Our last study concluded with depressing scenes of great destruction.
But, and there’s always a but:
Read Isaiah 11:1-9.
1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him –
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of might,
the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord –
3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears;
4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash round his waist.
6 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
9 They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
Back to verse 1.
1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
The previous chapters have painted a picture of a devastated land, total destruction.
But in chapter 6:11-13 we had a hint of what was to come:
11 Then I said, ‘For how long, Lord?’ And he answered: Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged,
12 until the Lord has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken.
13 And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste.
But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.’
Into this scene of devastation comes the first signs of new life. Even though to outward appearances all has been totally destroyed, as if a forest fire has unstoppably swept across the land, stumps and roots can survive and sprout again.
Here in verse 1 Jesse (David’s father) is pictured as the tree (family tree?) that has been cut down, but we have already been introduced to the shoot that will grow again:
In Isaiah 9:2 and 6 we read
2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Now read Isaiah 11:2-5.
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him –
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of might,
the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord –
3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears;
4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash round his waist.
Jesus, the coming Messiah will not be like an earthly king. He will have counsel, knowledge, understanding and wisdom directly from God; so his judgements will be pure, not based on outward appearances, or a desire for revenge. Righteousness and faithfulness will be his trademarks.
But that was not a prophecy of their immediate future – nor was it only for our current age, Isaiah also looks forward to a time when Jesus reigns supreme over a new Heaven and a new Earth.
Read Isaiah 11:6-9.
6 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
9 They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
What a picture – especially the last line. Another glimpse of the heaven still to come.
But there would still be a niggling doubt in the minds of the remnant who had seen whole tribes taken into exile, never to be seen again. Would they too be gathered again?
Isaiah’s answer is yes, but not yet!
Read Isaiah 11:10-16
10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting-place will be glorious. 11 In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the surviving remnant of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the Mediterranean.
12 He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel;
he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth.
13 Ephraim’s jealousy will vanish, and Judah’s enemies will be destroyed;
Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, nor Judah hostile towards Ephraim.
14 They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia to the west; together they will plunder the people to the east. They will subdue Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites will be subject to them.
15 The Lord will dry up the gulf of the Egyptian sea; with a scorching wind he will sweep his hand over the River Euphrates. He will break it up into seven streams so that anyone can cross over in sandals.
16 There will be a highway for the remnant of his people that is left from Assyria, as there was for Israel when they came up from Egypt.
Here Isaiah confirms that although there will be a remnant who will return to Judah,
‘In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time’ (v 11).
Then he will gather the tribes from the four corners of the earth ‘and in this way all Israel will be saved’ (Romans 11:26). (If that statement raises questions see the study on Romans 11-12)
And yes, I’m not sure about verse 14. I think that Isaiah’s vision simply confirms that in the new heaven and earth, their enemies will all have been dealt with.
Now into Isaiah 12 where we respond to this in praise:
Isaiah 12
1 In that day you will say:
‘I will praise you, Lord. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me.
2 Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid.
The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defence; he has become my salvation.’
3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
4 In that day you will say:
‘Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.
5 Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world.
6 Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.’
This will not be a time for quiet meditation: ‘Shout aloud and sing for joy’
But we won’t have to wait for that great and final day. As Christians we have the confidence to say:
Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid,
the Lord himself, is my strength and my defence.
With joy we can draw water from the wells of salvation.
And because of that we:
‘Give praise to the Lord,
We proclaim his name;
We make known among the nations what he has done,
and we proclaim that his name is exalted.
for great is the Holy One of Israel among you
(This has been a short study, but what follows in chapters 14 – 23 is a series of prophecies containing judgements on the surrounding nations, so it seemed right to start a new section for those studies.)
