Future Glory
Opening Prayer
Lord, the year will soon be over, but I’m thankful that Your love and care for me won’t be.
Read Isaiah 11:1-16
[1] 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 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, from Elam, from Babylonia, 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 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. Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Who might Isaiah's words point forward to?The first line of L.P. Hartley’s novel The Go Between tells us: “The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.” In these verses it is the future, but actually a future very firmly rooted in the past where things will be amazingly different. It must have been very hard for God’s people to look to the future with hope, in the light of all the uncertainty that surrounded them. But Isaiah gives them (and us) a wonderful message from God. All that seems to be left of the royal line of David (Jesse’s son) is a stump. But it’s a stump with roots, so there is still life there. And, as the next few verses show, out of it would arise a Branch that would flourish. Verses 2-5 describe this wonderful Messiah who would bring righteousness, justice and faithfulness. At this time of year many garden shrubs have been cut back, and look lifeless. Yet if we look closely, we may glimpse tiny green shoots just beginning to bud. However overwhelmed we may feel by past or present difficulties, we can still glimpse the future glory that lies in store with God.
Apply
What blessings of 2013 can you look back on? What blessings do you anticipate in 2014? Thank God for them.
Closing prayer
Good Lord, I look back with gratitude on all the blessings You’ve bestowed on me. What a God You are!
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