14 day plan

A Child Shall Lead Them

Day 2 of 14

CEV

Isaiah 11:6

6 Leopards will lie down

with young goats,

and wolves will rest

with lambs.

Calves and lions

will eat together

and be cared for

by little children.

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.

Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®) © 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.

Days

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2
3
4
5
6
7
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10
11
12
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14

Isaiah 11:1-16

Peace at Last

1 Like a branch that sprouts

from a stump,

someone from David's family

will someday be king.

2The Spirit of the Lord

will be with him

to give him understanding,

wisdom, and insight.

He will be powerful,

and he will know

and honor the Lord.

3His greatest joy will be

to obey the Lord.

This king won't judge

by appearances

or listen to rumors.

4The poor and the needy

will be treated with fairness

and with justice.

His word will be law

everywhere in the land,

and criminals

will be put to death.

5 Honesty and fairness

will be his royal robes.

6 Leopards will lie down

with young goats,

and wolves will rest

with lambs.

Calves and lions

will eat together

and be cared for

by little children.

7Cows and bears will share

the same pasture;

their young will rest

side by side.

Lions and oxen

will both eat straw.

8Little children will play

near snake holes.

They will stick their hands

into dens of poisonous snakes

and never be hurt.

9 Nothing harmful will take place

on the Lord's holy mountain.

Just as water fills the sea,

the land will be filled

with people who know

and honor the Lord.

God's People Will Come Back Home

10 The time is coming when one of David's descendants will be the signal for the people of all nations to come together. They will follow his advice, and his own nation will become famous.

11When that day comes, the Lord will again reach out his mighty arm and bring home his people who have survived in Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Ethiopia, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and the land along the coast. 12He will give a signal to the nations, and he will bring together the refugees from Judah and Israel, who have been scattered all over the earth. 13Israel will stop being jealous of Judah, and Judah will no longer be the enemy of Israel. 14Instead, they will get together and attack the Philistines in the west. Then they will defeat the Edomites, the Moabites, and the Ammonites in the east. They will rule those people and take from them whatever they want.

15 The Lord will dry up the arm of the Red Sea near Egypt, and he will send a scorching wind to divide the Euphrates River into seven streams that anyone can step across. 16Then for his people who survive, there will be a good road from Assyria, just as there was a good road for their ancestors when they left Egypt.

Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®) © 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.