Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Wonderful Counselor,part 2



Advent Thoughts

“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
 The spirit of the LORD will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
 the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD-
“Isaiah 11:1-2 (NIV)

”A shoot. . . “The prophet Isaiah tells the people of Israel about the new life to come from one of their own. This new life is described as being tender-a sprig, something easily broken off. (MH)* A few verses earlier, those against God’s church have been described as a strong bough.  But Isaiah describes Jesus as a new life who, although a sprig, shall be victorious over them. (MH)
“. . . from the stump of Jesse. . .” Jesse was an obscure man, who lived in poverty. “The house of David was reduced and brought very low at the time of Christ’s birth.” (MH) Joseph and Mary were very poor and unknown to those living beyond their village. 
” . . . a Branch will bear fruit.” This branch would blossom (grow) and generate God’s wisdom to the people in Israel and to lands beyond.
”The spirit of the LORD will rest on him . . .” He shall have {all} the fullness of the Godhead resting on Him. This spirit is so great that it is immeasurable. He began his preaching with ‘The Spirit of the LORD is upon me.’ (Luke 6:18) (MH) Can we imagine what could be done in our world if God’s Spirit fell on us?
”the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding . . .”This offshoot would have God’s wisdom and the ability to understand all that He sees. In the Psalms (3:5) we are told not to lean on our own understanding. Ours is incomplete-we only see a small part of what is happening; God sees it all. We only know a very miniscule part of how things operate. God put all things into motion.
” . . . the Spirit of counsel and of power. . .” God is omniscient-all knowing. He knows everything about us and our lives. He gave this Spirit to Jesus. God is omnipotent-all powerful. He has the power to perform any task imaginable. He shared that power with His only son.
*MH=Mathew Henry commentary

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