Isa 11.10 has several concepts we need to understand. The phrase “In that day” refers to when the Messiah comes and the Day of the Lord. The word “signal” is a banner or ensign and it is the word “nes” in Hebrew which means “miracle.” It is another term for the Messiah. The “resting place” is “m’nuchah” and it has several applications. It can mean the Temple, the land of Israel, the Day of the Lord and the Sabbath. There is a future m’nuchah that is above all the other applications. That is when the Messiah comes and his kingship is over the world in the Atid Lavo.
Isa 11.11 has the phrase “recover a second time.” When was the first time? This verse is a comparison of the Egyptian Redemption and the Messianic Redemption. The First Redemption was out of one country. The Second Redemption will be global, and the greater of the two. In Isa 11.12 we have the signal or “nes” again and this is the Messiah. He will assemble the “banished ones of Israel” or the ten northern tribes. Then it says he will “gather the dispersed of Judah” which are the two southern tribes. In the Exodus from Egypt, there was a third group who came out with Israel and Judah, and they were the “mixed multitude” (Exo 12.38). There are many examples of this group in the Scriptures. David had the Cherethites and the Pelethites as bodyguards (2 Sam 8.18) and they were Philistines. They were not circumcised or had they converted to Judaism, but halakically they were non-Jews. There was a reason for this. David did not want Jews for bodyguards because they will get involved in the “politics” of the tribes. He wanted bodyguards that were loyal to him.
Another example is in 2 Sam 11. We have all heard of Uriah the Hittite, and he was married to Bathsheba. Her father was Eliam, one of David’s mighty men (2 Sam 23.34). So was Uriah (2 Sam 23.39). He was a convert in order to marry Bathsheba. Eliam’s father was Ahitophel, David’s counselor and Bathsheba’s grandfather. David’s sin with Bathsheba, and murders Uriah, and then tries to cover it up. As a side note, Ahitophel was very angry with David over this, and this caused him to side with Absalom. His son Eliam, who had Bathsheba as his daughter and Uriah as a son-in-law, remained with David even in spite of what David had done. He knew that David was God’s choice as king and God was with him. He knew that he was anointed as king, not Absalom.
In 2 Sam 15.13-18 David is fleeing from Absalom. We have already discussed the Cherethites and the Pelethites and how they were Philistines (part of the mixed multitude-group #3). But we have a new player on the scene called Ittai the Gittite. He was from the town of Gath, where Goliath was from, and he and his men were also Philistines. In 2 Sam 15.19-22 it says that Ittai was a foreigner, which means he had no conversion. He had just arrived on the scene and wanted to go with David as he fled. We will see later that there is going to be a huge battle and Ittai was given one-third of the army against Absalom.
So, what we have is Judah and Israel at this time because it is before Solomon. They have not split up yet. We have three camps involved here, Judah, Israel and the mixed multitude. There will be a war with Absalom. His name means “Av” meaning “Father” and “Shalom meaning “Peace.” His name means a “Father of Peace” but he wasn’t. He was a murderer from the beginning. When they go out to fight, David divides his army into three groups. Ittai the Gittite will lead one of these groups. So, when we get to the Atid Lavo (the kingdom) we see these three groups. In Isa 11.12 it says that “He will lift a standard for the nations (#1) and will assemble the banished ones of Israel (#2) and will gather the dispersed of Judah (#3).” What we had in the First Redemption we will have in the Second Redemption.
Now, let’s talk about the “mixed multitude.” It is “Erev Rav” in Hebrew and it means to be “knitted together.” Non-Jews were “woven” into the other groups (Eph 2.11-22; John 7.34-35; Rom 11.17-18). Lev 19.19 says you can’t mix two different seeds together. Dan 2.31-45 talks about how the two feet of the statue were partly of clay and partly of iron. Dan 2.43 says the iron was “mixed” (erev) with common clay. They will combine with one another “in the seed of men” but they will not combine together. You can’t mix two seeds together. The word Babylon means “confusion or a mixture.” The mixed multitude, however, were non-Jews who followed the God of Abraham and they are grafted into the Commonwealth of Israel, so they are not a separate seed from the Jewish people spiritually. There is a movement today among the non-Jews who are turning to the Torah. Some of these may be a part of returning Israel or even Judah who have lost their identity. But, some of them are a part of the third group, the “mixed multitude. Do they follow a different Torah? No, they don’t. They keep what applies to them. If a command applies to the Jews, they aren’t obligated to keep it.
Isa 11.13-14 has a few lands listed there that will be a part of Israel, with no terrorism. Isa 11.15 says that it will be like the First Redemption, he will dry up the River (Euphrates) and they will walk over it dry shod. Isa 11.16 confirms this comparison. In Jer 16.14-16 it says that the days are coming (when Messiah comes) when it will no longer be said “As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt” but that the Second Redemption will be world-wide. In Jer 23.5-6 it says that this is the name “he will be called.” Jer 33.15-16 basically says the same thing, but it says this is the name by which “she will be called.” There has been a marriage. Isa 4.1-6 begins with this idea and gives us a picture of the fall festivals and their fulfillment. It says that “seven women will take hold of one man” wanting to be called by his name. In the Sowd, the women are the believers and the man is the Messiah. We have seen this in Jer 23 and 33. The word “Branch” in verse 2 is not masculine, but “neuter” which alludes to a marriage of masculine and feminine. The “fruit of the earth” alludes to a return to Gan Eden. These are all Rosh Ha Shannah themes. In Isa 4.3-4, it alludes to Yom Kippur (purge, judgment) and Isa 4.5-6 alludes to Sukkot (canopy=chuppah; shelter=sukkah). All of the festival terms are being brought together in order to convey what is happening in the future.
Now, let’s go to Zech 3.1-10. Joshua represents Israel and Satan is the adversary and accuser. Joshua is plucked from the fire (natzal) and he is clothed in filthy garments, representing his sin and iniquity. These garments are removed and this is saying that the priesthood will be restored by giving him “festal robes.” If he walks in the Torah and performs the Avodah (Temple service), he will have “charge of my courts” when the Temple is rebuilt. Joshua, who is called Yeshua in Ezra 3.2, is a type of the Messiah. The term “my house” in verse 7 can also be alluding to the three groups (Beit Israel; Beit Judah and the mixed multitude). Then it says, “my servant the Branch” is talking about the Messiah, and “the stone has seven eyes.” This stone also alludes to the Messiah (1 Cor 10.4, Gen 28.18, Deut 32.4; Gen 49.24). The Lord will remove the iniquity of the land in one day. Then it says that “In that day (when the Messiah comes) people will invite their neighbor to to “sit under his vine and under his fig tree.” These are idioms for for the Atid Lavo, or the Messianic Kingdom (Micah 4.1-4; 1 Kings 4.25; John 1.48).
We will pick up in Part 15 with Zech 6.9-13 and bring out more aspects of the Second Redemption.
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