1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
2 And 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.
3 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,
4 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.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
6 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.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
9 They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea.
Comment: When asked why Christians observe the Advent week, which is not a scriptural requirement, Wikipedia responds “Churches observe the Advent season to anticipate and celebrate Christ’s first coming at Christmas, while also preparing for his Second Coming at the end of time, making it a period of hopeful preparation, joyful anticipation, and spiritual reflection. The season, which marks the beginning of the liturgical year for many Christians, involves themes of hope, peace, joy, and love, symbolized by elements like the Advent wreath, and serves as a time to re-center life around God’s presence and the coming of Jesus.” Wikipedia obviously is more cognizant than most of the world’s population, particularly those who live in the West! The West was previously largely nominally Christian and this meant that Advent became more or less part of general custom and even ‘law’ as it was a time of public holidays and celebrating. The time of Advent is covered by, and special things are commenced even months before it officially begins, by businesses trying to sell special foods and encouraging people to buy presents and to take expensive holidays, eating and drinking excessively. That all sounds very negative but unfortunately it is accurate. There might be a slight increase in worship attendance for the related Sunday or on Christmas Day, but it often, if not usually, is ‘just dipping the lid’ to a God Whom they are not certain if He exists or not!
The preceding passage, which I commented on a few weeks ago, is very relevant to the Advent Season as it foreshadowed both, the already, by now, ‘happened’ first coming of Jesus and clearly also talks about events which will only occur when He returns as He has promised!
Proverbs 30: 4 – Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name? Surely you know! – The Proverbs are supposed to make us think!!!
Prayer: Please deliver me from both ignorance and skepticism, Jehovah God!
As I read it! 