◄ What Does Isaiah 11:11 Mean? ►

Then it will happen on that day that the Lord Will again recover the second time with His hand The remnant of His people, who will remain, From Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, And from the islands of the sea.

Isaiah 11:11(NASB)

Verse of the Day

Isaiah wrote about the time when the cruel king of Assyria would march against the northern kingdom of Israel and carry God's people away into captivity. Similarly, he talked of the time when the southern kingdom of Judah would be enslaved by the great Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, and both events are recorded in the annals of history. However, in chapters 11 and 12, Isaiah writes of the coming Millennial kingdom of Christ and a second gathering of His people back to their promised homeland, from which they will never again be scattered.

Isaiah prophesied centuries before the first two dispersions into Assyria and Babylon, and both events are fully recorded in holy Scripture, and yet, in chapter 11 we are given the most spectacular glimpse into the Messiah's Millennial kingdom, which will only become a reality on earth at Christ's Second Advent.

This passage gives a detailed description of the Messiah; His Person and lineage, His equity and righteousness, His goodness and grace, His wisdom and understanding, His counsel and might, His faithfulness and reverential fear of the Lord.

It is as Isaiah details the characteristics of Christ's coming earthly rule, that we realise this passage can only be referring to His future kingdom on earth, for we discover that the cow and bear will graze together in the same field, the lion shall eat straw like an ox, the nursing child shall frolic on a cobra's den, and the earth will be filled with the glory of God as the waters cover the sea.

It is during that same future 'day' that we discover, for a second time in Israel's history, that the Lord will regather the remnant of His dispersed people back to their promised homeland. The first time he brought them back from Babylon captivity, but this time He will gather them from the four corners of the earth: "It shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again, a second time, to recover the remnant of His people."

The books of Ezra and Nehemiah detail events that occurred the first time God brought them back to their homeland to rebuild the city and the sanctuary in Jerusalem, following their captivity in Babylon. However, Isaiah was inspired to write that God would bring His people back to the land of Israel a second time: "The Lord will set his hand once more, a second time, to recover the remnant of His people."

The first time, a captive remnant from Judah returned from one location, Babylon, but in this future event we discover: "The remnant of God's people, who are still alive, will return from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath and from the islands of the sea."

God has not finished with His people, Israel, even though they have been set aside during this Church age. The promised kingdom that Christ came to set up at His First Coming has simply been postponed, until Christ returns in power of great glory at the end of the coming Tribulation, to set up His kingdom on earth. It is at that time: "The Lord shall set his hand again, a second time to recover the remnant of His people," (those who have survived the terrible time of Jacob's Trouble).

Although some Jews returned to Israel in 1948, they returned in unbelief. Even though the land of Israel is inhabited by Jews from around the world, there are many Jews that remain in Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and the islands across the sea, such as England, America, Australia, Japan, and Korea.

Some of God's people may have returned to their homeland as the dead, dry, lifeless bones described in Ezekiel 37, but they have not been born-anew by the 'in-breathing' of eternal life from the Holy Spirit, which ONLY comes from faith in Jesus, their Messiah and King.

Let us pray for the salvation of the people of Israel who continue to remain dead in their sins, and let us praise God that the time is coming when the blindness of their eyes, the resistant deafness of their ears, and the hardness of their hearts will be softened. The day is coming when life is breathed into the 'dead bones' of Israel, and they will look on Him Whom they pierced, and acknowledge Jesus as Lord, King of Israel, and Governor of the whole earth.

My Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for the wonderful prophecies of Isaiah and the hope we all have in Christ. Thank You that the day is coming when Your people will be fully and finally regathered back to the land You promised to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their seed forever. Foster in their hearts a desire to know the truth. Open the Scriptures to their understanding, that they may see Jesus in the books of Moses, the prophetic writings of Your holy prophets, and the Messianic Psalms of David. I pray for the day when the nation will acknowledge Jesus as Lord and all Israel shall be saved. This I ask in Jesus' name, AMEN.