Promise, Prophecy, and (the work of) Peace
By Janine C. Hagan
Janine is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of ecumininet™ online!, President of Spiritual Systems, Inc.(www.faithshapes.com) and a member of the choir at Edgewood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. She and her husband Don are proud “grandparents” to 3 grandcats: Moses, Monkey, and Mr. Steve, and their one granddog, Chester.

But now watch this: The Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, swings his ax and lops the branches, chops down the giant trees, lays flat the towering forest-on-the-march. His ax will make toothpicks of that forest, that Lebanon-like army reduced to kindling.

A green Shoot will sprout from Jesse’s stump, from his roots a budding Branch. The life-giving Spirit of God will hover over him, the Spirit that brings wisdom and understanding, the Spirit that gives direction and builds strength, the Spirit that instills knowledge and Fear-of-God. Fear-of-God will be all his joy and delight. He won’t judge by appearances, won’t decide on the basis of hearsay. He’ll judge the needy by what is right, render decisions on earth’s poor with justice. His words will bring everyone to awed attention. A mere breath from his lips will topple the wicked. Each morning he’ll pull on sturdy work clothes and boots, and build righteousness and faithfulness in the land.

The wolf will romp with the lamb, the leopard sleep with the kid. Calf and lion will eat from the same trough, and a little child will tend them. Cow and bear will graze the same pasture, their calves and cubs grow up together, and the lion eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will crawl over rattlesnake dens, the toddler stick his hand down the hole of a serpent. Neither animal nor human will hurt or kill on my holy mountain. The whole earth will be brimming with knowing God-Alive, a living knowledge of God ocean-deep, ocean-wide. (Isaiah 10:33,11:1-9)

Eugene H. Peterson, The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language

I can see them now, those Christmas cards of the “Peaceable Kingdom” with the pictures of fierce animals side-by-side with gentle beasts. I can see the wolf and the lamb, the leopard and the goat, the calf and the lion, the cow and the bear with all of their “calves and cubs” playing together. These are some of our favorite images of the prophecy of the birth of Jesus Christ and the peace that is promised with this vision.

But what is not shown in this picture, in these cards, is the part of the dream/vision/prophecy that is before that sort of self-control, that sense of peace and oneness. Eugene Peterson “paints” a vivid picture for us of this incredible vision so that when it is read, it sounds like our dreams and/or poetry.

I love that first image of God in the last verse of chapter 10. It immediately conjures up conflicting mental pictures of an angel warrior-chief and a huge Paul Bunyan let loose on the enemy. But when God’s justice is served and everything is “chopped down…toothpicks” and all, what happens? It is only then, that new life (the “shoot”) comes. It is only then that from the very depths arise “a budding Branch.”

It is then that the “Spirit of God…brings wisdom and understanding,” not only new direction and justice, but joy. Just imagine, this new life, this “Branch” gets up each morning and puts on his “work clothes (blue jeans?) and boots” and goes out to “build righteousness and faithfulness in the land.” He is a hard worker, this one; this Jesus-in-prophecy.

What does all this mean for me? From my perspective on the “Peaceable Kingdom,” I think that if we would be willing to let the love of God and the light of Christ live uppermost in our hearts that wild and gentle beasts could sit side by side. That is, if some destruction, radical construction, and/or strong changes shift and deal with the shadows within as well as outside of ourselves. We could have peace if we had an understanding of the work that is truly required to achieve it and it takes a lifetime and then some to begin to make progress. This is thinking of long-range goals, not short term “fixes.”

And just when we give up on ourselves and God, just when we think that we are truly dead, (just “a stump”) is when we can be most surprised by new life. The green “Shoot” if you would. Jesus Christ, a new vision for our lives.

This year, rather than simply remember that babe in the manger and all the animals of Isaiah’s vision, I will think of Peterson’s image. I will think of a Jesus that puts on His work clothes for the hard labor and construction of the most meaningful kind: “righteousness and faithfulness.” It is indeed a contrasting picture to the gentle Jesus of soft clothing.

Perhaps this worker image is a better likeness of the dedication and commitment that is required for the task as Christians. In my mind, this is what Christmas, and the gift of Christ, is all about. It is a new understanding of God’s, and our, purpose wrapped in construction blue jeans and boots. It is not always the gift we would choose.The question is, are we brave enough keep it and then wear it to work?

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