Preached on Isaiah 11 this morning, focusing on vs10:- 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. Struck me how God is predicting that old covenant Israel, despite their view of themselves as some kind of invulnerable and secure spreading tree, would be cut right down. The tree would be demolished, along with all of the elaborate structure - Temple, sacrifices, priesthood, Law. All that would be left would be a stump. Jesus Himself spoke of this, did He not - and illustrated it graphically too. The Temple, in its dazzling glory, would not stand; not one stone would remain upon another - and along with it, the sacrifices and the Levitical priesthood and the Law it all served. The fruitless fig tree was cursed, and no-one will ever eat fruit from it again. It would simply wither away as a tool of God, in any respect. Such is Gods devastating tree surgery when the whole thing proves to be rotten. And yet ... From that stump there would proceed one shoot. Not a new nation, but a single person. And He would flourish in the Spirit of God, who would not come and go, but would rest on Him. These verses provide rich description of the Coming One, who would do perfectly what old Israel failed so terribly to do. And He would be Gods banner, under which peoples - plural - would unite in their knowledge of God. And the verse ends by telling us that His resting place would be glorious. Perhaps it was that phrase more than all else which the Spirit lit up for me. The glory-filled resting place of Christ, into which we have now come. With no nagging Law snapping at our heels like an angry mongrel. Perfect peace; peace beyond human understanding, yes - but more than that. Peace which shines with all of the radiance the risen Lord endows it with. This is ours in Him. And my prayer for each of you is that you discover and explore more of His peaceful glory and His glorious peace.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 21:32:09 +0000
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