Suddenly Isaiah bursts into a paean of poetry more wonderful than anything we have read so far. These words are famous, and as I read them is sequence with the rest of the book, I can see why. They are sublime. This is a purple passage.
Also - it's good news, after we've endured so much bad. The pattern that Isaiah set out when he was speaking to Judah in the earlier chapters is now repeated to its conclusion for the northern kingdom: challenge, judgement, remnant and blessings.
And what blessings! Perfect peace, even amongst fierce animals. A new shoot out of a stump that seemed dead - a new king born of the kingly line which goes back to David's father Jesse. This king will rule with justice and gentleness, and all God's scattered people will be gloriously gathered together. They will forget their feuds, they will conquer their enemies, and in comparison with this, the great blessing of the Exodus will pale into insignificance.
God's ways will prevail, and it will be marvellous to behold.
I can't help but be swept along by the power of the words, I almost forget the terrible state that remnant Israel and Judah are in. Anything seems possible, when God's mighty hand is on the move. This is the power of Isaiah's poetic prophecy: it inspires faith.
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