Isaiah 11:13-16 - Homilies By W. Clarkson

Conditions of victory.

These verses probably point to the time when all Israel shall be gathered into the fold of the gospel, and when" their fullness" shall contribute largely to the conversion of the Gentile world (see Romans 11:1-36 .). But we may take a more practical view of the subject if we regard it thus; we have pictures of—

I. PRESENT SPIRITUAL ANARCHY . The people of God everywhere dispersed, the theocracy broken up, the temple destroyed, the Law unobserved, the heathen triumphant,—all this a vivid picture of the "kingdom of God" in a state of dissolution: truth unrecognized, commandments disobeyed, conscience perverted, the Divine will disregarded, God himself unknown in the world.

II. THE ULTIMATE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DIVINE KINGDOM . The restoration of Israel as depicted here, whether it be to their own land and their ancient institutions or whether it be to their true place in the spiritual purpose of God, may speak to us of that grand consummation of human hope, when the kingdom of our God shall be re-established upon earth; when that kingdom, which is not the enforcement of any ecclesiastical regime , or the observance of any rules of diet or of devotion, but " righteousness , and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost" ( Romans 14:17 ), shall take the place of" the kingdom of this world," which is iniquity, unrest, and death.

III. THE CONDITIONS OF ITS ATTAINMENT . These are threefold.

1. The disappearance of fratricidal strife . ( Isaiah 11:3 .) What Judah and Ephraim were in old theocratic times, that neighboring Churches or Christian comrades have been to one another all through these " Christian centuries." Sadly must the Lord of love have looked down on his heritage, the purchase of his sorrow and his death, and have seen the envies and the jealousies, the hatreds and the cruelties, which have marked and marred the intercourse of his disciples. No progress of his blessed kingdom can be expected in any community when they whose relations should be beautified by concord are all disfigured by enmity and strife. Let Christian Churches cease to hope for any results from their preaching or their praying, so long as bitterness blights the heart, and contention characterizes the Church (see Matthew 5:24 ). There is no effort, there is no sacrifice, which it is not worth while for any Christian society to make in order that it may wrench out "the root of bitterness" which, while it remains, will neutralize all devotion, and make all zeal to be "nothing worth."

2. Active co-operation among the people of God . " They [Ephraim and Judah together] shall fly … they shall spell … they shall lay their hand," etc. ( Isaiah 11:14 ). Their united forces were to prevail over the bands of the enemy, and to secure victory on every side. So shall it be in the spiritual campaign. It will be when all the Churches of Christ unite, not indeed in any one visible amalgam, but in well-concerted action, joining heartily against the common foe, going out together against ignorance, unbelief, ungodliness, vice, indecision, and all the long train of sin; it will then be found that the enemy will be subdued, and victory be secured.

3. Divine energy working on the side of truth , ( Isaiah 11:15 , Isaiah 11:16 .) As the Lord interposed on behalf of Israel in one deliverance, and would do so in another, by his overcoming might making the pathway from Egypt and the highway from Assyria, so will he interpose on behalf of the spiritual forces which are doing his work in the world. He will make that possible and practicable which seems impossible and impracticable; will enable the champions of his cause to go where it seems hopeless for them to penetrate, and to conquer where victory seems utterly out of reach. Therefore