Isaiah 11:1-12
Christmas needs to renew our sense of HOPE!
(Isaiah 11:1-5) A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him – the Spirit of Wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord – and He will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what He sees with His eyes, or decide by what He hears with His ears; but with righteousness He will judge the needy, with justice He will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be His belt and faithfulness the sash around His waist…
(10-12) In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the people; the nations will rally to Him, and His place of rest will be glorious. In that day the Lord will reach out His hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of His people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea. He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth.
1.
Hope for a New START
A.
God has a Great
Redemptive Plan.
B.
God is in total control
of history.
C.
Israel misbehaved, so
God disciplined them.
D.
God promised Israel He
would give them a new start
1)
Israel put their hope
in God’s promise for a new start.
2)
Their hope in God’s
promise permeated their lives.
3)
In history – God kept
His promise.
2.
Hope for a New SAVIOR
(11:1) “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
(11:10) “In that day the
Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to
Him, and His place of rest will be glorious.”
A.
God promised Israel He
would give them a new Savior.
(11:2-5) “The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him –
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power,
the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord – and He will delight in
the fear of the Lord. He will not judge
by what He sees with His eyes, or decide by what He hears with His ears; but
with righteousness He will judge the needy, with justice He will give decisions
for the poor of the earth. He will
strike the earth with the rod of His mouth; with the breath of His lips He will
slay the wicked. Righteousness will be
His belt and faithfulness the sash around His waist.”
B.
Jesus was the promised
new Savior.
1)
Israel put their hope
in God’s promise for a new Savior.
2)
Their hope in God’s
promise permeated their lives.
3)
In history – God kept His
promise.
C.
Culture cannot change
real history!
3.
Hope in a New SITUATION
(11:6-9) “The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”
A.
The promises made in 6
through 9 have not happened yet – but they will!
B.
God has promised us a
new, very different situation.
1)
We need to put our HOPE
in God’s promise.
2)
Our HOPE in God’s
promise needs to permeate our lives.
3)
In history to come, God
will keep His promise to us.
C.
Christmas is a reminder
of our HOPE for a future with Jesus.