Day Sixteen : 13th December

Isaiah 10

33 Look, the Sovereign, the Lord of hosts, will lop the boughs with terrifying power;
the tallest trees will be cut down, and the lofty will be brought low,

34 He will hack down the thickets of the forest with an ax,
and Lebanon with its majestic trees will fall. 11:1 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 upon him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

Brueggemann (1) p 98:

'The conclusion of chapter 10 leaves the listener gasping (vv. 33-34). The axe chops, and the lofty are brought low. The subject of 10:27b-34 is Jerusalem. The poet once more anticipates the devastation of the Holy City. I begin our consideration of chapter 11 against the backdrop of 10:33-34, because such a backdrop of fallenness is characteristic of Isaiah. Things will come to a sorry state of judgement. But then follows chapter 11, with its inexplicable announcement that Yahweh will work a newness out beyond the dismal state of 10:33-34! The tradition of Isaiah never ceases to be astonished at the newness and never fails to summon God's people to hope and expectation in the face of discouraging circumstance.'