You may not have heard this little piece of news yet, but we are in the midst of a presidential election. We only have one party that is heavily involved in campaigning at this point, but already we have heard a long list of promises that just sound too good to be true—promises like instant reduction in our nation’s budget deficit, immediate savings at the gas pump, and jobs for everyone who desires to work. All of the candidates paint a picture of glorious days for our country and our world if they are elected as president.
We can easily become cynical about promises of better days ahead when we look at the problems that exist in our world today. We frequently express this cynicism toward our politicians, but if we are not careful, we could express this kind of cynicism toward the Bible as well, because the Bible also gives us promises of glorious days ahead. I hope we will see this morning that we don’t need to reject the idea of one day seeing heaven on earth—we simply need to place our hope in the only one who can truly bring it about.
In our study of Isaiah today, we will read a prophecy about a coming world ruler who will bring justice and peace to the world. With the complete Bible in our hands as we have it today, we know that this prophecy refers to the Lord Jesus Christ, and it tells about conditions that He will establish in the world after He comes back. Today, let’s our allow our hearts to celebrate and rejoice as we read about the glorious days ahead for our world, and let’s take Isaiah’s words to heart as he tells us how to respond to the Lord Jesus Christ.
1. God’s Preservation of His People, Israel (10:28-34)
Last week, we read that the northern kingdom of Israel was facing a threat from their neighbors to the northeast, the Assyrians. Both Scripture and the history books tell us that Assyrians did in fact conquer the kingdom of Israel and take the people into exile. But God would not allow the Assyrians to completely conquer the Jewish people, for when they continued their march into the southern kingdom of Judah, they went a step too far.
In 10:28-34, we read a prophecy about the Assyrian army advancing to the very outskirts of Jerusalem before they are destroyed by the Lord of hosts. Isaiah will record the fulfillment of this prophecy in chapters 36-37, but for now, let’s read the prophecy of this great deliverance [READ 10:28-34].
Ever since God told a man named Abraham that He would make a great nation out of his descendants, the Lord has had a special plan for the nation of Israel to make them a blessing to all the world. Various enemies have threatened the people of Israel from time to time, but God has often miraculously delivered them from danger so that His plan would not be thwarted. In chapter 11, Isaiah writes of a ruler who would come from the Jewish people to bring peace into the world. This ruler came to be known as the Messiah, and we know Him today as the Lord Jesus Christ. Let’s see what Isaiah has to say about His future reign.
2. The Character and Accomplishments of the Messiah (the Lord Jesus Christ)
a. He will have a human origin with divine empowerment (11:1-2)
In v. 1, we read that the Messiah will come from the family of King David [READ v. 1]. This is an interesting picture of the Messiah’s human origin. He is said to be like a small sapling coming up out of a stump—something that is a mere remnant of the tree that used to stand there. The royal dynasty of King David is in this “stump” phase today. There is no Jewish king today, and for all intents and purposes, it appears that the royal line of David has been cut off from the world, never to flourish again. But this sapling—the Lord Jesus Christ—has already grown in this world, and some day He will return to produce the fruit that is described in this prophecy.
Although the Lord’s human origin is emphasized in v. 1, we see in v. 2 that the Lord was predicted to have divine empowerment [READ v. 2]. This verse describes the ideal characteristics of a godly leader, and we see next how the Lord will put these characteristics to use.
b. He will carry out true justice (11:3-5)
Without true justice from our leaders, there can be little hope for peace in the world. People will always seek to overthrow an unjust leader, and laws will be unenforced and ignored. Justice is the foundation for a flourishing peace, and we read here that the Lord will rule His kingdom with justice [READ vv. 3-5].
Now, it seems strange to read that the Messiah would delight in the fear of the Lord, because, after all, what does Jesus have to fear from God? This statement actually helps us clear up a misunderstanding of the important biblical concept of fearing God. We learn from this statement that fearing God is not a fear of being harmed by Him, because Jesus had no reason to fear that. Rather, it is simply an attitude of humble obedience. It is a fear of stepping outside of His will and thus being found unfaithful. And it is an attitude in which we can delight, not an attitude that is unpleasant.
We see next that the Lord’s reign will even bring about peace in the animal kingdom.
c. He will restore peace among animals and between animals and humans (11:5-9)
In our little corner of the world, we deal with animals quite a bit. We handle domesticated animals, which may be tame, but they’re still just barely under our control. We also live with wild animals that may be a threat to us and our crops. But you may remember from the book of Genesis that God never intended for there to be animosity between animals and humans. He created animals to live peacefully with us under our compassionate care for them. We see in the next few verses that these conditions will exist once again during Christ’s reign on earth [READ vv. 6-9]. It is unclear just how the “knowledge of the Lord” mentioned here will change animal behavior, but how exciting it is that we will have another opportunity to live under those conditions!
d. He will unite humanity and exalt His people Israel (11:10-16)
Humanity has been sharply divided ever since God divided our languages at the Tower of Babel to halt our rebellion against Him. We have lived with the bitter fruits of our divisions ever since as we have dealt with racism, nationalism, and war. God’s covenant people, Israel, have been a particular target for oppression, but we see that during Jesus’ reign in this world, humanity will be united and Israel will be exalted [READ vv. 10-16].
If you like to make note of encouraging passages of Scripture to read when you need a little “pick-me-up” for your faith, I would encourage you to bookmark Isaiah 11. This chapter describes a nearly complete reversal of the problems that we face today in a fallen world. After Jesus returns, He will restore this world to what it was meant to be in virtually every respect. So better days are ahead for us; better days are in store for our world after Jesus returns. In the next chapter, Isaiah describes the proper way to respond to God in that day, but we don’t have to wait until then. We can learn some lessons from this chapter about how we should respond to the Lord today. Let’s read this chapter, and then I’ll point out some specific thoughts [READ Chapter 12].
II. Our proper response to the Messiah (Ch. 12)
a. Thankfulness (vv. 1, 4)
Thankfulness is such a healthy attitude because it reminds us that we are dependent upon God, and it reminds us how abundantly God has come through for us. Verse one calls us to thank God for turning His anger away from us, and verse four calls us to thank God for His deeds. We can thank God for each of these things every day.
When the Lord Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sins, He appeased the anger that God appropriately felt toward our sin. So now, if you know Jesus as your Savior, you don’t have to fear God’s anger. Verse one says that you receive God’s comfort instead. We can thank God with every breath that we take for saving us from His wrath.
We can also have a continual reason to thank God if we will just stop and think about His work in our lives. Just think about all that you have—family, friends, possessions—and remember that none of it is deserved. It is all a gift from God. Think about times when He has protected you, and times when He has soothed your wounded heart. We don’t have to wait until Christ returns to be thankful—we would just have a lot of catching up to do at that point!
b. Trust and a lack of fear (v. 2)
The phrase “do not fear” could practically be a subtitle for the Bible. You could print it right on the cover: “The Holy Bible: Do Not Fear!” So many times we are told not to be afraid because God loves us, He knows everything about our lives, He is always with us, and He’s in control. If you have embraced Jesus by faith as your Savior, you have nothing to fear. You can trust Him at all times and for all of your needs.
So often we act like we can trust God with our souls but not our stomachs! “Sure, God—I trust you to take care of my eternal destiny, but I’m not sure about breakfast tomorrow!” That doesn’t make any sense! We can trust God for ALL of our needs, and we truly can live free from fear.
c. Confidence and Contentment (v. 2)
Verse two says, “the Lord God is my strength and my song.” That is a beautiful statement! We can draw confidence through the strength that God provides, and we can know true contentment that brings a song to our hearts. Think about the times when you are mostly likely to find yourself singing. Its when you’re content, right? When you feel like everything is okay, and for even just a brief moment you feel care-free. We can find that kind of contentment in the Lord.
A desire for contentment just might be the universal motivation behind everything we do. I think this is why the drug addict takes one more hit, and why the workaholic works through one more sleepless night. I think the desire for contentment is in the back of our minds with every choice that we make. But if you know the Lord, you don’t have to look any further to find contentment. As we make the choice every day to place ourselves under His yoke and learn from Him, we will know true contentment that satisfies our hearts.
d. Rejoicing and praise (vv. 3, 5-6)
Rejoicing is the idea of celebrating, and praising God is the idea of declaring his value and why He has that value. Think of getting an appraisal on your house—it’s the same root word. An appraiser declares how much your home is worth. Praising God is truly a very similar idea, though it also carries the thought of devoting yourself to God because of His matchless worth.
e. Telling others about His glorious works (vv. 4-5)
Verse four tells us to “make known his deeds among the peoples,” and verse five says to let His glorious deeds be made known in all the earth. Think about this for a moment—if there is something in your life that causes you to be thankful, fearless, confident, content, and in a mood to celebrate, don’t you naturally share that with other people? We share YouTube videos with each other so we can all laugh about the talking dog!
It is only natural to tell others about something that you’re thankful for, something that is tremendously valuable to you, or something that brings you contentment. Telling others about what God has done for you is just a natural response. And that’s all you need to focus on—just talking about what God has done for you! You don’t have to memorize 57 reasons why God exists; if that sort of thing fits your interests and your gifts, then fine—you can memorize things like that! But we are all capable of just telling others about what God has done for us, and this is a fitting and natural way that we should respond to our Lord.
As we look forward to the glorious days ahead during Christ’s kingdom on earth, we can keep ourselves busy today by thanking God, trusting in Him, finding our contentment in Him, praising Him, and telling others about Him.
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