Day 3

Isaiah 1: 11

A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse,

and a branch shall grow out of his roots.

The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,

   the spirit of wisdom and understanding,

   the spirit of counsel and might,

   the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

A Still Small Voice

The picture is Elijah’s cave on Mount Carmel in Haifa, which Geoff and I visited recently. It has been renovated in 2022, as a place of reflection and peace for all faiths and we were very fortunate to visit when there was only one other person there, a devout Jew.   

 In the Bible, Elijah took refuge there, prior to challenging the priests of Baal and later when Queen Jezebel sought his life.  The hymn, ‘Dear Lord and Father of mankind’ reminds us that God spoke to him not through wind and fire but through a still small voice.  I felt the small still voice in the cave, enfolding me in the love of God. Through our Advent journey, as the Old Testament prophecies such as this one, unfold, may we hear the still small voice through the bustle and distraction of Christmas preparations.  As Isaiah tells us of the character of the Messiah : wisdom, counsel and fear of the Lord, we pray:  ‘Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus’   Philippians 2:5 

Gill