Wisdom Wednesday: Wisdom in Isaiah Part 3
The Wise Messiah
Submitted by Debbie’s Dad
“The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord” (Isaiah 11:2) NASB 95
We continue this series of devotions that explores the wisdom theme throughout the Book of Isaiah. Last week, we looked at Chapter 10, where God exposed the arrogance of the King of Assyria, who pridefully claimed that his conquest was by his own wisdom and power (10:13-19). He failed to realize that he was being used by God to punish the wickedness of his people in Israel and even Judah. The chapter concluded with God’s assurance that He will return a remnant (remaining, faithful people that will fear the Lord) to the land and the enemies will be destroyed, as if trees being felled in the forest. “He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an iron axe, And Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One.” (10:34)
Chapter 11 follows with “then…” indicating that following the trees being cut down, something significant will happen: “Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.” (11:1).
A shoot (Hebrew Choter, twig, branch), stem (Heb. Geza, stock or stem), or branch (Heb. Nester, stem, shoot or branch) will grow from a man – Jesse, the father of David. This offshoot or descendant is mentioned elsewhere in Isaiah:
- Isa 4:2 – A branch (Heb. Tsemach, Sprout of a branch) of the Lord will grow beautiful…
- Isa 53:2 – For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot (Heb. Yoniq, Young plant or sapling) …
- Isa 11:10 The nations will resort to the root (Heb. Shoresh, deep root) of Jesse…
Of course, this branch growing up from the family of Jesse (and David) is the Messiah that Isaiah is speaking about. He is the righteous branch of the line of David, and He identified Himself in John’s Revelation: “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” (Rev 22:16)
In chapter 10, verse 2, the attributes of the spirit of this Messiah-King are Identified:
- The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, – God’s Spirit empowered Jesus at His baptism (Matt 3;16-17 and John 1:32)
- The spirit of wisdom and understanding, – Jesus’ teachings demonstrated His wisdom and understanding such that people were amazed (cf. Matt 7-28-29; Luke 4:32)
- The spirit of counsel and strength, – Jesus was the “Wonderful Counselor” (Isa 9:6)
- The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. – Jesus demonstrated his reverence for His heavenly Father throughout His ministry and Taught His disciples to fear (revere) Him (See Matt 10:28-33). He always yielded to His Father. (Matt. 26:39-42; John 6:38)
Here is the character of the Messiah, the coming king that will cut down the forest of God’s adversaries and establish his kingdom forever.
In contrast with the foolish and boastful Assyrian king, God promised that a humble, tender shoot would grow to become the wise King over his people. “Then in that day, The nations will resort to the root of Jesse, Who will stand as a signal for the peoples; And His resting place will be glorious.” (Is 11:10)