Nine Lessons #4: Isaiah 11

Photo credit: SarahRichterArt | Pixabay

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
   from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
   the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
   the Spirit of counsel and of might,
   the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
   or decide by what he hears with his ears;
   but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
   with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
   with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
Righteousness will be his belt
   and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

The wolf will live with the lamb,
   the leopard will lie down with the goat,
   the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
   and a little child will lead them.

The cow will feed with the bear,
   their young will lie down together,
   and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
   and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
They will neither harm nor destroy
   on all my holy mountain,
   for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
   as the waters cover the sea.

Isaiah 11:1-9

Each time I've had a newborn baby, people ask me 'is s/he good?'  (I never know what to say to this!  On a theological level, that baby is born in sin, but also too young to be judged for its actions.  Of course, what they really mean is is s/he quiet?)  However, the fact of the matter is, it is impossible for us to tell what kind of a life our babies will choose to lead - what their personalities will be, how God will use them.  But in this foretelling from Isaiah, we learn about the kind of man, and the kind of God, our Lord Jesus is - the one who is but a baby lying in a manger in our nativity scenes, told even before his birth.

In the first verse, we see that God uses a picture of hope again:  A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.  Jesse was the father of King David - a great Israelite king known as a man after God's own heart.  At the time of Isaiah writing, the Royal family line is now described as a 'stump' - having been cut down from power.  However, as we have seen so many times already, there is hope in the darkness and it comes out of a place of humility.

As we move on to read about this 'Branch', we learn firstly of the intrinsic qualities of the 'Spirit of the Lord' that is resting on Jesus - i.e. the essence of God himself: wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and fear of the Lord.  Fear of the Lord - how can this apply to Jesus, or in other words, to God himself?   Do we see here the essence of the Trinity - Jesus in reference to glorifying his Father and vice versa (see John 17:1) - a trinity made out of love, not a single person self-centredly demanding worship.  As for the other attributes, they too remind us of a God who is worthy of our worship.  The wisdom of God is unfathomable, and if it were not so, it would be wholly inadequate as an answer to a world that is equally unfathomable.

As we move on through the passage we come next to the actions of Jesus, which centre around being a righteous judge.  I sometimes think it's possible that those who have a tendency to shy away from the doctrine of judgement and justice (and I include myself here) are those who have not felt or witnessed the brunt of the injustices and evils in this world.  Special reference is made to the 'poor' and 'needy', for whom it seems injustice has been served.  The righteous judge will right the wrongs of a hurting world. In all, we are reminded of when Jesus quotes Isaiah 61 about himself:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour"
(Luke 4:18-19, Jesus quoting Isaiah 61:1-2).

Many will know, however, that in Jesus' rendition of the later Isaiah passage he leaves off the latter part of the last sentence, and the day of vengeance of our God (Isaiah 61:2), the most common conclusion (to which I hold) being that Jesus did not come for the first time to bring judgement, but that this was delayed until his second coming, so that all may have opportunity to turn to him.  Here we have the whole picture - the Jesus here we are seeing is Jesus seated on the throne when he comes into his Kingdom at some point in the future to judge and restore the world.

And so, we lastly look at what that new world order looks like with Jesus on the throne - the consequences of his just rule - and I think it's very striking.  The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.  Is Isaiah talking figuratively or literally?  Whichever is the case, it is clear that Jesus's rule will not just redress injustice but will also be transformative.  Isaiah does not say that the lions will be cast out when there cannot harm the child, but that peace will come between the two.  It's like saying that the dictator and oppressed will sit down and eat together.  There's clearly two things going on - justice but also transformation.  It's a tantalising glimpse into the saving grace of Jesus.