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Friday 13 December

The peaceful kingdom

By Joe & Petra Tucker

Isaiah 11:1-10

Writing around 700 years BC, Isaiah tells Israel’s corrupt leaders that their rebellion against the covenant with God, idolatry and injustice towards the poor will come at a cost.

While his immediate audience was the various kings of Judah, it is not too much of a stretch to read Isaiah’s prophecies as being applicable to modern times, given that we have all prayed many times “thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven”.

While the verses which talk about wolves, panthers and lions making peace with lambs, kids and calves are graphic and full of hope, the message which jumps out for us is “He judges…and with equity gives a verdict for the poor of the land.” Can there be any doubt that this means God is firmly on the side of the poor?

Apparently the word “poor” appears in the Bible over 200 times and there are over 2000 verses encouraging us to care for the poor. Let us, this Advent and Christmas, do what we can to reduce poverty and to make choices which show our support for Christian Aid’s famous slogan “We believe in life before death”.

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Isaiah 11:1-10

A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse,  and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,  the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
   the spirit of counsel and might,
   the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,  or decide by what his ears hear;
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 kill the wicked.

Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,  and faithfulness the belt around his loins.

The wolf shall live with the lamb,  the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling 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 asp,  and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lordas the waters cover the sea.

On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.