And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse
A prophecy concerning Messiah the Prince
I. HIS RISE OUT OF THE HOUSE OF DAVID (Isaiah 11:1).
II. HIS QUALIFICATIONS FOR HIS GREAT UNDERTAKING (Isaiah 11:2-3).
III. THE JUSTICE AND EQUITY OF HIS GOVERNMENT (Isaiah 11:3-5).
IV. THE PEACEABLENESS OF HIS KINGDOM (Isaiah 11:6-9).
V. THE ACCESSION OF THE GENTILES TO IT (Isaiah 11:10).
VI. And with them THE REMNANT OF THE JEWS that should be united with them in the Messiah’s kingdom (Isaiah 11:11-16). (M. Henry.)
The picture of the future
The picture of the future which fills the eleventh chapter is one of the most extensive that Isaiah has drawn. 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.
II. A PROSPECT OF NATURE (verses 6-9). A vision of the restitution of nature--Paradise regained.
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.)
Three great ideals
1. The perfect indwelling of our humanity by the Spirit of God.
2. The peace and communion of all nature, covered with the knowledge of God.
3. The traversing of all history by the Divine purposes of redemption. (Prof. G. A. Smith, D. D.)
Assyria and Israel: a contrast
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.)
Eternal youthfulness
What is the symbol of our power? Is ours an influence that can be cut down and never revive? or are we so rooted in the Eternal that though persecution may impoverish us, and we may suffer great deprivation and depletion of every kind, yet we shall come up again in eternal youthfulness? (J. Parker, D. D.)
Prophecy: a very good transition
It is a very good transition in prophecy (whether it be so in rhetoric or no) and a very common one, to pass from the prediction of the temporal deliverances of the Church to that of the great salvation, which, in the fulness of time, should be wrought out by Jesus Christ, of which the others were types and figures. (M. Henry.)
The Branch
The word translated “Branch” is in the Hebrew Netser. The word is said to be derived from a root which means “bright” or “verdant.” And this agrees with the character of the valley in which the town of Netzer or Natsoreth (Nazareth) stands. “The bushes and aromatic shrubs, and especially the brilliant wild flowers, take away from the bleakness of the landscape.” It is from this title, then, Netser or the Branch, that St. Matthew quotes when he says, “He shall be called a Nazarene” Matthew 2:23). (Expository Times.)
The rod out of the stem of Jesse
Let us go back to the humblest point, the very starting line, and learn that this Son of God was not the son of a king only, but the son of a king’s lowly father. Christianity is the religion of the common people. The Gospel appeals to all men, rich and poor, in every zone and clime, and is most to those who need it most. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Christ the fruitful Branch
“A shoot out of its roots brings fruit.” The sprout shooting out below the soil becomes a tree, and this tree gets a crown with fruits; and thus a state of exaltation and completion follows the state of humiliation. (F. Delitzsch.)
The qualifications of Christ for His mediatorial office
I. The first verse of the text foretells THE BIRTH AND FAMILY OF THE MESSIAH. The Messiah was to be born of the house of David, the son of Jesse. But why is Jesse mentioned here, rather than David, his more illustrious son? Partly to point out the birthplace of the Messiah. Jesse appears always to have lived at Bethlehem, and was known as the Bethlehemite; whereas, David resided the greater part of his life at Hebron and Jerusalem. Jesse was in a more humble rank of life than Jesse’s son; and so Jesus, though superior to David, as a royal king, being David’s Lord, as well as David’s son, yet, in the actual circumstances of His life, was nearer to the humble rank of Jesse than the royal state of David. It was also out of the stem of Jesse that the rod was to come forth--from a stem where there was nothing but stem and root remaining; not out of a noble tree, with its wide-spreading branches. “And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.” It is intimated here, and elsewhere more clearly foretold, that the Branch should spring from the family of Jesse, when it was in lowly circumstances, at a time when the house of David should be much reduced, and that slender expectations should be formed of it at first, but that in process of time it should grow into a beautiful and glorious Branch. How exactly all this describes the birth and lineage of Jesus Christ. Yet was ever branch so glorious in its increase? What noble fruits have hung on that Branch l What Churches have clustered around it!
II. HIS FULL QUALIFICATIONS FOR HIS OFFICE, as described in this prediction (Isaiah 11:2). “The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him.” On Him was poured the unction of the Holy One in all its fulness. But, remember, the Spirit of the Lord rested on Him in His office of Mediator. Now, this is a public office, an office which Jesus sustains for the benefit of His people; and therefore the Spirit of the Lord rests upon Him for His people.
1. “The spirit of wisdom.” He had wisdom in full measure. He must have had a perfect comprehension of God in His nature, qualities, attributes, works, and Ways; He must have had a thorough understanding of the only method by which wretched man could be saved; He must have known what was in the mind of man, for He answered the Pharisees and Sadducees, and knew the difficulties and doubts of His disciples, even before they gave them utterance in words. How wise were all His provisions for His Church! How wise to win souls was Jesus Christ! And remember He has wisdom for you.
2. “The spirit of understanding.” This is enlarged on in the following verse. The Saviour had a quickness in understanding what might be for the glory or dishonour of His heavenly Father. No tinsel could hide from Him the foul deformity of sin; no hypocrisy could yell from Him the pride and corruption of the Pharisee. When Satan came with his temptations, and baited his snare with all the kingdoms of the world in all their glory, Christ instantly understood the deceit, and, “Get thee hence, Satan,” was His indignant language.
3. “The spirit of counsel.” “This,” says our prophet, “is the name whereby He shall be called, Wonderful Counsellor.” Christ is able to give the wisest counsel in the kindest manner. He has advice suited to every case. He counsels the sinner. He says to the Church in a Laodicean state, “I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich.” He counsels the Christian warrior how to maintain the fight against sin with persevering faith.
4. “The spirit of might.” He is a Lamb in meekness; He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah in strength. His work required a very undaunted spirit, and He never quaked with fear, nor trembled with alarm. And He has the spirit of might for you also.
5. “The spirit of knowledge.” In Christ dwells all knowledge--the knowledge of Jehovah, His heavenly Father, of His holy will, His righteous claims, the blessedness of knowing God as Father. And this same knowledge of His Father He is able to impart to you.
6. “And of the fear of the Lord.” “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” and it is also one of the highest attainments of wisdom, and one of the best effects of the Holy Spirit on the heart. (J. Hambleton, M. A.)
The kingdom of Christ
We may well study this picture of the Messiah’s reign on earth, drawn by a Divine hand and painted with unfading colours, because through it we see, as we cannot otherwise, what we are daily praying for. History does not fully interpret prophecy for us. If we knew just the changes in the nations before the fulness of the times comes, if we could be assured where and when and how Jesus would reign in an earthly way among men, still we should not have what the vision of Isaiah furnishes us. He saw nothing of this. And what did he see? First of all a mighty forest, whose tall trees sent their roots down deep into the earth, and whose branches east wide shadows. These were the proud nations that were oppressing Israel, and seemed strong enough to stand forever. But they were to lose their glory. Among them there was a stump, sending up from its decay and humiliation a small, tender, but vigorous shoot. This was the ancient but fallen house of David; and the green shoot coming up was only in fulfilment of the old covenant that there should always be one to sit on David’s throne. As we look, through the seer’s vision, we see the young tree dissolve into the form of a Man, a Man on whom the Holy Spirit rests with seven-fold gifts of wisdom and knowledge and counsel and might and understanding in the fear of the Lord. This Man is full of righteousness, and His robes are girdled with righteousness as He sits and judges among the people. And again, as we gaze, we see that the Man dissolves into a mountain--the mountain of the Lord which shall be established in the top of the mountains in the last days. This mountain is full of peace and security. Once more, as if to express in a sentence the whole thought and hope of the prophet, we see the whole earth filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Interpreting this vision there are two truths that may well be dwelt upon.
I. THE CHIEF FACT ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST IS CHRIST HIMSELF, WHO MAKES HIS KINGDOM BY DWELLING IN THE HEARTS OF MEN.
II. HIS REIGN IS LIKE THE REIGN OF THE LITTLE CHILD IN THE MIDST OF THE ANIMALS THAT NATURALLY HATE AND DEVOUR ONE ANOTHER. It is a reign of childlikeness and innocence, the power of weakness and purity over brute force. (E. N. Packard.)
The kingdom of Christ in the world is only the presence of Christ in the world
The kingdom of Christ in the world is only the presence of Christ in the world, repeating His acts of mercy and love, uttering His eternal truths, scorching hypocrisy and error with the breath of His mouth, changing unruly wills ever into docile ones, cleansing and making glad everything everywhere. There is no reign of Christ of which we can form any idea but this. When men are holy, through His indwelling among them, that is Christ’s reign. Let us forget the scenic and dramatic elements in millennial glories and simply think of the kingdom as being the presence of the King. Here we see the difference between His reign and that of any earthly monarch who can transmit his power to his son and he to his posterity, and so, with precedent and law and tradition, there may be some approach to security and peace Frederick the Great dies, but his empire goes on and holds him in memory. But Christ has no successors, and there is no royal family save that which is made from all who are named after His name. Christ must be as truly among men at one age as another, and where He is not a living and controlling presence there is nothing but a name. What we call Christianity--the sum total of the influences that emanate from Christ and touch the complex life of man--has no inherent vitality of its own. It cannot abide upon traditions of One who founded it ages ago. Christ’s perpetual presence alone makes Christianity possible. The same is true of the Church. (E. N. Packard.)
Messiah’s reign
I. THE PERSON.
II. THE CHARACTER.
III. THE KINGDOM of Messiah. (D. Brown, D. D.)
The stem from the rod of Jesse
That this refers to the Lord Jesus is undoubted.
I. HIS DESCENT. Three ideas seem to be involved.
1. Meanness or obscurity.
2. Progression. How decayed soever the tree might appear, yet a Branch was to shoot and grow up out of its roots. For a time, the growth was far from being rapid, but at length it appeared as a Plant of everlasting renown, a Secret and mysterious operation. The metaphor is taken from vegetation, that process of the wonder-working God which none can explain, yet the existence of which none can dispute.
II. HIS PERSONAL AND OFFICIAL ENDOWMENTS.
1. Their nature (Isaiah 11:2). They were--
(1) Diversified in their character.
(2) Unlimited in their range. The Spirit was imparted to Him without measure.
(3) Continuous in their possession. “The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him.”
2. The purposes for which them endowments were conferred.
(1) That He might discriminate the characters of men. “And shall make Him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord,” etc.
(2) To defend the cause of the oppressed. “But with righteousness shall He judge the poor,” etc.
(3) To punish the workers of iniquity. “And He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth,” etc.
III. THE BLESSED STATE OF THINGS WHICH WILL BE REALISED UNDER HIS ADMINISTRATION. We dare not lose eight of the truth, that He is mighty to destroy; but how encouraging is it to remember, that He who speaks and acts in righteousness is also mighty to save. And the concluding portion of this prophecy shows in how signal a manner His saving power will be exerted.
1. The condition described. “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,” etc. We have here two leading ideas.
(1) Peace and harmony.
(2) Security.
2. In order thereto the most marvellous transformations will be effected.
3. The means of this transformation will be the universal diffusion of Divine knowledge (Isaiah 11:9).
Conclusion--
1. Let us pray that the Redeemer’s kingdom may come.
2. To us, personally, the great thing is to possess the knowledge of the Lord ourselves. (Anon.)