The Restoration Of Israel And Judah (Isaiah 11:11-16).
And now, as after Isaiah 2:5; Isaiah 9:7, we are suddenly brought abruptly down to earth again. The glory of the coming eternal kingdom has been revealed. But what has been described is not just a myth, it relates specifically to the world situation and the position of God's people. It is something to be truly enjoyed in the future. But before creation can be so blessed His people must return to Him and must be restored in readiness to act as His servant in the spreading of His truth, that the word of Yahweh may go out from Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:3).
Analysis.
a And it will come about in that day that the Lord will set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people who will remain, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath and from the islands of the sea (coastlands) (Isaiah 11:11).
b And He will set up an ensign for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah, from the four corners of the earth (Isaiah 11:12).
c And the envy also of Ephraim will depart, and those who vex Judah will be cut off. Ephraim will not envy Judah, and Judah will not vex Ephraim (Isaiah 11:13).
c And they will fly down on the shoulder of the Philistines on the west, together they will spoil the children of the east. They will put out their hand on Edom and Moab, and the children of Ammon will obey them (Isaiah 11:14 b).
b And Yahweh will utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea, and with His scorching wind He will shake His hand over the River, and He will smite it into seven streams (nahal - dried up river beds), and cause men to march over dryshod.
a And there will be a highway for the remnant of His people, who will remain, from Assyria, just as there was for Israel, in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt
In ‘a' the Lord will restore His people from Assyria and Egypt, etc. and in the parallel there will be a highway for them from Assyria, just as there had been in the day they came out of Egypt. In ‘b' the Lord will set up a banner and gather to it the exiles of both Israel and Judah, and in the parallel Yahweh will make ways for His people to cross the barriers to their return dryshod. In ‘c' those who vex Ephraim and Judah will be dealt with, and in the parallel they themselves will triumph over them.
‘And it will come about in that day that the Lord will set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people who will remain, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath and from the islands of the sea (coastlands).'
‘A second time' refers back to Israel's captivity in Egypt. Then the sovereign Lord delivered them, now He will deliver them again. Note that here we are back to the action of God Himself, and that it is only ‘the remnant' of His people that He gathers. Large numbers of them have aligned themselves with the nations. Only the few will return. They will come from Assyria and Egypt, the then two greatest known nations, and from further afield, from Upper Egypt (Pathros), from North Africa (Cush), from beyond Assyria, from Elam and Shinar (Babylon), and from Hamath, and from the furthest coastlands. The spread reveals Isaiah's consciousness of the fact that Yahweh will yet scatter His people further abroad because of their constant unfaithfulness (Isaiah 6:11-12). The scattering of first Galilee, and then Samaria is only the beginning.
Such a return of exiles undoubtedly took place within the inter-testamental period. All who wished to do so could return to their native land. Thus by the time of Jesus visitors from all over the world came to Jerusalem for the feasts, and could stay there if they willed. Compare Acts 2:5, ‘and there were dwelling at Jerusalem, Jews, from every nation under heaven.' And that is followed by a similar list to here (Acts 2:9-11).
Note that Babylon is not prominently mentioned. While there are exiles there (Shinar) they are simply some among many. Babylon is not specifically in his sights.
‘And he will set up an ensign for the nations,
And will assemble the outcasts of Israel,
And gather together the dispersed of Judah,
From the four corners of the earth.'
The ensign here is not necessarily to be equated with the one in Isaiah 11:10. It is a favourite picture of Isaiah. In Isaiah 49:22 an ensign/banner is set up ‘to the peoples' calling on them to bring God's people back to the land. The ensign there is God's signal to the peoples. Presumably therefore the same thing is in mind here. The setting up of an ensign is also used to call nations to battle (Isaiah 5:26; Isaiah 13:2), so the symbol does not have one fixed idea. Thus the nations are here being called on to help in the gathering of Israel/Judah back to the land.
We note that he is remembering Isaiah 6:12; and the name of his son, Sheer-jashub, ‘the remnant shall return'. He is well aware that Judah is to have its exiles. But there is no stress on their being in Babylon.
Alternately, however, we may see Isaiah 11:12 as recapitulating Isaiah 11:10-11. (We might begin Isaiah 11:12 by translating ‘so'.) Then we may see two actions as depicted here, the setting up of the Ensign for the nations on the one hand in Isaiah 11:12 a, as a recapitulation of Isaiah 11:10, and the gathering together of God's remnant on the other in Isaiah 11:12 b as recapitulating Isaiah 11:11. Two necessary actions in God's purposes. The Ensign to the nations is then the King Himself, and primary, and therefore comes first, while the gathering of the people is then also described as occurring.
But note that in Isaiah 11:10 He is set up as an Ensign to gather all the nations and people together in order that they may seek Him, an act of peace, whereas here the purpose of the ensign is to call on the nations to send back the dispersed of Israel and Judah from exile, and at no stage elsewhere is He said to be set up as the Ensign around which Israel will so gather. That is why we prefer the first interpretation, which also fits better with the analyses.
Either way the emphasis is at this point on the fact that God's people will gather once more, drawn by Him, to serve Him once again, as Acts 2:5-11 tells us that they had done.
(An ensign is set up in Isaiah 5:26 to ‘the nations from far' which calls the nations to come against His people. There the Assyrian invasion is probably mainly in mind, although it is deliberately not specific. In Isaiah 13:2 an ensign is set up ‘on the bare mountain' where again it calls the nations for battle, but this time with reference to the destruction of Babylon. The principle behind the ensign is Yahweh's sovereignty in world events).
The mention of Babylon at this stage under the name of Shinar stresses that Babylon is not seen as yet as a distinctive power with its name established, but as one among others. It fits well with Isaiah's earlier ministry before the danger of Babylon became more impressed on him.
We may see for all this a twofold fulfilment. Firstly when the people were gathered back after the exile, and, over the later decades and centuries, were once again established in the land as a united people, and secondly when the Message of the Gospel went out into the world, and the banner of Christ was lifted up, and Jews from every nation under heaven responded to Him (compare Acts 2:5), finally drawing in all whom God has chosen.
‘And the envy also of Ephraim will depart,
And those who vex Judah will be cut off.
Ephraim will not envy Judah,
And Judah will not vex Ephraim.
And they will fly down on the shoulder of the Philistines on the west,
Together they will spoil the children of the east.
They will put out their hand on Edom and Moab,
And the children of Ammon will obey them.'
Those who envy Ephraim (or the envy that they have of Ephraim) will ‘depart', they will not be able to do anything against them, and those who vex Judah will be cut off. And in their being gathered together the two nations will become one. Judah will not vex Ephraim, Ephraim will not envy Judah. They will be one people.
Then in what follows, as previously in Isaiah 10:26, Isaiah probably has in mind past history after the exodus when the Philistines, the children of the East (Judges 6:3), Edom (Numbers 20:20), Moab and Ammon (Judges 3:13) were fierce enemies of Israel (see also 1 Samuel 14:47) seeking either to prevent their establishment in the land, or to bring them into bondage and despoil them.
Others see in this a reference to the time of David when all these tribes and nations were in submission to him.
The mention of the Philistines as being ‘on the west' also suggests a deliberate contrast with the children of the East, thus signifying all their enemies round about. This time there will be no such problem. Yahweh will bring them all in submission to them. And certainly in the inter-testamental period these areas came into Israelite hands. Nor would the two nations themselves be divided. They would be in the land as one people.
Again we are probably to see the twofold fulfilment, the literal establishing in the land in unity and control over these nations who had once held them in bondage, which became a reality in the inter-testamental period, and the triumph of the Gospel as taken out by Jewish missionaries (the Apostles and disciples) to ‘conquer' those nations and bring them into subjection to Yahweh. The uniting of the tribes is then symbolic of the oneness of the true church of Christ.
‘And Yahweh will utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea,
And with his scorching wind he will shake his hand over the River,
And He will smite it into seven streams (nahal - dried up river beds),
And cause men to march over dryshod.
And there will be a highway for the remnant of his people,
Who will remain, from Assyria,
Just as there was for Israel,
In the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.'
Access both from Egypt and from Assyria will be made possible by Yahweh's power. Both the Egyptian sea and the Euphrates will open up to make it possible for God's people to come over dryshod. Indeed the tongue of the Egyptian sea will be utterly destroyed so that it can hinder no more. It is under the Ban. There is no more division, no barrier from entering or leaving Egypt. (And as we know, until the construction of the Suez canal those ‘seas' had disappeared). They will be exiles no more.
Later we will also be told of a highway between Egypt and Assyria as they are one with His people in worshipping Him (Isaiah 19:23-25). Such a situation was open to God's people in the Roman Empire, and facilitated the spread of the Gospel in the days of the early church.
The descriptions are idealistic as is demonstrated by the River splitting into seven dried up river beds, dried up by Yahweh's scorching wind. Seven is regularly the symbol of idealism. It is simply saying that by His power He will make a divinely perfect way open, as He did in the case of Egypt long before, and will do again.
This all connects with the glorious days when the Gospel had free rein in Egypt and Assyria and they united in worship along with the Christian Jews in Palestine in the early century of the Christian era. It will have even deeper fulfilment in the new heavens and the new earth where all are as one.
Note the emphasis on the power of the hand; the hand of the Lord in Isaiah 11:11, the hand of Israel and Judah in Isaiah 11:14, and the hand of Yahweh in Isaiah 11:15. It is Yahweh Who also strengthens their hand. The hand is the means by which things are done (compare Psalms 44:2).
We may end our look at this chapter by considering the final phrase. ‘Like as there was for Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.' There will be a new Exodus. It will be a new beginning. The old will have past, the new will have come.