Isaiah 11: 1 – 12: 6
Lions, Tigers, And Bears, Oh My
1 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. 2 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 of the fear of the LORD. 3 His delight is in the fear of the LORD, and He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears; 4 But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. 5 Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, and faithfulness the belt of His waist. 6 “ The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them. 7 The cow and the bear shall graze; Their young ones shall lie down together; And the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. 9 They shall not hurt nor 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 “ And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious.” 11 It shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people who are left, from Assyria and Egypt, from Pathros and Cush, from Elam and Shinar, from Hamath and the islands of the sea. 12 He will set up a banner for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. 13 Also the envy of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not harass Ephraim. 14 But they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines toward the west; Together they shall plunder the people of the East; They shall lay their hand on Edom and Moab; And the people of Ammon shall obey them. 15 The LORD will utterly destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt; With His mighty wind He will shake His fist over the River, and strike it in the seven streams, and make men cross over dryshod. 16 There will be a highway for the remnant of His people who will be left from Assyria, as it was for Israel in the day that he came up from the land of Egypt.
1 And in that day you will say: “ O LORD, I will praise You; Though You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me. 2 Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; ‘ For YAH, the LORD, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.’” 3 Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 And in that day you will say: “ Praise the LORD, call upon His name; Declare His deeds among the peoples, make mention that His name is exalted. 5 Sing to the LORD, for He has done excellent things; This is known in all the earth. 6 Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst!”
Today we are going to look at chapters 11 and 12 of the book of Isaiah? I know, I know, you are saying, ‘Aw come on now, two chapters?’ Yes, in fact, it will not be overwhelming. In fact if you print out these Scriptures, they will not even take up a whole page. I remember, during my high school days if I received a reading assignment, I would pick out a book that was short. I have always loved short stories. Anyway, please notice that chapter 12 is only six verses long. Now you can tell your family and friends that you read two whole chapters in one study. So, shall we have a go at it.
1 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. 2 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 of the fear of the LORD. 3 His delight is in the fear of the LORD, and He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears;
Your bibles should have the word ‘Rod’ capitalized. When we see something capitalized what does it mean? I will give you a hint. Why is the word ‘Branch’ also capitalized? It is because it is referring to a member of the Blessed Holy Trinity.
If you are not familiar with horticulture, a stem is young growth part of a tree. Here the stem or stock is Jesse, who was the father of king David. The Precious and Holy Lord God Almighty – El Shaddai – gives a lot recognition to Jesse who was the father of the Davidic rulers. However, as we have already studied, the present descendants of David were cut off or were rejected by our Holy Ruler. So, in effect, another David or a new growth Is required. This new King will grow off the shoot from the beginning.
The nation of Assyria is described as a tree which is cut down at the time of its highest power and it will never rise again. Let me ask you a question without being a smart-aleck, ‘where is Assyria?’ If you are like most you haven’t a clue because just like our Lord’s Judgment on them, they do not exist. However, for your knowledge it is part of the nation of Iraq today. Our Lord Is also going to cut down the nation of Judah. But there will be a stump with life still in it From this shoot a new Majestic Tree will grow – The Messiah. He will be greater than the original tree and will bear great and tremendous fruit.
Please notice that this One does not come from David but from Jesse. Now, you can see the significance of the words of our Lord Jesus when He asked the religious leaders this question as told to us in the book of Matthew chapter 22, “41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?” They said to Him, “ The Son of David.” 43 He said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying: 44 ‘ The LORD said to my Lord, “ Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool”’? 45 If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his Son?” 46 And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore.”
The importance of this statement cannot be overlooked. This ‘One’ future King is not just from the line of Davidic kings, He goes back to the root. The miraculous birth that was given to us in chapter 7 – “14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel – is required. It Is this Shoot or Sampling Who will bear the fruit that our Holy God looked for from the rulers He placed to shepherd His people Israel.
Please notice the words relative to this Holy One’s Anointing of the Holy Spirit –2 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 of the fear of the LORD. 3 His delight is in the fear of the LORD, and He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears;’
In the book of 2 Corinthians chapter 8 we read, “8 I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.”
Our Magnificent Holy Lord and Savior Jesus Christ emptied Himself of His Royal Position and came to earth for us. You can just think of this point for days and this alone would be the only spiritual message you need to receive. He came for us. Thank you Lord.
Some teachers report that we have listed in verses 2 and 3 the ‘sevenfold’ ministry of the Holy Spirit. Hello, did anyone take the time to just read these verses. First of all our Lord Jesus has ‘2 The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him. Then we read 3 couplets of 2 characteristics of our Wonderful Holy Spirit. Each one is begun with the words, ‘The Spirit of’, let’s read them:
1. The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, - speaks of His Ruling Attributes
2. The Spirit of counsel and might, - speaks of His Personal Abilities
3. The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. – speaks of His Spiritual Authority
4 But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. 5 Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, and faithfulness the belt of His waist.
There is a nice remark that I know you all are familiar with, it is, ‘Do not judge a book by its cover.’ Now look at verse 3 -3 His delight is in the fear of the LORD, and He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears;’ Do you see anything similar? You see our Lord sees all and knows what is always right. In fact He even picked our David as His representative on earth to shepherd His people. We find this out in the book of 1 Samuel chapter 16, “1 Now the LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons.”2 And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” But the LORD said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’ 3 Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; you shall anoint for Me the one I name to you.” 4 So Samuel did what the LORD said, and went to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, “Do you come peaceably?” 5 And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons, and invited them to the sacrifice. 6 So it was, when they came, that he looked at Eliab and said, “Surely the LORD’s anointed is before Him!” 7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” 8 So Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.” 9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.” 10 Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The LORD has not chosen these.” 11 And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all the young men here?” Then he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep.”
And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him. For we will not sit down till he comes here.” 12 So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with bright eyes, and good-looking. And the LORD said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah.”
We want justice, don’t we? It is not right to judge people based on their appearance, false evidence, or hearsay. On our own we will judge others using this position. Only if we walk closely with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ can we treat others properly as God would want us to.
6 “ The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them. 7 The cow and the bear shall graze; Their young ones shall lie down together; And the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. 9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
When our Lord Jesus will Rule on the earth as the Righteous King we will see some unique conditions occur. For one thing our relationship with animals will be noticeably different. Look at the changes that will take place with wild animals - 6 “ The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them. 7 The cow and the bear shall graze; Their young ones shall lie down together; And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.” There will not be any ‘Wild Kingdom’ on TV. The predators and prey will dwell together. Children can go out and play with former dangerous reptiles - 8 The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den.’
The curse was put on the earth by the Lord way back in Genesis 3, “17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:“Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. 18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. 19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”
We read now that our Holy Jehovah Elyon – The Lord Most High - has removed the curse and by doing so look at what happens -9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
This is what we all long for. We will finally be able to rest.
10 “ And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious. 11 It shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people who are left, from Assyria and Egypt, from Pathros and Cush, from Elam and Shinar, from Hamath and the islands of the sea. 12 He will set up a banner for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
During the days of Wandering in the desert each tribe had set up a banner. If you were out and about, then, to find your way back, you would look for your tribal banner. Do you know what banner you should look for in order to come back home to the Lord’s camp? Let us see from these Scriptures;
Exodus 17: 15 “And Moses built an altar and called its name, The-LORD-Is-My-Banner;”
Song of Solomon 2: 4 “He brought me to the banqueting house, And his banner over me was love.”
Please notice in verse 11 and 12 that our Magnificent Holy God will set up His banner for all the nations of the world to come home, especially for the remnant of His people – The Jews. Our Lord Is not done with His people as some anti-Semitics tries to proclaim. This prophecy as we have learned applies to a near future fulfillment and a distant future fulfillment. We will see that the nation of Judah will soon be deported to Babylon and a remnant returned in 537 BC. In the time after this the Jews will be dispersed throughout the four corners of the world. The names of the countries verify this for Hamath is north, Egypt is south, Assyria and Babylon are east and the islands of the sea are west of God’s Promised Land.
A major part of God’s future blessing to His Elect – The Jews is that He will reunite the Northern and Southern kingdoms into one kingdom again - 13 Also the envy of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not harass Ephraim.
In the book of Ezekiel chapter 37 we read our Lord’s similar prediction of reuniting the two kingdoms. “15 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 16 “As for you, son of man, take a stick for yourself and write on it: ‘For Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions.’ Then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, his companions.’ 17 Then join them one to another for yourself into one stick, and they will become one in your hand. 18 “And when the children of your people speak to you, saying, ‘Will you not show us what you mean by these?’— 19 say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Surely I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will join them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.”’ 20 And the sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes. 21 “Then say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; 22 and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again. 23 They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God. 24 “David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them. 25 Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children’s children, forever; and My servant David shall be their prince forever. 26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore. 27 My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 28 The nations also will know that I, the LORD, sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”
The results of victory the Lord will give His people are reflected in these next verses
14 But they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines toward the west; Together they shall plunder the people of the East; They shall lay their hand on Edom and Moab; And the people of Ammon shall obey them. 15 The LORD will utterly destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt; With His mighty wind He will shake His fist over the River, and strike it in the seven streams, and make men cross over dryshod. 16 There will be a highway for the remnant of His people who will be left from Assyria, as it was for Israel in the day that he came up from the land of Egypt.
For one thing please notice the directions the Lord will give to the Israelites. If you look at a map of Israel today you see this little slip of land. Principally the nation runs north and south. Here our Lord is going to make sure they receive all the land that is coming to them from the East and West. Today this land is occupied by the Palestinians and the other area covers the land of Jordan. In addition, please look at the reference to the ‘River’ which refers to the Euphrates River and the mention of Egypt or the Nile River. In the book of Genesis chapter 15 we read 18 On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates— 19 the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”This Scripture talks about the land grant from our Lord to the Israelites.- “
To all this joyful fulfillment the Jewish people will respond with joy knowing that our Lord’s anger was only for a short time
1 And in that day you will say: “ O LORD, I will praise You; Though You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me.
It is like when you were a child and had to undergo some discipline. After you had some time to cry – a new beginning occurs.
The experience of Salvation from The Supreme El Shaddai – God Almighty – will again cause the people to trust in Him. Their fears will finally be eliminated
2 Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; ‘ For YAH, the LORD, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.’” 3 Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
Finally, things will be as they should be. We will exalt His Awesome Power and Rejoice in His Presence. The whole earth will be under His Sovereign Lordship.
4 And in that day you will say: “ Praise the LORD, call upon His name; Declare His deeds among the peoples, make mention that His name is exalted. 5 Sing to the LORD, for He has done excellent things; This is known in all the earth. 6 Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst!”
Our God will prove to all that He Is faithful and will fulfill all His promises. Thank you Lord.
