…And A Little Child Will Lead Them

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ISAIAH 10:1-11:16 | 2 CORINTHIANS 12:11-21 | PSALM 56:1-13 | PROVERBS 23:6-8

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We continue with Isaiah’s prophetic writings, and learn of Jesus’ coming predicted in these verses.  Jesse was the father of David, as we know, and from the line of David, we can trace the lineage of both Joseph and Mary, the earthly parents of Jesus, the Messiah.  Isaiah says:

¹ A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
² The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of might,
the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD—
³ and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.

And in that day of the second coming of Jesus, the Messiah, this is the utopian imagery we are told we will see:

⁶ The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
   and a little child will lead them.
⁷ The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
⁸ The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
⁹ They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea.

What amazing imagery, indeed!  It defies all reason; it is the stuff fantasies are made of!

Turning now to our continued reading of Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, we find an interesting passage which reflects in Paul the very universal human nature of our insecurities. 

Paul says, ²⁰ For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be.

Next, we look at our psalm for the day, and find David making a forceful affirmation of his trust in the Lord.  He says:

¹² I am under vows to you, my God;
I will present my thank offerings to you.
¹³ For you have delivered me from death
and my feet from stumbling,
that I may walk before God
in the light of life.

Finally, a few verses from the book of Proverbs in continuation with yesterday’s dining etiquette advice:

⁶ Do not eat the food of a begrudging host,
   do not crave his delicacies;
⁷ for he is the kind of person
   who is always thinking about the cost.
“Eat and drink,” he says to you,
   but his heart is not with you.
⁸ You will vomit up the little you have eaten
   and will have wasted your compliments.

May God bless the reading and reflection of His Word.