Isaiah #7 - A Shoot will Come Up

Isaiah 11:1-11 (NIV)

Our neighborhood is filled with trees. Huge 100 foot tall oak trees that are probably 3 or 4 feet in diameter. They tower above the homes providing shade in the summer and beautiful contrast against the winter sky with their sprawling bare branches. But sometimes they rot. It’s rare that these trees will fall down all in one piece. They are prone to a disease that rots out the center and causes them to drop their tree sized limbs down on the houses below with no notice. What was a beautiful part of the landscape that provided comfort and rest becomes a risk to everything around it. When they get this way, wisdom and care tell us that they have to be cut down.

There was a tree like this in our neighborhood recently. One day it was there dropping it’s limbs, the next day it was an enormous coffee table sized stump. But a few months later we saw this shoot growing out of the stump. It grew fast and was covered in bright green leaves.

Israel became diseased, the LORD allowed them to be cut down, but He tells them in today’s passage to trust that a shoot will come up from that stump and Israel will be reestablished around this shoot. This is Immanuel, and throughout the rest of the book of Isaiah the LORD will remind his people of the hope of this coming kingdom.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What image in this passage gave you the most hope?

2. This passage speaks of a powerful, righteous, just, and good King. It speaks of the cessation of enmity and violence. Our world aches for this reality. In what specific ways do you ache for this reality in your context?

3. Under the leadership of the King, unity and justice kiss. They are not in tension, but are the fruit of his loving and mighty reign. In what ways do you long for unity and justice to kiss in the life of your community?

----------GO DEEPER----------

Bible Project: Isaiah 1-39 >>

BP Exploring My Strange Bible Podcast: The Meaning of Hope >>

InterVarsity Press Selections: Isaiah >>

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