Here for the second time, Isaiah extends to the remnant the hope of the royal Messiah. Again, it is specifically a word of assurance for the dark day of the Assyrian threat but contains in itself clear indications that its fulfillment is for time yet to come. Updated hope is a living, ever-present assurance for God’s people, and it is at this point that the passage speaks as much to the church of today as in Isaiah’s time. Clearly the two major sections of this chapter (vv. 1-9, 10-16) belong together. They both concern the rule of the shoot or Root of Jesse (vv. 1 & 10). But what is first presented in general and symbolic terms in verses 1-9 is then reduced to concrete particulars in verses 10-16.

The movement from the overthrow of the human kingdom (represented by Assyria) to the setting up of the kingdom of God (represented by the Messiah) is a natural one theologically, even though it involves a dramatically shortened view of the historical processes involved. Notice also the movement from the felling of a forest at the end of chapter 10 to the emergence of a shoot from a stump at the beginning of this one. However this is only a surface view. The deeper reality involves a sharp contrast. Assyria is felled never to grow again; Judah is felled only to have new life emerge from its stump. This is not the first time in the book that the transition from judgment to salvation has been depicted as the springing up of a plant, but clearly there is a more particular application of that imagery here.

The expression the stump of Jesse indicates his humble origins, bypassing all the luxurious display of the Davidic house. His fitness to rule will consist essentially in his endowment with the spirit, giving him true wisdom, grounded in the fear of the Lord. The fundamental characteristic of his rule will be righteousness, which in practical terms will mean justice for the poor and meek, something which the current kings had failed to bring about. And he will be in a position to execute perfect justice because he will be possessed of perfect knowledge. The effect of his rule will be universal peace, an ideal described here in symbolic language which recalls the paradise of Eden. It’s a picture of the whole of creation put back into joint. The entire earth, not just Jerusalem/Zion, will be the Lord’s holy mountain. In other words, he will be known, and his rule will be experienced everywhere. Here Isaiah looks beyond the disappointments of his own age to the coming of the one who, in the last analysis, can only be God in the flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The opening words of verse 10 make it clear that this unit has the same end-time focus as verses 1-9, and in view of this the many particular nations mentioned must be understood in a figurative rather than literal sense. Collectively they represent the enemies, great and small, of God’s people.

There are three things that should be noted in verses 11-16. First, the remnant in view of these verses comprises, in one sense, simply the survivors, the people of Israel and Judah who will still be alive, although scattered, when the Messiah comes (v. 12). Secondly, because of the end-time focus of the unit as a whole, the gathering of the scattered people of God here cannot be seen as fulfilled in the later return of the exiles from Babylon, even though both are depicted as a second or new exodus. Thirdly, as Christians it is important to recognize that the nationalistic categories of a prophecy like this are transcended in the New Testament’s vision of the end. In New Testament terms the scattered people of God are all those, Jew and Gentile alike, who gladly acknowledge Jesus as the Christ (Messiah). These are the ones who will finally be gathered from every nation to share in Christ’s rule over those who will only reluctantly bow the knee on the final day. As we see, however, this expansion of the remnant concept to include Gentiles as well as believing Jews is already anticipated within the book of Isaiah itself.

Isaiah 11:1-16 Reflection Questions:
How do these verses encourage you as you go through your struggles here on earth?
Where in the New Testament is it said that Christ was endowed with the Holy Spirit?
Where in the New Testament does Isaiah 11:3 come into play?