ESOCS Devotional 9 December 2024 – The Peaceable Kingdom
MEMORY VERSE: ““They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord.”Isaiah 11:9 KJV
TEXT: ISAIAH 11:1-9
There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse,
And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.
2 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 of the fear of the Lord.
3 His delight is in the fear of the Lord,
And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes,
Nor decide by the hearing of His ears;
4 But with righteousness He shall judge the poor,
And decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins,
And faithfulness the belt of His waist.
6 “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,
The leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
The calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
And a little child shall lead them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze;
Their young ones shall lie down together;
And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole,
And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den.
9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,
For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
As the waters cover the sea.
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In this passage, Isaiah is not celebrating some general spirit of peace and reconciliation. He celebrates the arrival of an ideal king; it is this King who will bring about the peace that verses 6-9 celebrate. Just as you sometimes see a new shoot growing up from an old stump, so there will be a new branch of David’s royal family; a new King who will rule wisely and bring peace and security to His people.
What will this new King be like? Isaiah describes His character in terms of the gifts that the Spirit of God would give Him. The Spirit will be taking up permanent residence in Him. The Spirit will give Him the ability to discern the right thing to do in all the daily challenges of ruling God’s people, give Him words that were often used in the Bible in a political and military context and ‘knowledge and the fear of the Lord’. ‘Knowledge’ in this context means ‘knowing God’; the King will know God and fear Him. In fact, verse 3 goes on to say, ‘His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.’ How a person can delight in being afraid of God is a mystery to many people today; but in fact, it’s not particularly difficult to figure out. Politicians fear all kinds of people: they fear the electorate, they fear their political competitors, they fear journalists, and they fear foreign enemies. Sometimes those fears cause them to cut ethical corners, to take bribes, to conceal the truth, to act ruthlessly toward their political opponents. But a person who ‘delights in the fear of the Lord’ is not going to do that because he always remembers that everything that he does is done in the sight of God; and therefore, he will always act with honesty and integrity. And that’s good news for people who are looking for a king they can believe in.
The passage goes on to talk about the things that the coming King will actually do. In Isaiah’s day, one of the king’s jobs was to hear grievances and to give judgements, and the people were longing for a king who wouldn’t judge by outward appearances: ‘He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear’ (v.3b) – in other words, He’ll go below the surface, He’ll make sure He has all the facts, so that His final decision is the right one. And He won’t favour the powerful, He won’t take bribes, He won’t give preferences. to the old boys’ club and the aristocracy that He grew up with; rather, ‘with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth’ (v.4a). In other words, He will protect the meek, the ones who have no one else to speak on their behalf, the ones who get trodden down over and over again. And above all, He will be known for His godly character, for His own personal integrity: ‘Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins’ (v.5).
- What will hinder you from being a part of the peaceable kingdom?
- Father, remove everything that will not allow me to be part of your peaceable kingdom in Jesus name. Amen.
Further Reading: Isaiah 11:10–end; Luke 1: 1 – 25; Revelation 20:11–21: 7
ESOCS Devotional 9 December 2024
