Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Isaiah 11:1-10
Pastor: Pastor Schlicht
Sermon Date:  December 8, 2019

It’s the second week of Advent and we are looking at another prophecy of Isaiah: the Root of Jesse. There are so many rich connections within this section of God’s Word and there’s so much good stuff to get to that I just want to jump right in. So to say the least in a short introduction, this is a portion of Scripture which finds incredible fulfillment in Jesus. And, as always, the more we find out about Jesus, the more we understand about how we are to live as his followers. So there are clear applications here as well.

Isaiah was a prophet in the southern kingdom of Judah around 740-700BC. The big threat to their nation at this time was the massive empire to the east, Assyria, who was threatening to destroy them. Assyria was known for its military might and touted that strength. In fact, Isaiah hears the Assyrian king say this, “By the strength of my hand I have abolished the borders of the peoples and have plundered their treasures. Like a mighty warrior I have brought down their inhabitants.” But his boasting was foolish. God told Isaiah that Assyria was merely a tool in his hand: “Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger.” (Is 10:5) So when Assyria boasts that they have cut down the other nations, God says in 10:15, “Should an ax brag that it is better than the woodsman who chops with it?” It was God who brought the Assyrians to the Israel’s doorstep. “Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger…I will send him against a godless nation and against the people who anger me…just as I have done to Samaria and her petty gods, will I not do the same to Jerusalem and her worthless idols?” All the prophets in Israel were telling people they would be fine because they had heard from the gods that Assyria would not defeat them. But in reality the true God, the Lord Almighty, had aligned himself against them because of their idolatry and was about to swing the ax of Assyria. This is how chapter 10 ends: “He will cut down the forest thickets with an ax; Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One.” (Lebanon likely refers to the cedars of Lebanon within the temple.) Judah was about to get leveled by Assyria because the Lord’s patience had run out. And this certainly did take place, Isaiah’s words were fulfilled in less than a century. First Northern Israel fell and then Judah.

The application here is always a good reminder for us. It is not an accident on God’s part when war takes place. God uses nations and world powers, as corrupt as they may be, to accomplish his purposes. Just as he wielded the Assyrians, he would wield the Roman empire to crucify his own Son and forgive our sins. It didn’t look like it, but he was in control, accomplishing our salvation. And the same is true today. God is the woodsmen among the nations. America is nothing but an ax in his hand or the tree that is ripe for cutting down. We can take comfort in the fact that the Lord directs the nations with divine purpose, even if  we cannot see how. And that he is always at work for the eternal good of those who love him.

So although the picture of Israel in front of us here at the end of Isaiah 10 is terrifying, a vast forest of nothing but jagged stumps, it wasn’t the end. God had a purpose. In the next verse, in the very next breath, Isaiah prophesies the coming of the Messiah. Isaiah 10:1, “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.” Incredible, imagine a forest devoid of trees, just hewn stumps as far as the eye can see. All looks like death and destruction, but among the countless stumps, one begins to grow again. A small shoot has budded from the stump of Jesse. In the Old Testament Jesse was the father of King David, the unlikely shepherd-king who was a man after God’s own heart. So we know that Isaiah is prophesying that a new David, a new son in the line of Jesse, will come to reign as king. And all of chapter 11 is a description of this shoot or branch and the kingdom he will rule. 

Verse 1: A shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the Lord will 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. This part about the Spirit is close to Isaiah 61 which Jesus quotes about himself  when he went to the synagogue in Nazareth. Luke 4:18, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me…Today these words are fulfilled in your hearing.” he said. In other words, Jesus saw himself as the fulfillment of this prophecy. He knew that he was the shoot from the stump of Jesse on whom the Spirit of the Lord, the Holy Spirit rests. The people of Nazareth didn’t believe him, but just like David, a man had come from Bethlehem who would become King, not just of Israel, but of the whole earth. Jesus matches the first description with certainty.

The next description of the shoot or branch of Jesse is in verse 3: “He will be delighted with the fear of the Lord.” Completely contrary to usual emotions of our world, this coming king will find joy in the fear of the Lord. He will delight to stand in awe of God. And therefore, he will delight in those who respect God. He will be pleased with those who tremble at the idea of displeasing God. And this makes him just in his judgments. Verses 3–5: “He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, nor will he render decisions based on what he hears with his ears, but with righteousness he will judge the poor, and he will render fair decisions in favor of the oppressed on the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath from his lips he will put the wicked to death. Righteousness will be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his hips.” His judgments are not based on the appearance or the opinions of others. How often do we see this in Jesus’ life? He did not care how rich, or connected, or powerful people were on earth. He didn’t not judge by what he saw with his eyes when he saw a widow give two copper coins in the Temple. He said it was the greatest offering, because he knew that she delighted in the fear of the Lord. She had given him all she had! He didn’t render verdict with his ears when he heard the Pharisees with their grandiose and lengthy public prayers. He said, “I tell you the truth they have received their reward in full.” They receive the admiration of impressionable people, but they will receive nothing from God, because they don’t fear him. They were praying for show. Jesus fits this second description perfectly.

And there is a clear application for us here as well. Jesus commands the same thing in John 7:24: “Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.” Let’s remember that before we make judgments about others. My friends, do not simply go with your first impression of somebody. You only see a hair’s width of a sliver of their life. Do not judge by mere appearances. And if someone does offend you, talk to them face-to-face and seek to forgive them, just as Jesus commands in Matthew 18. Don’t bad-mouth them at home or rant and gossip with friends. Call them, talk to them, hear their side of the story and get the facts straight. I think the Lord has blessed me with a lot of patience in certain ways, but I cannot help but become frustrated when I hear a Christian speak about someone with unloving judgement something which is really tantamount to gossip. That’s not who we are! We don’t act according to earthly standards; we follow Jesus, the shoot of Jesse. He made righteous judgements, both just and loving, because he respected God more than anyone else. The more you respect the Lord, the less you will care about outward appearances and the more loving and wise you will become in your judgement of others. 

After Isaiah talks about the character of this righteous shoot of Jesse, this new Davidic King, he then sees the effects of this King’s rule: namely, radical peace in his kingdom. “The wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, the calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf together, and a little child will lead them. The cow and the bear will graze together, and their young ones will lie down together. The lion will eat straw like the cattle. The nursing child will play near a cobra’s hole, and the weaned child will put his hand into a viper’s den. They will not hurt or destroy anywhere on my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” As you can tell, this is talking about an otherworldly type of peace. A peace which transcends the predator-prey type world we live in. In Jesus’ kingdom there will be a complete peace. 

Here is another direct application for us: Although we will never experience the fulfillment of this radical peace until heaven, even now we long for it and seek to bring it into our lives through faith in Jesus. Let us be people who live in peace as far as it is possible. We are not to take advantage of those in vulnerable positions. We should be people around whom others can feel safe. We ought to be those who defuse fights and seek to confront problems with gentleness before they grow into bitter conflicts. Especially in this church, among Christians let us have an environment of peace. 

That brings us to the final verse of our text: Isaiah 11:10. “This is what will take place on that day. The peoples will seek the Root of Jesse, who will be standing like a banner for the peoples, and his resting place will be glorious.” This is the first time that Isaiah says “the Root of Jesse” which should cause us to wonder what’s going on. Because before this he was called the “shoot” or “branch” which is much different that the “root”. The root is below the stump and the shoot is growing on top of it! How can he be both? Some assume this is a mistake, but that is rather naive. Jesus in the book of Revelation actually explains it himself! He says it like this: “I…am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” (Rev 22:16) Both David’s root—his source—and his shoot—or descendant. Jesus says, I am his creator and his relative. I am his Lord and his descendent. This is what we celebrate at Christmas: Jesus born as true God and yet true man! Ah, there are just so many beautiful connections in this prophecy to Jesus, aren’t there? He is the root and shoot of Jesse, the shepherd King in the line of David, the God-man born in Bethlehem, the Savior of the nations—your salvation and my salvation. And did you catch how Isaiah described it? “his resting place will be glorious.” After Jesus’ work of judgment and salvation was finished, he entered his rest on the throne of heaven. And one word describes it: glorious. And for all who have rallied to this banner, this glorious home will be theirs for all eternity.

Let us remember this prophecy. Just as a shoot grows up from a stump, so too we celebrate that Jesus brings life out of death. We honor Jesus’ birth because we know that the baby born to Mary would one day die to bring us a new kind of glorious life forever. Think of that night in the stable…don’t judge by appearances. What do you see? A teenage girl has wrapped up a bloody newborn in swaddling clothes and laid him in feeding trough filled with hay. What do you see? Look through Isaiah’s eyes: On a hewn stump within a dead forest, one small branch has begun to grow. Life from death, God from man, an infant yet a King. As the angel said, “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

Amen.