I have always found this passage intriguing

Isaiah 11

1There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
2And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
3And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
4but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
5Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

6The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.
7The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.
9They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea.

10In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples--of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

Just think about what you just read here for a moment.

Isaiah is talking to the Israelites, proclaiming to them the word of the Lord.
They know who Jesse is, they know that David's line will always be important to God. And now they are hearing about how a shoot will come from what appears to be a dead-line. David's line will seem all but dead. Who expects a stump to start growing, much less start growing anything useful? But not only will this shoot start to grow, but it will form branches AND it will bear fruit! Totally cool. :)

And this offspring, from a seemingly dead line, will have God's blessing upon him.
See the blessing of the Lord upon this offspring

And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

We know from Matthew and Luke that this offspring is Jesus. Can you see how having the spirit of God upon him was so important? Jesus was God. He was God's son through the line of David (via Mary and Joseph). Both Human and God. Jesus at 12 years old showing wisdom and understanding talking with the teachers in the temple. Jesus talking with the samaritan woman and knowing all about her, and being able to lead her to understanding who he really was (showed counsel). Jesus overturning tables in the temple, saying it was a den of robbers (might, knowlege, fear of the Lord). It was all there. Throughout his ministry.

See, I never really thought about that before. How God would have his spirit (in different ways) be promised to Jesus, and then be able to see the results of that in Jesus' life and ministry. I may need to think on this a bit more. :)

And imagine it... he delighted in doing the things of God. Imagine it. "And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD". He loved to fear the Lord. That was his delight. Have you ever chatted with mature christians, who just have this total delight in God? Isn't it neat? It's like seeing God shining out of their eyes. I read this verse, and I imagine seeing that same look in Jesus, when he's teaching, healing, talking, walking... that his whole delight is in being about his father's business. That's what "fearing the Lord" does I find. The more I respect and know God, the more I want to be about the things he'd have me do.

Jesus' whole ministry can be summed up in those next couple of verses.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
4but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;

Jesus never did things just because he felt like it. People often misjudged him. For instance, when he was "late" to Lazarus, and Lazarus died. People thought he delayed for no reason, for Jesus had heard he was sick and yet stayed for 2 more days. People didn't understand why bother coming at all now. But as Jesus told his disciples "Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him." Jesus saw more and knew more than "he should have." But as the son of God, he knew what he knew.

Now these are the verses that I have always found amazing:

6The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.
7The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.
9They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea.

I know, we're not there yet. But oh man, I think that would be so cool to see on a regular basis. Not just those times when it seems an anomaly, where two critters that are normally prey and predator get along, but when it's just a normal course of events.

I have a 14 month old son. He's the light of my life. And I cannot at this point in God's timeline, imagine letting him play anywhere near a cobra's hole or adder's den. (or as is my case in Canada, near a rattlesnake's den) Just can't. I wouldn't risk his life that way. But these verses tell me a time is coming when I'll be able to do just that. Let him play wherever, and not have to fear that he will come to harm. A time of complete safety is coming! :)

Ah... blessed indeed be the name of our Lord.