GOD IS … SPIRIT
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Opening Prayer
Holy Spirit, make me attentive, ready to receive, and eager to apply all that you teach me.
Read ISAIAH 11
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
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 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.
Reflect
When politicians get caught doing something they shouldn’t, their defense is sometimes ‘I have the right to a private life’—that is, their private behavior is irrelevant to their public role. Do you agree?In 2023, the famous ‘Sycamore Gap’ tree in Northumberland, England, was vandalized and cut down; all that remains is the stump. Sadly, this may be the end for the famous sycamore be- cause when a tree is chopped down, the stump is little more than a trip hazard.
The leaders of Israel had led God’s people astray instead of in God’s way. For that, they faced God’s justice, laid out in the song of the vineyard in chapter 5. Now there was little more than a stump where once there was a thriving tree (v. 1).
Yet for God, this is not a problem. From this dry, dead stump will come a ‘shoot’ that will ‘bear fruit’ (v. 1): a leader unlike any other. His character will be formed by God’s Spirit (v. 2). He will be truly discerning, full of joy and respect for God (v. 3), righteous and just (v. 4) and faithful (v. 5). And he will usher in a period of peace that fills not only Israel but the whole world (vv. 6–9).
Apply
Do you struggle to pray, to think and speak godly things, to walk his way and not ‘your’ way? Even God’s perfect leader—Jesus—needed the Spirit to live in obedience to God.
Closing prayer
Thank you, Father, for everything you give me to follow you—your Word, your constant presence, the testimonies and fellowship of other believers. Thank you for your commitment to transform me into the image of your Son.
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