And He Shall Reign
(Isaiah 11:1-16)
1. During a service at an old synagogue in Eastern Europe, when the Shema prayer was said, half the congregants stood up and half remained sitting. The half that was seated started yelling at those standing to sit down, and the ones standing yelled at the ones sitting to stand up.
The rabbi, learned as he was in the Law and commentaries, didn't know what to do. His congregation suggested that he consult a housebound ninety-eight- year-old man, who was one of the original founders of their synagogue. The rabbi hoped the elderly man would be able to tell him what the actual synagogue tradition was. So the rabbi went to the nursing home with a representative of each faction of the congregation.
The one whose followers stood during the Shema said to the old man, "Is the tradition to stand during this prayer?" The old man answered "No, that is not the tradition." The one whose followers sat said, "Then the tradition is to sit during the Shema!" The old man answered "No, that is not the tradition." Then the rabbi said to the old man "But the congregants fight all the time, yelling at each other about whether they should sit or stand."
The old man interrupted, exclaiming "THAT'S the tradition!"
2. When it comes to understanding Jesus two comings, the tradition held by most of Christendom is to meld them together, and to spiritualize/allegorize what Jesus will do in His Second Coming as fulfilled in His first. “When you spiritualize, you tell spiritual lies.”
Main Idea: Utopia on earth awaits the return of Jesus, because He will be the perfect absolute Monarch.
I. The Messianic FRUIT of the Spirit Was Evident Even in Jesus’ First Coming (1-3a).
A. He will emerge from the line of JESSE (David’s Father) (1).
Last week, Isaiah described Syria and Northern Israel as smoldering stumps, in the process of being burned out. The stump of Jesse/line of David, however, though apparently dead, is still alive!
B. In His first coming He was empowered by the SPIRIT (2a).
• The Kenosis – Christ worked miracles with the Father’s permission in power of the Spirit.
• The Spirit came upon Jesus at His baptism; He worked no miracles before this. The Holy Spirit was always active in His life, demonstrated by His great knowledge at the Temple when 12.
1. The Spirit will produce WISDOM and understanding.
a) Wisdom: ability to make good choices, understanding: ability to grasp situations at a deep level.
b) People who are deep don’t always have wisdom, & people who have wisdom not always deep.
2. The Spirit will give Him COUNSEL and might.
a) Counsel suggests the ability to formulate a plan.
b) Might suggest the ability to carry out the plan.
c) Some do not plan, but just react to life; no real strategy. House on sand (Matt. 7:24-27).
d) Others dream & plan, but do not follow through, perhaps their plans are. Most often because they do not set up a system. Some people can’t make it to church. Intentions.
e) Everything that happened when Jesus died was planned, including timing and manner of His death. At Gethsemane, through prayer, Jesus gained the might He needed.
3. The Spirit will give Him spiritual knowledge and REVERENCE.
a) Serving God involves understanding God and what pleases Him.
b) Pleasing God must be based upon an attitude of reverence.
c) We respect God by obeying God and recalibrating our view of Who God is & who we are.
d) Some of us do not have a God Who is big enough.
C. He will DELIGHT in the Lord.
• He will consider it a privilege to serve God.
D. The Holy Spirit seeks to produce SIMILAR fruit in our lives.
II. The FUTURE Messianic Millennial KINGDOM Will Be Unique (3b-16).
Notice that the world rapidly changes from wars and oppression to these utopian conditions when the King comes; peace comes first from the war against the oppressors with Jesus leading the charge. This is not the church conquering the world over centuries, nor the influence of Christianity upon the world. This is rapid, sometime violent, certain peace and righteous government administered through strength. You can understand why the first century Jews expected a conquering Messiah.
A. His standard will be perfect JUSTICE (3b-5, 10).
1. People entering the Millennial Kingdom are mortal sinners; we will help reign with Jesus.
2. Notice that even in the Millennial Kingdom there are poor people; they will be treated justly, but even the Kingdom Age is not one of socialism.
3. Notice also the presence of capital punishment.
4. He will be righteous and faithful in His administration of justice.
B. His reign will transform the natural REALM (6-9).
• Whether change in animal behavior is limited to Mt. Zion or worldwide is not clear.
• All the covenants find their total fulfillment at Christ’s second coming under New Cove.
The Covenant of Noah (Gen. 9) is about just government, Christ will institute that.
The Abrahamic Covenant (Gen. 12,15) is about Israel getting all the land promised to them, about Abraham’s many descendants dwelling in the land of Israel and blessing all the nations through these descendants.
The Mosaic Covenant (Ex. 20-24) is also connected to what some call the Palestinian Covenant – Israel will live in Torah obedience and thus dwell in the land.
The Priestly Covenant as Phineas’ descendants (Num. 25) will minister as priests in the temple predicted by Ezekiel.
The Davidic Covenant as David’s Descendant, Jesus, reigns on the throne (Ps. 89)
The New Covenant – with all Israel believing at the Second Coming – is what empowers the fulfillment of all the covenants God announced.
C. The world will come to Jesus for DIRECTION (10).
John 3:14, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up…”
Zechariah 8:23, “Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’”
• We have an advantage; we can come to Jesus now with life’s decisions. It is so easy for us to be sovereigns over our own lives, as though we had that right; we are slaves of Jesus Christ, not our own.
• It really isn’t about what I want or like – or at least it shouldn’t be.
D. His CONQUEST will be complete, as will Israel’s return (11-16).
1. This occurs during and right after Armageddon.
2. A clear case of peace through strength.
3. Nations will live in harmony with one another, Messiah King being King over all the earth.
Alvan Lewis wrote, “In the past 6,000 years of recorded history only 200 of those have been peaceful. It is estimated that between 90 and 95 % of all known societies have engaged in war on a fairly regular basis. And yet we talk peace. And all sorts of smart people have claimed we were on the verge of utopia. In 1897 Hiram Maxim invented the fully automatic machine gun. He predicted that it would bring about worldwide peace because his gun had such devastating effects....”
