News today can have quite a detrimental effect on mental health, so much so that softwares have been developed to censor news. The news often contain stories of war, death, geopolitical tensions and conflicts, disease, job loss, abuse and these show us that we live in a fallen and broken world.
Today, we will see in Isaiah that even when things look grim and hopeless, the Lord is working to restore and heal and unite and bless, and may we also see God at work in our world today.
(A) The root of Jesse: A signal to all nations (Isa 11:10)
As we read in the previous week’s study, there will be a root of Jesse (Isa 11:1). We also saw how from Jesse comes David, and it is the line of kings through whom Jesus will eventually come from. God’s spirit will also fill him and stay with him and he will be so filled with the Spirit that he will be able to do God’s word.
In that day, the root of Jesse will be a signal for the people, for all the nations (Isa 11:10). The nations will inquire of Him, (i.e. look to Him) and He will bring a glorious resting place. He is not just a glorious Messiah for the people that Isaiah is writing to, but is really a Messiah for all the nations. This is fulfilled as we read Paul’s later writings in Rom 15:12. The nations will see that He is glorious and in Him, the Gentiles have hope.
Today, we know that Jesus is the glorious descendant of David who all nations will look to. He will usher in a glorious resting place and will bring even the Gentiles, you and me hope. This is also something we sometimes gloss over and take for granted, but it is important that we remember that salvation was graciously extended to us
As we read this, we should also be led to consider what we turn to and hope in instead of Jesus? Many of us put our hope in money, success, achievement or other worldly things. We spend our time chasing after and ensuring these things, but the Bible is clear that true hope for the Jews and the Gentiles is only found in Jesus who is a signal to all and who ushers in a glorious resting place. And as we continue to read on, we will see more of the gloriously different world that Jesus brings, a glorious world that only exists because of him.
(B) The Lord’s People: United and victorious (Isa 11:11-16)
In Isa 11:11, we read that the Lord will extend his hand “yet a second time” and a series of places are named. However, this time, the places mentioned are different from earlier mentions. God is therefore working to also in and among the peoples that are far away. Even if you are in the great and proud nation of Egypt, it doesn’t stop God!
The language of hand extension was previously used to demonstrate God’s personal involvement, e.g. in Exo 3:19-20. When God acts, it is also marvellous and powerful. These words would provide comfort for Israel. They would think back and remember the Exodus where God extended His mighty hand to sovereignly deliver them from oppression through magnificent acts of power.
Here, Assyria and Egypt are mentioned first and were the superpowers at the time and also the LORD’s enemies. This to them may have appeared shocking, unbelievable. Isaiah is showing that when the Lord decides to act, when He decides to do something by His own hand, nothing can stand against. No superpower, no distance can prevent God from doing as He decides. If you were Israel, worrying about geopolitical conflicts, this would really put things in perspective, it would be a clear reminder that God is sovereign and no power or earthly force can stand against His will.
Isa 11:12-14 goes on to write about what the Lord will do in that day and what would each act mean to Israel. Firstly, we read of how He will raise a signal for the nations and assemble the banished of Israel (north) and gather the dispersed of Judah (south) (Isa 11:12). God will bring the split kingdoms back and unite them from the four corners of the earth. There is no distance known to man that can stop God from doing this. Perhaps an easier way to understand this is to see the effect of the Korean War on families who lie on both side of the divide. Israel might have similar effects when they were split and it must have affected families and relationships too.
In Isa 11:13. we see that the Lord will cause the enmity and division within God’s people to be healed. This conflict was rooted in their history, as detailed for us in 1 Ki 11:9-13 and 1 Ki 12:16-19. This was a long-standing, deep rift, yet God can reach into deeply rooted and seemingly intractable conflicts and bring peace. He can reach into the deepest emotional wounds and bring healing. Here we see a glimpse of who our God is, a wonderful healer who can reach into the depths of human sin and bring peace.
Lastly, we read of how Judah and Ephraim will together swoop down on the shoulder of the Philistines and plunder the people of the east (Isa 11:14). They will put out their hand against Edom and Moab and the Ammonites will obey them. This is a guarantee of not just unity, but victory over the surrounding nations. God not only heals His people, He also unites them to bring them victory and blessing.
This conquest seems to contradict the images of peace that we just covered. But we must understand that the Messiah is one who ushers in peace but also judgment. This also means victory for God’s people over their powerful enemies. Overall, this verse is comforting for a people who are deeply concerned with geopolitical conflicts. It guarantees them that God is sovereign still and guarantees them eventual victory and vindication.
This passage shows us that God’s people will be unified in a spiritual and physical way. He will gather the people but will also do a work in their hearts! This physical gathering is a precious picture and we treasure and cherish it more now in pandemic times. Not only that, it is also precious that God can achieve unity. Sin often gets in the way of ministry and the church and hurts are not uncommon. Yet God can reach into this mess and make hearts right again.
In Christ, there is a sense in which we have this unity already. As Paul lays out the unifying power of the gospel in c.f. Eph 2:13, we read of how people that are different and separated — Jew and Gentile— are made one in Jesus Christ. There was distance before, but in Christ there is intimacy. God can reach across different groups to brings them together. How? We know that we are all equally sinful and condemned in our sin and thus, all equal need the salvation that can only be found in Christ. Because of this good news, enemies become not only friends, but brothers and sisters of the same family who share the blood of Christ.
Isaiah goes on to write about how God will bring about the destruction of Egypt (Isa 11:15a). There is also a mention of the River, which is the River Euphrates. The Sea and the River are obstacles to the gathering of God’s people, but these will be demolished! Just like how God led the people out of Egypt in the Exodus, God will also do the same when He brings His people together again (Isa 11:16). It is interesting to note how Isaiah is using Scripture to describe and talk about other events. The biblical structures on the left of the Bible help us to understand what’s on the right.
The River was also a constant symbol of pride and source of wealth for Egypt and the entire nation and economy was built around the Nile. God speaks of destroying it, and therefore, in doing so, speaks of devastating Egypt. Egypt and her prideful ways will be destroyed.
In Isa 11:16, we also read of how He will make a highway from Assyria as there was from the land of Egypt for Israel before. Once again, this refers to the Exodus and reminds the people that God has done this before and can and will do it once more.
These 2 verses speak of the 2 greatest powers (Assyria and Egypt) at the time, and this shows that no worldly powers can stand in God’s way. God here is powerful, He is mighty and He is unstoppable. He rightly opposes the powerful and proud and humbles them in devastating ways.
(C) A New Order: Peace on earth (Isa 11:6-9)
We skipped Isa 11:6-9 when we started this study and we will now go back to it.
Isaiah is painting for us a picture of the world under this root of Jesse. In this world, predator and prey seem to be at peace (Isa 11:6). Animals seem to eat the same food and are peaceful herbivores (Isa 11:7). The curse of Gen 3 seems to have been reversed here (Isa 11:8)!
The world being described in these verses seem so foreign to us.Our world is full of danger — wolves hunt lambs, lions hunt fattened calves. In our world, the predator preys on the weak — bears hurt cows, cobras attack children, adder would bite the hand of a child. Little children do not lead such animals, and in fact, we actively seek to protect our children from such dangers. We live in a world of power struggles and oppression. Nations fight and relationships are broken. We are also constantly facing death. This is the broken world we live in after Gen 3. Thus, the world here seems so ideal and absurd and unrealistic.
Yet, this is the world that the root of Jesse will usher in. This is a world that is profoundly peaceful, a contrast to our world that is tainted by the fall. How is this possible?
Isa 11:9 shows us that this is because the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD, in the same way that the waters cover the sea. The knowledge of the LORD has the power to change everything. In this new world, hurt and destruction will be removed. This new world will be characterised by knowing the LORD and peace. This will remove harm and foster peace in the entire earth, this includes not just human beings but the animals as well.
What does this mean for us? This passage is apt for a season of Advent and as we look forward to Christmas. We know that our true hope is in the root of Jesse, Jesus Christ. Jesus comes and promises peace. As we’ve read earlier in Isa 9, He is the prince of peace. And for us today, we don’t need to wait for the final day to experience this peace. We have peace with God – the most important peace of all. We who intentionally wrong God by indulging in sin, we who are greedy and lustful and proud – we have peace with God in Christ who took on the wrath we deserved so that he could confer on us peace with God.
Dear Christian, do we live like our Saviour? Our Saviour describes himself in Matt 11 :29 as one who is “gentle and lowly in heart” and in Him, will we find rest for our souls. How are we living? Are we like him, or are we like a predator who eats its prey?
This has very practical application for most, if not all of us. Today, it is so easy to be harsh and mean. We’ve been deprived of so much of life that we enjoy and its easy to be irritable and harsh and mean to those that we have power over. But we can be transformed in Christ. When we are full of God’s knowledge, when we truly see the cross of Jesus Christ, we don’t need to eat our prey, we don’t need to lord our influence and power over others. We become secure because at the cross, we have nothing to lose or prove anymore for Christ has given us all that matters. He has given us the riches of salvation and restored us into right relationship with God. Through that he gives us true peace in every sense of the word. We are truly secure and our souls can find rest.
Isaiah also calls us to look forward to an eternity where there will be no hurt, where there will be no fear and where there will be no abuse of power. There will be final peace. Rev 21 shows us what we can look forward to.
This can seem so far away and today, the world of Gen 3 is more of a reality than what’s being spoken of here in Isa 11 and promised in Rev 21. But this future hope is also a present encouragement because we can look all of our present struggles and injustices and know this is not how the world will end. We can hope in the future and that is a powerful thing.
At the same time, it should also spur us to share the hope that can only be found in Christ. None of our human efforts and endeavours can bring about true, lasting and perfect peace. It can only be brought about when the earth is full of the knowledge of the Lord. Thus, shouldn’t we lift Jesus up before a world of conflict and the accursed so that the knowledge of God covers the earth more and more? Surely we need to tell the world about Him, until one day, our faith becomes sight and the King returns to rule.