In our first midweek Advent service, we heard how God planted the Seed of His Savior to defeat sin, death, and the devil. He would do this through His Promised Seed, who would come to crush that serpent Satan. That prophesied Seed, Jesus, would come to graft us back into life with Him.
Last week, we heard how we needed faith to trust in God’s promise to send His Seed. For while His seed was still ungerminated, we could not see God’s Family Tree grow and develop. This hidden reality of God’s promise caused Abraham to doubt God. But God kept His promise and sent His Son, Jesus. Through Him, God would bless the world through that Seed, that Descendant, of Abraham.
Today, we follow God’s Family Tree as it continued to grow during the time of King David. We also see what God did with His Family Tree during the time of Isaiah, the prophet. When David ruled as king, God’s Family Tree grew for all to see in the nation of Israel. But later, God would use enemies of Israel to cut down that kingdom, to do some needed pruning, as Isaiah prophesied.
God’s Family Tree grew and flourished, and many could rest in its shade. But then it became diseased, and God had to cut away those infected parts so it wouldn’t ruin the entire tree. What looked like a drastic chopping down of the tree was God’s way of pruning it. For the whole purpose of Old-Covenant Israel was to be the people, whom God had set apart, through whom would come the promised Seed, the Savior.
David grew up in a family that made its living tending and caring for sheep. He was the youngest son in the family of Jesse. But despite his youth and small size, God still chose him to be the second king of Israel.
And what a king he was! David began his reign 1,000 years before Christ. While he ruled, he had to endure persecution and betrayal. He had to rally Israel’s army and unify the nation. But under his leadership, Israel came to enjoy peace and prosperity.
Through King David, God made the land of Israel a place at rest—and God’s Family Tree thrived and flourished. And despite David’s many weaknesses of character, he was also a devout man. Scripture says that he was a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). And so, David wanted to build a permanent place where God would come to His people. Up to that time, God brought His forgiveness and life to His people in a tabernacle, a tent designed for that purpose.
But David looked at his house, his palace, and saw that it was more magnificent than God’s house, where God’s Ark of the Covenant resided. He knew that wasn’t right. Because of what took place there, that God made himself present for His people there, David wanted God’s house to be the most beautiful house in Israel.
So, through the prophet Nathan, God responded. He said, “Are you going to build a house for me to inhabit?” (2 Samuel 7:5). God didn’t want to come to His people in a house that David built. He had other plans.
And so, God turned it all around. He didn’t want David to build Him a house. No, God was going to build a house—His Family Tree—for David! Listen to what God told him:
“When your days are over, and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your seed, who will come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” [2 Samuel 7:12-13]
And so, after David died, his son, Solomon, built God’s house, the Temple. God would now come to His people and give them rest, give them Sabbath, in His forgiveness.
At first, Solomon looked as if he could fulfill God’s promise of the Seed from David’s body. Under Solomon, the superpower of Israel grew—and the Temple testified to God’s name and glory.
But Solomon strayed from God, allowing false gods to infiltrate Israel’s worship. So, Solomon wasn’t God’s fulfillment of a promised Seed. A greater fulfillment of God’s promise to David would have to come. Then Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, became king. But he was a harsh ruler and massively increased taxes. The northern ten tribes then split from the two southern ones and became a separate nation.
But the Southern Kingdom of Israel, now named Judah, continued the house and lineage of David. But both kingdoms failed to worship God as He wanted them to worship Him. As the centuries wore on, God sent many prophets to warn His people and bring them back to Himself. God’s Family Tree was becoming spiritually diseased—they forgot their God and His life-giving Word and worship.
The prophet Isaiah served God in the eighth century before Christ. Using the picture of a vineyard, Isaiah sang a song of God and His Family Tree, the people of Israel. “The vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the nation of Israel,” Isaiah said (5:7). God detailed how He had set up His vineyard, His Family Tree, with tender, loving care. But then He asked: “What more can I do for my vineyard beyond what I have already done? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad?” (Isaiah 5:4).
Why? It was because God’s people enjoyed their peace and prosperity more than they delighted in God and His life and salvation. But if we’re too harsh on them, we’ll only be condemning ourselves. After all, you and I suffer from the same disease.
As did God’s people of old, we also prize the lovely home and the beautiful clothing. Maybe, we delight in such fineries above God’s house or being clothed with Christ in our baptism. As did God’s people of old, we also trust the wisdom of our nation’s leaders, often above the counsel of God that we hear from the pulpit.
As did God’s people of old, we try to keep the shell of worship in God’s house. But, if the truth were known, we’d like to fill it with what we want instead of what God wants for us and His time-tested truths.
Like ancient Israel, the relative peace and prosperity in our land also entice us. We also need periodic pruning. As Prophet Isaiah preached: “Look! The Lord, the Lord Almighty, is chopping off the branches with terrifying power. The tallest trees will be cut down, and the exalted laid low” (Isaiah 10:33). As God pruned His people of Israel, God must also prune away our sin, by showing us our sin and our need for a Savior.
A forest ranger will tell you that sometimes you must cut down the diseased trees to save the forest. When it came to God’s Family Tree, God had to chop down the diseased tree to save the world. It was an act of severe judgment, but He did so to keep the Family Tree alive that it would bring forth the Savior.
When God chopped down His Family Tree, He still left the roots of His Promised Savior in the ground. So, Isaiah proclaimed these words of hope: “Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit” (Isaiah 11:1).
God’s promise in this Branch of Jesse gave hope to God’s people. They would come back from their exile in Babylon. They would return to God’s Temple and God’s land. God would rescue them from their sin, and they would, once again, enjoy life with God.
Jesse was the father of David, and David was the father of Solomon and many kings after him. Long after David’s reign, God would send His only Son, Jesus the Messiah, the Son of David, the Root of Jesse. God’s Family Tree would grow again.
When you read Isaiah 11, you see how the promised Savior will bring a time much better than Israel knew under King David. It would be a time so peaceful and prosperous that it goes beyond our imagination. “The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat. The calf and the young lion will feed together, and a little child will lead them” (Isaiah 11:6). The peace and prosperity of King Jesus will go far beyond the peace and prosperity of King David.
King Jesus gives you His peace, prosperity, and rest—even now. The little Child, who will lead God’s people, grew up to become the King of the Jews.
After Jesus was crowned with thorns and adorned with a robe of royal purple, He took His throne on the cross. There, He carried out your forgiveness with God. Jesus succeeded in bringing peace between you and God. For you, He earned the prosperity of God’s life-giving riches and eternal rest.
So, instead of vainly chasing after the world’s version of peace and prosperity, remember that you already have the peace and prosperity that come from Jesus, the Root of Jesse. You don’t need to lust after what the world can give you, for you have what Christ has set up to bring you His forgiveness.
You don’t need to bow down to the glittery, golden images of prosperity as the world defines it. You have the eternal riches of God, which He poured out on you in holy baptism. You don’t need to hunger and thirst for worldly status and recognition. Christ has already made you His honored guests at His Table, both now and forever.
As Isaiah said, “On that day, the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples. The Gentiles will seek Him, and His resting place will be glorious” (Isaiah 11:10). Perhaps, you know the hymn version of that verse a bit better, which we now sing, as printed in the bulletin. Amen.
