Audio Worship 3/8/2026, "Knowledge of the Lord" Isaiah 11.1-9

Princeton Presbyterian Church (EPC) Sermon # 1721

March 8, 2026

Isaiah 11.1-9       Click here for audio worship.

Dr. Ed Pettus

(This is an extended outline, not a verbatim transcript.)

 

“Knowledge of the Lord”

 

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. 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 the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

 

  • The Promised Shoot

 

Two weeks ago we read, in Isaiah 6, about the stump from which a holy seed will come. The reference was to stumps like that of the terebinth or oak tree from which new growth will appear in a shoot. On that Sunday, I gave a coming attraction peak into today’s passage of Isaiah 11 where we see the promised shoot from the stump of Jesse. Jesse is not a type of tree, but he is a vital part of a family tree. Jesse was the father of King David and at the time the family line was lifeless and without much hope, liked a felled tree, a stump. But there is a promise of a new shoot from that stump. It is a rekindled lineage that will go from David all the way to Jesus. For the shoot of Isaiah 11 is the coming King, Jesus Christ, who will restore God’s people and even all of creation. This is the promised fullness of the kingdom come. Last Sunday we heard from Isaiah 9 of the coming kingdom, the government that rests upon the shoulders of the Messiah and now, in Isaiah 11 the promise is repeated through the shoot from the stump of Jesse. This is the promise of complete restoration of all that was broken in the fall with Adam and Eve. This is the hope we share in Christ and in Christ coming again.

 

These promises are all wrapped up in Jesus Christ and reveal the incredible faithfulness of God. Even when Israel was thrown into exile for their rebellion against God, God was still faithful in His promises for something new to come. The shoot from the stump of Jesse offered the hope of a future king who would rule with justice and righteousness. That king is King Jesus. When all hope seemed lost, God was faithful. When judgment came upon Israel, there was still a promise out of God’s faithfulness.

 

This is the same miraculous promise we find in the New Testament with the God who makes all things possible. When Mary was told she would bear a child when she had not ever had a situation to make that possible, “And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her (Luke 1.35-38).

 

When Jesus told the disciples about a rich person’s difficulty in entering the kingdom, Matthew 19.23-26, “And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

 

God brings possibility from impossibility. God gives life where none seems possible. God works transformations in lives that we see as beyond hope. That is another reason we believe in this God. That is why we always have hope. That is why our eyes can be open to new possibilities! So we have to ask, where might God work something new in our lives where none seems possible? Where might God work something new in our church, in the EPC, in our nation, or in the world?

 

  • The Promised Spirit

 

So we have the promise of a king (shoot) and also the promise of the Spirit of the Lord. The Spirit shall rest upon the King. All of the attributes of the Spirit fit right along side the titles of the King from Isaiah 9, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Compare that to the language of the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. Building upon these is Isaiah 61 and Jesus quoting Isaiah 61 in Luke 4.18-19, we will start at verse 16,

“And [Jesus] came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

 

What was fulfilled on that day was Isaiah’s prophetic Word from God, for the Spirit of God rests upon the Messiah, Jesus Christ, who fulfills all the law and the prophets. Isaiah 1 – forgiveness in that sins like scarlet shall be white as snow; Isaiah 5 – the Lord of hosts exalted in justice and righteousness; Isaiah 7 – the virgin shall conceive and bear a son named Immanuel; Isaiah 9 – unto us a child is born and His kingdom will have no end; Isaiah 11 – a shoot from the stump of Jesse. Then, coming attractions as we journey through Isaiah! Isaiah 53 – the suffering servant; Isaiah 61 – the Spirit of the Lord upon the King; Isaiah 65 – a new heaven and a new earth.

 

Let’s shift gears for a moment and see that God has sent us the same Spirit. John 14.25-26,  “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” I have often “claimed” this text in trusting that the Lord would bring to our minds His Word whenever we needed it. By that I do not mean there is always going to be great memory to quote chapter and verse, although that can occur, but I mean that God will guide us to remember His path as His disciples. We have the same Spirit of the Lord that gives us wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And notice too that the Christ delights in the fear of the Lord. That is, He delights in revering and honoring God as we shall do, standing in awe and reverence for the Lord. That is what it means to fear the Lord.

 

God makes all things possible. God has sent us the Holy Spirit. God keeps His promises.

 

  • The Promised Restoration

 

Next up is the promise of restoration. We live in this period of God’s timing when we have the kingdom of God among us, in Jesus Christ, but not yet come in its totality. There is an aspect of God’s kingdom that is still to come and this promised restoration is our hope and joy. Jesus has come, bringing the kingdom at hand. And yet, we have not seen what Isaiah reveals: wolf and lamb as buddies, lions eating like oxen. This can also be seen as the coming peace of God’s kingdom, maybe not literally a lion eating grass, but the tranquility of peace in God’s kingdom. Every bit of what Isaiah is seeing is made possible because the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Such knowledge only comes with the appropriate “fear of the Lord”. Such knowledge only comes with the coming of the shoot from Jesse and the Spirit of the Lord.

 

This section speaks to the restoration of creation itself, as in no longer groaning – Romans 8.18-22, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.”

 

Isaiah speaks to the joy of what God has given us in the blessed promise of full restoration of all things. 2 Corinthians 5.16-21, 16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

 

The shoot, the Spirit, the restoration, all because of the knowledge of the Lord – the next promise.

 

  • The Promised Knowledge

 

Hope is hope because the future is a gift from God. One of our greatest hopes is to come to full knowledge of the Lord. Hope is in the knowledge that a king will come to execute justice and righteousness which not only restores humanity, but all of creation. This is the significance of Isaiah 11.9, They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious. The hope and vision is that all will come to the knowledge of the Lord and that knowledge is connected to the fear of the Lord.

 

Proverbs 1.7, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

 

Proverbs 2.1-5, My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

 

This is all about knowing God, not just in knowing about Him, not just knowing that God exists, but in knowing on a deep level of intimacy, engagement with God in the sense of awe and reverence which is found in the fear of the Lord. This is precisely the goal of evangelism, to usher people into this knowledge, into a relationship with the Lord that is more than awareness, more than acquaintance, but full blast discipleship, even spiritually losing one’s life in order to save it. The hope in promise of full restoration of all of creation bids us to die to self that we might life to God and live toward the promise of the kingdom to come. God has given us the revelation of His Word in and through Isaiah and given us the Spirit of reverence – the fear of the Lord.

 

These are the promises of God: The promised shoot, the promised Spirit, the promised restoration, and the promised knowledge. May we work these promises into our being so that we might walk in the way of the knowledge of the fear of the Lord and lead others to do the same. Amen.