Isaiah 11
Isaiah 11
By
Gary Primo
May 18. 2019
I know that most are already familiar with this chapter of Isaiah; but it is one of my favorites, because it paints such a glorious future waiting for us in the Millennium. I believe it also pictures what mankind’s existence would have been like if Adam had not given into temptation.
The current year of the Hebrew calendar is 5780. That means that there is only 220 left until the completion of the 6,000 years allotted to man to get his act together. Yet the adherents of the Gregorian calendar proclaimed the year 2,000 to have been the culmination of the 6,000 years. However, as we all know that date came and went with a whimper. Even all that business about computers crashing and whatnot turned out to be a false prophecy. The year on our calendar that the 6,000 years end will be 2236. We need to keep in mind that the Hebrew calendar only has 360 day years and the Gregorian has 365. So I have adjusted for the difference of 3.05 years (in case you’re checking my math).
Most of us heard about the claim that Yahushua was to return on September 23, 2017, when the sign of the virgin was visible in the stars. Yet, I have found no verse linking that event to this sign or date. Yahushua Himself did not know the date of His return.
Acts 1: 6 - When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Master, will you at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
7 - And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has put in his own power.
NO ONE KNOWS, EXCEPT FOR THE FATHER! So, where do all these false prophets come from and what is their purpose? Obviously, they come from HaSatan and are meant to distract us from the truth. I wonder how many overly zealous individuals grabbed onto this false hope and promoted it to others. I also wonder how many left off following after Yahushua because it did not come to pass. I believe Yahuwah has a law against turning someone away from Him and I don’t think anyone would like the punishment.
Who would not to be like Isaiah, who was seemingly in direct contact with Yahuwah through his dreams and visions? What an honour that would be.
Before we start into Isa. 11, here is a little background on the man.
http://biblescripture.net/Isaiah.html
The prophet Isaiah lived during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah of Judah (742-687), and was struck by the moral breakdown of the times. Isaiah reminded the people of the need to keep God's covenant if the Israelites were going to remain God's chosen people, but his ministry fell on deaf ears.
Isaiah influenced King Hezekiah of Judah who brought about religious reform and political freedom. To defend Jerusalem, Hezekiah built a new wall to fortify the western part of the city, and he secured the city's water supply by diverting the waters of the Gihon Spring through a 1700 foot tunnel that led to a pool within the city (Isaiah 22:9-11, Second Kings 20:20, Second Chronicles 32:30). Sennacherib laid siege to Jerusalem in 701 BC, but Yahweh delivered the city as Isaiah had promised. However, moral decay prevailed, and Jerusalem and the Temple of the Lord were destroyed by the Babylonians in 587/586 BC, which led to the Babylonian Exile or Captivity of the Jews (Second Kings 24-25).
Now, let’s get to Isaiah!
Isa. 11:1 - And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
2 - And the spirit of Yahuwah shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Yahuwah;
3 - And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of Yahuwah: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:
So, what is all this talk about a rod, a stem and a branch? Who do they represent?
The following is what the commentators say.
https://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/jamieson-fausset-brown/isaiah/isaiah-11.html
1. rod--When the proud "boughs" of "Lebanon" ( Isaiah 10:33 Isaiah 10:34 , the Assyrians) are lopped, and the vast "forests cut down" amidst all this rage, a seemingly humble rod shall come out of Jesse (Messiah), who shall retrieve the injuries done by the Assyrian "rod" to Israel ( Isaiah 10:5 Isaiah 10:6Isaiah 10:18 Isaiah 10:19 ).
stem--literally, "the stump" of a tree cut close by the roots: happily expressing the depressed state of the royal house of David, owing to the hostile storm ( Isaiah 10:18 Isaiah 10:19 ), when Messiah should arise from it, to raise it to more than its pristine glory. Luke 2:7 proves this ( Isaiah 53:2 ; compare Job 14:7 Job 14:8 ;
Branch--Scion. He is nevertheless also the "root" ( Isaiah 11:10 , Revelation 5:5 , 22:16 . "Root and offspring" combines both, Zechariah 3:8 , 6:12 ).
Yahushua represents all the parts of the tree. The root represents his pre- incarnation and the stump represents his first coming. I am sure most all have seen what happens to the stump once a tree is cut down. Out of it will spring new branches, which eventually grow again into fully developed trees. This is what happened when Yahushua was “cut down”, not only did a tree grow back, but a whole forest (of Believers).
The spirit of Yahuwah is the proper term for what Christians call “the Holy Spirit”. It is not a separate entity that dwells beside Yahuwah, but the indwelling power of His spirit, which fills the entire universe and is the Father’s eyes and ears, as well as the instrument by which He controls all things. When just a small portion of His spirit enters us at baptism, it helps us to grow and mature into full spirit beings (elohim). Yet, this spirit within us also needs to be nourished by the Word and the pursuit of incorruption, so that it may grow and completely fill us.
Do all the spirits mentioned in verse 2 mean that these are all separate spirit beings apart from Yahushua? Of course not! Yet, the fabricators of the Christian faith have transformed the all encompassing spirit of Yahuwah into a separate entity that includes these three other spirits.
1 - The spirit of wisdom and understanding.
Without this portion of the spirit, we’d be as blind and ignorant of the Word as anyone else on the planet. I do not know why Yahuwah chooses who He does for enlightenment, especially myself, but this is the rarest privilege possible for us to receive. There is nothing special about any of us and we would not be at the point of understanding where we now stand if not for Yahuwah’s spirit dwelling in us.
Yet, how many do we know who, after baptism, fail to nurture this spirit and eventually abandon it all together and fall away? Why did Yahuwah choose these people? He must have known they would fall away from the beginning. Would they not have been better off having never received the spirit of Yahuwah? They will never get such an opportunity again. Of course, I do not pretend to know all things or the full mind and will of Yahuwah. None of us do. We must never question the wisdom of Yahuwah.
2 – The spirit of counsel and might.
This spirit grants us the ability to give righteous and true counsel to others in procuring a place in Yahuwah’s Kingdom. It also grants us the might to deliver Yahuwah’s word to the world. In other words, it helps us to do the work of Yahuwah and not be hearers of the word, only. It gives us the power to resist temptation when the need arises and comforts us during our times of trial. When fully developed, this spirit also helps us mimic the apostles in performing wondrous and miraculous works.
3 - The spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Yahuwah.
I know we are all striving to fully know Yahuwah, and that this is no easy task. In fact I do not believe we will fully know and understand Yahuwah until we have been granted access to His Kingdom. I believe that when that time comes, we are going to be amazed at the vastness of Yahuwah’s wisdom. It will be like our eyes being fully opened. At this point, our eyes are only partially open and we cannot even imagine the vastness of His knowledge.
Some believe that Yahushua had His own doubts when hanging on the cross, when He cried out, “My Elohim, my Elohim, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46, Mr. 15:34 – Luke and John make no mention of this occurrence) This was the first and only time in all of the history of creation that Yahushua was ever “abandoned” by His Father. He hated this feeling and it may have even confused Him somewhat but this was no different from when Yahuwah will seem to abandon us during our trials. The truth is that Yahuwah did not really abandon Yahushua; he merely allowed this portion of Yahushua’s testing and proving to proceed as prophesied. He certainly returned to Him following His resurrection from the grave I do not know where the idea came from that this was followed by, “Not my will but your will be done”. I could not find this phase anywhere in the Gospel accounts. But that does not negate the fact that Yahushua, at all times, both in His pre-incarnate and post incarnate state, at all times, performed the will of the Father. And, the fact that neither Luke nor John make any mention of Yahushua saying this at all, makes one question the intent and actions of the translators.
We may find it a bit strange that we are to both love and fear Yahuwah at the same time. How is it possible to fear someone you love? I look at it as, if we love Yahuwah, we diligently follow His ways. When we follow His ways, we are pleasing to Him and have nothing to fear. The only reason to fear Yahuwah is because he possessed the power over life and death. Perhaps it was the fear of Yahuwah that drew us to conversion, but it is the spirit of love that will bring us fully into the Kingdom.
4 - But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
We do not see much righteousness on the Earth today. Human courts are fallible, where Yahuwah’s is infallible. A human judge is incapable of looking into the heart of an individual and determining if they are lying or telling the truth. They must rely on the evidence put forth by the prosecution (another corruptible faction of our judicial systems). How many prosecutors, in their zeal to bring an end to the case and a victory for the prosecution, sometimes do not act righteously? Some have knowingly produced false evidence and have unjustly convicted the innocent or allowed their prejudices to fabricate their evidence, as they did with our Saviour. In the end, Yahuwah remains the only righteous Judge in all of creation.
The rod of Yahuwah mouth is His Son, Yahushua. By His Word all things exist, and by His word death will come to all the unrighteous. So, within His Word is the answer to both life and death.
When Yahuwah (through Yahushua) created the universe, He merely spoke the words and the worlds, stars, etc., all simply burst into existence. How truly awesome is the power of Yahuwah? However, the word of Yahuwah also condemns the unrighteous. And, such condemnation brings eternal death with it. Only the righteous, those who diligently seek out Yahuwah and make themselves over into the image of Yahushua, will be granted eternal life. It is entirely possible for Yahuwah to speak the word and cause His entire creation to vanish in a heartbeat. That is just how precarious our existence is.
5 - And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.
Again this is talking about Yahushua. He acquired His righteousness via His faithfulness. His faith never wavered, and He was at all times obedient to every word of His Father. And, of course, this is the only way that any of us can become righteous. The way that the world defines righteousness is following after their lying Christian or any other religious leader – a case of the blind leading the blind. Therefore, if that leader is corrupt (and mostly all are) so will the followers be corrupt.
As the Book of Hebrews explains, we now have only one incorruptible High Priest, who dwells in heaven with Yahuwah, and that we have direct access to Him from the moment we are baptized. We have no need of anyone to stand between us and Yahuwah. His instructions are all clearly spelt out for us in His Word (the Scriptures) To gain an accurate comprehension of the Word, we must search an prove all things. To do that we scour the scriptures for all verses pertaining to any given theme, and when we put them all together, their true interpretation becomes rather obvious. We have been commissioned to follow after the “Noble Bereans” in this regard, because this is exactly what they did.
6 - The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them
What a magnificent vision of perfect peace and harmony. This is what life would be like today if Adam had not given in to temptation. .
7 - And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 - And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.
9 - They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Yahuwah, as the waters cover the sea.
This is one of the visions we should keep in the forefront of our minds, the magnificent world of the future. Adam could see it, because he was living in it before he took that fatal bit of the forbidden fruit. Therefore, he believed HaSatan; that he was already in heaven. But when he gave into HaSatan, his whole world changed, and his vision of the Kingdom vanished in a heartbeat and death took its place. We must never allow this grand deception to enter our minds. While we may be mentally in the Kingdom, we will not be there literally until the resurrection.
Nothing will hurt nor destroy in Yahuwah’s entire consecrated mountain. Of course, this is speaking of the age to come. Yahuwah will wipe out all the memories we have of our past life, and we will no more remember the horrors of war and violence. All men will be at peace with one another and with nature.
Today we live in a world that worships HaSatan. One Antichrist (Constantine) has already come and gone. However his chief Antichrist religion (Mainstream Christianity) remains with us. Yet, Christianity is not the only worldly religion worshipping HaSatan; they all are.
We are presently awaiting the arrival of the end-time Antichrist. He will repeat the actions of the first one in changing the laws and the times (once again). And, once again the world will buy into his deception, form a one world religion that draws all the worldly religions into one. They will make war on the true saints and seek to destroy us. They will try to force the seal of HaSatan upon us – the name and number of the Beast. We will again be forced to flee into the wilderness, and remain outside of mainstream society. We will be made to suffer, just as Yahushua and all His early followers did. We must glorify Yahuwah throughout every moment of our suffering.
Remember the words of old Henry Ford, “You can have any colour (of car) you want, as long as it is black.” HaSatan has a similar sense of humour – you can have any religion you want as long as it is black (dedicated to worshipping HaSatan).
10 - And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.
Yes, Yahushua was an ensign to us all. What does ensign mean?
ensign
[ en-sahyn; Military en-suhn ]
noun
a flag or banner, as a military or naval standard used to indicate nationality.
a badge of office or authority, as heraldic arms.
a sign, token, or emblem:the dove, an ensign of peace.
U.S. Navy and Coast Guard . the lowest commissioned officer, ranking next below a lieutenant,junior grade, and equal to a second lieutenant in the Army.
Archaic . standard-bearer(def 1).
Yes, Yahushua is definitely our ensign – the banner that indicates our nationality, that of the children of Elohim. He lives. He sees. He hears. He speaks to us directly via His Word. He knows the hearts of everyone existing today. He is magnificent and awesome; and He is promising that we have the opportunity to become just like Him, if we turn away from worshipping HaSatan. Once we do, we re- establish Yahuwah as the Elohim (at least) of our world – the Elohim whom we worship.
11 - And it shall come to pass in that day, that Yahuwah shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, 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.
12 - And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
13 - The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.
This portion is prophetic in nature, reserved for the millennial rule of Yahushua (and, of course, all of eternity). Verses 11 and 12 talk of the re-gathering of all twelve tribes of Israel As numerous as the sands of the sea, they are scattered across the globe. Yahuwah only knows His sheep and calls them to Him. Most who are at this very moment hearing His call are most likely of Israelite origin, and descended from the Lost 10 Tribes. Of course, this is not a “closed door/invitation only entity; all are welcome. It is up to Yahuwah whom He calls.
Vs. thirteen is talking of some enmity existing between Judah and Ephraim. The root of this enmity is explained by the following. Press Ctrl plus click on the verse to bring it up.
https://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/jamieson-fausset-brown/isaiah/isaiah-11.html
13. envy . . . of Ephraim . . . Judah--which began as early as the time ( Judges 8:1 , 12:1 , &c.). Joshua had sprung from, and resided among the Ephraimites ( Numbers 13:9 , Joshua 19:50 ); the sanctuary was with them for a time ( Joshua 18:1 ). The jealousy increased subsequently ( 2 Samuel 2:8 , &c. 2 Samuel 19:41 , 20:2 , 3:10 ); and even before David's time ( 1 Samuel 11:8 , 15:4 ), they had appropriated to themselves the national name Israel. It ended in disruption ( 1 Kings 11:26 , &c.1 Kings 12:1-33 ; compare 2 Kings 14:9 Psalms 78:56-71 ).
adversaries of Judah--rather, "the adversaries from Judah"; those of Judah hostile to the Ephraimites [MAURER]. The parallelism "the envy of Ephraim," namely, against Judah, requires this, as also what follows; namely, "Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim" ( Ezekiel 37:15 Ezekiel 37:17 Ezekiel 37:19 ).
Yes, there has been a long history of enmity between Judah and Ephraim. But this was all purposed by Yahuwah. It was His will that they be separated for a time and then be re-united. Meanwhile, Ephraim represents all who turn away from serving Yahuwah and return to following HaSatan, the ruler of this world. Just as the nation of Northern Israel never returned home and to the favour of Yahuwah, neither are any who were once “saved” and leave off following Yahushua, ever to return.
14 - But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.
15 - And Yahuwah shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod.
16 - And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.
The next-to-final battle is soon to be upon us. The final battle will not be until the end of the millennium, when the forces of HaSatan are released one final time to tempt the inhabitants of Earth. And we had better have all of our spiritual armour in place when it comes.
https://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/jamieson-fausset-brown/isaiah/isaiah-11.html
14. With united forces they shall subdue their foes ( Amos 9:12 ).
fly--as a bird of prey ( Habakkuk 1:8 ).
upon the shoulders--This expresses an attack made unexpectedly on one from behind. The image is the more apt, as the Hebrew for "shoulders" in Numbers 34:11 is used also of a maritime coast ("side of the sea": Hebrew, "shoulder of the sea," Margin). They shall make a sudden victorious descent upon their borders southwest of Judea.
them of the east--Hebrew, "children of the East," the Arabs, who, always hostile, are not to be reduced under regular government, but are only to be despoiled ( Jeremiah 49:28 Jeremiah 49:29 ).
lay . . . hand upon--take possession of ( Daniel 11:42 ).
Edom--south of Judah, from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea; "Moab"--east of Jordan and the Dead Sea.
Ammon--east of Judea, north of Moab, between the Arnon and Jabbok.
15. There shall be a second exodus, destined to eclipse even the former one from Egypt in its wonders. So the prophecies elsewhere ( Psalms 68:22 , Exodus 14:22 , Zechariah 10:11 ). The same deliverance furnishes the imagery by which the return from Babylon is described ( Isaiah 48:20Isaiah 48:21 ).
destroy--literally, "devote," or "doom," that is, dry up; for what God dooms, perishes ( Psalms 106:9Nahum 1:4 ).
tongue--the Bubastic branch of the Nile [VITRINGA]; but as the Nile was not the obstruction to the exodus, it is rather the west tongue or Heroöpolite fork of the Red Sea.
with . . . mighty wind--such as the "strong east wind" ( Exodus 14:21 ), by which God made a way for Israel through the Red Sea. The Hebrew for "mighty" means terrible. MAURER translates, "With the terror of His anger"; that is, His terrible anger.
in the seven streams--rather, "shall smite it (divide it by smiting) into seven (many) streams, so as to be easily crossed" [LOWTH]. So Cyrus divided the river Gyndes, which retarded his march against Babylon, into three hundred sixty streams, so that even a woman could cross it [HERODOTUS, 1.189]. "The river" is the Euphrates, the obstruction to Israel's return "from Assyria" ( Isaiah 11:16 ), a type of all future impediments to the restoration of the Jews.
dry shod--Hebrew, "in shoes." Even in sandals they should be able to pass over the once mighty river without being wet ( Revelation 16:12 ).
16. highway--a highway clear of obstructions ( Isaiah 19:23 , 35:8 ).
like as . . . Israel . . . Egypt--( Isaiah 51:10 Isaiah 51:11 , Isaiah 63:12 Isaiah 63:13 ).
To summarize this explanation, the term, “fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines” does not mean what it seems. It actually means to “unexpectedly attack from behind”. The original boundaries of the land of Israel will be restored. There is coming another mass exodus from Egypt (the world). This is speaking of us being separated from the world. In the last few years there will be a silencing of the word; but that will not come from Yahuwah, but from HaSatan and his false prophet. It will be the Antichrist who brings about this silencing. He will forbid all to own a copy of Yahuwah’s word. Forbidding all to follow or practice the customs, traditions, laws and beliefs of the Jews.
As for the seven streams, they represent a place of easy passage, as the splitting of the river and the diversion of water, made the seven resulting streams shallow enough to cross easily at their highest level and at certain times of the year, are even dry. Thus, the meaning of the term dry-shod!
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/dry-shod
dry-shod
[ drahy-shod ]
adjective
having or keeping the shoes dry.
This will be the highway by which we will approach the throne of Yahuwah in Jerusalem. What is called “the tongue of the Egyptian sea I in reality, “the Bubastic branch of the Nile [VITRINGA]; but as the Nile was not the obstruction to the exodus, it is rather the west tongue or Heroöpolite fork of the Red Sea. This is the same location where Israel crossed the Red Sea.
Conclusion
The only ones on Earth that know true happiness are the children of Elohim. Meanwhile the rest of the world lives in chaos and heartbreak, yet condemn us as lunatics. Guess who is going to have the last laugh?
We need to fix Isaiah’s vision into our minds and pray and meditate on it every day. The more we do the more real it will look to us and the more we will trust in Yahuwah to make it a reality.
Of course, HaSatan is going to throw every obstacle in our path that he can think of. However, if we remain focused on Yahuwah, we can overcome all of HaSatan’s obstacles. He can only overcome us if we allow him to; and, we will have no one to blame but ourselves.
Matt 7:14 - Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads unto life, and few there be that find it.
There is only one true path that leads to eternal life. The way to get to and stay on this path is clearly outlined in the Scriptures. All we have to do is diligently follow the blueprint before us, turning neither to the left or the right but follow the straight path to the finish line and we will have it made.
One Creator Elohim, one only begotten Son, one universe, one Earth, from which all life springs and will spring. This is the Way of Yahuwah, oneness/unity in all things. We are but a small dot in the universe, but as the muster seed, we will grow into a gigantic finished product. And, we will rule over all the life in the universe that we create.
What a truly glorious future we have, but getting there is not all chocolates and roses. We have a lot of searching and proving to do of all things the things that pertain to getting there. Only the faithful servants will make it – those who persevere till the end of their days. We have many trials before us but if our faith in Yahuwah is strong enough, His spirit will carry us through.
So, let us honour Isaiah by believing in his vision and let us honour Yahuwah by believing His every word.
Yahuwah Bless
G.P.