The Messiah – The Banner of the People

1. Read: Isaiah 11:1-5

2. About the Text:

1) A banner is a rallying point, a place to gather.

2) This prophecy of Isaiah sets forth the Messiah as the banner of the people (10, 12).

3) Who is the Messiah?

4) Why would we want to gather to Him?

3. Ref. to S, T, P, O, and A.

1. He is a shoot from the stump of Jesse.

1) This is a reference to the dynasty of David.

2) Jesse was David’s father.

3) David’s dynasty was once like a great Cedar of Lebanon.

4) By Isaiah’s time, David’s dynasty had been reduced to nothing more than a stump.

5) This prophecy says that something else is coming in fulfillment of God’s promises to David.

6) But who?

2. The Spirit of the Lord

1) This shoot of David will have the Spirit of the Yahweh rest upon Him.

2) This Spirit is Yahweh.

3) Isaiah demonstrates this by giving us His qualities.

4) He will have . . .

a. The Spirit of the Lord rest upon Him.

b. The Spirit of wisdom and understanding.

c. The Spirit of counsel and might.

d. The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.

5) Regarding the fear of the Lord, He will delight in it.

6) He will exercise righteous judgment.

7) He will strike/slay with the rod of His mouth, the breath of His lips.

8) Righteousness and faithfulness will be His belt/girdle.

9) All of this is to say that the Messiah is Yahweh, God in the flesh.

3. This prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus.

1) He was a descended of David (Matthew 1:1).

2) The Spirit of God was upon Him – “And John bore witness, saying, ‘I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him’” (John 1:32).

3) He had the Spirit without measure – “For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure” (John 3:34).

4) Jesus feared the Lord by obeying Him – “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 6:38).

5) Jesus’ judgment was perfectly righteous – “I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me” (John 5:30).

6) His weapon against evil was the word of God – “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free’” (John 8:31-32).

7) He was righteous and faithful to the Lord (Hebrews 3:2, Revelation 19:11).

1. There will be great and wonderful peace as symbolized by these unlikely pairs.

1) The wolf and the lamb.

2) The leopard and young goat.

3) The calf, fatling, and young lion.

4) A little child leading them.

5) A bear and cow.

6) Their offspring will lie down together.

7) The lion will eat straw like an ox.

8) The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra.

9) The weaned child will put his hand in the viper’s den.

10) These last two remind us of the oldest enmity between man and Satan.

2. Where will this great peace be?

1) They will not hurt or destroy in the Lord’s holy mountain.

2) The holy mountain has been identified earlier by Isaiah.

3) Read Isaiah 2:2-4.

3. Why will this great peace be?

1) The earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord.

2) What is the “knowledge of the Lord”?

3) It is knowledge of Jesus Christ.

4) He is the prince of peace (Isaiah 9:6).

5) It is the knowledge of His great mission to forgive and reconcile.

6) “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” (Luke 2:14).

7) Read Ephesians 2:14-18.

1. “Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this” (Isa.9:7).

2. The Messiah’s kingdom will include both Jews and Gentiles.

1) This root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the people.

2) The gentiles will seek Him.

3) “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up” (John 3:14).

3. His resting place shall be glorious (or glory).

1) The tomb from which Jesus was resurrected?

2) His place at the right hand of God in glory?

4. The Lord will set His hand to recover the remnant of His people.

5. He will set a banner for the nations – to draw them to Him – “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself” (John 12:32).

6. The envy of Ephraim will depart (division between the northern and southern kingdoms).

7. The traditional enemies of God’s people will be overcome – all enemies will be conquered.

1) “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14).

2) “The last enemy that will be destroyed is death” (1 Corinthians 15:26).

8. The remnant of God’s people will return – Romans 1:16-17.

1. The Messiah is the banner of the people.

1) He is Yahweh, God in the flesh.

2) He is the one who brings true and lasting peace.

3) He gathers everyone to Himself for great and lasting unity.

2. Invitation