A perfect peace will come over the nations of the world and even the animal kingdom. What human being could ever make these amazing things happen?
Jesus the Messiah
The amazing answer came on Christmas morning: when God became man, a perfect human being truly was born. This passage one of the ‘messianic prophecies’ that predicted the birth and ministry of Jesus Christ. But in Jesus’s lifetime and our own, we still do not see this final reign come about. Why?
Remember, prophecy is bifocal: our near-term focus is Jesus at Christmas, but there is also a long term focus of this passage as well, which we read about in Revelation: when Jesus judges all the world with justice from his throne and establishes a new heavens and a new earth drawing his people to live God forever. The Word of God charts our salvation in past, present, and future, as one single movement of God’s will: “as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever, amen.”
Peace
Understanding biblical prophecy in this way helps us to have peace in the middle of trouble. Seeing how the coming of Jesus did not bring peace between peoples and how our world is still torn by conflict, we can be tempted to wonder how reading, marking, and inwardly digesting God’s word can bring any peace at all in our lives. But the answer is that we live in the reality of that long-term peace that is coming soon. The state of the world may make it seem like the universe is in chaos, but we know that God is in control, and will bring that fullness of peace to our lives and the world when he comes again. Don’t just focus on the near term, look beyond to what God has promised, trust him and you will find true peace even today.
Practice peace
How we behave toward others tells them a lot about where we place our hope. Being at peace even in the midst of difficulty is a real gift to others who are fearful and anxious.
Daily Examen
The Daily Examen is a prayer exercise Christians have practiced for centuries. The purpose is to mentally review your day looking for the how the Lord was present in your regular, day-to-day activities.
When we become more aware of the Lord’s presence, we are drawn into the peace his closeness naturally provides.
The Examen is usually prayed in the evening, but can also be done in the early morning, looking back on the previous day. You can pray along with this written form of the Examen, or this audio version.
Join Ms. Gina by her fire as she shares about what “peace” means and leads us in a craft to help us remember to trust in the Lord!
Download the music for the craft here.