AS THE WATERS COVER THE SEA
Opening Prayer
Holy Spirit, open my eyes to the presence of Jesus, to his love and power at work around me. Help me to share that love and power with others.
Read ISAIAH 11
The Branch From Jesse
11 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of might,
the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;
4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness will be his belt
and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling[a] together;
and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
9 They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious. 11 In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the surviving remnant of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush,[b] from Elam, from Babylonia,[c] from Hamath and from the islands of the Mediterranean.
12 He will raise a banner for the nations
and gather the exiles of Israel;
he will assemble the scattered people of Judah
from the four quarters of the earth.
13 Ephraim’s jealousy will vanish,
and Judah’s enemies[d] will be destroyed;
Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah,
nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim.
14 They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia to the west;
together they will plunder the people to the east.
They will subdue Edom and Moab,
and the Ammonites will be subject to them.
15 The Lord will dry up
the gulf of the Egyptian sea;
with a scorching wind he will sweep his hand
over the Euphrates River.
He will break it up into seven streams
so that anyone can cross over in sandals.
16 There will be a highway for the remnant of his people
that is left from Assyria,
as there was for Israel
when they came up from Egypt.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 11:6 Hebrew; Septuagint lion will feed
- Isaiah 11:11 That is, the upper Nile region
- Isaiah 11:11 Hebrew Shinar
- Isaiah 11:13 Or hostility
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
‘All things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together’ (Colossians 1:16,17).From tiny acorns, so the saying goes, mighty oaks grow. And this reading says much the same thing, albeit using a different aspect of horticulture. A shoot springing out of a stump is hardly a promising beginning, but that’s what the prophet imagined.
Amid danger and calamity for Judah and Israel, something else was happening. It was small, barely noticeable, but God was bringing life out of something that seemed dead. Isaiah discerned movement in a family tree, stirrings of promise in the line of King David’s father, Jesse (v. 1). Through his line would come one who would bring justice and fairness for the poor of the earth (v. 4). I am reminded of the way justice is personified outside many law courts across the world. She carries the sword of truth in one hand and impartial scales in another. And she is often blindfolded. She dispenses her justice without fear or favor. By God’s Spirit, this promised one— ‘the Branch from Jesse’—would rule justly and do the right thing for the poor (vv. 3, 4). We have hope in him (Hebrews 6:19).
Apply
Looking at the world around you, where do you need to trust him more to carry out his purposes and bring himself glory?
Closing prayer
King of the nations, Lord of the nations, Lord who is my shepherd, I bring you my adoration and praise now.
Book and Author Intros
Extras
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2024 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Discovery is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.