No. 14. >> Does Chapter 11 continue the judgement theme? Or does it introduce new thoughts? >>DR. R. REED LESSING: Let's do a little bit of review as we get into Chapter 11. We'll look specifically at Verses 1 through 9. I want to call to your attention these six points of the proper interpretation of prophetic literature. And let's use these six points again to begin an overview and study of Isaiah 11:1 through 9. So the first question is: Israel's past People, Events and/or Institutions. How does my current text relate to that? Certainly in this particular text, in Chapter 11 of Isaiah, it relates to David. David's humble position. David's ministry of justice and righteousness. David's peace throughout his empire. So it goes back to David. The second point within the sinaitic covenant. How does this relate to the covenant made at Sinai? Within the sinaitic covenant, remember we especially look at blessings and curses. And one of the blessings that God promises within the sinaitic covenant is that there will be peace, especially among people and wild animals. We'll look at this a little bit more when we get to Isaiah Chapter 35. But suffice it to say in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28, the presence of tame beasts is the indication not of cursing but of blessing. Now, the opposite is true in other prophetic texts where wild animals are attacking you like in Amos Chapter 5 Verse 19. It will be as though a man runs from a lion and meets a bear. And he runs from the bear and puts his hand on a wall in his house. And a snake bites him. All of that imaginary tells us that that's under a curse, that particular person in Amos Chapter 5. But the presence of animals that are getting along with people, this is indicative of the sinaitic promise of blessing. The third point we would want to make clear, that this text in Isaiah 11:1 through 9 has an immediate fulfillment in the future of Israel. Who was the little child that will lead them that we see so famously in Verse 6? The little child is King Josiah, who became king over Judah it at the age of eight. And began to implement justice and righteousness and peace. But only in a modest way. There would be more. As we've already said: You ain't seen nothing yet. Our fourth bullet point on how to read biblical prophets is to read this christologically. We will see the deep christological truths that will come out of this text in any number of ways. But suffice it to say that we will have our eyes focused on II Corinthians 1 Verse 20 where Saint Paul says: Whatever God has promised, those promises are yes in Christ. These promises of a shoot coming out of Jesse's stump are yes and Amen in Christ. Through the Word and sacraments, we, too, become partakers of the blessings described in Chapter 11:1 through 9. And yet, there's more to come. The sixth point on our slide says we want to read prophets eschatologically. So you see in Chapter 11 Verse 9 all the earth will be filled with the knowledge of God. From sea to sea. It will cover all of the earth. Well, that hasn't happened yet. Not all invoke and live by the name of Jesus. So we await more to come on the last day. Now, we did look at this next slide in conjunction with our discussion on Isaiah's Song of the Vineyard in Chapter 5 Verses 1 through 7. But this also is a way to get our minds and hearts into understanding how we read Old Testament prophets. There you see our now familiar picture of God. The circle with the arrows going out. And he directs history by his Word. There you have an open Bible. And you see the open Bible has different tornadic touch downs landing on different mountains. Let's look at the bottom left of the slide. And for our purposes, there is Isaiah. He stands, you see, within this mountain. Within the tablet. Within the cloud. And within the lightning. All part of the sinaitic covenant. Especially the blessings and curses that we've been discussing in this class. Isaiah speaks this word for us in Chapter 11. And this word has an immediate touch down in terms of impacting Israel's history in the Old Testament. So we might say that the first mountain on our slide where we have a Davidic king would be King Josiah. And his administration of justice and righteousness and peace in the Seventh Century BC. He's the little child that leads people in Isaiah 11 Verse 6. Well, the next touch down of this tornadic all powerful word comes in Christ. You can see that on our slide. That the suffering, the death, the resurrection and the ascension of Christ are all a part of this text we're looking at in Isaiah 11. But yet, there's more. You see another trajectory beyond the three mountains. And that points to the application of this text in our lives as well as the second coming of Christ. So the grass withers, the flower fades. We've said this already in this class. The Word of our God stands forever. Isaiah 40 Verse 8. And you see this Word of God on this slide directing and shaping Israel's history. Telling us about Christ. And shaping our future and the future of the universe. Let's now look specifically at Chapter 11 of Isaiah. He extends what we had already in Chapter 6 Verse 13. 6:13 talks about how the prophet is to intentionally harden people until everything is wiped out. Until there is just a holy seed in the stump. The acts that levels Israel is Assyria, that's 10 Verse 5 as well as 10 Verse 15. But from this stump will come forth a holy shoot. And that will come forth from the stump of Jesse. There is hope for a tree. If it's cut down, it will sprout again. And new shoots will not fail. Verse 1, Isaiah Chapter 11. And he will come forth, that is the shoot or sprig, from the stump of Jesse. And another kind of modest sprouting will come forth, another shoot or shoot from the roots will blossom. And in Verse 2: And the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him. We really haven't talked too much yet about the Spirit's role in Isaiah. But the Spirit rested upon David in I Samuel 16 Verse 13. And the Spirit will have a very important role in the second part of Isaiah. But this would be the beginning of connecting the messianic Davidic person with the Spirit empowered person. Just as David himself was Spirit empowered. In Chapter 42 Verse 1 of Isaiah, the Lord says: See my servant, whom I uphold. My chosen one, whom I delight. I will put my Spirit upon him. And he will bring forth justice for the nations. The servant, the suffering servant, in 42 and 49 and Chapter 50 and 52:13 through 53:12 is a Spirit empowered, Spirit driven, Spirit filled servant. We also see the Spirit's role not only beginning in Chapter 11 with this person coming up from the stump of Jesse. But also in Chapter 61 of Isaiah. So if you would like to look at that in your Bibles, the Spirit of the of the Lord God is upon me. Isaiah 61 Verse 1 says. The Lord has anointed me to proclaim to the afflicted ones. He has sent me to bind up those who are broken hearted, et cetera. So there's another important connecting link with the second part of Isaiah and the role of the Spirit. Certainly as we've already said in this class, this is the first text Jesus uses in Luke Chapter 4 to announce his coming as a Davidic Messiah who is a servant. But he's a Spirit empowered servant. So the Spirit, getting back to Chapter 11 Verse 2, of the Lord is upon him. And he now is everything Israel isn't. This Spirit of wisdom and understanding. Remember Isaiah 1 Verse 3 where an ox knows his master and the ass knows the trough of his owner. But my people do not know. Israel doesn't understand himself. This total ignorance of spiritual things. That's not this Spirit empowered Davidic descendent. He has wisdom and understanding. The Spirit of counsel and might. The Spirit of knowledge and the fear of Yahweh, the Lord. And he will delight in the fear of Yahweh. Verse 3 continues. He will not judge by what his eyes see. Or reprove or decide by what his ears hear. A great verse in I Samuel 16 Verse 7 says that man looks at the outward appearance. God looks at the heart. This new leader, this new Davidic leader, won't go by what he sees and hears. He will look at people's hearts. That's certainly so true in the life of Jesus. You know, the major fulfillments of this text. He was always after people's hearts. Let's go on. Verse 4. He will judge the needy ones, the marginalized people as we were discussing in Isaiah Chapter 5 Verse 7, in righteousness. And he will judge the poor of the land in equity. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth. And by means of the spirit of his lips, he will slay the wicked. Isn't this an odd way to defeat the enemies? By a word from your mouth. This is how the servant in the Servant Songs in Isaiah operates. It's always by a word. For example, in the second Servant Song in Chapter 49 Verse 2, the servant says that he has a tongue like a sharpened Sword. In the third Servant Song, for example, the servant says: I have a word to sustain the weary. In the Fourth Servant Song, the servant is silent and doesn't speak a word. He goes like a lamb before his -- or shears in silence. So Isaiah says he doesn't even open his mouth. The role of speaking or non-speaking, the role of controlling my tongue and my mouth, is going to be critical for are this Davidic Spirit inspired servant. How does this play out in the New Testament? Several texts come to mind. First of all, several times all Jesus had to do is just say one word. And everything was done. When he was on the Sea of Galilee in Matthew Chapter 14 with the disciples during the storm, he got up and said in one word in the Greek, siopa. It means be silent. One word. And he calmed the storm. Another time in Mark Chapter 7 there's a deaf man. And all Jesus says in Aramaic is ephphatha. Be opened. And it was opened. The man could hear. When Jesus was on the cross, John 19:30, ***tutelisti, one word. It is finished, done, complete. All of salvation history wrapped up and fulfilled in Jesus' death on the cross. One little word gets the job done. Jesus says in Revelation Chapter 21 Verse 5: ***Gegonon in the Greek. In the English: It is done. He says: I've made all things new. You see, the centurion in Matthew Chapter 8 got it right. Only say the word and your servant will be healed. Jesus is the one whose words do what they say they do. No wonder in Revelation Chapter 19 he's pictured on a white horse. And his name is King of Kings and Lord of Lords and out of his mouth comes a sharp double-edged sword. This servant is victorious by what he says. Marvelous. Marvelous promise. Let's look at it again in Verse 4. He'll strike the earth with the rod of his mouth. And by means of the spirit of his lips he will slay the wicked. Jesus has given the church this same power. In Ephesians 6 Verse 17 B, we are to take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Well, let's go on. Verse 5. His inner loincloths are righteousness and truth. Within the Old Testament quite often who you are is what you wear. Your clothes actually display your personality. This Spirit inspired Davidic servant as we are connecting all of these dots now throughout the book of Isaiah, he is righteousness. He is truth. And then in 6 and 7 and 8 we have this marvelous picture of peace between animals. And the little child leading them. Telling us that we are now under a covenant blessing as we have this displayed for us in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy Chapter 28. Well, where does all of this take place? Verse 9. They will not do evil. And they will not do harm on all my holy mountain. Remember way back when we were looking at Isaiah Chapter 2 Verses 1 through 5 where all the nations streamed to Mt. Zion. And I made the comment that God's offer of salvation is universal. But you only receive it in one place or in one person or in one name or in one holy book. Here all of this takes place on God's holy mountain. On Mt. Zion. Which we remember, I'm sure, we appropriate this by means of Hebrews 12:22 through 24. Where the Hebrew writer says: You have come to Mt. Zion. To the church of the first born. To the angels in joyful assembly. To a blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. To Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant. Where is all of this taking place now? On God's holy mountain. Mt. Zion. The church where Jesus himself promises to be as the king. As the servant king. As the servant king who is Spirit driven and Spirit inspired.