Isaiah 11 vs 6-16 and Isaiah 12 vs 1-6

Isaiah Chapter 11 Verses 6 – 9

·    The message and promise here (to a terrified nation) is that peace is coming. We know that this peace is speaking of a far future, where things are entirely restored to the situation pre-dating sin, where there was no death and therefore a child could play next to a cobra, no danger there…

·    But notice the source of peace and this is more of the message and meaning for today. There in verse 9, “For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord…” That’s the point of source, the wellspring of the peace. And it is the same today for me and for you as we grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Isaiah Chapter 11 Verse 10

·    One of the few mentions in the Old Testament of the coming mystery concerning the Body of Christ, the church… And “His resting place shall be glorious?” Is that possibly a hint at the empty tomb!?

Isaiah Chapter 11 Verses 11 – 16

·    God takes obstacles, impossibilities, difficulties, complexities, interferences, restrictions, obstructions, even traps…and He sets up a highway right through them all by His Word, His grace, His love, His faithfulness, His promises, His almost secretive strategies of victory only accessible through faith! My part is simply to know/remember those things about Him, trust Him, wait upon Him, and do what is right in His eyes!

·    This is a reminder for them and for us of what He did the first time in establishing the nation, from nothing, from everything lost, through Moses and Joshua. And that will happen again when they are overtaken by the Babylonians, coming back to the land in 538BC when the Persian conqueror of Babylonia, Cyrus the Great, gave the Jews permission to return to their land. It happened again, in one night just as foretold in Isaiah 66, on May 14, 1948 as David Ben-Gurion, the chairman of the Jewish Agency for Palestine announced the formation of the new state of Israel. And according to Zechariah 14, Jeremiah 30, Ezekiel 36, it will never be taken again from them…not until the coming of the Lord, when He Himself will come to reign.

·    What’s the point? These things were impossible! Improbable, hopeless, impractical, unreasonable and unthinkable… too many obstacles, too many problems, and yet God did absolutely entirely faithfully according to His Word. So, we grow in knowledge of Him, not just in head knowledge but heart knowledge…believing Him in His promises and faithfulness, and we therefore grow in peace. And peace, peace in the inner person, the inner man, the inner woman, that is the nuclear weapon against all unrighteousness!!

Isaiah Chapter 12 Verses 1 – 2

·    In the day of God’s revealed faithfulness, for Israel prophetically through Isaiah, but also for you and for me, when we have trusted the Lord, and the (heart) knowledge of Him grows…not from studying but from experiencing, taking Him at His Word and then (as God always does) He performs according to His Word and purposes, and we learn that, this begins to come from within our heart of hearts. A song of praise as we literally, spiritually, emotionally, incredibly benefit from the reign of Jesus is our heart, soul, minds and strength!

·    Praise, comfort, salvation, trust, no fear… You are MY strength and MY song! Life is like searching in a way for something authentic, real, secure…an anchor point, a vantage point, a framing from which everything else can make sense or even begin to make sense or make sense at all! And you cast your anchor to things and as you seek to settle one of those things, the anchor point gives. And you find time and time again…there is no strength there…its not there.

·    For me it began with my parents. But those anchor points for me gave/failed very early in my life. As they hated each other, and they put that hate for each other before me. I wasn’t important enough. Then the list of things leading me to Christ. Sports, competition with others, drugs, relationships, even anger… Maybe I’ll just look at the world through anger and that will make everything make sense. But that failed…

·    Even after coming to Christ, and being saved, its interesting how this somehow continues. Friendships and work and church and relationships and getting money, and still… every anchor point gives. The only one that is secure, doesn’t give…doesn’t put Himself first but cares more for me than He even does of Himself… proven on the cross. And when that anchor holds, when you find that, this (these verses) is the elation of the heart…. I will praise YOU. I am comforted. You are my strength! You are the vantage point and the frame through which everything…everything makes sense. Finally, the fear is overwhelmed and trust is not misled…

·    And then, it’s wonderful this way, once you find that you want to become that. Perhaps that is what Romans 12 is talking about when we read don’t be conformed into the image of this world which has hurt you so entirely much but be transformed into the image of Christ through the renewing of your mind. Becoming Christlike is a result of knowing what Christ is like… And what He’s done for you and how He is towards you…and how that has completely, eternally and right-now saved you. From hell then and from such desperation now…

·    This word for “comfort” in verse 1 has a depth of meaning that I’d like you know. Because this is Jesus, this is His heart for you… This word means to regret that you are hurting. Who in your life does that for you? It means to bring consolation and ease to suffering through compassion… It’s a sharing of sorrow. This is who God is… For Yah the Lord is my strength and song, He also has become my salvation. Yah is my salvation is literally the translation of Jah-Shua or Jesus….

Isaiah Chapter 12 Verse 3

·    This is a verse of verses. A well that can run dry, in a way, is just a pit waiting to happen! But this is the one, the one that never dries up. It’s a well and it stays a well and as I draw from it over and over, I become more well myself! Huh? Notice the verse says, “From the wells…” Jesus said in John 4:13-14, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” There’s the joy part…

·    And so, while and as we are made well, we should (WILL HAPPEN) ourselves be being made into well. A bunch of wells of salvation available to be drawn from as needed by others, as we, with joy, draw from the well of our own salvation…and sometimes even finding that through God using others in our lives. Encouragement and love and comfort and care, truth and correction even…all of those things sometimes come through people, people like you, but those are Godly things…

·    It’s worth noting here also though that there is activity, action required on my part. Isaiah writes, “With joy you will draw that water.” What good is a capable well when all I do is stare at it? But taking the time to seek the Lord, to study, to pray, to be a part of a church, serving the Lord and each other, this is to draw…and oddly enough, when you really need it, encouragement or correction, guidance or comfort, its sort of like you can’t draw right then but rather that’s when you drink of what has been drawn already through these required activities/actions…these things preparing and securing you for the moment(s) of need…

Isaiah Chapter 12 Verses 4 – 6

·    Have you found your anchor point that holds? Have you drawn water from the wells of salvation with the joy of standing on the firm ground of who Jesus is? Then this is what you are all about. You’ve been blessed, so your heart is one of praise towards God. People praise God for blessings but the true Christian, the one drinking deeply of the goodness of God personally, praises because you have been blessed!

·    You can’t help but declare His deeds. In one way or another, who you are or how you are declares what God has done. You talk about Him. Not constantly or incessantly or in a clanging symbol type of way but your speech is graceful seasoned with salt and somehow the conversation does get back to pointing someone to Jesus…

·    You sing to Him. Oh, maybe not with your voice, I’m not laying any trip here for those that don’t worship corporately through singing (although you’re missing out), but there’s a song in your heart towards the Lord and you do find yourself at times singing to Him. Something in you cries out, unrestrained, of the greatness and holiness of God. Even though your life is tough, days are hard, seasons are incredibly difficult, its as Job once said (Job 13:15a), “Though You slay me, yet will I trust!”

·    Ultimately this is a description of worship. And worship is the cure and the counter to pride. Pride is such a killer. Stuck on self, pride makes everything about you. And a world that revolves around you/me is a small world indeed. Worship makes it all about Jesus. And the worshipper praises Him, declares Him with their life, attitudes, decisions and lips, sings unto God and shouts above all other voices in their own heart and mind the greatness and holiness of God! What we do on stage or before the Bible study is just one form/facet of worship, this is the definition of worship! And a worshipper in heart is someone who knows the peace of God!