以赛亚书11:1-10
恩惠、平安从父神和救主耶稣基督归于你们寻求他，信靠他，效法他的人。阿们。
前段时间跟一位做兽医的弟兄聊起来，他说客人不仅带猫狗去看医生，还有各种奇特的宠物，比如羊、猪、蛇和蜥蜴，甚至给蜜蜂接种疫苗等等。虽然我们身边熟悉的可能没有这样的，但世界上不乏有收养毒蛇、狮子、豹子或熊当作宠物养的，不信你可以上网随便搜一下。但是我们知道，大部分人都会觉得这些奇异的宠物会让人不舒服。去年我们家带恩言去4H Center参加一个奇异宠物展，给吓坏了，我们成人在现场也感到不舒服，什么蛇之类的都不用说了，蜘蛛、蝎子等等，应有尽有，呆了不到五分钟，赶紧走了。不仅会让普通人感到不舒服，而且远离它们的一个最重要原因是危险，容易被伤到。前两天新闻还看到一个巴西的少年，才19岁，一直梦想要自己驯化一头狮子，最后甚至翻过动物园的钢丝网，从树上滑下去要亲自驯化狮子，结果很惨，直接被当场咬死了。
你能想象今天旧约经文这个奇特的画面吗？“豺狼必与绵羊羔同居，豹子与山羊羔同卧；少壮狮子与牛犊并肥畜同群；小孩子要牵引它们。牛必与熊同食；牛犊必与小熊同卧；狮子必吃草，与牛一样。吃奶的孩子必玩耍在虺蛇的洞口；断奶的婴孩必按手在毒蛇的穴上。”（以赛亚书11:6-8）这样一片祥和，人与自然、天地和谐的画面简直是难以置信。我们成年人都不敢去靠近这些危险的动物，更别说让小孩子去接触了，甚至要在附近玩耍。说实在的，我们家夏天在后院草地上玩，都担心蚊虫太多，什么蜱虫Tick之类的，就怕小孩儿被咬了生病之类的。
这样一幅超级和谐的画面是怎么实现的呢？是神的受膏者的到来，被耶和华的灵，即圣灵膏抹，进而施行他的作为。
先知以赛亚发出了预言，“耶西的本，也就是树墩子，必发出一枝条。”我们知道耶西是大卫的父亲，而耶西的‘本’，或者说树墩子的根，就是先知所应许的弥赛亚，救主耶稣基督的到来。耶稣也被称为大卫的子孙（马太福音1:20；9:27等等），也可以说是另一个大卫（以西结书37:25；何西阿书3:5；耶利米书30:9）。等他来的时候，“耶和华的灵必住在他身上，”膏抹他，我们知道耶稣在约旦河受洗，圣灵降在他身上，这就是被圣灵和能力膏抹。这是一点经文的背景。基督的意思就是“受膏者”。
我们要留意一点，世人的救主耶稣基督来施行拯救，赦免罪人，让世人与上帝和好，不仅如此，他还要重新再造整个世界和宇宙。并不是说耶稣在十字架上的赎罪也是给动物的，不是，因为有罪的只是人，动物没有罪，但是动物或者说整个受造界都因着人的罪而遭了殃。罗马书8:22“一切受造之物一同叹息，劳苦，直到如今。”动物之所以变得凶残，“不通人性，听不懂人话”，都是因为人犯罪堕落之后的结果。我们首先要记得，上面以赛亚所预言的和谐画面，其实神造动物、造人的时候就是这样的和谐。
你知道，在那失去的乐园里面，当时亚当只要叫哪一个动物，它就真的“通人性”，直接回应亚当的呼唤吗？甚至它们的名字最初都是亚当给起的，这是神给亚当的极大权柄：“耶和华神把用土所造成的野地各样走兽和空中的各样飞鸟都带到那人面前，看他叫什么。那人怎样叫各样的活物，那就是它的名字。”在洪水到来之前，那些畜类、飞鸟和昆虫等等，都是一对一对地来找挪亚，听他的直接安排，“凡有血肉、有气息的活物，都一对一对地到挪亚那里，进入方舟”，要不然岂不乱成一片。因此，既然这旧世界毁灭的时候有动物跟着挪亚进入新世界，我们也可以想象将来的新天新地也有动物，虽然神并没有清楚应许这一点。
今天的以赛亚书经文的重点其实不是关于将来的新天新地，而是关于今天教会的生活。这些凶残的动物安静下来，跟性情温和的、甚至小孩子一起和平相处，更是用寓意的方法来说明弥赛亚，受膏者到来之后发生的情况，是关于性情暴烈的人变得温顺、祥和起来。这是在哪里发生呢？“在我圣山的遍处”，就是在教会，“因为认识耶和华的知识要充满遍地。”“到那日，耶西的根，就是基督，要立作万民的大旗；外邦人必寻求他，他安息之所大有荣耀。”（以赛亚书11:9-10）我们不要以为动物“通人性”就希奇，更要因着人“通神性”，就是人“能听懂神的话并且听了就遵行”而希奇。
这些凶残的动物是指着败坏的人来说的，因为耶稣基督的赐下是为罪人赎罪，是要拯救罪人，而且神的道都是传讲给人听的，不是给动物——没有人会给动物传福音，虽然在美国听说过有人荒谬到给自己的宠物施洗的事情。
当以赛亚发出这个预言的时候，北国以色列已经被亚述侵占掳走，南国犹大也是岌岌可危，亚哈斯王并没有悔改的心，仍然效法列祖的恶行。这也是为什么在第七章，以赛亚预言“以马内利”以及童女生子的同时，还说“耶和华必使亚述王攻击你的日子临到你和你的百姓并你的父家。”（以赛亚书7:14, 17）神的百姓败坏到什么地步？第八章末尾提到，“他们求问那些交鬼的和行巫术的，就是声音绵蛮，言语微细的。”他们并不寻求真神，也不遵行祂的训诲。到了第59章，以赛亚指责百姓说，“你们的手被血沾染，你们的指头被罪孽玷污；你们的嘴唇说谎言，你们的舌头出恶语。所怀的是毒害，所生的是罪孽。他们抱毒蛇蛋，结蜘蛛网，人吃这蛋必死。这蛋被踏，必出蝮蛇。”这就是他们的真实状况。在今天的福音经文中，我们也听到施洗约翰，称呼那些前来凑热闹的法利赛人和撒督该人，“毒蛇的种类，Brood of Vipers”。
然而，就是这样败坏的时候，以赛亚在众多审判的预言信息当中，我们聆听到了这一段拯救的应许信息，是他们的好消息，也是我们的好消息，弥赛亚，受主耶和华的灵膏抹的那一位，耶西的根，必要来立作万民的大旗，建造安息之所，就是神的家，基督的教会。
有时候我们想，地上的教会都这样荒凉，信徒都离经叛道，追随世界和今生短暂的快乐去了，甚至把教会办成娱乐场所，类似俱乐部或者音乐会之类，谁还愿意在乎大卫倒塌的帐幕，谁还在乎耶路撒冷破败的城墙？谁还在乎教会中没有侍奉的？谁还在乎教会到处关门和出售建筑，因为没了人，没了奉献，没了道的宣讲？然而，就在我们一切都没了盼头的时候，主应许耶西的根要来，受膏者要来，施行拯救，不仅是给犹大，不仅是给以色列，更是要给万民，主的话语继续宣扬在全地，“好像水充满洋海一般。”
在这将临期，我们特别思想，主耶稣基督，受膏者已经来了，而且还要再来。他过去所做的，今日仍然在我们当中施行他的奇妙作为。膏抹耶稣的灵，“耶和华的灵，使人有智慧和聪明的灵，谋略和能力的灵，知识和敬畏耶和华的灵”，是彰显不同作为的同一位圣灵，也是在圣洗礼中膏抹我们基督徒的灵。我们在基督里面，领受了得救的智慧，不属于世界的聪明，让我们认识和敬畏耶和华。
基督耶稣继续在我们中间，“行审判不凭眼见，断是非也不凭耳闻；却要以公义审判贫穷人，或说，为贫穷人主持公义，以正直判断世上的谦卑人，以口中的杖击打世界，以嘴里的气杀戮恶人。公义当他的腰带，信实当他胁下的带子。”（以赛亚书11:2-5）他在肉身中显现，成为马利亚怀中吃奶的婴孩，他不以亲近寻找我们这些罪恶的人为羞耻，反而以自己拯救人的使命为乐，以神的旨意为安慰。祂差遣圣灵用道来洁净我们，更新我们的性情。让凶残的、刚烈的性情温顺如羊羔，顺服祂话语的权柄，行公义怜悯人的事。我们蒙了神的恩典，被神呼召聚在一起，在祂的圣山上，“一切都不伤人，不害物”，而是时时以爱心作他人的帮助，践行主对世人的大爱。感谢上帝，赐给我们力量，继续带着祂必再来的盼望传扬耶和华的名，归荣耀给他。奉耶稣的名。阿们。
🌿 The Branch from the Root of Jesse
Isaiah 11:1-10 (ESV)
Grace and peace be with you from God our Father and our Savior Jesus Christ, to all who seek Him, trust in Him, and follow Him. Amen.
I was talking with a brother some time ago who is a Vet, and he mentioned that his clients bring in not only cats and dogs but also all kinds of exotic pets: sheep, pigs, snakes, lizards, and they even vaccinate bees. While we may not be familiar with such things, the world is not short of people who adopt and keep venomous snakes, lions, leopards, or bears as pets. You can easily find examples online.
However, we know that most people find these exotic pets unsettling. Last year, my family took kids to a strange pet exhibition at the 4H Center, and they were terrified. We adults were also uncomfortable on the scene. Not to mention the snakes, there were spiders, scorpions, and everything imaginable. We stayed for less than five minutes and quickly left.
Besides making ordinary people uncomfortable, the most important reason to stay away from them is the danger; it’s easy to get hurt. Just the other day, I saw a news report about a 19-year-old boy in Brazil who had always dreamed of taming a lion himself. He even climbed over the zoo’s wired fence and slid down a tree to try to personally tame the lion. The result was tragic; he was mauled and killed instantly.
Can you imagine the strange scene described in today’s Old Testament passage?
“The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf 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 cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.” (Isaiah 11:6-8, ESV)
Such a scene of perfect tranquility, where humans and nature, heaven and earth, live in harmony, is simply unbelievable. We adults do not dare to approach these dangerous animals, let alone let a small child interact with them or even play nearby. Honestly, when our kids play on the lawn in the backyard during the summer, we worry about too many bugs, things like ticks, for fear that the children might be bitten and get sick.
How is such a hyper-harmonious scene achieved? It is through the arrival of God's Anointed One (the Messiah), who is anointed by the Spirit of the Lord—the Holy Spirit—to perform His works.
The prophet Isaiah issued this prophecy: “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse.” We know that Jesse was the father of David, and the 'stump of Jesse,' or the root of the tree stump, is the promised arrival of the Messiah, the Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus is also called the Son of David (Matthew 1:20; 9:27, etc.), and He can be seen as another David (Ezekiel 37:25; Hosea 3:5; Jeremiah 30:9).
When He comes, “the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,” anointing Him. We know that when Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him, which is the anointing with the Spirit and with power. The word Christ means “The Anointed One.”
We must pay attention to one thing: Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, came to bring salvation, forgive sinners, and reconcile the world to God. Furthermore, He will re-create the entire world and universe. This does not mean that Jesus' atonement on the cross was also for animals; no, because only humans have sinned, animals are guiltless. However, animals, or rather, the entire creation, suffered because of human sin. Romans 8:22 states, “For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.” Animals becoming ferocious—being so called "inhumane" or "unable to understand human speech"—are all results of the human fall into sin. We must first remember that the harmonious scene Isaiah prophesied above is actually the harmony God intended when He created animals and humans.
Did you know that in the lost Paradise, back then, if Adam called any animal, it truly "understood human language" and directly responded to Adam's call? Even their names were originally given by Adam; this was the great authority God gave Adam: “So out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.” (Genesis 2:19, ESV).
Before the flood came, the livestock, birds, and insects all came to Noah in pairs, following his direct command: “Of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female.” (Genesis 6:19, ESV) Otherwise, it would have been chaos. Therefore, since animals entered the new world with Noah when the old world was destroyed, we can also imagine there will be animals in the future New Heaven and New Earth, although God has not explicitly promised this.
The focus of today's passage from Isaiah is actually not primarily about the future New Heaven and New Earth, but about the life of the Church today. These ferocious animals settling down to live peacefully with gentle-natured creatures, and even with small children, is an allegorical way of describing what happens after the Messiah, the Anointed One, arrives—it speaks of the transformation of people with violent tempers becoming meek and peaceful.
Where does this happen? “They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,” which is the Church, “for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. In that day the root of Jesse, who stands as a signal for the peoples—him shall the nations inquire of, and his resting place shall be glorious.” (Isaiah 11:9-10, ESV)
These ferocious animals refer to corrupt people, because Jesus Christ was given to atone for sinners and to save them. Moreover, God's Word is proclaimed to people, not to animals—no one preaches the Gospel to animals, although I have heard of people in the United States being so ridiculous as to baptize their pets.
When Isaiah issued this prophecy, the northern kingdom of Israel had already been invaded and carried away by Assyria, and the southern kingdom of Judah was also in grave danger. King Ahaz had no intention of repenting and still followed the evil ways of his ancestors. This is why, in Chapter 7, while Isaiah was prophesying “Immanuel” and the virgin birth, he also said, “The LORD will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria.” (Isaiah 7:14, 17, ESV).
To what extent had God’s people become corrupt? At the end of Chapter 8, it mentions that “They are to inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter.” They did not seek the true God or obey His precepts. In Chapter 59, Isaiah accuses the people, saying, “For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies; your tongue mutters wickedness. They hatch adders’ eggs and weave the spider’s web; he who eats their eggs dies, and from what is crushed a viper is hatched.” (Isaiah 59:3, 5, ESV). This was their true condition.
Yet, even in such a time of depravity, amidst Isaiah’s many prophecies of judgment, we hear this message of promised salvation. It is good news for them, and it is good news for us: The Messiah, the one anointed with the Spirit of the Lord, the Root of Jesse, must come to stand as a signal for the nations, to build a glorious resting place, which is God’s house, the Church of Christ.
Sometimes we think that the church on earth is so desolate, believers are straying from the faith, chasing after the world and fleeting pleasures of this life, and even turning the church into an entertainment venue, like a club or a concert. Who still cares about the fallen tent of David? Who still cares about the broken walls of Jerusalem? Who still cares about the lack of services in the church? Who still cares about churches closing down and selling buildings because there are no more people of God, no offerings, and no proclamation of the Word?
However, just when we have lost all hope, the Lord promises that the Root of Jesse will come, the Anointed One will come, to bring salvation—not only for Judah, not only for Israel, but for all nations. The Lord's Word continues to be proclaimed throughout the earth, "as the waters cover the sea."
During this Advent season, we particularly contemplate that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Anointed One, has already come and will come again. What He did in the past, He continues to do among us today in His wondrous works. The Spirit that anointed Jesus—“the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD” (Isaiah 11:2, ESV)—is the same Holy Spirit who manifests different works, and who also anoints us as Christians in Holy Baptism.
In Christ, we receive the wisdom of salvation and an understanding that does not belong to the world, enabling us to know and fear the LORD.
Christ Jesus continues His work among us:
“And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and 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 of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.” (Isaiah 11:3-5, ESV, modified slightly).
He appeared in the flesh, becoming a nursing infant in Mary’s arms. He was not ashamed to draw near and seek us sinners, but instead delighted in His mission of saving people and found comfort in God's will. He sends the Holy Spirit to cleanse us with the Word and renew our nature, allowing the ferocious and violent temperaments to become gentle like a lamb, submitting to the authority of His Word, and performing acts of justice and mercy.
Having received God's grace, we are called by God and gathered together on His holy mountain, where “They shall not hurt or destroy,” but constantly help others with love, practicing the great love of the Lord for the world. Thank God for giving us strength to continue proclaiming the name of the LORD with the hope of His coming again, and to give Him glory. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.