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Home , Isaiah 1, Isaiah 10, Isaiah 11, Isaiah 2, Isaiah 9

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We are going through a series called “The meaning of Christmas” this December, taking some time to understand what Christmas is all about. To answer the question, we are reading through the Messianic prophecies in the book of , written in the 8th-7th century B.C. As we saw last week, was in moral decay, and their king, King , made an alliance with instead of trusting in God to protect and rescue them. But even though they are facing exile and discipline, God promises in that a child will be born, and he will be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace. God will become human. That is the first meaning of Christmas.

Isaiah 10 is a chapter of judgment. Because of Israel’s sin, Assyria will be God’s instrument of judgment on , but then God will destroy it. The kingdom will be overthrown, like the felling of a forest. ends with this imagery:

Isaiah 10:33-34 - See, the Lord, the LORD Almighty, will lop off the boughs with great power. The lofty trees will be felled, the tall ones will be brought low. 34 He will cut down the forest thickets with an ax; will fall before the Mighty One

Israel has been reduced to a stump. And so has Assyria. And then comes chapter 11.

Isaiah 11:1-16 - A shoot will come up from the stump of ; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

Three images are used in ch. 11 to communicate what God is going to do with this devastated nation of Israel.

1) Out of the stump will come a Branch

The nation has been reduced to a stump, but out of the stump will come a shoot, a Branch. Who is this branch?

Isaiah 11:1-16 - 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 power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the 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 around his waist.

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Jesse is the father of King . But because of Ahaz, the line of David is in ruins. But out of this stump will come a shoot, a branch. What are the characteristics of this branch?

1) Filled with God’s Spirit – He will be endowed with the Spirit, giving him true wisdom, counsel, and power. 2) Righteous and just - He will execute perfect justice because he will have perfect knowledge. The poor will receive justice, the wicked will be slain with the breath of his lips. Remember that then, as it is now, the poor lacked political power. But the Branch will find justice for them, doing what is right regardless of the climate of the time, because He is filled with the Spirit.

At this point the branch seems like a wise king, a government official who cares for the poor. But in v. 6 we see a third aspect that takes this individual to a whole other level.

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 hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest. 9 They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

3) He will bring universal peace. The whole creation will be put back to rights. The entire earth will be the Lord’s holy mountain. His rule will be experienced everywhere. All of the references to animals and people living in safety and unity reveal how secure his kingdom will be. V. 6-9 brings to mind the Garden of Eden. There is nothing to fear. The curse is removed. All that is hostile to God and peace will be destroyed.

Listen to another , Jeremiah, who reveals similar things about the Branch in chapter 33:

Jeremiah 33:15-17 - "'In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David's line; he will do what is just and right in the land. 16 In those days Judah will be saved and will live in safety. This is the name by which it will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.' 17 For this is what the LORD says: 'David will never fail to have a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel,

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Out of the stump will come a Branch. Secondly – out of the exile will come a remnant

10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious. 11 In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Lower , from Upper Egypt, from , from , from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea. 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 's jealousy will vanish, and Judah's enemies will be cut off; Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, nor Judah hostile toward 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 lay hands on and , 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. He will break it up into seven streams so that men 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.

2) Out of the exile will come a remnant

In this passage, we see a vast endtime assembly. The Gentile nations will come to recognize the Lord’s rule, and the people of God will be delivered from all their enemies. The inner group will rule over the outer group. The banner is the Root of Jesse. The remnant are the elect, faithful people of God. The end-time gathering is greater than the return from .

Isaiah names one of his sons Shear-jashub – “a remnant will return”. The judgment and discipline will purge the people of God, remove impure dross and leave behind a pure residue of worshipers. Read :24-26:

Isaiah 1:24-26 - Therefore the Lord, the LORD Almighty, the Mighty One of Israel, declares: "Ah, I will get relief from my foes and avenge myself on my enemies. 25 I will turn my hand against you; I will thoroughly purge away your dross and remove all your impurities. 26 I will restore your judges as in days of old, your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you will be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City."

Not everyone in the nation is truly a worshiper of God. In the exile, those who are not faithful will fall away, and those who are will remain. Even though there will be an 4 exile, God will preserve a remnant out of Israel that will truly worship Him and be part of the reconstituted people of God.

3) Out of the ruins will come an eternal city

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 hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest. 9 They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. 10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.

Zion is a metaphor for the historical city of Jerusalem and for the people of God. In the beginning of Isaiah, is referred to as a faithful city who has become a prostitute, a city of justice that is now a home for murderers. But when she is brought back, this is what is prophesied about her:

Isaiah 62:1-4 - For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem's sake I will not remain quiet, till her righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch. 2 The nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will bestow. 3 You will be a crown of splendor in the LORD's hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. 4 No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called , and your land Beulah; for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will be married.

Exile and desolation are not the last word. Zion will be brought back and called Hephzibah – “my delight is in her”, and Beulah – “Married”. She will once again be the glory of the whole earth. Listen again to what is prophesied in :2-5:

Isaiah 2:2-5 - In the last days the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. 3 Many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of . He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 4 He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will 5

they train for war anymore. 5 Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD.

Zion will become the world center from which God’s law will be promulgated and to which the Gentile nations of the world will flow, the renewed heavens and earth, where peace and prosperity will reign.

So, even in the midst of exile, there is a picture of what will be – a gloriously renewed creation, centered on the exalted city of Zion, presided over by the Branch, a Messianic King, where the purified remnant live and where complete security and righteousness and justice are the rule over the nations.

But as we know, the nation of Israel would go into exile and come back, but this would not be fulfilled. Why is that? Because the physical exile in which the people of Israel found themselves in was not the biggest exile. Their exile and restoration points to a bigger exile and restoration, one that we are all a part of.

Listen to what Genesis 3 has to say about this bigger exile:

Genesis 3:23-24 - So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

And Paul picks up on this theme in :

Romans 5:12 - Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned--

Our sin has brought us into a worse exile, separation from God. The human race is an unfruitful stump, sent away into exile, left in ruins. The world is in disorder and decay. But into this mess was born a Branch, a Messiah, a God-child by the name of . And as it says in Luke 4:14, He was filled with the power of the Spirit. And everywhere he went, he brought His kingdom of righteousness, justice, and security.

Remember that this individual is not just the shoot, but the root – he comes from Jesse and he came before Him. He is coming from him and yet the originator of Jesse’s line. This brings to mind a question Jesus asked the Pharisees in Matthew 22:

Matthew 22:41-46 - While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 "What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?" "The son of David," they 6 replied. 43 He said to them, "How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him 'Lord'? For he says, 44 "'The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet."' 45 If then David calls him 'Lord,' how can he be his son?" 46 No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.

He is quoting Psalm 110 in this passage to make the point that the Messiah is not just a descendant of David but also His Lord.

Elsewhere in the New Testament, the tree imagery continues. Through Jesus, the Branch, the Messiah, we have been grafted into the tree, the people of God.

Romans 11:17-18 - If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, 18 do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.

There is a remnant of Israel who has believed, and into that tree, God has grafted in the Gentiles, the non-Jews.

Romans 11:1-5 - I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of , from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don't you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah-- how he appealed to God against Israel: 3 "Lord, they have killed your and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me"? 4 And what was God's answer to him? "I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal." 5 So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.

Not all of Israel believed in the Messiah, but there is a remnant who have become a part of the Messiah’s kingdom, the kingdom of heaven, a kingdom of security and justice and righteousness, that we begin to experience here on earth and will experience to the full at the end of time when Jesus returns. And when he does return, the Holy City of Zion that was prophesied will become a reality:

Revelation 21:9-10 - One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.

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This is where we are headed. You who were in exile, you who have experienced ruin and despair, rejoice, for out of the stump has risen a branch, and you have been grafted onto that tree. Out of the exile has come a remnant, of which you are a part, and out of the ruins has come an everlasting city, of which you are a citizen. And God does not just welcome the remnant back from exile with grumbling, but rejoices over them, delighting in them as if they were married. As we get closer to Christmas, we remember that the Messiah, Jesus, the perfect King, reigns over a kingdom of everlasting security and justice, and that we are citizens.

Let me share three implications from Isaiah 11:

1) You can have peace with God

Romans 5:1-2 - Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.

2) There will be peace on earth

One day, there will be no more injustice, no more war.

3) Until that day, God’s people work for peace in the world

Romans 12:18-19 - If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord.

We are citizens of a peaceful kingdom, ruled by the Prince of Peace. Until He returns to establish His kingdom, we work for peace in our relationships and in our world. That is what Christmas is about.