The Branch from the root of Jesse, Christ’s future kingdom
11
📚And there will come forth a Shoot from the stock 📖 of Jesse,
and a Branch 📖 will grow out
of his roots;
11:1 In Isa 10:33-34 the prophet spoke of the leaders of Assyria as “lofty trees” which God will bring down. Here he speaks of a small “shoot”, a mere “branch”. But this “shoot”, this “branch” is none other than the Messiah, the Child and the Son of Isa 7:14; and Isa 9:6-7, the incarnation of the mighty God, the future Ruler of the whole world. Jesse was David’s father. The “Branch” is from David’s royal house.⚜
2 📚And the Spirit of the LORD will
rest on him,
the Spirit of wisdom
and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and
of the fear of the LORD;
11:2 The Son of God coming as a man was anointed by the Spirit of God – Isa 61:1; Matt 3:16; Luke 4:16-21; Acts 10:37-38. God’s Spirit gives to all of God’s servants in some measure the helps and powers listed in this verse. He gave them all to Christ in the fullest possible measure (John 3:34). Observe the emphasis in this verse and the first words of the next verse on the fear of the LORD. See notes Gen 20:11; Job 28:28; Ps 34:11-14; 111:10; Prov 1:7. Jesus had this kind of fear (reverential awe) in full measure (and no other kind of fear at all). See John 5:30; 8:29; Heb 5:7; Mark 14:36. At the heart of all Jesus said and did was the desire to please and honor God, a reverence for God’s name and person, a fear of displeasing Him. So should it be with all who name the name of God.⚜
3 📚And he will delight in the fear
of the LORD.
And he will not judge by what
he sees with his eyes,
or make decisions by what
he hears with his ears,
4 📚But with righteousness
he will judge the poor,
and make fair decisions
for the meek of the earth.
And he will strike the earth
with the rod 📖 of his mouth,
and with the breath 📖 of his lips
he will slay the wicked.
11:4 Again we see God’s concern for the needy and poor.⚜
5 📚And righteousness will be
the belt for his loins,
and faithfulness the belt
around his waist.
6 📚“And the wolf will dwell
with the lamb,
and the leopard will lie down
by the young goat,
and the calf and the young lion
and the fat cattle together.
And a little child will lead them.
7 And the cow and the bear
will graze;
their young ones will lie
down together.
And the lion will eat straw
like the ox.
8 📚And the nursing child will play
on the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child will put
his hand in the viper’s den.
11:6-8 Will such descriptions be literally fulfilled? Or are they mere poetic expressions signifying a time of peace and safety on earth? Many of us are sure they will be literally fulfilled during a future literal reign of Christ on earth, and who can prove it will not be so? A similar description is found in Isa 65:25 in the midst of a description of a new heaven and earth God will create (Isa 65:17).⚜
9 📚They will neither hurt nor destroy
on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of
the knowledge of the LORD,
as the waters cover the sea.
11:9 Waters cover the sea completely, utterly. There has not been a time since Isaiah when the earth was covered like that with the knowledge of the Lord. But there will be in the future (Isa 2:2-4).⚜
10 📚“And in that day 📖 there will be a
Root of Jesse,
who will stand as a banner
for the people.
Him will the Gentiles seek 📖,
and his place of rest
will be glorious.
11 📚And this will happen
in that day 📖:
the Lord will set his hand again
the second time to recover
the remnant of his people
who are left,
from Assyria, and from Egypt,
and from Pathros, and from Cush,
and from Elam, and from Shinar 📖,
and from Hamath,
and from the islands of the sea.
12 📚And he will set up a banner
for the nations,
and will assemble those driven
out of Israel,
and gather together the dispersed
of Judah from the four corners
of the earth.
13 📚And the envy of Ephraim
will depart,
and the adversaries 📖 of Judah
will be cut off.
Ephraim will not envy Judah,
and Judah will not trouble Ephraim.
14 📚But they will swoop down
on the slopes of the Philistines
toward the west.
Together they will plunder
those of the east;
they will lay their hands on
Edom and Moab,
and the children of Ammon will
obey them.
15 📚And the LORD will utterly destroy
the tongue of the Egyptian sea,
and with his mighty wind
he will wave his hand
over the Euphrates River,
and will split it into seven streams,
and cause men to go
over dry shod.
16 📚And there will be a highway 📖
for the remnant of his people
who are left from Assyria,
as there was for Israel
in the day that he came up out
of the land of Egypt.
11:4-16 These verses look beyond Christ’s first coming to a reign of righteousness over the whole earth. Nothing like the description in these verses has yet taken place, so fulfillment still awaits the future. For the belief of the author of these notes concerning Christ’s reign on earth see notes on Isa 2:2-4; 9:7; Rev 20:4-6.⚜
11:15-16 These geographical changes have not yet appeared. For something similar see Rev 16:12.⚜