Sunday, December 8, 2024  //  Day 8

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious. —Isaiah 11:1–10

During the Christmas season we primarily focus on celebrating the first coming of Christ Jesus and His birth in Bethlehem over 2000 years ago. We think about the baby in the manger, the visit of the shepherds, and the wise men from the east who sometime later traveled many miles to find the newborn King of the Jews. We think about Him coming to earth as a suffering servant to give up His life and pay the penalty for our sins, offering salvation to all who come to faith in Him. 

But this passage is really about a time in our future when Christ Jesus returns to earth to bind Satan, throw him into the abyss, set up the millennial kingdom to reign over God’s people here on earth. “And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him” (v2) as it did upon David when he was anointed by Samuel (1 Sam 16:13). He will rule with qualities we desire in a leader – wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and the fear of the LORD. He will judge not based on external things that can be seen and heard, but rather on internal things in the heart – a truly righteous and perfect judge. 

We probably all love the images or videos of unlikely animals befriending one another or wild animals cuddling with humans. That will be the norm during the millennium. A little child will be able to lead a wolf, leopard, or lion (v6) and play with a cobra or viper (v8). It will be a time of peace and harmony on earth between humans and animals, as it was before sin entered the world.

Because we have faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we can look forward to spending a thousand years with Jesus in His millennial kingdom. Christmas is a time when we celebrate His first coming, but it is also a time when we can be thankful for the hope we have in the future that He has secured for us.