There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
All oppressed people long for justice. All oppressive rulers, if they are honest, want mercy from God while they dispense what they call justice to those they oppress.
Justice shows up as a longing a lot in the Psalms and in the Prophets. When the prophets warned the people about their wrongs, it was the threat of justice. When the people were beaten down and repenting of their wrongs, they cried out for justice against their punishers by mercy from God. When you read the various prophecies about the Messiah, justice is almost always involved.
This would bring a big question about Christmas, Bethlehem, Nazareth, and all of Israel. What justice came when Jesus was born? Not much if you are keeping a scorecard of the good guys vs. the bad guys.
Later on, though, Jesus would say that He didn’t come to condemn the world but to save it. He said that His words would stand against the rebels and unbelievers. His words would bring justice to those that resisted and mercy to those that embraced them. His words would clarify the meaning of the Law and the Prophets and force people to choose their side.
When reading the Old Testament, look for ways that Jesus fulfilled what the prophets predicted, but not in a single event. This, like many OT prophecies, was fulfilled by the full life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. It’s the entire breadth of Jesus’ life that the prophets foretold, which is why it is so amazing that Jesus accurately lived out the truth of so many of those prophecies.