Isaiah 11:10

Isaiah 11:10 says, And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.  In that day referred to Hezekiah’s reign and defeat of Sennacherib and inviting other nations to come under his protection.  In that day ultimately refers to the coming of Christ, Who was the root, or descendant of Jesse, and He would not only come to save the Jews but the Gentiles as well.  

Verse eleven adds, And 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, which shall be 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.  Also, during the reign of Hezekiah, many of the people of the other twelve tribes who were actually referred to as Israel during the divided kingdom would return to Judah and again become a part of God’s people in action and not just in name. Then, this would really be fulfilled when Jesus Christ came to call not only all of Israel to Him, but all people everywhere. 

Verse twelve continues, And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.  Hezekiah would assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather the dispersed of Judah from all over the earth.   Though this might have occurred during the reign of Hezekiah that really was just a temporary thing.  This was forever fulfilled when Jesus Christ came to die for the sins of all mankind and call all people to Him to an everlasting kingdom. 

Verse thirteen concludes, The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.  During the reign of Hezekiah, the envy between the two groups of God’s people would go away.  As followers of Christ, we must be united in our worship of Him and not allow envy and strife to come between us.  Christians cannot effectively witness to the world if we are at war with each other.

Verse fourteen states, But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.  This would have referred to God’s work during the reign of Hezekiah, when He would empower the people of Israel to defeat the Philistines, Edomites, Moabites, and Ammonites.  Today, it applies to the followers of Christ who have been given the power to spiritually defeat all their enemies. 

Verse fifteen adds, And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod.  Isaiah said that God was going to destroy the people of Egypt, or was reminding them of what God had done the first time He delivered the people of Israel from bondage.  We as Christians, if we begin to feel defeated by the world, need to remember that we are already delivered from the power of sin and death by our faith in Jesus Christ. 

Verse sixteen continues, And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.  Isaiah said there would be a highway for the dispersed people to come back to Israel like there was in the day that they came out of Egypt.  Jesus Christ is our only way to God today, and accepting His salvation does not require any hard work on our part.  We simply have to accept Him as our personal Savior and Lord by faith.

 

 

Isaiah 11:1

Isaiah 11:1 says, And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:  The house of Jesse was the one that produced the house of David, who was the one that God’s promise of an everlasting kingdom was made to, and the Branch was Jesus Christ, who fulfilled God’s promise to David.  Jesse was considered to be a small and insignificant family, before David became a mighty king.  Jesus was considered to be a small and insignificant person before He began His ministry and then became the everlasting mighty King after His death, burial, and resurrection.   He is said to be a rod out of the branch, which means a twig and not a mighty branch as Israel had been called before, according to Matthew Henry.  He also points out that here the prophet moves from temporary restoration of Israel, God’s chosen people, to everlasting restoration of God’s chosen people, or all who will put their faith in Jesus Christ.   

Verse two adds, 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 of the fear of the Lord;  Isaiah said this coming Branch, Jesus Christ, would have everything resting on Him.  This was made possible by the Spirit of God resting on Him.  This happened when He began His ministry, though He Himself was God.  This tells us that He was not just God, but fully human as well.  When we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us, giving us access to all the power of God.   

Verse three continues, And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:  Jesus was going to judge by the actions of people and not just by their words.  It is not enough to just proclaim empty words that proclaim that we are a Christian, but our lives should reflect that fact.  Some people today profess to be followers of Christ but then change Who He is by proclaiming Him to just be one way to salvation.  Some profess to be Christians, but their actions never show it.  We are not saved by our actions or works, but once we are saved, our actions or works should show this to the world and to God. 

Verse four states, But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth: with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.  Isaiah said that God would judge the poor with righteousness.  Too often, the poor in the world don’t get the justice that comes from the righteousness of God but are treated less fairly than the rich.  Jesus Christ will never do this, but He will always deal righteously with everyone, I believe especially those who are poor materially who are treated unfairly by the powers of the world,   

Verse five adds, And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.  Jesus Christ is girded in righteousness and faithfulness.  These two things are constantly surrounding Him.  We can always rely on Jesus Christ’s actions to be righteous and for Him to always be faithful to those who put their faith in Him.  He will always want what is best for His people, even when they may not know what they need themselves.   

Verse six continues, The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.  Isaiah said when the kingdom of Jesus Christ comes that even the animals that were now a threat to other animals would live in peace with one another and would be led by a child.  Those animals that had been a threat to people would be tame.  I believe this is the way it was in the beginning before mankind sinned and that when Jesus Christ returns, things will just be restored to what they should have been all along.  Of course, this would also apply to all people who had been enemies.  When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, we should live at peace with all people, especially our fellow Christians. 

Verse seven says, And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.  This is just a continuation of telling us about how peaceful things will be in the coming kingdom of God, which we can only be a part of by accepting Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord.   

Verse eight adds, And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den.  Even small children will be able to play with what had been deadly animals in the coming kingdom of God.  We are never going to see this in the world today, but it is the peace that we will see in the coming kingdom.   

Verse nine continues, 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.  In the coming kingdom of Christ, the knowledge of God will be as abundant as the waters that cover the sea.  This is another way of saying that the whole world will be ruled by God’s purpose, from the animals to the people.  In His coming kingdom, everything will be ruled by righteousness, not of man, but of God.   

Isaiah 10:28

Isaiah 10:28 says, He is come to Aiath, he is passed to Migron; at Michmash he hath laid up his carriages:  This relates how rapidly Sennacherib had overpowered the people of Judah and how little resistance they put up to his advancement according to Matthew Henry. He had even housed his chariots there.  The world may overpower us as followers of Christ today, but we don’t need to make it easy for them by giving up our opposition to the evil in the world.   

Verse twenty-nine adds, They are gone over the passage: they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramah is afraid; Gibeah of Saul is fled. The people of Judah, though they knew the power of God, fled from the Assyrians without a fight.  We should never allow fear of the world to cause us to run away from God and His power.  Even if we die, we will still live forever with God, so there is no reason to be afraid.   

Verse thirty continues, Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim: cause it to be heard unto Laish, O poor Anathoth.  Isaiah said that the people of Anathoth, a priest's city, should be shouting encouragement to others instead of lamenting their weakness when compared to the enemy.  We as Christians when everything seems to be overpowering us need to shout praises to God instead of only talking about our weakness as we face of our enemies.   

Verse thirty-one states, Madmenah is removed; the inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to flee.  Isaiah said instead of the people of Gebim gathering to fight, they had gathered to flee.  We as Christians when we gather today even in the face of what seem to be overpowering enemies need to gather in opposition to these enemies and not just so that we can give up without a fight.   

Verse thirty-two adds, As yet shall he remain at Nob that day: he shall shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.  Isaiah said that even though Sennacherib would get in sight of Jerusalem and shake his hand against it, he would not defeat it.  This is the promise of God to believers in Christ today.  The evil forces in the world may get close to us and even shake their hands in power against us, but they will never defeat us spiritually unless we lose faith in God.   

Verse thirty-three continues, Behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled.  Isaiah said that those who thought themselves to be so powerful in their fight against Judah, God’s chosen people, would be brought down by the power of God.  This is what we as followers of Christ must remember today.  We do not fight by our power, but by the power of God, and there is no one who can stand against Him.   

Verse thirty-four concludes, And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.  This is a reference to how vast the army of Assyria was.  Their spears when lifted up looked like a forest, but God was going to hew them down.  As Christians, we may see our enemies as overpowering today, but God will cut down every one of them, even if we lose the battle in this lifetime.   We simply need to stand fast spiritually by our faith in God.