December 7, 2020
TIIIIIIIMBER!!!
Isaiah 11:1–10
Brad Gaultney
Central Truth
When God executed His promise through the prophets to judge sin, it affirmed His promise in Isaiah 11 that He would later rescue His people. We find both promises fulfilled in Jesus, the branch out of Jesse's stump.
Key Verse | Isaiah 11:1, 9
There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
. . .
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.
Isaiah 11:1–10
The Righteous Reign of the Branch
1
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.
Dive Deeper | Isaiah 11:1–10
First of all, don't be like me when I'm busy or lazy and just read the devotional part of today's entry. Take a minute to meditate on today's verses. It will be worth it. I'll wait . . . .
Okay, let's go. A few years ago, my family had the privilege of stewarding a timber farm in East Texas. The forest on the land was so thick you couldn't walk through it without a machete. It was filled with thorny bushes, wild hogs, snakes, and coyotes. When we bought it, the land had not been managed properly for decades, and 60- to 80-year-old pine and oak trees towered over the land. Even in the middle of the day, it felt like dusk under the thick forest canopy.
As the new manager of the land, I worked with experts on a plan to thin the trees and develop the overgrown land for a better, higher use. I watched as loggers hauled away truckload after truckload of enormous trees while debris and mud and tree stumps began to litter the land. I couldn't help but wonder if I had made the right decision. When all the loggers had gone, the land looked like it had been scalped and then bombed. The hogs, deer, and coyotes had fled. Then, we burned the piles of debris. This is where Isaiah said the olive tree of Israel was headed because of its sin.
After thinning the trees, the light began to show through to the forest floor. The remaining trees grew healthier. We built a pond for wildlife to drink. The stumps sent up new shoots, and after about two years, the beauty of the land had returned. The land had a new master, with a plan the snakes knew nothing about, and it was good.
By Isaiah's day, Israel had become thick with weeds, dark and unusable. God would have to clear the land, but it was to make room for a new branch: Jesus. Then, "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea." (Isaiah 11:9)
Discussion Questions
1. Israel's story is our story (see Romans 11:17-25). Are there weeds in your own life that need to be cleared?
2. Christmas is coming—and all the busyness and distractions that come with it. Do you have a plan to grow in Christ and encourage others to do the same this season?
3. God loves you, and He wants things to go well for you (see Deuteronomy 12:28). There's no question here. I just wanted to remind you.