Not only does the Lord bestow salvation (Isa. 12:2); He Himself is salvation. The Presence of the Holy One of Israel in our midst (Isa. 12:6) is everything to us. God is with us! Not only did Jesus do miracles; He “became flesh and lived among us” (John 1:14, NRSV, emphasis supplied). Not only did He bear our sins on the cross; He became sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21). Not only does He make peace; He is our peace (Eph. 2:14).

No wonder “the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples” (Isa. 11:10, NRSV). When He is lifted up on the cross, He draws all people to Himself (John 12:32, 33)! A remnant shall return to the “mighty God” (Isa. 10:21, NRSV), who is the Child born for us, the “Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:6)!

Isaiah 11:10a-12d Latter Rain predicted

From a description of Heaven attained in the previous section, Isaiah retreated back to the time of the outpouring of the Latter Rain that will take place at the end of time shortly before the close of probation and the time of trouble, a time during which the Messiah ultimately comes a second time (Daniel 12:1-2). Christ will stand in that day as a signal to the nations (Isaiah 11:10c). The event described in this section twice mentioned in that day (11:10a and 11:11a). Because the gathering of the remnant is to take place, it assumes that the remnant is gathered away from the evil ones. They are scattered and not together in Heaven as the previous section explained. This section has to go chronologically to an earlier event. A first time gathering happened and here Isaiah saw a second time gathering of the believers of God. This is one of the most confusing passages for scholars, in Isaiah. They did not know what to do with it. Some suggested a first gathering in Isaiah's day and a second one in the later Babylonian captivity. This view opens up too many loopholes. The historical nations that followed in the list after this section gives the impression that this view could be correct but that is not what is intended by the content that follows. The recovering of the remnant a second time (Isaiah 11:11b) is connected to and He will assemble the banished ones of Israel and will gather the dispersed of Judah (Isaiah 11:12b-c). It is not correct to think that in the final battle or eradication of evil, the wicked and good will be mixed and that in the persecution that follows Christ will come to rescue the remnant from the evil whom He hates because they are against the apple of His eye. Christ battles evil because they are evil and not because His favorite is attacked. There is no favoritism with God. Jews are not the people of God by blood but by covenantal relationship that requires certain spiritual obligations to be fulfilled. God easily adopt new children of Abraham when anyone, Jew or non-Jew, approach God with the faith of Abraham. This is the soteriology or salvation history of the Bible. This universalism of faith unto salvation was not a later invention by prophets as some modern scholars wish to understand. It was already there in earlier times. Sola Fidei was always the standard for salvation. It is not a new concept invented by Martin Luther in 1520.

What we do have in this section of Isaiah, is the Early Rain at Pentecost and the Latter Rain at the end of time a second time.

It is possible to read Isaiah 11:10a and 11:11a as referring to the same time frame, namely the second time. The qualifications for the first time are equal to that of the second time. It is also possible to see it as two separate events, so that 11:10a refers to the early rain events as described in Acts 2 and that 11:11a refers to the second time, or Latter Rain (see the prediction of it in the book of Joel) that will gather faithful ones who will be made faithful by conviction from all the nations at the end of time. It will inaugurate the Time of Persecution because the ones who choose to remain evil or turn to evil will be turning on those among them who made a change in their religious focus. The change in religion is not going to be a change towards Judaism since the root of Jesse is Christ. It has to be towards Christianity, but what form it will take can be predicted as something close to modern day Seventh Day Adventism since biblical truths has to be upheld as well as biblical lifestyles [ontology]. It is not good enough to say, "I must be a friend of Jesus since I also fight Satan and evil".

Dwell more on this idea that Jesus is our salvation. Read Romans 3:24. It says that redemption is in Jesus; redemption is something that happened in Him, and it is through God’s grace and mercy that we can have an eternal share in that redemption, as well. In other words, that redemption that was in Him can become ours by faith, and not by works, because no works we do are good enough to redeem us. Only the works that Christ did, which He credits to us by faith, can bring redemption. How does this truth give you hope and assurance of salvation, especially when you feel overwhelmed by your own sense of unworthiness?

Friday ↥        January 29

Further Thought: “The heart of the human father yearns over his son. He looks into the face of his little child, and trembles at the thought of life’s peril. He longs to shield his dear one from Satan’s power, to hold him back from temptation and conflict. To meet a bitterer conflict and a more fearful risk, God gave His only-begotten Son, that the path of life might be made sure for our little ones. ‘Herein is love.’ Wonder, O heavens! and be astonished, O earth!” — Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 49.

“Christ was the one who consented to meet the conditions necessary for man’s salvation. No angel, no man, was sufficient for the great work to be wrought. The Son of man alone must be lifted up; for only an infinite nature could undertake the redemptive process. Christ consented to connect himself with the disloyal and sinful, to partake of the nature of man, to give his own blood, and to make his soul an offering for sin. In the counsels of heaven, the guilt of man was measured, the wrath for sin was estimated, and yet Christ announced his decision that he would take upon himself the responsibility of meeting the conditions whereby hope should be extended to a fallen race.” — Ellen G. White, The Signs of the Times, March 5, 1896.

Discussion Question:

1.    As we saw in Isaiah 11, the Lord presented both comings of Christ in one picture. This can help explain, at least somewhat, why some of the Jews didn’t accept Christ at His first coming, because they expected Him to do the things that will happen only at the Second Coming. What does this tell us about how important it is that we have a proper understanding of the nature of Christ’s advent? How can false views, for instance, of His second coming set people up for Satan’s great end-time deception? (See Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, chapter 39.)

Summary: In the days of Isaiah, whose name means “Salvation of the Lord,” God promised His remnant people salvation from the oppression that was coming upon them as a result of national apostasy. This prophecy of hope finds its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus, whose name means “The Lord is Salvation.”