In a radio interview, Nazi concentration camp survivor Gerta Weissman recalled an episode one spring when she and her fellow concentration camp inmates stood for roll call for hours on end, nearly collapsing with hunger and fatigue. She said, “We noticed in the corner of this bleak, horrid, gray place that the concrete had broken in a corner and a flower had poked its head through it. And you would see thousands of feet shuffle every morning to avoid stepping on that flower . . .”

No wonder they were careful not to step on that flower. That tiny flower poking its head through the concrete represented hope and beauty to the women in the concentration camp. (1)

Isaiah the prophet knew what those women felt. The year was 700 B.C. The Jews had been fighting for four decades against the Assyr…