2022-12-04 The Peaceable Kingdom

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.