#972 Isaiah 11 Utopia

 

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,

and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

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 the fear of the Lord.

3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,

or decide disputes by what his ears hear,

4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,

and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;

and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,

and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,

and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,

and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,

and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;

and a little child shall lead them.

7 The cow and the bear shall graze;

their young shall lie down together;

and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,

and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.

9 They shall not hurt or destroy

in all my holy mountain;

for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord

as the waters cover the sea.

10 In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

11 In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea. 

12 He will raise a signal for the nations

and will assemble the banished of Israel,

and gather the dispersed of Judah

from the four corners of the earth.

13 The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart,

and those who harass Judah shall be cut off;

Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah,

and Judah shall not harass Ephraim.

14 But they shall swoop down on the shoulder of the Philistines in the west,

and together they shall plunder the people of the east.

They shall put out their hand against Edom and Moab,

and the Ammonites shall obey them.

15 And the Lord will utterly destroy

the tongue of the Sea of Egypt,

and will wave his hand over the River

with his scorching breath,

and strike it into seven channels,

and he will lead people across in sandals.

16 And there will be a highway from Assyria

for the remnant that remains of his people,

as there was for Israel

when they came up from the land of Egypt. Isaiah 11 ESV

Isaiah 11

1-5. There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse - I'm going to include a great sister passage to this in Revelation. 100s of years will pass, and Jesse, the father of David, the king from whose line Messiah would come, his stump will seem long dead. The pride of Judah has been hewn down, they will have been taken into captivity in Babylon, then returned to rebuild a less dramatic temple. Babylon will have been destroyed by Persia, Persia defeated by Greece, and by the time of Messiah, Israel will be under Roman rule. People have been dispersed everywhere, and a ruler coming from the Davidic line will be a more massive improbability than opening up Sarah's dead womb. 

Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” 3 And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, 4 and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. 5 And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”

6 And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. 8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying,

“Worthy are you to take the scroll

and to open its seals,

for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God

from every tribe and language and people and nation,

10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,

and they shall reign on the earth.”

11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice,

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,

to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might

and honor and glory and blessing!”

13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb

be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”

14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped. Revelation 5 ESV

Spirit of the Lord, wisdom, counsel, knowledge and fear - People are look-ing for a good ruler, wise governance, knowledge and fear of doing what is evil. Every dictator on this planet has promised this, has promised utopia of some sort, "hey poor, you don't have to be poor anymore." Sin has brought death, sickness and unrest, as it should, it is the opposite of good. God has blessed us with doctors, scientists and technology to ease some of this, but we are all dying and this planet is too. 

I can do nothing by Myself; I judge only as I hear. And My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 31If I testify about Myself, My testimony is not valid. 32There is another who testifies about Me, and I know that His testimony about Me is valid.… John 5: 30-32

Eyes see and ears hear - He won't judge like the wicked rulers we have learned about previously. It won't be based on outward appearance; he won't be a respecter of persons or oration, but righteousness, for He will look at the heart. The poor will receive true justice, not waiting in line behind the rich, God never needed their money.

And with the breath of His lips he shall kill the wicked - Just as the world was created by the word of God, so Jesus words of judgment will remove wickedness. He is the only One Who can restore all things.

…7For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but the one who now restrains it will continue until he is taken out of the way. 8And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of His mouth and annihilate by the majesty of His arrival. 9The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the working of Satan, with every kind of power, sign, and false wonder,… 2 Thessalonians 2: 7-9

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb - When Christ removes all wickedness there will be no more predation. I hear people in various cultures talk about going to the "happy hunting grounds", and many a friend has said, "won't it be great when were able to just fish like this all the time?" They get mad when I tell them I don't believe we will be fishing, for that's heaven to them, but to me, God is much greater than that.

The creation waits in eager expectation for the revelation of the sons of God. 20For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but because of the One who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.…

We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time. 23Not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.… Romans 8: 19-23

And a little child shall lead them - The relationship between animals and humans will be restored; there will be no dread from or toward either.

The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra - When I get a better camera I plan to do a Scalelily post on reptiles, their mention in the Bible, people's superstitions about them, etc.., but for now just know that the relationship was not always like this. Someday it will be restored, and there will be harmony between man and beast.

…2The fear and dread of you will fall on every living creature on the earth, every bird of the air, every creature that crawls on the ground, and all the fish of the sea. They are delivered into your hand. 3Everything that lives and moves will be food for you; just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you all things.4But you must not eat meat with its lifeblood still in it.… Genesis 9: 2-4

For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord - Now before this time comes there will be false prophets, teachers, rulers. Some will preach veganism, we will strive after medicines and vaccines, anything to extend our lives here. People will warn of global warming, try to fix the earth with solar panels, lower emissions, wind turbines, a cult of eco friendly tyrants, who swear they can fix the world, yelling "science", but ignoring science, ignoring the Creator. They recognize that there is a sort of evil, but they are too self righteous to see their own. Some of the false prophets will even perform signs in the heavens, just like the Pharisees asked of Jesus, but probably with technology, yet the people will be deceived. Most think, "yeah right, not me", but people have followed so many lies, even in the evangelical church they have followed those claiming to do miracles that could not. If you don't truly want God, you are going to settle for an image.

…2influenced by the hypocrisy of liars, whose consciences are seared with a hot iron. 3They will prohibit marriage and require abstinence from certain foods that God has created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4For every creation of God is good, and nothing that is received with thanksgiving should be rejected,… 1 Timothy 4: 2-4

…12And this beast exercised all the authority of the first beast and caused the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose mortal wound had been healed. 13And the second beast performed great signs to cause even fire from heaven to come down to earth in the presence of the people. 14Because of the signs it was given to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived those who dwell on the earth, telling them to make an image to the beast that had been wounded by the sword and yet had lived.… Revelation 13: 12-14

And assemble the banished of Israel - Fortunately for Israel, there is a remnant, and it was a unilateral covenant that God made with Abraham. The story of redemption is about Christ all along.

Ephraim will not envy Judah - There will be no more wars in His kingdom, and those that persecuted Israel will be judged. Jesus is the Prince of Peace.