ROD OUT OF THE STEM OF JESSE

The mighty tree of the Davidic monarchy would fall. Isaiah prophesied that the once great nation was to become captive and the successors to the throne of David would leave Jerusalem as captives. Prophecies of greatness and of the recovery of Israel’s glory appear to be hopeless dreams. Even Jeremiah, who knew that restoration would take place, looked at the siege engines surrounding Jerusalem and cried, ‘Behold the mounts’, Jer. 32. 24. Deliverance looked impossible.

But recovery would come. Out of the seemingly dead stump of the line of David there would come a little shoot, an insignificant twig, so small that it would be treated as of no consequence whatsoever. Unnoticed as it appeared and disregarded as it started to grow. So there was born at Bethlehem a child of such humble origins that the world did not notice His birth. Until the wise men came from the east, there was no stir in the palace; the religious establishment in all its wealth and hypocrisy was unaware of who was born in a manger into a family of no wealth or position. But this was the rod; this was the twig, the little green shoot!

God worked quietly but with certainty; His promises would be fulfilled and His purpose would come to pass. The sin of mankind, the obstinate godlessness of princes and priests and the greedy sinful selfishness of the people would not prevent Him fulfilling His word. This small green shoot would grow until it became a mighty tree that overshadowed all others.

When troubles darken our lives and the way ahead seems unclear, when the unknown pathway brings fear to our heart and uncertainty grips us, the answer often comes in the form of something apparently so small that we do not see that the Lord has answered. Only in looking back do we recognise that He has been at work. Thus the answer in Pharaoh’s Egypt was a child placed in a reed basket in the Nile; when the Midianites oppressed Israel it was a man with a desire to feed the people; in the days of Eli it was a women weeping at Shiloh! Take heart! God is still working. What glory there will yet be from that little shoot.