Daily Devotions
Isaiah
"Together they shall plunder the people of the East"
Text: Isaiah 11:14
HARMONY RESTORED
It was a very sad and dark day when Jeroboam I and Rehoboam caused Israel to become two kingdoms (1 Kings 12). The two kingdoms fought many bitter battles. But they remained a divided kingdom to the very end. Then came this prophecy of harmony being restored between the two kingdoms.
“Also the envy of Ephraim shall depart,
And the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off;
Ephraim shall not envy Judah,
And Judah shall not harass Ephraim.
But they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines toward the west;
Together they shall plunder the people of the East;
They shall lay their hand on Edom and Moab;
And the people of Ammon shall obey them.”
Isaiah 11:13-14
1. Envy between Judah and Israel.
a) When the kingdom of Israel split into two, both sides envied each other.
b) This was a welcome prophecy when envy would no longer exists.
2. An Adversarial attitude.
a) Ephraim was the leading tribe.
b) It was sometimes used to refer to the Northern Kingdom of Israel.
c) This was another welcome prophecy when the two kingdoms would not be adversaries of each other anymore.
d) They would not harass each other when harmony is restored.
3. Israel and Judah
a) They can work together.
b) They need each other to battle common enemies.
c) A short list of the common enemies of Israel and Judah:
i) The Philistines were on the West.
ii) The people of the East were Bedouins from Arabia.
iii) Edom, Moab and Ammon were a constant thorn in the side of
Israel and Judah.
4. This was a wonderful description of what Israel and Judah could do.
a) It would take the Messianic King to do this.
b) No earthly ruler had ever been able to restore harmony
between the two kingdoms.