Author: Kristen Kansiewicz, LMHC

Isaiah 11:6-9 (NLT)

“In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together; the leopard will lie down with the baby goat. The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion, and a little child will lead them all. The cow will graze near the bear. The cub and the calf will lie down together. The lion will eat hay like a cow. The baby will play safely near the hole of a cobra. Yes, a little child will put its hand in a nest of deadly snakes without harm. Nothing will hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, for as the waters fill the sea, so the earth will be filled with people who know the Lord.”

God has a way with animals, and he has big plans for restoring the lives of animals in his newly restored heaven and earth. We don’t often think about the impact of sin on animals, but if you pause to think about it you realize how oppressive sin really is. Animals were innocent victims when Adam and Eve brought a curse on the world, and God has not forgotten them. More animals were saved with Noah in the flood than humans! God’s tender care of animals (the first task he gave to humans as well) is a demonstration of his loving faithfulness to those who cannot care for themselves.

There are no predators or prey in heaven. There is a constant peace in every way in God’s kingdom. And when the Spirit of God is fully present, animals do some strange things. Balaam’s donkey talked when he encountered an angel. The lions did not eat Daniel when God’s Spirit came for a supernatural rescue. God says in these verses that “nothing will hurt or destroy” in his dwelling place. Just imagine a world in which nothing can hurt or destroy you or anything you love again.

Right now we live in a cursed world full of danger. We are called to be a light, and the Holy Spirit’s power is greater than Satan’s. But that doesn’t mean Satan can’t rob us or hurt us, which he does every day around the world. People are hurt and abused, relationships destroyed — this is the handiwork of Satan and the fruit of his kingdom. In God’s kingdom you will be eternally safe. No one can hurt you anymore. We may find some safe spaces here on earth, but I look forward to the day when I dwell in a place where safety is an eternal guarantee. As we wait for that day with hope and expectation, we can each bring the kingdom of God into this earth by being a safe person for someone else. Use this Advent season to be a refuge for the people in your life.

Isaiah 11:1-5 (NLT)

“Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot— yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root. And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. He will delight in obeying the Lord. He will not judge by appearance nor make a decision based on hearsay. He will give justice to the poor and make fair decisions for the exploited. The earth will shake at the force of his word, and one breath from his mouth will destroy the wicked. He will wear righteousness like a belt and truth like an undergarment.”

Why does God speak in vague metaphor so often? Most of us would prefer writing in the sky. We seek high and low to get information about the future — psychics, horoscopes, even a slip of paper in a cookie. We just want to know. I’m not sure what we think would happen if we knew all of what the future holds. Most of us look back on life and are glad for not having known all of what we were getting ourselves into. We need to simply walk and trust and take one gift from God at a time.

Today’s verses have hints at what the Messiah would be like. Someone from David’s lineage, someone wise, someone obedient, someone who can bring justice, and someone who can destroy the wicked in a single word. Oh, and he wears truth underpants. Yeah, God just said that. Knowing Jesus now, of course this all makes sense. But if we had never heard about Jesus, if we did not know him and his Spirit as we do, would we recognize him?

There are a lot of “Christian” things in our world today that have absolutely nothing to do with Jesus. In fact, many of those things are the very things Jesus opposed while on earth. Good, “religious” behavior often misses the heartbeat of God. He loves the poor, he doesn’t judge on appearance, and the earth that he’s shaking isn’t going to be in a loud voice defending the rich or well-off. This Advent season, tune in to the heart of God. Step away from the Christian “positions” and look for Jesus beside the poor and the broken. It’s his favorite place to be.

Isaiah 9:6-7 (NLT)

“For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!”

These verses comprise some of the most famous lyrics in Handel’s Messiah. The words “to us” hit me as I meditate on them. This child described in these verses was given to us. Not to me, not to you. To us. This is a gift on a global scale, and there is a sense in these verses that the Messiah will change the whole earth.

Notice his names: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. A person’s title says a lot about what they do and what is important to them. He is a ruler that brings great peace. Fairness and justice describe his kingdom. The last sentence is my favorite. If the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is passionately committed to something, I have no doubt it will happen.

Most Jewish people familiar with these Messianic prophecies expected a government ruler to be their savior. Perhaps a king or a military leader. The mistake here, and one that we often make today, was to look at prophecy through an earthly lens. The Messiah wasn’t going to come and save them from an earthly oppression. He wasn’t going to overthrow earthly governments. He wasn’t going to establish an earthly kingdom. No, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies had something much bigger in mind. Eternal things cannot fail, crash, end, or be destroyed. This king Jesus will bring permanent peace. Pause today and ask yourself, “What are some ways I still think about Jesus from an earthly perspective?” Allow him to tear apart the limits in your thinking and expand your understanding of him as the eternal King.

Isaiah 9:2-5

“The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine. You will enlarge the nation of Israel, and its people will rejoice. They will rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest and like warriors dividing the plunder. For you will break the yoke of their slavery and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders. You will break the oppressor’s rod, just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian. The boots of the warrior and the uniforms bloodstained by war will all be burned. They will be fuel for the fire.”

Prophecy is mysterious, and I can only imagine what people prior to Jesus’ day thought when they heard Isaiah’s words read aloud. “Something good is coming…” is the message loud and clear. But what exactly? How? We see light and dark imagery, commonly used in all sorts of literature genres. God is reminding us of the spiritual battle that is being waged on our behalf. Dark versus light.

What happens to your eyes when you go from darkness to light? If you’ve ever gone to a matinee movie you know the feeling… There is a shock to the system as you get your bearings. Your eyes have to adjust. We live in a time when our eyes are still adjusting. We see bits and pieces of the kingdom of Heaven, parts of the war won while the darkness continues on other fronts. But we know, just as Isaiah’s audience knew, the burden will be lifted someday.

Darkness has a way of making it hard to see details. Perhaps you can make out shapes or shadows, but you can’t see the whole picture. The Holy Spirit shines a light in certain places, but until Jesus’ glory is fully revealed and heaven and earth are made new we will not understand everything. This semi-darkness is why we continue to wait and hope. That heavy burden on your shoulders will be lifted. That is an eternal guarantee.

Isaiah 9:1

“Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory.”

Have you ever gone through a time of darkness and despair? What is the number one thing we all think when we are in a difficult spot? “This is never going to end!” There is something about hardship that convinces our minds that the darkness will never lift. But it does lift. Nothing remains the same forever. Hope wins.

This prophetic word in Isaiah tells of a “time in the future when Galilee… will be filled with glory.” We know from the New Testament that Jesus was from Galilee — a fulfillment of this prophecy. This place in the midst of judgment, defeat, and humiliation would not stay down forever. All they needed to do was hold on long enough for Jesus.

The world will not remain in darkness and decay forever. Your difficult situation will not always be the way it is right now. Pause and ask yourself, “What am I expecting to stay the same in my life? What am I expecting to change?” God is at work in your life right now. What do you expect will come of that work? Perhaps it is not better circumstances, but a greater closeness to God’s presence that will brighten your world. May we all, like Galilee, be filled with his glory.