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.” Isaiah 11:10
Chapters 11, 12. Messiah’s Just Rule
The “book of Immanuel” closes with a beautiful description of the just rule of Messiah, and of the kingdom he will establish. A Branch (cf. Isa. 4:2-6) will spring from David’s family tree who, filled by God’s Spirit, will bring justice to the blood-stained earth. Even nature will respond to him, and jungle killers become tame. In the day of Messiah’s kingdom Israel’s exiles will be regathered, returning to a land which has at last become a land of rest. In that day God’s people will finally recognize him and find the joy that is always available to those who drink deeply of waters drawn from the well of salvation.
11: 1 The stump of Jesse Jesse was the father of David. This, with the title, Branch, identifies the person in view here as the Messiah, the descendant of David destined to rule the Earth. A Rod from the stem of Jesse represents the new and greater David. As David inaugurated a kingdom of righteousness and peace, the new David, the “rod” or “root” from David’s line (53:2), will establish an incomparably greater kingdom. The words Rod and Branch are messianic terms. They are figurative words for the great descendant of the household of David, the Seed of the woman promised in Gen. 3:15, Jesus Christ Himself.
There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.
11:3-5 How Messiah judges The theme of motive introduced in 10:7-11 is amplified here to include the totality of action and intent. As God, the Messiah knows reality perfectly, so He is able to judge “with righteousness.” His decisions, so unlike the decisions of human government that weigh a person’s human government that weigh a person’s wealth or social standing, will be “for the poor of the earth.” The fact that His judgment will be enforced abosolutely is expressed in the image of striking the earth “with the rod of His mouth.”
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.
11:6 a little child shall lead them: In the coming kingdom, a youngster will be able to lead formerly wild animals. This is the way of emphasizing the end of terror, fright, and danger in the coming kingdom.
“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.
11:11 A second time Many find this phrase significant. Some of the Jews returned to the Holy Land after the Babylonian Captivity, partially fulfilling OT predictions of a regathering. Yet, in A.D. 70 the Jews were scattered among the nations a second time, as Roman armies battered the Jerusalem of Jesus and expelled all Jews from Judea. The second scattering, which history call the diaspora, was even more severe than the first, and has seen the Jewish people settled in every land but their own. Some take the reference to “a second time” to imply bothe the dispersion of A.D. 70 and a supernatural regathering to Palestine when Jesus returns.
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.
11:15 Mighty wind is an allusion to Ex. 14-21-27. The River refers to the Euphrates. Dryshod: As God had provided a dry passage across the Red Sea in the first Exodus, so in the second Exodus He would remove any physical barrier that would hinder the return of His people
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 dry-shod.
The Righteous Reign of the Branch of Jesse
11 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 dry-shod. 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.
