The Messianic Prophecy in Isaiah 11 and the End of Days
Yeshayahu (Isaiah) is the fifth book of the Prophets and is known for its visions of universal peace and renewal. Yeshayahu’s standing as a prophet is second only to that of Mosheh. All other prophets received their prophetic visions via intermediators, while Yeshayahu received his directly from the Eternal One. He is known for both prophesying the doom of Israel but also its redemption as a nation. The prophecies in his book are composed in complex poetic language, using obscure words and imagery, and often regarded as the paradigm for poetic Hebrew. However, there is a chapter in the Book of Isaiah, which is quite easy to read. A studious reader may not even need commentaries in order to understand the messages that have been conveyed in it. Yet, because of the obligation that is upon us, we will interpret and try to explain them in the light of the end of days with all due seriousness and in the best way we could.
The majority [if not all] of commentators apply Chapter 11 of Isaiah to the anointed king, the King Messiah, a shoot of Yishai, who shall come and redeem Israel. This is how the Messianic chapter of the Book of Isaiah begins,
And a shoot shall come forth from the stump of Yishai, and a branch from his roots shall be fruitful. The Ruach of the Eternal One shall rest upon him: the Ruach of wisdom and understanding, the Ruach of counsel and might, the Ruach of knowledge and of the fear of the Eternal One, … (Isa 11:1-2)
Once it has been established that the anointed one would be a direct descendant of Yishai [a shoot of Yishai symbolic of the royal scepter], in the same breath it is said that the Ruach of YHVH will rest on him, so that he will have all wisdom, understanding, and knowledge. This description relates to a tree whose branches and shoots are used to propagate new trees; hence, the Messiah is called a shoot and a branch of Yishai, the father of King David. Hence, from the very opening of the Messianic chapter it becomes obvious to the reader that Israel’s redeemer will belong to the house of David, a direct descendant of the king of Israel. It will also become obvious from now on until the end of the chapter that this prophecy was said to console those exiled to the lands of the nations.
Then, the prophet saw fit to inform the reader that the very Ruach of the Eternal One will rest on the anointed one (Hebrew, mashiach). English translators have shied away from the literal meaning of the Hebrew word Ruach, namely, “Set-apart Wind”, much preferring immaterial and abstract term “Holy Spirit” out of necessity to avoid the theological embarrassment that the Hebrew word Ruach literally means “wind” or “breath” and that the Living Creator is like Wind. If we, however, understand the term Ruach used here in verse 2 in the pattern of the Menorah (the seven-branch candelabrum located in the Temple), then we shall see that Ruach branches, like a wind, into the three pairs of currents: (1) the Ruach of wisdom and understanding, (2) the Ruach of counsel and might, and (3) the Ruach of knowledge and of the fear of YHVH. Even though, YHVH is presented here as having seven “spirits”, He retains a single nature of Oneness. (The subject of the Oneness of the Creator is taught in the article Guide for the Perplexed in the World of Dualism),
… and shall make him breathe in the fear of the Eternal One. And he shall not judge by the sight of his eyes, nor decide by the hearing of his ears. But with righteousness he shall judge the poor and shall decide with straightness for the meek ones of the earth, and shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and slay the wrong with the breath of his lips. (Isa 11:3-4)
The prophet saw fit to reiterate the statement from verse 2 again in verse 3, namely, that the Messiah will be filled with the fear of the One who has sent him. And since the Ruach of the Eternal Creator is said to rest upon him, and he will have the Ruach of fear in him, so that his words of counsel and judgement will be from fear of the Lord to judge Israel and the world with wisdom and not like a person who judges according to his own thoughts, it becomes obvious to the careful reader that the anointed one stands in a subordinate position compared to the One who has anointed him. The wisdom the Messiah will judge with will be within him, so that he will know and understand without any partiality who is innocent and who is guilty. And the Almighty, the primary source of all, will stand by him and will gift him with intellectual ability and might to judge people properly and in authority. The Messiah will not require testimonies of witnesses or deliberation, as he will immediately know by his intellect with whom the truth is. Should he want to impose punishment or wage war, he will be able to smite the wicked and the land of the wicked with his word alone. He will need no weapons or armies at his disposal, for the power of the Ruach of YHVH that has been given to him will suffice to allot judgement on the wicked.
And righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and trustworthiness the girdle of his waist. (Isa 11:5)
As a belt in the ancient world was one of the royal garments, the Messiah will gird himself with justice, which will be the source of his righteous judgement. And righteousness will never depart from him in all his doings.
And a wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and a leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little child leads them. And cow and bear shall feed, their young ones lie down together, and a lion eat straw like an ox. And the nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the adder’s den. (Isa 11:6-8)
These three verses may be approached from two distinct aspects, namely, the plain meaning and the allegorical meaning contained in them. The peace that will be in the days of the Messiah is now figuratively described in verses 6 through 8. The Messianic Era is characterized in the prophecy by universal peace and tranquility. The Eternal One promises all this to the world, so that the peoples will have great peace in the days of the Messiah’s reign.
The great Torah commentator Maimonides in his fundamental work Mishneh Torah, Kings and Wars 12:1-2 warns, however, that it should not occur to anyone that during the days of the Messiah a single thing from the ways of the world will be canceled nor will there be something novel in the Creation. Rather, he says, the world will continue in its customary way, and what is described in Isaiah about “wolf will live with the sheep and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, etc.” is a parable and riddle. The meaning of the text is that Israel will dwell in safety with the wicked of the world who are compared to the predators used allegorically in the description. Thus far Maimonides on the subject. Yet, the prevailing understanding of the commentators is that when King Messiah comes, there will be no evil left on the earth. The free will to sin will be greatly limited, to which the next verse testifies, as we read (see also Hab 2:14),
They do no evil nor destroy in all My sacred mountain, for the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Eternal One as the waters cover the sea. (Isa 11:9)
And indeed, just as water covers the sea, so too, the knowledge of the Creator will fill the world. Knowledge of the Creator and His Messiah will increase, like the water increases to cover the dry land. This change will cause a dramatic shift in the world; the world will continue to live in perfect harmony with its Creator, and evil will be no more. This also means that when the anointed one comes, all nations on the earth will know it, as the knowledge of the Eternal One and His anointed will be universal. There will be no one who would say, “I did not know!” The verses that follow are directed at the nations of the world, as we keep on reading,
And in that day there shall be a root of Yishai, standing as a banner to the people. Unto him the nations shall seek, and his rest shall be glorious. And it shall be in that day that the Eternal One sets His hand again a second time to recover the remnant of His people who are left, from Assyria and from Egypt, from Pathros and from Kush, from Elam and from Shin‛ar, from Chamath and from the islands of the sea. (Isa 11:10-11)
These verses may be taken as a proof that in the whole passage the prophet refers to the Messianic period, seeing that it is written “Unto him the nations shall seek” and “a second time to recover the remnant”. These two prerequisites for the establishment of the Messianic Era have not yet come to their fulfillment; all peoples of the world do not seek the Messiah, nor has the hand of the Eternal One recovered His people from the exile a second time. The first time when the remnant of Israel was recovered was from the exile in Egypt. Now, the second time will be set to recover those who are still in exile. In that day, to which the prophet is referring intentionally two times in the passage, the Lord will gather Israel from all the lands a second time, when their redemption is due, just as He acquired them from Egypt. And He will make a great banner among all nations, in order that the Israel should see it and return to their land. This redemption process of bring His people back to the Land started in 1948 with the birth of the Third Commonwealth of Israel in 1948. Even the nations will acknowledge that fact as a call for the second ingathering of Israel from the world. This is what we refer to as “The Second Exodus” (see also Jer 16:14-16, Jer 23:7-8, Eze 11:16-17, Eze 34:12-13, Eze 37:21-24, and Amo 9:14-15).
But what is even more intriguing is that in that day, the day on which the Messiah will come, the nations of the world will raise a banner to gather to him. And when that materialized, to the Messiah, the root of Yishai, will all nations be subjected (see also Isa 42:4 and Isa 51:5). The nations will seek him out on their own accord to obey him and serve him, for they have acquired the full knowledge of the Creator and His Messiah that has covered the earth, as the water covers the land. The Messiah will not have to impose his views on them, for it will be that they will seek him. They will all follow the banner of the Messiah, and they will do what the Messiah will command them to do. And there will be no wars any longer, but peace on the earth.
Israel knows that YHVH is the Absolute One, and there is none else besides Him; this is what indeed Mosheh taught them. YHVH alone is worthy of receiving glory and honor, for He is the One who created all things according to His pleasure and will, and this is the proper reason for adoration. Glory, honor, and thanksgiving to the Creator cannot be given to any other being, even if that being is Mashiach himself, but to Him alone. We are not commanded in Scripture to worship Mashiach, for by the First Commandment we are forbidden to have the Gods of the others [as masks] upon His Face. To give glory and honor and thanksgiving to any other would be a grave offense of that commandment, and by that act of having another God or Gods beside Him would be a denial of the existence of the Creator.
But at the same time, we are not forbidden to honor Mashiach and to have him as the anointed king (Melech haMashiach) and give him honor due to a king. For this king is anointed in heaven (see Ezekiel 1) to have the seven spirits of the Eternal One and rule on the earth; he shall breathe in the fear of the Almighty Creator; he shall judge the world in righteousness and bring world peace, according to what is written in the prophecy here, and for this reason honor is much due to him on that account, but not on the account of being “god”. The honor due to the Messiah is different to the honor and glory due to the Eternal One, for Mosheh taught Israel to worship but one Elohim. The nations worship their gods, or they worship the true God in falsehood, as we will see below in the coming verses. But when King Messiah comes, they all will understand the grievous error they had made, as it is prophesied by the prophet Jeremiah, as we read,
O Eternal One, my strength and my stronghold and my refuge, in the day of distress the nations shall come to You from the ends of the earth and say, “Our fathers have inherited only lies, futility, and there is no value in them. (Jer 16:19)
It is a clear Biblical text: the nations will confess, “Our fathers have inherited only lies”. And this is what the Lord of hosts said through His other servant, Zechariah,
In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, shall even take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying: We will go with you, for we have heard that Elohim is with you.’ (Zec 8:23)
And many nations will respond and say, as recorded by the prophet Isaiah:
Come and let us go up to the mountain of YHVH, to the House of the Elohim of Ya’akov, and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths, for out of Zion shall go forth the Torah, and the Word of YHVH from Jerusalem. And He shall judge between the nations and shall decide for many peoples. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. (Isa 2:3-4)
These verses above cries out to be interpreted not just read.
The U.N., which cannot be accused of having a friendly view of Israel, has verse 4 of Isaiah 2 (“And they shall beat their swords into, etc.”) engraved on their building , but not verse 3 and the part of verse 4 that says, “He shall judge between the nations and shall decide for many peoples”. The nations had the wisdom to understand world peace is necessary for the prosperity of mankind but did not have the guts to admit that the paths to world peace come from the House of the God of Jacob, and from His Law that goes forth from Jerusalem, the very city they want to divide. It does not take superior wisdom to realize that this is likely to have anti-Israel motives to erase any connection Israel has to the Land. We wonder why?
From these passages in Jeremiah, Zechariah, and Isaiah it becomes clear that in the end of days, it will be that the nations will realize that it was them, not the Jews, who were wrong, for it was the nations, not the Jews, who had inherited lies and emptiness. The idea that idolatry or worship of gods other than YHVH is sinful, not just for Israel but for the nations of the world as well, is expressed in the biblical passages above. Israel is not the only one that will know that the nations have inherited lies about the true God. Rather, all the nations will admit that. Indeed, in the day of their great distress the Gentiles shall come to Him from their lands and will confess that they have inherited nothing but lies about God from their fathers; lies that have not benefited them at all.
And as result of that realization, it will be that the nations will come to the mountain of the Lord in Jerusalem, for they will learn that the Lord has always been with Israel and has never abandoned them. And when they will come to the point of truth to learn that the Torah comes out of Israel, and the Word has never been abolished, the nations will accept His anointed one as a king, because indeed it is written, “the nations shall seek him”; it does not say, “he shall seek the nations”, but “the nations shall seek him”. And when this all be fulfilled, only then the world peace will become possible.
A question may arise: Why will the messianic king come, and what will he come to do? The answer is in the next verses, namely, to gather the exiles of Israel. The verses that follow are now directed at the nation of Israel.
And He shall raise a banner for the nations, and gather the outcasts of Israel, and assemble the dispersed of Yehudah from the four corners of the earth. And the envy of Ephrayim shall turn aside, and the adversaries of Yehudah be cut off. Ephrayim shall not envy Yehudah, and Yehudah not trouble Ephrayim. (Isa 11:12-13)
Historically, since the spilt of the Kingdom of Israel after King Solomon, the jealousy and hatred existed between the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom. But with the coming of the Messiah this will cease to exist. And when this becomes fulfilled, the jealousy of the nations who fight against Ephraim will cease and the enemies of Yehudah, from within and without, will cease too. Ephraim and Yehudah will not envy each other, as the discord between them will be taken out by the Messiah. As Ephrayim and Yehudah will abandon their division, they will reunite to fight the enemies. But we ask, if the nations of the world will come to the realization that they have sinned before the Lord, and no nation will lift up sword against nation, neither will they learn how to wage war any more, against whom will Israel fight, for it is written that one more battle, the final battle, must take place before the world peace is completely established. We read,
But they [Ephrayim and Yehudah] shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines toward the west. Together they shall spoil the people of the east, their hand stretching forth on Edom and Mo’av, and the children of Ammon shall be subject to them. And the Eternal One shall put under the ban the tongue of the Sea of Egypt, and He shall shake His hand over the River and smite it with the might of His Wind into seven streams and shall cause men to march it in sandals. (Isa 11:14-15)
These verses call aloud for an explanation, for it is incomprehensible that there will be room for another war after Messiah’s arrival. Yet, it is written that Ephraim and Yehudah will unite to defeat their common enemies. Israel will run quickly (literally, “fly down”) in one accord [one shoulder, or shoulder to shoulder] over “Palestine”. The ancient Philistines once occupied that land which is known today as Gaza. The Philistines ceased to exist when King David conquered their land and appropriated it in his kingdom. That land is west of Israel. The people who occupy Gaza today are Arabs and have nothing to do with the Philistines. They came in the region with the Arab conquest. Once Israel was in control of Gaza until it was forced to leave it under the foreign pressure. Bear in mind that Israel took back Gaza as booty of war, as a result of the defensive wars against the surrounding Arab nations in the 60’ and 70’. But not it is prophesized that Israel will reconquer Gaza and will run quickly as if they were flying with wings to do the same to the east, that is, the Syrians, Edom, and Moav and Ammon. And these peoples will be subject to Israel.
And the waters of the Egyptian sea and the Euphrates River will be cut off to dry it, so that the exiles of Israel will pass through on dry land from Egypt and from Assyria. And into seven streams, that is, into seven segments the exile from Egypt and Assyria will be divided, so that Israel will easily come into the Land, just as they came out of Egypt under Mosheh.
And there shall be a highway for the remnant of His people, those left from Assyria, as it was for Israel in the day when he came up from the land of Egypt. (Isa 11:16)
And there shall be a highway in the midst of the water for the remnant of His people. There will be a road on which they will go through the great rivers, just like when Israel went out of Egypt on dry land. Alternatively, this verse describes the utter [not necessarily physical] destruction of all lands to which Israel had been exiled (see verse 15).
What has been described here in verse 15 and 16 is a metaphorical description of the grand return of Israel. In other words, just as Israel’s exodus out of Egypt was, so like walking on a highway will be the second exodus, when all Israel will return.
What is the relevance of this here? And what do the last three verses of Isaiah 11 teach?
There is an ongoing war of the U.S. and Israel against the Islamic Republic of Iran and its proxies. We have the strong reason to believe that this war may be the final war or a part of it prophesied in the books of Ezekiel, Zechariah, and Isaiah. And if so, how close are we to the blessing in the Book of Daniel: “Blessed is he who longs for and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days”? Read more concerning the prophecy in Daniel in the article The Reckoning of 1335 Days in Daniel.
And since our words have reached this far on the subject of the last days, take a look at this quick synopsis of the events that may lead to the coming of the Anointed One:
7 October 2023: The large-scale attack of Hamas on Israel, murdering about 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostages, thus marking the deadliest day in Israel’s history since the Holocaust. Israel was forced to wage war on seven fronts against Iran and its proxies. The 1260 days of Jacob’s troubles must have begun then. Many were murdered, kidnapped, and tortured by Hamas until the last hostage of Israel came back home.
Then came the 12-day War of Israel with Iran from June 13 to June 24, 2025, which was interrupted by the U.S. intervention. The head of the octopus is still alive.
As of the time of writing this article 5 May 2026, there is an ongoing war of the U.S. and Israel against the Persia prophesied in the Book of Ezekiel, which is only paused for “loading”.
If we are correct in our supposition expressed above, this war may lead to the fulfillment of the 1335 prophetic years in Daniel and may end in 2027. Alternatively, year 2027 may be the year of the final battle prophesied in Isaiah 11, meaning the battle for Gaza is far from being over.
What is even more remarkable is that in 2028 there will be a new beginning for Medinat Israel (the State of Israel) one way or the other. In 2028, the Third Commonwealth of Israel will celebrate proudly 80 years of existence.
In conclusion, let the reader not hope that we can explain everything, for that is hard and extensive labor, and indeed, absolutely impossible with our finite understanding. The present author is not certain that the lessons he has drawn here are the correct ones, and there are surely others to be learned. Nevertheless, the obligation that is upon the reader is to weigh well what we have said in this matter, reflect upon it, compare it with the words of others, and give preference to that which is best.
Knowledge known to only a few will die out. If you feel blessed by these teachings of Time of Reckoning Ministry, help spread the word!
May we merit seeing the coming of our Mashiach speedily in our days!
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