The Root of Jesse (2)

Isaiah is sometimes by the early church called the 5th Gospel as it spells out the coming Kingdom of God where the righteous ruler will come and decisively deal with sin and death and usher in a new era of peace, a reversal of the curse of Adam a restoration of Eden and fulfillment of all the promises of God to His people. It is cited, and alluded to over 600 times in the NT.

Isaiah 10:34–11:10 ESV

He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an axe, and Lebanon will fall by the Majestic One. There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. 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. 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, 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. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins. 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. 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.

WITH PASSION

INTRO:There has been a recent up-rise in wild forest fires in the recent years. As recently as last year you probably remember that the air quality even here in Maryland was very poor and you could see the haze from forest fires ablaze in Canada.

Though it may seem counter intuitive, controlled burning of forests can actually prevent massive wildfires from spreading. There are many trees such as the mighty oak that used to dominate our american forests, and these trees believe it or not because they have roots that go deep into the ground and thick bark can actually benefit from controlled burning. The burning kills off a lot of invasive species which grow faster and more shallow roots and compete with the oaks. In fact they say that the leaves of the oak tree encourage fire as they are thicker and can carry and last longer and so often are dry and carry an ember farther and longer.

This is the main imagery for the nation of Israel. She is like a forest of oaks that is set to be hewn and down and burned.

Isaiah 1:30–31 ESV

For you shall be like an oak whose leaf withers, and like a garden without water. And the strong shall become tinder, and his work a spark, and both of them shall burn together, with none to quench them.

Out of this cut down dried up stump, shall come forth life. She shall be purged so that she can be a blessing to the world. She is being judged by nations more wicked than she.

Israel shall be hewn down but out of her stump shall spring forth a righteous ruler for all peoples.

His competence to rule.(1-3)

He sits on the throne of David. (1)

2 Samuel 7:12 ESV

When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.

Psalm 89:27–29 ESV

And I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth. My steadfast love I will keep for him forever, and my covenant will stand firm for him. I will establish his offspring forever and his throne as the days of the heavens.

Think about the promise that the Lord gave to David that He would cause his throne to endure and last. As great a king as David was, his reign came to an end, and the kings that came after him were a mixed bag some righteous and some wicked and to varying degrees. But Jesus whom Matthew takes great care to reveal is descended of David. The root of Jesse is obviously a reference to David. David’s family had sunk to a low, it was Jesse’s root that would usher in a new and better a perfect king to sit on David’s throne forever.

The Spirit of God rests on Him. (2-3a)

This part of the poem forms 4 lines that all begin with the word Spirit. The Spirit will rest on this branch in a unique way. God in the OT rested upon men but upon this budding new King would posses the Spirit in a unique way. In fact theses verses and the next indicate a unique relationship that this new ruler will have with the Lord. That He would indeed be the Lord Himself.

Matthew 3:13–17 ESV

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

The nation of Israel was unwise in that rather than trust in the Lord and obey his word, they sought the counsel of men and kings of the world. Israel sough earthly alliances with kings at the threat of Assyria rather than trusting in the Lord.

The character of His rule. (3b-6)

He will judge the people rightly. (3-4)

Of all the kings that ruled over the Israelites they who stood before them, they were judging the peoples with eyes that could only see what was right in front of them, and ears that can hear only words that are spoken to them. But this new king He will rule not by what someone tells him or not with eyes that can only see what a person does, but he will judge with eyes that can see a persons motives. This is hinting that the Messiah the king that will come is God Himself.

Men can easily be fool and people can and have escaped justice in this life, because evidence can be hidden and people deceived, but the new king there shall be nothing hidden from his eyes.

Hebrews 4:12–13 ESV

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

The leaders of Israel they did not do the things that kings ought to do, they oppressed the poor and mistreated the people. They took advantage of the very people they were supposed to protect.

Isaiah 3:14–15 ESV

The Lord will enter into judgment with the elders and princes of his people: “It is you who have devoured the vineyard, the spoil of the poor is in your houses. What do you mean by crushing my people, by grinding the face of the poor?” declares the Lord God of hosts.

He says hat he will strike the earth and then further defines what he is talking about, he will judge the wicked with his words. There will be no mistake not appeals court no mistrials, no throwing out a case based on faulty evidence.

Righteousness and faithfulness will be at his core. (5)

His belt is righteousness. A belt is central and designed to hold everything in and up. And so righteousness is at the core of his being holding all his judgments together.

The culmination of His rule. (6-10)

He will restore all creation (6-9)

All creation awaits the glory of God people the coming of His kingdom. All creation will be restored to Eden conditions. this is reversal, recreation language.

The whole earth will be full of His knowledge. ( Gen., Ps. 48:10, 72:19, 119:64, Num. 14:21, Is. 6:3, Hab.2:14

His rule will extend over all all peoples. (9 -10)

Post- man in a storm, built a post. We will always know the way to Jerusalem like a light house the Lord shall be, no one will say which way

David is a picture in so many ways of Jesus. Just as Jesse was not in a line of kings, David was a shepherd hearder his brothers served in Saul’s army. So too the Messiah was not the king that everyone though Him to be. He was a poor carpenters son, but this kingdom was like the humble beginning of the mustard see that would grow into a great and mighty kingdom.

Isaiah 2:2–3 ESV

It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

Conclusion:

Believe it or not all of this was meant to encourage the people of Israel, that though the Lord was going to judge them with severity by the Assyrians and the Babylonians by taking them into captivity, yet he would preserve them through a godly line, a line through which the Messiah Jesus would come. Israel had rebelled and turned away from the Lord, and He could have very easily turned turn to flight Israel’s enemy. But it would have been a temporary fix. Like a splinter that buries in your finger, and it heals over quickly but festers and gets infected underneath. God had to wound them so that He could do the real healing. He had to cut deep to remove their hearts of rebellion and pride so they the could replace them with hearts of flesh that beat for Him.

We live in the silent moment. the breath before release.