Presented to Corps 614 Regent Park
In
our world today we are subservient to politico-socio-economic systems where one
person becomes rich as over 25 000 children die each day due to poverty. Some people become
millionaires for appearing on a screen or playing sports while many others
cannot afford to feed and clothe themselves. In our world today there is
pornography, which horribly is America ’s
most lucrative pastime. In the United
States , pornography revenue is more than all
money made from professional football, baseball and basketball combined. The
money spent on one professional team alone would feed and clothe the world.
This is our world today. But…
ISAIAH 11:1 A shoot shall come out from the
stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
ON
THAT DAY… From a stump – an albeit dead tree – that has been chopped down,
burned down, rotted out or otherwise destroyed, from this stump a shoot, new
life will Spring up.
Isaiah
says this shoot will come from the stump of Jesse; who is Jesse? (King David’s
father) Who was King David? David was one of only 2 or 3 kings of a unified Israel .
David
was the first king of Judah .
Every other king of Judah
claimed to be descended from David. They walked away from God and as they did, they
were carried into captivity. The nation and the people, it seemed, were
finished. The Kingdom of Judah , like Israel , eventually rotted out and
became like a burned out, chopped down stump. It is from this stump that new
life will spring. It is a descendant of David who will rule not only Israel but also
the whole world. Who is this descendant of David who will rule the whole world?
Jesus.[1] ON
THAT DAY…
11:2 The spirit of the LORD shall rest on
him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
11:3 His delight shall be in the fear of
the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears
hear;
What
does it mean that he has knowledge of the fear of the LORD and that his delight
shall be in the fear of the LORD? Why does he delight in fear? What does that
mean?
The
phrase ‘fear of the LORD’ can describe dread (Deut 1:29), being terrified
(Jonah 1:10), standing in awe (1 Kings 3:28), or having reverence (Lev 19:3). With
the Lord as the object, this phrase captures both aspects of shrinking back in
fear and of drawing close in awe. It is not a trembling dread that paralyzes
action, but neither is it a polite reverence (Plaut, p. 32).[2]
Strong’s
dictionary and concordance define this ‘fear’ as ‘moral reverence’
acknowledging that the phrase encompasses more than that – it can refer to a
sense of moral dread or even of an exceeding moral fearfulness.[3]
What does this mean? What is the difference between this reverent, moral
fearfulness that leads to knowledge or wisdom and the fearful, panic-stricken,
timid phobia that leads to cowering? What is this fear of the Lord?
Are
we familiar with the word ‘deference’? Deference means respect. People often
have a certain amount of deference (respect) for our uniforms. I have had many
people alter their language and try not to swear in my presence because of my
uniform that represents my office as a representative of God. Even
non-believers tend to offer this token of deference to The Salvation Army
uniform. Even more than that I have seen people show a healthy respect in courtrooms when they are in front of the judge. This kind of thing is what Isaiah is
talking about when he says Jesus will delight in the fear of the LORD. ON THAT DAY…
11:3 His delight shall be in the fear of
the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears
hear;
What
does it mean that he shall not judge by what he sees or hears? Isn’t that how
we are supposed to make judgements - by what we see or hear? What is a better
way to judge?
11:4 but with righteousness he shall judge
the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the
earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill
the wicked.
Jesus
is the great equalizer. The Bible tells us over and over again around the
birth of Jesus and the reign of God, those that serve the world we be deposed
when the systems of the world are overthrown. Capitalism will be overthrown.
Presidents will be overturned and presidential elections will end. Corrupt
politicians will cease to exist. No more will we live in a world where bankers,
athletes, actors, investors, and others live high on the hog while over 25 000
children die every day due to poverty. Jesus makes decisions based on
righteousness rather than by what he sees and hears: he kills the wicked and provides
equity for the meek. ON THAT DAY…
11:5 Righteousness shall be the belt around
his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
Faithfulness
will be his underwear. Not only will Jesus rule the world with righteousness.
Faithfulness will guard what is near and dear to him. Jesus, the leader who
pulls down the powerful and raises up the powerless – unlike the reputation the
world’s politicians seem to have earned – Jesus will not turn on those who endorsed and worked for him. How many times have people elected leaders in this country and
even recently in the USA who they thought would be their champions, only to see
those politicians seemingly betray the people who voted for them and act in bad
faith. Jesus is not like that. Jesus will not betray the poor, the widow, the
immigrant, the victimized, the marginalized. Jesus will not betray us. The high
and mighty people of today – as they
serve our current socio-politico-economic systems - will be brought low. And those
who have been brought low by our world’s leaders will be lifted up by Jesus.
You can count on that – faithfulness is the belt around his loins. ON THAT DAY…
11:6 The wolf shall live with the lamb, the
leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling
together, and a little child shall lead them.
Lamb
is a good meal even for a wolf. The wolf will live with the lamb instead of
eating his food. Goat is great food even for a leopard but instead of eating
his meal, the leopard will lie down with the kid. The same with veal; the same
with the baby calf and the lion and the fatling; and a little child will lead
them. Instead of killing – even to eat – the prey will have nothing to fear of
the predator; let alone powerless people from Superpowers. In a country that
serves God people will not kill each other. ON THAT DAY…
11:7 The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
Predators
will no longer be a threat to traditional prey. ON THAT DAY…
11:8 The nursing child shall play over the
hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den.
Babies
will not be attacked by animals and animals will not be provoked by toddlers.
You have seen a dog or a cat that is good with babies and toddlers: how they
let a child carry them around and do all kinds of things to them. All
animals, all creation, all of us will have that same patience when Jesus
returns to claim his crown that he was crowned with upon his own death and
resurrection. ON THAT DAY…
11:9 They will not hurt or destroy on all
my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as
the waters cover the sea.
We
know what is God’s holy mountain? It’s Mount Zion Zion ,
for many years, was where some people even thought that God himself lived. God
says when the Messiah’s kingdom is fully realized no one will hurt or destroy
on His holy mountain. This can mean two things: 1) there will be no hunting
there – but this mountain, long before Isaiah lived even, is right in a large
urban centre; it is not prime hunting grounds. 2) It can also mean that as God’s seat of power, when Jesus
ultimately claims his throne no one in authority will ever hurt anyone again.
No more will politicians or their handlers exploit the rest. No more will
governments wage war or the powerful take advantage of the poor and the powerless.
11:10 On that day the root of Jesse shall
stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his
dwelling shall be glorious.
Advent is about waiting. We remember
waiting for the birth of our saviour millennia ago as we eagerly await his
return now. And when He returns what a day that of rejoicing that will be. When
Jesus comes back, we will no longer be subservient to these brutal
politico-socio-economic systems we are today. (The Lord has already
provided more than enough resources for the whole world to be fed and clothed
many times over.) These systems of oppression will end. The rulers of this world
will be brought low. The presidents, money people, and other rulers of our age
who oversee all of this will be brought down. This will come to an end. Isaiah
promises that. Jesus fulfills that.
When
Jesus comes back there will be no more elections, rigged or otherwise. There
will be no more ignorance. There will be no more wars. There will be no more
death. There will be no more tears. When Jesus comes back, everything will be
okay. He promises it will be okay and that is what Isaiah is telling us today.
.
And
I will add to that the truth that as you serve Jesus, as we follow him instead
of the others - politicians, money people and powerful people and their systems
- as we serve Jesus instead, here and now; even while there is so much death,
dishonesty, pain and suffering all around us and so much pain even within us,
Jesus promises that he will comfort us in the midst of all the very real
struggles of this world as indeed we look forward to the day when he will return
and wipe all of the injustice aside… as God will rule over us forever
more with His righteousness and His faithfulness.
.
Let
us pray
---
[1] Cf.
Captain Michael Ramsay, Acts 15:1-19 - The Chihuahua
[2] Cf. Allen P. Ross, The Expositor's Bible Commentary,
Pradis CD-ROM:Proverbs/Exposition of Proverbs/I. Introduction to the Book of
Proverbs (1:1-7)/C. Motto: The Fear of the Lord (1:7), Book Version: 4.0.2
[3] Yirah, in The New Strong’s Complete Dictionary of
Bible Words. (Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson Publishing, 1966), p. 395. Cf.
also Cf. The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. ‘5374: yir’ah’
(Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson Publishing, 1995), p.59.
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