A Stump Bursting With Life
December 7 | Rick Thiemke
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Isaiah 11:1-10
The Righteous Reign of the Branch
1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.
9 They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
10 In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.
The Scriptures we often turn to as we prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ are filled with places-holy places, hard places and the pathways in between. These are scenes of promise in the Christian faith, scenes within the greater story of redemption.
When we sit in these visions, we see the heights and the depths our good God will go to bring us salvation. Hope, Peace, Joy, Love. This Advent, we take time to dwell in these prophetic promises, trusting God to speak to us and renew our souls in this season of promise.
Today’s promise begins with a stump. Something presumed dead, yet impossibly bursting with new life! Sin and rebellion have felled the people of God and it looks like all is lost. What they hoped for feels distant from what they are living. Isaiah paints hope in hopelessness. Life bursting forth!
The Advent Of A Leader
For Israel, much like the Church of Jesus now, there is peace and justice coming! God will establish His Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. The Creator of all will once again rule and reign, bringing peace, hope, joy and love to all cosmic realities. This is dependent on the Advent of a leader. Jesus!
This leader is born of King David’s lineage. Jesse is King David’s father. Isaiah paints a biblical family tree out of this “stump of Jesse” (verse 1). Verse 2 explains why there is reason to hope in this leader. The very Spirit of God rests on His shoulders. He does not lead with the stumbling, fallible wisdom of an ordinary man. He embodies and brings about divine justice (verse 3). Under His watch, the poor and meek are lifted up (verse 4). There is no room for evil and oppression and, under His rule, even the predators are peaceful (verse 6-9a).
In chapter 11, Isaiah’s prophecies include descriptions of Jesus in His first coming and His second coming, with no hint of any time lapse. Only subsequent events and further revelation reveal how it works out.
King Jesus has come, King Jesus will come again! As we wait in a world filled with stumps of brokenness, remember that out of death Jesus bursts forth with new life, here and now, and one day fully in the new creation. Let Him lead you to new life now in this season of promise!
A Shared Story Of Future Hope
Isaiah paints an idyllic picture, but it is not a mere fantasy! This is not mere fantasy, wishful thinking or a vision of some otherworldly realm. It is the hope-filled promise of the redemption of all creation. The earth we are in now will one day be “full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (verse 9).
As followers of Christ, we await the advent of God’s peaceable Kingdom. We have experienced, and experience every day, the twigs of new life and promise that God brings. The wolf does not yet lay down with the lamb, but in this season of promise, foretastes of peace often surface. Sinners are forgiven. Relationships are restored. Bodies are healed. Prayers are answered. Many of us see ourselves as survivors thriving in new life, despite the pain of the past. These are the moments when we see God’s future Kingdom breaking into the present, revealing glimpses of what is to come.
Our work is to give praise to God for every sacred shoot from the stumps of this life, every healing, every signal of hope, every gesture of peace (Romans 15:4–13).
Discussion Questions
Isaiah describes a shoot growing from a stump. Where have you seen God bring new life out of something that felt cut down or hopeless?
What foretastes of God’s future Kingdom have you experienced recently through forgiveness, healing or reconciliation?
How can our community embody the peace, hope, joy and love of Jesus in practical ways this Advent?