Mes: enero 2021

Root and Branch in One (Isaiah 11)

Who is the “shoot” that comes out “from the stump of Jesse” (NRSV) in Isaiah 11:1? (See also Zech. 3:8; Zech. 6:12.)

Isaiah 11:1 picks up on the imagery of a felled tree in 10:33, 34. The
“stump of Jesse” represents the idea that the dynasty of David (son of
Jesse) would lose its power (Dan. 4:10–17, 20–26). But there would
arise a “shoot/branch” from the apparently doomed “stump”; that is, a
Ruler descended from David.

Why is the new Davidic ruler also called the “root of Jesse”? (Isa. 11:10.)

What sense does this make? (Rev. 22:16.) The description fits only Jesus Christ, who is both “the root and the descendant of David” (Rev. 22:16, NRSV). Christ came from the line of David (Luke 3:23–31), who was descended from Adam, who was the “son of God” (Luke 3:38) in the sense that Christ created him (see John 1:1–3, 14). So, Christ was David’s ancestor, as well as his descendant!

In what ways does the new Davidic Ruler reverse the evil effects of sin and apostasy? (Isaiah 11.)

He thinks and acts in harmony with the Lord, judges fairly, punishes
the wicked, and brings peace. When He takes over, the Lord will bring
back, restore, and unite a faithful remnant of Israel and Judah (compare Isa. 10:20–22). There will be a strong, united monarchy as in the days of King David, who defeated the Philistines and other peoples. But the new Ruler will be greater than David in that He will restore peace even to the essence of creation itself: predators will no longer be carnivorous, and they will coexist in tranquility with their former prey (Isa. 11:6–9).

Is Isaiah 11 talking about just the first coming of Christ, just the second, or both? Look through the prophecy and mark down which texts talk about which coming.

In Isaiah 11, both comings of Jesus are presented as one picture.
They are tied together, because they are two parts of a whole, like
the two sides of a flat plane. The plan of salvation, to be completed,
requires both Comings: the First, which already has happened; and
the Second, which we await as the consummation of all our hopes as
Christians.
What did Christ accomplish at the First Coming that gives us
such assurance about the Second Coming? What is the purpose
of the First Coming if it doesn’t result in the Second?

“You Comforted Me” (Isa. 12:1–6)

Isaiah 12 is a short psalm (song) of praise to God for His merciful
and powerful comfort. The psalm, put in the mouth of a member of
the restored remnant, compares the promised deliverance to that of the
Hebrews in the Exodus from Egypt (see Isa. 11:16); it is like the song
of Moses and the Israelites when they were saved from Pharaoh’s army
at the Red Sea (see Exodus 15).

Compare this song in Isaiah 12 to Revelation 15:2–4, the song of
Moses and of the Lamb. What are they both praising God for?
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Isaiah 12:2 comes close to identifying the coming Deliverer as Jesus. It
says that “God is my salvation” and “he has become my salvation” (NRSV).
The name Jesus means “The Lord is Salvation” (compare Matt. 1:21).

What is the significance of the idea, contained in the name of Jesus, that the Lord is salvation?
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Not only does the Lord bestow salvation (Isa. 12:2) but He Himself
also is salvation. The Presence of the Holy One of Israel in our midst
(Isa. 12:6) is everything to us. God is with us! Not only did Jesus do
miracles but He also “became flesh and lived among us” (John 1:14,
NRSV, emphasis supplied). Not only did He bear our sins on the cross,
but He also became sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21). Not only does He make
peace, but He also is our peace (Eph. 2:14).
No wonder “the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples”
(Isa. 11:10, NRSV). When He is lifted up on the cross, He draws all
people to Himself (John 12:32, 33)! A remnant shall return to the
“mighty God” (Isa. 10:21, NRSV), who is the Child born for us, the
“Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:6)!
Dwell more on this idea that Jesus is our salvation. Read Romans
3:24. It says that redemption is in Jesus; redemption is something
that happened in Him, and it is through God’s grace and mercy
that we can have an eternal share in that redemption, as well. In
other words, that redemption that was in Him can become ours
by faith, and not by works, because no works we do are good
enough to redeem us. Only the works that Christ did, which He
credits to us by faith, can bring redemption. How does this truth
give you hope and assurance of salvation, especially when you feel overwhelmed by your own sense of unworthiness?

Further Thought: “The heart of the human father yearns over his son. He looks into the face of his little child, and trembles at the thought of life’s peril. He longs to shield his dear one from Satan’s power, to hold him back from temptation and conflict. To meet a bitterer conflict and a more fearful risk, God gave His only-begotten Son, that the path of life might be made sure for our little ones. ‘Herein is love.’ Wonder, O heavens! and be astonished, O earth!”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 49.

“Christ was the one who consented to meet the conditions necessary
for man’s salvation. No angel, no man, was sufficient for the great work to be wrought. The Son of man alone must be lifted up; for only an infinite nature could undertake the redemptive process. Christ consented to connect himself with the disloyal and sinful, to partake of the nature of man, to give his own blood, and to make his soul an offering for sin. In the counsels of heaven, the guilt of man was measured, the wrath for sin was estimated, and yet Christ announced his decision that he would take upon himself the responsibility of meeting the conditions wherebyhope should be extended to a fallen race.”—Ellen G. White, The Signs of the Times, March 5, 1896.

Discussion Question:
As we saw in Isaiah 11, the Lord presented both comings of Christ
in one picture. This can help explain, at least somewhat, why some
of the Jews didn’t accept Christ at His first coming, because they
expected Him to do the things that will happen only at the Second
Coming. What does this tell us about how important it is that we
have a proper understanding of the nature of Christ’s advent?
How can false views, for instance, of His second coming set people
up for Satan’s great end-time deception? (See Ellen G. White, The
Great Controversy, chapter 39.)

Summary: In the days of Isaiah, whose name means “Salvation of the
Lord,” God promised His remnant people salvation from the oppression that was coming upon them as a result of national apostasy. This prophecy of hope finds its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus, whose name means “The Lord is Salvation.”

Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study: Isa. 7:14–16, Isa. 7:17–25,
Isa. 8:1–10, Isa. 8:11–15, Isa. 8:16–22.

Memory Text: “I will wait on the Lord, who hides His face from the house of Jacob; and I will hope in Him” (Isaiah 8:17, NKJV).

At a burning building in New York City’s Harlem, a blind girl was
perched on a fourth-floor window. The firemen had become
desperate. They couldn’t fit the ladder truck between the buildings,
and they couldn’t get her to jump into a net, which she, of course,
couldn’t see.
“Finally her father arrived and shouted through the bull horn that
there was a net and that she was to jump on his command. The girl
jumped and was so completely relaxed that she did not break a bone
or even strain a muscle in the four-story fall. Because she trusted her
father completely, when she heard her father’s voice she did what he
said was best.”—Edited by Michael P. Green, 1500 Illustrations for
Biblical Preaching, p. 135.
In the same way, God provided powerful evidence that He wanted
the best for His children, but they rejected the gently flowing way He
first presented to them; thus, He had to speak to them with a roar and
a flood instead.

Prophecy Fulfilled (Isa. 7:14–16)

In Isaiah 7:14–16, Immanuel is a sign linked to the specific dilemma
of Ahaz: before the child Immanuel would be old enough to decide
between different kinds of food, “the land before whose two kings you
are in dread will be deserted” (Isa. 7:16, NRSV). This refers to the land
and kings of Syria and northern Israel (see Isa. 7:1, 2, 4–9) and reiterates God’s promise that their power would soon be extinguished.

Why does Isaiah 7:15 mention “ ‘curds and honey’ ” (NRSV) that the boy would have to eat?

The crops and fields of Judah would be destroyed by the Assyrians
(Isa. 7:23–25). So, the people, including the Old Testament Immanuel,
whoever he was (Isa. 7:14, 15), would be forced to return to the diet of
nomads (Isa. 7:21, 22). But while they would be poor, they would have
enough on which to survive.

When was the prophecy regarding Syria and northern Israel fulfilled? (2 Kings 15:29, 30; 2 Kings 16:7–9; 1 Chron. 5:6, 26.)

This prophecy of Isaiah was given about 734 b.c. In response to the
bribe of Ahaz, Tiglath-pileser III did what he probably would have done anyway: he smashed the northern coalition, conquered the Galilee and Transjordanian regions of northern Israel, deported some of the population, and turned the territories into Assyrian provinces (734–733 b.c.). The remainder of Israel was saved when Hoshea, after murdering King Pekah, surrendered and paid tribute. In 733 and 732 b.c. Tiglath-pileser conquered Damascus, the capital of Syria. Then he made Syria into Assyrian provinces.

So, by 732, within about two years of Isaiah’s prediction, Syria and
Israel had been conclusively defeated, and it was all over for the two kings who had threatened Ahaz. Soon after Shalmaneser V replaced Tiglath-pileser III in 727 b.c., King Hoshea of Israel committed political suicide by rebelling against Assyria. The Assyrians took the capital city of Samaria in 722 b.c. and deported thousands of Israelites to Mesopotamia and Media, where they were absorbed into the local populations eventually and lost their identity (see Isa. 7:8—within 65 years Ephraim would no longer even be a people). God had predicted what would happen to the enemies of Judah, but His point to Ahaz was that this would happen anyway, without any need to rely on
Assyria.

Think, if you were living in the northern kingdom while all this
was happening, how easy it would be to lose faith. What can we
do to learn to keep our faith intact, so that when tomorrow’s
calamities come, we can stay firm? (See 1 Pet. 1:13–25.)

Foreseen Consequences (Isa. 7:17–25)

Read the above verses. What is the Lord describing that will happen to the land? Why should we not be surprised at this outcome?
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“Invitation upon invitation was sent to erring Israel to return to their
allegiance to Jehovah. Tender were the pleadings of the prophets; and
as they stood before the people, earnestly exhorting to repentance and
reformation, their words bore fruit to the glory of God.”—Ellen G.
White, Prophets and Kings, p. 325.
Thus, for Ahaz, the man of fear rather than faith, the good news from
God was that Syria and Israel would be wiped out. The bad news was
that Assyria, the ally and “friend” he had chosen to help him, would
turn out to be a far more dangerous foe than Syria and Israel had been.
By turning down God’s freely offered deliverance, Ahaz was guaranteed
defeat. If Ahaz thought his world was falling apart now, things
were only going to get worse!
“It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in
princes” (Ps. 118:9, NRSV). How could Ahaz trust that Tiglath-pileser
III would be satisfied with taking the countries to the north and would
respect Judah? Assyrian writings, such as annals of the Assyrian
kings themselves, testify to the fact that their desire for power was
insatiable.

Read 2 Kings 16:10–18 and 2 Chronicles 28:20–25. What was happening to Ahaz? What spiritual principle do we see unfolding here? Why should we not be surprised at his actions?
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Second Chronicles 28:20–23 powerfully sums up what resulted from
Ahaz’s asking for help from Assyria rather than relying on the Lord.

Our natural tendency is to trust in what we can see, feel, taste,
touch—the things of the world. Yet, as we know, the things of the
world vanish. Look at 2 Corinthians 4:18. What is the text saying
to us? How can we apply its message to our own lives? And what
difference will it make for us if we do?
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What’s in a Name? (Isa. 8:1–10)

Can you imagine playing a ball game with Isaiah’s second boy? By
the time you could say “Maher-shalal-hash-baz, throw me the ball!” it
would be too late. But even longer than his name is its meaning: “swift
is booty, speedy is prey” or “speed the spoil, hasten the plunder.”

The message of the name clearly has to do with rapid conquest, but who conquers whom? (Isa. 8:4.)
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Isaiah 8:1–10 reinforces the message of chapter 7. Before a child could
reach a certain stage, spoils of war from the capitals of Syria and northern Israel would be taken by Assyria. Furthermore, because Judah had refused God’s message of assurance, represented by the gently flowing waters of the Shiloah stream in Jerusalem, it would be overwhelmed by the mighty power of Assyria, represented by flooding from the great Euphrates River.

Because Ahaz turned to Assyria, the names of Isaiah’s sons referred to
Judah, as well as to northern Israel: “swift is booty, speedy is prey,” but
“a remnant shall return.” Why was there still hope? Because although
Assyria would fill Immanuel’s land (Isa. 8:8), they still had the promise
that “God is with us” (Isa. 8:10). Indeed, what we see here is a theme that permeates the entire book of Isaiah, which is that though there would be judgments on God’s enemies in Judah and other nations, delivered in the form of military disasters, suffering, and exile, the Lord would be with the faithful survivors of His people and restore them to their land.

Why does Isaiah tell us he legally recorded the child’s name and had marital relations with his wife (“the prophetess”)? (Isa. 8:1–3.)
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The timing of this son was central to his significance as a sign. As with
the sign of Immanuel, from the time he was conceived and born to the
time Assyria defeated Syria and Israel there would be less time than it
would take for the boy to reach an early developmental stage, in this case
calling for his father or mother (Isa. 8:4). When Isaiah legally recorded
the boy’s name even before his conception, he made the child and his
name a public prophecy that could be tested by subsequent events.

Despite repeated mistakes on the part of His professed people,
the Lord was still willing to save them. How can we take this
principle and apply it to ourselves personally, especially when we
fail and fall in our own spiritual life?

Nothing to Fear When We Fear God Himself (Isa. 8:11–15)

In his first inaugural address, on March 4, 1933, American President
Franklin D. Roosevelt told a nation disheartened by the Great
Depression, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Isaiah’s
message to depressed people is: we have nothing to fear when we fear
God Himself.
God warned Isaiah not to fear what his people feared, but to fear Him
(Isa. 8:12, 13). This is an important theme in Scripture. For example, in
Revelation 14:6–12, three angels proclaim a worldwide message: fear
God and give glory to Him, rather than fearing and giving glory to the
earthly beast power described in Revelation 13.

How do you understand the idea of “fearing” God? What does that mean, especially in light of the command for us to love God, as well (Matt. 22:37)?
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True fear of God as holy means that you recognize Him as the ultimate
power in the universe. Such fear overcomes any other fear. If He
is for you, nobody else can touch you without His permission. If He is
against you because you have rebelled against Him, you can run, but
you can’t hide!

Doesn’t the idea that we should fear God contradict 1 John 4:18?
“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love” (NRSV).
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There are different kinds of fear. If someone with awesome power
is your friend, with whom you share mutual love, you do not fear that
person in the sense you think he or she will hurt you. But you have a
kind of fear in the sense that you know and respect the power of that
person and the boundaries of your relationship.

As Christians we aren’t to love the things of the world, the things
people of the world themselves love (1 John 2:15). Thinking, then,
along parallel lines, as Christians, are there things the world
fears that we as Christians shouldn’t fear? If so, what are they,
and why shouldn’t we fear them? At the same time, what things
does the world not fear that we Christians should? (See, for
instance, Matt. 10:28; Jer. 10:2, 3.)

Gloom of the Ungrateful Living Dead (Isa. 8:16–22)

Read the above passage. What is it talking about? What has this to do with King Ahaz? Summarize the ideas.
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Ahaz was deeply involved in pagan religion (2 Kings 16:3, 4, 10–15;
2 Chron. 28:2–4, 23–25), which was heavily interconnected with the
occult (compare Deut. 32:17, NRSV; “They sacrifice to demons,” 1 Cor.
10:20). Various aspects of modern witchcraft have striking parallels in
ancient Near Eastern rituals, as witnessed by ancient writings outside
the Bible. Indeed, even many of today’s New Age practices are simply
contemporary manifestations of these ancient occult practices.
Isaiah’s description of despair resulting from reliance on spirits other
than the Lord (Isa. 8:21, 22) fits Ahaz well (compare 2 Chron. 28:22,
23). Isaiah refers to people becoming enraged and cursing their king
(Isa. 8:21). This would warn Ahaz that because he led the people into the occult, they would curse him. In fact, when Ahaz died, an exception was made regarding his burial due to lack of respect for him: “they did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of Israel” (2 Chron. 28:27, NRSV).

What do these texts say about the occult? (Lev. 20:27, Deut. 18:9–14.)
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Separation from the occult is a matter of loyalty to God. First Chronicles
10:13, 14 applies this principle to the case of King Saul: “So Saul died
for his unfaithfulness; he was unfaithful to the Lord in that he did not
keep the command of the Lord; moreover, he had consulted a medium,
seeking guidance, and did not seek guidance from the Lord. Therefore
the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son
of Jesse” (NRSV).

Look around at your own life, at the influences around you. In
what subtle ways are you exposed to the principles behind the
occult and various manifestations of spiritualism? And even if
you can’t totally avoid them, what can you do to minimize their
influence upon you, or your family?
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Further Thought: Read Ellen G. White, “Can Our Dead Speak to
Us?” pp. 551–562, in The Great Controversy.

“In the days of the Hebrews there was a class of people who claimed,
as do the spiritualists of today, to hold communication with the dead.
But the ‘familiar spirits,’ as these visitants from other worlds were
called, are declared by the Bible to be ‘the spirits of devils.’ (Compare
Numbers 25:1–3; Psalm 106:28; 1 Corinthians 10:20; Revelation
16:14.) The work of dealing with familiar spirits was pronounced an
abomination to the Lord, and was solemnly forbidden under penalty of
death. Leviticus 19:31; [Leviticus] 20:27. The very name of witchcraft
is now held in contempt. The claim that men can hold intercourse with
evil spirits is regarded as a fable of the Dark Ages. But spiritualism,
which numbers its converts by hundreds of thousands, yea, by millions,
which has made its way into scientific circles, which has invaded
churches, and has found favor in legislative bodies, and even in the
courts of kings—this mammoth deception is but a revival, in a new
disguise, of the witchcraft condemned and prohibited of old.”—Ellen
G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 556.

Discussion Questions:

 Discuss the issue of spiritualism as it appears in movies, books,
TV, and popular culture. If nothing can be done to stop it, how can
we alert others to the dangers of what, for so many people, seem like harmless distractions, nothing more? Why is a proper nderstanding
of the state of the dead so important in being protected against these deceptions?
 Read Isaiah 8:20. Rephrase it in your own words. Let different
people in the class read their versions aloud. What is the Lord telling
us here?
 Dwell more on this idea of loving and fearing God at the same
time. In what ways does our love stem from that fear? Or does our
fear stem from our love? Discuss.
Summary: Through Isaiah’s actions and family, as well as his words,
God reinforced the message of warning and hope: the only safe course
is to trust that God knows what He is doing. He has both the love and
the power to guide, protect, and provide for those who let Him. For those who turn to other powers, there is only gloom.