[Isaiah 11] VV 11 and 12 seems to me like a reference of the bringing back of the Jews to their country. But did this happen during Jesus’ lifetime? It started with Zerubbabel in 538 BC. And in the time of Jesus, ther were still tensions between Judah and Samaria. (v13). And what about military actions of the reunited Israel against the neighbouring nations? (v14)? What does “that day” mean. Is it necessary a short period of time, during Jesus’ ministry? ~ Pedro
The context of Isaiah 11:1-16 constitutes one of many Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament predicting the establishment of the kingdom (or church, Matthew 16:18-19; Ephesians 3:10-11) of Jesus Christ. Isaiah 2:2-4 and Micah 4:1-7 are similar Messianic prophecies. The commentator, Albert Barnes, observed regarding Isaiah 11: “I may add, that nearly all commentators have referred this to the Messiah; and, perhaps, it would not be possible to find greater unanimity in regard to the interpretation of any passage of Scripture than on this” (CD-ROM).
Further, Isaiah 11:1-16 is figurative language. Though some, especially premillennialists, may want to construe all or part of this and similar passages as literal language, to do so would be an abusive interpretation of Scripture and of the type of language employed in that part of the world when it was written. “This description of a golden age is one that is common in Oriental writers, where the wild beasts are represented as growing tame; where serpents are harmless; and where all is plenty, peace, and happiness” (Barnes). “The idea of the renewal of the golden age, as it is called, is much the same in the Oriental writers with that of the Greeks and Romans: the wild beasts grow tame; serpents and poisonous herbs become harmless; all is peace and harmony, plenty and happiness” (Clarke).
There is no justification for accepting part of the passage as figurative (respecting the prophesied establishment of the Messianic kingdom) while construing part of the passage as literal (respecting the repopulation of Palestine with scattered Jews). It is all figurative and any similarity (through human self-fulfilling efforts based on national pride or misconceived notions) is coincidental and irrelative to the Scripture at hand. The closest to a justified, literal fulfillment of the return of real Jews to Palestine in keeping with Isaiah 11 and similar prophecies is in Acts Two when the kingdom or church was established. At that time, 15 different nationalities of Jews were represented when the first recorded Gospel sermon was preached (Acts 2:9-11), some of whom would comprise the 3,000 converts (Acts 2:41).
