When Everything Changed: God Brings Hope in Hopelessness
Is there anything worse than feeling hopeless? That things are bad and are going to be worse? That was the way many Israelites felt in Isaiah's time. The army of the fierce Assyrian Empire was on their doorstep, ready to conquer them at any time. Their leaders were weak and inept. Isaiah 11:1ff records that in that hopeless time, the Lord gave a message to the prophet. The message was that a new branch would grow out of trunk of King David's tree. God would endow that king with his Spirit, giving him the power to rule wisely and justly. In this king's time, God would transform humanity, changing people from the inside out. They would change because they would experience God in their hearts! Luke 1:26ff records that in an equally hopeless time, the angel Gabriel went to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. He told her that she would bear a son through God's Spirit. This son would sit on David's throne and ru...