2022-12-04 The Peaceable Kingdom

Isaiah 11 vv 1-10

• Advent is not Christmas. We're celebrating Advent while the rest of the world is Christmas mode.
• Isaiah 11 is ancient Hebrew prophecy and poetry. We need to read it in context:
  • Israel as a covenant nation: Genesis 12 -> Sinai -> David -> a king from the line of David
• v1: "Stump" of Jesse. The Davidic line is a stump (why?) but has new life growing from it.
• v2-3a: Description of the Branch: a person. Isaiah didn't know him, but we do. Illustrates the ideal Spirit-filled life: wisdom, counsel, knowledge.
• v3b-5: What He will do, what the Kingdom looks like: Justice for the poor. This passage uses violent imagery but draws a contrast by focusing on nonviolent means: Christ enacts his will with words rather than violence.
• v6-8: The world is transformed. Uses imagery from animal kingdom.
• Life out of a stump - God meets us in the life we already have, even if we would like a new life.
• v10 - "Resting place" - the church is charged to enact vv 2-5 ourselves as Christ's physical body on Earth.