In this message we want to see the all-inclusive Christ in Isaiah 11. This chapter covers the Lord's coming in the last days to bring in the restoration of all things, the revival of Israel, and the submission of the seeking Gentiles. For this purpose Christ has to be four items. These four items in Isaiah 11 form two pairs in the poetic writing of Isaiah. The first pair is Christ as a twig from the stem of Jesse and a branch from the roots of Jesse bringing in the restoration of life (vv. 1-9). The second pair is Christ as a banner to the peoples and a standard to the nations bringing in the return of God's people and the submission to the Gentiles (vv. 10-16). The banner and the standard are the enlargement of the twig and the branch. Christ has to be these two pairs of four items for the fulfilling of God's economy.
Christ is a twig from the stem of Jesse and a branch from the roots of Jesse (Isa. 11:1-9). Christ is typified by a twig from the stem of a great tree which has been hewn down to the roots (cf. Isa. 10:32-34). Nearly everything concerning Israel and the house of David had been cut down. Only Jesse, David's father is mentioned in Isaiah 11. All that remained was Jesse, the source of David. The issue of Jesse, the house of David, had been hewn down, but the source from which David came still remained. The royal family of David, the house of David, was cut down when Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, came to conquer Judah and subdue Israel. He destroyed the holy city, Jerusalem, and the holy temple. He captured the royal family of David, including the king and his family, and carried them away to Babylon. This was meant to be the termination of the royal family of David. The big tree of the house of David was hewn down, but the stem with the roots was still there. Christ came out of this source as a twig from the stem and as a branch from the roots.
The royal family was cut down, leaving the stem with the roots there for approximately six centuries, from about 606 B.C. to the time Christ was born. When Christ was born as prophesied in Isaiah 7:14, He was the twig from the stem of Jesse. Not many people would pay attention to a twig. Jesus was a twig from the stem of Jesse. Although He became so "small," no amount of persecution or suffering could put Him down. As the twig from the stem of Jesse, He remains forever.