At first glance, the coming Savior is portrayed as a fearsome judge dealing with sinners, which would seem...
At first glance, the coming Savior is portrayed as a fearsome judge dealing with sinners, which would seem to be confirmed by the words that He will kill the wicked. But then we read that the wolf will lie down with the lamb, and the lion will eat straw. That means cruelty and predatory ways will no longer reign, not only in human society but even in nature. But if violence will not be needed even to protect lambs, why then kill a wicked human being?
These words, apparently, still refer not to sinful people who are under the power of evil, but to the inspirer of evil, the ancient tempter who provokes people to sin in the hope of enslaving their souls. In that case, the words about the victory over him, accomplished by the spirit of the Savior's mouth, should be understood as a prophecy of the Lord's final victory over every evil, which is to come at the end of time.
It may appear that different events are joined in the prophecy: the final victory over evil and the more immediate deliverance of the people from captivity. But there is no contradiction here; the joyful pictures of the people's liberation from foreign oppressors were seen by Isaiah as a foreshadowing of the coming victory of truth and justice for all nations. For every genuine good is a particle of that great good coming from the Lord, which in the end must triumph.
11 Christ, a branch cut of the root of Jesse, endued with the spirit of the Lord, should set up a kingdom by the preaching of his word, Isa 11:1-5.
The members of his church should live in peace and unity, Isa 11:6-9.
And be victorious over their enemies: and to him should the Gentiles seek, Isa 11:10-16.
11:1 And - And having said that the Assyrian yoke should be destroyed because of the anointing, he now explains who that anointed person was.The stem - Or, stump: for the word signifies properly a trunk cut off from the root. By which he clearly implies, that the Messiah should be born of the royal house of David, at that time when it was in a most forlorn condition, like a tree cut down, and whereof nothing is left but a stump or root under ground. Of Jesse - He doth not say of David, but of Jesse, who was a private and mean person, to intimate, that at the time of Christ's birth the royal family should be reduced to its primitive obscurity.
11:2 Wisdom - It is not needful, exactly to distinguish these two gifts; it is sufficient that they are necessary qualifications for a governor, and a teacher, and it is evident they signify perfect knowledge of all things necessary for his own and peoples good, and a sound judgment, to distinguish between things that differ. Counsel - Of prudence, to give good counsel; and of might and courage, to execute it. Knowledge - Of the perfect knowledge of the whole will and counsel of God, as also of all secret things, yea of the hearts of men. Fear - A fear of reverence, a care to please him, and lothness to offend him.
11:3 In the fear - He shall not judge rashly and partially, but considerately and justly, as the fear of God obliges all judges to do.Judge - Of persons or causes. After the sight - According to outward appearance, as men do, because they cannot search mens hearts.Reprove - Condemn or pass sentence against a person.His ears - By uncertain rumours or suggestions.
11:4 Judge - Defend and deliver them. Reprove - Or condemn their malicious enemies. Thy rod - With his word, which is his scepter, and the rod of his power, Psa 110:2, which is sharper than a sword, Heb 4:12, by the preaching whereof he subdued the world to himself, and will destroy his enemies, Th2 2:8.This he adds farther, to declare the nature of Christ's kingdom, that it is not of this world.
11:5 The girdle - It shall adorn him, and be the glory of his government, as a girdle was used for an ornament, Isa 3:24, and as an ensign of power, Job 12:18, and it shall constantly cleave to him in all his administrations, as a girdle cleaveth to a man's loins.
11:6 The wolf - The creatures shall be restored to that state of innocency in which they were before the fall of man. Men of fierce, and cruel dispositions, shall be so transformed by the grace of Christ, that they shall become gentle, and tractable. A child - They will submit their rebellious wills to the conduct of the meanest persons that speak to them in Christ's name.
11:7 Feed - Together, without any danger or fear. Straw - The grass of the earth, as they did at first, and shall not devour other living creatures.
11:9 My holy mountain - In Zion, in my church. The sea - The channel of the sea.
11:10 A root - A branch growing upon the root. Ensign - Shall grow up into a great tree, shall become an eminent ensign. The people - Which not only the Jews, but all nations, may discern, and to which they shall resort. Rest - His resting - place, his temple or church, the place of his presence and abode. Glorious - Shall be filled with greater glory than the Jewish tabernacle and temple were; only this glory shall be spiritual, consisting in the plentiful effusions of the gifts, and graces, of the Holy Spirit.
11:11 The second - The first time, to which this word second relates, seems to be the deliverance out of Babylon: and then this second deliverance must be in the days of the Messiah.To recover - From all places far and near, into which either the ten tribes or the two tribes were carried captives. Pathros was a province in Egypt.
11:12 Nations - All nations, Jews and Gentiles.Out - casts - That were driven out of their own land, into foreign parts.Israel - Of the ten tribes.
11:13 Ephraim - Of the ten tribes, frequently called by the name of Ephraim. Of enemies they shall be made friends. The adversaries - Not the body of Ephraim, for they are supposed to be reconciled, and they shall not be cut off, but live in love with Judah, as we see by the next clause; but those few of them who continue in their enmity together with all the rest of their adversaries.
11:14 Fly - It is a metaphor from birds and beasts of prey.Spoil - They shall subdue them, which is to be understood of the spiritual victory which the Messiah shall obtain by his apostles and ministers over all nations.
11:15 Destroy - Shall not only divide it, as of old, but dry it up, that it may be an high - way. The sea - The Red Sea, which may well be called the Egyptian sea, both because it borders upon Egypt, and because the Egyptians were drowned in it, which is called a tongue in the Hebrew text, Jos 15:2, Jos 15:5, as having some resemblance with a tongue: for which reason the name of tongue hath been given by geographers to promontories of land which shoot forth into the sea, as this sea did shoot out of the main ocean into the land. Rivers - Nile.Seven streams - For which it is famous in all authors.
11:16 As it was - As there was another high - way from Egypt. All impediments shall be removed, and a way made for the return of God's Israel from all parts of the world. He mentions Assyria, because thither the ten tribes were carried, whose case seemed to be most desperate.