All gave some. Some Gave All. Lest we forget.

Daily Devotional Sunday 10th July 2022

by William Moody

Isaiah 11–12

The Righteous Reign of the Branch

11:1   There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
    and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
  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.
  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,
  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.
  Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
    and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
  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.
  The cow and the bear shall graze;
    their young shall lie down together;
    and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
  The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
    and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
  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,1 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 destroy2
    the tongue of the Sea of Egypt,
  and will wave his hand over the River3
    with his scorching breath,4
  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.

The Lord Is My Strength and My Song

12:1   You5 will say in that day:
  “I will give thanks to you, O LORD,
    for though you were angry with me,
  your anger turned away,
    that you might comfort me.
  “Behold, God is my salvation;
    I will trust, and will not be afraid;
  for the LORD GOD6 is my strength and my song,
    and he has become my salvation.”

With joy you7 will draw water from the wells of salvation. And you will say in that day:

  “Give thanks to the LORD,
    call upon his name,
  make known his deeds among the peoples,
    proclaim that his name is exalted.
  “Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously;
    let this be made known8 in all the earth.
  Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,
    for great in your9 midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

Footnotes

[1] 11:11 Probably Nubia
[2] 11:15 Hebrew devote to destruction
[3] 11:15 That is, the Euphrates
[4] 11:15 Or wind
[5] 12:1 The Hebrew for you is singular in verse 1
[6] 12:2 Hebrew for Yah, the Lord
[7] 12:3 The Hebrew for you is plural in verses 3, 4
[8] 12:5 Or this is made known
[9] 12:6 The Hebrew for your in verse 6 is singular, referring to the inhabitant of Zion

(ESV)

The weak and evil king of Judah Ahaz when facing attack from Israel and Syria is given another wonderful prophecy about Jesus the coming Messiah.

Out of the mess of Judah a branch of hope (v1) will come in the power of the Spirit (v2), in the fear of the Lord (v2b-3) and in righteousness (v3-5). This coming Messiah would be all that Ahaz was not.

Jesus will bring peace and harmony (v6-8) that is everlasting. Here is a wonderful picture of this new world. This world of peace comes as Jesus brings the knowledge of the Lord (v9). We must never forget that peace and the knowledge of God always come together.

Jesus is the root of Jesse who will be a signal/banner (v10) to the Gentiles. But the future of the Jews and Gentiles are entwined. There will return from exile a remnant of the people of Israel (v11) and this will be a signal to the nations of God’s power and grace at work for His people (v12).

The power of God is displayed in bringing victory for the people of God over their enemies (v13-16). God’s power and grace leads to praise (12 v1-6)

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®),
copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.