|
CHAPTER
7
CHAPTER
SEVEN
THE
ROOT AND BRANCH
THE
BRANCH
Almost
400 years after King David came the prophet Jeremiah,
and Jeremiah’s time was approximately 600 before Christ.
God told the remaining southern kingdom, the kingdom
of Judah (the northern kingdom of Israel had been destroyed
and its people scattered many years previously, by the
Assyrians), that they would be taken into captivity
by the Babylonians and they would remain exiled from
their land for 70 years. He told them they had brought
it upon themselves because of their complete unwillingness
to obey the Lord their God. God used His prophet Jeremiah
to make all these things clear:
“Judah’s
sin is engraved with an iron tool, inscribed with a
flint point, on the tablets of their hearts-------this
whole country will become a desolate wasteland and----
will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.”
(Jeremiah
chapter 17, verse 1; chapter 25, verse 11).
Jeremiah
lived to see this very thing come to pass, however some
of Jeremiah’s prophecies were for a time long after
his death, and they were not all bad news. He did speak
about God’s eventual forgiveness and blessing for the
nation of Israel. But, he also spoke of the coming of
One who would make possible, and available, God’s forgiveness
and blessing for all peoples; he spoke of One called
a righteous Branch:
“The
days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will raise
up from David’s line a righteous Branch, a King------This
is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our
Righteousness.”
(Jeremiah
chapter 23, verses 5-6).
How
can a branch be righteous? It cannot. Unless it is a
Godly Branch; a Messiah King; a LORD (Jehovah, Yahweh)
Our Righteousness---a Branch who is Jesus Christ.
And
just look at those beautiful connections; especially
note that the Branch, who is righteous, is the LORD
who is OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS!
And
there we have yet another name for Jesus: ‘The Lord
Our Righteousness’.
If
we now move on in time from Jeremiah, 100 years or so,
we find Zechariah, another Old Testament prophet. He
also spoke of the Branch, and we did look at part of
this prophecy in chapter 1, where we made the connection
between the high priest Joshua and Jesus.
The
Lord said:
“Listen,
O high priest Joshua and your associates seated before
you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going
to bring my servant, the Branch--------Take the silver
and the gold and make a crown, and set it on the head
of the high priest, Joshua-------Tell him this is what
the LORD Almighty says: ‘Here is the man whose name
is the Branch-----’”
(Zechariah
chapter 3, verse 8; chapter 5, verses 11-12).
As
was mentioned in chapter 1, the high priest Joshua and
those around him were, in a sense, being made to act
out God’s prophetic word---seeing as well as hearing
can be extremely powerful as a means of getting an important
point to stick in one’s mind. Throughout the Scriptures
we find the symbolic acting out of prophecy. Even Jesus
told parables and made the point He was trying to convey
into a series of unforgettable mind images---the Good
Samaritan, the Prodigal Son, etc.
THE
ROOT AND BRANCH OF JESSE
There
is much to say of king David, but, for a moment, we
turn to his father, not an old ancestor, but his actual
father. Jesse had eight sons, and David was the youngest.
Although Jesse is on the line of godly men, which eventually
leads to Christ, his main call to fame seems to be because
he is David’s father. In Isaiah chapter 11 we see a
prophecy, dated somewhere around 700 BC, foretelling
the coming of the lord Jesus:
A
shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his
roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD
will rest on him-----In that day the Root of Jesse will
stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will
rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.
(verses
1-2, 10).
This
is an amazing prophecy of Christ, which shows His divinity
and His eternal existence---He existed before Jesse,
and yet came from him. It is very similar in some ways
to another title, or set of titles, given to the Lord
Jesus in the last book of the Bible, Revelation. And
for this we must bring back David.
THE
ROOT AND THE OFFSPRING OF DAVID, AND THE BRIGHT MORNING
STAR
All
referring to Jesus. This is a title which Jesus uses
for Himself, and we find it almost at the very end of
the Bible, in the book of Revelation. Revelation was
written by the apostle John while he was in exile on
the island of Patmos around AD 95, more than 60
years after Christ was crucified.
John
was told to write down the fantastic visions he was
shown and the words he heard. Most of what John saw
and heard, almost 2000 years ago, was to do with the
future, and most is still yet future---I think, the
very near future.
Jesus
calls Himself the ‘Root’ of David, meaning He was before
David; the ‘Offspring’ of David, meaning He came after
David and in David’s line; and the ‘Bright Morning Star’,
which I believe portends His second coming to usher
in the new ‘day’ of God’s Kingdom on earth---His Millennial
reign. This title seems very similar in meaning to another
description, which we see in Revelation:
------says
the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come-----.”
(Revelation
chapter 1, verse 8).
These
highly descriptive titles are meant to show our Lord’s
eternal existence and also His dealings with mankind
throughout all ages. We shall see, as we continue in
this book, that the Root of Jesse, the Root of David,
the Son of God, was here long before either Jesse or
David. He was here at the creation of all things, and
He continued to be involved throughout the history of
ancient Israel. After Jesse and David, the Root became
the Branch and the Offspring---He became the only flesh
and blood Branch ever. After Jesse and David, the Branch,
the Offspring, was nailed to a wooden cross where He
died. Yet, He was raised from death, and now sits at
the right hand of God.
When,
in bodily form, He next breaks into human history, then
shall His other title be realised---the Bright Morning
Star. He who is, and who was, will soon come to visit
the earth again.
We
have heard of Jesus as the Branch; we sometimes hear
the rough wooden cross to which He was nailed referred
to as a ‘tree’.
When
I survey the wondrous cross,
On
which the Prince of Glory died,
My
richest gain I count but loss,
And
pour contempt on all my pride.
(Isaac
Watts)
|
