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Now, these prophecies were particularly meaningful because of the context into which Isaiah spoke.  During his lifetime, Israel was divided into two kingdoms – the northern and southern kingdoms.  They were facing a threat from the nation of Assyria, who was looking to expand its empire by conquering everyone in its path.  As they invaded Israel, Ahaz, the king of the southern kingdom of Judah, was left with a choice – trust in God to protect them, or make a treaty with Assyria and hopefully save their skin.  He chose to make the treaty, which would lead to their eventual downfall. 

Into this context, Isaiah is called by God to be a prophet.  Remember that a prophet was the mouthpiece of God, calling people back to obedience to the Mosaic covenant.  Israel at the time was guilty of all sorts of sin, from empty worship to social injustice to trusting in the nations instead of in God.  So Isaiah came to warn them to repent and get right with God, or they would be conquered by Assyria.  Listen to some of the call of Isaiah and you will get a picture of just what Isaiah’s mission was:

Isaiah 6:8 - 15 - Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"  ⁹ He said, "Go and tell this people: "'Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.'  ¹⁰ Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed."  ¹¹ Then I said, "For how long, O Lord?" And he answered: "Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged,  ¹² until the LORD has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken.  ¹³ And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land." 

Because of Israel’s sin and refusal to trust in God instead of in the surrounding nations, God will use Assyria to discipline his people.  There are three key images from Isaiah 6 that I want to look at today that really speak to the result of Judah’s sin – stump, exile, and ruins.  Isaiah is told by God that his people will, instead of being a fruitful tree, will be a stump in the land.  Isaiah is also told that the Lord will send everyone far away, into exile, and that the cities will lie ruined.  Cut down into a stump, sent away into exile, and ruined.  But, as we’ve seen in the first two weeks, despair is never the last word with God.  Even though they are under discipline, God always gives a glimpse of the hope and redemption that are to come.  Pay attention to those three themes – stump, exile, and ruins – as we look at Isaiah 11: 

Isaiah 11:1-12  A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.  ² The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him-- the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD--  ³ and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears;  ⁴ but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.  ⁵ Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.  ⁶ The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.  ⁷ The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.  ⁸ The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest.  ⁹ They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.  ¹⁰ In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.  ¹¹ In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea.  ¹² He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth.