Isaiah 11:4
4 But with righteousness [tsedeq] shall he judge [shaphat]
the poor, [dal] and reprove [yakach] with equity [miyshowr] for
the meek [`anav] of the earth: ['erets] and he shall smite [nakah]
the earth ['erets] with the rod [shebet] of his mouth, [peh] and
with the breath [ruwach] of his lips [saphah] shall he slay [muwth] the
wicked. [rasha`] KJV-Interlinear
4 But with
righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the
afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. NASB
These verses do not
relate a chronology, but a pattern of life and a policy by which Christ will
live.
Jesus Christ is God, and
as God He is omniscient. He knows all
that there is to know, the knowable and the unknowable. He is omnipresent and is not limited by
knowledge or space or time. He is not
confined by this universe or anything within it, or anything outside of it,
whatever that may be.
Jesus is man. He was born of a woman and came into this
world as all baby’s do. And as a human
being, He grew up as do all human beings.
He was cared for as an infant, trained as a toddler, and taught as a
young person. He had a thirst for
doctrine and the knowledge of God and all things spiritual, from a very early
age.
He wanted to know. He sought out doctrinal instruction, He
listened, He learned, He even amazed those who would instruct Him with His
knowledge and understanding, when He was a young adolescent. He was obedient to His parents. As the son of a carpenter, He would have
worked in that capacity for His family.
And how do we know any of
this? The Bible is the mind and
therefore the thinking of Christ. Jesus would have lived by and in accordance
with all doctrinal instruction.
This chapter begins with
the line of Christ, and presents the learning process that is available to all
believers, and most certainly as it applied to Jesus when He was growing up.
These verses depict the
policy of the Messiah, which was applied to His first advent as He interacted
with everyone in His life and most certainly these verses describe His policy
as King of kings and ruler forever, when that future time arrives in history.
These verses do not
describe a timetable or calendar or sequence of events for this policy to come
into existence. But rather describe the
pattern of life that Christ lived by, and for which we too should prepare
ourselves and live.
Unfortunately most people
do not live by these principles. They
are not interested, and not teachable and do not want to learn by some other
means except their own self-instruction, which is a flawed method and a false
concept which serves only the naïve.
Righteousness, ‘tsedeq,’
is moral or legal equity. This is the
impartial justice with which one considers all of the facts. It is not biased or prejudiced or bribable against
anyone, or in favor of anyone at another's expense.
To reprove, ‘yakach,’ is
to argue, correct, decide. And this
Christ will do with equity and fairness.
No circumstance, no handicap, no disadvantage, no imbalance will prevent
anyone from gaining a fair and honest hearing and decision.
Christ will smite and
slay with the breath of His mouth.
Therefore in truth He will rule. In truth He will judge. In truth He will lead. And doctrine is that truth and power that will
be used to rule and to judge and to decide.
Evil runs rampant throughout
the world and throughout history.
Governments and organizations and people alike have a mandate to rule
and to lead and to live in this manner, but they do not. Governments and organizations and people
alike get bogged down in their lusts and idealisms and plans for life, all of
which ignore the basic principles of truth, which God established long ago.
And as a result, the
world and life is filled with injustice, inequity, where bias and prejudice
abound and the masses lose and suffer endlessly and needlessly. Even life in the natural world suffers with
its predators and its prey.
And as we will soon see,
when truth rules, and only Christ will be able to rule by truth, then even the
natural world will change dramatically.
