Scott Freeman

Advent 2

Note: This is what I would have said yesterday if worship services had not
been canceled. This will presage a blog series I want to begin after the first of the year dealing with atonement and how the mistaken notion of Penal Substitutionary Atonement has negatively affected evangelism and discipleship creating a movement borne more out of fear than of faith.

He Will Come…And Drive Out Fear
Isaiah 11:1—10
December 9, 2007

Last week we began this period of hope and expectancy by looking at the promise of peace from the Messiah. For the world to see Him we must be Him.

This week I want to unpack that just a little bit further.
Dystopian—Children of Men, I Am Legend

Popular because often times a part of us believes that is where we are heading.
Part of the popular doctrine of pre-millennialism, for example, posits a world where things will get much worse before they get better. There is much to fear in this view because this world is on a progressive slide downward.
And as we look around us that is not always that hard to believe. That standards, decency etc. are continually defined down as Moynihan would say.
These tales of apocalyptic nightmares are popular because we believe that is how life may someday be. It’s easier to envision everything going wrong than everything going right. It’s easier to envision some sort of doomsday scenario. Disaster sales better than paradise.
We live in a culture of fear that states unless things turn around drastically, unless the right person is elected, unless the right legislation gets passed, unless our standards and ideology are upheld then the world will go to hell in a hand-basket. Y2K, duct-tape and plastic sheeting, Hillary—it’s all scary.

Bird Flu, MRSA, North Korea, Identity Theft.
Type in “be afraid” on your computer the number two search is for ready.gov.

Name a political candidate who paints a rosy picture of the future without him or her at the helm. Fear motivates.
I even heard a guy preach a couple of months back that he prefers that world to the offering of peace that is found in such passages as Isaiah 2 and Micah. That it is more exciting. A world where Jack Bauer is saving the world , he claimed, was much more interesting than a world where everybody lived in peace and harmony.
We live in a world that banks in fear.

Here’s some stuff to be afraid of: (HT: Bob Mack)
• A Tornado Hitting a Hazardous Waste Site
• Falling Airliner Debris
• Killer Bees –
• The “Moth Effect” –
• Fake ATMs

It’s a world that brokers in fear.

And let’s face it that has often been our approach to evangelism and, for many of us, our own conversions. That we hang over the pit of an eternal hell by the hand of God and at any moment he might relinquish his grip despite the counter-claims of Jesus in John 10.

Somewhere our message became one of fear rather than of hope, of a God waiting to strike down rather than rise up, of a Father wanting to condemn rather than save.
But that is not the vision of Isaiah. Last week we saw the promise of peace that comes through the Messiah. That he would attract people to Him and teach them the manner of peace. Also came the understanding that the way the world will experience such peace is through the way we live.
In this week’s passage that theme is extended to show that he will bring Shalom not only to the nations but all of creation.
In Isaiah 10 we see that hard times are coming for the children of God (Isaiah 10:33—34)
We don’t know when this particular passage was written so we aren’t able to state with certainty if this is talking about the Assyrian invasion of Israel in the 8th century B.C. or the Babylonian Invasion of Judah in the 6th.
In 745 BC, Tiglath-pileser III became king of Assyria; he was bent on conquering all of the west, including Israel.
Judah would follow suit in 586 to the Babylonians under the reign of Nebuchadnezzar.
Both nations were felled by a failure of leadership. The kings would be tried and found wanting, idolatrous and unjust.
Those two great sins would be the undoing of the nations of both Israel and Judah. And so the people had much to fear. It was truly a scene out of an apocalyptic nightmare.
But once again in the midst of such pain and heartbreak there would be hope. There would be one to come who would be different.
11:1-3.
Always in scripture fear and destruction is followed by hope and reconciliation.
We see right off that this One to come would be from the line of Jesse, the father of David. From the line of that great king would come one that would far surpass even David. From the branch of their beloved leader would come their greatest king. From the stump of their greatest failure would come their greatest redemption.
The coming one would bear fruit in the form of a seven-fold Spirit. The first being the very Spirit of the Lord lending weight to the presence of the Spirit of God in holiness and righteousness and piety.

The rest can best be described in a series of 3 couplets.
1. Wisdom and understanding—we see that this King will have the wisdom and the insight to make the right choices. His reign will be marked by justice and the ability to rule wisely. It is the mark of a wise individual who can look at all of the evidence of a case and decide fairly. That was a hallmark of Solomon and we will see this in the Messiah. Israel would see their destruction because their kings were unjust. This king would right that.

2. Counsel and might—In addition, he will have the very counsel of the Spirit of God, mighty and strong He will be. We will see that counsel and might will not result in the further war and bloodshed that has marked previous kings but one of harmony. A true “peaceable” kingdom.

3. Knowledge and fear of the Lord—Not only this but the coming king would exhibit a grasp of truth and a respect of the ways of God. He would be faithful in his duties providing executive leadership.
These traits would combine to bring righteousness and justice. Interesting note: the word “belt” here really refers to undergarments. His righteousness and justice is as close as underwear.

11:3—5

In a world that had been marked by idolatry and injustice to the point that both nations fell would come one who would not judge solely on appearance or hearsay.
Instead He would be fair and impartial ruling with mercy and compassion.
He will treat the poor rightly. He will be fair with the meek. He will deal harshly with those who oppress the people of God and foster that atmosphere of fear.
We see, in the prophets, a God who is passionately on the side of the minority, the oppressed, the disadvantaged. To harm them is to harm God.
The message of Jesus was always one of care for the least of these, love for the down-trodden. His was not a ministry of fear but of love, compassion and care.
So, what would this mean? This King would come from the line of David. But what does that mean for us?
For the application for us we must look at the results of this King’s rule.
6—9
What emerges out of this passage? What do we see about the results of the rule of Jesus?
There is no fear!

365 times scripture tells us not to be afraid. One for every day of the year. So why live fearfully? Why teach a message borne out of fear? The only way to get a lamb to lay down with a lion of its own accord is to rid the basis for fear.
There is no fear of those who are different from you. Wolves will be with lambs. Leopards and goats will lie together.
A child shall play with the snake.
Not literal. But instead shows us that Jesus brings together all types of people through an understanding of fairness and compassion.

There are two things that could cause this behavior to happen: fear and love.
But we see from the context that fear is not at play. There is an aspect of tenderness and togetherness. Of the predator laying aside the nature to live in harmony.
Paul, himself, would take up this theme by telling us to live in harmony with other people. To not be afraid of investing yourselves in others. To not see color of skin, religion, ethnicity or lifestyle. But instead to see those whose souls can be won to the heart of Christ.
So we see both a personal aspect and an inter-personal one. We have nothing to fear because God is our God. He is fair, just and compassionate.
And we can enter into relationships with others because we know that God’s love is message and the medium.
In this time of the year when we are filled with hope and longing for the Promised One we must be an extension of all that He was reaching beyond our fears and into the hearts and lives of the forgotten and marginalized.
Ultimately, it means that we are called to bring the Shalom of God. Not just peace. Something so much more.
Completeness, wholeness, health, peace, welfare, safety soundness, tranquility, prosperity, perfectness, fullness, rest, harmony, the absence of agitation or discord.
Who do you need to eat with? Fear not, for God is with you.

Something very powerful is taking shape with this announcement. The poetry of vision announces a restored social imagination. It announces good news about a world that is unknown and inaccessible at the present time. It announces a world that will surely come!! It imagines a community fully freed and reconciled - a community in which every form of hurt and fear has been overcome. With the promise of new management and a new world, ordinary people who are marginalised can trust themselves to the promise. They can live in the present as though they are already in the new reality!

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