In our yard, there is a row of white azaleas that makes Spring beautiful. One year, due to a big misunderstanding, they got cut back to absolute nubs. For two years, they did not bloom. They looked dead. We thought those beautiful azaleas were done for.
This year, we saw buds. Then the white flowers began to open. It was a joy to have those azaleas in bloom again. What looked dead was just waiting to come back to life.
The prophet Isaiah presided over a time in Israel’s history when it looked as though everything good was gone and dead and never coming back. The powerful enemies of Assyria and Babylon had overrun and destroyed Judah. The kingship promised to David and Solomon that should have been in place for generation after generation was gone, because of subsequent kings’ horrible sin. But Isaiah looked to the future, and saw reason for hope. Even a tree that had been cut down, like the Davidic kingship, could be restored and renewed by God. Isaiah foresaw a time when there would be a new shoot that came out of the old dead stump of the Davidic kingship. He described the Spirit-filled King that the people of God would have. He would be full of wisdom, power, and good advice, and would be righteous and faithful. The future King would be impartial and would execute justice fairly, watching out for the needs of the poor. He would be clothed with righteousness and faith, and his word will be effective in putting down wickedness.
I don’t know about you, but that King sounds familiar to me, as one who knows, loves, and follows Jesus. His reign and his rule are already having their effect in our world, wherever He is worshipped and obeyed and emulated by His followers. God did bring new life in Jesus out of the wasteland of our sinful failures, and His new life is available to us every day. What once seemed dead, God can bring to new life.