Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Isaiah 7:14 NIV
...and the government will be upon his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 10:6b NIV
We read today of Isaiah clearly pointing ahead to Christ's birth. He foretells the future event of good news of great joy for all people. However, we do understand from yesterday's reading that not all will see, hear or understand; for peoples hearts would be calloused, ears dull and eyes closed. Yesterday we read about the remnant, the few remaining faithful that too would be laid waste. Yet, stumps would remain and that the holy seed will be the stump in the land.
The word "stump" has many definitions, the Concise English Dictionary tells of several, a few are as follow: The base part of the tree that remains after the tree has been felled; A platform raised above the surrounding level to give prominence to the person on it; travel through a district and make political speeches; cause to be perplexed or confounded; and walk heavily.
With the holy seed, Christ, being the stump, we can consider Christ as the base of our faith after we are stripped of all...He is still with us as He has promised to be. He has been raised up in many ways for us, the most important being up on a cross to die, so he could himself raise up above death to atone perfectly for our sins. He himself during his ministry stumped for God by speaking in parables, teaching, healing and raising from the dead. We, are totally confused, stumped by His actions and ministry. It is only by the working of the Holy Spirit that we can clearly understand with the heart, hear with the ears, and see with the eyes what Christ has done. This work of the Holy Spirit equips us to walk with humility and confidence in Christ.
We also might be stumped by why Isaiah took the job as prophet to people with calloused hearts who would not hear and could not see. Some of our confusion is removed when we understand that he had good news about a stump.
What kinds of things stump you about your Christianity? Ask a pastor or ask on the blog "ask anything"?
How do you stump for your Christianity?
Pray for wisdom, guidance, peace, unity and healing. Pray God wraps his protective, guiding arms around leaders and Christian leaders everwhere.
In Christ,
David P
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