Context for Isaiah 11-12
While God’s contempt for sin is boundless, His love for His people is just as limitless. It was to those people that the promise of Isaiah 11-12 were given. For those who remained faithful to God, His promise in these verses represented the ability to endure, knowing that God fully intended to redeem His people when the time was right.
After all the promise of judgment, a sudden promise of hope seems almost incongruous, yet here in the midst of God’s judgment of Israel and Judah is hope in the form of a prophecy of something yet to come- a shoot from the stump of Jesse that will produce a Savior.
While such a promise might seem out of place to us, it is perfectly in keeping with God’s continued approach to sin and salvation. God’s judgment, whether visited against Israel, her enemies, or even us, never contradicts His grace. God hates sin and will punish it without fail, but God so love the world that He gave us the promise of salvation throughout the Old Testament even in the midst of judgment.
And that promise was realized in Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins and rose again to grant us eternal life. With Jesus Christ came the defeat of sin, death, and the devil, and for those who believe in Him, came the promise of rescue from the judgment of sin. Praise be to God, then, that He is faithful to His promises.
DLH
