The Mission of the Servant, Isaiah 9:7, 11:1-8 Sunday School Lesson for 12-19-10

The Mission of the Servant

Isaiah 9:7, 11:1-8

International Sunday School Lesson

For

12-19-10

Commentary

By

Jed Greenough

Isaiah 9:7 

⁷ Of the increase of his government and peace
   there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
   and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
   with justice and righteousness
   from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
   will accomplish this.

Isaiah 11:1-8

 ¹ A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
   from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
² The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—
   the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
   the Spirit of counsel and of power,
   the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD—
³ and 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;
⁴ but 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.
⁵ Righteousness will be his belt
   and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

 ⁶ The 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.
⁷ The cow will feed with the bear,
   their young will lie down together,
   and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
⁸ The infant will play near the hole of the cobra,
   and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest.

Everyone has favorite scriptures and favorite prophecies and these verses today probably rank up there on many peoples top favorite lists especially for this season and especially since they concern Christ.

The people of Israel from the time of Isaiah on would have known these as being Messianic just as we as Christians do today.  But Israel was looking for His slaying of the wicked to happen when He first arrived on the scene, not as we know it will be, on His return.

They, like we, want the “increase of His government and peace” to happen, they want the justice, the righteousness, and the return to the idyllic just as we Christians do, but they again, do not know that it will all occur only after He, Jesus Christ returns.

Both know that, as it says in 9:7 and 11:1, that He will come from the line of David, as we also read in other scriptures such as 2 Samuel 7:12-13, 16 and Jeremiah 33:15, 20-22, Revelation 5:5 etc., in fact we can go all the way back to the book of Genesis and see the prophecy that came from the lips of Jacob as he blessed his sons. 

Genesis 49:8-12 

 ⁸ “Judah, your brothers will praise you;
   your hand will be on the neck of your enemies;
   your father’s sons will bow down to you.
⁹ You are a lion’s cub, O Judah;
   you return from the prey, my son.
Like a lion he crouches and lies down,
   like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?
¹⁰ The scepter will not depart from Judah,
   nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until he comes to whom it belongs
   and the obedience of the nations is his.
¹¹ He will tether his donkey to a vine,
   his colt to the choicest branch;
he will wash his garments in wine,
   his robes in the blood of grapes.
¹² His eyes will be darker than wine,
   his teeth whiter than milk.

Yes, we as Christians have the blessing to know as we celebrate the season of His birth that He has already come and tethered His donkey to a vine.  And as happy as that makes us, we have to keep in mind those that do not know this blessing.

Verse 1 of Isaiah 11 talks of a branch bearing fruit and of this there can be no doubt; He in fact is the vine of John 15:5

⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

And in fact, “All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth.” Colossians 1:6a

In 11:2 some would say we see the seven spirits of God as mentioned in the book of Revelation.  I have to admit I am not solidly behind that, but clearly the virtues listed are what the world has needed.  Finally, we can have the righteous authority on this earth that has never existed, since no man is or has been righteous; because all men have been under sin save for this ruler, Jesus Christ.

This seems like an appropriate moment in this lesson to make a change in tone.  Up to this point we have seen a vision of a ruler who will have a government of never ending peace, upholding His reign with justice and righteousness forever.

I feel like the change of tone is needed because the tendency has been, due to the Christmas season, to focus on the beautiful idyllic nature of verses 5-8, the return to how things were before the fall of man, the return to how things could have been.

In doing that, we completely lose sight of that part of verse 4 that I want you to never lose sight of:

“He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth; with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.”

Mentioned elsewhere as:

2 Thessalonians 2:8 

⁸ And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.

Isaiah 49:2 

² He made my mouth like a sharpened sword,
   in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me into a polished arrow
   and concealed me in his quiver.

Revelation 1:16 

¹⁶ In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

Revelation 19:14-15, 21

¹⁴ The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. ¹⁵ Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.

²¹ The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.

I don’t ever want you to read this passage of scripture from Isaiah again without giving due attention to the part that describes this slaying and if nothing else, is what I want you to come away with from this International Sunday School Lesson entitled “The Mission of the Servant”; a reminder that you are the servant too.  I know that you have read it countless times but do me this favor and read again 2 Peter 3:9

⁹ The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

I want you to read that and underline it in your Bible too.  Most have read that verse and consider that Peter is referring to the unsaved, but is he?  Go back and see who he is directing this letter to.  He might be referring to the unsaved but He might very well be speaking to you, the Christian, the one who has been given a task by Christ.  He is patient with you   to complete your work as His servant, the work of the gospel, because He doesn’t want anyone to perish but to come to repentance.

How will they do that unless you the servant share with them the good news about Him?

Before the idyllic returns, remember “He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth; with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.”

Will one of you that read this be the one who shared the good news with the family of the child of verse 6 or those seen in verse 8?  God is being patient with you…

For Discussion:

1. Review and share scriptures that deal with the eternal heir to David’s throne.
2. Share your thoughts on that part of 11:1 that refers to “a Branch will bear fruit.”
3. Discuss fear of the LORD
4. Discuss how frequently the poor and needy and their treatment are referred to in the scriptures.
5. Discuss justice and righteousness as they relate to the weight given them in today’s scripture.
6. Discuss the slaying of the wicked when He comes.
7. It is fitting that we should celebrate Christ’s birth, but perhaps there is no opportunity squandered more for sharing the gospel than this the season of His birth.

(Join me next week for the International Sunday School Lesson for December 26, 2010, I Will Be with You, on Isaiah 43:1-7, 11-12)

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.