This passage is part of the larger section of Isaiah 10:5—11:16, that portrays the defeat of Assyria, the gathering of the remnant of Israel that was deported to Assyria in 721 B.C., and the defeat of Israel’s enemies. Specifically, it deals with the future ideal time, when Israel’s messianic king will rule in a blessed kingdom of peace.
Our word for messiah comes from the Hebrew masiah, which means “anointed,” and it refers to the anointed Davidic king. During the reign of David in the tenth century B.C., God promised that there would never be lacking a Davidic heir to sit upon the throne (2 Samuel 7:13, 16). To realize the importance of that, we must understand that Israel’s life was bound up completely with its Davidic ruler, whose righteousness before God insured that the people were also counted righteous in God’s eyes — the king was the corporate representative of the people. Israel therefore looked for that perfect Davidic ruler to come, and of every occupant of the throne, the people inquired, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” God’s promise in this passage, therefore, is that such a messiah will indeed come and make his people righteous in the sight of God.
There is a certain disgust with the line of Israel’s Davidic rulers mirrored in verse 1. None of them has been the fulfillment of Israel’s expectation of a saving messiah. None has measured up. But the promise here in our text is that such a messiah will come, and a description of his character is given in detail.
Most importantly, the coming messiah will be given the Spirit of the Lord that will rest or remain with him permanently (v. 2). Usually in the scriptures, the Spirit is given only temporarily in order that a task may be done, but the messiah will have the Spirit as a permanent endowment, and it is that Spirit that furnishes him with all of his qualities. Significantly, therefore, our Lord receives the Spirit of God at his baptism, and John 1:32 states that the Spirit descends upon Jesus and remains with him. We can therefore say that the picture of the coming Davidic messiah that we have in this passage is also the picture of our Lord Jesus Christ, whose birthday we remember in this Advent season and whose second coming we look forward to.
From the Spirit, states our text, the messiah will receive a six-fold gift (v. 2). He will be given the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, so he will know the right thing to do. But he will also be given the Spirit of counsel and might, so that he has the power to put his wisdom into effect. The wisdom of human beings is distorted by sin, and though we think we can proceed according to our own plans, apart from the Word and Spirit of God, our autonomous reason always leads us into disaster (cf. Isaiah 5:21; 29:14), a fact vividly illustrated in the morning headlines. Such is not the case with the messiah, however. He thinks and acts by the wisdom and power of God. As Jesus says, “The Son does nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing” (John 5:19).
The messiah is also given the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. In the scriptures, knowledge of God is intimate, inmost knowledge of God’s nature and will and actions. To know God is to live in intimate daily communion with him, while to fear God is to reverence him. Thus, God’s messiah will live in the company of God in true worship and service.
Verse 3 tells us, moreover, that the messiah will delight in his obedience and worship of God. He will have joy in his life with God, that joy that Jesus and every true disciple knows. In contrast to those who think that obedience to God is a burden and worship a bore, here is the testimony that constant fellowship with God is delightful, because our God is indeed an enjoyable God. He is many other things, but he is also enjoyable.
The messiah comes to set our sinful world in order and to establish God’s rule over all the earth. Thus, in this Advent season we not only look backward to the birth of Jesus, but we look forward to his coming again. And we are told in our text that he comes first of all to restore the helpless and meek of this earth to their proper place in society (v. 4). The messiah will not be swayed by earthly standards and judgment, not by outward evidences (cf. John 2:25; 7:24). Rather, he will judge in righteousness and equity, making that straight in society that has been crooked, restoring rights to the oppressed, and safety and security to the weak (cf. Isaiah 10:1-2; 32:1; Psalm 72:12-14), while at the same time condemning the wicked to death. Surely that is a cautionary warning to all of us who await the coming of our Lord.
When our messiah comes, however, the right that he restores to society will find its counterpoint in the natural world, where every kind of violence will be eliminated (vv. 6-8). Throughout the Bible, human sin is said to ruin the natural world (Genesis 3:17-18; 9:2; Jeremiah 12:4; Romans 8:19-23). But the messiah will establish peace in the animal kingdom, and peace between the wild beasts and human beings. The serpent of our sin, referred to in verse 8, will become a harmless plaything for children, and the peaceable kingdom will be one in which no one will ever again hurt or destroy (v. 9). The whole earth will obey and reverence God, and the Lord’s universal kingdom will be established throughout the world. God’s messiah comes to save all on this earth (cf. Isaiah 45:6; 52:10; 66:23).
Verse 10 is a later addition to our original text, and the “root of Jesse” here no longer stands for the origin of the messianic king, as in verse 1, but rather refers to the messianic king himself, who will be an ensign, that is, a standard, a signal, lifted up for all to see and to which all shall come, a note reminiscent of John 12:32. Verse 10 has been added as a transition to give the passage a universal note, but that is already found in the preceding verses. Verses 10-11 form a transition to verses 12-16.
What we finally have in our text, therefore, is a description of the One who was born at Bethlehem and of the same One who will come again to judge the earth and to establish God’s kingdom. The passage is a vivid description of the character of our messiah, a revelation of the nature of the Lord whom we worship and serve.