The Branch of David: Perfect King, Perfect World

This past week Google released the top ten words Americans used to search the internet in 2022. There were different lists. The most revealing of these lists is the list of most searched current events.

[SLIDE: TOP TEN CURRENT EVENTS]

Top ten current events:

*Election results

*Queen Elizabeth passing

*Ukraine

Powerball numbers

Hurricane Ian

Monkey Pox

Texas school shooting

Will Smith Oscars

Johnny Depp verdict

Roe v. Wade

Now I said that these top ten current events were the most revealing. They tell us what people in the US are thinking about, sure. But most importantly, they may tell us what people in the US are worrying about. The top three: Election results, Queen Elizabeth passing, and Russia’s war in Ukraine. Each of them have to do with instability.

There are concerns about the death of Queen Elizabeth. What does her death mean for Great Britain? Is the monarchy over? There is instability in western Europe.

There are concerns about Ukraine. Where does it end? Things are unstable in eastern Europe.

There were questions about the election in 2020. No matter where you stand on that, things are more unstable in the United States as a result.

We trust God, but many of us struggle with our fears. We see our country becoming less and less Christian and more and more post-Christian. What happens when a country founded on Christian values leaves those values behind? And what does that mean things will be like when our kids and grandkids are our age? Maybe worry is the wrong word. We are appropriately concerned about this instability.

And as Christians, we believe the Bible speaks into every situation with God’s own wisdom and perspective. What does the Bible say about this that can help us?

Well, on one hand, the Bible has bad news for us. We are not promised earthly security and safety. That’s the bad news.

But here’s the good news. If the bad news is that God does not promise us earthly security and safety, the good news is to be found in what God does promise us. What does He promise us? We see those promises in this prophecy found in Isaiah 11.

We are promised two things: a Perfect King, and a perfect world.

We are promised, for one thing, a Perfect King.

[SLIDE: PERFECT KING]

#1: Perfect King

We are promised a future Perfect King. Who is this future Perfect King? We see that in verse 1, if you’ll look there with me. “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.” Now here’s a tip for reading biblical prophecy. When you see a reference to anything related to a tree, like a stump or a branch, it often refers to a kingdom or a king. And when you see the name Jesse, well, that’s king David’s father.

Except, it can’t be David himself. David has been gone from the scene for years. So who is this stump of Jesse? It’s the Messiah. It’s Jesus.

There’s this tension in the OT. Some of Israel’s kings were really, really good. But these guys were not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. Everyone of them was messed up somehow. King David, well he was the best king Israel ever had, and he is the one who most resembled Christ, the true David. But for all the good that he did, like any other human being David was capable of terrible sin.

So why did God use David? To show us that David is not the Promised One! There is coming one who is greater than David, who will succeed in every place that David fell; He will perfect every good thing David ever did. Jesus is and will forever be the greater David.

And this greater David will come out of insignificant circumstances. Did you notice the tree references? — there’s no actual tree. There’s a stump. The tree’s been cut down. Insignificance and desolation — those are the circumstance under which this new king from David’s line will be born. Except, there’s a little tiny green sprig — a sign of life coming up out of an otherwise dead tree stump.

And in the NT, we read that this promised Perfect King has been born in a tiny, insignificant town, in a small, insignificant suburb of Jerusalem. Even there, born in a barn and placed in a feeding trough. To the world, he was just another ordinary Israelite baby. Except King David is his ancestor. And this baby is the promised offspring of David who would rule forever on David’s throne. That’s why, when the angel addresses Jesus’ father Joseph, he says, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife”.

And when He is grown, by His death and resurrection He will usher in a new and better kingdom. Jesus came preaching, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15 ESV). And for all those who will just believe in Him, for all those who simply look Him for salvation and help and forgiveness, well, we’re promised that we will live forever with Him in this new kingdom when it has come fully, on a new heaven and a new earth. That, church, is the good thing to which we look forward when things are hard here.

Let’s learn more about what it will be like from just verse 2 of Isaiah 11.

[WITH PERFECT KNOWLEDGE…]

A. With perfect knowledge, He will always know what to do and how to do it

Isaiah tells us this perfect king will be extremely well qualified to do His job. Why? Because He will always know what to do and how to do it. Or, to put it like Isaiah did, “the Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, the Spirit of wisdom” — meaning He sees true nature of things and knows how what to do as a result — “and understanding” — that’s being able to weigh the options and knowing how to put it into practice. Wisdom and understanding. These are God-given gifts, gifts God gives to us by His Spirit.

Oh church, to have a president who has the Spirit of God within Him! But even the wisest, most godly man you can think of to serve as president has times when he doesn’t know what to do. Or thinks he knows what to do and does the wrong thing.

Jesus has perfect knowledge. And the world He will create for us when all of this is over is a world in which our King is never at a loss; He never comes to the end of Himself; He never faces a situation in which He has to consult advisors and counselors, because He Himself is the Wonderful Counselor.

With perfect knowledge, He always knows what to do and how to do it.

[WTH PERFECT WISDOM & STRENGTH..]

B. With perfect wisdom & strength, He will always defend His people

Not only does the Perfect King have the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, Isaiah says; He will aways defend His people. He has what Isaiah says is the Spirit of counsel and might. How do see that in the text? I wanted to understand what the word “counsel” means here. So I searched the book of Isaiah and much of the OT too. What I found is that these two words, counsel and might, or counsel and strength — they often occur together, just like here, and they almost always refer to waging war.

And in fact that’s exactly what we see Isaiah promising us later in this prophecy. “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” (Isa 11:4-5 ESV).

We need a leader — a king — who is not afraid to defend His people.

I like reading the news, and one day I was reading an opinion piece, and in that article the author described a nuclear war simulation discussion that happened at the Pentagon. And the question was, if our country is attacked with nuclear weapons, would we retaliate with nuclear weapons or not?

And the conversation went much like you might expect. There were people who said, Absolutely, we have to retaliate; anything other than that, it invites more attacks, which mean more casualties and damage and all that. Most of us would agree with that, including me.

But there those there who said, “no, we have to take the high road; we can’t return nuclear fire for nuclear fire; we have to show the world that we’re better than that.”

We know that’s a foolish course to tack. There are countries who despise us, and they are not concerned about taking the high road; that’s not a priority to them, and it would not impress them if we try to do that. They want to destroy their enemies, and while we’re arguing about whether to retaliate, they’re getting for the second strike.

Do we think of Jesus as someone who would really and truly defend His people? I came across this quote this past week and I want to share it with you. It is true, I think, and sad.

“We think of Jesus as a very nice but, when it comes to real life, incompetent person. We think too much of ourselves, our worship patronizes him, and our lives set him aside” (Ortlund p114).

In other words, we have domesticated Jesus. We have turned him into someone who just wants everyone to get along. We’ve turned him into a divine version of the sleepy parent who says, “I just want my child to be happy, no matter what they wind up doing.” That’s not Jesus. Jesus is the Lamb of God, meek and mild. He is, and praise Him for it. But there is another side to Jesus that the American church has all but forgotten. Jesus is not merely the Lamb of God who died for our sins; He is the Lion of Judah who rose from the dead; He is coming back and He will judge the earth and defend His people.

[SLIDE: REVELATION 1:12-18]

He is as described in Rev 1:12-18.

Revelation 1:12–18 ESV

Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.

Jesus, our Perfect King, with perfect wisdom, will always defend His people.

[SLIDE: WITH PERFECT OBEDIENCE…]

C. With perfect obedience, He will lead us into deeper relationship with God

In our photo albums there is a picture of a Christmas Eve gathering at my great grandparents’ on Christmas Eve at their house in Asheville. My great grandfather is holding a framed portrait of President Reagan and his wife Nancy. And they’re laughing.

It was a joke gift. My great grandparents were lifelong, committed, dyed in the wool Democrats. Now, I am conservative but I register as independent. I come from a conservative, Republican family. And my grandparents were conservative too, and they strongly disagreed with almost everything their party stood for, but here’s the thing: they always voted Democratically. They couldn’t stand Ronald and Nancy Reagan, not because they disagreed with their policies but because they weren’t Democrats.

But Jesus can and will do for us something that no president, Democrat or Republican, can ever do for us, and that is to lead us into deeper relationship with God.

How many of you would say today that you want to grow in your relationship with God?

And that’s exactly what we see in the last part of verse 2. Isaiah tells us that Perfect King Jesus will possess not only the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, not merely the Spirit of counsel and might, but the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. Those are relationships terms — knowledge and fear of the Lord. They are relationship terms that stress intimacy with God — especially the term knowledge. And the fear of the Lord — what is that if not a desire to please the Lord whom you know intimately?

Now, what would it be like to have a president who leads us into that deeper relationship with God?

We may never have another president like that. But that’s okay — because one day we will have the real thing. When our Perfect King comes, He will lead us into a deeper relationship with God.

Do you know why? Because He will be sincere. How many presidents court the evangelical vote? The word “evangelical” now means something non-religious; it’s a political term. Evangelicals are a voting block. How do we know if they will actually keep the promises they make to uphold Christian values? If they promise and then don’t, we know their motivation was political.

But not Jesus. Look at verse: “His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.” What you delight in, you do naturally, and sincerely; you don’t have to have external motivations or pressure to do something you truly delight in. Jesus’ delight, the overflow of His heart — just as it was during His earthly life — is the fear of the Lord, and leading us into a deeper knowledge of the Lord.

With perfect obedience, He will lead us into deeper relationship with God.

#2: Perfect World

What will that perfect world be like that our Perfect King will make for all of us who believe?

[SLIDE: WITH PERFECT INSIGHT…]

A. With perfect insight, He will always punish powerful oppressors & stand up for the oppressed

We all know what a dictatorship looks like. What may surprise you is how often those dictatorships began with this promise: we will punish those who are oppressing you, and you will be prosperous and free.

Of course, what happens in a dictatorship is that the people end up trading one form of oppression for another. It’s not corporations or institutions anymore, it’s the government — which is way worse. A corporation can’t massacre people who protest. Dictators can and will.

But Jesus will rule in such a way that truly brings freedom. Look at verses 3-4: “He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears here” — verses 4 continues — “with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth”. He won’t render snap judgments — there will no sham trial — with his perfect wisdom and knowledge he will see through the buzz and the hype to the real problem, and on that basis, and on the basis of His perfect righteousness He will be the first person in world history to issue perfectly just judgments.

With perfect insight, He will always punish powerful oppressors and stand up for the oppressed. With perfect consistency, he will always do what is right.

[SLIDE: WITH PERFECT CONSISTENCY…]

B. With perfect consistency, He will always do what is right

Righteousness, Isaiah tells us in verse 5, “shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins”. Righteousness means Jesus is committed to doing the right thing; saying that it’s the belt around his waist means Jesus is ready to act [Motyer p118].

His faithfulness being the belt of his loins means He is unshakably committed to doing the right thing [Motyer p118],. Nothing will sway him; bribes or promises of favor will mean nothing to Him. He is governed and influenced by the fear of the Lord and that alone. There will be no one to lobby for their side because all such political manipulation will be stripped away.

With perfect consistency, He will always do what is right. Finally, with perfect peace, He will create the world we long for.

[SLIDE: WITH PERFECT PEACE…]

C. With perfect peace, He will create the world we long for

Look with me at verses 6-9 and notice two things: 1) notice that this perfect peace will even extend to the animal kingdom; notice that, and notice 2) that the animals mentioned here are not usually seen together in the pairs Isaiah places them in.

Isaiah tells us: Isa 11:6-9

Isaiah 11:6–9 ESV

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. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. 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.

Can you imagine this?

How many of you ladies like Hallmark Christmas movies?

How many of you guys?

That’s ok, guys. I’m with you for the most part.

But I can say that I have come to appreciate those a little bit movies more, and here’s why. Yes they are cheesy. Yes most of them have the same story line. But for all their cheesiness, they obviously touch a deep longing in us. Why is that? Because they depict a world where everything turns out okay in the end.

It’s the same with fairy tales. Why have books and movies like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty endured for so long? It’s not just because Disney has made classic versions of them. It’s because deep down, we long to know that we are part of a story in which the hero does get the girl; a world in which the evil king or queen are finally banished; we want to believe that the story of our lives and the story of this world will be that kind of story, where things are hard for a while, but where, in the end, the wickedness is destroyed forever and righteousness ends the day.

That’s not just wishful thinking — not for the Christian. No, it is a future reality; it is a confident expectation. And this promise is a Christmas promise. We sing about it in a popular Christmas carol.

“I heard the bells on Christmas Day, their old familiar carols play; And wild and sweet the words repeat of peace on earth, good will toward men.”

But the author of that hymn then takes a dark turn in verse three: “And in despair I bowed my head: ‘There is no peace on earth’, I said. ‘For hate is strong, and mocks the song, of peace on earth, goodwill to men.’”

But that’s not the end of the story. “Then pealed the bells more loud and deep; God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with peace on earth, goodwill to men”.

And yet, the world promised to us in vv. 6-9 fails to move us. This is too bad. Because our eternal state is called in the Bible a new heaven and new earth with a gigantic, perfect, beautiful, blindingly brilliant city at the heart of it.

[SLIDE: QUESTION…]

Question: What happens when we trust ourselves and others to achieve this kind of world instead of Him?

Take everything that’s good about your earthly life, everything about this world that you enjoy. Purify it of everything that is not of the Lord.Take everything about it and perfect it. Take the enjoyment you have in it, and multiply it by infinity. Now, add the presence of our Elder Brother, Savior, and Friend Jesus, plus perfect relationships with other people -- that is the new heaven and the new earth. That is what the author of that Christmas carol was talking about. This is what Isaiah is prophesying about. This is the new heaven and the new earth the Bible promises to us.

How do we know that’s coming? How do we know this prophecy of Isaiah’s will come true? Because when Jesus rose again, He became the first part of the new creation. His resurrection guarantees not only your resurrection and mine; it also guarantees the resurrection and perfection of God’s good creation.

So church, here’s what all this comes down to. Here’s your takeaway.

God has not saved us so we can sit around complaining and despairing about how awful the world is becoming. I understand the temptation, believe me. We see the world we have known slipping away from us, and we don’t know where this will end.

But church, as Christians, how many of you know that you can endure anything if you know it has an expiration date? We can endure anything if we know two things: 1) the present trouble will not last forever; and 2) something better is on the way. Both of those things are promised to us.

[SLIDE: TITLE SLIDE (FINAL)]

Conclusion and call for response

Here’s how you can apply this sermon. Two questions - two short, simple questions.

1. Do we believe that God is good, that He has good plans for us? Do we believe that He is trustworthy, or do we not? This is a really important question.

We have to show that we have a better hope than just earthly prosperity. God has saved us for infinite and eternal joy, not that we might sit around and discourage one another with how bad things are, but that we might encourage each other about the infinite joy of the world to come, the perfect world that our perfect King will make for all who trust God’s promise of grace.

2. Will you be there?