Isaiah 11:1 - Meaning and Application

Isaiah had already spoken in this sermon about a child to be born, a son to be given, and the rule that would rest on his shoulders. He meant this as comfort for God’s people in hard times, much like dying Jacob had long before looked ahead to Shiloh for comfort in Egypt. Isaiah had said that the yoke would be broken because of the anointing (Isaiah 10:27). Now he tells us on whom that anointing will rest.

He foretells that the Messiah, the promised Christ, will rise from David’s house, like the branch of the Lord he had already called excellent and glorious (Isaiah 4:2). The word used here is Netzer, and some think this connects to Matthew 2:23, where the prophets are said to have spoken of the Messiah as one called a Nazarene. He will come from Jesse, the father of David, and so from the royal line to which God made his promise. God had sworn to raise up Christ from David’s descendants (Acts 2:30), and Christ is called the son of David because he was to be more than David’s heir, he would also take David’s place as king (Hosea 3:5).

His appearance would be lowly. He is called a rod and a branch, words that point to something small, tender, and easy to break off. Just before this, the enemies of God’s people were compared to strong and lofty trees (Isaiah 10:33), but Christ is pictured as a tender branch (Isaiah 53:2). Yet this weak-looking shoot will overcome them all. He is said to come from Jesse rather than from David, because Jesse lived in obscurity and his family was of little account (1 Samuel 18:18). David was sometimes called the son of Jesse in a way that carried scorn and reproach (1 Samuel 22:7).

He comes out of the stump, or trunk, of Jesse. The royal family had been like a cedar cut down, with only a stump left, nearly level with the ground and hidden among the grass (Daniel 4:15). Still, it will sprout again (Job 14:7). It will grow from roots that are buried in the earth, with nothing showing above the ground. At the time of Christ’s birth, David’s house had indeed been brought very low, as seen in the plain and poor condition of Joseph and Mary. Christ was to begin his work in humiliation, and only afterward be highly exalted. In this way, he gave early notice that his kingdom was not of this world.

The Chaldee paraphrase reads this as, “A king will come from the sons of Jesse, and the Messiah will be anointed from among his descendants.”

Isaiah also says that this tender branch will be fully fit for the great work he was appointed to do, because the Spirit of the Lord would rest on him (Isaiah 11:2). The Holy Spirit, with all his gifts and graces, would not only come upon him, but remain on him. He would have the Spirit without limit, not by measure, with the fullness of God dwelling in him (Colossians 1:19; Colossians 2:9). He began his public preaching with this truth, saying, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me” (Luke 4:18).

More specifically, he would have the spirit needed for government, so he could carry out the judgment the Father committed to him and gave him authority to execute (John 5:22, John 5:27). He would also become the source of grace for believers, so that from his fullness they would all receive the Spirit of grace, as the body receives life from the head. He would have the spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and knowledge. He would know the work perfectly and understand what he was doing. No one knows the Father except the Son (Matthew 11:27). What he would make known about God, his mind, and his will, he already knew himself (John 1:18). He would know how to order the affairs of his spiritual kingdom in a way that fully served God’s glory and the good of people. He would set the terms of the covenant wisely, appoint wise ordinances, and hold hidden treasures of wisdom. He would be our counselor, and God would make him wisdom for us.

He would also have the spirit of courage, strength, and firm resolve. His task was very great, and he would have to overcome many obstacles. So he needed to be strengthened so that he would not fail or lose heart (Isaiah 42:4). He was known for courage in teaching God’s way truthfully, without fear of anyone’s opinion (Matthew 22:16). He would also have the spirit of religion, that is, the fear of the Lord. He himself would show reverent love toward his Father as a servant (Isaiah 42:1), and he was heard because of his godly fear (Hebrews 5:7). At the same time, he would promote true religion in all he did. Faith in Christ was never meant to replace the fear of the Lord, but to deepen and support it.

Isaiah then says that Christ would be careful, exact, and wise in how he governed and used the authority given to him (Isaiah 11:3). The Spirit with which he would be clothed would make him quick in understanding in the fear of the Lord, like a keen sense of smell. Scripture often uses bodily senses to describe the mind’s perception. Those are most truly wise who are wise in the fear of the Lord, because that is both the foundation and the crown of wisdom. We show that we have God’s Spirit when our spiritual senses are trained and we understand clearly what the fear of the Lord requires. People have divine light when they know their duty and know how to carry it out.

This is one reason Jesus Christ had the Spirit without limit, so he could fully understand his work. He did understand it, as shown by the wise answers he gave to those who questioned him. That also appeared in the way he carried out his whole mission. He ordered the great matter of religion so well, and in a way so unexpected, that it secured both God’s honor and human happiness. We must admit that he understood it thoroughly.

Isaiah also says that he would be just and righteous in every act of his rule, with as much fairness as wisdom. He would judge as he himself said, and as he himself would want to be judged, with right judgment (John 7:24).

He will not judge by outward appearance (Isaiah 11:3). He will not decide by what his eyes see, with respect of persons (Job 34:19), or by surface show. He will not reprove by hearsay, common talk, or other people’s reports, as people often do. He will not judge people by fine words, such as calling him, “Lord, Lord,” or by outward actions meant to impress others.

Instead, he will judge by the hidden person of the heart, and by the inward motives that guide people. He sees these things perfectly, and his judgment is never mistaken. Christ will judge the secrets of men (Romans 2:16). He will decide about people, not by their own claims and appearances, which would be judging by sight, and not by what others think of them, which would be judging by hearing. His judgment is always true.

He will judge with righteousness (Isaiah 11:5). Righteousness will be the belt around his waist. He will be perfectly just in all his rule, and his righteousness will be his honor and beauty. It will stay with him always, and he will act in righteousness in every matter. He will go to war in righteousness, and his righteousness will be his strength and readiness, like a man who has gathered up his clothes for action. Those who follow Christ must also wear the belt of truth (Ephesians 6:14), and this will give stability to the times.

In righteousness he will defend the poor and oppressed (Isaiah 11:4). He will judge in favor of those who have right on their side, even if they are poor in the world and humble in spirit. It is the duty of rulers to protect and rescue the poor (Psalm 82:3, Psalm 82:4), and it is Christ’s honor that he is the poor man’s King (Psalm 72:2, Psalm 72:4). He will also decide with fairness for the meek of the earth, or the land. Those who bear wrongs with meekness and patience are in a special way under God’s care and protection.

Some understand this as saying that if his own people, the meek of the land, do wrong, he will correct them fairly. If they sin, he will visit their wrongdoing with the rod. But he will always do this with equity and justice.

He will also judge against his enemies, the proud and the oppressors (Isaiah 11:4). He will strike the earth, that is, the man of the earth who oppresses others (see Psalm 10:18), the men of the world who care only for earthly things (Psalm 17:14). He will strike them with the rod of his mouth, that is, with the word he speaks. His threats will catch up with them and come to pass.

By the breath of his lips, through the work of his Spirit and according to his word, he will kill the wicked. He will do it easily, with only a word, as he brought those down who came to arrest him by saying, “I am he” (John 18:6). Terrifying convictions will seize their consciences, and deadly judgments will ruin them, along with their power and all they depend on. In the world to come, everlasting trouble will be paid back to those who trouble his poor people.

The apostle applies this to the destruction of the man of sin, that is, the lawless one, the chief enemy of Christ (2 Thessalonians 2:8), whom the Lord will destroy with the breath of his mouth. The Chaldee version here reads it as, “He shall slay that wicked Romulus, or Rome,” as Mr. Hugh Broughton understood it.

There will also be great peace and quiet under his rule. This explains what was said in Isaiah 9:6, that he would be the Prince of peace. Peace here means two things: unity or harmony, and safety or security.

First, there will be harmony, shown in these pictures, where even the wolf lives with the lamb. People of the fiercest temper, who once used to harm and devour others, will have their character so changed by the power of the gospel and the grace of Christ that they will live in love, even with the weakest. The sheep will not hurt one another, as they sometimes have done (Ezekiel 34:20, Ezekiel 34:21). Even wolves will agree with them. Christ, who is our peace, came to put away hatred and make lasting friendship among his followers, especially between Jews and Gentiles. When many from both groups were converted and joined together in one flock, then the wolf and the lamb dwelt together. The wolf did not even threaten the lamb, and the lamb was not afraid.

The leopard will not tear the kid, but will lie down with it. Even their young ones will lie down together and grow up in friendship, helping that friendship continue. The lion will stop being cruel and will eat straw like the ox, as some think the beasts of prey did before the fall. The asp and the cockatrice, that is, poisonous snakes, will no longer be harmful, so children can play near them safely. A generation of vipers will become a people of saints, and the old saying, “man is a wolf to man,” will end.

Those who live on the holy mountain will live together as peacefully as the creatures with Noah in the ark. This will help preserve them, because they will not hurt or destroy one another anymore. This is already seen in the wonderful change the gospel works in those who truly receive it. It changes their nature and makes those who once trampled on the meek now gentle and loving toward them. When Paul, who once persecuted the saints, joined himself to them, the wolf dwelt with the lamb. Some also hope this will have a fuller fulfillment in the last days, when swords will be beaten into plowshares.

Second, there will be safety. Christ, the great Shepherd, will take such care of the flock that those who would harm them will not succeed. They will not only stop hurting one another, but no enemy from outside will be allowed to trouble them. The nature of trouble, and even death itself, will be so changed that they will do no real harm, much less bring ruin, to anyone whose way of life is on the holy mountain (1 Peter 3:13). Who, or what, can harm us if we follow what is good?

God’s people will be delivered, not only from evil, but from fear of evil too. Even the nursing child will play without fear over the hole of the asp. Blessed Paul speaks like this when he says, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” and, “O death, where is your sting?”

Finally, notice both the effect and the cause of this great softening and sweetening of people’s temper by God’s grace.

The result of this will be a teachable spirit, a readiness to receive instruction. A little child will lead those who once refused to be guided even by the strongest man. Calvin takes this to mean their willing submission to the ministers of Christ, who are to teach gently and not use force. They are to be like little children, as in Matthew 18:3 and 2 Corinthians 8:5.

The cause of this peace will be the knowledge of God. The more people know him, the more they will be disposed toward peace. They will live in love, because the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord, and that knowledge will put out anger and hostility.

The better we know the God of love, the more we are changed into his likeness. We also become more kindly disposed toward all who bear his image. The earth will be as full of this knowledge as the sea channels are full of water, broad and far reaching, deep and solid, and lasting. There is far more knowledge of God to be gained through the gospel of Christ than through the law of Moses. Under the law, God was known in Judah only, but now all will know him (Hebrews 8:11). But if a so-called knowledge of God stirs up conflict between people, it is false knowledge. The right knowledge of God brings peace.