Year 2, Day 361: Isaiah 11

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Here’s another famous chapter in Isaiah.  Or, at least it is a chapter that has a few famous quotes in it.  This is why I love the prophet Isaiah.  So many people over the centuries of human existence – including the authors of the New Testament – have found these words inspiring and beneficial.  So let’s dive right into this wonderful and excellent chapter.

Shoot of Jesse

We start right off with an incredible quote.  Out of the stump of Jesse will come a shoot – a new growth.  Let’s stop there and break this up into two thoughts.

First, Jesse – in other words, the kingship of David – will be a stump.  Stumps come when trees are cut down.  Perhaps just as appropriately, stumps can come when trees become so large and so old that they can no longer support their own weight.  At some time in Isaiah’s future the Hebrew people are going to be dealt with.  Their tree will fall – or more accurately – be cut down.  Judgment is coming.

However, judgment is not the end.  With God, judgment never has to be the end.  A new shoot will spring forth.  There will be a continuation.  While the current government and land may well be cut down to size, a new and tender shoot will come forth.  There is forgiveness.  There can be a new life and a new existence.

Of course, here is another place in Isaiah where we can see the historical context as well as a second “re-interpretation.”  We know that both Israel and Judah will go into captivity.  Their governments and their ability to rule themselves will come to an end.  But when the Persians conquer the Babylonians they will allow the Jews to return to the land and rebuild.  A new shoot will appear.  The old kingdom may pass away, but a new shoot will appear.  The Jewish people will not come to an end.

From a New Testament perspective, there is absolutely a re-interpretation to this passage through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Christ will come and bring forth a New Covenant.  Out of the stump of the Old Covenant will shoot forth a new one through Christ!  God will not abandon the stump of Jesse just because it gets cut down to size.  Instead, God will forge ahead with His plan of salvation.  Praise be to God!

What will this new and tender shoot look like?  There will be righteousness in leadership.  There will be hope for the poor.  The oppressed will have an advocate.  There will be a reason to be faithful because we shall see faithfulness to God in those who lead.  Natural enemies will “lie down” with each other.  In other words, through this tender shoot those whom we assume should be enemies will have a reason to be at peace with one another.  No longer will creation be bent on destroying one another.  No longer will creation think of itself first.

Overcoming Our Nature

Then we get to the root of how all this is to come to be: the knowledge of the Lord shall spread across the face of the earth.  How is it that creation overcomes its natural impulses?  God. 

Pay very close attention to this passage.  Look at most of the examples in verses 6-8.  These verses and the examples within them are all about creation overcoming its nature.  Predators no longer are predators.  Prey animals no longer immediately respond with the “flight drive.”  Venomous animals no longer use their venom as an offensive tool.  The young are not automatically discounted.  Carnivores eat plant material.  This passage is about people overcoming their “nature.”

This is one of the reasons why I love this passage so much.  These 3 verses are the absolute verdict upon the “I was born this way” approach to life.  These verses fly in the face of anyone who says, “God created me this way.”  These verses tell us that when the new and tender shoot comes forth – from the perspective of the New Testament, when Christ came – we will no longer behave according to our “nature.”  We will no longer accept the “excuse” of creation and nature and being made this way.  Those in Christ are called to a higher way of living – a way that is contrary to our nature.

The Road Home

Then we have the great promise of the Lord.  When the new and tender shoot appears out of the stump of Jesse, God will call His people home.  God will make a road for His people to return to Him.  Again, we have the ability to see a double interpretation of this passage.

From the historical perspective, we know that the Jews are allowed to return and rebuild the nation that the Assyrians and the Babylonians tore down.  God literally calls some of the Hebrew people who had been scattered throughout the land to return home and rebuild.  That is the historical interpretation of this passage.

However, there is a re-interpretation through the power of the Holy Spirit.  When Christ comes, God will call to all of His people to come home.  He will call Jews and Gentiles alike.  Through Christ, God made a road for people to return to Him.

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