Isaiah, Week 3, Day 6: Isaiah 11:1-12:6

Read Isaiah 11:1-12:6

 1. Has the prophecy of 11:1-5 been fulfilled? What is the evidence? (See also 1 Samuel 17:12; Isaiah 42:1; Matthew 3:16; John 1:32; John 7:24; 1 Corinthians 1:30)

Yes, through the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

• 1 Samuel 17:12  David was the son of Jesse, "There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse" (Isaiah 11:1)
• Isaiah 42:1"I have put my spirit on him.  He will bring forth justice."
• Matthew 3:16  When Jesus was baptized, the Spirit of God descended upon him and rested upon him.
• John 1:32  John bore witness to the Spirit descending and resting upon him.
• John 7:24  "Judge with right judgement."
• 1 Corinthians 30: "And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption." 

 2. Has the prophecy of 11:6-16 been fulfilled? What is the evidence? (See also Matthew 24:31; Romans 8:18-22)

No, I don't believe it has been ultimately fulfilled until Christ's Second Coming.

• Matthew 24:31  With a loud trumpet call, He will send forth his angels to gather the elect from the four winds.
• Romans 8:18-22 Paul talks about our present sufferings as paling in comparison to the glory that will be revealed, speaks of the earth's birth pains, that the earth will be set free from "the bondage of corruption," and that we also groan with first fruits.

 3. Isaiah's Song of Praise (12:1-6) was written in anticipation of "that day." Does it describe what you would sing today? How?

For me, this song is hard to relate to because it is abstract and seemingly inaccessible.  It's like picturing Heaven.  I did benefit from multiple commentaries here:

Biblical Illustrator:

We should connect the opening of the eleventh chapter with the close of the tenth in order to feel the full force of the contrast. There we read: “And He shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty One.” Then comes the prophecy that “there shall come forth a rod,” etc. The cedar of Lebanon was the symbol of Assyrian power. It was a poor symbol. Looked at botanically, it very vividly represented the passing pomp of a pagan empire. It is of the pine genus, and sends out no suckers, and when it is cut down it is gone. The oak is the symbol of Israel’s power, and though it be cut down it grows again—“there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots”—out of the very lowest stump that is left in the ground. (J. Parker, D. D.)

Isaiah 11: 1-16
Three prospects are unfolded in it.

I. A PROSPECT OF MIND (verses 2-5). The geography of a royal mind in its stretches of character, knowledge, and achievement.

"The Spirit of the Lord rests upon Him."  The Spirit of:  wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and fear of the Lord.

Peaceable Kingdom, Edward Hicks, 1834

II. A PROSPECT OF NATURE (verses 6-9). A vision of the restitution of nature—Paradise regained.

The strife of the natural world will be suspended:

Wolf w/lamb, leopard w/goat, calf w/lion, cow w/bear, lion will eat straw, child play over cobra hole,

"They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain."

III. A PROSPECT OF HISTORY (verses 9-16). The geography of Israel’s redemption. To this third prospect chapter 12. forms a fitting conclusion, a hymn of praise in the mouth of returning exiles. (Prof. G. A. Smith, D. D.)

There will be a physical return of Israel across dried up or shallow rivers (like the Exodus).

The word “salvation” is too narrowly defined in many instances. People suppose that it means a kind of spiritual selfishness which, being expressed in more words, would run in some such fashion as this: Thank God I am safe, whatever may become of anybody else! Any man who can say that, or mean that, or be in any way under such a delusion, simply knows nothing whatever about the spirit of the Gospel. “Salvation” is one of the largest terms in human speech. Emancipation does not mean—you are now no longer under obligation to serve your old tyrant or your old master. That is but a negative aspect of emancipation. The true meaning is—you are invested with all the responsibilities of organised liberty; you have conferred upon you an opportunity of developing your whole manhood; you may now show the very best aspect of your character, and unless you do it, then slavery were for you better than freedom. It is so with the fullest meaning of this word salvation. Saved people are generous people, beneficent, charitable, anxious about others; nay, the only explanation of their anxiety about others is that they themselves are conscious of having been saved—not saved from fear only, but saved into life, liberty, and conscious possibility of doing great and small things. (J. Parker, D. D.)