"The Sign of the New Day”

Scripture: Isaiah 11:1-10

Before there was GPS, we relied totally on maps and road signs. Remember those days? Some signs were helpful for our trip, such as road names and route markers, others were informative in more general ways such as billboard ads, while others were both advertisements AND entertaining. Remember Burma Shave?

- His cheek was rough - His chick vamoosed - And now she won't - Come home to roost. Burma Shave!
- When Super-shaved - Remember, pard - You'll still get slapped - But not so hard. Burma Shave!

And of course, there were many more like these, and no matter where we went, my brothers and I were always on the lookout for the Burma Shave signs. But think about the actual purpose of the signs – were they to entertain the kids when they were on their way to Grandma’s? No! They were to sell more shaving cream! They were for the male adults, not the rest of the family! But as all good marketers know, before you can sell, you need to catch the attention of your intended audience. And these signs always did.
But entertainment without the information is rather hollow and short lived – very much like coming to worship on Sunday, but not hearing any scripture or any message! Signs are important for our lives, but only if we gain something of significance that helps us.

So it is with God’s word.

Read Isaiah 11:1-5

These are the signs that God offers to the world regarding the coming of Messiah – there is no entertainment value in these, but there is a wealth of information in each and every word. And note that the Lord doesn’t give just one sign – he gives many. It would seem that Messiah’s arrival is far too important to trust to just one word.

But I think that there is generally some confusion with this passage. Is it about Jesus’ first coming, or his second? Is it about the Virgin Birth, or about his Return for the Day of Judgment? If you are looking to me for an answer, then the only valid one must be a resounding “Yes!” Whether first or second, they are inexplicably linked to each other. The Second Coming, with its resulting judgment that leads to new life, must be based on the First. And without the Second, the First one falls flat and has no purpose.
These 5 verses reflect the righteousness of God, revealed in Christ Jesus. They establish both his human lineage and his Divine Character, and taken together, they can never define any other person in all of human history.

So what are these signs?
First, he will be a descendent of Jesse, or more specifically, he will be of the same lineage as King David.
Second, he will be blessed with God’s Spirit, and this attribute shapes his entire character. And these items aren’t normal human traits in any conceivable way!

Wisdom and understanding are vitally important for any ruler or administrator, but our humanness limits their quality and effectiveness. The Spirit’s Wisdom, on the other hand, is perfect and it understands all things.
Counsel – the ability to lead in times of peace - and power – a necessity in times of conflict - are important for everyone who governs and leads others. But human power is unreliable and will fail us at the worst possible time. And our counsel? Imperfect, at best. But Spiritual power is infinite and its Counsel is flawless, and neither will fail.
And I believe that “knowledge” and “fear of the Lord” are put together for a specific reason. They are not intended to be two separate and distinct issues, but rather one and the same. Human knowledge will, one day, fail us and our love of God is iffy, at best, but when these are combined in the Spirit, they imply a perfect and total understanding, not just of the things of earth, but of the Lord God Almighty, and as such, will always be trustworthy and absolute. And in the Spirit, these gifts, as well as the ones that follow in verses 4 & 5, will never be used for personal gain, but rather for the benefit and gain of others.

And his judging of what is righteous and just, and his use of counsel and power, and his knowledge and love of God, won’t come through the normal avenues of human perception – they won’t be based on what is observed or heard or touched or smelled. Humans depend on their 5 senses to gain understanding and to convey justice. But this Branch of Jesse will use none of these. So what will be used?

This Fruitful Branch will gain his understanding and wisdom and power and might from the Holy Spirit. His life and instruction will be righteous and just, his advice and power will be a blessing to all, his knowledge and love of God will inspire and teach – and they won’t be given for just a select few, but for all, and in particular, for the poor and needy who seldom receive justice or honor or righteous advice.

This Branch will be anything but limited by his human nature. He will never be self-serving, he will never misuse his authority, and he will teach the world how to love and honor God. And for those who refuse to learn, who refuse to submit to this perfect authority and Spirit led voice? They will suffer the consequences.

There’s a story about a physician who was driving between hospital calls one evening, exceeding the speed limit rather shamelessly in an attempt to make up for lost time. Suddenly a police car pulled up behind him and turned on the lights. Having some considerable experience in both speeding and getting caught, the doctor picked up his stethoscope and held it up for the policeman to see in hopes of communicating that he was on a medical emergency.
Yet the police officer continued in pursuit with no regard to the physician's signals. Once more the doctor waved his stethoscope in the air, this time more dramatically, in hopes of conveying the importance of his mission. But when the physician looked into his rear-view mirror to see whether the police officer got the message, he saw a smiling officer waving his own symbol of authority in the air -- his revolver.
- Source Unknown

You may think that you have and are the perfect authority, but the real signs always seem to point to another who has even more.

Read Isaiah 11:6-9

And as with any sign, any prophecy, any proclamation, it has to show, or at least promise, that there is a true benefit to our following and believing that sign. The Fruitful Branch of Jesse is, in and of himself, that very promise.
And what is that promise? It is one of perfect peace – peace from fear, peace from hatred, peace from mistrust, peace from need. Consider the relationships that are depicted by the joining together of the wolf and the lamb, the leopard and the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling and the child – none of these are normal in our world. These relationship are truly Spirit filled and are the proof of the "signs".
That is what the word “Shalom” means in its fullest context – it implies a transformation by the Spirit – it is a rest, a freedom, from all that the world can throw at us, and a restoration to the things of God. It is one that we can only imagine, one that we can only anticipate, but one that is promised and sure.
“They will neither harm nor destroy … for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord.” Here is that Spirit given knowledge again – all of earth’s creation will know of the Almighty. No longer will humanity have to depend on the mercy of inexact human judgment, or a misplaced trust in human counsel, or a limited view of the love of God. Life will finally be Spirit led, and with this, we have now moved from Christ’s characteristics in his first coming to the results of his return in the second. And the extent of glory has only been touched upon in this passage.

In 1968, at the Ecumenical Council of Churches Meeting at Uppsala, Sweden, one of the delegates, Metropolitan Ignatios, [offered] these words:

“Without the Holy Spirit, God is far away - Christ stays in the past; the gospel is a dead letter; the church is simply an organization; authority, a matter of domination; mission, a matter of propaganda; the liturgy, no more than an evocation; Christian living, a slave morality.
But in the Holy Spirit: The cosmos is resurrected and groans with the birth pangs of the kingdom; the risen Christ is there; the gospel is the power of life; the Church shows forth life of the Trinity; authority is a liberating service; mission is a Pentecost; the liturgy is both memorial and anticipation; human action is deified.”
--Leon Joseph Cardinal Suenens, A New Pentecost? (New York: Seabury Press, 1974), 19-20.
That is a true Spiritual transformation, and it awaits all who will follow the sign of Jesus!

Read Isaiah 11:10

And the signs all point to that glorious day when Jesus will be our banner, when Jesus will be the focus of every person on earth, when Jesus will be our perfect peace and rest.
All the signs are there – see them for yourself, and then help others to know them, too.