Isaiah 11-12

As we said in yesterday’s study, the deliverance of Israel is not finished when the Assyrian’s were judged by God.  After Hezekiah came another wicked king, Manasseh, whose sin moved God to say that He would no more pardon Judah.  God used Babylon to remove Judah and destroy Jerusalem, introducing the times of the Gentiles.  Israel would be confined to living under the authority of other nations, fearfully roaming the nations to which they were dispersed.  But …

There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. This is the ultimate deliverance.  It is the time of Messiah’s earthly kingdom.  The Child, born of a virgin, will carry the government on His shoulders. 

·        His reign will be perfect in righteousness, 11:3-5.

·        His reign will see the lifting of the curse that was rooted in the sin of mankind in the Garden of Eden, 11:6-9.

·        In that day the One who is both from the stem of Jesse (his descendant, 11:1) and the Root of Jesse (his ancestor, 11:10) will, for the second time (the first was bringing them from Egypt) recover the remnant of His people who are left (11:11-16).  How amazing.  A highway will be open for the remnant to return from wherever they are in the world.  

The result of it all is that in that day Israel will finally be God’s holy people.  This was His intention from the beginning when the nation was formed coming out of Egypt (Deut. 7:6).  Israel’s praise in that day is two-fold.

·        12:1-3: Israel will understand what God was doing (cf. Ezek. 39:25-29).  God was rightfully angry with Israel; but in that day He is their salvation, their deliverance.  This is why they will sing the song of Moses as Rev. 15:3 says.  That song, from Deut. 32, had predicted Israel’s path over the centuries.  Now Israel will know; and so will the nation who had treated them so spitefully (Ezek. 37:28; 39:23).  Joyfully they will draw from the well of salvation; no more will they drink water from the broken cisterns of idolatry they had tried to live on (Jer. 2:13). 

·        12:4-6: Israel will no longer be obsessed with her suffering and affliction.  The pure focus of their praise will be on the Lord and His wonderful works.  And there will be no confusion about it: the Messiah (Immanuel, the Child) will be the Holy One of Israel in your midst (12:6; Acts 3:14; Mark 1:24).

All of this fits the mystery of God, the plan of God from before time to exalt His Son, giving Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow … and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:9-11).  Friend, today is the day of salvation.  Jews and people of the nations: today is the day to no longer stumble over Jesus but to confess Him as Lord!