“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.”
Isa. 11:1,2
Isaiah’s prophecies are marked by the contrast between God’s blessings and God’s judgment; blessings upon those who obey God, and judgment upon those who do not. The centuries that followed Isaiah’s lifetime were marked by God’s judgment. The nation of Israel was conquered, exiled, and persecuted. Years of desolation passed before the prophetic Branch of Isaiah 11:1 came. Isaiah would have been astounded had he understood the full impact that this Branch was to have, not only on his nation, but on people everywhere. And he would have wept had he realized how many centuries would pass (twenty-seven and counting!) before this prophecy would be completely fulfilled.
God’s people are forsaken
Before considering the opening words of Isaiah chapter 11, it is helpful to look at chapter 6’s description of Isaiah’s commission from God, an event that likely took place over 40 years before. In the first seven verses, Isaiah recounts his vision of the throne of God. This passage stands out in the Old Testament as the place where God’s glory is revealed to man in the most visible and powerful way. Isaiah was overcome with wonder and fear. He says, “Woe is me! For I am undone: because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts” (v. 5). The Lord then cleansed Isaiah and commissioned him for service. Isaiah’s calling, however, stands out in stark contrast with the glory and power of his vision. The message the Lord had prepared for Isaiah was filled with desolation and despair. The Lord told him that his preaching would be ignored—the people would “see” but not “perceive”; they would “hear” but not “understand” (v. 10). Shocked, Isaiah asked, “Lord, how long?”, and the Lord’s response is one of Scripture’s most hopeless prophecies concerning God’s people. The Lord told Isaiah that Israel would be desolate until:
…cities are laid waste and without inhabitant, The houses are without a man, the land is utterly desolate, The Lord has removed men far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. But yet a tenth will be in it, and will return and be for consuming, as a terebinth tree or as an oak, whose stump remains when it is cut down. So the holy seed shall be its stump. (Isa. 6:11-13, NKJV)
The Lord did not answer Isaiah’s question, instead He told him that the nation of Israel was going to be reduced to nothing more than a dried stump in the ground—seemingly forsaken by their God; as good as dead. And this proved to be the case in history. From this point forward Israel slowly drifted from God and from prominence among the nations until 150 years later when they were decisively conquered and lead into captivity. Seventy more years passed while the remnant left in the land were consumed by the culture and practices of the conquering nations.
Hope springs forth
The image presented in chapter 6 is hopeless. Israel is pictured as a century-old stump, dried up and wasting away. The nation that God used to judge Israel is similarly “lopped down” (read about God’s judgment on Assyria in chapter 10). But then we get to chapter 11, and in the midst of this desolation there appears a message of hope! What peace it must have given Isaiah when he realized that God was not finished with Israel, and that some day “there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots”! Israel would have to wait centuries for her Messiah to come, but eventually the words of Job would ring true: “For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground” (Job 14:7,?8). The Branch was none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of David and the promised Messiah. Isaiah 11:2 could be a description of no one but Him: “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.”
The remainder of the chapter outlines three characteristics of the restoration that the Messiah will bring to the world.
1. The restoration of righteous judgment
When the Messiah comes, “He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears: But with righteousness shall He judge the poor” (vv. 3, 4). Who but the Son of God could judge in true righteousness and not simply by what is seen and heard? Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of this passage. When He came to earth as our sacrifice we saw a glimpse of the righteousness and peace that He will someday bring to the nations. When He comes again the world will experience, for the first time, absolute perfect judgment.
2. The restoration of peace to the nations
When Jesus Christ comes to reign, the world will experience true peace. In that day, mankind will be able to experience personal peace with God, the peace that “passes all understanding” (Php. 4:7), as well as geo-political peace such as the world has never known. Imagine a world where even the wild beasts are gentle towards the weak (vv. 6-8). Small wonder that all the nations will seek Him (v. 10), and “His rest shall be glorious.”
3. The restoration of Israel to their land
In that day, Israel will be fully restored to their promised land. It is significant that in verse 11 Isaiah refers to this restoration as the second time that the Lord recovers the remnant of His people. Isaiah’s prophecy was looking beyond the first restoration of Israel to their land, a restoration which occurred under Cyrus the Persian nearly 200 years after Isaiah wrote these words. It was looking beyond that significant day in May, 1948, when Israel was once again recognized as a nation. This prophecy will be fully realized when God’s Chosen One, Jesus Christ, the Root and the Offspring of David (Rev. 22:16), gathers His chosen people from the four corners of the earth (Isa. 11:12), and they say, “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: For the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; He also is become my salvation” (Isa. 12:2).
Our experience as Christians is not unlike Israel’s. We were spiritually desolate before Jesus came into our lives; spiritually dead in fact (Eph. 2:1). We were outside the promised blessings of His chosen people (v. 12). But God had not forsaken us, just as God had not forsaken His people Israel. His plan was to redeem us and to restore us to Himself. But even though we were not forsaken, Someone else was. Before righteousness and peace could be restored in this world and brought to our lives, Jesus Christ, the rod out of the stem of Jesse—the very One that these glorious verses describe—was forsaken by God (Mt. 27:46), and He died for us (Isa. 53:5; Rom. 5:8). How easy it ought to be to love God when we consider how He expressed His love to us!
“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and send His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 Jn. 4:10)