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;
So far so good, huh? We all understand this to be talking about Jesus, and what He is going to do when He comes into the world.
Next:
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.
Not so gentle Jesus meek and mild, is it? All kinds of cross references come to mind here; think of Revelation 19 or Psalm 2. Jesus' word strikes the wicked of the Earth, and this comes from His righteousness and faithfulness (He is called Faithful and True).
His striking the earth and killing the wicked results in:
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.
We know this cannot be heaven or the Resurrection. Why? There are children. Whether this animals-gettin'-along business is literal or symbolic, there is no doubt that Christ's rule is to result in amazing peace. So much so that:
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.
Here are the promises of God concerning what will happen when He sends His Son into the world. We have already been told that when He comes the increase of His government and of peace will have no end. Here is the glorious "millennium" of His reign and the result of the fruition of its increase.
Wonderful.
3 comments:
are you trying to say that meek doesn't really mean wimpy? is that the Jesus you want me to believe in?
I'm SO glad you're blogging again, Sweets. I will soon, too. :)
Many times I have heard the words of Charles Wesley's children hymn dismissed--rather too quickly, I think. Certainly, the Lord in righteous anger confronted the hypocritical Jewish leaders of His day. He was not being gentle, meek and mild when He drove the money changers from the temple. But that is not how He treated little children. It is just as wrong to overemphasize one side as the other. Even today, our great High Priest is "touched with the feeling of our infirmities," and when His children come to Him in pain, seeking solace and support, He is kind and gentle with us.
If you enjoy reading about our hymns and their authors, I invite you to check out my daily blog on the subject, Wordwise Hymns.
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