The Mystery of Ephraim

Not as prominent a Chapter as Daniel 9, Isaiah 11 is a Chapter on Who the Messiah finally Is; and what He will do. To Christians the Messiah is Yeshua, or popularly known as Jesus, first Coming as a lamb, a son of man, presenting Himself as the Suffering Servant, Isaiah 52:13 to 53:12; the second Coming as a King of kings, a Son of God. But for milleniums, in the Jewish mind, the ‘anointed one’ the Mashiach will only come as a King of Kings; He is ‘the Anointed One, King Messiah.”

The presentation here is the correct view. Alternate views, which offer little sense, could be found in Jews for Judiasm.

Isaiah 11

¹ And there shall come forth a Rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. — the Coming of the Messiah; the idea correspond to those of Isaiah 6:13 as a new Israel will spring up from the “stump” a Rod of the old, so the Messianic King will arise from the decayed family of David; the Targum agrees, paraphrasing the words thus, “and a King shall come forth from the sons of Jesse.”

— the Messiah is called a Branch and a Rod; the words signify a small, tender product; a shoot, such as is easily broken off; which is his first Coming;

— second, he is called a “Rod” a symbol of power, his second Coming as King of kings because he is an instrument of executing judgement from the hand of the Father to horsewhip his children, Jews and Gentiles, into shape;

² And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him—the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord” — and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him; the Rod and Branch, the King of kings, so qualifying him for his office and the discharge of his duty with the fullness of His divine power;

— the spirit of wisdom, which searches all things, even the secrets of God, and understanding, able to make the proper distinction concerning all things, the spirit of counsel by whom the Messiah is endowed to be the Counselor and might, the spirit of knowledge, by means of which He is familiar with all the mysteries of God;

— and of the fear of the Lord, yea “of the fear of the Lord” a fear of reverence, a fear to please him, and aversion to offend him; even the Son has to pay homage to God the Father, praying to His heavenly Father and seeking His leadership, and He was and is to fear the Lord, his Father, the “only true God” according to His divine nature united with Him in an everlasting union as One;

— that night, the night the Son was betrayed, he had two desires but his requests were denied (1) his desire to eat the Passover with his disciples; (2) his desire for the “cup” to be removed from him (for more see THAT NIGHT COULDN’T BE THE FOURTEENTH!)

³ and shall make Him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord; and He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears. — ‘and the spirit of the fear of God shall fill him,’ or “the breath of his nostrils shall be the fear of the Lord,” or “a sweet savor shall he find in the fear of the Lord.” That is, even the Son is motivated by the fear of his Father, Yehovah; for the fear of God is a sacrifice of adoration continually ascending to God, the Father, who is the “only true God” John 17:3.

— He is highly pleased when men bring to Him the sacrifice of their fear of God; and He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears, rendering judgement not according to external appearances, rather according to His understanding of the heart and soul;

— Q, how did the Son (the only begotten Son) came into being? Could the creation of Adam and Eve have given us a hint? Also, could there be another ‘son’ that went bad?

⁴ But with righteousness shall He judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth; and He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked. — but with justice and impartiality, He shall He judge the poor; it would be characteristic of the Messiah’s rule that the poor should have their complaints heard, that oppression should cease and judgement be no more perverted in favor of the rich. His interest turning especially to the meek, the lowly, and the humble, to those who bear the enmity of the world with the proper meekness, taking the part of those who are persecuted for their confession’s sake;

— and He, the Son, shall smite the earth with the Rod of His mouth; rebuking and horsewhipping in a most emphatic manner the hostility of the disobedient world and with the breath of His lips, His Word, which bears almighty power, shall He slay the wicked, overthrowing the power of Satan and revealing the true character of the Kingdom of God.

⁵ And righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of His reins. — and righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins and faithfulness; righteousness shall be ever with him, ever ready for active use, upon which His believers may rely with full confidence, the girdle of His reins; he was faithful to God, that appointed him as King and Head of the Kingdom; faithful as a Prophet, in declaring his mind and will and is a faithful High Priest, holding up His clothes at His hips.

⁶ “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. — just as Yeshua performed numerous miracles during his first Coming, now as the Messiah King, more powerful miracles will occur when the wolf shall also dwell with the lamb and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them, a figurative representation of ideal spiritual conditions; the Targum introduces in this manner, “in the days of the Messiah of Israel, peace shall be multiplied in the earth.”

— parallel Scripture of the changing nature of the wild beasts as in Isaiah 65:25, “The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock; and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,” saith the Lord.

⁷ And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. — during the Millenium the cow and the bear shall feed, all the bloodthirstiness of the latter forgotten; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox, his nature so completely changed that he is no longer a carnivorous, but a herbivorous animal.

⁸ And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. — and without fear or danger, the sucking child, the unweaned infant, shall play on the hole of the asp, on the entrance of the adder’s cave, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’s den, or stretch out his arm to touch the sparkling eye of the basilisk, the poisonous serpents having lost all their vicious habits. All His Messiahic miracles are now expounded further.

⁹ They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. — they shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, all the members of God’s kingdom, whose former state was characterized by the comparison with the various animals named above, would lose and lay aside their hostilities toward one another;

— for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Knowledge of Yehovah, love and fear of God, is the motive in all acts of all believers; because they fear the Lord, because they know Him the one true God, and the Messiah, Yeshua or Jesus Christ, whom He has sent as the Savior of the world, therefore they, the inhabitants of His holy mountain, the members of His Kingdom, who previously live in the midst of a hateful and hostile world, now live together in peace and harmony.

¹⁰ “And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, who shall stand for an ensign of the people; to It shall the Gentiles seek, and His rest shall be glorious.” — and in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, that same wonderful Scion, the Son of David spoken also as whom “the Gentiles seek” to be consulted on all occasions, he being the wonderful Counsellor, Isaiah 9:6.

— “It shall the Gentiles seek” the Messiah will also bring in the fullness of the Gentiles; how many we do not know, do we? 

— but of course all the skeptic Jews will become believers that the Messiah had his first Coming, whom they were blinded to see, and deaf of hearing to hear: “Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see” Isaiah 42:18; and “His watchmen are blind; they are all ignorant; they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark, sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber” Isaiah 56:10

— and those who persist in their blindness may be more than horsewhipped! They would suffer Judgement by the sword, by famine, by pestilence and spending years in captivity to reflect and repent there (for more see Ezekiel 4 – 390/40 Years and A Sword from the South!)

¹¹ And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord (יְהוָ֗ה before the change) shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people who shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. — and it shall come to pass in that day, just before or the beginning of the Millenium, that the Lord shall set His hand again the Second time, stretching it out as once before when He led His chosen people out of Assyria, and Egypt, to recover the remnant of His people which shall be left, not, only the believers of Israel and Judah, but those from all the nations of the world;

— holdon; from Assyria, the mighty nation in the, valley of the Euphrates, and from Egypt, the empire toward the southwest, and from Pathros, Upper Egypt, and from Cush, or Ethiopia, and from Elam, Southern Media, and from Shinar, Southern Mesopotamia, and from Hamath, the country or province on the Orontes, north of Palestine;

— except for Egypt, these names couldn’t be speaking of Moses’ Exodus! Because that first deliverance, like the second, is supposed to be a deliverance of the remnant from several countries into which they were dispersed: whereas the deliverance out of Egypt was a deliverance, not of a remnant but of the whole nation, and out of Egypt only:

— and from the islands of the sea, an expression which refers to the entire coast of the Mediterranean and the adjacent countries; these could not be speaking of coming out of Egypt during Moses’ time, but could only be possible only during Yeshua’s time where after his death, his disciples went all over the world, especially around coast of the Mediterranean to make disciples, so that was an implied First Coming to recover his remnants, now it is the Second Coming to redeem his remnants that are scattered thoughout the four corners of the earth;

— further, because this second deliverance was universal, extending to the generality of the outcasts and dispersed ones, both of Israel, or the ten tribes and of Judah or the two tribes, as is evident from these verses, 

— see also Isaiah 49:22 where will lift up his hand to the Gentiles; to lift up the hand is a sign of beckoning to, or inviting; that God would call the Gentiles to partake of the blessings of the true religion and to embrace the Messiah; could this period also coincide with Ezekiel 4 – 390/40 Years?

— the Messiah is also the LORD; here the LORD (יְהוָ֨ה) should be in the original; one of the 134 changes to Adonai listed by EW Bullinger in Appendix 32 of The Companion Bible; it should be “The LORD (יְהוָ֨ה YHVH Yehovah)” as in the original Text; this is a prime example of “the lying pen of the scribes” found in Jeremiah 8:8 (more at the end)

¹² And He shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. — and the Messiah shall set up an ensign for the nations, that is, all nations, both Jews and Gentiles, around which all believers might rally;

— and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, those of remnant of the house of Israel, his people among the ten tribes; and gather together the dispersed from the house of Judah, the Jews, from the four corners or wings of the earth so that they will march under His banner, united in spirit, though outwardly separated by race and language and customs.

¹³ The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. — another Messianic miracle relating to human nature occurs when the envy also of Epraim shall depart, this hostility having been the chief factor in keeping up the division of the nation during the time of the kings in the Old Testament; and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off:

— Epraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim, that is, not only all outward hostilities shall cease, but also their inward animosities; the children of Israel would then be a perfect and harmonious union, its various parts living together in perfect harmony.

¹⁴ But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall despoil them of the east together. They shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab, and the children of Ammon shall obey them. — but they, the house of Israel and the house of Judah, shall cheerfully join together against the common enemy, the Phillstines toward the west, this nation being the embodiment of the fiercest hostility since the early history of Israel; they, the house of Israel and the house of Judah, shall spoil them together; so the Targum says, “and they shall be joined together in one shoulder, to smite the Philistines;”

— they, the house of Jacob, shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab, which is today’s Jordan, conquering the country of these ancient enemies; and the children of Ammon shall obey them, literally, “their obedience.” These scenarios show the manner in which the Lord, through His Kingdom will judge and destroy His enemies. The Last Day will spell their doom, and the children of Jacob, the remnants left of the Day of the Lord, will be present to celebrate their victory.

¹⁵ And the Lord (יְהוָ֗ה) shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian Sea; and with His mighty wind shall He shake His hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams and make men go over dryshod. — and the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; a bay of the Egyptian sea, so called because in the form of a tongue; or the fork of the Arabian Gulf known as the Red Sea as at the time when the children of Israel left the house of their bondage;

— and with His mighty wind shall He shake His hand over the river, over the Euphrates, and shall smite it in the seven streams, separating it into seven shallow brooks, and make men go over dry-shod, walking through its bed on sandals; in references the Lord here promises to the spiritual people of God a wonderful salvation, like that out of Egypt or out of the captivity of Assyria;

— and so the Targum says, “and the Lord shall dry up the tongue of the Egyptian sea, and shall lift up the stroke of his strength upon Euphrates, by the word of his prophets” and this designs the destruction of the land of the Muslims which is signified by the drying up of the river Euphrates; that is, from the Nile to the Euphrates would the house of Israel and the house of Judah return to.

¹⁶ And there shall be a highway for the remnant of His people who shall be left from Assyria, as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt. — and during the Millenium there shall be an highway for the remnant of His people, cast up or purposely built for the believers in the Lord’s Kingdom, which shall be left, from Assyria, permitting the captives to return to their inheritance;

— far more than it was to Israel in the day that the house of Jacob came up out of the land of Egypt. This redemption of His people out of the hand of all enemies and oppressors is the last great deed of the Messiah, and its completion will usher in the peace and glory of eternity. In this way the despised Branch out of the house of David established His kingdom, which, although jeered at on all sides, will still conquer in the end.

~~~

Listed by EW Bullinger in Appendix 32 of The Companion Bible are 134 changes from יְהוָ֨ה to Adonai; they should be “The LORD (יְהוָ֨ה YHVH Yehovah)” as in the original Text; this is a prime example of “the lying pen of the scribes” found in Jeremiah 8:8:

The official list in the Massorah (§§ 107-15, Ginsburg’s edition) contains the 134 changes.

Genesis 18:3,27,30,32; (Genesis 18:31? The context dictates that it should be included)19:18; 20:4. Exodus 4:10,13; 5:22; 15:17; 34:9,9. Numbers 14:17.

Joshua 7:8. Judges 6:15; 13:8. 1Kings 3:10,15; 22:6. 2Kings 7:6; 19:23. Isaiah 3:17,18; 4:4; 6:1,8,11; 7:14,20; 8:7; 9:8,17; 10:12; 11:11; 21:6,8,16; 28:2; 29:13; 30:20; 37:24; 38:14,16; 49:14. Ezekiel 18:25,29; 21:13; 33:17,29. Amos 5:16; 7:7,8; 9:1. Zechariah 9:4. Micah 1:2. Malachi 1:12,14.

Psalm 2:4; 16:2; 22:19,30; 30:8; 35:3? (none),17,22; 37:12; 38:9,15,22; 39:7; 40:17; 44:23; 51:15; 54:4; 55:9; 57:9; 59:11; 62:12; 66:18; 68:11,17,19,22,26,32; 73:20; 77:2,7; 78:65; 79:12; 86:3,4,5,8,9,12,15; 89:49,50; 90:1,17; 110:5; 130:2,3,6. Daniel 1:2; 9:3,4,7,9,15,16,17,19,19,19. Lamentations 1:14,15,15; 2:1,2,5,7,18,19,20; 3:31,36,37,58. Ezra 10:3. Nehemiah 1:11; 4:14. Job 28:28.

[There seems to be a small error: that there is none in Psalm 35:3 but another change should be added to Genesis 18:31; the total changes remains at 134]

~ by Joel Huan on June 9, 2022.

Posted in Isaiah, Jews for Judiasm, Messiah, R Tovia Singer