Isaiah 11:1

Again in this chapter Isaiah returns to one of his favorite topics, the Messiah and his kingdom, revealing that he will descend through the posterity of the family of Jesse, thus the Root of Jesse, the Branch.

This follows logically upon the projected fulfillment of the destruction both of Israel and of Assyria; but it is significant that whereas there were no sprouts or shoots coming up from the felled forest of Lebanon, since cedars do not produce sprouts after being cut down. God's choice of the metaphor, therefore, in his use of the word "Lebanon" for Assyria, shows that Assyria would never recover from their destruction. However, Judah was represented by another type of tree, such as an oak, that will indeed preserve life after being cut down, and will send forth a sprout or shoot to make a new tree. Note that both Assyria and Israel are by this prophecy doomed to be cut down or destroyed.

True to Isaiah's promise of a revelation from God a little at a time, "line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little" (See Introduction), Isaiah here gives additional information about: (1) the Messiah; (2) kingdom of God; (3) the character of Christians; (4) the punishment of Israel; (5) the destruction of Assyria; (6) the call of the Gentiles; and (7) the triumph of Christianity.

Isaiah 11:1-5

"And there shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, a branch out of his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of Jehovah 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 Jehovah. And his delight shall be in the fear of Jehovah; and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither decide after the hearing of his ears; but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and decide 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 waist, and faithfulness the girdle of his loins."

"Out of the stock of Jesse ..." The implication here is that the shoot and the branch to come forth from this stock will not occur until Jesse and the entire Davidic monarchy have completely fallen. Peake would not allow this necessary inference; and upon his unsupported denial of it, insisted that the passage "is not Isaiah's."[1] However, it is impossible to suppose that, merely because of Isaiah's friendship for Ahaz, he would not have delivered the word of God against the House of David. Had not Isaiah many years previously to the "cutting down of Israel" named his first-born Shear-Jashub? And in that name both the stock of Jesse and the shoot or branch appear in the form of the return from captivity inherently prophesied in the name Shear-Jashub. The allegations of scholars such as Peake are unacceptable.

The time indicated for this prophecy came, "When the house of David had fallen into such a state of dishonor and disrepute (Amos 9:11) that the prophet did not refer to it by David's name, but by the name of David's father Jesse."[2]

Both Assyria and Judah were about to be destroyed. Assyria would never rise again, but Judah, like the stump of an oak tree would carry within itself the sap of life and would send forth a Root, a Branch out of the stump of Judah; and in the very midst of this discouraging picture God held forth hope and promise to that small righteous remnant who would return from captivity; and from them the Messiah would be born, and the glory of Israel would once more appear in the New Israel composed of both Jews and Gentiles! The difference in the ultimate fates of Assyria and Judah appears in the prophecy which gave Lebanon as a metaphor for Assyria (a reference to their cedars). As many have noted, "Cedars when felled throw out no fresh suckers."[3]

The reference here to the coming Messiah as being from the stock of Jesse should not compromise the truth that the Messiah is the Second David. Christ is called the "Root of David" also in Revelation 5;5; 22:16. "There is a resumption here of the theme of Isaiah 9:6,"[4] namely, that of the Coming Messiah.

"And the Spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon him ..." This refers to the anointing of Jesus Christ on the occasion of his baptism (Matthew 3:16). Note the words "shall rest"; the scriptures plainly reveal that the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus and "remained upon Him." This was the very event that revealed to John the Baptist that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the Son of God (John 1:32-33).

The anointing of Jesus Christ with the Spirit of God was no partial or incomplete thing, for God gave his Spirit to Christ, "without measure" (John 3:34), this being signified here by the words "shall rest upon him." Peake pointed out that this Holy Spirit fully equipped Jesus with, "Six modes of manifestation, intellectual, practical, and religious."[5] See the discussion of Aaron's anointing and its typical relation to that of Christ in Vol. 3 of my Pentateuchal Series, pp. 66-73. Just as the measureless gift of the Holy Spirit in Christ was typified by pouring liberal amounts of the anointing oil upon Aaron's head, the far lesser gift of the Holy Spirit promised to Christ's followers was typified by the merely "sprinkling" of the anointing oil upon the garments of the ordinary priests.

Isaiah 11:3-4 here contrast the righteous judgment of Christ with that which was evidently common in Judea when this was written. "We can clearly read between the lines the contrast,"[6] of the kind of judgment then current on the throne of Israel with the righteous judgment of Jesus Christ. His high regard of the meek and the poor of earth was a constant characteristic of his earthly ministry.

The reference in Isaiah 11:4 to Messiah's, "smiting the earth with the rod of his mouth," and his slaying the wicked with "the breath of his lips," is fully equivalent to the declaration that the Messiah will be God. "The creative virtue of the Word belongs properly to Jehovah."[7] The words of the Holy King prophesied in these verses, "In the last day will consign to everlasting life or everlasting death,"[8] every man ever born upon earth.

"Righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist ..." All of these first verses extol the character, ability, integrity, honor, and righteousness of the Holy Messiah.