Isaiah starts talking about a branch or shoot coming from the stump of Jesse. Genealogically speaking, this person will come from the line of King David. And this person will have the Spirit of Lord. He will be righteousness and because of Him, there will be peace on the whole planet, even among animals! Then it goes on to say that all of the nations will stop fighting and He will rule the world.
This is pretty amazing stuff. As a Christian, I can see that this is Jesus we're talking about. But if we stop and think, kids still don't generally play with snakes, and wolves don't generally hang out with sheep, unless they're planning on eating them. There are definitely still wars and pain and suffering going on. If Jesus is this person, why all of this?
The answer is that this part has not been accomplished yet. Something similar happens in Isaiah 61. The person in the passage is there to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of God's vengeance. In Luke chapter 4, Jesus is in a synagogue, and He reads the first part of this, declaring that He is here to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. Then he stops and says "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." He hadn't come to proclaim vengeance yet, but the Lord's favor. Similarly, back to Isaiah 11, this time of peace has not come yet. These things will happen when Jesus comes back. The prophets saw both comings, but since it wasn't clear, they saw it as one. This drawing explains it a bit.
So what I'm taking away today is that even from before the time of Jesus, we know that Jesus will end all fighting and pain and suffering and bring peace. And now we know that He will do that when He comes back.
Good work!
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