Request your free, three-month trial to Tabletalk magazine. You’ll receive the print issue monthly and gain immediate digital access to decades of archives. This trial is risk-free. No credit card required.
Try Tabletalk NowAlready receive Tabletalk magazine every month?
Verify your email address to gain unlimited access.
Isaiah 11:1–9
“They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (v. 9).
Against the opposition of Herod Agrippa I and others, the Word of God increased in the early years of the church. The gospel spread, converting Jews and gentiles to faith in the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 11–12). This should not surprise us, for the Scriptures are clear that God’s truth cannot be contained or ultimately suppressed. Many passages testify to the sure expansion of the Word of God across the earth, making the extension and success of special divine revelation a worthy theme for us to consider at this point in our study of the book of Acts. We will look at a few key texts outside Acts over the next few days to see how Scripture assures us that divine truth will certainly spread to the ends of the earth, taking root where He has ordained it under His sovereign reign.
Today we are looking briefly at Isaiah 11:1–9, a key passage that promises the sure expansion of God’s Word to the ends of the earth. This well-known text features a prediction of the Messiah and His empowerment by the Holy Spirit to rule in all wisdom and godliness. Isaiah speaks of a shoot from the “stump of Jesse” (v. 1). Jesse was the father of King David (1 Sam. 16), and the reference to him as a stump in Isaiah’s prophecy foresaw that the regal line descended from him would fall, much as a tree can be cut down. Yet the root and stump of Jesse would not pass away after David’s sons lost the throne in the exile. The throne would be restored to David, beginning again in humble renewed growth, like a shoot emerging from a stump. Ultimately, this was fulfilled in the first advent of the Lord Jesus Christ, the promised Son of David born in humble circumstances but exalted to the right hand of God the Father Almighty (e.g., see Rom. 1:1–4).
The Messiah, we see in Isaiah 11:2–5, must rule in righteousness, fully equipped by the Spirit. Moreover, His reign will bring peace and harmony to creation (vv. 6–8). This has begun in the church but will be most fully realized when Jesus returns to bring the new heaven and earth. Furthermore, the exercise of the Messiah’s rule will result in the earth’s being full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (v. 9). Knowledge of the Lord comes through His Word, so we see here a vision of God’s Word being known throughout the whole world. God has ordained that all peoples know His Word, and today the missions work of the church around the world is the means by which the Lord is bringing His predictions to pass.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
One of the things that had to happen with the coming of the Messiah was the expansion of the knowledge of God to the ends of the earth. The Lord is using His church to accomplish this, and our participation in the church’s disciple-making work allows us to play a role in God’s fulfilling His promises. It is a privilege and honor to support the effort to take God’s Word to the whole world.
For further study
- Psalm 67
- Habakkuk 2:14
- Matthew 24:14
- Romans 16:25–27
The bible in a year
- 1 Chronicles 24–26
- John 11:28–44