Day 2: Spirit of the LORD

But He turned, and rebuked them, and said “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.” Luke 9:55

When we look at the passage in Isaiah, the prophet starts out by saying ‘A shoot will come out of the stump of Jesse…and the Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him. To understand where this is coming from, we need to understand that the people Isaiah was writing it thought their world was over. The Assyrians ere at the gate and there really was no hope for Israel. It was a nation on the brink of not only disaster, but annihilation. Out of this Isaiah is telling them: no, it isn’t over. God is not done with Israel, and He has not forsaken His promises.

This is probably the most important idea in this reading: God has not forsaken us, or His promises to us. He uses Nation Israel to show the world His power and grace, and also through them the Messiah will come-the one who will rule the whole world in truth and justice. 

And how were they to know, and how long would it be? While the captivity for Judah will last 70 years (and had not started yet) for the Northern kingdom-those ten tribes-it really was over. But the PROMISE was not. For the PROMISE was for the whole world. So it didn’t matter whether it was 7 years or 70 or (in the case here) some 700 YEARS after Isaiah penned this that the Messiah will be born- from the ‘House and lineage of David’, who was of the House and Lineage of Jesse.

God sent His son, and Jesus knew who He was and what His role was to be. He was one and the same with the Father-the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him and in Him. There was no question that He came to do the will of the Father and that He intended to do just that-temptations and fears His human side notwithstanding. And it was because the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him-His driving desire to follow the will of the Father-that His human nature was able to withstand the terrors, torments and fears that surely nagged at the back of His mind.

So. We suffer the same thing-fears, doubts, dreams, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before! And the silence was unbroken, and that darkness gave no token! (Just to see if there are any literary critics reading this…if not, it’s a line by Edgar Poe.) But instead we stand up and ask the Spirit of God to rest upon us, so that we, too can rest upon Him. We pray, praise, study His word, join with other believers all in the interest of better knowing Him, allowing His Spirit to minister and rest upon us.

Matthew 11:29
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest in your souls.