In the light of this
powerful prophetic revelation offered to us by Isaiah, in chapter 11, the first
and foremost aspect for us to see and to understand, so that we may digest
carefully what the prophet has shared with us here, is not only his picture of
our Redeemer Himself, but also with Him, the abiding Presence of the Spirit of
God resting forever on Jesus.
In His state of
humiliation, in which Jesus permitted Himself to become dependent on the third
Person of the Triune Godhead, the Holy Spirit, our King also became for us the
truest example of steadfast and unfailingly obedient humanity.
Jesus’ example for
us, is the best one which we all can choose to emulate, in our own growing
dependent faith in God Almighty, living by faith and trust in Someone beyond
ourselves, our own resources, or our own devices.
Isaiah’s description that follows, is
a complex revelation, touching on the interaction of Jesus as the incarnated
GodMan (Theanthropos), with His
unique human and divine natures in hypostatic union in one Person, and His
interactions with the Holy Spirit during His time on the earth, but also giving
evidence of His continuous, intimate, eternal coordination with the Holy Spirit:
ISAIAH 11:2 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 of the reverential and obedient fear of the Lord—
The Hebrew
word used here by Isaiah, translated as “rest” in English is nuwach or nuah, conveying a basic
sense of absence of movement and of being settled in a particular place with
overtones of finality.
W. E. Vine, in his Expository Dictionary notes that "To rest’ can
sometimes indicate a complete envelopment and thus permeation, as in the spirit
of Elijah “resting” on Elisha (2
KINGS 2:15),
the hand of God “resting” on the
mountain (ISAIAH 25:10), and when Wisdom “rests in the heart of him that hath
understanding.” (PROVERBS 14:33)
The Septuagint translates nuwach,
with the Greek verb anapauo in the sense of "to settle on an object" as
exemplified by the Spirit resting on believers who are reviled. (1PETER
4:14)
The Holy Spirit will rest on the Messiah (permanently; not temporarily come upon,
e.g., NUMBERS 11:25, 26), a prophecy that
was fulfilled at His first coming, but will also be fulfilled at His Second
Coming.
This is a fascinating and somewhat
mysterious statement, in view of the unity of the Trinity and yet the Gospels
speak very prominently of the ongoing role of the Holy Spirit in the life of
Jesus.
While this is indeed a great mystery,
Jesus' dependence on the Holy Spirit to control and empower ministry during His
time on earth, should also be a great encouragement to all believers and strong
motivation for each of us to seek to learn to walk by the Spirit, keeping in
step with Him! (GALATIANS
5:16, EPHESIANS
5:18)
After laying the revelatory foundation that the Holy
Spirit will eternally rest on the Messiah, Isaiah continues to unfold the
revelation before us, showing that this is the sevenfold Spirit, Who is from
the beginning and is without end!
The Holy Spirit is first and foremost, the Spirit of
God, the Lord, Who as third Person of the Trinity, is co-essential with the
Father and the Son, having every attribute of the Godhead within Himself.
After this firm foundation concerning His deity is
laid, the prophet reveals six other amazing attributes or qualities of the Holy
Spirit of God:
Spirit of Wisdom – indicating a level of discernment
and discretion that can come through experience and/or revelation/insight that
causes the most appropriate, or proper application, of knowledge into a
particular situation, to bring about the best solution to the problems that are
being faced.
Spirit of Understanding - the ability of perceive
and comprehend moral, ethical, and abstract truths which can also come through
both revelation and insight from the Lord, as well as experientially.
Spirit of Counsel – this attribute of applied
knowledge, to strategize and to capitalize on understandings that have been
retrieved, itemized, catalogued, and integrated, to form a plan, is coupled in
a special way, linguistically termed a hendiadys,
a figure
of speech used for emphasis, where two words joined by and are used to express a single complex idea, in
this case with the Spirit of Might.
Spirit of Might – once a wise plan, using insightful
understanding, is properly applied with strategic precision, it must have the
power or might to be acted upon – thus Counsel must have Might to move to
completion and conclusion.
Spirit of Knowledge - the accumulated accrual of
practical and useful facts about the material and spiritual reality in which we
live, used as a resource to draw upon in addressing issues and solving problems
Spirit of Reverential and Obedient Fear of the Lord
– implies a true core, intimate, experiential knowledge of God, just Who and
what He is, which comes from a basic foundation of believing, saving faith in
Him, serving to separate the follower of Jesus, yet also engendering
respectful, honoring, reverence to the ultimate Source of all that is, and the
almighty Ruler above all that is, was, or ever will be, bringing about obedient
surrender of selfish, willful, thoughtless living, into selfless, passionate
desire to serve Him lovingly, worship Him totally, creating within and acting out
of compassionate care for all others.
Neil Uniacke
Executive Director
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