Isaiah 10:1-11:16 We continue to think of the Jewish people during their High Holy Days. In Isaiah we see another prophetic scripture about their Messiah: “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord” (Isa. 11:1-2, KJV).
The rod spoken of in this passage is Jesus, and the stem is His heritage in the house of David. Jesse was the father of David, and God promised that the throne of Jerusalem would always be in the line of David. We had a dear Jewish friend who came to know Jesus as his Messiah simply because he read the first chapter of Matthew. As you know, the orthodox Jews are forbidden to read the New Testament. My friend Abraham had a Christian guitar teacher who gave him the whole Bible as a gift when he finished his lessons for the year. Being a good orthodox Jew, Abraham threw the Bible in the garbage without reading it. Later when the teacher asked Abraham how he liked the gift he gave him, Abraham replied, “I lost it.” “Well, we can fix that,” the teacher replied as he handed Abraham another Bible. This time as Abraham was walking home with another Bible in hand, he decided to sit down and read the first few pages of the New Testament. He read the genealogy of Jesus, and that was enough to convince him that Jesus was truly his Messiah. When he saw how the lineage of Jesus is from the house of David, he knew Jesus was the chosen One. He kept his Bible and hid it so he could read more.
The day will come when Jesus, the rod out of the stem of Jesse, will rule over all nations. His headquarters will be Jerusalem, and the government will be upon His shoulders. Jesus read this very scripture in the temple. He spoke of the special anointing that rested upon Him: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and the fear of the Lord. This same anointing is available to all those who have received Jesus as Lord and Savior. Thank God we have this same anointing Jesus had, and this anointing will equip us for anything we face today.
Father, thank You for giving me the same anointing Jesus had when He walked on earth. Help me today to yield to this anointing so that Your will and work will be accomplished in me today.
READ: Isaiah 10:1-11:16; 2 Corinthians 12:11-21; Psalm 56:1-13; Proverbs 23:6-8
