Advent Gems #16 

Rev. Lonnie C, Crowe 

Isaiah 11:1 (NKJV)  
“There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.” 

The rod that came forth from Jesse is metaphorically both the shepherd’s staff and the king’s scepter. 

The people of God, the Israelites, were a shepherding people.  Their great king David, the son of Jesse, was a shepherd.  He tended his father’s flocks in the fields of Bethlehem.  He grew up near the fields that Ruth had gleaned.  He grazed his sheep were centuries later the army of heaven announced the birth of Messiah to shepherds from Bethlehem. 

When David, the youngest son of Jesse, was a young man, the prophet Samuel came to Bethlehem with a directive from the Lord to anoint the one who would replace Saul as king.  David was called in from tending the sheep.  There,in Bethlehem, in the presence of Jesse and his older sons, Samuel anointed David to be the next king of Israel. 

Many years later, David, shepherd, king and psalmist wrote, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1). 

Jesus confirmed His own role as shepherd. John 10:7-11 (NKJV) "Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.   All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. 

David was a shepherd who became a king.  Jesus is a king who is also a shepherd, a shepherding king. Both were born in Bethlehem. 

"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting." (Micah 5:2) 
 
What the world may see as unimportant is not unimportant to God.  That includes you. No matter how insignificant we may feel, we are significant to God. 

There is so much more.  Remember Balaam?  Remember the pagan prophet hired to curse Israel?  Remember the warrior angel blocking the path?  Remember the talking donkey?  (Numbers 22) 

Remember the prophecy delivered by the humbled Balaam? The prophecy that spoke of the glory to come in the fulfillment of time? 

 
Numbers 24:15-17 (NKJV)  
“”So he took up his oracle and said: "The utterance of Balaam the son of Beor, And the utterance of the man whose eyes are opened; 
The utterance of him who hears the words of God, And has the knowledge of the Most High, Who sees the vision of the Almighty, Who falls down, with eyes wide open: ‘I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; A Star shall come out of Jacob; A Scepter shall rise out of Israel, And batter the brow of Moab, And destroy all the sons of tumult.’” 

The symbol of David’s kingdom, the Star of David, appears on Israel’s flag today.  David’s kingdom was a partial fulfillment of the prophecy of Balaam.  Jesus Christ is the fulfillment.