14 day plan

A Child Shall Lead Them

Day 2 of 14

NIV

Isaiah 11:6

6The 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.

Reflection:  A little child will lead them

This poem in Isaiah sees the violent reconciled with the vulnerable. It is the image of renewed creation, the Garden of Eden as it was intended to be in the beginning. In the new creation, peace reigns. And the Prince of Peace, who arrived as a vulnerable baby, initiated this peace during a time of earthly violence.

Jesus is Immanuel, God with Us, the child who will lead us into a kingdom of justice. This is our promised hope: the Living Hope who will restore creation and bring about peace. 

The book of Isaiah points to Israel’s covenant with God. It exposes humanity as unable to be faithful despite God’s enduring faithfulness. It is a book of judgment; the prophet’s role, after all, was to call people to repentance and change.

But it is also full of hope. Isaiah uses human history and earthy imagery to warn of God’s judgment while pointing to the long expected, always hoped for Messianic King from David’s family. He will reconcile all creation, even lions and lambs. And it rests entirely on God’s faithfulness.

What an amazing gift it is, then, that we would be invited to be part of this kingdom of justice and generosity now! The Holy Seed, a small shoot, a little child Jesus, leads us. And his kingdom transforms all creation, bringing peace – that is, fairness and justice for all.

Question:  What do you think it means to be a part of God’s kingdom of justice and fairness? What might that look like for you?

Prayer:  Lord God, please lead us into a deeper understanding of the truths held in your word. You are a good God and you have experienced the vulnerabilities that come with being a child.  Help us come to you like children – open hearted, trusting, and confident that you are who you say you are. Amen.

The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.

Days

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4
5
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7
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10
11
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14

Isaiah 11:1-16

The Branch From Jesse

1A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;

from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

2The 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—

3and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,

or decide by what he hears with his ears;

4but with righteousness he will judge the needy,

with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.

He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;

with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.

5Righteousness will be his belt

and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

6The 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.

7The cow will feed with the bear,

their young will lie down together,

and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

8The infant will play near the cobra’s den,

and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.

9They 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.

10In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious. 11In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the surviving remnant of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the Mediterranean.

12He will raise a banner for the nations

and gather the exiles of Israel;

he will assemble the scattered people of Judah

from the four quarters of the earth.

13Ephraim’s jealousy will vanish,

and Judah’s enemies will be destroyed;

Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah,

nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim.

14They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia to the west;

together they will plunder the people to the east.

They will subdue Edom and Moab,

and the Ammonites will be subject to them.

15The Lord will dry up

the gulf of the Egyptian sea;

with a scorching wind he will sweep his hand

over the Euphrates River.

He will break it up into seven streams

so that anyone can cross over in sandals.

16There will be a highway for the remnant of his people

that is left from Assyria,

as there was for Israel

when they came up from Egypt.

The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.