Isaiah 11
v.1-2
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. 2The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord—
v.3
and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears;
There is much to fear in the world without the Lord. How delightful it is, then, to have our one fear in life be of Him who is also able to see down to our hearts and judges with perfect righteousness!
Verse 3b does not mean that right judgement ignores evidence available to the senses but rather that it requires inner qualities of character (cf. Jn 2:25; 7:24). The word “judge” (GK 9149) has an ominous ring to us; but when used of the poor, it is almost synonymous with salvation (Pss 72:2; 82:2-4). Where there is corruption in the law courts, it is the poor who long for a righteous judge.
v.4
but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
A wise man once said, “His mouth is Jesus’ choicest weapon.”
In the divine economy, the word is active and powerful (cf. Ge 1:3; Isa 55:10-11), and the Messiah’s word of judgement will be utterly effective (cf. Jn 12:48). He judges as “the Word of God” (Rev 19:13-15). This testifies to his great power (cf. v.2), because he is well able to execute the judgements he pronounces. In him word and consequent action are virtually one.
v.6
The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.
v.7
The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
v.8
The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest.
v.9
They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
Katlyn quoted commentators who also compared the seas having varying depths. Some parts of the seas will experience a greater depth of God’s glory since they prepared the way.
The restoration of human beings to God that is implied in “the knowledge of God” reverses the alienation introduced by the Fall, so making possible the restoration of their environment to its unfallen condition.