Isaiah 11
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 2 And 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. (5117 “rest” [nuwach] means settle down and remain, to reside, or be in alliance.)
DEVOTION: Here we have a description of the Holy Spirit in relationship to the Messiah. The Messiah was to fulfill the prophecies regarding a future generation king from the family of David.
When Jesus Christ was baptized the New Testament book of Matthew described what happened when Jesus came out of the waters of baptism. The Father made a comment from heaven “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” [Matthew 3:17] Also on the same occasion we find the Spirit of God or the Holy Spirit descending like a dove and lighting upon Jesus. The Holy Spirit was in alliance with Jesus Christ. The next thing that HE did was lead Jesus Christ into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
In the book of Revelation Jesus is described “…and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne ….” This description goes along with the verse we are covering now.
This chapter gives us a glimpse of the relationship between the persons of the Trinity or Godhead. The Father is the one that they stand in awe of when they have the fear of the LORD. The Spirit encourages the people to realize that true wisdom comes for God alone. Jesus Christ is described as reigning in a world that is without conflict between humans and animals. HE is described as one who rules with righteousness. HE is faithful.
Followers of Jesus Christ now will reign with HIM during this time period. This gives us something to look forward to as we sometimes think that it isn’t worth it to live for Christ now. That is a wrong attitude. Serving the LORD now is an honor. It is a time period in which we can witness for the LORD to a lost world. It should excite us when we see individuals understand the truth of the Word of God and with this make a choice to follow the LORD. Then they can be with us for eternity.
CHALLENGE: Patience is what is necessary in our service to the LORD. Waiting for a time to reign with HIM seems like it is too hard but it will be worth it all. Don’t be like most of the world and think that instant gratification has to happen for true satisfaction.
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 4 But with righteousness shall HE judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and HE shall smite the earth with the rod of HIS mouth, and with the breath of HIS lips shall HE slay the wicked. (3198 “reprove” [yakach] means rebuke, correct, plead, chasten, be right, or to act between parties with a view to reconciling difference and administering justice.)
DEVOTION: It is not us that are going to be the judge but the LORD only. Too often we would like to be the judge of people but we would always do it wrong because we don’t have all the facts. The LORD does!
When every individual meets the LORD they will know that the judgment that HE gives will be true and honest. There will be no excuses accepted. Either we have the LORD Jesus in our heart or we don’t.
There were many in Israel who were followers of the LORD. They were trying to live a life that was pleasing to HIM but the majority were those who didn’t want to obey HIM because they thought HIS rules were too strict.
Many today think that same thoughts regarding a life that is pleasing to the LORD. We want to have all our fun but not have all the rules of the LORD. Many even in churches are changing to making God in their own image instead of the image the Bible presents of HIM.
On judgment day there will be many surprised individuals. It will be sad for those who thought they were OK with God but didn’t really dedicate their lives to HIM according to the Word of God.
CHALLENGE: We need to make sure we are not making God in our image but that we are trying to live a life that is pleasing to HIM in the image of Jesus Christ.
: 10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to HIM shall the Gentiles seek: and HIS rest shall be glorious. (5251 “ensign” [nec] means standard, flag, rallying point, pole, banner, something lifted up or signal.)
DEVOTION: The trumpet was blown to tell the troops to gather around the banner. They were to be ready to fight. The rallying point seems to imply that it is a person. The person is of the root of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David.
In verse one HE is of the stem of Jesse. HE is a Branch. Most Biblical scholars say that this is none other than the Messiah come back to reign the world. Throughout this chapter we have a description of the coming time when the Messiah shall reign over the earth. This time period is known as the Millennium.
HE will be the ensign. HE was lifted up on a cross. In the wilderness, a pole was raised with a serpent on it for the people to look on to be healed from the bites of the snakes the LORD had sent to judge the people. The cross was likened to this pole in the wilderness.
Christ is the Messiah. HE is going to gather the children of Israel together again, just as HE did from Egypt in the exodus. Moses built an altar and called it Jehovah-nissi, which means “the LORD is my banner.” We find in this passage that the Gentiles would seek HIM.
The rest that HE would give the world would be glorious. The time is coming. The Bible informs us that there will be a time of judgment before the Millennial reign of Christ.
Before this time of judgment the church will be taken to heaven for the Judgment Seat of Christ. This is the place where individuals who have chosen to follow the LORD are given their crowns and rewards.
Are we ready for the LORD to return? Will there be any stars in our crowns? Have we made the right choice regarding following HIM? Are we living in such a way that HE would be pleased if HE called us today? We should be. We are going to reign with HIM!!!
We need to spread the word regarding the LORD’S plan for the future. Then we need to inform them that they can join the family of God by becoming a follower of Jesus Christ. It is an exclusive group of people. They will be the only ones who will rule and reign with Christ during the time period described in this chapter.
CHALLENGE: Our choice is to believe the Word of God or not. We will enter into the eternal rest that HE plans for HIS children.>
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 16 And there shall be an highway for the remnant of HIS people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt. (7605 “remnant” [sha’ar] means remainder, residue, rest, something left after other parts are removed, or part of a whole.)
DEVOTION: Throughout the Word of God as the LORD dealt with people there were some chosen and others left behind. There was always a group that were believers and a group that were heathen. Today it is the same. There is a smaller group that are genuine believers and then a group that is religious but not genuine if their following of the LORD. Those who are just religious will be in the same group as those who are heathen when it comes to the final judgment of all people who have ever lived.
During the time just before the Millennium there will be those who have become believers during the Tribulation time period that will enter into this time period with Jesus Christ will reign from Jerusalem.
This verse gives us the idea that there will be no impediments to people traveling to Jerusalem to worship Jesus. The LORD is going to cause a highway to exist that will allow people to travel to worship HIM. There will be no excuse. There will be no reason for people to say they can’t get to this place of worship.
Today we have many who claim Christ who will use any excuse not to attend church. Some of the excuses might seem genuine but most are just lies that people tell themselves as to why they don’t fellowship with believers every Sunday.
The LORD expects and wants our worship every day but especially on the LORD’S Day Christians should gather to love and encourage one another.
CHALLENGE: Only each one of us knows what it will take to put a road block between our times of worship each Sunday as to whether it is genuine or something that we make up to excuse our lack of worship.
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