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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