STUDY 17: CHRIST IN ISAIAH 11
© Rosemary Bardsley 2024
In this study we look at Isaiah 11. Although there is some reference here to the then current situation and the short-term geo-political future, almost the whole chapter teaches us about the person and work of Jesus Christ, seen in his first coming, and beyond that to his return, the final judgement, and the establishment of the new heavens and new earth.
Read Isaiah 11:1 – 16 and find out what Isaiah teaches about:
Jesus Christ as a descendant of David:
His relationship with the Spirit of God:
His knowledge and wisdom:
His attitude to God:
The qualities of his judgement:
The power of his word:
The truth about his ultimate kingdom:
The people who submit to his authority:
A. THE DAVID CONNECTION (See Study 12 for extra information.)
Although ‘David’ is not mentioned by name, in verses 1 and 10 Isaiah again refers to Jesus Christ as the promised descendant of David whose reign and kingdom would be eternal. Isaiah calls him ‘a shoot ... from the stump of Jesse’ (David’s father), ‘a Branch’ that will bear fruit, and ‘the Root of Jesse’.
E.J. Young points out that, although at the time when Isaiah was preaching Assyria was a dominant power, Assyria would be reduced to nothing (see 10:33, 34); and although there would come a time when Judah also would be powerless and seemingly lifeless, and when the Davidic dynasty would be no longer visible, a descendant of David would arise as powerful ruler:
‘Great and lofty was the forest of Assyria, but it would be cut down by a mighty One. What, however, had become of David’s house? That now was but a tree, and at that a tree which had been felled. It was only a stump or rootstock. To emphasize its mean condition, Isaiah looks to its lowly origin, not even referring to it as the house of David, but merely as the rootstock of Jesse. Jesse had lived in Bethlehem, and Bethlehem was least among the thousands of Judah.
‘What possible contrast, however, could there be between that mighty Assyrian forest and the lowly stump of Jesse? Just this: Assyria would perish and come to a complete end, but in the rootstock of Jesse there was yet life. From that stump a twig was to come forth, and from the roots which furnish the stump with life a branch would grow, and would derive its life from the roots that it might be fruitful. David’s dynasty, then, is not completely exterminated; its roots are in the ground, and a stump remains. Having reached the height of its power, Assyria is cut down forever; but David’s house, reduced by its apostasy to the condition herein described, is suddenly exalted. The branch from the roots will bear fruit, a figure which suggests that the dynasty will no longer continue as a fallen tree, but will truly prosper. Life is in the roots, and that life, in God’s own time, will manifest itself.’ (p. 378, 379 Volume 1, The Book of Isaiah, Eerdmans, 1965.).
As a national force Israel never regained the position of power and prestige that was established and enjoyed during the reigns of David and Solomon. From Solomon’s death onwards, the kingdom was divided. Various surrounding nations sought to dominate that area of the world; Judah sought strength and protection by aligning herself with one or the other of these nations. Eventually, Babylon conquered and destroyed Judah, leaving only the poorest of the people in the land. The return of Jews from Babylon seventy years later did not result in the glorious restoration seemingly envisaged by the prophets; neither then, nor since has there been a king of David’s line on the throne. Indeed, there has not been a ‘throne’.
Nothing in terms of military or political events that have since happened in the land formerly known as ‘Israel’ or ‘Judah’ comes anywhere close to fulfilling the prophecies that we find here in Isaiah 11.
What has happened is the coming of Jesus Christ.
Isaiah does not speak here only of Christ’s first coming; he speaks also of the time between Christ’s two comings when the kingdom of Christ is being preached to the nations; he speaks of the justice of the judgement Christ will bring – both during his earthly ministry and at the final judgement; and he speaks of the eternal kingdom of Christ, when everything that is opposed to Christ, everything that entered the world in Genesis 3, will be removed forever.
B. JESUS CHRIST AND THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD
If we read Isaiah 11:2 in different translations we will notice that there are two different interpretations of this verse:
[1] Only the first ‘Spirit’ is capitalised, referring to the Spirit of the Lord; and the three other occurrences of ‘spirit’ are not capitalised, referring to the ‘spirit’ or quality of ‘wisdom’, ‘understanding’ etc.
[2] That all four occurrences are capitalised, making each of them refer to the Holy Spirit.
This alerts us to the difficulty of defining the two natures of Jesus Christ and the relationship between them. How do we speak of this being who is at the same time fully, but not visibly, God and fully, visibly, human?
How do we hold both of the truths that he is a human child who is born to us, and the divine Son who is given to us? (Isaiah 9:6).
How do we reconcile the fact the Jesus is the son of David, but at the same time he is called ‘the mighty God? (Isaiah 11:1 & 9:6).
Check these references to discover how the New Testament describes these two natures of Christ:
John 1:14
Romans 1:3, 4
Philippians 2:6 – 11
Colossians 1:19; 2:9
Hebrews 1 & 2 (The writer to the Hebrews devotes chapter one to teaching the full deity of Christ and chapter two to teaching the real humanity of Christ.)
Study how the two natures of Christ are expressed in this ancient definition:
‘Therefore, following the holy Fathers, we all with one accord teach men to acknowledge one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood, truly God and truly man, consisting also of a reasonable soul and body; of one substance [homoousios] with the Father as regards his Godhead, and at the same time of one substance with us as regards his manhood; like us in all respects, apart from sin; as regards his Godhead, begotten of the Father before all ages, but yet as regards his manhood begotten, for us men and for our salvation, of Mary the Virgin, the God-bearer [theotokos]; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, recognized IN TWO NATURES, WITHOUT CONFUSION, WITHOUT CHANGE, WITHOUT DIVISION, WITHOUT SEPARATION; the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the characteristics of each nature being preserved and coming together to form one person and subsistence [hupostasis], not as parted or separated into two persons, but one and the same son and Only-begotten God the word, Lord Jesus; even as the prophets from earliest times spoke of him, and our Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us, and the creed of the Fathers has handed down to us.’ Definition of Chalcedon, 451AD. [All emphasis in the original.]
Jesus himself was fully aware of both the distinction and the essential synergy and unity that existed between himself and the Father and the Spirit. It is not legitimate to define him merely as a human being fully empowered by the Spirit, for that is simply not true. Jesus Christ was a human being in whom all the fullness of deity dwelt, a human being who was, at the same time, also God. He did not, for a moment, stop being God. When the human person, Jesus, spoke, he was speaking the words of God. When worked miracles, he was doing the work of God. At the same time God the Father and God the Holy Spirit were speaking and working. To see and to hear one is to see and hear the others. Jesus himself, knowing that he was human, also knew that his words and his works were the words and works of God.
Read what Jesus said about himself and his words and actions:
Matthew 12:28
Luke 11:20
John 5:17 – 27
John 8:28
John 10:30 – 38
John 12:44 – 50
John 14:9 – 11
John 15:21 – 25
John 17:6 – 8, 14
Although it is the Son of God whom we are seeing and hearing, those works and those words are the works and words of the triune God; the Father and the Spirit are present – working and speaking in the works and words of the Son.
B.1 Isaiah’s description of this divine synergy
In Isaiah 11:2 we see that the mind of this ‘stump of Jesse’ is in stark contrast to the mind and mindset of Judah which, as we have already seen was one of ignorance of God and lack of understanding. That ignorance and lack of understanding expressed itself not only in rejection of God and his word, but also in the use, misuse and abuse of human beings. It is also in stark contrast to Judah’s would-be allies, and of Judah’s enemies.
Isaiah lists three pairs of qualities that would characterize the Christ – divine qualities expressed by and evident in the human Jesus. Each of these qualities does not exist in isolation, but is connected in significant ways to the others.
Wisdom and understanding
These words refer to the ability of Jesus Christ to know what was going on in circumstances and inside people’s hearts and minds, and to understand the appropriate action and response to that knowledge. Only God has such wisdom and understanding in an absolute sense. In Ephesians 1:7 & 8 Paul tells us that God, through Christ, lavished his grace upon us ‘with all wisdom and understanding’. God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit, knew and understood our dire position and condition. He knew how sinful we are. He knew our utter inability to redeem ourselves. There is no sin of ours that is outside of his knowledge; so when he provided redemption and forgiveness it is more than sufficient to fully address our need. (We will learn more of Christ’s wisdom and understanding when we look at Isaiah 40.)
How do these verses express this divine wisdom and understanding?
Psalm 44:21
Psalm 139:1 – 18
Isaiah 46:10
Jeremiah 12:3a
Matthew 12:24, 25
Matthew 27:18
John 1:47 – 50
John 2:24, 25
John 4:17
John 6:61 – 70; 13:11
Counsel and power
This pair of qualities ties in with his titles ‘Wonderful Counsellor’ and ‘Mighty God’ in 9:6. It works in conjunction with the previous pair ‘wisdom and understanding’. We can see this, for example, in Jesus’ encounters with the Samaritan woman (John 4) and the crippled man by the pool (John 5). We can see it in his words and actions when the leaders of the Jews brought to him the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1 – 11). We can see it in his conversation with Nicodemus (John 3). Jesus’ wisdom and understanding about people and their circumstances enabled him to speak and act towards them with both wise counsel and restorative power.
Knowledge and the fear of the LORD
The counsel and power just discussed are also grounded in Christ’s absolute knowledge of God and absolute reverence for God. Jesus Chris really knew God, as only he, the Son of God, could know God, the Father. This knowledge of God included absolute knowledge of God’s word and God’s truth. Knowing the Father, knowing his Father, he had no desire to do anything contrary to the Father’s will and contrary to the Father’s glory.
It is this absolute knowledge of God, of God’s word, and of God’s truth, that powered both his teaching and his actions. It is the foundation of the two previous pairs – wisdom and understanding, and counsel and power. All come from this: that Jesus Christ, the Son of God knows and reveres God. Because he knows God, he ‘delights in the fear of the LORD’; it pleased him to do his Father’s will.
What do these texts say about his knowledge of God his Father, and his commitment to the Father’s will and glory?
Isaiah 53:11
Matthew 11:27
John 7:28, 29
John 8:55
John 10:15
John 14:31
John 17:4
Hebrews 10:5 – 10
B.2 The outflow
Isaiah describes two important things that flow out of Christ’s knowledge of God and reverence for God: firstly, that the judgement he executes is righteous and just, and secondly, people of all nations coming to know the Lord.
What do these verses say about the justice and righteousness of his rule and his judgement?
Isaiah 9:7
Isaiah 11:3 – 5
Isaiah 16:5
Isaiah 32:1
Read these verses to learn the global impact of the coming of this ‘stump of Jesse’ with his knowledge of God, and his ‘fear’ of God:
Isaiah 11:9:
Isaiah 33:5 – 6
Jeremiah 31:34
John 8:31
John 12:46
1John 5:20
When people hear and believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, their ignorance of God is dispersed. Isaiah repeatedly looks forward to the time when, because of Christ, people from all nations would turn to the living God and be incorporated into the people of God.
Beyond all of this is the eternal kingdom of Christ, where peace replaces the current context of fear and division.
What does Isaiah say about that? (We will give further attention to the eternal kingdom in a later study.)
Isaiah 11:6 – 9
Isaiah 11:13
Reflection: Read Isaiah 12 as a personal expression of the praise and joy that fills your heart because of Christ and the salvation he has given you.