Tuesday 01 December 2009

Background

The message of this passage relates to the 'messianic promise'(the promise that God would send a messiah - a chosen one - to'save' Israel). It emphasises three aspects of this long-awaitedfigure:

1. Verses 2 and 3a are about his divine endowment for ruling.
2. Verses 3b-5 are about the absolute justice of his rule.
3. Verses 6-10 describe the quality of safety which willcharacterise his rule.

The passage moves from qualifications to performance toresults. There is no sense in which the divine re-establishment ofGod's people somehow envisions a return to theocracy (where thestate is governed by religious leaders, and where religious law isdominant over civil law). What it does envision is a time when theruler will no longer see himself as privileged, but as responsible.When he will become one for whom his people's welfare isuppermost.

In verse 1 the Davidic dynasty is compared to a tree, whichhas been reduced to a mere stump. Isaiah is saying that just asthis can again send forth shoots, so too the royal family willrenew itself from a further group of descendants of Jesse, thefather of David, and the originator of the royal line (1 Samuel16:1-13).

Just as King David emerged from obscurity, so now, after theapparently final abdication of the house of David from its people,a second David will arise from the stock of theirancestor.

Verses 3-5 say that the Messiah will not govern on the basisof appearances, but will instead operate out of a fundamentalrighteousness and faithfulness that will give his pronouncements anunshakeable moral force.

In verses 6-9 it is striking that the expectations of thereturn of primal peace, embracing both humans and animals, islimited within the entire Old Testament to this one passage(although the same thought is briefly taken up in  Isaiah65:25). However alongside it stands another notion thatin the time of salvation, God will remove all wild animals(see  Leviticus26:6b;  Isaiah35:9;  Ezekiel34:25).

To Ponder

Verses 6-9 hold the vision of a peacefulco-existence between humans and between the flora and fauna onGod's holy mountain. How do you assess our contemporary world inthe light of this claim? Is the claim achievable?