Day Seventy-Seven

One of our Christmas traditions is the lighting of our advent wreath, accompanied by daily scripture readings. We purchased a "Jesse Tree" * advent wreath, which starts with the birth of life and moves through the Bible, covering the lives of saints and sinners, shepherds and kings, blessed women and men of old who looked forward to the coming of the Savior. Today we read of David and Psalm 23 and I was especially thankful my family, for the shepherding we receive from our Lord and the great task we have been given to shepherd our children.

* The tradition of the Jesse Tree comes to us from Europe. The "tree" is usually a branch or sapling; it may be a real tree or a wall hanging, which is decorated with various symbols that remind us of the purpose and promises of God from Creation to the Birth of Jesus Christ.

Jesse was the father of King David. God promised David that his Kingdom would last forever - and that through him and his seed God would save his people and bless the world. Two centuries after the death of King David God spoke through the prophet Isaiah and said:

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him - the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of 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; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. (Isaiah 11:1-4)
Isaiah also speaks in many other places of the promised King in the line of David - the one whose coming we await during the Season of Advent and whose birth we celebrate at Christmas. And so do the other prophets. Indeed from the story of Adam and Eve to the call of Abraham to leave his home and country and go to a land God would show him, and from the promises made to Moses in the desert of Sinai to the building of the First Temple in Jerusalem by King Solomon, God has promised to be with and to dwell with His People and to bring a new world into being where the wolf will live the lamb and the leopard lie down with the goat - a world where the power of Satan will be crushed under the heel of the child of Eve - a world in which justice and righteousness will shine and evil will be no more, neither will there be suffering nor death. - This taken from the internet.