What does it mean that the Lord sets his hand again the second time?

When the passage says the Lord will “set his hand again the second time,” it is comparing a future rescue to the first great rescue from Egypt. God once stretched out his hand to bring Israel out of slavery through the Red Sea. Here he promises to act again in a similar way, reaching out to gather a remnant of his people from many lands. This points beyond one historical return to God’s ongoing work in the Messiah, calling Jews and Gentiles out of spiritual exile and bringing them safely into his people.

Who are the remnant of God’s people gathered from many nations?

The remnant are those of God’s people who are left after times of judgment and scattering. The passage lists places like Assyria, Egypt, Cush, and distant islands to show how widely they have been spread. God promises that he has not forgotten them. He will recover them from every land, not just from one empire. In a fuller sense, this includes all whom God calls to himself in the Messiah from every nation, not just those living in the old land of Israel.

What is the ensign for the nations that God sets up?

An ensign is a banner or signal that people can see from far away and gather around. In this passage, God sets up an ensign for the nations so that both the outcasts of Israel and people from other nations are drawn and gathered. This points to the lifting up of the Messiah and the message about him. As the good news about him is preached, he becomes like a raised banner. People who were far off see, are drawn, and come together under his rule and care.

Why does the passage say the envy of Ephraim will depart?

Ephraim stands for the northern tribes, and Judah for the southern kingdom. For a long time there was jealousy and trouble between them. This prophecy says that in the future that envy will be taken away. Ephraim will not be bitter toward Judah, and Judah will not trouble Ephraim. Instead, they will stand together. This pictures the deeper unity God brings in the Messiah, where old rivalries among God’s people are healed and they become one people, at peace with each other instead of fighting.

What is meant by God destroying the tongue of the Egyptian sea and smiting the river?

The “tongue of the Egyptian sea” is likely a bay or arm of the sea that reaches into the land, and “the river” points to a great river like the Nile. The picture is of God drying up or breaking these waters so people can cross on dry ground. This reminds us of the Red Sea and Jordan crossings. The point is that God removes what looks like impossible barriers. When he chooses to gather his people, even seas and rivers cannot block the path. He has power over nature to clear the way.

What is the highway for the remnant of God’s people from Assyria?

The highway is a picture of a safe, straight, open road for God’s people to travel. For those scattered in Assyria and other lands, it means God will make a clear way for them to return, just as he once led Israel out of Egypt. Spiritually, it points to how God, through the Messiah, removes obstacles that keep people from coming to him. Instead of a rough and blocked path, he provides a sure way, guided and guarded by his hand, so that his remnant can come home to him.

How does this passage point to the work of the Messiah?

The verses sit in a larger promise about a ruler from Jesse’s line. Here, the gathering of a remnant, the ensign for the nations, the unity of former enemies, and the removal of all obstacles all echo what the Messiah does. He is the banner lifted up. Through him, Jews and Gentiles are called together into one people. Old hostilities lose their power, and what once shut people out is taken away. The great rescue from Egypt becomes a picture of the fuller rescue found in him.

Why does this passage talk about victory over Philistia, Edom, Moab, and Ammon?

These names were well-known enemies around Israel. Saying that God’s people will fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines and lay hands on Edom, Moab, and Ammon shows that the tables will turn. Those who once threatened God’s people will no longer rule over them. In its wider meaning, this points to how, under the reign of the Messiah, all that opposes God’s kingdom will lose its power. God’s people will share in his victory, not by their own strength, but because he fights for them.

Isa.11.11

Isaiah 11:11

KJV

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.

The Restored Remnant

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.

And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.

But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.

And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod.

And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.

Cross References

No cross references available for this verse.