When Stumps Sprout
Isaiah 11:1-10
Tony’s Overview Video
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Key Text: Isaiah 11:6
“The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.”
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.”
Do you ever worry about wild animals? When hiking in Glacier National Park, or in other places where bears are known to roam, hikers are encouraged to carry an air horn and bear spray (a sizable can of pepper spray), as well as to talk loudly so bears or other large predators will stay in hiding.
Isaiah of Jerusalem lived in a time when wolves, leopards, and lions were endemic to Israel and a constant threat to livestock. When the prophet imagined a time of God-sent peace, it surprisingly included animal amity. Wolves and lambs and leopards and kids and lions and calves could take a nap together, and even a little child could shepherd them safely.
Do you remember the first time you saw a depiction of the idyllic scenes of Isaiah 11:6-9? Whether it was in the pages of a children’s book or one of Edward Hicks’ folksy 19th century paintings, the image has an enduring appeal. We love the thought of a world where lions and tigers and bears can play with lambs and bunnies and children. [DD]
The second Sunday of Advent traditionally centers on the theme of peace, and one could hardly find a better text than Isaiah 11:1-10 to celebrate the hope of a peaceable kingdom.
A wise counselor (vv. 1-3a)
Last week’s lesson (Isa. 2:1-5) envisioned the hope of a world in which war would be a thing of the past and combat weapons would be turned into farming tools.
Today’s text brings yet another image of peace, this one led by a righteous ruler who establishes an Eden-like world in which predators and prey live in perfect harmony.
Both texts imply that God’s people should not just wish for such things: they should also work for them.
Isaiah 11 is part of a larger unit that begins with 9:1-7, which speaks of the birth of a righteous king, predicts judgment on Israel and Judah for their prideful lack of justice (9:8-10:4), and declares that the Assyrians who oppress them will be brought low (10:5-19, 28-34) as God preserves a remnant of the scattered Hebrews (10:20-27). [DD]
In 11:1-9, the text returns to the theme of a righteous ruler who would establish a blissful age and bring all nations to God (11:10-16).
Isaiah, who often employed metaphors, described the coming king as a shoot sprouting from the stump of Jesse (v. 1), the father of David and thus ancestor of the Davidic line of kings. The tree of David’s line had diminished considerably, but it would not die. The Hebrews believed that God had promised to David an eternal kingdom (see 2 Samuel 7), and Isaiah saw a day when a new and righteous king would rise like a green sprout from an old stump, a fresh branch from the roots of David’s line. [DD]
Isaiah describes the new ruler with three pairs of laudable attributes, all related to wisdom (vv. 2-3). [DD] The coming king’s admirable virtues would have their source in “the Spirit of the LORD” that “will rest on him,” bringing “the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.”
“Wisdom and understanding” suggest that the ruler would not only possess a great depth of knowledge, but would know how to use it properly.
“Counsel and might” (reminiscent of Isa. 9:6) portray the ruler as one who is not only strong but who uses his power in appropriate ways. [DD]
“Knowledge and the fear of the LORD” are paired as a reminder that information is most valuable when used in service to God and God’s people. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom” was the mantra of Israel’s wisdom teachers (Ps. 111:10, Prov. 9:10).
The coming king, Isaiah said, would find joy in that very thing: “His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD” (v. 3a)
A righteous judge (vv. 3b-5)
Ancient Near Eastern rulers, even those from Assyria and Babylon, prided themselves on ruling with justice, though their concept of fairness often differed from biblical ideals. [DD]
Isaiah declared that the coming ruler, wise in the ways of God as well as the world, would govern with divine justice. Like God, he would not base his judgments on people’s outward appearance or on their testimony, but on something deeper level.
The passage recalls 1 Samuel 16:7, where Samuel was about to anoint Jesse’s oldest son Eliab as Israel’s next king before Yahweh said “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” Only David, the eighth and youngest son of Jesse, was chosen as a man “after God’s own heart.”
Isaiah, like his contemporary Micah, had a special concern for poor people who were exploited by their wealthy neighbors. A cozy legal system requiring just two witnesses to appear before village elders made it relatively easy for a large estate owner to accuse a poor neighbor on false charges, hire a couple of lying witnesses, and take the poor person’s land. The elders who passed judgment were also men of means.
Earlier, Isaiah had pronounced woe upon those “who join house to house, who add field to field” to build large estates (Isa. 5:8). In contrast, the coming king would judge the poor rightly “and decide with equity for the meek of the earth” (v. 4a).
The second half of v. 4 sounds surprisingly violent to modern ears, but “he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth” probably refers to the king’s spoken decrees demanding justice for the poor, not to a shout-induced earthquake. The reference to his “breath” killing the wicked is in parallel with the preceding line, and its main intention is not murder, but to indicate that the coming king who would overcome wickedness, wearing righteousness and faithfulness as a doubled belt (v. 5). [DD]
A promise of peace (vv. 6-10)
As the coming ruler’s power and sense of justice would bring an end to greedy humans preying on one another, Isaiah declared, such justice would extend even to the animal kingdom, bringing all creatures great and small into a time of harmony echoing themes of creation, when all animals (including humans) were to eat only green plants (Gen. 1:30).
Isaiah’s image plays on the imagination like tuned wind chimes in a gentle breeze. A wolf lives side by side with a lamb. A leopard stretches out beside a resting baby goat. A cow and a lion munch on grass while a child watches over the odd but amazing flock and a baby plays safely with snakes. [DD]
Would you ever, in your wildest imagination, have come up with an image like that? It seems completely antithetical to the world as we know it, a world of predators and prey, eaters and the eaten.
What remains is for us to ask whether Isaiah believed the world would ever truly become a happy paradise where humans and animals roam freely and none are afraid, or whether he was using the animals as metaphors for something else.
Some have suggested that the various predators symbolized aggressive countries that would lay down their arms and live in peace with their weaker neighbors. Others believe Isaiah’s main intent was to forecast an image of what a wonderful world it could be if a leader emerged to inspire such a peaceable kingdom.
Finding a clear answer to this question is not nearly so important as catching the sublime emotional feel of Isaiah’s imagery, and considering what steps we might take toward creating a world where violence and destruction give way to a land infused with “the knowledge of the LORD” (v. 9).
Some believers take this text so seriously that they choose not only to live at peace with other people, but to tread so lightly upon the earth that they subsist happily on fruits, grains, and vegetables, and do not contribute to the death of animals.
Most readers are unlikely to go that far, but perhaps Isaiah’s vision can inspire us to seek justice and better lives even for animals, working toward that peaceable kingdom ruled by the promised shoot from the stump of Jesse (v. 10).
Isaiah did not live to see such a king arise, nor did any of his spiritual descendants who added to his book over the next 200 years. No ruler has yet to touch the ideals displayed by the “signal to the peoples” that Isaiah envisioned – but believers who read this text through the lens of the New Testament believe that the shoot from Jesse’s stump has emerged – and been cut down – and has risen again.
Jesus came as precisely the kind of leader that Isaiah imagined, proclaiming the inbreaking of the Kingdom of God. Those around him could not understand the import of the kingdom, which has yet to reach its fulness. We may long with the writer of Revelation for a new heaven and earth, but we remain responsible for working toward that kingdom in our own time.
With attendance in decline across the country, we may sometimes feel that the church has also been reduced to a stump, but there is still life in it as we trust in God’s Spirit for the wisdom, compassion, and courage needed to bring kingdom growth through justice and equity for all.
That would be glorious indeed.
Adult Teaching Resources
Download the PDF of teaching resources for this lesson.
This PDF contains the Teaching Guide, Digging Deeper, and Hardest Question pages.
Read Scripture online: Isaiah 11:1-10
Youth Teaching Resources
Parent Prep
What does a peaceable house look like to you? How can you disagree and still be peaceable? One of the biggest reasons for a home to not be peaceable is a lack of communication. Make sure everyone is on the same page and everyone knows what the other person knows. Take time out of your day to rehash the day and look forward to the next day.
Additional Links/Resources
Read Scripture online: Isaiah 11:1-10
Download the PDF for youth teaching resources using the button below. This PDF contains the Teaching Guide for this lesson:
Video
Encourage youth to check out this video ahead of the lesson.
“Making Peace” from A Thousand Words
Via www.youtube.com
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