“1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.2 And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear,4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.7 The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.9 They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.10 In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.” – Isaiah 11:1-10The Heart of the King First off, let’s pay attention to how God is narrowing the path to the Messiah. Twice in this little passage, Isaiah tells us that this hero is going to come <a href='https://www.swoutfitters.com/resource/advent-jesus-is-the-root-of-david/'>through Jesse’s family</a>. And you remember the story, right? Jesse was a faithful Israelite looking forward to a Messiah when out of nowhere a prophet comes to tell him that one of his boys is going to be the king. This is when Jesse parades each of his sons out in front of Samuel but then finds out that none of them are gonna work. He has to actually go out to the field to get David from watching the sheep so that he can be anointed as the king! How crazy this that?! Don’t forget: man looks at outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.Like the Best Petting Zoo Ever As we have seen over and over this is just another example of God narrowing and expanding the vision for his kingdom. He is narrowing it by telling us that it is going to come through Jesse’s family, but he is expanding it to include the whole world, “far as the curse it found”. We know that there is something wrong in the world. When we look around us there is so much violence. Not only do we see wars and fighting among men and nations, but we see it in the animal kingdom as well. When God created the whole world and said that it was “very good” there was no violence, just peace.The vision that Isaiah is giving us is of that same kind of peace. Have you ever watched Planet Earth or the Discovery Channel? How do animals typically treat each other? More like food than friends, right? WePlease <a href='https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/resources-snowbird-wilderness-outfitters/id1159653004?mt=2'>leave a review on Apple</a> or <a href='https://open.spotify.com/show/5hLShuVSf8vnxH3W13eCQI?si=o_9YHBA2Qa6tH4WGvYFNrw'>Spotify</a> to help others grow in their faith. <a href='https://www.swoutfitters.com/colossians-preeminence-of-christ/'>Click here to get our Colossians Bible study.</a>

<description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;“1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;2 And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;the Spirit of counsel and might,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;He shall not judge by what his eyes see,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;or decide disputes by what his ears hear,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;and faithfulness the belt of his loins.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;and a little child shall lead them.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;7 The cow and the bear shall graze;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;their young shall lie down together;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;9 They shall not hurt or destroy&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;in all my holy mountain;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;as the waters cover the sea.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;10 In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.” – Isaiah 11:1-10&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Heart of the King&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;First off, let’s pay attention to how God is narrowing the path to the Messiah. Twice in this little passage, Isaiah tells us that this hero is going to come &lt;a href='https://www.swoutfitters.com/resource/advent-jesus-is-the-root-of-david/'&gt;through Jesse’s family&lt;/a&gt;. And you remember the story, right? Jesse was a faithful Israelite looking forward to a Messiah when out of nowhere a prophet comes to tell him that one of his boys is going to be the king. This is when Jesse parades each of his sons out in front of Samuel but then finds out that none of them are gonna work. He has to actually go out to the field to get David from watching the sheep so that he can be anointed as the king! How crazy this that?! Don’t forget: man looks at outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Like the Best Petting Zoo Ever&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As we have seen over and over this is just another example of God narrowing and expanding the vision for his kingdom. He is narrowing it by telling us that it is going to come through Jesse’s family, but he is expanding it to include the whole world, “far as the curse it found”. We know that there is something wrong in the world. When we look around us there is so much violence. Not only do we see wars and fighting among men and nations, but we see it in the animal kingdom as well. When God created the whole world and said that it was “very good” there was no violence, just peace.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The vision that Isaiah is giving us is of that same kind of peace. Have you ever watched Planet Earth or the Discovery Channel? How do animals typically treat each other? More like food than friends, right? We&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Please &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href='https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/resources-snowbird-wilderness-outfitters/id1159653004?mt=2'&gt;&lt;em&gt;leave a review on Apple&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt; or &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href='https://open.spotify.com/show/5hLShuVSf8vnxH3W13eCQI?si=o_9YHBA2Qa6tH4WGvYFNrw'&gt;&lt;em&gt;Spotify&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt; to help others grow in their faith.&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/em&gt; &lt;br/&gt;&lt;a href='https://www.swoutfitters.com/colossians-preeminence-of-christ/'&gt;Click here to get our Colossians Bible study.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

“1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. 2 And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. 3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, 4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the mee...

Advent 16 | Peace on Earth 2025

&quot;The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil.For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.&quot; - Isaiah 9:2-7The Light of HopeThis is such an exciting and beautiful prophecy. And it makes it even more meaningful when we realize that this was given 700 years (give or take) before Jesus. Yet when you read over this you just can’t help but think of him. This is another one of those passages that we read every year at this time and it gives us hope, but think about the hope that it gave the Jews all those years ago before Christ.As you look at this passage you can see that God is sending a rescuer, a deliverer. It’s easy to see how the Jews would have been so surprised by the way Jesus lived on earth. It would be hard for them to see him as their Messiah since he didn’t fit the picture of a conquering warrior. The history of the Jews had been very dark. Even after they came back to their land it seemed like they couldn’t catch a break. One nation after another seemed to oppress them. They needed someone to set them free.No Mere Human Would DoWhen we look at this passage there is so much going on. First off, the focus is on a child. Isn’t that interesting? This should let us know that something really unique is going to happen. The answer that they are looking for is going to come in the form of a baby boy.Next look at these titles: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. These aren’t titles that you would give to just any military leader. The Jews stood apart from the rest of the world in their time because they believed that there was only one true God, the God who created the universe. It was blasphemy to worship any other God.If we tie both of these ideas together we can realize that even in their own holy scriptures God has given serious hints <a href='https://www.swoutfitters.com/resource/the-joy-of-seeing-christ-in-the-old-testament/'>pointing to the incarnation</a>. This is a prophecy that is talking about a child to be born who would be called God...Read the full article at: <a href='https://www.swoutfitters.com/resource/advent-15-the-child-born-to-be-the-king/'>https://www.swoutfitters.c</a>Please <a href='https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/resources-snowbird-wilderness-outfitters/id1159653004?mt=2'>leave a review on Apple</a> or <a href='https://open.spotify.com/show/5hLShuVSf8vnxH3W13eCQI?si=o_9YHBA2Qa6tH4WGvYFNrw'>Spotify</a> to help others grow in their faith. <a href='https://www.swoutfitters.com/colossians-preeminence-of-christ/'>Click here to get our Colossians Bible study.</a>

<description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&amp;quot;The people who walked in darkness&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;have seen a great light;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;on them has light shone.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;You have multiplied the nation;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;you have increased its joy;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;they rejoice before you&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;as with joy at the harvest,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;as they are glad when they divide the spoil.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;For the yoke of his burden,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;and the staff for his shoulder,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;the rod of his oppressor,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;you have broken as on the day of Midian.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;and every garment rolled in blood&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;will be burned as fuel for the fire.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;For to us a child is born,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;to us a son is given;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;and the government shall be upon his shoulder,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;and his name shall be called&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Of the increase of his government and of peace&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;there will be no end,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;on the throne of David and over his kingdom,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;to establish it and to uphold it&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;with justice and with righteousness&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;from this time forth and forevermore.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.&amp;quot; - Isaiah 9:2-7&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;The Light of Hope&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This is such an exciting and beautiful prophecy. And it makes it even more meaningful when we realize that this was given 700 years (give or take) before Jesus. Yet when you read over this you just can’t help but think of him. This is another one of those passages that we read every year at this time and it gives us hope, but think about the hope that it gave the Jews all those years ago before Christ.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As you look at this passage you can see that God is sending a rescuer, a deliverer. It’s easy to see how the Jews would have been so surprised by the way Jesus lived on earth. It would be hard for them to see him as their Messiah since he didn’t fit the picture of a conquering warrior. The history of the Jews had been very dark. Even after they came back to their land it seemed like they couldn’t catch a break. One nation after another seemed to oppress them. They needed someone to set them free.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;No Mere Human Would Do&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;When we look at this passage there is so much going on. First off, the focus is on a child. Isn’t that interesting? This should let us know that something really unique is going to happen. The answer that they are looking for is going to come in the form of a baby boy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Next look at these titles: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. These aren’t titles that you would give to just any military leader. The Jews stood apart from the rest of the world in their time because they believed that there was only one true God, the God who created the universe. It was blasphemy to worship any other God.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;If we tie both of these ideas together we can realize that even in their own holy scriptures God has given serious hints &lt;a href='https://www.swoutfitters.com/resource/the-joy-of-seeing-christ-in-the-old-testament/'&gt;pointing to the incarnation&lt;/a&gt;. This is a prophecy that is talking about a child to be born who would be called God...&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Read the full article at: &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href='https://www.swoutfitters.com/resource/advent-15-the-child-born-to-be-the-king/'&gt;&lt;em&gt;https://www.swoutfitters.c&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Please &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href='https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/resources-snowbird-wilderness-outfitters/id1159653004?mt=2'&gt;&lt;em&gt;leave a review on Apple&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt; or &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href='https://open.spotify.com/show/5hLShuVSf8vnxH3W13eCQI?si=o_9YHBA2Qa6tH4WGvYFNrw'&gt;&lt;em&gt;Spotify&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt; to help others grow in their faith.&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/em&gt; &lt;br/&gt;&lt;a href='https://www.swoutfitters.com/colossians-preeminence-of-christ/'&gt;Click here to get our Colossians Bible study.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in ...

Advent 15 | The Child Born to Be the King 2025

&quot;Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.&quot; - Isaiah 7:14Double RainbowWe have all have read the verse above and we know, for certain, that this is about Jesus. But did you know it’s also about someone else? Wait, what? Yeah, this is one of those situations where God makes a prophecy that has an immediate fulfillment and then a later fulfillment. This is another amazing example of God’s specific sovereignty over all of human history. The people of Israel needed something to give them hope and God gave it to them. What they didn’t know at the time was that this was also going to give hope to the whole world.Signs of DeliveranceHere is what is happening in the context of Isaiah 7. The king of Israel, Ahaz, is freaking out because there are 2 other kings threatening war with him. So, God sends Isaiah to comfort him. That is where this prophecy comes into play. Let’s read it again but this time let’s go just a little bit farther.<blockquote>&quot;Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. The LORD will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!”&quot; - Isaiah 7:14-17</blockquote>What is Isaiah saying to Ahaz, and why is it important? God is foretelling the birth of a little boy. When this boy is really young the threat will be over. The whole point of this is to calm Ahaz down and let him know that he doesn’t need to be afraid. This is going to happen in his lifetime, and this is a sign for him that God is going to keep his word.So Is This About Jesus or Not?Yes. This is about Jesus, but first, it’s about Maher-shalal-hash-baz. You see the whole point of this sign is that it provides something tangible for Ahaz to see. That’s why we get the first fulfillment one page over in chapter 8. To understand this we need to know a little something about the Hebrew language (because the Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew). You see the word translated as “virgin” doesn’t necessarily have to mean “virgin” and could just mean “young woman”. This little boy is actually born to Isaiah and his wife. God confirms this when he tells Isaiah that before his son is even old enough to say his parents’ names the threat will be over.But you might be thinking, how then do we know that it’s about Jesus? Great question and there are 2 clear ways that we see this...Read the full article at: <a href='https://www.swoutfitters.com/resource/advent-14-maher-shalal-hash-baz/'>https://www.swoutfitters.com/resource/advent-14-maher-shalal-hash-baz/</a> Follow the whole study of <a href='https://www.swoutfitters.com/advent/'>The Things Concerning Himself</a> at: https://www.swoutfitters.com/advent/ Every day, Dec. 1-25, we&apos;ll be publishing daily advent study posts (written and audio versions) on our website. You can also access the audio recordings on the <a href='https://subsplash.com/snowbirdwildernessoutfitters/app'>Snowbird App</a>, <a href='https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/resources-snowbird-wilderness-outfitters/id1159653004?mt=2'></a>Please <a href='https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/resources-snowbird-wilderness-outfitters/id1159653004?mt=2'>leave a review on Apple</a> or <a href='https://open.spotify.com/show/5hLShuVSf8vnxH3W13eCQI?si=o_9YHBA2Qa6tH4WGvYFNrw'>Spotify</a> to help others grow in their faith. <a href='https://www.swoutfitters.com/colossians-preeminence-of-christ/'>Click here to get our Colossians Bible study.</a>

<description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&amp;quot;Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.&amp;quot; - Isaiah 7:14&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Double Rainbow&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We have all have read the verse above and we know, for certain, that this is about Jesus. But did you know it’s also about someone else? Wait, what? Yeah, this is one of those situations where God makes a prophecy that has an immediate fulfillment and then a later fulfillment. This is another amazing example of God’s specific sovereignty over all of human history. The people of Israel needed something to give them hope and God gave it to them. What they didn’t know at the time was that this was also going to give hope to the whole world.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Signs of Deliverance&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Here is what is happening in the context of Isaiah 7. The king of Israel, Ahaz, is freaking out because there are 2 other kings threatening war with him. So, God sends Isaiah to comfort him. That is where this prophecy comes into play. Let’s read it again but this time let’s go just a little bit farther.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;em&gt;&amp;quot;Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. The LORD will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!”&amp;quot; - Isaiah 7:14-17&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;What is Isaiah saying to Ahaz, and why is it important? God is foretelling the birth of a little boy. When this boy is really young the threat will be over. The whole point of this is to calm Ahaz down and let him know that he doesn’t need to be afraid. This is going to happen in his lifetime, and this is a sign for him that God is going to keep his word.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;So Is This About Jesus or Not?&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Yes. This is about Jesus, but first, it’s about Maher-shalal-hash-baz. You see the whole point of this sign is that it provides something tangible for Ahaz to see. That’s why we get the first fulfillment one page over in chapter 8. To understand this we need to know a little something about the Hebrew language (because the Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew). You see the word translated as “virgin” doesn’t necessarily have to mean “virgin” and could just mean “young woman”. This little boy is actually born to Isaiah and his wife. God confirms this when he tells Isaiah that before his son is even old enough to say his parents’ names the threat will be over.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But you might be thinking, how then do we know that it’s about Jesus? Great question and there are 2 clear ways that we see this...&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Read the full article at: &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href='https://www.swoutfitters.com/resource/advent-14-maher-shalal-hash-baz/'&gt;&lt;em&gt;https://www.swoutfitters.com/resource/advent-14-maher-shalal-hash-baz/&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/em&gt;Follow the whole study of &lt;a href='https://www.swoutfitters.com/advent/'&gt;&lt;em&gt;The Things Concerning Himself&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; at:&lt;br/&gt;https://www.swoutfitters.com/advent/&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;Every day, Dec. 1-25, we&amp;apos;ll be publishing daily advent study posts (written and audio versions) on our website. You can also access the audio recordings on the &lt;a href='https://subsplash.com/snowbirdwildernessoutfitters/app'&gt;Snowbird App&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href='https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/resources-snowbird-wilderness-outfitters/id1159653004?mt=2'&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Please &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href='https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/resources-snowbird-wilderness-outfitters/id1159653004?mt=2'&gt;&lt;em&gt;leave a review on Apple&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt; or &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href='https://open.spotify.com/show/5hLShuVSf8vnxH3W13eCQI?si=o_9YHBA2Qa6tH4WGvYFNrw'&gt;&lt;em&gt;Spotify&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt; to help others grow in their faith.&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/em&gt; &lt;br/&gt;&lt;a href='https://www.swoutfitters.com/colossians-preeminence-of-christ/'&gt;Click here to get our Colossians Bible study.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." - Isaiah 7:14 Double Rainbow We have all have read the verse above and we know, for certain, that this is about Jesus. But did you know it’s also about someone else? Wait, what? Yeah, this is one of those situations where God makes a prophecy that has an immediate fulfillment and then a later fulfillment. This is another amazing example of God’s specific sover...

Advent 14 | Maher-shalal-hash-baz 2025

&quot;When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.&quot; - 2 Samuel 7:12-13&quot;and Jesse the father of David the king.  And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah,&quot; - Matthew 1:6The Un-named GrandmaWhen you read through the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew you’ll notice that there are 5 women who show up in the line of Jesus but only 4 of them are mentioned by name. This one is simply called, “the wife of Uriah”. Isn’t that interesting? Why wouldn’t Matthew mention the name of this woman? I think it’s because this isn’t a particularly bright spot in Israel’s history. This episode in King David’s life is not something that they were proud of. It gets even more interesting when you realize that Matthew was writing to a mostly Jewish audience who would have known all about who this lady was. The bottom line is that I think the reason Matthew didn’t mention her name is probably the same reason you don’t know many ladies named Bathsheba.Wrong Place, Wrong TimeThere are 2 things that everybody remembers about King David. The first is that he killed Goliath and the second is his relationship to Bathsheba. We hear all about this in 2 Samuel 11. At the beginning of the chapter, there is some not-so-subtle foreshadowing that should tip us off that something bad is going to happen. It says “In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle … but David remained at Jerusalem.” There you have it. David is the king of whom they used to say had “slain ten thousands”. He should be out there with his men, leading them in battle, but instead, he’s lounging around the palace in the middle of the afternoon. It’s pretty embarrassing.A Man of HonorThe rest of the story is even worse. David sees a beautiful woman and asks about her. Even though he knows that she is married to one of his most valiant soldiers it doesn’t stop him from pursuing her. Soon afterward he finds out that she’s pregnant and tries to get her husband to come home to be with her so that everyone will think that he is the one who got her pregnant. This plan might have worked except for the fact that her husband was way more honorable than David. Uriah would not come home and enjoy the comfort of his normal life while the army was out in battle. How ironic is that? The king didn’t care that they were at war, but the soldier did.After all of this, when David couldn’t think of anything else to do, he sends Uriah to the front line of battle and orders everyone around them to retreat. Who knows how many people David ordered to their death just to cover up his sin...Read the full article at: <a href='https://www.swoutfitters.com/resource/advent-13-grace-from-disgrace-the-wife-of-uriah/'>https://www.swoutfitters.com/resource/advent-13-grace-from-disgrace-the-wife-of-uriah/</a> Follow the whole study of <a href='https://www.swoutfitters.com/advent/'>The Things Concerning Himself</a> at: https://www.swoutfitters.com/advent/ Every day, Dec. 1-25, we&apos;ll be publishing daily advent study posts (written and audio versions) on our website. You can also access the audio recordings on the <a href='https://subsplash.com/snowbirdwildernessoutfitters/app'></a>Please <a href='https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/resources-snowbird-wilderness-outfitters/id1159653004?mt=2'>leave a review on Apple</a> or <a href='https://open.spotify.com/show/5hLShuVSf8vnxH3W13eCQI?si=o_9YHBA2Qa6tH4WGvYFNrw'>Spotify</a> to help others grow in their faith. <a href='https://www.swoutfitters.com/colossians-preeminence-of-christ/'>Click here to get our Colossians Bible study.</a>

<description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&amp;quot;When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.&amp;quot; - 2 Samuel 7:12-13&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&amp;quot;and Jesse the father of David the king. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt; And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah,&amp;quot; - Matthew 1:6&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;The Un-named Grandma&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;When you read through the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew you’ll notice that there are 5 women who show up in the line of Jesus but only 4 of them are mentioned by name. This one is simply called, “the wife of Uriah”. Isn’t that interesting? Why wouldn’t Matthew mention the name of this woman? I think it’s because this isn’t a particularly bright spot in Israel’s history. This episode in King David’s life is not something that they were proud of. It gets even more interesting when you realize that Matthew was writing to a mostly Jewish audience who would have known all about who this lady was. The bottom line is that I think the reason Matthew didn’t mention her name is probably the same reason you don’t know many ladies named Bathsheba.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Wrong Place, Wrong Time&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;There are 2 things that everybody remembers about King David. The first is that he killed Goliath and the second is his relationship to Bathsheba. We hear all about this in 2 Samuel 11. At the beginning of the chapter, there is some not-so-subtle foreshadowing that should tip us off that something bad is going to happen. It says “In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle … but David remained at Jerusalem.” There you have it. David is the king of whom they used to say had “slain ten thousands”. He should be out there with his men, leading them in battle, but instead, he’s lounging around the palace in the middle of the afternoon. It’s pretty embarrassing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;A Man of Honor&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The rest of the story is even worse. David sees a beautiful woman and asks about her. Even though he knows that she is married to one of his most valiant soldiers it doesn’t stop him from pursuing her. Soon afterward he finds out that she’s pregnant and tries to get her husband to come home to be with her so that everyone will think that he is the one who got her pregnant. This plan might have worked except for the fact that her husband was way more honorable than David. Uriah would not come home and enjoy the comfort of his normal life while the army was out in battle. How ironic is that? The king didn’t care that they were at war, but the soldier did.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;After all of this, when David couldn’t think of anything else to do, he sends Uriah to the front line of battle and orders everyone around them to retreat. Who knows how many people David ordered to their death just to cover up his sin...&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Read the full article at: &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href='https://www.swoutfitters.com/resource/advent-13-grace-from-disgrace-the-wife-of-uriah/'&gt;&lt;em&gt;https://www.swoutfitters.com/resource/advent-13-grace-from-disgrace-the-wife-of-uriah/&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/em&gt;Follow the whole study of &lt;a href='https://www.swoutfitters.com/advent/'&gt;&lt;em&gt;The Things Concerning Himself&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; at:&lt;br/&gt;https://www.swoutfitters.com/advent/&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;Every day, Dec. 1-25, we&amp;apos;ll be publishing daily advent study posts (written and audio versions) on our website. You can also access the audio recordings on the &lt;a href='https://subsplash.com/snowbirdwildernessoutfitters/app'&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Please &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href='https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/resources-snowbird-wilderness-outfitters/id1159653004?mt=2'&gt;&lt;em&gt;leave a review on Apple&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt; or &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href='https://open.spotify.com/show/5hLShuVSf8vnxH3W13eCQI?si=o_9YHBA2Qa6tH4WGvYFNrw'&gt;&lt;em&gt;Spotify&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt; to help others grow in their faith.&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/em&gt; &lt;br/&gt;&lt;a href='https://www.swoutfitters.com/colossians-preeminence-of-christ/'&gt;Click here to get our Colossians Bible study.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

"When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever." - 2 Samuel 7:12-13 "and Jesse the father of David the king.   And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah," - Matthew 1:6 The Un-named Grandma When you read through the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew you’ll notice ...

Advent 13 | Grace From Disgrace - The Wife of Uriah 2025

&quot;Then all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem, and may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring that the LORD will give you by this young woman.&quot; - Ruth 4:11-2 &quot;Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king.&quot; - Matt 1:5-6 A Widowed Daughter-in-lawIf you haven’t picked up on this yet, our journey through the Old Testament on our way to Jesus often reads more like the plot to a soap opera than a religious text. This goes to show us that God uses all kinds of people from every type of background to bring about his plan for the world.This episode in the drama of Scripture starts out very dark. I mean no sooner do we get introduced to the main characters than they start dying off. There’s a man named Elimelech from Judah who moves to Moab because of a famine and there he and his two sons die, leaving his wife Naomi with two daughters-in-law. One of them goes back to her family and our story follows Naomi and Ruth as they go to live in the little town of Bethlehem.Gleanings and SandalsAs soon as they get settled in Bethlehem, Ruth gets to work. You see God had already made a way for faithful Jews to take care of the poor and Boaz was a faithful Jew. It just so happened that this takes place in the time of the harvest and Ruth just so happened to stumble across Boaz’s field. As was their custom Boaz’s workmen would harvest the fields but would leave anything that fell to the ground for the poor to pick up for themselves. This is where Ruth comes in. She was busy all day picking up the leftovers when Boaz noticed her. He had already heard of the kindness she had shown to Naomi and he wanted to help reward her so he told his men to leave out even more for her. When Naomi hears about this she realizes that Boaz is in a unique position to help because he is a close relative of theirs and could be their redeemer.I realize that some of this might be confusing because it is talking about ancient Jewish traditions and customs, but the really crazy part is that these practices had been a part of the Jewish culture for generations and now God is using them to bring about his plan of salvation through Jesus. Then we come to the climax of the story. Boaz decides that is going to redeem them but he has to get past another relative who is first in line. This guy doesn’t want to ruin his own inheritance so Boaz redeems them and hands over his sandal, which is kinda like a handshake. The deal is done...Read the full article at: https://www.swoutfitters.com/resource/advent-12-davids-moabite-grandma/ Follow the whole study of <a href='https://www.swoutfitters.com/advent/'>The Things Concerning Himself</a> at: https://www.swoutfitters.com/advent/ Every day, Dec. 1-25, we&apos;ll be publishing daily advent study posts (written and audio versions) on our website. You can also access the audio recordings on the <a href='https://subsplash.com/snowbirdwildernessoutfitters/app'>Snowbird App</a>, <a href='https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/resources-snowbird-wilderness-outfitters/id1159653004?mt=2'>Apple Podcasts</a>, and <a href='https://open.spotify.com/show/5hLShuVSf8vnxH3W13eCQI?si=o_9YHBA2Qa6tH4WGvYFNrw'></a>Please <a href='https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/resources-snowbird-wilderness-outfitters/id1159653004?mt=2'>leave a review on Apple</a> or <a href='https://open.spotify.com/show/5hLShuVSf8vnxH3W13eCQI?si=o_9YHBA2Qa6tH4WGvYFNrw'>Spotify</a> to help others grow in their faith. <a href='https://www.swoutfitters.com/colossians-preeminence-of-christ/'>Click here to get our Colossians Bible study.</a>

<description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&amp;quot;Then all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem, and may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring that the LORD will give you by this young woman.&amp;quot; - Ruth 4:11-2 &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&amp;quot;Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king.&amp;quot; - Matt 1:5-6 &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;A Widowed Daughter-in-law&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you haven’t picked up on this yet, our journey through the Old Testament on our way to Jesus often reads more like the plot to a soap opera than a religious text. This goes to show us that God uses all kinds of people from every type of background to bring about his plan for the world.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This episode in the drama of Scripture starts out very dark. I mean no sooner do we get introduced to the main characters than they start dying off. There’s a man named Elimelech from Judah who moves to Moab because of a famine and there he and his two sons die, leaving his wife Naomi with two daughters-in-law. One of them goes back to her family and our story follows Naomi and Ruth as they go to live in the little town of Bethlehem.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Gleanings and Sandals&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As soon as they get settled in Bethlehem, Ruth gets to work. You see God had already made a way for faithful Jews to take care of the poor and Boaz was a faithful Jew. It just so happened that this takes place in the time of the harvest and Ruth just so happened to stumble across Boaz’s field. As was their custom Boaz’s workmen would harvest the fields but would leave anything that fell to the ground for the poor to pick up for themselves. This is where Ruth comes in. She was busy all day picking up the leftovers when Boaz noticed her. He had already heard of the kindness she had shown to Naomi and he wanted to help reward her so he told his men to leave out even more for her. When Naomi hears about this she realizes that Boaz is in a unique position to help because he is a close relative of theirs and could be their redeemer.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I realize that some of this might be confusing because it is talking about ancient Jewish traditions and customs, but the really crazy part is that these practices had been a part of the Jewish culture for generations and now God is using them to bring about his plan of salvation through Jesus. Then we come to the climax of the story. Boaz decides that is going to redeem them but he has to get past another relative who is first in line. This guy doesn’t want to ruin his own inheritance so Boaz redeems them and hands over his sandal, which is kinda like a handshake. The deal is done...&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Read the full article at: https://www.swoutfitters.com/resource/advent-12-davids-moabite-grandma/&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/em&gt;Follow the whole study of &lt;a href='https://www.swoutfitters.com/advent/'&gt;&lt;em&gt;The Things Concerning Himself&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; at:&lt;br/&gt;https://www.swoutfitters.com/advent/&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;Every day, Dec. 1-25, we&amp;apos;ll be publishing daily advent study posts (written and audio versions) on our website. You can also access the audio recordings on the &lt;a href='https://subsplash.com/snowbirdwildernessoutfitters/app'&gt;Snowbird App&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href='https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/resources-snowbird-wilderness-outfitters/id1159653004?mt=2'&gt;Apple Podcasts&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href='https://open.spotify.com/show/5hLShuVSf8vnxH3W13eCQI?si=o_9YHBA2Qa6tH4WGvYFNrw'&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Please &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href='https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/resources-snowbird-wilderness-outfitters/id1159653004?mt=2'&gt;&lt;em&gt;leave a review on Apple&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt; or &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href='https://open.spotify.com/show/5hLShuVSf8vnxH3W13eCQI?si=o_9YHBA2Qa6tH4WGvYFNrw'&gt;&lt;em&gt;Spotify&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt; to help others grow in their faith.&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/em&gt; &lt;br/&gt;&lt;a href='https://www.swoutfitters.com/colossians-preeminence-of-christ/'&gt;Click here to get our Colossians Bible study.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

"Then all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem, and may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring that the LORD will give you by this young woman." - Ruth 4:11-2  "Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of J...

Advent 12 | David's Moabite Grandma 2025

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