On August 5, 2010, the collapse of a mine in San Jose, Chile trapped thirty-three workers 700-meters underground. For seventeen dark days they survived on tiny rations of food and dirty water. Finally, a 4.5” hole appeared in the wall. The attempt to reach the cave by workers above had worked and, through this tiny shaft the miners were supplied with food, water, communication, and hope. Obviously, a bigger hole was needed to escape, and this took time. But finally, on October 13, after weeks of non-stop drilling, all thirty-three men tasted fresh air for the first time in over two months.

In the initial days underground, I’m confident those miners were asking specific questions. First, who’s coming to help us? Second, what’re they bringing when they come? And, third, when’s it going to happen?

The same questions were being asked by God’s people during the ministry of Isaiah the prophet. Israel wasn’t surrounded by walls of rock but they were surrounded by walls of Assyrian troops—soldiers of one of the most vicious, wicked superpowers ever to exist. They felt trapped, abandoned, powerless, and hopeless. So, in their desperation, they ask Who’s coming to help? What’s he bringing when he comes? And, when’s it going to happen? Isaiah 11 records God’s answers to those questions. 

SERMON MANUSCRIPT

On August 5, 2010, the collapse of a mine in San Jose, Chile trapped thirty-three workers 700-meters underground. For seventeen dark days they survived on tiny rations of food and dirty water.

Finally, a 4.5” hole appeared in the wall. The attempt to reach the cave by workers above had worked and, through this tiny shaft the miners were supplied with food, water, communication, and hope.

Obviously, a bigger hole was needed to escape, and this took time. But finally, on October 13, after weeks of non-stop drilling, all thirty-three men tasted fresh air for the first time in over two months.

In the initial days underground, I’m confident those miners were asking specific questions. First, who’s coming to help us? Second, what’re they bringing when they come? And, third, when’s it going to happen?

The same questions were being asked by God’s people during the ministry of Isaiah the prophet. Israel wasn’t surrounded by walls of rock but they were surrounded by walls of Assyrian troops—soldiers of one of the most vicious, wicked superpowers ever to exist. They felt trapped, abandoned, powerless, and hopeless. So, in their desperation, they ask Who’s coming to help? What’s he bringing when he comes? And, when’s it going to happen?

Isaiah 11 records God’s answers to those questions. Turn there if you have a Bible with you.

Question One: Who’s Coming?

It’s in the first few verses that God answers question number one: Who’s coming? Who’s going to deliver God’s people from their terrible situation? Who’s God going to send to help? 

God responds (v. 1). Who’s coming? The promised King is coming. Recorded in 2 Samuel, God made an irrevocable covenant with David (see 2 Sam 7:12–13; Psa 89:3–4).

Even after Israel’s idolatry and even with Assyria at her doorstep, God drills down to give his people hope. The covenant is still intact. From Jesse’s line (that’s David’s father) will come an unassuming individual—a shoot, a branch. But he will be the King you’ve been waiting for and will establish an eternal kingdom, one not even Assyria can conquer.

And this coming King isn’t going to be like most of Israel’s other kings (vv. 2–3a). This King is going to have divine accompaniment by God’s Spirit, divine enablement by God’s power, divine discernment with God’s wisdom, and divine commitment to God’s glory. That’s who’s coming to help.

Ben Affleck is the most recent in a succession of actors to play the role of Batman. In a 2017 interview he was asked to explain the recent success of superhero movies. This is what he said: 

“We are certainly in need of heroes [today]. There’s a lot of stuff going on in the world, from natural to man-made disasters, and it’s really scary. Part of the appeal of this genre is wish fulfillment: Wouldn’t it be nice if there was somebody who can save us from all this, save us from ourselves, save us from the consequences of our actions and save us from people who are evil?”

Essentially, Affleck was asking the same question the miners were asking, Israel was asking, and many of us are asking: Who’s coming to save us from this mess, some of which we made? And here in Isaiah 11, God says, the divine and eternal King is coming.

Question Two: What’s He Bringing?

Now, it’s one thing to wait for him, it’s another to know what’s going to happen when he arrives. So, that leads us to question number two: What’s he bringing? We get that he’s coming, but what’s it going to look like when he gets here? In the context of Isaiah, what exactly is the fruit this branch is going to bear (v. 1)?

Well, righteousness for starters (v. 3b–5). Righteousness means goodness and accuracy. Israel had had a few kings who were adequate in this way, but they never lasted. But when this King comes, that’ll change. He’s going to be wrapped in righteousness (see 9:7).

And, with righteousness comes equity and justice (v. 4). While injustice, oppression, and mistreatment seem normal in a fallen world, God hates it (see 10:1–2). And God hates inequity and injustice enough that he’s sending Someone to lift up the vulnerable and punish the wicked.

This King is also bringing peace (vv. 6–8). Enmity between animals will be gone. The same between animals and humans. There will be peace, harmony, wholeness, fearlessness. The curse is being lifted here, like the snow starting to melt when Aslan arrives in Narnia!

And this peace will come because the King’s arrival will blanket the globe with revelation (v. 9). Everyone everywhere will have intimate knowledge of Yahweh. That’s what he’s bringing with him.

Anyone want that now? Instead, we’ve got wars and starvation, genocides and droughts, earthquakes and floods, political tension and ideological poisonings, cancer and car accidents, dementia and dictators. We’ve got uncontrollable inflation and spousal abuse, racism and terrorism. We’ve got sex slavery and public apathy, cyber crime and organized crime. And all that (and more) is outside my heart, which has its own host of issues. We are buried in the dark cave of a depraved world.

Who’s coming to help? The King is coming. What’s he bringing with him? A never-ending reign of righteousness, equity, justice, peace, and knowledge. Like a tiny shaft of fresh air, this news can and should give God’s people hope and endurance. 

Question Three: When’s It Happening?

But, endurance for how long? That brings us to question number three: When’s it happening? Israel wanted the king and his kingdom. God’s people today want that peace and righteousness. How long, O Lord, must we wait?

Obviously, when Isaiah spoke these words, he was looking to the future. I mean, look at all the times in these nine verses that you can read the words “then” and “will.” Israel had to wait for this help to come.

But what about us? Has this happened between Isaiah and Oakridge? The shoot sprang, right (Matt 1:1)? The Spirit of the Lord did rest on him, didn’t it (Matt 3:16)? Jesus, at his first coming, certainly had divine enablement, divine discernment, and divine commitment.

But did he establish perfect righteousness and justice? Aren’t the poor still poor and the oppressed still oppressed? Are the evil not still flaunting their wickedness?

If I want to take God’s word seriously, and if I assume he’s a good communicator and that he means what he says, then I’ve got to admit that much of this passage doesn’t match the world today. But, because God cannot lie and does not equivocate, it one day will. So, like Israel in Isaiah’s day, this is pointing to something in the future for us as well.

Years ago, when my wife and I were living in the U.S., I remember regularly driving past a billboard announcing the date of the Lord’s return. “Judgement day: May 21, 2011. The Bible guarantees it.”

When God’s people ask in desperation, When’s it happening? When is the King coming? When is help arriving?, our answer should never be more specific than this: Any moment in the future. It’s clearly not here at this moment, but it could be this afternoon. Any moment in the future. That’s why the Bible so often tells us to be prepared (see Phil 4:5; Jas 5:8; Jude 21; Rev 1:3; 22:10). At any moment in the future, that’s when it’s happening. 

Are you ready? Are your bags packed? Is the car running? Isaiah wanted God’s people to endure their current trials with hopeful eyes locked on the horizon, to turn from their sin with repentant minds longing for the king. It’s the same for you and I today.

There’s a man in yonder glory I have loved for many years,
He has cleared my guilty conscience and has banished all my fears.
He is coming in a moment in the twinkling of an eye,
And no time will be allotted for you to utter one good-bye.
No time to kiss the husband or embrace the loving wife,
If they are but united in the bonds of holy life.
Are you ready, Christian, ready, for shout and trump and voice?
Will His coming make you tremble or cause you to rejoice?
Are you walking, talking with Him daily, taking Him your care,
Do you live so close to heaven that a breath would waft you there?

Question Four: How’re We Preparing?

This leads to my final question for the morning: How’re we preparing? We’ve already asked and answered a few questions Isaiah 11. Who’s coming to help? The King is coming. What’s he bringing with him? A perfect, eternal kingdom of peace. And, when’s it happening? Any moment in the future. You see, we’re not going to spend eternity in this cave of brokenness. We will taste the fresh air of total liberation and holiness.

But in the meantime, how’re we preparing? How are we getting ourselves ready? What are we doing while we wait for the king and his kingdom? As we close, I want to suggest three things we can be doing to prepare ourselves for that glorious day, for the help that’s on its way.

First, know who’s coming. If you’ve never come to know Jesus, the coming King, as your Saviour, do that now before he returns. Believe in him. Know who’s coming.

If you’ve fallen away from Jesus, wrapped in sin and rebellion, apathy and self-righteousness, return to him. He’s waiting like the father of the prodigal son, open arms. You haven’t out-sinned his grace. Return to him. Know who’s coming, his forgiveness and pleasure.

If you’re walking with the Lord today, continue to invest in him, serve him, and share him with others. Lay up treasure in heaven not on earth. Obey him so as to show your love to him. Read of him in the word. Talk to him in prayer. Brag about him in life. Model him in action. Study his ways. Sing good truths about his character and purposes. Continue to grow in your knowledge of the coming King. Know who’s coming.

Second, desire what’s coming. Perhaps, as the Christmas season approaches, you’re being reminded that you’ve become a little too attached to this world and the things of the world. 

Maybe you need to be reminded of the fallenness of our reality, of your personal reality. To desire what’s coming we need to both look around at the cave we’re trapped in as well as look ahead to the glory that awaits. Desire what’s coming like a family holiday planned a year in advance. You look forward, you plan, you anticipate, you talk about it, you dream about it. In the same way, we desire the world to come. The difference is, perhaps, that unlike family vacations, the world to come will always exceed our expectations. Read passages this season like Isaiah 11, like Revelation 19, 20, and 21. Desire what’s coming. 

Finally, ask for its coming (see Matt 6:9–10; Rev 22:17, 20; 1 Cor 16:22b). Perhaps add this saying to your morning commute, your daily prayer time, your evening routine: “Perhaps today, come Lord Jesus.”

God’s people were and are living in a sin-stained world. But it’s into that darkness that God speaks, answering our desperate questions. Who’s coming? The King is coming. What’s he bringing? A perfect, eternal kingdom. When’s it happening? Any moment in the future. How’re we preparing? Know who’s coming. Desire what’s coming. Ask for its coming.

This longing is captured in so many great hymns, particularly the last stanza of those hymns. For example:

“Born Thy people to deliver / Born a child and yet a King / Born to reign in us forever / Now Thy gracious Kingdom bring / By Thine own eternal Spirit / Rule in all our hearts alone / By Thine all sufficient merit / Raise us to Thy glorious throne” (Come Thou Long Expected Jesus).

And this one, which we’ll sing together in just a moment:

“Oh that day when freed from sinning / I shall see Thy lovely face / Full arrayed in blood-washed linen / How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace / Come my Lord no longer tarry / Bring Thy promises to pass / For I know Thy pow’r will keep me / Till I’m home with Thee at last” (Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing).

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. Let’s pray.

 

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