Christmas Reconsidered

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December 9, 2007 - Isaiah 11:1-10

Open It

  1. What visual image do you associate with the concept of peace?

  2. If you were a judge in a court of law, what information would you want to have in order to be 100 percent sure of your judgments?

  3. What anecdotes about family reunions do you like to tell?

Explore It

  1. Using the image of a tree cut down to a stump, what did Isaiah predict for Judah? (11:1)

  2. What qualities did Isaiah ascribe to the Branch of Jesse? (11:2-5)

  3. What things would characterize the unique One? (11:3-4)

  4. What unlikely scenarios from nature were used by Isaiah to illustrate God's peace? (11:6-8)

  5. What image is used to describe the earth? When? (11:9)

  6. What honors did Isaiah bestow upon the Root of Jesse? (11:10)

Get It

  1. In what ways do you think Isaiah's description of Messiah impressed the people to whom he was speaking?

  2. When Messiah sits in judgment, whom will He welcome and whom will He be against?

  3. What do you think it would be like to live in a world where even the animal kingdom was free of conflict?

Apply It

  1. What song can you choose as a particularly appropriate vehicle for your praise to God this week?

  2. What relationship can you ask God to restore according to His will?

Notes

Isaiah 11:1-10: Assyria would be like a tree cut down at the height of its power (Isaiah 10:33-34), never to rise again. Judah (the royal line of David) would be like a tree chopped down to a stump. But from that stump a new shoot would grow-the Messiah. He would be greater than the original tree and would bear much fruit. The Messiah is the fulfillment of God's promise that a descendant of David would rule forever (2 Samuel 7:16).

11:3-5 God will judge with righteousness and justice. How we long for fair treatment from others, but do we give it? We hate those who base their judgments on appearance, false evidence, or hearsay, but are we quick to judge others using those standards? Only Christ can be the perfectly fair judge. Only as he governs our hearts can we learn to be as fair in our treatment of others as we expect others to be toward us.

11:4-5 Judah had become corrupt and was surrounded by hostile, foreign powers. The nation desperately needed a revival of righteousness, justice, and faithfulness. They needed to turn from selfishness and show justice to the poor and the oppressed. The righteousness that God values is more than refraining from sin. It is actively turning toward others and offering them the help they need.

11:6-10 A golden age is yet to come, a time of peace when children could play with formerly dangerous animals. Not all of this was fulfilled at Christ's first coming. For example, nature has not returned to its intended balance and harmony (see Romans 8:9-22). Such perfect tranquility is possible only when Christ reigns over the earth.

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