Isaiah 11-13
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Isaiah 11-13
Isaiah 11-13
1 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.
2 Sam 7 Davidic covenant with God. The Messiah would come from his line, and there would Forever be a remnant on the throne. The problem with this from the perspective of the Jew. Was that following the fall of Judah to Babylon under a King named Zedekiah in 586-587 BC, there was a break in the Davidic line of Kings was broken and remained broken for about 600 years. SO in the eyes of the Jews, the promise was over…Isaiah is saying…this family tree only looks dead, but life will come from it. When Jesus is born into the world.
2 The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.
This is a Messianic verse of the promised Messiah, Jesus, but it is also an important verse for a couple of other reasons. One, it explains a very difficult verse in the new testament. The book of Revelation, or the Revelation of Jesus Christ, begins with this greeting from the Trinity. Rev 1:4-5
4 John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne,
5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood,
Ok, I understand the Father and the Son, but what is the deal with the seven Spirits, in speaking of the Holy Spirit? Lets look at verse two again…Isa 11:2
2 The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.
We also see seven candles in the Jewish menorah that is designed to represent the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of the Lord, as His primary job is to testify of Jesus. This is why there are two important ways to recognize the leading of the Holy Spirit. He inspired the Bible, He won’t contradict Scripture. Secondly, since He is the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of Jesus, He will never violate the nature of Jesus that we see revealed to us in the Gospels. So is this you Lord, is the Spirit leading me? Does is contradict the Written Word of God? If is does, it’s not the Holy Spirit. Does it contradict the Living Word? What we would see in Jesus? Then it is not the Holy Spirit.
3 His delight is in the fear of the Lord, And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, Nor decide by the hearing of His ears;
4 But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, And decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.
Check this out as Paul talks about the Antichrist in 2 Thes chapter 2, 2 Thessalonians 2:8
8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.
Paul gets this from the Prophet Isaiah. Jesus will return to judge the earth and will rule and reign, and although He won’t win the popular vote, nor the electoral college, He will take power over all of the land. And the government will be on His shoulders and listen what it will be like, for a 1,000 years. It is important that we remember and perhaps you’re getting sick of hearing it, but often times when we are reading through Bible prophecy we need to be mindful of a number of things. First to who was it written, what is the context in which it was given, and then to remember that often there was both a near fulfillment of the prophecy and also a far, or distant future fulfillment of the prophecy.
So as we read these prophecies given to Israel the near fulfillment would be something that they would see. Whether good news or bad news it would remind them that God is in control. Even these prophecies about destruction, remember the Assyrians were the world power at the time this was written and they ultimately would be basically wiped out by the Assyrians, and then later again by the Babylonians, but God is saying I’ll preserve my remnant. This is happening right now, but you’re going to make it, repent and follow me.
Now those things that had a near fulfillment, we can look back on now that they have occurred and see, oh wow, God told them this, or warned of that. This was obviously the fulfillment of that, why didn’t that stiff-necked people obey Him, later, why didn’t they recognize Jesus as their Messiah that they had been looking for all along? Looking back things seem so clear, and so easy to see after it has all been revealed and we can trace that line of prophecy on through fulfillment of prophecy.
But when things are still future, the picture is not always as clear. We know from the scriptures how it ends, that every knee will bow, and every tongue, even the politicians will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Even though currently the god of this world has blinded them.
Some of you were with us for our study of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, and that book lays it out for us. We see the future destruction of Babylon, the world system of Babylon or an economic system that effects the merchants of the world, but also it appears the city of Babylon, difficult to fully understand how that will occur looking forward Cyrus the II conquered Babylon in 539 BC as he lead the Persians, Alexander the Great had plans to rebuild, but it never happened as he died in that city.
There were actually plans to rebuild the city during some of our lifetimes...Babylon today, located 55 miles (85 kilometers) south of Baghdad in Iraq, feeble attempt at recreation by Saddam Hussein in the 1970s that's been partially destroyed by decades of war. We know though because of Biblical prophecy we will see the destruction of Babylon, we will see the Battle of Armageddon. Well, not me, I’ll be gone in the rapture. But then we have the second coming of Christ the Anti Christ will be destroyed and Jesus will set up His kingdom on the earth, Satan will be bound and removed for 1,000 years as Jesus rules and reigns upon the earth for the 1,000 millennium, at time of perfect peace and justice.
After the 1,000 years Satan will be let out for a short time, due to free will people will get to chose who they want to follow, Satan will deceive many, and then the final judgement will come. The heavens and the earth will come to an end, and will melt away and be gone, and then a new Heaven and a new Earth. So some of these prophecies are talking about things of the past now, that have already occurred and some are still future for those living in our day as we have not yet seen them come to pass.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, And faithfulness the belt of His waist.
6 “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze; Their young ones shall lie down together; And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
Have we seen this prophecy fulfilled? I mean we have the rule of law in the U.S. right?
Hiking bear, Grizzly man, shark week...Was out there today with my pup and friend. Unfortunately, had to turn around at the left of the sign for the Catherine Mountain trail. We got to the left of the intersection (10 yards up) and the dog was in front of me, saw bear scat, but then encountered extremely intense growling. My friend thought I was going nuts, so he went back and he too was growled at. We are thinking there is a den to the right of that trail.
8 The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den.
9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord As the waters cover the sea.
We are very careful, in fact in almost a dozen years as a church, we have never let cobra’s loose in the children’s ministry area.
No matter where you are on the earth, all the people will have a knowledge of Him and will be talking about Jesus. Isa 11:10-13
10 “And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious.”
11 It shall come to pass in that day That the Lord shall set His hand again the second time To recover the remnant of His people who are left, From Assyria and Egypt, From Pathros and Cush, From Elam and Shinar, From Hamath and the islands of the sea.
12 He will set up a banner for the nations, And will assemble the outcasts of Israel, And gather together the dispersed of Judah From the four corners of the earth.
13 Also the envy of Ephraim shall depart, And the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, And Judah shall not harass Ephraim.
There will once again be complete unity in Israel. Isa 11:14-16
14 But they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines toward the west; Together they shall plunder the people of the East; They shall lay their hand on Edom and Moab; And the people of Ammon shall obey them.
15 The Lord will utterly destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt; With His mighty wind He will shake His fist over the River, And strike it in the seven streams, And make men cross over dryshod.
16 There will be a highway for the remnant of His people Who will be left from Assyria, As it was for Israel In the day that he came up from the land of Egypt.
God will miraculously make a way for them to return. Chapter 12 is just a song of praise that was sung at the return and will still be sung in the future fulfillment. Isa 12 Also will be sung on the day Jesus is reigning.
1 And in that day you will say: “O Lord, I will praise You; Though You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me.
2 Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; ‘For Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.’ ”
3 Therefore with joy you will draw water From the wells of salvation.
4 And in that day you will say: “Praise the Lord, call upon His name; Declare His deeds among the peoples, Make mention that His name is exalted.
5 Sing to the Lord, For He has done excellent things; This is known in all the earth.
6 Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion, For great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst!”
Chapter 13 begins a section that goes on for about 10 chapters where God specifically addresses the nations around Israel. verse 1 Isa 13:1
1 The burden against Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.
This is interesting, because I’m not sure that a scribe ever delivered a copy of the prophecy of Isaiah to the city of Babylon, so why would God address these other nations? If it wasn’t like a Jonah situation, I want you to go and tell the city of Nineveh to repent or they would be destroyed, why address the nations if it wasn’t a warning to them?
I think it was all for His people Israel and in a sense for us today. Remember, the Assyrians, the Babylonians are quite literally kicking their butts. I think the first reason is to show Israel that God is not just sovereign over them, but over all things including the nations that don’t follow Him. They may have been being used as a tool against Israel, but they are still under the control of God. When He says come they will come, but when He says stop, it will be finished.
There is something also reassuring, about your big brother, or in this case, their Heavenly Father showing up when a bully is kicking their butt, and God is essentially saying, I got this, and Babylon is going to get theirs, check out what I’m going to do to them.
I think it is for us as well as a reminder that no matter what our world looks like today. Thirty years ago we were concerned about Russia, we were concerned about Iran. Today, it’s China, it’s still Russia, North Korea…Oh wait those are U.S. conflicts. As Christians in the U.S., in Ukraine, in Russia, in China, or the middle east, we need to be reminded and see that although we have a real enemy that wants to kill, destroy, and steal. An enemy that wants to divide us, and enemy that wants to break apart our marriages, an enemy that wants to steal our hope, God is sovereign and is in control. Isa 13:2-5
2 “Lift up a banner on the high mountain, Raise your voice to them; Wave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles.
3 I have commanded My sanctified ones; I have also called My mighty ones for My anger— Those who rejoice in My exaltation.”
4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, Like that of many people! A tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together! The Lord of hosts musters The army for battle.
5 They come from a far country, From the end of heaven— The Lord and His weapons of indignation, To destroy the whole land.
6 Wail, for the day of the Lord is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore all hands will be limp, Every man’s heart will melt,
8 And they will be afraid. Pangs and sorrows will take hold of them; They will be in pain as a woman in childbirth; They will be amazed at one another; Their faces will be like flames.
Should remind you of Revelation 17 & 18 the fall of Babylon. When the prophecy was given the Assyrians were the world power. The Babylonians paled by far in comparison. They were a growing force, but they would not have been a threat. Remember the ministry of Isaiah ended about a hundred years before the fall of Judah to the Babylonians.
Now in verse 9 we see that transition were it appears that the prophecy is once again speaking of a far, far still yet future fulfillment. Isa 13:9-12
9 Behold, the day of the Lord comes, Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, To lay the land desolate; And He will destroy its sinners from it.
10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not give their light; The sun will be darkened in its going forth, And the moon will not cause its light to shine.
11 “I will punish the world for its evil, And the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold, A man more than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, And the earth will move out of her place, In the wrath of the Lord of hosts And in the day of His fierce anger.
14 It shall be as the hunted gazelle, And as a sheep that no man takes up; Every man will turn to his own people, And everyone will flee to his own land.
15 Everyone who is found will be thrust through, And everyone who is captured will fall by the sword.
16 Their children also will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; Their houses will be plundered And their wives ravished.
Verse 17 goes back to the near fulfillment. Isa 13:17
17 “Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, Who will not regard silver; And as for gold, they will not delight in it.
The Meade's that joined with the Persians were nothing at the time of this writing. We can look back now and see, but looking ahead to them, it must have sounded confusing. But looking back in the days of Daniel and King Belshazzar it was the Mead's and the Persians that overtook Babylon. It is interesting because in the 1970’s when Saddam Hussein build his place and made his failed attempt to rebuild Babylon, his goal was to make himself like a modern day Nebuchadnezzar and unite the Arab's, and that didn’t happen.
18 Also their bows will dash the young men to pieces, And they will have no pity on the fruit of the womb; Their eye will not spare children.
19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, The beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride, Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 It will never be inhabited, Nor will it be settled from generation to generation; Nor will the Arabian pitch tents there, Nor will the shepherds make their sheepfolds there.
21 But wild beasts of the desert will lie there, And their houses will be full of owls; Ostriches will dwell there, And wild goats will caper there.
22 The hyenas will howl in their citadels, And jackals in their pleasant palaces. Her time is near to come, And her days will not be prolonged.”
With Babylon being Israel's enemy, their destruction is a form of God showing His mercy on Israel which is where chapter 14 picks up.