Issue link: http://denverseminary.uberflip.com/i/1056515
28 New Growth from Dead Wood Linda Foote Brown, MA Adjunct Professor of Old Testament and Board Member "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 MIGHT, THE SPIRIT OF THE KNOWLEDGE AND FEAR OF THE LORD—AND HE WILL DELIGHT IN THE FEAR OF THE LORD." - ISAIAH 11:1-3 S everal weeks back, my husband, Steve, and I packed up our tiny "teardrop" trailer and headed west to Arches National Park in Utah. Being empty nesters and free for adventures, we like to experience and enjoy God's beauty in our national parks. Steve tends to focus on the "big things" on our adventures, like the majestic arch and rock formations, while I, being a gardener, am more drawn towards flora and fauna. While hiking in the hot sun (102 degrees Fahrenheit!), a juniper tree captured my imagination. Its gnarled and twisted trunk appeared to be dead for the first three feet of growth. Additional thick branches curled out from the main trunk, and they too appeared to be dead. Several shoots however proved surprising when I looked closer. New growth was evident. I came to learn that the Utah Juniper, adapts in order to survive in a harsh desert climate. It begins shutting down its internal water supply to older wood in order to conserve water and foster new growth. So while the Utah Juniper often looks dead and scraggly, it can live up to several hundred years, always with new growth sprouting from a seemingly dead trunk. e hope of new life is found in the tips of these trees, being fed from the root stock. e prophet Isaiah prophesies of a similar anomaly: "A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit" (Isa. 11:1). Isaiah is speaking to a people under God's judgment, by way of invasion by the Assyrian army. e Branch he mentions will grow out of the dead wood of both a failed community and its leadership. Out of dead wood will come new life that is actually from the root stock of Jesse, the father of David. God's promises to David will not be thwarted (2 Sam. 7). From his dynasty will ultimately come Jesus the Messiah (Hebrew for "Anointed One"), the awaited hope. ose in the midst of death are given a promise of life. When I remember the Utah Juniper, I am reminded of God's faithful promises to His people. ough our world is often reminiscent of death—with school shootings, natural disasters, broken relationships, and political strife—we celebrate hope in new life in the form of a baby this Advent and always. 23 December