Isaiah-11&12

Isaiah 11:1-5 – The triumph

Isaiah 11:1-5 (ESV) – The Davidic Messiah bringing peace to the world…
¹  There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
²  And 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 the fear of the LORD.
³  And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
⁴  but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
⁵  Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
 

V.1 – a shoot grows – it becomes a branch and bears fruit.  Some 2000 years ago from a failed ancient dynasty of King David’s linage. Jesus has the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

V.2-4 – The truth is that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ.   Colossians 2:3 (ESV)
³  in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

V.5 – Christ is not clothed with the trappings of a human leader that their base drive is their ego, but He is driven by righteousness and faithfulness.  We can trust him without being guarded.  To hold back would be not trusting in him.

Today, a great sin is that of “wishy-washy” stand toward Christ in that we start to trust him and then turn to trusting ourselves.

Isaiah 11:6-9

⁶  The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.
⁷  The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
⁸  The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
⁹  They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

Isaiah is not telling us ‘when’ but telling us ‘who’.  That is what the “good news” is.  We are called to embrace it!

There will be no evil, conflict, or death on God’s holy mountain.

Isaiah 11:10-16 (ESV)
¹⁰  In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.
¹¹  In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea.
¹²  He will raise a signal for the nations and will assemble the banished of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
¹³  The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart, and those who harass Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah, and Judah shall not harass Ephraim.
¹⁴  But they shall swoop down on the shoulder of the Philistines in the west, and together they shall plunder the people of the east. They shall put out their hand against Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites shall obey them.
¹⁵  And the LORD will utterly destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt, and will wave his hand over the River with his scorching breath, and strike it into seven channels, and he will lead people across in sandals.
¹⁶  And there will be a highway from Assyria for the remnant that remains of his people, as there was for Israel when they came up from the land of Egypt.

An assurance to us that when Christ comes again no earthly power can prevent his followers’ joy.  No matter what happens between this time of the promise and the fulfillment of it he will bring us safely home from all over the world in a second ‘exodus’ and nothing can prevent it.

We will then forget the old denominational jealousies as we unite in victory over all evil and enjoy the happy homecoming of all God’s people throughout the earth and time.

“He will raise a signal” – is a flag drawing us in.  The signal is his cross.  He wins us not with human swagger and intimidation or human flesh, but with his own dying love.

God assembles three groups of people:  a) the nations; b) the dispersed Israelites and c) the scattered people of Judah.  He return all the remnant possible with a complee defeat of any natural or human force that might try to stand in his way.

Isaiah 12:1-6   The Lord is My Strength and My Song

Isaiah 12:1-6 (ESV)
¹  You will say in that day: “I will give thanks to you, O LORD, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me.
²  “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”
³  With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
⁴  And you will say in that day: “Give thanks to the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted.
⁵  “Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth.
⁶  Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

V.1-2 – Grace individually personalized: confident testimony

V.2a – Trust God!  Will we trust Him in our crises?  Trust Him to feel secure with Him along.  “Real faith” is the key.  God puts into our hearts the capacity and the freedom to break out into songs of wonder as his saving love fills our hearts.  That holy delight is what we were created for.

We accept Him, not mattering if we are in control, but dependent on Him.

Psalm 63:1 (ESV)
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

V.3 – Grace deeply accessed: rich enjoyment

John 7:37-38 (ESV)
³⁷  On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.  ³⁸  Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

V.4-6 – Grace corporately proclaimed: universal mission

Over the world, the one message that exalts the truth about God.

True Christianity isn’t primarily a matter of control; primarily it’s overflowing fullness.  That is the triumph of grace.

From the start God has wanted to dwell among his people.  Note below:

Exodus 25:8 (ESV)
⁸  And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.

John 1:14 (ESV)
¹⁴  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Zechariah 2:10-11 (ESV)
¹⁰  Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the LORD.
¹¹  And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.