Isaiah 11 · The Lantern

The Root of Jesse

And a shoot will come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.

In him dwelt the fullness of the Spirit; therefore I acknowledge him to be "the rod of the stem of Jesse." His blooming flower shall be my Christ, upon whom has rested, according to Isaiah, "the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and piety, and of the fear of the Lord." Now to no man, except Christ, would this diversity…

Elsewhere, the Holy Spirit also speaks of the Virgin about to give birth when he says, "There will come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower will arise from his root." The rod from the root of Jesse signifies the Virgin Mary, who found her origins in the stem of Jesse through David.

352. And there shall come forth a rod out of the root. The destruction of their adversary having been set out, the restoration of the people, who had been divided into the two tribes and the ten tribes, is promised. And this is divided into two parts.

And the spirit of the LORD will rest upon him — a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and might, a spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.

The Scripture says that these enumerated powers of the Spirit have come on Him, not because He stood in need of them, but because they would rest in Him, i.e., would find their accomplishment in Him, so that there would be no more prophets in your nation after the ancient custom: and this fact you plainly perceive. For after Him no prophet has arisen among you.

The apostle also says to Timothy, "For God hath not given to us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." Now in respect of this passage of the apostle, we must be on our guard against supposing that we have not received the spirit of the fear of God, which is undoubtedly a great gift of God, and concerning which the prophet Isaiah says, "The Spirit o…

357. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. Here he describes him as to his sanctity, as to three things: first, as to habits of necessity; second, as to rectitude of works: he shall not judge according to the sight of the eyes (Isa 11:3); third, as to the effect of this rectitude: the wolf shall dwell with the lamb (Isa 11:6).

And his delight will be in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what his eyes see, and he will not decide by what his ears hear;

(Verse 3 and following) He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears. But he will judge the poor with justice, and decide with fairness for the humble of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and kill the wicked with the breath of his lips.

Finally, He must be supremely just, because of the manifold character of a justice making infallible inquiries, irreproachable distinctions, and irrevocable judgments, handing out retribution to each one according to his deeds. Isaiah writes: "A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse. Justice shall be the band around his waist.

359. As to fullness, for he was perfect in every grace, which is noted where it says, the spirit of the fear of the Lord filled him: we saw him full of grace (John 1:14). Concerning all these things: in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead corporeally (Col 2:9). 366. He shall not judge according to the sight of the eyes.

but he will judge the poor with righteousness, and decide with uprightness for the humble of the earth. And he will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he will put the wicked to death.

"And out of His mouth was issuing a sharp two-edged sword." By the twice-sharpened sword going forth out of His mouth is shown, that it is He Himself who has both now declared the word of the Gospel, and previously by Moses declared the knowledge of the law to the whole world.

That the Holy Spirit also proceeds from the Son, the prophetic and apostolic teaching shows us. So Isaiah says concerning the Son, "He shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked." Concerning him the apostle also says, "Whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth." The one Son of God himself, showing…

367. But he shall judge. Here his justice in executing is shown. And first, as to the good, in distributing their rights: he shall judge, in the day of judgment and even now: the Father has given all judgment to the Son (John 5:22); the Poor, about whom it says in Matthew 5:3: blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

And righteousness will be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

"Righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist, and truth the girdle of his loins." As a king has a belt made of gold and precious stones, so in a prophetic manner, he speaks about the belt made of righteousness and truth.

"Stand therefore," saith he, "having girded your loins with truth." He is not speaking of a literal, physical girdle, for all the language in this passage he employs in a spiritual sense. And observe how methodically he proceeds. First he girds up his soldier. What then is the meaning of this?

368. And justice shall be. Here his constancy in persevering is set out: and justice, which he shall observe in his judgments, shall be the girdle of his loins, that is, the sword with which he shall fight, and faith, confidence from God by which he will prevail; and this can be applied to Christ and to the just kings.

And a wolf will sojourn with a lamb, and a leopard will lie down with a kid; and a calf and a young lion and a fatling together, and a small boy leading them.

The elders who saw John, the disciple of the Lord, related that they had heard from him how the Lord used to teach in regard to these times, and say: The days will come, in which vines shall grow, each having ten thousand branches, and in each branch ten thousand twigs, and in each true twig ten thousand shoots, and in each one of the shoots ten thousand clusters, and on every…

And I will strike a deal with them in that day, with the beasts of the field and with the birds of the sky and with the creeping things of the ground; and I will shatter from the land, the bow, the sword, and war. And I will cause them to sleep with security.

369. The wolf shall dwell. Here the effect of his rectitude is set out, which is in the multitude of peace, which he shows as to two things: first, as to the meekness of the great, second, as to the security of the lowly: and the sucking child (Isa 11:8).

And a cow and a bear will graze, together their young will lie down; and a lion will eat straw like the ox.

Where and when, therefore, will this blessing be accomplished except in the kingdom of God, where grain, wine and oil are in abundance?

Hence there too it is added: "And a little child shall lead them." Who is this little child except he of whom it is written: "A child is born to us, a son is given to us"? He leads those dwelling together, because lest our hearts cling to earthly things, he daily inflames them through inward desire.

371. Third, as to eating, in two ways: as to conformity of food: the calf, who eats grass and is a clean animal, the bear, who tears meat and is not a clean animal, shall feed together, on the same food of the Word of God; their young ones, that is, their families, together, that is, in conformity, shall rest to eat, or the food of the sacraments: they ate the same spiritual fo…

And a nursing child will play over the hole of a cobra, and over the viper’s den a weaned child will put his hand.

Happily the Creator has promised by Isaiah to give this power even to little children, of putting their hand in the cockatrice den and on the hole of the young asps without at all receiving hurt.

Listen to how the flesh of God becomes an antidote: The Word became flesh; He put His hand into the den of vipers, He expelled the venom, He removed sin; that is, He condemned sin in the flesh.

372. And the sucking child shall play. Here he shows the security of the young, and he sets out three things: their confidence, where against horror he sets out joy: on the other hole of the asp, that is, on the trials which the devil or a tyrant will send, and immediately, because he has begun to be nourished by the milk of the doctrine of faith: and not only so: but we glory…

They will not do harm and will not destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

But now, to all the earth has gone forth their voice, and all the earth has been filled with the knowledge of God, and the disciples have made disciples of all the nations, and now is fulfilled what is written: "They shall be all taught of God." And then what was revealed was but a type; but now the truth has been manifested.

Paul testifies to our Redeemer when he says, "He was made a curse for us." The wood of the cross is also announced through the prophet, who said, "The Lord reigned from a tree," and again, "Let us put wood in his bread." But the wood of the cross is explicitly revealed through the gospel, where the prophesied passion of the Lord is described.This very same cross is also maintai…

373. Second, he sets out inability to hurt them: they shall not hurt; in my holy mountain, that is, the Church, except the willing: behold, I have given you power (Luke 10:19); and these signs shall follow them that believe: they shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents: and if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them (Mark 16:17–18). 374.

And it will be, in that day, that the root of Jesse, who stands as a signal for the peoples — to him the nations will seek, and his resting place will be glory.

Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God. Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers: And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name.

Now Jesse was the father of David, and the promise with an oath was made to David. The prophet would not have spoken of the Lord Christ as a rod growing out of Jesse if he had only known him as God.

375. In that day. Here he places the dignity of the restorer. For a sign, the sign of the cross; those who take up this sign will be saved: I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself (John 12:32); below: behold I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles, and will set up my sign to the people; him the Gentiles shall beseech (Isa 49:22).

And it will be, in that day, that the Lord will again, a second time, put out his hand to acquire the remnant of his people that is left — from Assyria and from Egypt and from Pathros and from Cush and from Elam and from Shinar and from Hamath and from the coastlands of the sea.

And he will lift up a signal to the nations, and gather the banished of Israel, and the scattered of Judah he will collect from the four corners of the earth.

And the envy of Ephraim will depart, and the hostile ones of Judah will be cut off. Ephraim will not envy Judah, and Judah will not be hostile to Ephraim.

And they will swoop on the shoulder of the Philistines to the west; together they will plunder the sons of the east. Edom and Moab are the sending out of their hand, and the sons of Ammon their obedience.

And the LORD will devote to destruction the tongue of the Sea of Egypt, and will wave his hand over the River with the scorching of his wind; and he will strike it into seven streams, and make a way to walk in sandals.

And there will be a highway for the remnant of his people that is left from Assyria, as there was for Israel on the day of his coming up from the land of Egypt.

Isaiah11

The Root of Jesse