Meditations on the Meaning of Christmasنموونە

A Picture of Hope

Many years had passed since God made his promise to Abram and Sarai. They went on to father Isaac, who fathered Jacob, he fathered twelve sons who eventually became the tribes of Israel. After years and cycles of disobedience, repentance, and restoration, God’s people, Israel, found themselves staring exile right in the eye. God’s plan of redemption took another pause as the family of Israel was cut off and carried off into exile. 

If you’ve ever seen a child wait patiently for a gift or secret of some sort you know that it’s only a matter of time before they come asking for hints or descriptions of what they are waiting for. It is as if these descriptions, if they get any, ease the waiting period or lessen the pain of patience. In times of waiting and hopelessness, any description of what is to come can be a breath of fresh air.

Speaking of fresh air, if you’ve ever seen a stump in the forest you can gather that the tree has been cleared to serve a different purpose. Either it was dead and needed to be removed or it was cut down and repurposed to create something new from its wood. But give it enough time undisturbed and you could return to the same tree to find a sapling or shoot coming from the very same stump that was cut. 

The image that Isaiah prophesies in chapter 11 is like this stump. God’s people, Israel, were to be exiled before being restored, but God uses Isaiah to prophesy to his people about what their coming hope would look like. Isaiah tells Israel that a shoot will come from the stump of Jesse (David’s father, from the family line of Abraham). The hope of Israel would be in a person. Isaiah foretells in verse two that “the Spirit of the LORD shall rest on him,” and that he shall be one who “fears the LORD.” The hope of Israel would judge rightly and discipline justly. For years Israel must have longed for any crumb or hint of when or what their Messiah would be like. Although the time of waiting was not yet over, the picture was becoming more clear of what, or whom, they were waiting for.

Reflect

• How do you feel when you are given hope in a desperate situation?
• Has that ever happened to you?
• How does your waiting change when you have hope?