Week 10: A Shoot from the Stump

When Isaiah 11 opens, the house of David looks finished. Ahaz has handed Judah over to Assyria as a vassal, and Isaiah has already been told the tree will be cut down to a stump. God keeps His promise anyway: a green shoot comes up from the stump of Jesse. Isaiah describes a King filled with the Spirit of the Lord. He judges the poor fairly and isn’t fooled by what His eyes see or His ears hear. His rule is so complete that the wolf lives with the lamb, and a toddler can put his hand into a snake’s den without harm. He stands as a banner for the nations, and God reaches out a second time to bring His scattered people home on a highway like the road out of Egypt. Then Part One of Isaiah closes with a song. The anger that would not turn away in chapters 9 and 10 has turned away, and the forgiven sing what Moses sang at the sea: God is my salvation; I will trust him and not be afraid, 12:2. Paul heard the Gentiles’ hope in that root of Jesse (Romans 15:12). This lesson asks whether we’ll trust that same King when what we can see tells us the tree is dead.