When The Kingdom Comes

The Right Kind of King

Isaiah

Isaiah 11:1–9 HCSB

Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him — a Spirit of wisdom and understanding, a Spirit of counsel and strength, a Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. His delight will be in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what He sees with His eyes, He will not execute justice by what He hears with His ears, but He will judge the poor righteously and execute justice for the oppressed of the land. He will strike the land with discipline from His mouth, and He will kill the wicked with a command from His lips. Righteousness will be a belt around His loins; faithfulness will be a belt around His waist. The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat. The calf, the young lion, and the fatling will be together, and a child will lead them. The cow and the bear will graze, their young ones will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. An infant will play beside the cobra’s pit, and a toddler will put his hand into a snake’s den. None will harm or destroy another on My entire holy mountain, for the land will be as full of the knowledge of the Lord as the sea is filled with water.

Shoot of Jesse--- Boaz and Ruth, Obed, Jesse, David. They were all from Bethlehem.

The Evil King Ahaz is from this kingly line, but he is the opposite of King David.

It is not just enough to have a King who is a descendant of Ahaz.... this King will spring up fresh from the root of Jesse.

Where was Jesus born? Bethlehem… he is the shoot from the stump of Jesse

Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him

One of the things I mentioned to you in the beginning of our study was that Isaiah points to Jesus more than any other OT prophet.

It is mentioned that the Spirit will rest on Him here and in 42.1; 48.16, and in 61.1 Remember that at Jesus baptism the Spirit came and rested on Jesus 3.16

A careful reading of these verses will reveal some things that havent happened yet.

Saying this another way… the Spirit rested on Jesus as verse 2 says. He has a Spirit of wisdom and understanding, counsel and strength, knowledge and fear of the Lord (WHICH IS A MAJOR CONTRAST TO AHAZ)

but the following verses have not yet taken place. Verse 2 speaks of His first coming. and the following verses speak of His 2nd coming. This is an important distinction. speaks of Messiah being “cut off”

When He comes again to set up His kingdom here on earth He will judge and rule impartially and the world will be such a different place

A PLACE OF PEACE BECAUSE IT IS RULED BY THE PRINCE OF PEACE.

The point is that this King will be the kind of King who will do what is right by the Lord and by the and for the people.

point to a restoration to things like they were before the Fall. and points to

I can trust Jesus to do what is right.

A United People Under One Banner

Isaiah 11:10–16 HCSB

On that day the root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples. The nations will seek Him, and His resting place will be glorious. On that day the Lord will extend His hand a second time to recover—from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and the coasts and islands of the west—the remnant of His people who survive. He will lift up a banner for the nations and gather the dispersed of Israel; He will collect the scattered of Judah from the four corners of the earth. Ephraim’s envy will cease; Judah’s harassment will end. Ephraim will no longer be envious of Judah, and Judah will not harass Ephraim. But they will swoop down on the Philistine flank to the west. Together they will plunder the people of the east. They will extend their power over Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites will be their subjects. The Lord will divide the Gulf of Suez. He will wave His hand over the Euphrates with His mighty wind and will split it into seven streams, letting people walk through on foot. There will be a highway for the remnant of His people who will survive from Assyria, as there was for Israel when they came up from the land of Egypt.

I love verse 10

Jesus will bring together people from all the nations.

We have had a lot of flag talk lately. We have people very defensive about the flag of a Confederate Nation that has not existed for 150 years. We have people fussing about disrespecting our American Flag.

The one thing I can tell you with absolute authority is that Jesus is the “Banner” that all people will pledge their allegiance to.

Second time--- I think the first time God recovered His people could be the Exodus. Now He is seen in bringing them together from all corners of the earth. In 1948 Israel once again became a Nation, and the Jewish people came and continue to come from all over the world. This could surely be the start of fullfilling Isaiah’s prophecy.

One writer put it this way:

The NIV Application Commentary: Isaiah Bridging Contexts

For centuries the church understood itself to be the spiritual successor to the people of Israel and saw all the promises as having a spiritual fulfillment in the life of the church. Thus, when Jews began to return to Israel in the last part of the nineteenth century and that return became a flood after World War II, many Christians were taken by surprise.

I can trust Jesus to bring protection and provision.

Application:

First a warning: Don’t just see this as something that has to do with way out there in the future for Israel.

A two part encouragement.

A. When we have bad leaders, imperiled times, and injustice everywhere, there is still hope. When it looks like no one fears the Lord. Not so. King Jesus rules now and will rule forever.

B. Wondering if God is going to keep his promises? the first coming of Jesus strengthens our faith that the second coming will take place. God is trustworthy. He can handle what pertains to you today.

DO YOU KNOW HIM?