Today, as I was praying, God revealed to me the meaning behind Isaiah 11. Earlier in the day, as I was walking down the street, I heard a gospel song emanating from someone’s home: By the power of your love, I’ll rise up like the eagles… The song caught my attention and captivated my heart. I searched for it on YouTube and played it. But then, I remembered that I had heard this song before, sang beautifully from another source. My mind reeled back and forth and then clicked, “the Centeno Siblings on Facebook.” I searched for it and found it.
As I listened to the song being beautifully sung by a 6-year-old child, joy filled my heart to the point of shedding tears of joy. Then a verse rushed to my mind: a little child shall lead them. It was Isaiah 11:6. I decided to read the whole chapter.
There shall come forth a [a]Rod from the [b]stem of Jesse,
And a Branch shall [c]grow out of his roots.
2 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.
3 His delight is in the fear of the Lord,
And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes,
Nor decide by the hearing of His ears;
4 But with righteousness He shall judge the poor,
And decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins,
And faithfulness the belt of His waist.
6 “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,
The leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
The calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
And a little child shall lead them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze;
Their young ones shall lie down together;
And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole,
And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den.
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.
10 “And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse,
Who shall stand as a banner to the people;
For the Gentiles shall seek Him,
And His resting place shall be glorious.”
11 It shall come to pass in that day
That the Lord shall set His hand again the second time
To recover the remnant of His people who are left,
From Assyria and Egypt,
From Pathros and Cush,
From Elam and Shinar,
From Hamath and the [d]islands of the sea.
12 He will set up a banner for the nations,
And will [e]assemble the outcasts of Israel,
And gather together the dispersed of Judah
From the four [f]corners of the earth.
13 Also the envy of Ephraim shall depart,
And the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off;
Ephraim shall not envy Judah,
And Judah shall not harass Ephraim.
14 But they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines toward the west;
Together they shall plunder the [g]people of the East;
They shall lay their hand on Edom and Moab;
And the people of Ammon shall obey them.
15 The Lord will utterly [h]destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt;
With His mighty wind He will shake His fist over [i]the River,
And strike it in the seven streams,
And make men cross over [j]dry-shod.
16 There will be a highway for the remnant of His people
Who will be left from Assyria,
As it was for Israel
In the day that he came up from the land of Egypt.
I looked back at the video a few more times, singing along with the child, and then saved it to my “beautiful videos” saved videos folder on Facebook.
Then God spoke to my heart and revealed of the meanings encoded in Isaiah Chapter 11, some of which I highlighted in bold above.
Meaning
The first two stanzas are a prophecy of Jesus, our Savior
There shall come forth a [a]Rod from the [b]stem of Jesse,
And a Branch shall [c]grow out of his roots.
2 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.
3 His delight is in the fear of the Lord,
And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes,
Nor decide by the hearing of His ears;
4 But with righteousness He shall judge the poor,
And decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins,
And faithfulness the belt of His waist.
The third stanza explains symbolically that many different types and cultures of people will unite under the love and protection of Jesus. People who were once harmful or posed a threat to each other will unite in love and peace through Jesus.
6 “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,
The leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
The calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
And a little child shall lead them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze;
Their young ones shall lie down together;
And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole,
And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den.
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.
A Little Child Will Lead Them
The climax of the third stanza, “And a little child will lead them,” is the focus of this article. The verse “a little child will lead them” refers to new nations, tribes, or people who have not known God in the past and only recently came to know Him through Jesus. The Jews had direct contact with God from the beginning. They are symbolically grownups in the Kingdom of God. But when Jesus came, new nations such as the Greeks, Romans, and others started walking in the light of God’s love, as it is written, “the people living in darkness hath seen a great light.” These new nations in Christ who have only recently come to know Christ may be considered “children” in God, and they will lead the world to Christ as it is written, “a child will lead them.”
But the verse, “a child will lead them” may have several layers of symbolism. And as I read that line again, I paused and went back to watch the video. I saw the word of God fulfilled in a little child leading us in praise and worship of God.
The last stanza explains how God’s people will unite through Jesus and no longer be at war.
12 He will set up a banner for the nations,
And will [e]assemble the outcasts of Israel,
And gather together the dispersed of Judah
From the four [f]corners of the earth.
13 Also the envy of Ephraim shall depart,
And the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off;
Ephraim shall not envy Judah,
And Judah shall not harass Ephraim.
14 But they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines toward the west;
Together they shall plunder the [g]people of the East;
They shall lay their hand on Edom and Moab;
And the people of Ammon shall obey them.
15 The Lord will utterly [h]destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt;
With His mighty wind He will shake His fist over [i]the River,
And strike it in the seven streams,
And make men cross over [j]dry-shod.
16 There will be a highway for the remnant of His people
Who will be left from Assyria,
As it was for Israel
In the day that he came up from the land of Egypt.
The people of the East, Edom, Moab, and Ammon, do not refer to any nation, ethnicity, or tribe in particular, but to all those collectively who refuse to accept Christ as their savior. And “plunder” and “lay hands on” refers to temporary punishment meant to turn them away from ungoldy ways into righteousness, as David prayed, “Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O LORD.” (Psalms 83:16)
Now look at this song again and let your heart be filled with joy as “a little child leads us.”
Video Source: The Centeno Siblings on Facebook Power Of Your Love | Honey Jolyn Centeno (Full Cover)
