Reading for April 30th

Read Isaiah 11.1-16, In 11.1-16: The renewal of God's promise. In verses 1-5: The shoot from the stump of Jesse refers to the situation after the Babylonians had removed the last of the Davidic rulers, Zedekiah (2 Kings 25.1-7). His predecessor and nephew, Jehiochin, had been taken and held prisoner in Babylon (2 Kings 24.10-12), and this prophecy reflects the hope that either he, or one of his desendants, would return to rule (see 55.2-5; 1 Chr 3.16-24). This hope was not fulfilled, and the promises of Davidic kingship became a messianic hope. In verses 6-9: An addition that conveys a wider message than one of goverment and justice: a time or world peace extending throughout the natural order, witnessing the end of violence, not simply betwen nations (see Isa 2.4) but beween wild and domestic animals. The violence and disorder that had confounded God's purpose since the begining would be transformed by the fashioning of a new heaven and a new earth (66.2-3). As a pominent, and unique, hope in Isaiah, the message is repeated in 65.22. In verses 10-16: Chapter 5-12 form a connected series of prophecies, from the devastation foretold in 6.11-13 until the return of surviors to repopulate it and to rebuild Jerusalem. This promise of return forms a significant feature of the book's overall message. Detailed promises of this return begin in chs. 40-55. Prophecies fulfilling that hope are included in chs. 56-66. As God's judgment had been hearaled by a signal to a "nation far away (5.26), so the ending of the period of judgment and its dawning of the age of peace would begin with a further signal to all nations (11.10-12). Commenst or Questions..