As the twig from the stem of Jesse and the branch from the roots of Jesse, Christ carries out the administration of Jehovah (Isa. 11:3-5). The administration of Jehovah is of two items—righteousness and justice. Christ delights in the fear of Jehovah (v. 3a). He always delighted in the fear of Jehovah, even as a boy of twelve. He does not judge by what His eyes see nor decide by what His ears hear, but He judges the poor in righteousness and decides with equity for the afflicted (vv. 3b-4a). Equity is justice. Christ decides with equity, justice, fairness, for the afflicted. The unrighteous things in human society are mainly done to the poor. Injustice is mainly exercised over the afflicted, the suffering ones. The dark and backward countries on earth are full of unrighteousness and injustice toward the afflicted. Every good government, however, must be righteous and just. Otherwise, that government is dark. God's administration is righteous and just.
When Christ returns, He will strike the land with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips, He will slay the wicked (v. 4b). The breath of His lips is His word out of His mouth. Righteousness girds His loins, making Him strong, and faithfulness girds His hips, making Him steady (v. 5). For a government to be strong, it must be righteous. For it to be steady, it must be faithful. A government that is not righteous cannot stand for long, and a government that is not faithful is not steady. God's administration is strong and steady.
The administration of Jehovah brings in the restoration of life (vv. 6-9). In the restoration of life, the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the kid (v. 6a). The wolves prey on the lambs, but in the restoration of life, they will dwell with the lambs. In the restoration of life, the calf, the young lamb, and the fatling will be together, and a young boy will lead them about (v. 6b). The cow and the bear will graze, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox (v. 7). The nursing child will play by the cobra's hole, and upon the viper's den the weaned child will stretch his hand (v. 8). Isaiah 11:9 says, "They will not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea." This God-fearing knowledge comes from the Spirit through the administration of Jehovah in the restoration of life.
This restoration of life will be in the next age, but we should not forget Hebrews 6:5, which tells us that we have a foretaste in this age of the works of power of the coming age. What will happen in the next age as recorded in Isaiah 11 should be among us today as a foretaste. Among us there should be no "wolves," "leopards," "bears," "lions," or "vipers." Paul told the brothers in Acts 20 to beware of fierce wolves coming in among them (v. 29). Because the church life is a foretaste of the coming age, all the "wolves," "leopards," "bears," "lions," and Svipers" should have their nature changed. This is the restoration of life. In the past we may have been such persons in a negative sense, but now our nature has changed. Sometimes we may consider that a certain brother is a "leopard" until we find out that his nature has changed. The church life may be considered as a "zoo" of the restoration of life where all have their nature changed through the Spirit and by Christ as the twig and the branch.