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A blog from Isaiah 11:1–9
Have you ever thought, If I can just get through the next couple of weeks, things will finally settle down?
Then you get through those weeks and something else happens.
That seems to be the pattern of life. We keep waiting for the difficult season to end, the next problem to be solved, or life to finally become a little easier. But there is always something else.
The Bible tells us, however, that there is something worth looking forward to.
Romans 8:18 says:
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.”
In fact, Romans 8 describes all of creation as groaning and waiting for what is to come. One day, Jesus will return and set things back the way they ought to be.
Isaiah 11 gives us a glimpse of that day and of the King who will make it possible.
The King’s Roots
Isaiah 11 begins during a dark time for Judah. The Assyrians were advancing toward Jerusalem as an instrument of God’s judgment and discipline. God’s people were facing circumstances that looked increasingly hopeless.
Then, in the middle of those dark storm clouds, Isaiah gives them a ray of hope:
“Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.” — Isaiah 11:1
Picture a tree that has been cut down. The tree is gone, but the stump remains. Then one day, new growth begins pushing out of what appeared to be dead.
That was the picture Isaiah gave Judah.
The nation would be cut down, but God was not finished.
And Isaiah specifically calls this the stump of Jesse.
Jesse was the father of King David. God had promised David that from his family line would eventually come a King who would establish an eternal Kingdom. The Old Testament called this promised King the Messiah—the Anointed One. The New Testament gives Him another title: the Christ.
Even when Judah looked like a stump, God’s promise remained alive.
The King was still coming.
The King’s Reasoning
What would this King be like?
Isaiah tells us:
“The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—a Spirit of wisdom and understanding, a Spirit of counsel and strength, a Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.” — Isaiah 11:2
In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit would rest upon particular people to empower them for a particular purpose. We see this with people such as King Saul, King David, and the prophets.
Isaiah says the Spirit of the Lord would rest upon this coming King.
He would possess wisdom and understanding—the ability to look at a situation and understand what was really happening.
He would possess counsel and strength—the ability not only to determine what should be done, but also to accomplish it.
And most importantly, He would possess knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
This King would not be driven by an opinion poll or by what other people wanted Him to do. He would be guided by what God wanted.
He would have the wisdom to understand what needed to be done, the ability to accomplish it, and a heart completely aligned with God.
The King’s Righteousness
Isaiah continues:
“His delight will be in the fear of the LORD.” — Isaiah 11:3
The word translated “delight” carries the idea of smelling something pleasing.
Think about walking toward a barbecue restaurant and smelling the food before you ever reach the door. The aroma draws you in because it represents something you enjoy, something that brings delight.
That imagery would have carried additional significance for God’s people. In the Old Testament sacrificial system, sacrifices offered to God were described as a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
Isaiah uses that kind of sensory language to describe this King’s relationship with God.
What delighted Him most was the fear of the Lord. His relationship and fellowship with God would be at the center of everything He did.
And that would directly affect the way He ruled.
Isaiah says:
“He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, he will not execute justice by what he hears with his ears.” — Isaiah 11:3
That’s different from us.
We make judgments based on what we can see and hear, and sometimes we get it wrong. We misunderstand what we see. We hear an incomplete story. We jump to conclusions.
But God sees the whole picture.
Because this King is perfectly aligned with God, His judgment will not be corrupted by appearances, money, influence, relationships, prejudice, or power.
“He will judge the poor righteously and execute justice for the oppressed of the land.” — Isaiah 11:4
Then Isaiah gives us an important description of His character:
“Righteousness will be a belt around his hips; faithfulness will be a belt around his waist.” — Isaiah 11:5
A belt held everything together.
And what holds this King together?
Righteousness and faithfulness.
Righteousness means He knows what is right.
Faithfulness means He has the integrity to do what is right.
Think about the confidence that gives us. We are waiting for a King who will always know the right thing to do, and we can completely trust Him to do it.
The King’s Restoration
Then Isaiah’s description gets wild.
“The wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat. The calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf will be together, and a child will lead them.” — Isaiah 11:6
Everything Isaiah describes goes against what we experience in the natural world.
Wolves don’t live peacefully with lambs.
Leopards don’t lie beside young goats.
Lions don’t eat straw.
And parents certainly don’t allow infants to play beside poisonous snakes.
Yet Isaiah continues:
“An infant will play beside the cobra’s pit, and a toddler will put his hand into a snake’s den. They will not harm or destroy each other on my entire holy mountain.” — Isaiah 11:8–9
What is Isaiah showing us?
There are different ways Christians have interpreted the specific details of this passage. Some understand these descriptions literally, while others understand them as figurative language describing the character of Christ’s future Kingdom.
But the central truth is found in verse 9:
There will be no harm or destruction in the Kingdom He rules.
Why?
Because the King is going to restore creation to what God intended it to be in the first place.
Back to the Way It Was
To understand Isaiah’s picture, go back to Genesis.
God created the heavens and the earth, the plants, the animals, and humanity, and He declared His creation good.
Death was not part of that original creation.
Death entered the world through sin. Adam and Eve rebelled against God, and creation has lived with the consequences ever since.
That’s why the world we experience now feels so different from Isaiah’s picture.
We know death.
We know disease.
We know violence.
We know broken relationships, broken families, broken bodies, and broken hearts.
But brokenness was never God’s original intent for His creation.
And it will not have the final word.
Isaiah’s picture takes us back toward Eden, a creation without the death, danger, and destruction that entered through the Fall.
One day, Jesus will restore creation to what God intended it to be.
Think about that.
The world will not always be like this.
The pain, suffering, destruction, and death we have grown accustomed to are temporary.
The King is coming, and only He can bring that kind of restoration.
The King We’re Really Looking For
Human beings have a deep desire for someone to come along and fix what is wrong.
We see it every election cycle. If we could just elect the right president, governor, mayor, or leader, maybe that person could finally solve our problems.
But no elected official can accomplish what Isaiah describes.
This King isn’t elected.
He was selected by God.
And only One person fits Isaiah’s description.
Jesus comes from Jesse’s lineage.
Jesus has the Spirit of God resting upon Him.
Jesus possesses perfect righteousness and faithfulness.
And only Jesus can bring the restoration Isaiah describes.
His name is Jesus.
Restoration Can Begin Now
Isaiah is describing something enormous, a future Kingdom in which the effects of sin upon creation will ultimately be undone.
But the restoration Jesus brings doesn’t have to be only a future hope.
The King who will one day restore creation on a global level can begin doing a work of restoration in your life today.
Left to ourselves, we have a way of making a mess of things. Sin damages marriages, families, relationships, priorities, and lives. And sometimes the broken pieces seem impossible to put back together.
But Jesus can begin restoring what we have broken.
The question is whether we will pledge our allegiance to the King.
We cannot place our ultimate hope in a parent, politician, teacher, preacher, or anyone else.
Only Jesus can save us.
Only Jesus can ultimately restore us.
And He invites us to surrender our lives to Him and allow Him to begin His work within us.
Maybe you’ve never trusted Jesus as Savior. The invitation is to surrender your life to the King.
Or maybe you know Christ, but practically you’ve been looking to someone or something else to be your hero.
Come back to the King.
Take up your cross.
Follow Him.
The world is still broken, but the King is coming.
And when He comes, He will set things back the way they ought to be.
Until then, remain faithful to Jesus.
It will be worth the wait.
