And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse,
and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
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;
and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD:
and he shall not judge after the sight of his eye,
neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:
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.
And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins,
and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.
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.
And the cow and the bear shall feed;
their young ones shall lie down together:
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice den.
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.
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.
Isaiah 11:1 – 10
KJV
Isaiah tells of One who is to come, a Branch, and He will be of the line of David. The Spirit of the LORD will be upon Him. He will possess all seven attributes of the Spirit of God; of the LORD, of wisdom, of understanding, of counsel, of strength, of knowledge, and of the fear of the LORD. The Messiah will have the full measure of the Spirit upon Him.
Isaiah refers back to Jesse who was the father of David because Messiah will not come as a conquering hero but as a newborn babe. The father of David was not a king, but a farmer and he raised sheep. Jesse was the son of Ohed and the grandson of Boaz and Ruth. And the promised One will not be born in a palace but in a stable, a stable that is occupied by animals, so it is dirty, smelly, and rough. In such a place the Savior of the world will begin His earthly life. He will be born in humble beginnings and will grow up with an earthly family until God decrees the time is right and He begins His ministry. After his earthly ministry in completed, Jesus will ascend to heaven for a time and when God decides the time is right, He will return. But this time He will return in power and He will rule.
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.
And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins,
and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.
This passage begins with the promised Messiah coming as a babe but then speaks of His coming in power to rule upon the earth as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Under His rule conditions will be restored as they were before the fall. The animals will live side by side, there will be no predator or prey, all will be vegetarians, eating straw instead of each other.
In the garden God said to the serpent,
Because thou hast done this,
thou art cursed above all cattle,
and above every beast of the field;
upon thy belly shalt thou go,
and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
and I will put enmity between thee and the woman,
and between thy seed and her seed;
it shall bruise thy head,
and thou shalt bruise his heel.
But Isaiah prophesizes that under Christ’s rule the children will play near the serpents and not be harmed.
God’s creation is restored
and the people will seek the LORD.
Jews and Gentiles will come to God’s holy mountain.
COME QUICKLY, LORD JESUS
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