I love listening to Christmas songs, new ones and old ones. And I will usually find a favorite one of each season to focus on and listen to so many times that the rest of my family will plead for a change. This year that song is “No Room” by Todd Agnew. But it actually fits in better later in Advent. So, I’m not going to talk about that one just yet. ... That’s called a “teaser,” in case you’re wondering. Instead I’m going to talk about an old classic, given away by the title of this Bible Study. “Do You Hear What I Hear?” I’ll pause for a moment while you sing it to yourself for a moment. I’ll even get you started: “Said the night wind to the little lamb, Do you see what I see? Way up in the sky little lamb...”
OK, now that you are all humming away, I’ll continue. One of the things that fascinates me is that the song is called “Do you HEAR what I hear?” But the first verse says “Do you SEE what I see?” Isn’t that interesting? Yes, hear is the second verse, but it only appears once, because the next one is “Do you KNOW what I know?” Which is followed by “Listen to what I say!” Isn’t that odd? Give me one other song where the title line doesn’t appear until the second verse and then is only repeated once!
Never mind, there probably is one. Suffice it to say that seems odd to me. Of course we could argue as to whether there is any substantive difference between seeing and hearing and knowing, the three modes of experience in the song. And in fact, in the Greek, the word “to see” when it is in the perfect tense is translated as “to know.” Which is why, I believe, that when you finally come to understanding, when the penny drops, when you get it at last, the “aha” moment comes, you are just as likely to say “Now, I see!” as anything else.
Cognition is an interesting science. How do we come to understanding? How does knowing work? What goes on in that brain of yours? And what does all of this have to do with our bible study for this week? Good question, and thank you for getting us back on track. What does knowing have to do with our text for this week? Simply this, Isaiah introduces us to a whole new way of knowing. Well, that’s not exactly true, I suppose. It isn’t new. It can’t be new, since he was writing some 800 years before Jesus. And yet it seems new, in this day and age. Take a look.
Isaiah 11:1-10 A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. 2 The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. 3 His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; 4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. 5 Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins. 6 The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. 7 The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den. 9 They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. 10 On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.
First of all Isaiah is miffed. He was an advisor to King Ahaz and his advice wasn’t taken. Some prophets, as you know, were outsider kind of guys. They would wander around making pronouncements and were generally considered kooks and nutcases, when anyone noticed them at all. Others, however, were very much a part of the establishment, had the ear of those in power, and were pretty much royal advisors. Isaiah was one of the latter. Ahaz would consult with Isaiah before making policy decisions and would frequently take his advice.
Well, there was at least one major case where Ahaz did the exact opposite of what Isaiah advised. This was during the period of the divided kingdom, when Israel and Judah were two separate nations and often at odds with each other. Ahaz was king of the southern kingdom of Judah, and there were threats from the northern kingdom, Israel, who had made an alliance with Damascus and were making noises like they were going to try to occupy Judah. Isaiah told Ahaz not to fear the alliance, but to trust in the Lord for protection. Well, Ahaz decided he wanted more than the Lord’s help, so he got on the hotline to Assyrian King Tiglath-pileser III and asked for help. Good old Tiglath willingly offered to help. And then he helped himself to Judah, to the temple, to the treasury, to the labor pool, to the homes and farms of the people of God. Judah became a vassal state and eventually was decimated by a bad political decision. Isaiah was miffed.
But rather than pouting, or complaining, or organizing a hot drink based political movement, Isaiah turned instead to hope. He turned to the source of all his understanding. He turned back to the one who sent him. In the midst of a horrible situation, in the midst of slavery and death, of exile and destruction, Isaiah saw a vision of a better tomorrow. When stronger nations wouldn’t devour weaker ones, Isaiah described the Peaceable Kingdom, where predators would lie down with prey and be satisfied with what was freely available without the rending of flesh, the shedding of blood.
More than that, however, and what could possibly be more than a vision of paradise? More than that, Isaiah knows, sees, hears how such a thing just might possibly come to pass. Wait, what? Yes, he not only describes the “wouldn’t it be great if” scenario of all scenarios, but he gives a road map that just might get us there one day.
“A shoot shall come out of the stump of Jesse.” The tree that was the Davidic line has been cut off by Ahaz and his foolish alliance with the poison adder of Assyria. But what looks gone, isn’t gone in God’s eyes. God sees more than we see. And this shoot, this branch from the very root, the foundation of what God intended all along, shall grow and shall show us what it means to really live as the people of God. And it is in that living as God’s people that the peaceable kingdom becomes possible.
But, and this is crucial, it is not by our own efforts that this will happen. It is only as we become vessels of the Spirit of God that we will find our way to the Kingdom. The Spirit of the Lord that rests on any and all, the Spirit that brings wisdom and understanding - which is the ability to how to use the knowledge, the information that we are able to uncover; the Spirit that brings counsel and might - which is the ability to work together, to actually do what we long to do as a part of the community that we are called to be; the Spirit that brings the knowledge and fear of the Lord - which is the constant reminder that it isn’t us, it isn’t our power or our glory that helps us lean into the Kingdom, but that Spirit that keeps our egos in check. And when we let that Spirit work in and through us, then we too can hear what others don’t hear, we can see what few can see, and we can know what not enough in this world know. Our decisions are based more on God’s values than on ours - “with righteousness he shall judge.” He, we, you shall be belted by righteousness and faithfulness - those traits will keep you tucked in and secure in a world looking for a weak spot, a failing to exploit. And he, we, you shall be about the business of bringing the world to a new respect for the ways of the Lord. The new way of knowing, then, is not one based on senses but on Spirit.
The amazing part of this story, this vision, this song is that there was one who sang it, who saw it and shared it with us. That one, of course, is Jesus called the Christ. The one we long to see this Advent season, the one we hope to hear in the sighing of the wind and singing of our songs. Which may be why the title of the song is what it is. It is the word from the king in the last verse: “Listen to what I say!”
Do you hear what I hear?
Shalom,
Derek
OK, now that you are all humming away, I’ll continue. One of the things that fascinates me is that the song is called “Do you HEAR what I hear?” But the first verse says “Do you SEE what I see?” Isn’t that interesting? Yes, hear is the second verse, but it only appears once, because the next one is “Do you KNOW what I know?” Which is followed by “Listen to what I say!” Isn’t that odd? Give me one other song where the title line doesn’t appear until the second verse and then is only repeated once!
Never mind, there probably is one. Suffice it to say that seems odd to me. Of course we could argue as to whether there is any substantive difference between seeing and hearing and knowing, the three modes of experience in the song. And in fact, in the Greek, the word “to see” when it is in the perfect tense is translated as “to know.” Which is why, I believe, that when you finally come to understanding, when the penny drops, when you get it at last, the “aha” moment comes, you are just as likely to say “Now, I see!” as anything else.
Cognition is an interesting science. How do we come to understanding? How does knowing work? What goes on in that brain of yours? And what does all of this have to do with our bible study for this week? Good question, and thank you for getting us back on track. What does knowing have to do with our text for this week? Simply this, Isaiah introduces us to a whole new way of knowing. Well, that’s not exactly true, I suppose. It isn’t new. It can’t be new, since he was writing some 800 years before Jesus. And yet it seems new, in this day and age. Take a look.
Isaiah 11:1-10 A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. 2 The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. 3 His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; 4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. 5 Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins. 6 The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. 7 The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den. 9 They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. 10 On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.
First of all Isaiah is miffed. He was an advisor to King Ahaz and his advice wasn’t taken. Some prophets, as you know, were outsider kind of guys. They would wander around making pronouncements and were generally considered kooks and nutcases, when anyone noticed them at all. Others, however, were very much a part of the establishment, had the ear of those in power, and were pretty much royal advisors. Isaiah was one of the latter. Ahaz would consult with Isaiah before making policy decisions and would frequently take his advice.
Well, there was at least one major case where Ahaz did the exact opposite of what Isaiah advised. This was during the period of the divided kingdom, when Israel and Judah were two separate nations and often at odds with each other. Ahaz was king of the southern kingdom of Judah, and there were threats from the northern kingdom, Israel, who had made an alliance with Damascus and were making noises like they were going to try to occupy Judah. Isaiah told Ahaz not to fear the alliance, but to trust in the Lord for protection. Well, Ahaz decided he wanted more than the Lord’s help, so he got on the hotline to Assyrian King Tiglath-pileser III and asked for help. Good old Tiglath willingly offered to help. And then he helped himself to Judah, to the temple, to the treasury, to the labor pool, to the homes and farms of the people of God. Judah became a vassal state and eventually was decimated by a bad political decision. Isaiah was miffed.
But rather than pouting, or complaining, or organizing a hot drink based political movement, Isaiah turned instead to hope. He turned to the source of all his understanding. He turned back to the one who sent him. In the midst of a horrible situation, in the midst of slavery and death, of exile and destruction, Isaiah saw a vision of a better tomorrow. When stronger nations wouldn’t devour weaker ones, Isaiah described the Peaceable Kingdom, where predators would lie down with prey and be satisfied with what was freely available without the rending of flesh, the shedding of blood.
More than that, however, and what could possibly be more than a vision of paradise? More than that, Isaiah knows, sees, hears how such a thing just might possibly come to pass. Wait, what? Yes, he not only describes the “wouldn’t it be great if” scenario of all scenarios, but he gives a road map that just might get us there one day.
“A shoot shall come out of the stump of Jesse.” The tree that was the Davidic line has been cut off by Ahaz and his foolish alliance with the poison adder of Assyria. But what looks gone, isn’t gone in God’s eyes. God sees more than we see. And this shoot, this branch from the very root, the foundation of what God intended all along, shall grow and shall show us what it means to really live as the people of God. And it is in that living as God’s people that the peaceable kingdom becomes possible.
But, and this is crucial, it is not by our own efforts that this will happen. It is only as we become vessels of the Spirit of God that we will find our way to the Kingdom. The Spirit of the Lord that rests on any and all, the Spirit that brings wisdom and understanding - which is the ability to how to use the knowledge, the information that we are able to uncover; the Spirit that brings counsel and might - which is the ability to work together, to actually do what we long to do as a part of the community that we are called to be; the Spirit that brings the knowledge and fear of the Lord - which is the constant reminder that it isn’t us, it isn’t our power or our glory that helps us lean into the Kingdom, but that Spirit that keeps our egos in check. And when we let that Spirit work in and through us, then we too can hear what others don’t hear, we can see what few can see, and we can know what not enough in this world know. Our decisions are based more on God’s values than on ours - “with righteousness he shall judge.” He, we, you shall be belted by righteousness and faithfulness - those traits will keep you tucked in and secure in a world looking for a weak spot, a failing to exploit. And he, we, you shall be about the business of bringing the world to a new respect for the ways of the Lord. The new way of knowing, then, is not one based on senses but on Spirit.
The amazing part of this story, this vision, this song is that there was one who sang it, who saw it and shared it with us. That one, of course, is Jesus called the Christ. The one we long to see this Advent season, the one we hope to hear in the sighing of the wind and singing of our songs. Which may be why the title of the song is what it is. It is the word from the king in the last verse: “Listen to what I say!”
Do you hear what I hear?
Shalom,
Derek
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