“Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit…. And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze, their young will lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Isa 11:1, 6-9).
Isaiah 11 is one of the most encouraging prophecies in the Hebrew Bible—especially for a nation at war on multiple fronts. Isaiah’s vision in Isa 11:1–9, following closely on the heels of a reference to the removal of the enemy’s yoke “as in the day of Midian” (see chap. 10), clearly elaborates on the prophecy found in Isaiah 9:6–7.
Isaiah 11 offers additional details about the nature of the kingdom of the Davidic Son, who is also called the “Prince of Peace” (Isa 9:6). The reversal of hostilities within the animal kingdom—most notably the neutralization of a deadly threat from serpents (vv. 6, 8)—is a clear undoing of the curse’s effects described in Genesis 3:14, 17 (see also Gen 9:2). Even the unusual spelling of the Hebrew word “den” (v. 8) with an aleph instead of an ayin reinforces the literary connection to the promise in Genesis 3:15 that the “seed of the woman” would remove the curse from creation. The spelling in Isaiah 11:8 makes the word look strikingly similar to the Hebrew word for “curse” (see Deut 28:20).
Apologetically speaking, the prophecy in Isaiah 11 offers a critical line of defense for the New Testament’s interpretation of the Hebrew Bible. In the immediate context, the messianic identification of the “stem of Jesse” in Isaiah 11:1 removes all doubt regarding the identity of “Immanuel” in Isaiah 7:14 and the “Wonderful Counselor” in Isaiah 9:6. In the broader context, the reversal of the curse in Genesis 3 affirms that Isaiah the prophet himself interpreted Genesis 3:15 messianically (see also Isa 65:25).
Despite Rabbi Tovia Singer’s claim that New Testament authors took Isaiah 7:14, 9:6–7, and Genesis 3:15 out of context, Isaiah 11 provides the final, authoritative, and inspired word affirming that the New Testament’s messianic interpretation of these passages is absolutely correct. And along with the prophet Isaiah and the apostle John, we long for that blessed day when creation will be healed and the garden of Eden will be fully restored.
“Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads” (Rev 22:1-4).
The post Isaiah 11: The most encouraging prophecies in the Hebrew Bible first appeared on ONE FOR ISRAEL Ministry.
The post Isaiah 11: The most encouraging prophecies in the Hebrew Bible appeared first on ONE FOR ISRAEL Ministry.