NOTES for Isa 11:1-12:6
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.