For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Isaiah 11:1-9

1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
    from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him –
    the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and of might,
    the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord –
3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
    or decide by what he hears with his ears;
4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
    with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
    with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness will be his belt
    and faithfulness the sash round his waist.

6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
    the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
    and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear,
    their young will lie down together,
    and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
    and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
9 They will neither harm nor destroy
    on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

A. Find Out:

1. How is this new ‘person’ described? v.1-3a
2. How will he not judge and how will he judge? v.3b,4a
3. What will he also do & how will he operate? v.4b,5
4. What effects will there be in the animal kingdom? v.6-8
5. How will there be change, and why? v.9

B. Think:

1. How does v.1 picture-language flow on from Ch.10?
2. What will be the motivating force of this individual?
3. What two things will he bring on the earth?

C. Comment:

Chapter 10 ends with a picture of trees being cut down. Chapter 11 starts with reference to a stump. Out of a nation judged will arise one who is destined for great things, one who will trace his lineage back to King David (v.1).

The life or energy of this person is clearly the Holy Spirit who is described as the bringer of wisdom, understanding, counsel, power, knowledge and fear of the Lord. All of these are clearly related to the Lord for they mean he delights in that awesome respect (fear) of the Lord. It is a God-relationship spoken about here (v.2-3).

The nature of the activity of this person is not that of an ordinary man for he will not operate by what he sees or hears (v.3) but he will operate with righteousness and justice (v.4). Everything, in other words, will be based on truth. He will speak this truth and it will have devastating effect upon the earth so the wicked are brought down by it (v.4). Indeed righteousness and faithfulness (to God) will be the key to his ministry. The effect of his activity will be the most amazing peace upon the earth – presumably if it is literal, at some future time. If it is figurative then it is a wonderful picture of the peace that Jesus brings when he brings righteousness and justice through his work on the Cross. When he took our sin, justice was done. When he took our sin he replaced it with righteousness and peace. How wonderful!

D. Application:

1. Jesus came to deal with our sin. Justice prevails!
2. With our sin removed, peace reigns.

Passage: Isaiah 11:10-16

10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting-place will be glorious. 11 In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the surviving remnant of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the Mediterranean.

12 He will raise a banner for the nations
    and gather the exiles of Israel;
he will assemble the scattered people of Judah
    from the four quarters of the earth.
13 Ephraim’s jealousy will vanish,
    and Judah’s enemies will be destroyed;
Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah,
    nor Judah hostile towards Ephraim.
14 They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia to the west;
    together they will plunder the people to the east.
They will subdue Edom and Moab,
    and the Ammonites will be subject to them.
15 The Lord will dry up
    the gulf of the Egyptian sea;
with a scorching wind he will sweep his hand
    over the River Euphrates.
He will break it up into seven streams
    so that anyone can cross over in sandals.
16 There will be a highway for the remnant of his people
    that is left from Assyria,
as there was for Israel
    when they came up from Egypt.

A. Find Out:

1. What will that root do on that day? v.10
2. From where will the Lord gather His people? v.11,12
3. What will happen with the northern and southern kingdom? v.13,14
4. What will the Lord do? v.15
5. For what purpose? v.16

B. Think:

1. Who is this passage really about?
2. What will happen to them?
3. What will be the cause for them to return?

C. Comment:

Rather than work our way through this passage, it may be easier to simply answer the questions above. This passage is first and foremost about the remnant of Israel that will yet be left after the Lord’s disciplining (v.11,12,16)

Next, this remnant looks like they will be joined with people from all nations (v.10,12) who will come flocking back to Israel. Any thoughts about past divisions will be put aside (v.13) as their enemies are overcome (v.14), after the Lord has gone out and cleared the way for them to return, from both the north and the south (v.15), from wherever they may still be in exile (v.16).

Finally the cause of this return is the ‘root of Jesse’ (v.10), the one referred to earlier as the Branch (11:1). The emphasis in v.10 is on peoples from all nations flocking to him and the remnant of Israel will be in addition to these peoples. This is a massive gathering.

Now it is easy to read it but it is not so easy to interpret or apply what has been said. As the figure of the Branch is so obviously Jesus, we are left wondering if this is all figurative language that refers to the great age of church history and the salvation he brings to all men, including Jews who are open to him (Rom 10:12,13), or whether it refers to a great final gathering at the end of times (Rom 11:23-26) where all Israel will also be gathered in by salvation through Christ.

D. Application:

1. Salvation is for ALL who believe in Jesus Christ.
2. God’s long-term plan includes Israel.