Isaiah 11

Isaiah 11:1-9

From the temporal deliverance of the Jews, the prophet makes a plea- sing trawsition to the greater and scare glorious saluation of the

Messiah, of which this was the type and figure. He describes, 1. His rise out of the hooss of David, ver. 1. 2. His qualification for his great undertaking, ver. 2, 3. 3. The equity of his govern- ment, ver. 3—5. 4. The precedency of his kingdom, ver. 6—9. 5. The accistion of the Gentiles to it, ver. 10. and with them the remnant of the Jews, that should be united with them in the Messiah’s kingdom, ver. 11—16.

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 the LORD 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 the LORD: 3. And shall make him of ’e quick understanding in the fear of the LORD, and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither re-prove after the hearing of his ears. 4. But ‘with righteousssess shall be judge the poor, and reprove with equity, for the mere of the earth: and he shall smire the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the ‘breath of his lips shall be slay the wicked. 5. And righteousssess shall be the girdle of his him, and sastsessess the girdle of his reins. 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 slating roge- ther, and a little child shall lead them. 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 our destroy in all my holy mountain: for ’the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

As the coming of the glorious Messiah was the great hope of God’s people of old, in every time of trouble; the prophet directs them to look above their temporal deliver-ance from the power of Sennacherib, to that eternal saluation their great Redeemer would accomplish for them.

1. His descent is spoken of. As a rod out of the stem of Jesse; it being promised to David, that from him Christ should spring; and a branch shall grew out of his roots; signifying the meannses of his appearance in the Besh, as a tender branch com; and with the tall cedars of this world’s princes; and intimating the low estate to which the family of Jesse would be reduced, when all the former royalty it possessed would be gone, as the tree cut down, whose slump only remains in the earth. And such was the ease with the family of Joseph and Mary, when Jessus was born.

2. His qualifications for the work appointed him are men- tioned. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest as a som, even the hi- ness of the Godhead bodily; and with this text he opened his ministry, Luke iv. 18. the Spirit of unsdom and understanding; the hid treasures of which are all resident in Jessus; the Spirit of comsal and knowledge; how to execute the plain of redemp- tion, to preach the gusin’s, influst his people, and order the affairs of his spiritual kingdom, to God’s glory, and the salva- tion of his elation; the Spirit of might, to conquer all his saes, and accompany his word of truth with effectual demonstration and power unto the conf soncies of men, and of the fear of the Lord; being the perfect pattern of all gustinses, and setting us an example that we should follow his steps: and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord; or of acute small; intimating the thorough discerment he shall pussess of the hearts of men. See John i. 47. Nate, (1.) When we have such a Redeemer, of wisdom and might to counsel and sup- port us, how firm and unstaken ought our confidence in him to be? (2.) A quick understanding in the fear of God, in the gift of God; the brightst genius without his grace, is in spiri- tual things dark and ignorant.

3. His throne shall be essablshed in righteoussness. As he knows men’s hearts, he can judge of their characsters, not by their outward appearance, but their inward tempera and prinxi- ples; detecting the hypocrite under all the disguses of outward sortuslity and religious prossition, Matt. xxii. 18. The poor and humbled dinner that flies to him for pastion and grace, he will juslify by his righteoussness, and rescue the meek from their oppessors, whether siatan or wicked men, whom he will re- buke in equity; and smire the earth with the rod of his mouth, in warnings against smile who place their affections upon it; and with the breath of his lips slay the wicked, by present judg- ments, or more terrible and eternal vengeance, v. 4. 2 Thest. xi. 8. In all which dispectations of mercy and judgment, the righte- ousness of his government shall appear as a glorious ornament, and his sastsessess in accomplishing the promsass made to his people, and compleating the ruin denounced on his enemies, shall be manifested to his everlasting pralle, v. 5.