 |  |
|
(2)
WISDOM.
|
(3)
UNDERSTANDING.
(1) THE SPIRIT |
(4)
COUNSEL.
OF THE
|
(5)
MIGHT.
LORD.
|
(6)
KNOWLEDGE.
|
(7)
FEAR.
In verse 3 we learn that this spiritual equipment is to make the coming Ruler "of quick
understanding in the fear of the Lord". The Margin tells us that the word translated
"quick understanding" is the Hebrew for "scent" or "smell". Actually it is the verbal
form of ruach, meaning "spirit" (Isa. 11: 2) or "breath" (Isa. 11: 4). It is translated "to
smell" eight times in the A.V., together with three further occurrences in the marginal
notes. "He shall be of quick scent in the fear of the Lord" is a vivid figure, and indicates
very strikingly the acuteness of the Messiah's recognition of the Father's will.
As one reads of the manner in which the Messiah will "judge the poor" and "reprove
with equity for the meek of the earth" one is reminded of David's great kingdom Psalm,
where over and over again he speaks of the judgment of the poor and needy. It is
interesting also to note that it is in this Psalm and in no other that David speaks of himself
as "the Son of Jesse" (Psa. 72: 20).
"And He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His
lips shall He slay the wicked" (Isa. 11: 4).
Some codices of the Hebrew Bible read here ariz, meaning "oppressor", instead of
erez, "earth". This reading is confirmed by a parallel reference in the N.T. and by
comparison with Isa. 10::
"O My people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee
with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt" (Isa. 10: 24).
The N.T. parallel is found in II Thess. 2:, where the antitype of the Assyrian is
himself smitten in the day of the Lord's coming:
"And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit
of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming" (II Thess. 2: 8).
The references in Isa. 11: 6 to the wolf and the lamb, the leopard and the kid, look
forward to this same blessed day when the enmity brought in by sin shall be removed,
and the groan of creation shall be hushed. Some have raised scientific objections to the
literal interpretation of the following verse (Isa. 11: 7) on the grounds that the lion is a
carnivorous animal, and therefore fashioned and constituted, both in tooth and maw, so as
to be able to live on flesh. We do not deny this. If it were natural for a lion to eat straw
like an ox, there would be no point in the prophecy. He Who can change the hearts of
men and turn them from darkness to light, can as surely change the nature of the animal
world so that all types of evil shall pass away.