Session 7: CHRISTMAS

6 October 2020

Isaiah 11:1-4 The Righteous Reign of the Branch (ESV)

Artist: Geraldine
A Branch from David’s Line
Taken from the passage in Isaiah 11:1~4.
A new branch grows from an old root representing Jesus from David’s line. Jesus is born to be the Saviour and Light of this world. Jesus has the Seven Spirits upon Him, namely the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of wisdom, the Spirit of understanding, the Spirit of counsel, the Spirit of might, the Spirit of knowledge and the Spirit of the fear of the Lord.
I drew the menorah because it is a representation of the Christ and the Tree of life. During the Christmas season, it is good to remind ourselves about Jesus being the Light of the world. We are his disciples. He says, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.“ (John 8:12)
Personally, I also ask for the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of wisdom, the Spirit of understanding, the Spirit of counsel, the Spirit of might, the Spirit of knowledge and the Spirit of the fear of the Lord to be upon my life to shine for Him.
Artist: Patrick Tan
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:18-19)
Hope in Jesus
Hope springs from the stump of Jesse and this branch with lowly beginnings will bear fruit. We are reminded of the humility of Jesus and the hope it brings to mankind.
Artist: Yuri
During the session, we wondered why it does not state ‘the root of King David’.
So, I investigated whether ‘the root of Jesse’ is the same even in the original Hebrew, then it became a picture full of Hebrew.
Hebrew on the stem is ‘justice’
The pink above the stem is the six spirits that are
“the Spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge and the fear of the Lord.’
The blue on the left and right is the hand of God and the poor and the weak are protected on His hand.
Under the red fires are evil and the earth, that God will judge.
イザヤ書11章1-4節
ダビデ王の家系は切り倒されますが、その切り株から新芽が生え
そこから一本の若枝が出て、
2 その上に主の霊が宿ります。それは知恵の霊、悟りの霊、助言と力の霊、知識の霊、そして主を恐れる霊です。
3 この方は主に従うことを喜びとし、外見や捏造された証拠、うわさによってさばかず、
4 貧しい人やさげすまれている人の味方になります。反対に、このような人にひどい仕打ちをする悪者どもには容赦しません。
なぜ「ダビデ王のルーツ」と書かれていないのか疑問に思い、
「エッサイの根」が元のヘブライ語でも同じ表現かどうかを調べていたら、ヘブライ語がいっぱいの絵になりました。
根に書いているヘブライ語は「正義」です
根の上のピンク色のふわふわは6つのスピリッツです
「知恵と理解の精神、助言と力、知識と主への恐れ。」
左右の水色は神の手であり、貧しい人と弱い人は神の手で守られています。
赤い火の下には悪と地があり、神が裁かれます。

Author: Jacintha Pillay

Our King
Proud and lofty you were not,
Coming in humility, what you sought
Was the hearts of men
White and pure,
Made possible only
by your flowing blood that secures.
They ask, “Where are your robes, your clothes of majesty?”
They cannot see the infinite hope in your glory.
But as we draw close
And you gather us under your wings,
Our eyes are opened,
And we see our King!

Author: Jillian

After the sharing about how Jesus had very humble beginnings and how we should look beyond appearances from vs 1 about the stump of Jesse, it made me think about vs 3 – 4,
“He will not judge by what His eyes see,
Nor make a decision by what His ears hear;
But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth;”

My reflection: We should not judge by outward appearances, to be lured by what appears attractive, to condemn or shy away from what appears repulsive. We should look past that to see what is of true value, as He values. And we should see Jesus in the people God puts in our path.

So I wrote a poem:

Give me eyes to see

Give me eyes to see
Past the outward trappings
Past the coloured wrapping
Past the glitter and shine

Give me eyes to see
Beyond the humble packaging
Beyond the dirty setting
Beyond the filthy grime

Give me eyes to see
The poor and afflicted
The alien and stranger
The orphan and widow
The ones you love
Give me eyes to see Jesus
Give me eyes to see

Artist : TF

Isaiah 11:1-4 The Righteous Reign of the Branch (ESV)
There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
    and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
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.
And 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,
but 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.