The prophet Isaiah wrote these words:

 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
² The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of might,
the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
³ and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;
⁴ but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
⁵ Righteousness will be his belt
and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

⁶ The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling^[a] together;
and a little child will lead them.
⁷ The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
⁸ The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
⁹ They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.

Sometimes the scriptures just take my breathe away.

Several centuries being Christ’s arrival, Isaiah wrote of the coming ‘Branch,’ through Whom so much would change; promises be fulfilled concerning this world; conflict will dissolve into peace; danger replaced by safety.

The Hebrew word translated as branch is NETZER, the same root as Nazarene – Matthew records that ‘He shall be called a Nazarene.’ (Matt 2.23) a direct and strong statement of the coming of Jesus Christ the Messiah. Both words imply Christ’s humanity and humility.

It is through Him that all the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

Scripture has numerous themes designed to shape our thinking. How we think about and care for children is one example, an important example at that.

Historic incidents of cruelty to children

Moses was born in Egypt into a situation where Pharaoh had commanded that all Israelite male babies be put to death (Ex 1.16-22). The purpose was clear: to diminish the numbers of Israelites.

Fast forward to the birth of Christ. Herod, acting in the same spirit as Pharaoh, ordered that males younger than 2 years of age in and around Bethlehem were to be put to death (Matt 2.16). The gospel writer quotes Jer 31.15; “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.” History indicates that, when Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem, according to Dr Alfred Edersheim, children, amongst others, were ‘piteously slaughtered’ to reduce his burden of removing them to Babylon. See my notes on Jer 40: www.biblenotes.org.uk/old-testament/Jeremiah/40/

Ancient cultures were well-known for mistreatment of children. In fact, Israel had set a standard far above that of ancient Gentile cultures. When Israel turned form God’s ways, one evidence was that she reverted to the introduction of child sacrifice, learned from the surrounding nations. 2 Kings 21.6 provides one example.

A better way!

Jesus Christ set an even higher standard. He did not merely criticise (whether implicitly or explicitly) common practice in Judea, He set a new standard, treating children as real people, with value and dignity.

The early Church, as it started to engage with Gentile cultures, followed this example. The Church council in Jerusalem referred to the common practice of exposure (infanticide); Acts 15.19-20. (Some Bible translations seem to obscure this!) See www.biblenotes.org.uk/new-testament/Acts/15/ with my comment: ‘We must conclude that, in this respect, the early Church stood apart from its host culture in relation to this practice.’

Christian catacombs are said to include the remains of children adopted by Christians, sometimes in large numbers – this is further evidence of Christians rescuing many who were discarded by others. Early Church history refers to this practice (e.g: Tertullian).

And Paul in 1 Cor 12.22 comments that those who seems to be weak are actually indispensable. Without over-thinking the wording here, we must conclude that children are, therefore, essential to the well-being of a local Church.

Andy Glover, meditating on this phrase, refers to his ‘kingdom’ emphasis. He refers to transformation within all sectors of society; something which I have gradually grown to understand and have written about before. (Are our churches ‘charismatic lite’? – Andy Glover – Fresh Streams)

This challenges the traditional and dominant view across evangelicalism for the past century, that the sacred- secular divide is to be maintained and reinforced. This reflects a ‘dualistic’ approach to the spiritual and material ‘worlds,’ which I believe is not correct.

The proper approach starts with, I think, the most important phrase ever written – ‘the word became flesh’ (John 1.14).

The Lord Jesus ascended in bodily form into Heaven; the man in the glory; with the promise that all who are ‘in Him’ shall be ‘with Him.’ Their future existence will not be purely ‘spiritual,’ lacking the physical. There will be a new heaven AND a new earth. Isaiah and Peter (ie; OT and NT) refer to this.

Therefore, today, in daily life, we eat and drink, we rise and tire. We experience physical reality and seek to invade all spaces with the gospel of Christ. I read of a Church in Essex, UK, with raised vegetable beds adjacent to its building, described as ‘a fun way of learning to grow your own veg.’

Just as Christ overturned the tables of money changers in the temple area; and challenged the scribes and Pharisees who wanted to stone the woman caught in adultery, but not the man, so we seek to bring His kingdom into all the dark places of the world.